Are current cooling standards in long-term care enough? Advocates say no

Story by Naomi Barghiel • Jul 7, 2023

A resident of a long-term care home stops to look at renderings of the new Richmond Lions Manor-Fentiman care home before a provincial government news conference announcing the project, in Richmond, B.C., on Thursday, June 22, 2023. The eight-storey building will have 144 long-term care beds and 14 hospice beds and be built on the site of a former care home in Richmond's Steveston neighbourhood. Construction will begin in 2025 and is expected to be complete in 2028. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck©

How renters face challenges during extreme heatwaves

As the country breaks heat wave records this week, some advocates are raising concerns about a lack of funding and clear and consistent mandates across Canada to keep vulnerable residents in long-term care homes cool.

It is currently the responsibility of each province and territory’s government to develop and enforce standards for individual long-term care facilities, which includes air circulation and temperature control. Many provinces’ policies are informed by national standards recently updated this year, but they are not mandatory.

Some advocates say the inconsistency is part of what has led to some long-term care homes operating without proper cooling measures needed during hot weather.

“We obviously need to make it a standard rule that we have central heating and cool air in all of these facilities,” said Vivian Stamatopoulos, a long-term care advocate and professor at Ontario Tech University.

“We know there's a well-known correlation between high ambient temperature and negative health, particularly among seniors. The fact that we don't have basic standards at every facility, knowing that climate change is real and knowing that we are only going to see more extreme health-related events in the next few years ... this is clearly an area where elected officials dropped the ball.”

The federal government announced in February that they will be investing $198.6 billion over 10 years to improve health services for Canadians with a focus on key health priorities, including helping Canadians age safely and with dignity.

"As a government, we will continue to our work with provinces and territories to help all Canadians, including seniors, get the care they deserve when and wherever they need it," Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos said in a press release.

"We will also always ensure that those who live or work in LTC homes do so in a positive, safe, and quality environment.”

The federal government’s 2021 budget included $3 billion in funding over five years to support provinces and territories in their efforts to improve long-term care in their jurisdictions. The government also provided close to $850,000 in funding to the Health Standards Organization (HSO) and the CSA Group to develop the most recent national standards released in January this year.

Experts with HSO said in January that the new standards will only be useful if the government puts them into practice and makes sure they are followed.

However, the National Institute on Ageing revealed in a report released Wednesday that some provinces are falling far short of the national standards.

The institute’s report found that only 25 of the 117 criteria laid out in the national standards could be found in the policies of all provinces and territories, as of December 2022.

“It reminds us that there’s a lot to be done,” said Dr. Samir Sinha, the report’s co-author and director of health policy research at the institute.

According to an email from CSA Group to Global News Thursday, the standards include long-term care home building systems, such as HVAC and medical gas systems, along with catastrophic event management involving extreme temperature conditions.

The organization along with HSO issued the updated guidance for operating care homes in light of the deadly and tragic toll the COVID-19 pandemic took on Canadian residents and their quality of life.


CSA confirmed that the standards are intended only as a guide to be referenced in legislation.

“Although our hope is that the standard is mandated, even as a voluntary standard, it is intended to serve as important guidance for long-term care stakeholders that are building new long-term care homes or enhancing the safety and quality of life in existing homes,” said a spokesperson for CSA.

Environment Canada issued several heat warnings this week, with temperatures surpassing 30 C in most jurisdictions. Warnings remain in place Friday morning for eastern Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and some parts of the East Coast.

Ontario is one of the provinces making big steps toward progress. Last summer, Global News reported that 90 long-term care homes in Ontario still did not have air conditioning installed in resident rooms. The government then promised to crack down on homes that weren't complying with the province's legislation passed in June 2021, requiring air conditioning to be installed in all resident rooms.

The province saw improvement this year partly by passing legislation that allows the government to slap heavy fines on non-complying homes, and by conducting an "inspections blitz," the Ontario ministry told Global News in an email Thursday.

Now, 99.5 per cent of all LTC homes in Ontario are equipped with air conditioning in residents’ rooms.

