CANADA

MPs Plead Ignorance After Applauding Nazi War Veteran

By Alex Cosh • 26 Sept 2023 


Screenshot of House of Commons video.

Good morning Maple readers. We're sure you've all seen the news that Canadian MPs gave a standing ovation to a Ukrainian veteran of Adolf Hitler's Waffen SS in Parliament on Friday.

Given the urgency and international outrage surrounding this incident, we published a story on it yesterday, which you can read here.

MPs Plead Ignorance After Applauding Nazi War Veteran

Canada’s federal parties are pleading ignorance and pointing fingers after MPs

 gave a standing ovation to a Waffen SS veteran.

The Maple•Alex Cosh

The story looked at how every federal party is, in effect, pleading ignorance in order to explain why their MPs applauded a Nazi collaborator. The Liberals are piling the blame on Speaker Anthony Rota, who faced growing calls to resign on Monday. The Conservatives, meanwhile, are claiming that they could not have possibly known that the veteran fought with the Nazis.

However, as several critics pointed out, Rota shared biographical details about the veteran that should have made it obvious to anyone with a basic grasp of Second World War history that he fought on the side of Hitler.

Despite this, MPs from every party stood up and applauded.

Read the full story.

Here are some other articles and stories that covered this incident over the past few days.

Prime Minister Comments

Speaking to reporters in the House of Commons yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the incident was "extremely upsetting" and "deeply embarrassing" to Parliament. He then pivoted to talking about Canadian aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia's invasion, and referred to "Russian disinformation" and "propaganda."

Speaking for the first time since a Ukrainian Nazi Veteran was appalled during the Zelensky speech, Justin Trudeau says “this is deeply embarrassing to the Parliament of Canada and by extension to all Canadians,” adding it is “extremely upsetting that this happened” #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/6YfkGw74D5— Mackenzie Gray (@Gray_Mackenzie) September 25, 2023

Trudeau has yet to comment on a photo shared by the veteran's family on social media which apparently showed him waiting for a meeting with Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Bloc, NDP Call For Speaker's Resignation

As reported by The Globe and Mail yesterday:
"The Bloc Québécois has joined the calls for the resignation of the Speaker of the House of Commons, backing the NDP for Anthony Rota to go after he publicly honoured a Ukrainian-Canadian man as a Second World War hero although the man served in a Nazi SS unit during the war."

The story continued:
"As the Commons began its business earlier Monday, [NDP House Leader Peter] Julian called for the speakers resignation. The Bloc did not initially join Mr. Julian in seeking Mr. Rota’s departure. Nor did the Conservatives or Liberals."

Read the full story.
Liberal MPs Continue Piling Blame On Rota

As reported by CTV News:
"After issuing an in-person apology to the chamber, Rota sat in the Speaker's chair to listen to MPs from all sides decry how damaging it was that he invited and drew the chamber's attention to 98-year-old Yaroslav Hunka, who fought for the First Ukrainian Division, a volunteer unit under Nazi command."

The article continued:
"Government House Leader Karina Gould was first, saying that as a Canadian of Jewish origin and an MP who was photographed with the veteran in question, 'this hurt all of us.'"
Read the full story.

We've been here before...
Cultural Centre With Nazi Statue Received $35,000 Federal Grant For Protection From ‘Hate Crimes’

Ukrainian Nazi German Schutzmannschaft Battalion 201 with Roman Shukhevych (sitting, second from left), 1942 (Wikimedia Commons).

From The Maple, Sept. 3, 2021

An Edmonton cultural centre with a prominent bust of a Nazi collaborator and war criminal received over $35,000 from the federal government for a security system to protect it from hate crimes.
Read the full story.

The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men, by Eric Lichtblau


From Harper Collins (2015): "For the first time, once-secret government records and interviews tell the full story of the thousands of Nazis—from concentration camp guards to high-level officers in the Third Reich—who came to the United States after World War II and quietly settled into new lives. Many gained entry on their own as self-styled war 'refugees.' But some had help from the U.S. government."

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Canada’s Nazi Monuments

Why does Canada have not one but several memorials to Nazi collaborators?

UKRAINIAN NATIONALISTS

 And why, when statues are toppling all over the world, have Canadian Jewish groups remained silent?

ANTI FASCISTS HAVE GRAFFITIED THEM

LEV GOLINKIN

THE NATION
JULY 21, 2020

Heinrich Himmler reviews District Galicia SS troops

(Keystone-France / Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article has been updated both to reflect B’nai Brith Canada’s change in position since we originally published it and to include more of Aidan Fishman’s comments.

“Graffiti on monument commemorating Nazi SS division being investigated as a hate crime by police.” Ordinarily, you’d assume a headline about Nazis as victims came from The Onion (and indeed, they’ve been prescient on this). But it’s 2020; we’re well down the rabbit hole of the American president who calls neo-Nazis “good people,” and this all-too-real article is from the Ottawa Citizen, a major Canadian newspaper. Indeed, the news that Canada has a monument commemorating Third Reich soldiers is just the outer layer of a nesting doll of progressively shocking facts.

First, Canada has not one but several memorials to Nazi collaborators. Second, even though Canada, like the United States, is in the midst of a reckoning about statues to monsters, the chances of Ottawa’s doing anything, even speaking out, on this are next to none. Finally, Canadian-Jewish organizations—people you might think have an interest in denouncing monuments celebrating butchers of Jews—have been distinctly silent about this. That’s both stunning and unsurprising.

The story of how a monument to Nazi collaborators ended up in Canada—a nation that lost over 45,000 men fighting against the Nazis—is both dark and complex, involving geopolitics, historical revisionism, propaganda, anti-Semitism, and the quiet continuation of a war that for most people ended 75 years ago.

The story about Jewish organizations appeasing Holocaust distortion is far simpler. It’s a story about silence. And cowardice.

An “Unfortunate” Tribute to the SS

The monument in question is a cenotaph honoring members of the SS Galichina division of the Waffen-SS, the Nazi party’s military branch whose long list of war crimes includes the Holocaust. The pillar, which is located in a Ukrainian Cemetery in Oakville, Ontario, was vandalized with the words “Nazi war monument” sometime around June 21. Early in the investigation, the police classified the vandalism as a “hate crime,” meaning the SS members are the ones who were victims of hate here.

In response to David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen, the Halton Regional police spokesman stated, “This incident occurred to a monument and the graffiti appeared to target an identifiable group.” The fact that the “identifiable group” in question is an SS division didn’t seem to matter.

After Pugliese’s article gained traction, the Halton Regional police department apologized, stating that the incident has been reclassified as simple vandalism. The police chief added an admirable tweet, saying, “The most unfortunate part of all this is that any such monument would exist in the first place.”

It is, indeed unfortunate, for the SS Galichina (also known as the 14th Waffen-SS Division) was an actual unit in the SS, deemed important enough to receive a personal visit from Heinrich Himmler, Hitler’s second in command and one of the principal architects of the Holocaust.

During his speech to rally the Ukrainian SS troops, Himmler waxed poetic about how much better-off Ukraine was with the Jews exterminated and mused about the fighters’ willingness to slaughter Poles. SS Galichina recruitment posters proudly featured Hitler; there’s no doubt about just who it is the Oakville memorial honors.