Currently, air conditioning in British Columbia long-term care homes is not compulsory. While most of the province’s long-term care facilities are equipped with HVAC systems, they are not required in residents’ rooms.

B.C. seniors’ advocate Isobel Mackenzie says she wants the province to follow Ontario’s lead.

“I think that there is merit to saying you need to have a cooling system sufficient to ensure that the temperatures in residents' rooms never fall below ‘this’ and never rise above ‘this’ and then regulate and inspect against that standard. That isn't our current approach,” Mackenzie said.

“I do think we should look at these absolute temperature standards, both in terms of maximum heat and in terms of maximum coldness in a particular resident's room and then work our way towards compliance from that point.”

Though it is stated in the province’s Community Care and Assisted Living Act that each facility must ensure temperatures in each bedroom, bathroom and common room are “safe and comfortable,” the Ministry of Health says aging buildings pose a challenge to making air conditioning a requirement.

“In some cases, forced air directly in resident rooms is possible, in other cases, central air through common rooms and hallways is the most achievable upgrade. In these cases, fans are placed at resident doorways to ensure that resident rooms remain at cool temperatures,” a spokesperson from the Ministry of Health explained.

The federal government announced in March that "in the coming months" it would "move forward with consultations and engagement with stakeholders and Canadians on the Safe Long-Term Care Act," which was first pledged by the Liberal party during the 2021 election.

According to a press release, any legislation will be based on the new standards set by the HSO and CSA Group.

It remains to be seen how the federal legislation will be framed.

Canadian Association of Long-Term Care (CALTC) CEO Jodi Hall says the federal government could do more to help LTC homes meet standards through proper funding.

“As we move forward in long-term care to continuously enhance person centered care … it is essential that there is on-going investment by all levels of government to modernize existing homes, replace when needed, and develop new homes that addresses the current demand for long term care,” Hall told Global News in an emailed statement.

“A Federal infrastructure fund that specifically allows long-term care homes to access funding for infrastructure investment and adapt energy efficient systems would go a long way to make necessary improvements in homes across the country.”

Mackenzie says one opportunity for change lies within the National Building Code. According to the government of Canada’s webpage, the code “sets out technical requirements for the design and construction of new buildings, as well as the alteration, change of use and demolition of existing buildings.”

Mackenzie says there is “definitely” a role the government could play in deciding how they use the code to positively impact long-term care infrastructure in the short term and long term. Short term, the government can use the code to support care homes and make the necessary accommodations to ensure residents truly are cool and comfortable.

Mackenzie says that in the future, the government could make air conditioning and proper cooling part of the building code in new buildings.

“I think that’s a reasonable approach,” she said.

-- with files from The Canadian Press.

Can Canada double health-care worker immigration? Pressure is mounting

Story by Uday Rana • Jun 28, 2023

A health-care worker in the emergency department at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children on Nov. 30, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young© Provided by Global News

As Canada stares down a potential crisis in its emergency rooms this summer, the federal government is planning to double the number of health-care professionals it welcomes each year.

But the vow comes as backlogs in processing immigration applications rose last month, and as Ottawa has unveiled multiple new high-profile streams to attract highly skilled newcomers.

"This is a big change in the way that we are going to attract health-care workers to this country," said Immigration Minister Sean Fraser on Wednesday.

Fraser said the health-care workers could come through the federal Express Entry program, which is designed to bring highly skilled immigrants to the country.

Express Entry is a points-based pathway to permanent immigration that grants entry to the candidate with the highest points, regardless of what profession they are in. Now, though, Fraser said the process will offer a "streamlined and efficient" path for people in key sectors.

He said the federal government is now focusing on five key sectors facing labour shortages: health, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) professions, agriculture, transportation and skilled trades.

But the first sector to benefit from this new process would be health care

Fraser said the government was inviting 500 skilled health-care workers to immigrate to Canada through the Express Entry process on Wednesday.

By July 5, he said the government will invite 1,500 more.

‘Frightening’ shortage of Canadian family doctor residents alarms experts | Watch (msn.com)

“We expect this new process is going to allow us to double the number of health-care workers that come through the federal express entry system as soon as this year," Fraser said.