But the truly unfortunate thing is that Oakville’s monument is only one of several glorifying Nazi collaborators and butchers of Jews scattered throughout Canada. Edmonton has a bust of Roman Shukhevych, who was in charge of a nationalist battalion serving as Nazi auxiliaries that later morphed into a German auxiliary police battalion. These units took part in lethal anti-Semitic violence and brutal counterinsurgency suppression. Shukhevych also commanded the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which killed Jews and systematically massacred 70,000–100,000 Poles; the Oakville cemetery has a prominent UPA monument as well.

Who built them? The Nazi collaborators themselves, whom Canada took in with open arms.

Butchers Welcome

The most infamous case of Nazis launching successful postwar careers in the New World is Operation Paperclip, when the US government secretly brought over Nazi scientists and engineers who helped pioneer America’s rocket program. But Operation Paperclip is known only because of its impact; the truth is, the United States and Canada took in thousands of concentration camp guards, SS fighters, and other Nazi collaborators from Ukraine and other nations such as Latvia, which had its own SS division, one it honors today with parades.

Unlike the Jews they had tortured and murdered, these Holocaust perpetrators got to settle down, start families, work, live, and die in peace. Along the way, they rebranded themselves as “victims of Communism” and “freedom fighters” to whitewash their bloody pasts. Once in a while you hear about one of them—some of the last remaining Nazis in the United States were Ukrainian—but most went on to live unmolested and free in North America.

There are several theories about why the US and Canadian governments welcomed these murderers. Some say it’s because they helped lead the fight against the USSR in the Cold War; indeed, declassified CIA materials admit to it. Others point out they were used as strike-breakers to weaken the resistance of labor movements.

Underneath, though, is a much simpler explanation: American and Canadian elites let in Holocaust perpetrators for the same reason they denied asylum to Jewish refugees on the MS St. Louis who desperately tried to escape the Holocaust only to be rejected at every port of call: anti-Semitism.

Enter Putin

In 2017, the awkwardness of being a country that simultaneously honors Canadians who died fighting for the Allies and Ukrainian units who fought for the Third Reich exploded into international headlines. The scandal was triggered by an interesting party: Moscow.

Vladimir Putin has made World War II remembrance a cornerstone of building patriotism and pride in Russia, commemorating the USSR’s enormous sacrifice with films and elaborate parades. Moscow’s focus on defeating the Nazis went into overdrive after the 2013–14 Ukrainian uprising. The new Kiev government had its own neo-Nazi battalions and instituted an ultranationalist policy of officially honoring Shukhevych, the SS Galichina, and other Nazi lackeys and Holocaust perpetrators. These actions, which I and others reported for The Nation, have been condemned by Israel and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, among others.

Moscow seized on this to justify annexing Crimea and supporting separatists in Eastern Ukraine. To this day, the Kremlin propaganda machine delights in trolling the West about Ukraine and other nations’ whitewashing of Nazi collaborators; in addition to feeding the cult of WWII at home, the trolling is used to put Russia’s Western adversaries in an awkward spot.

Three years ago, the Kremlin decided to take the show on the road. The Russian embassy in Canada began gleefully tweeting about the Canadian monuments, including the SS Galichina memorial in Oakville. It’s safe to assume Moscow knew that this would create a wedge issue between Ottawa and Canada’s large Ukrainian diaspora.

But the Russian trolling backfired. Indeed, Moscow propaganda bemoaning Nazi whitewashing was a gift for the whitewashers, who began to attack anyone protesting the glorification of Nazi collaborators as carrying water for the Kremlin. Under anything approaching normal circumstances, the “You’re siding with Putin” logic wouldn’t have worked in a remedial middle school debate. It’s the ultimate straw man argument—the question of whether we should condemn those who honor Nazi butchers and engage in Holocaust distortion has nothing to do with Russia. The Kremlin, like most governments, routinely denounces things like terrorist attacks; does that make Americans who oppose terrorism Kremlin stooges?

But this didn’t happen under normal circumstances. It happened during the three-year orgy of Russiagate, when accusations of doing Putin’s bidding were hurled with abandon in the media. In this miasma, ultranationalist accusations became an extraordinarily effective weapon, deployed to smear anyone who dared speak out.

The Russia factor transformed a clear case of anti-Semitism into a debatable affair. Western outlets churned out insipid articles framing the issue as a Russia story while allowing that perhaps those glorifying Holocaust perpetrators had valid points. A common argument is that Shukhevych and others were honored for fighting the Soviets, not slaughtering Jews. Osama bin Laden also fought against Moscow; should we erect statues celebrating his efforts?

The very media that rightfully denounced Trump for both-siding white supremacists ended up both-siding Holocaust distortion.

“Nazi war monument” has been scrawled on a memorial to the 1st Ukrainian Division of the Ukrainian National Army in St. Volodymyr Ukrainian Cemetery in Oakville, Ont.(Kontakt Ukrainian TV / YouTube)

“A Threat to Democracy”

To understand just how serious (and career-threatening) the Russia charges were, consider that over the past couple of years, we’ve witnessed an explosion of anti-Semitism, including Holocaust distortion/denial. Yet the only reason you’re reading about Canada designating Nazi collaborators “hate crime” victims is because of three people: the Ottawa Citizen’s Pugliese, fellow journalist Scott Taylor, and American blogger Moss Robeson, who’ve hammered away at the issue in the media and on Twitter.

Pugliese and Taylor weighed in on the glorification of Ukrainian and Latvian Nazi collaborators before and were attacked for it at international levels. The Ukrainian embassy in Canada accused Pugliese of writing “Kremlin-style propaganda,” while the Latvian foreign ministry labeled his articles a “threat to democracy.” Meanwhile, the Latvian ambassador to Canada accused Taylor of swallowing Russian propaganda.

Nor is this limited to the media. In 2012, Swedish postdoctoral fellow Per Anders Rudling, who bravely chronicled the whitewashing of Shukhevych and others, was subjected to a brutal campaign designed to discredit his academic career.

Related Article

Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine
LEV GOLINKIN

Despite their different professions and nationalities, Pugliese, Taylor, Robeson, and Rudling have one thing in common: None of them run websites with prominently placed donation buttons asking for money to fight anti-Semitism. Canadian-Jewish organizations, on the other hand, have those buttons. This takes us to the final sordid part of this story—appeasement by Jewish groups.

The two major Jewish-Canadian advocacy groups are the Centre for Israeli and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and B’nai Brith Canada. Despite Canada’s Nazi collaborator monuments’ having been in the news for three years, the CIJA’s press release section doesn’t contain a single item on the issue. (CIJA’s press office did not respond to a request for any pertinent press releases.) That’s despite CIJA’s numerous denunciations of other anti-Semitic incidents.

B’nai Brith’s behavior has been even stranger. In 2017, B’nai Brith official Aidan Fishman told Canada’s National Post: “Clearly, if there actually are monuments to Nazis in Canada we would be quite concerned about that,” adding that “The Russian government sometimes uses the word ‘Nazi,’ especially in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, with somewhat broader meaning than other groups would use it.” Fishman told the National Post the Russian embassy tweets were potentially an attempt “to take shots at the Ukrainian community in Canada.”

In a follow-up article about the monuments to SS Galichina and Nazi collaborator Shukhevych, Fishman told the National Post: “I think the question that Canadians really need to ask is, does the presence of these monuments in any way contribute to anti-Semitism, or to other forms of racism or bigotry in Canada today?” Fishman told the National Post the answer appeared to be “no,” adding that “the intent of these monuments is not to stir up hatred or glorify crimes against Jews,” and that, while B’nai Brith did not support the creation of new monuments of this kind, it did not see a need to call for the removal of the existing ones.

Fishman did add that: “I think that the communities that have established these monuments, so namely the Ukrainian-Canadian community, should take a critical look at these facts and should remind themselves that many of these people were engaged in collaboration with the Nazis…and that may change the way that these people are portrayed and perceived in their own community.”

B’nai Brith later condemned the “glorification of Nazis” in Europe, not the more inconvenient commemorations at home. At the same time, it was vocal about Shukhevych’s crimes and supported an effort to strip another Ukrainian war criminal of Canadian citizenship.

When it comes to the recent uproar over the Oakville monument, B’nai Brith appears to have split the difference between defending and condemning Nazi collaborators, initially electing to remain silent. However, in response to an inquiry from The Nation, the group said, “There is no place for monuments in our society that glorify military units, political organizations or individuals who collaborated with the Nazis in World War II. B’nai Brith Canada calls for such monuments to be removed and for comprehensive education efforts to accurately portray the historical record of those individuals and organizations involved.” The only major Jewish organization to forthrightly address the current scandal is the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Unfortunately, this isn’t surprising. As I and others have noted, Jewish groups appear to be following Benjamin Netanyahu’s lead. Netanyahu has turned a blind eye to horrific Holocaust denial/distortion in Eastern Europe, including Poland, Lithuania, and Hungary, in exchange for favorable UN votes. Perhaps that’s the case here.

Either way, motivations don’t much matter. The sentence, “We are choosing to remain silent on Holocaust distortion because…” doesn’t have a morally justifiable ending—especially when you’re raising money to fight anti-Semitism.

Those who fought in WWII and Jews caught in the horrors of the Holocaust were faced with terrifying demands: charging the beaches of Normandy, surviving unspeakable conditions, carrying out real resistance behind enemy lines. We are given much simpler tasks. We’re merely asked to speak up for the memory of dead Jews and Allied soldiers. Unfortunately, so far we have failed, which is why Canada’s Nazi monuments continue to stand tall.

UPDATE: Following the publication of this article and the general backlash against Nazi monuments, B’nai Brith issued a press release titled “Nazi Collaborators Should Not Be Honoured In Canada,” stating that: “It is unfathomable that Nazi glorification be allowed to continue in this country.” The group went on to denounce the Oakville cenotaph as an “affront to the memory of Canadian veterans and the victims of Nazi atrocities,” and demand its removal, as well as of monuments to Shukhevych and “all others like it that glorify Nazis in Canada.”

The press release further denounced the evils of Nazis and Nazi collaborators as “unambiguous,” adding “The idea that there are officials in this country who could tolerate any other interpretation of these events is extremely disturbing to most Canadians.”

Lev GolinkinLev Golinkin is the author of A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka, Amazon’s Debut of the Month, a Barnes & Noble’s Discover Great New Writers program selection, and winner of the Premio Salerno Libro d’Europa. His writing on the Ukraine crisis, Russia, the far right, and immigrant and refugee identity has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Boston Globe, Politico Europe, and Time (online), among other venues.

REVANCHIST REACTIONARY 

UN rebukes Suella Braverman over her attack on refugee convention

UNHCR defends 1951 convention after UK home secretary’s speech on ‘uncontrolled and illegal migration’

01:44  Global asylum framework incentivises illegal migration, says Suella Braverman – video

Rajeev Syal and Ben Quinn

THE GUARDIAN

Tue 26 Sep 2023 

The UN’s refugee agency has rebuked Suella Braverman after she claimed that world leaders had failed to make wholesale reform of human rights laws because of fears of being branded “racist or illiberal”.

The UNHCR issued a highly unusual statement on Tuesday defending the 1951 refugee convention and highlighting the UK’s record asylum claim backlog.


It came after the home secretary refused to rule out leaving the convention and said the international community had “collectively failed” to modernise international laws.

She also claimed that women and gay people must face more than discrimination if they are to qualify as a refugee – a statement that has been challenged by refugee charities.


Speaking to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC, Braverman claimed the international community had failed to reform the UN’s refugee convention of 1951 and the European convention on human rights (ECHR).

“The first [reason] is simply that it is very hard to renegotiate these instruments. The second is much more cynical. The fear of being branded a racist or illiberal. Any attempt to reform the refugee convention will see you smeared as anti-refugee,” she said.

She began her speech by claiming that uncontrolled and illegal migration posed an “existential challenge” to Europe and the US.

“I’m here in America to talk about a critical and shared global challenge: uncontrolled and illegal migration,” she said. “It is an existential challenge for the political and cultural institutions of the west.”

She claimed case law arising from the refugee convention had lowered the threshold so that asylum seekers needed only prove that they faced discrimination instead of a real risk of torture, death or violence.

“Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary. But we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if, in effect, simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin is sufficient to qualify for protection.”

Asked after the speech whether the UK would consider leaving the convention if changes were not delivered, Braverman said the government would do “whatever is required” to tackle the issue of migrants arriving via unauthorised routes.

She said: “The prime minister himself has said we will do whatever it takes to stop the boats and that is my position.”

In a statement, the UNHCR backed the convention and questioned Braverman’s distinction between persecution and discrimination.

“The refugee convention remains as relevant today as when it was adopted. Where individuals are at risk of persecution on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, it is crucial that they are able to seek safety and protection,” it said.

Rejecting an overhaul of the convention, the UNHCR called for a “more consistent application of the convention and its underlying principle of responsibility-sharing” and pointedly referred to the UK’s asylum backlog, which was more than 175,000 last month.

“An appropriate response to the increase in arrivals and to the UK’s current asylum backlog would include strengthening and expediting decision-making procedures,” the statement said.

Responding to the speech, the Refugee Council, which works closely with asylum seekers, questioned Braverman’s claim that there was a lower bar to being granted asylum on the grounds of discrimination.

Jon Featonby, the charity’s chief policy analyst, said: “In our work with people in the asylum system, we have seen no evidence that Home Office decision-makers are lowering the threshold for asylum so that a well-founded fear of persecution is replaced with discrimination. The home secretary’s claims do not appear to be grounded in credible evidence.”

ActionAid UK said seeking asylum was the only lifeline left for the many women and girls its dealt with who were fleeing persecution. The charity’s chief executive, Halima Begum, said: “Denying this fundamental right is not just a policy choice; it’s a direct affront to gender equality and human rights.”

Andrew Boff, a Conservative London assembly member and patron of the LGBT+ Conservative group, said Braverman should stop engaging in “dog-whistle” politics and focus on the “basket case” that was her department.