Fraser said that between 2017 and 2022, Canada welcomed around 21,000 health-care workers — a rate of just over 4,000 workers a year.

The goal now is to get around 8,000 new health-care workers a year.

The new system, the minister said, will have to be accompanied by faster visa processing times. Fraser said that while the pandemic, accompanied by the two refugee crises in Afghanistan and Ukraine, hampered operations, IRCC has worked to improve backlogs.

“We went to work over the past couple of years by adopting new technologies, including advanced analytics, the embrace of AI in certain aspects of our operations. We also added enormous numbers of resources by hiring 1,600 people to help process applications more quickly and we started reducing administrative barriers," he said in a response to a question from Global News.

Canada’s immigration backlog rose for the month of May, with officials saying more kinds of applications are being tallied even as the department gets better at handling claims within the target timeframes.

Fraser said the measures are working.

“A new economic migrant coming to Canada is back to the six-month standard under the federal Express Entry system. Family reunification is back to the one-year standard we enjoyed before COVID-19. Work permits and study permits are back to the 60 days we enjoyed before the pandemic,” he said.

Video: B.C. government offers help to address Surrey Memorial staffing crisis

Staffing shortages are expected to add to the strain of emergency rooms across Canada, experts have warned.

In May, Niagara Health said its urgent care centres in southern Ontario will no longer operate overnight as it faces physician staff shortages. The hospital in Minden, Ont., permanently closed the local ER due to a strain in staffing. In the same month, 180 ER doctors across Calgary penned an open letter sounding the alarm over the state of emergency care in that city.

Experts have warned that the crisis will be most acutely felt in rural areas.

Last week, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said the country’s “already quite burdened” ERs were likely to face an influx of patients seeking treatment for health conditions triggered by wildfire smoke, which has been wafting across the country from hundreds of major fires.

End criminalization of undocumented migrants, UN envoy urges

Story by Uday Rana • Jun 30, 2023

People take part in a rally for migrant rights in Christie Pits park in Toronto on Sunday Sept. 18, 2022. Migrant rights groups are urging Canada to implement suggestions of a United Nations Special Rapporteur to “end the criminalization” of undocumented migrants.

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Holly McKenzie-Sutter

Migrant rights groups in Canada are urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to implement the suggestions of a United Nations Special Rapporteur, who this week said countries should create regularization programs (pathways to permanent residency) for undocumented migrants.

“Regularization is a tool of protection and inclusion that benefits migrants, their families, destination countries and communities,” Felipe González Morales, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, told the Human Rights Council. “States must provide options for permanent residence, citizenship and meaningful participation of migrants in host societies.”

He urged governments across the world to “end the criminalization” of undocumented migrants.

The Migrant Rights Network, a migrant-led advocacy coalition based in Canada, welcomed the call.

“For decades now, undocumented migrants and their organizations have called for regularization as the single-most effective policy program to ensure rights and justice for undocumented migrants. Over 500 civil society organizations have joined us, now the United Nations is adding their voice; what more will it take for Prime Minister Trudeau to do the right thing?” asked Syed Hussan, Migrant Rights Network Secretariat.

“We call on Prime Minister Trudeau to ensure permanent resident status for all undocumented people, migrant workers, students and families without delay.”

González Morales, in a report released at the end of his tenure, noted that undocumented migrants are subject to discrimination, abuse and exploitation as a direct result of the lack of regular migration status. Regularization, he said, would improve their access to social protection, health care, decent work, education, adequate living conditions and family reunification.

Undocumented immigrants in Canada are typically people who arrived on temporary authorization such as a work or refugee claimant permit. Once the permit runs out, should the person decide to stay in Canada, they essentially become undocumented. An undocumented person loses access to many basic services.

Head of refugee advocacy group blasts SC decision on Safe Third Country Agreement: ‘The U.S. is not a safe country for refugees’

“Regularization processes must be accompanied by anti-discrimination policies to ensure the full enjoyment of their human rights,” González Morales said.