“Talking about the victims of persecution as if they are the problem is incredibly unhelpful and really paints us as an uncaring party. I’m deeply unhappy with it,” he said.

The 4,497-word speech came after two days of headlines about Braverman’s three-day visit to the US during which she is expected to meet representatives of the Biden administration.

Braverman held back from calling for the UK to leave the ECHR – a move that friends say she would like to see in a Conservative election manifesto – but said leaving human rights conventions had been supported by previous Tory leaders.

“As home secretary, Theresa May called for Britain to leave the ECHR. And it was Conservative party policy under Michael Howard to leave the refugee convention – I’m merely advocating for reform,” she said.

A former Tory cabinet minister told the Guardian that Braverman was making a “cynical pitch” to gain support before the Conservative party’s annual conference, which begins this weekend.

“The home secretary has created a row to obscure her poor record in office given she has a stalled Rwanda scheme, a stalled barge for migrants, and a mutinous police force,” the former minister said.

As she left the thinktank’s venue, Braverman ignored a question from a reporter asking whether her speech had been designed to improve her chances of becoming Conservative leader.

UK interior minister to question role of UN refugee convention

By AFP
September 26, 2023 

UK interior minister Suella Braverman was on Tuesday to question whether the United Nations Refugee Convention was “fit for our modern age” during a keynote speech at a US think-tank in Washington.

The speech at the centre-right American Enterprise Institute is intended to lay out an international plan to deal with the refugee crisis, a key political issue for her struggling Conservative party back home.

Braverman is set to call the UN convention “an incredible achievement of its age”, according to extracts released to the British media.

“But more than 70 years on, we now live in a completely different time,” she was to say, citing a study that says the convention now gives 780 million people the potential right to move to another country.

“It is therefore incumbent upon politicians and thought leaders to ask whether the Refugee Convention, and the way it has come to be interpreted through our courts, is fit for our modern age. Or whether it is in need of reform.”

Western countries will not be able to sustain an asylum system “if in effect simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin is sufficient to qualify for protection”, she was to add.

– ‘Absurd’ –

The 1951 Refugee Convention legally defines the term “refugee” and outlines their rights.

The UK government is currently languishing in the polls and has been struggling to stem the flow since Brexit of small boat crossings from mainland Europe.

Almost 24,000 people have made the trip this year, adding to a record backlog in asylum claims and heaping pressure on ministers who promised to “take back control” of UK borders after leaving the European Union.

Controversial proposals to tackle the issue include criminalising irregular migration and sending failed asylum seekers for resettlement in Rwanda.

Braverman, a lawyer who has criticised the European Convention on Human Rights for blocking the Rwanda scheme, will say that a system where “people are able to travel through multiple safe countries… while they pick their preferred destination to claim asylum, is absurd and unsustainable”.

But non-profit group the Refugee Council said the UK should instead be “addressing the real issues in the asylum system, such as the record backlog, and providing safe routes for those in need of protection” rather than taking aim at the UN convention.

Yvette Cooper, home affairs spokeswoman for the opposition Labour Party, accused Braverman of having “given up on fixing the Tories’ asylum chaos” and is “looking for anyone else to blame”.

While in the United States, Braverman is due to meet US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Attorney General Merrick Garland for talks on migration, among other topics.

Smirking Suella trashes 70 years of human rights in 30 minutes

Time to ditch the UN convention, said Braverman, we’d all been far too nice to people fleeing persecution

John Crace

THE GUARDIAN

Tue 26 Sep 2023 

Call the US jaunt a win-win for Suella Braverman. Trying to get the rest of the world to ditch its obligations to the 1951 UN refugee convention was always a long shot, but there was the off chance that UK voters would be confused enough to imagine the home secretary was on top of the small boats chaos. More to the point, Braverman got to imitate a global player ahead of this weekend’s Conservative party conference.

No bad thing, when there might be a vacancy for a new leader within a year or so. There’s nothing the Tory right love more than someone who bounces around their own echo chamber. And here was Suella out-Kemiing Kemi. Imagining she was saying the things that cannot be said, when really all she was doing was cynically stoking a culture war. Not to mention blaming her own failures on international agreements. No matter. Braverman will say anything, do anything, to secure the Tory leadership. Though if Suella is the answer, the Tories should urgently ask themselves what exactly the question is.

It’s sometimes hard to know why Braverman is still in her job. After all, it’s not as if she’s made a success of being home secretary. One of Rishi Sunak’s five promises was to stop the boats this year and she’s failed spectacularly at that. Worse, the backlog for processing asylum claims is growing with the hotel bill for applicants now £8m a day. Under normal circumstances that might make her vulnerable to the sack, but Suella is armour plated. No one cares that she’s actually not very capable or even very bright – becoming a lawyer must be easier than it looks. All that seems to count is that she is the darling of the right.

Whether anyone in the US was actually listening to the home secretary – almost certainly not – was immaterial. This was an overseas speech given at the centre-right American Enterprise Institute aimed almost exclusively at a home audience. Braverman didn’t waste any time with introductions, cutting to the chase immediately. The greatest threat to the planet was uncontrolled and illegal migration. I could have sworn that poverty and the climate crisis might be up there as greater threats. Then, what do I know. We must all bow before the weight of Suella’s intellect.


Braverman went on to quote a whole load of statistics. Only one of which was sourced. To Nick Timothy, Theresa May’s former adviser. It would be no surprise if all the numbers later turned out to be complete bollocks. Then anyone who dares question her has been duped by the global consensus.

Anyway, here was the deal. There were 900 million migrants on the loose and they were all headed for the UK in the largest ever convoy of small boats. And almost all of the 900 million were heading to Leicester where they were out to cause trouble. As far as anyone in the Home Office knows, Suella has never been to Leicester and knows nothing about it. But for some reason she’s got it in for the city.

There was then a brief acknowledgment of her own immigrant status. It was because her parents were immigrants that she knew how untrustworthy most immigrants were. Her parents had made an effort to assimilate British values. They had understood the importance of mutual respect and tolerance. But for some reason they had forgotten to pass those on to her. So she knew of what she spoke. Multiculturalism had failed. Even though the home secretary and the prime minister have Asian heritage. There were too many foreigners who had no interest in any culture other than their own. More importantly, the country was full. She had no idea that many European countries took far more asylum seekers than we did.

This led on to her solution. Get rid of the refugee convention. It was outdated. Past its sell-by date. Far too soft. We’d all been far too nice to people fleeing persecution. Now we were granting asylum to anyone who was feeling a wee bit uncomfortable in their homelands. Now, she had nothing against gay people or women. But really, it was about time they all toughened up a bit. If you can’t take a bit of discrimination and the odd death sentence then you’re not going to survive a moment in the modern world.

Then there was the European convention on human rights. Just open to abuse from lefty lawyers trying to make sure the law was upheld. There was nothing wrong with sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. So the ECHR had to go. There was nothing wrong in aligning with Russia and Belarus.

The only thing stopping most countries leaving these international conventions was that their leaders had been captured by the wokerati. They were too worried about being thought to be racists and bigots. People should just throw off their shackles and embrace their inner racist and bigot. It didn’t seem to have crossed Suella’s mind that the reason other countries weren’t keen to trash global treaties was that they weren’t racist or bigoted. Then, not a lot crosses her mind these days. She has very limited bandwidth.

What was needed was a new definition of refugee status. Preferably one that insisted anyone claiming to be a refugee was automatically lying and therefore could not be considered to be a refugee. As far as Braverman was concerned, this meant anyone coming from France could not be a refugee and therefore could be legally drowned. She wouldn’t rest until there were no asylum seekers left in the country.

That was it. Braverman smirked. It wasn’t clear whether she had just been freelancing or this was all now government policy. And Sunak was far too weak to tell us. So in 30 minutes, the home secretary had in effect trashed the UK’s human rights record for the past 70 years. Willing us to become a pariah state. She must be so proud. As must we.

LGBT+ Conservatives patron accuses Braverman of ‘dog-whistle’ politics

UK home secretary will say in US that Britain should not grant asylum to people who simply express fear of discrimination for being gay

Ben Quinn 

Political correspondent

THE GUARDIAN
@BenQuinn75

Tue 26 Sep 2023 

Suella Braverman has been accused of “dog-whistle” politics by a senior patron of LGBT+ Conservatives before a speech in which she will say that Britain should not grant asylum to people who simply express a fear of discrimination for being gay.

Comments the home secretary’s office said she would make were drawing criticism even before her speech to a rightwing US thinktank, and Labour challenged Conservative LGBT+ MPs and others to condemn the remarks.

Speaking to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC, Braverman will argue that the UN’s 1951 refugee convention must be reformed to tackle a worldwide migration crisis.

She will argue that case law arising from the convention has lowered the threshold so that asylum seekers need only prove that they face “discrimination” instead of a real risk of torture, death or violence.

She will say the change has increased the number of those who may qualify for asylum to “unsustainable” levels, adding: “Let me be clear, there are vast swathes of the world where it is extremely difficult to be gay, or to be a woman.”

“Where individuals are being persecuted, it is right that we offer sanctuary. But we will not be able to sustain an asylum system if, in effect, simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination in your country of origin, is sufficient to qualify for protection,” she will say, in pre-briefed comments that have already drawn fire.

Andrew Boff, a Conservative London Assembly member and patron of the LGBT+ Conservative group, said Braverman should stop engaging in “dog whistle” politics and focus on the “basket case” that was her department.

“Talking about the victims of persecution as if they are the problem is incredibly unhelpful and really paints us an an uncaring party. I’m deeply unhappy with it.”

“We have a proud record when it comes to gay rights, on things like HIV and equal marriage. I don’t want us to become one of those parties like Fidesz,” he added, referring to Hungary’s ruling party, which has become steadily more socially conservative and authoritarian.

The Labour MP, Ben Bradshaw, said on Twitter: “Any LGBT or other Tories prepared to condemn Braverman for this? She doesn’t seem to grasp that simply being gay is enough to result in persecution or death in many countries.”



However, Michael Fabricant, a Tory MP and another patron of the Conservative LGBT+ group, said that claiming to be gay “should not provide the key to entry to our country”.

“It’s unwise to make broad generalisations. If someone claims to be gay in order to seek asylum, that should not lift the bar to entry to the UK,” he said.

“However, if someone has experienced persecution from the country from which they are escaping, it presents a different and far more persuasive case. Each application should be considered carefully on its merits.”

The police minister, Chris Philp, told broadcasters that the UN’s refugee convention needed a rethink because people were using it to claim asylum on the basis of persecution they did not face.

He told Times Radio:“When I was immigration minister I came across a number of cases when people had claimed to be gay, produced photographs of them and a sort of same-sex partner and it turned out on further investigation it was a sibling, it wasn’t a same-sex partner at all,” he added.

Gideon Rabinowitz, director of policy and advocacy at Bond, an umbrella body for UK NGOs, said Braverman was engaging in “divisive and dangerous” rhetoric after the number of LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum-seekers globally had increased in recent decades.

Over a dozen Hells Angels members indicted in brutal attack on 3 Black men in San Diego

Jeremy Childs
Tue, September 26, 2023 

San Diego County Dist. Atty. Summer Stephan, background center, announced grand jury indictments Monday against members of the Hells Angels in a vicious attack on three Black men. (K.C. Alfred / San Diego Union-Tribune)

A grand jury indicted 17 members and associates of a Hells Angels motorcycle gang in a seemingly unprovoked and brutal attack on three Black men in San Diego this summer.

The assault occurred June 6 in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego.

The three victims, ages 19, 20 and 21, were out together on Newport Avenue when they were chased by several members of the Hells Angels biker gang. Prosecutors said one of the men might have spoken to a girlfriend of one of the bikers before the pursuit.

One victim was beaten until he lost consciousness, while a second one was beaten and stabbed, allegedly by the leader of the gang, identified by prosecutors as Troy Scholder, 43. The third man was able to run away and escaped injury.

Months of investigations by the San Diego Police Department and the district attorney's office led to the indictment of 14 people with charges of assault likely to cause great bodily injury and special allegations of being part of a criminal street gang. Eleven of the charges had additional hate crime enhancements.

Three other people are facing lesser charges on suspicion of driving Scholder from the scene to the Hells Angels Clubhouse in El Cajon, authorities said.

“In San Diego County, we cannot, and will not, tolerate violence and racism of any nature, much less crimes like this hateful, vicious, and unprovoked attack,” San Diego County Dist. Atty. Summer Stephan said in a statement.

The 17 defendants were arrested last week and, on Monday, pleaded not guilty to their respective charges, authorities said. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported the suspects ranged in age from 22 to 57.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Nov. 3, with a trial set to begin Nov. 14.

The investigation into the assault involved assistance from seven local law enforcement agencies in San Diego County as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

IT'S IN THE ANGELS NATURE

Feds unlock another $20 billion for low-cost rental construction financing: Freeland

The Canadian Press
Tue, September 26, 2023 



OTTAWA — The federal government is unlocking another $20 billion in low-cost financing for the construction of rental housing across Canada, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Tuesday.

The Canada Mortgage Bonds program, which raises funds for residential mortgage financing, had an annual limit of $40 billion.

The limit is being increased to $60 billion, which the federal government says will increase rental construction by 30,000 units annually.

"There is no fiscal impact for the government of Canada as a result of this measure. This is fiscally responsible policy using policy tools at our disposal," Freeland told reporters Tuesday in Ottawa.

"This is a further measure in our broader and continuing campaign to build more homes for Canadians faster."

The Liberals also introduced legislation last week to eliminate GST charges on rental developments as Ottawa ramps up efforts to increase the housing supply.

Experts say the shortage of purpose-built rentals is the most acute and is eroding housing affordability across the country.

"Our message to builders today is that it’s time to get shovels in the ground," said federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser, who was also at the announcement."We are going to leverage all the tools at our disposal to make it easier for you to say yes to build more homes for Canadians," Fraser said.

"We're going to address the specific challenges at the root of the housing crisis we’re living through."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2023.