"I urge governments to end the criminalization of irregular migrants and promote solidarity and change the narrative on migration and combat xenophobia, racism and discrimination," he said.

The Migrant Rights Network estimated that as of October 2022, there were around 500,000 non-status people currently residing in Canada, many of whom live under very precarious circumstances.

“Without permanent resident status, undocumented people are unable to assert rights at work or access basic health care. They face discrimination and exploitation because of the well-founded fear of deportation. Non-status people are part of communities,” a report by the group read.

Shortage of air traffic controllers causing delays, cancellations in Canadian airports

Story by Kate McKenna • CBC - Wednesday, July 19,2023

Canada's federal transport minister says he's pressuring the corporation that oversees the country's air traffic controllers to find solutions to staffing woes affecting passenger flights.

"I am having regular conversations with the CEO of Nav Canada, including one this week to keep asking him for an update on the status of their staffing operations" said Omar Alghabra.

Nav Canada, the corporation that oversees Canada's air traffic controllers, admits some summer flight delays have been caused by personnel shortages.

"We do certainly acknowledge the fact that we have had some staffing-related challenges," said Marie-Pier Berman, Nav Canada's vice-president and chief of operations.

The union representing air traffic controllers in British Columbia has been sounding the alarm on staffing since 2021.

Berman said Nav Canada is training more than 400 new employees now and that the organization hopes to increase that number.

Unlike in the United States, there is no publicly available data that breaks down why or how many flights are delayed, but the president of the Canadian Airports Council says the number of delays caused by a lack of air traffic controllers has been noteworthy.

"Staffing shortages have impacted our air carrier flight schedules and airspace management from time to time and in major regions of the country," said Monette Pasher. "We have seen this most acutely in the B.C. mainland airspace."

Post-pandemic air travel in Canada has been marked by challenges, both because of a surge in demand, and because of labour shortages throughout the industry, many of which are at least partially attributable to pandemic layoffs.

"This summer we've seen a variety of run-of-the-mill delays that travellers are frankly very used to … thunderstorms, weather delays, issues related to congestion," said Duncan Dee, an aviation consultant and the former COO of Air Canada.

"What makes this summer particularly different with regard to delays is the fact that we've seen a tremendous number of delays related to shortages of air traffic controllers."

Dee says he's tracked an increase in this type of delay dating back to last summer, and notes they've become more frequent since March.

Related video: Air traffic controller shortage driving this summer's flight delays, experts say (cbc.ca)  Duration 2:03  View on Watch

Shortage follows pandemic layoffs

In 2020, Nav Canada announced it was cutting more than 720 jobs, representing about 14 per cent of its workforce. It also terminated its training program during the pandemic.

P.E.I. native Matthew Gillis, a mechanical engineer, had moved to two different cities for on-the-job air traffic controller training, then felt left in the lurch when that training was cancelled due to COVID-19.

"I'd invested years into this pursuit," he said. "It certainly gutted me."


New Brunswick resident Matthew Gillis said he has neither the 'energy nor the appetite' to return to training to become an air traffic controller following cancellations and layoffs in the industry during the pandemic. 

(Ed Hunter/CBC )

Gillis has since found another job and moved to New Brunswick, and though Nav Canada asked him if he would restart his training after the pandemic, he declined, saying he had neither the "energy nor the appetite."

Still, he said he takes no pleasure in seeing air traffic controller shortages causing delays.

"To know that Nav Canada management made this decision without planning for how it would impact the future of the organization to meet their service requirements is concerning," he said.

Nav Canada defends layoffs

"There were very difficult decisions that had to be made during the pandemic," said Berman. "The reality is, we barely had any planes that were in the sky at that time."

She said cancelling the training program was a matter of safety, as there were strict physical distancing rules in place at the time.

Canada is not the only country dealing with a shortage of air traffic controllers. Similar issues have been reported in the United States.

Berman said Nav Canada is currently focused on recruiting and training the largest number of people possible to fix the labour shortage and keep operations running smoothly.

New bill could end 'finger pointing'

In June, Alghabra introduced a new proposed law, Bill C-52, that he said will increase accountability when flights are delayed.

"It will really deal with this issue of finger pointing because the sector is highly interconnected," the transport minister said.

"Each organization should be responsible for their own operation and held accountable."

If passed, the law would require airports to publish their performance metrics publicly.

Wildfires a ‘stark reminder’ of climate perils as minister vows $82M boost

Story by David Baxter • Jul 11, 2023

Conrad Sauve, President and CEO of the Canadian Red Cross, left to right, Janelle Coultes, President of the Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada (SARVAC), Bill Blair, Minister Emergency answer reporters questions during a press conference in Ottawa on Tuesday, July 11, 2023.

© Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Canada is experiencing its worst wildfire season ever, with nearly 10 million hectares burned, and now volunteer organizations helping in the fight will get an $82-million funding boost.

Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair made the announcement on Tuesday, pointing to the still-growing scope of the devastation.

“An area nearly the size of Newfoundland has already burned so far this year. It is a stark reminder that the frequency and severity of climate-related disasters are growing each year,” Blair said.

Groups receiving the money include the Canadian Red Cross, St. John’s Ambulance, the Salvation Army and the Search and Rescue Volunteer Association of Canada.

The Canadian Red Cross historically has focused its disaster relief efforts overseas, according to CEO Conrad Sauvé. He says responding to disasters in Canada was an exception, but that has changed dramatically in the past 10 years.

“The Calgary floods, Fort McMurray wildfires, B.C. fires, floods in Quebec and Ontario, hurricanes in Atlantic Canada. The vast majority of the Canadian Red Cross response efforts are now domestically focused,” Sauvé said.

“We can no longer treat these events as exceptional. We must increase our standing capacity to respond to events in Canada.

Video: Residents urged to be fire smart amid hot, dry conditions

Much of this funding will go toward helping the organizations ensure they are ready to respond to increasingly frequent disasters. This includes training and retaining volunteers, plus buying equipment.

The funding will be doled out over the next three years, and Blair says it will begin flowing immediately. This brings the total amount of money Canada has contributed to non-governmental organizations to assist in disaster relief to $166.9 million this year.

The increased frequency of these disasters is only adding to the complexity of helping those impacted. Sauvé pointed to housing shortages making it harder to find shelter for displaced people.

“I think this is a new reality that has increased quite a bit,” he said.

Video: ‘Very high’ risk of wildfires continuing in Canada this summer: Blair

Insurance broker Intact Financial Corp. on Monday released its second-quarter catastrophic loss estimate, pegging the damage so far at $421 million.

The insurer says nearly half of the losses in Canada are attributable to the wildfires. Other key events in Canada include the flooding and ice storm in Quebec earlier in the spring.

Blair says flooding is typically the most expensive insurable disaster that Canada sees.

However, many Canadians who live in areas prone to flooding can’t get insurance, and he said he hopes to have an announcement on a promised national flood insurance program in the next nine to 12 months.

Cloning laws could be a model for AI boundaries, Champagne says

Story by Eric Stober • Jun 28,2023

Francois-Phillipe Champagne, Federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, speaks at the Collision conference, in Toronto, Wednesday, June 28, 2023.

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Faced with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI), Canada's approach to cloning could offer a clue on how to regulate the new tech, the innovation minister suggests.

Francois-Philippe Champagne said during a panel talk on fostering tech innovation in Canada at the Collision conference in Toronto on Wednesday that the action taken on cloning is a good model for the government's hopes in regulating AI.

"Remember when it was the time of cloning? We have a precedent where humanity said, 'We're going to put boundaries around that. We're not going to clone humans. We're going to make sure the science and technology respect a number of principles,'" he said.

"That's what we need to do with AI. We need to give that trust to people so we have responsible development of AI."

Video: AI will change next 10 years of tech landscape more than last 50, Biden says

In 2004, Canada made it illegal to knowingly create a human clone regardless of purpose with the Assisted Human Reproduction Act.