The Canadian Press

After 4 months, Pakistan resumes issuing ID cards to transgender people, officials say

MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN GOP AMERIKA

The Canadian Press
Tue, September 26, 2023 

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities resumed issuing ID cards to transgender people, officials and activists said Tuesday, after a four-month pause and following an Islamic court's controversial ruling that gutted a law aimed at protecting trans rights.

The national database and registry, or NADRA, halted the cards after an Islamic court ruled in May that trans people cannot change their gender at will and that giving them equal rights goes against Islam.

The court said authorities should stop issuing cards with the X designation signifying a third gender that is neither male nor female. An ID card is needed to open a bank account, get a driver's license, access medical care and other everyday services in Pakistan.

The Islamic court has the constitutional mandate of examining and determining whether laws passed by Pakistan’s parliament comply with Islamic doctrine.

Activist Farhatullah Babar told The Associated Press that human rights activists have appealed the court's ruling to get it reversed on the grounds that it denied trans people basic rights.

NADRA officials confirmed they resumed giving out ID cards to trans people and explained their legal team had concluded they can do so since the Islamic court's ruling has now been challenged. Under Pakistani laws, a court ruling cannot go into effect until an appeal or review petition is decided.

Parliament in 2018 adopted the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act to secure the fundamental rights of transgender Pakistanis, including their access to legal gender recognition.

But many in the Muslim-majority country have entrenched beliefs on gender and sexuality and trans people are often considered outcasts. Some are forced into begging, dancing and even prostitution to earn money. They also live in fear of attacks.

NADRA’s decision was welcomed by Nayyab Ali, a trans activist.

“Congratulations to the entire community of transgender activists in Pakistan for your relentless struggle," she posted on Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter. “A heartfelt thank you to all the institutions."

The Associated Press

'Mum-shaming' of Sophie Turner is part of a problem that harms all parents

Fiona Woollard, Professor of Philosophy, University of Southampton
Mon, September 25, 2023 

The Conversation

The high-profile divorce of Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner is sparking discussions about mum-shaming.

lev radin/Shutterstock

Like many celebrity divorces, the split of Sophie Turner and singer Joe Jonas has been accompanied by a flurry of rumours. It was reported that the breakup happened because the Game of Thrones actress “likes to party” whereas “he likes to stay at home”.

There has been a swift backlash to this speculation. Commentators from Rolling Stone, Glamour, Vogue, Radio 4 Women’s Hour and others have denounced the rumours as misogyny and “mum-shaming”.

It is not surprising that these comments hit a nerve. Many mothers (and other parents, such as non-binary parents who are seen as mothers), far less famous than Turner, have had their own experiences of shaming.

The parents who make use of childcare and hear comments like: “Why do people have children when they don’t mean to raise them?” Or the observation that you are “so lucky” that the father of your children has agreed to “babysit” so you can attend work drinks. This was evident in the Turner-Jonas discourse too, with Jonas painted as caring for the couple’s children “pretty much all of the time” in recent months.

The practice of mum-shaming – criticising mothers for their parenting styles or choices – is centuries old. In 1762, philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau held women who did “deign to breastfeed their children” responsible for all society’s problems. Social media has made it easier to shame mothers from behind a screen.

My work in the philosophy of pregnancy, birth and early parenthood tries to understand why all this happens. I identify mistakes in society’s thinking about motherhood and show how they contribute to the pressure that mothers experience.

There is a gendered double standard inherent in many mum-shaming comments, where fathers are likely to be praised for parenting that would be seen as the bare minimum for a mother.

But fathers can also suffer from assumptions that they are not capable of caring for their children. This may well contribute to barriers to men taking time off work for caring responsibilities.

The conflicting ideals of motherhood

Depictions of motherhood in popular culture often communicate the idea that the mother who sacrifices everything for her children is the best kind of mother. Like many aspects of parent shaming, there is a contradiction here: mothers who don’t work are often looked down on, as are mothers who work “too much”.

Petra Bueskens, an expert in motherhood, psychoanalysis and social and political theory, argues that modern mothers are caught between two conflicting ideals of individual freedom and self-sacrificing motherhood.

And these ideals depend on one another: the original free individuals were men, who were able to be free precisely because their wives and mothers were taking on all caring responsibilities. Women claimed equality with men as individuals, but the expectations of motherhood remained.

Despite the problems she identifies, Bueskens’ conclusion is hopeful. Her book contains case studies of mothers finding ways to navigate the contradictions between freedom and care. Bueskens even argues that recognition of these contradictions might transform society.

What’s more, sacrifice by mothers is seen as a good thing for their children. But this might not be true.

Respecting mothers’ choices

I’m a bit wary of justifying women’s choices by appealing to the positive effect on their children. If women matter in their own right, then we should not need to do this. Having said that, claiming your own identity does send a positive message to your children, especially if those children are girls.

Research suggests that having a mother who works can have long-term benefits for children. It is also important to tell our children that mothers are entitled to have interests that aren’t either family or work-related.

As outside observers – and even other parents – we must notice and be very suspicious of inclinations to judge individual mothers. We should ask ourselves whether we would react the same way to a father. If not, it is possible that we are being influenced by these unfair ideas about motherhood.

Parents are also likely to be judged even more harshly if they do not fit the image of a “typical” or “good” mother or father, such as parents who are older, younger, disabled or from an ethnic minority.

Ideally, I would like to help improve the way society treats parents. In the meantime, it can be helpful for parents to recognise their individual experiences as part of a larger pattern. This can help them feel less alone and to make informed decisions about how to respond.

Getting the balance right between our own needs and our children’s needs is tricky. Stopping mum-shaming is just the start.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.


Fiona Woollard was part of the Better Understanding the Metaphysics of Pregnancy (BUMP) project funded by European Research Council. She has also received funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council; the Economic and Social Research Council (through the University of Southampton ESRC Impact Acceleration Account); the Southampton Ethics Centre and the Mind Association.

On Canada Project Opinion: 

Colonialism is still killing Indigenous Youth

A northern Ontario First Nation is struggling with the effects of one of Canada's worst cases of environmental poisoning

On Canada Project
Tue, September 26, 2023

Colonialism still killing Indigenous youth (ON CANADA PROJECT)

On Canada Project is a social advocacy group made up of neighbourhood nerds who are here to dismantle the status quo and champion change in our lives.

—

Half a century after mercury contaminated Grassy Narrows First Nation, Indigenous people are still being poisoned — with deadly consequences.

Grassy Narrows First Nation poisoning

Located in northern Ontario, Grassy Narrows First Nation is an Anishnaabe community that for hundreds of years, existed using forests, rivers, land and lakes for their physical, economical, cultural and spiritual sustenance.

Grassy Narrows First Nation poisoning

Declared as one of the worst cases of environmental poisoning cases in Canada, 90 per cent of Grassy Narrows community members are showing physical and cognitive symptoms in line with that of mercury poisoning.

Grassy Narrows First Nation Poisoning

The question is not why should you care? but rather, why are you not absolutely furious this has been allowed to happen?