Experts have warned of the dangers of AI, saying that it could pose more of a risk of extinction than nuclear weapons, with some calling for its development to be slowed until regulations are 

Champagne said Wednesday that Canada will likely be the first country in the world to have a digital charter with a chapter on responsible AI.

Bill C-27 proposes the creation of a new AI and data commissioner that could potentially monitor company compliance or order third-party audits, and would also ban "reckless and malicious" use of AI.

The bill has passed a first and second reading in the House of Commons but still has to go through committee, a third reading and the Senate before becoming law. It is due to come into effect no earlier than 2025.

"Why I'm so excited about the digital charter in Canada is that if you want to lead internationally, you need to fix your own house first," he said.

Champagne said Canada is ahead of the European Union's upcoming regulations for AI, which he estimates will be finalized in 2026.

He said AI will be "cross-industry" and "touch every aspect of our lives." Due to its scale, he said Canada needs to invest more in cybersecurity and have the "brain power" to protect the industries of the future.

On Tuesday, Canada announced new pathways for tech workers to gain permanent residence, with Immigration Minister Sean Fraser saying at Collision that Canada is in a "global race" for talent.

-- with files from The Canadian Press and Aaron D'Andrea.

'Draconian' internet shutdowns in parts of India mean Canadians can't contact family. And it's happened before

Story by Shlok Talati • Jul  14, 2023

Tony Huidrom, a Toronto-based medical professional, was visiting family in India's eastern state of Manipur for a month, during which time he had no way of contacting his family in Toronto due to internet blackouts.

"Once I entered Manipur, I was in the dark for seven days," he said. Now that he's back in Canada, Huidrom says he has to muddle his way through to connect with his 90-year-old father, who's still in India.

The sparsely populated state is reeling from ethnic violence that's affected tens of thousands of people. Amid the ongoing violence, Manipur remains under a government-authorized internet shutdown that has lasted for more than a month, leaving diaspora communities in Canada scrambling to reach families back home. Notwithstanding expensive international calling, the internet is the only way for many here to connect with friends and relatives.

The government calls the clampdown on the internet a way to maintain law and order in the area, similar to the long-lasting internet blackout that took place in India-controlled Kashmir in 2019. But experts say denying internet access has become a default policing tactic by Indian authorities.

Huidrom's brother works in a government office in India, one of the few places where the internet still works. Huidrom, mindful of the nine and a half hour time difference, calls his brother's office every day.

"When I miss the timing of my brother's office hours, I cannot communicate," he said, calling the government's move to ban the internet inhumane and unacceptable.

"That's the crudest form of punishment to the public, showing their naked failure to control the violence, and this is not the only time we've had something like this," Huidrom said.

Part of a consistent trend

Manipur is the latest addition to a long list of internet shutdowns in India. According to Access Now, an internet advocacy watchdog, India has topped the yearly count of internet shutdowns across the world for five straight years.

Since 2018, India has shut down the internet more often than any other country in the world. One Access Now estimate says India was responsible for the most shutdowns in 2022 — with 84 out of 187 global shutdowns.

CBC News reached out to the High Commission of India in Ottawa about the internet shutdowns and how they are impacting people trying to reach relatives back home. In a statement received on Tuesday, High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma wrote that Indian citizens in Canada "are welcome to consult us in case of consular difficulties they are facing."

"As a responsible government of the largest democracy in the world, we take actions to maintain law and order, which are fully compliant with the sovereign Indian legal framework. All our international commitments are very much parts of the larger Indian legal framework, which we observe and cherish," Verma wrote in an email.



Members of the All Assam Students' Union and North East Students' Organisation take part in a candlelight vigil in the district of Guwahati on June 28. The vigil was promoting the restoration of peace amid ongoing ethnic violence in India's north-eastern Manipur state.

 (Biju Boro/AFP via Getty Images)

Vancouver-resident Lienlaltheng Gangte's ancestral home in Manipur was burned down at the beginning of the conflict. His 80-year-old father is currently one of nearly 60,000 people who are out of their homes.