When considering if colonialism is impacting Indigenous lives today, how about this? Almost half of all teen girls in the Grassy Narrows community have attempted suicide.

Grassy Narrows First Nation poisoning

If we look at the massive response that the E.coli outbreak among Alberta daycares received on a national level, the media silence over the devastating impact the poisoning of an Indigenous community received is staggering.

Grassy Narrows First Nation Poisoning

The fight for survival of Grassy Narrows community members is a true story of resistance, environmental protection and resilience.

Today, Ontario Premier Doug Ford is actively allowing mining companies — without the consent of the Grassy Narrows First Nation — to stake thousands of claims on First Nation's land from the comfort of their offices.

Grassy Narrows First Nation poisoning

Four days remain until Canada's third National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are observed. The question we should be asking ourselves is what more should we be doing as Canadians to reconcile this stain on our nation's dark past?

Grassy Narrows First Nation poisoning

—

Check our Instagram to learn more.

'We're wounded': Calls for action ring out at flag-raising honouring residential school survivors

CBC
Tue, September 26, 2023 

Shirley Isbister, president at Central Urban Métis Federation Inc., attended the raising of the Survivors' Flag on Monday at Saskatoon city hall. (Submitted by CBC News - image credit)

Eugene Arcand says it is time to see some true action and effort to right the wrongs stemming from Canada's residential schools.

"I don't mean to wreck this party, but it's time we put reconciliation aside. It's a cop out," Arcand said. "I'm not seeing it. I seek effort. I seek kindness from our allies and our family members and our agencies that work with us."

Arcand was speaking at the raising of the Survivors' Flag, which he was involved in designing, outside Saskatoon city hall on Monday. The event came in advance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on Sept. 30. About 50 people were in attendance.

Arcand said there are people and organizations in the city that receive revenue from both levels of the government to work with Indigenous people, but that he did not see them at the flag-raising event.

"Icing on the cake is not enough" he said, "I continue to see the same number of people on the streets. I see the same people getting incarcerated. I see the courthouse full."

Eugene Arcand, a member of the Saskatoon Survivors Circle, speaks at the raising of the Survivors' Flag at Saskatoon City Hall on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Arcand is a Cree survivor of St. Michael's Indian Residential School and was involved in designing the Survivors' Flag.

Eugene Arcand, a member of the Saskatoon Survivors Circle, speaks at the raising of the Survivors' Flag at Saskatoon City Hall on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. Arcand is a Cree survivor of St. Michael's Indian Residential School and was involved in designing the Survivors' Flag. (CBC News)

Arcand, a survivor of St. Michael's Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, said he was asked to explain what the flag means but that there are times when the truth has to come out first.

"If I insulted anyone, that's too bad because I'm not apologizing anymore. The truth is what I just shared with you. That's how we feel. That's how we think — and we're wounded."

Shirley Isbister, president of Central Urban Métis Federation Inc., echoed Arcand's words and said, "We should have a much larger turnout than this in our community."

The Survivors' Flag, which honours the hundreds of children who never returned home from residential schools, was raised in front of city hall in Saskatoon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023.

The Survivors' Flag, which honours the hundreds of children who never returned home from residential schools, was raised in front of city hall in Saskatoon on Monday, Sept. 25, 2023. (CBC News)

Isbister said events like this mean so much to her because not only does the community come together to raise the flag but also to raise the pipe, have conversations, sit around and laugh.

She said that the day is a mixture of sadness and happiness — as her mother-in-law was in a residential school for 13 years, taken from Mistawasis First Nation — and she and her family still feel the effects of the intergenerational trauma.

People gathered in orange shirts at Saskatoon city hall Monday to honour residential school survivors and lost children.

People gathered in orange shirts at Saskatoon city hall Monday to honour residential school survivors and lost children. (Aishwarya Dudha/CBC)

Aly Bear, a Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations vice-chief, said she was there to represent her grandmother, who is the last survivor of her family.

Bear said she wants to see more than just "symbolic gestures."

"We need to actually have places of prayer in urban centres," she said. "We see churches. We see mosques. But do we see sweat lodges?"

Moving forward, she said she wants to see events like these packed.

"We need more people. I understand people are busy, but you make time for what's important. And what's important is our healing and healing together, moving forward together in a good way."

Man takes Quebec City to court over 'degrading' panhandling fine


CBC
Mon, September 25, 2023 

Many municipalities in the province including Trois-Rivières, Granby and Sherbrooke have similar bylaws that penalize panhandling. Michel Bolduc, who is not the person seen in the above photo, received a fine of $226.

 (Dillon Hodgin/CBC - image credit)

Two hundred and twenty-six dollars.

That's how much Michel Bolduc was fined for panhandling on the streets of Quebec City last September.

Bolduc, who is 65 years old and living off his Old Age Security pension, was sitting on the sidewalk with a plastic cup in hands, raising it toward passersby who were walking past him when police officers handed him a ticket.

By asking for change, he had violated the city's bylaw on keeping the peace and public order, which forbids soliciting, begging and loitering in a public space.

"It's to feed myself, that's why I do it," Bolduc said. "I can't pay that…I don't find it right. "

One year later, Bolduc still hasn't paid the "degrading" fine. He is challenging the ticket in municipal court. He argues the fine is a violation of his rights enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Panhandling is a "survival strategy," a recognized means of getting the basic necessities of life, said Florence Boucher-Cossette, the lawyer representing Bolduc. He was peacefully engaging with other citizens, just trying to get through the end of the month, she said.

According to Boucher-Cossette, the bylaw violates three different sections of the Charter by discriminating against him because he is poor and by infringing upon Bolduc's right to freedom of expression and his right to life, liberty and security.

Florence Boucher-Cossette, the lawyer representing Michel Bolduc, says ticket violates Bolduc's rights enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Florence Boucher-Cossette, the lawyer representing Michel Bolduc, says the ticket he received violates Bolduc's Canadian Charter rights. (Submitted by Carla de la Héronnière.)

"Fining poor people because they are poor does not work at all. In fact, it's such a burden that keeps them in poverty. They can be completely submerged in those fines. I've had clients who have received, I kid you not, $70,000 [in fines] in Quebec City," Boucher-Cossette told Quebec AM host Émilie Warren.

"You can never recover from that kind of debt. It's completely absurd," she said, adding that some people living in poverty — or even experiencing homelessness — can be jailed in Quebec City if they don't pay their fines for solicitation.

Quebec City isn't alone.

Many municipalities in the province including Trois-Rivières, Granby and Sherbrooke all have similar bylaws, she says, which means the result of the case could have implications beyond the province's capital.

What makes Quebec City stand out, she says, is the bylaw's broad application which could lead to someone being penalized for loitering or even asking a stranger to light a cigarette.

'Handing out tickets doesn't stop people from being in extreme poverty and trying to meet their basic needs, one way or another,' said Josiane Mondou, social worker at Clinique Droit de Cité.

'Handing out tickets doesn't stop people from being in extreme poverty and trying to meet their basic needs, one way or another,' said Josiane Mondou, a social worker at Clinique Droit de Cité. (Submitted by Frédéric Côté.)

Stop criminalizing poverty, social worker says

Josiane Mondou has seen many cases like Bolduc's.

She works as social worker at Clinique Droit de cité, a community organization in Quebec CIty that defends the rights of marginalized people. Mondou said more than 850 people — many who are unhoused or struggling with poverty, sometimes in addition to health and addiction issues — have reached out since 2015, mostly for getting tickets for solicitation.

Not only does ticketing someone for panhandling give them a negative experience of law enforcement, but it can affect a person's ability to afford a meal or find a place to sleep, she said.

She also said the people she works with are unable to pay the tickets, meaning the fines accumulate additional penalties, sometimes for months and years.

"Handing out tickets doesn't stop people from being in extreme poverty and trying to meet their basic needs," said Mondou.

"We're giving tickets to people whom we know can't pay them because of their financial and life situations. We're putting this on their shoulders, the stress that comes with debt."

She's urging the city to work with experts in public health and prevention to find non-punitive alternatives.

"At all levels, we have to find strategies that don't criminalize poverty," Mondou said.

The Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ) told CBC it could not comment on the case before the court , but did say that issuing a ticket is a "last resort."

CBC requested comment from the city of Quebec but has yet to receive a response.

Mystery customer who watched Toronto police kill renowned gunsmith during raid files $2.6M lawsuit


CBC
Tue, September 26, 2023 

Rodger Kotanko, 70, was killed in his gunsmith workshop in Norfolk County in 2021. (Submitted by Jeffrey Kotanko - image credit)

When Toronto police raided the workshop of renowned gunsmith Rodger Kotanko in November 2021 and shot him to death, questions swirled.

But while some details have since emerged, a few questions have remained: who was the lone customer inside the workshop during the raid that day in rural southern Ontario? And, what does that witness say happened?

A recently filed $2.6 million lawsuit sheds some light on that mystery.

A statement of claim filed in London Superior Court by a man using the initials C.W., says both Toronto police and Kotanko put him in an unnecessarily dangerous situation and have traumatized him for life.

Kevin Egan, the man's lawyer, told CBC Hamilton his client is using the initials because of all the media attention the case has received and speculation he was a police informant or undercover officer.

The lawsuit names five "John Doe" officers, as well as Insp. Norman Proctor, Chief James Ramer and the Toronto Police Services (TPS) Board for their involvement in the raid.

TPS and the board both declined to comment on the lawsuit and the claims within it. Mike Smitiuch, the Kotanko family's lawyer, told CBC Hamilton the lawsuit focuses on Toronto police and bolsters the family's position.

Kotanko's family is also suing Toronto police for $23 million over the deadly raid, while the TPS board is standing its ground, saying Kotanko didn't keep track of his guns, didn't store them properly and illegally sold them.

None of the claims have been tested in court, but the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontario's police watchdog, published a report which found "no reasonable grounds to believe" the officer who shot Kotanko broke the law. It also noted the customer and police both said Kotanko didn't obey officers' commands before being shot.

Police never warned customer about raid, claim states

The statement of claim says C.W. had bought a pistol, but had issues with the gun jamming.

Someone told him to call Kotanko and he first met the gunsmith in October, 2021.

Kotanko owned D.A.R.K. International Trading Co. Inc., which imports guns and gun parts, and R.K. Custom Guns, which offers gunsmithing and gun deactivation.

He operated out of his gunsmithing workshop on Port Ryerse Road in Norfolk County, right next to his home, and was licensed. People who knew him say he was renowned for his work.

On Nov. 2, the man set up another appointment with Kotanko and they agreed to meet the next day.

Rodger Kotanko's home on Port Ryerse Road sits left to his workshop where he gunsmiths. His family's lawyer, Michael Smitiuch, said Kotanko did work for local police. the military and international clients.

Kotanko's home on Port Ryerse Road sits next to his workshop. (Bobby Hristova/CBC)

The man states he was waiting in his vehicle outside of Kotanko's home and gunsmithing workshop for over an hour. Kotanko and his wife were reportedly out shopping.

Before Kotanko returned from shopping, police arrived in unmarked vehicles according to the SIU's report — but the man states officers never approached him or warned him about the impending raid.

"The police had an opportunity to approach him on the road or in the driveway … to help him not be involved," Egan said.

The door into gunsmith Rodger Kotanko's workshop is closed off due to an SIU investigation. He died after a Toronto police raid on Nov. 3.

The door into Kotanko's workshop was reportedly open before police raided the building on Nov. 3, 2021. (Bobby Hristova/CBC)

Search warrant documents previously obtained by CBC News show police raided Kotanko's property to investigate why two guns with obliterated serial numbers registered to Kotanko were found at a crime scene in Toronto and another in North Bay, Ont. They allege he illegally removed those serial numbers and sold the firearms, but Kotanko's family denies this.

In his statement of claim, the customer says he planned on leaving his gun with Kotanko and returning later, but Kotanko convinced him to stay, saying the repair wouldn't take long.

The man stayed and entered the workshop with Kotanko — a small, seemingly inconsequential decision at the time, one that has now changed his life forever, he says.

The raid

Kotanko started fixing the disassembled gun and the door to the workshop was left open, according to the claim.

That's when the man says officers burst through the doorway, without warning.

Officers shouted and ordered the man and Kotanko to raise their hands, according to the claim.

The man says he did, but Kotanko wouldn't put his hands up, prompting officers to shoot him four times.

Surveillance footage appears to show police officers approach Rodger Kotanko's home and gunsmithing shop. He was shot dead that day.

Surveillance footage appears to show police officers approach Kotanko's home and gunsmithing shop. (Smitiuch Injury Law/YouTube)

"The best way to describe it is excessive. They killed a man right in front of my client and I think any of us would be shocked to see something like that," Egan said.

"The police had an opportunity to negotiate a surrender or do something else than to burst in guns blazing."

The man say he was "manually pulled and forced" face down, with his hands cuffed behind his back.

The claim says he was "visibly shaking uncontrollably."

'An innocent bystander'

The man is suing police for a "misuse of power ... reckless indifference … and [for killing] Kotanko when there was no need to do so," the claim states.

Egan said Kotanko's family is also being sued because of the gunsmith's actions.

"He invites my client into a building in which that criminal activity appears to be centered and exposes him to danger," Egan said.

Smitiuch, the Kotanko family's lawyer, denied claims Kotanko was involved in illegal activity in the past and says the customer's lawsuit is suing Kotanko's family as an alternative.

"The emphasis in that lawsuit is clearly on the Toronto police and action or inaction they took, allowing customer to get in the workshop and in that situation," Smitiuch said.

"The allegations in the customer's claim bolster our position that Rodger was working on an inoperable gun and attempting to fix it. It also reinforces the position of the family that police completely botched this raid and many steps they could've taken to avoid bloodshed."

Egan said his client is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, nightmares and deep abdominal pain.

The claim says the man has lost income since the shooting and has had to undergo continued mental health treatment.

"He's triggered every time I try to talk to him about it … he saw a man get blown up by police, feet away from him, and then the police turned on him and threatened him with being shot dead as well," Egan said.

"He's just an innocent bystander who ended up … facing a threat of being shot to death."