Manipur is teetering on what many believe is the brink of a civil war. Ethnic clashes between two communities — the Kukis and the majority Meitei — have left more than 100 dead and over 400 wounded.

Gangte is the founding member of North American Manipur Tribal Association, formed as a response to the conflict. In a little more than a month, it has gained more than 150 members from across the country.

With the internet blackout, Gangte says, the government has made the conflict worse.


Different groups take part in a solidarity prayer meet at a school in Guwahati for the restoration of peace in Manipur during recent ethnic violence, on June 24 in India. The violence between two warring communities in the state has left more than 100 people dead and nearly 40,000 displaced. 

(Biju Boro/AFP via Getty Images)

"The most personal and immediate issue now is to be able to talk to friends and family to see how they are doing, and that itself, is severely limited now," he said.

He has written to the High Commission of India in Ottawa to get them to address the crisis, but hasn't received any response yet.

A report by the Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) titled No Internet Means No Work, No Pay, No Food and released on June 14 found that internet shutdowns in India are often unwarranted, unaccounted for and deny basic rights to marginalized people and those living in poverty.

"HRW and IFF call upon the Indian central and state governments to end broad, indiscriminate shutdowns," the report reads.

Shutdowns undemocratic, expert says

Jonathan Penney, a legal scholar and social scientist at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, believes blockades to communication channels are not a sign of a healthy democracy.

"When you shut down critical communications infrastructure like the internet, citizens suffer," said Penney, who has research and teaching expertise in law, technology and human rights.

"Fundamental rights, like rights of free expression, association and the right to seek, receive and impart information are seriously crippled, with serious implications for the long-term health of Indian democracy."

In August 2019, the government completely blocked all communication networks in India-controlled Kashmir for an unprecedented length of time. The complete blackout lasted for more than five months, becoming one of the longest internet shutdowns in a democratic country, according to Access Now.

The authorities shut down the internet in an effort to prevent Kashmiris from organizing protests after the government revoked the state's constitutional autonomous status, splitting it into two separate, federally governed territories.

Some services were gradually restored, but mobile 4G internet access remained effectively down for more than 500 days, until February 2021.

During that lengthy shutdown in India-controlled Kashmir, the Indian Supreme Court — the country's highest judicial body — issued a landmark ruling in 2020, finding that internet suspensions are "drastic" measures that can only be used if they are necessary and unavoidable and if there are no less intrusive options.



Journalists hold signs during a protest against restrictions of internet and mobile networks at the Kashmir Press Club during a lockdown in Srinagar on Oct. 3, 2019, in India. 

(Tauseef Mustafa/AFP via Getty Images)

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, at a media briefing in the U.S. last year, addressed concerns around internet shutdowns in the country.

"The big song and dance about the internet being cut," he said. "Now, if you've reached a stage where you say that an internet cut is more dangerous than loss of human lives, then what can I say?"

The Indian government relies on provisions in India's Telegraph Act of 1885 to justify the shutdowns — a statute enacted during British colonial times. It was part of broader legal infrastructure that Britain relied on not only for telegraph censorship and surveillance in India, but also around the world.

"It is a cruel irony that today, this British Colonial Act is being abused by the Indian government to enforce draconian internet measures that undermine human rights and Indian democracy," Penney said.

Advocates push Liberals to relax Hong Kong immigration rules

Story by Alex Boutilier • GLOBAL NEWS - Wednesday, July 19, 2023

Immigration Minister Sean Fraser looks on during a press conference, in Ottawa, Monday, June 5, 2023.© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

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.”

Video: Advocate urges Canada to extend and expand its special immigration program for Hong Kong residents

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.



Social media influencers Logan Paul and KSI meet fans during a Prime promotional event in Copenhagen, Denmark, on June 27. (REUTERS)© Provided by cbc.ca

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."

Health Canada's recommended maximum caffeine intake for children up to age 18 is 2.5 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, per day.

For adults, it's no more than 400 milligrams.

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.

Video: Monster Energy recalls one of its energy drinks

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.

Video: Kids and youth should avoid sports and energy drinks, Canadian Paediatric Society warns

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.

© Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

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.

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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.