'Passages' filmmaker Ira Sachs battles shameful censorship for beautifully passionate movie

"Basically what the MPA is doing is saying, 'if you create images like these, you will be punished,'" the filmmaker said about the movie's NC-17 rating


Elisabetta Bianchini
August 11, 2023

Veteran filmmaker Ira Sachs' movie Passages, starring Ben Whishaw, Franz Rogowski and Adèle Exarchopoulos, beautifully depicts the complexities of power and desire in relationships, but was unfortunately hit by shameful censorship.

In Passages we're first introduced to Tomas (Rogowski) a self-involved filmmaker in Paris who's married to Martin (Whishaw). Following his personal feelings and attraction, and not particularly thinking about his husband at all, Tomas has an affair with a young woman, Agathe (Exarchopoulos), unravelling his marriage.

"It was the dark days of the pandemic and I wanted intimacy," Sachs told Yahoo Canada. "When I imagined the movie that I might one day get to make, it was a film of actors and bodies and sex, and something that cinema uniquely can offer to the viewer, which is a kind of closeness that turns into pleasure."

"I also wanted to make a film that was driven by desire, and the gap between what the characters have and what they want. So a love triangle was kind of the answer for us."

L to R: Franz Rogowski (Tomas) and Ben Whishaw (Martin) in Passages (Courtesy of MUBI)

'I had great examples of men in movies behaving badly'

Tomas is a particularly interesting character. He easily has narcissistic tendencies, but as the film progresses, we see that he does have empathy for others, at least in some capacity. Sachs expertly puts his own stamp on a lead character that engages in behaviour that's not particularly admirable.

"I had great examples of men in movies behaving badly, specifically James Cagney was an inspiration," Sachs said. "I watched a lot of film noir during the making of this movie and beforehand, every film is about a guy doing the wrong thing."

"That lineage going through Marlon Brando on to Travis Bickle [from the movie Taxi Driver], these are all interesting cinematic characters. So I found it very natural. I also knew that Franz is creating a performance, which is different than just watching someone like Donald Trump, for example. Someone playing Donald Trump is different than being Donald Trump, and I think the play is really part of the pleasure of the performance."

In looking at this love triangle, Sachs isn't particularly quick to bring the audience into the room, so to speak. That very much evolves as the story progresses. As the filmmaker explains, it's a movie that is "a series of middles."

"I'm comfortable with the audience being disoriented in the beginning, because I believe that with time, they will become central, they will become inside the film," Sachs said. "What's important is that every scene have authenticity and that it be constructed with narrative direction."

"I'm telling the story, but I want the audience to feel like there is an atmosphere of freedom. So that becomes a balance and editing becomes very important. Working with Sophie Reine, the French editor on the film, you want the audience to not know where they're going, but feel comfortable that someone is taking them there."

L to R: Franz Rogowski (Tomas) and Adèle Exarchopoulos (Agathe) in PASSAGES (Courtesy of MUBI)
'We're going into some time of repression and denial'

A movie with a similar storyline, created by someone with less commitment to authenticity, would be quick to label what the love triangle is. But Sachs avoids that construct entirely. This relationship isn't confined to a specific definition, it's just the result of passion and feeling. But that's something the filmmaker said he took from his actors.

"The actors taught me where to go, really," Sachs said. "They are from a generation following my own and I think they exist in a moment in which the labels don't seem to work, the way that they were needed to when I was their age."

"It'd be very interesting to make this film again with three 70 year-olds. It would be a very different story, because identity means something different for queer people, and also for non-queer people, then it [did] 30 years ago. That is one form of progress. I think in terms of imagery, I'm not sure we're making progress, I think we're going into some time of repression and denial, that I want to be a part of challenging."

This image released by Mubi shows Ben Whishaw, left, and Franz Rogowski in a scene from "Passages." (Mubi via AP)

'If you create images like these, you will be punished'

In advance of the film's wider release to the public, Passages received an NC-17 rating from the Motion Pictures Association (MPA). Mubi, the film's distributor, has decided to release the film unrated.

In a widely shared interview with the Los Angeles Times, Sachs called the decision "cultural censorship."

"It’s really about a form of cultural censorship that is quite dangerous, particularly in a culture which is already battling, in such extreme ways, the possibility of LGBT imagery to exist," he told The Times back in July.

What's clear is that the rating is linked to a particular sex scene between Whishaw and Rogowski, while the MPA, in a statement to The Times, said "sexual orientation of a character or characters is not considered as part of the rating process."

Sachs stressed that he's not necessarily particularly worried about this censorship for his own filmmaking, but he's more worried about the precedent this sets for other filmmakers.

"I'm not worried about myself because I got to make the film that I wanted to make, and I feel very supported both by my producer Saïd Ben Saïd and by my distributor Mubi," Sachs said. "I'm more worried about the warning shot that this kind of censorship makes towards other filmmakers who want to create free images."

"Basically what the MPA is doing is saying, 'if you create images like these, you will be punished.' Foucault would consider this a nightmare of control. That's what it is."

The filmmaker added that the significant question is not necessarily the rating for this movie, but why does the MPA still exists at all.

"This should actually be a moment you go, 'Wait a minute. Why do we follow a nameless group of parents,'" Sachs said. "That's also such a creepy naming of a group, 'nameless parents.'"

"In America, when you start hearing about nameless parents, you think about libraries in Texas. So why is this progressive industry, a modern industry, an industry that supports individuality, supposedly, following a nameless board of parents telling them what should and should not be seen?"

Foucault would consider this a nightmare of control. That's what it is.

Sachs went on to stress that it's not just the MPA, but other key stakeholders, people and organizations with power, that are participating in this censorship.

"It's the festivals run by men who want to hold on to power. It's the distribution companies run by men who want to hold on to power. It's the government's run by men who want to hold on to power," Sachs stressed. "There's a lot of systems that you have to try to resist to make original, personal work."

"And I'm a man of great privilege. So consider all the people with less privilege, and where are those voices."

Passages opens Aug. 11 in select Toronto and Vancouver theatres, Aug. 18 in Montreal, Quebec City and Ottawa, and throughout the summer in other Canadian cities

ONTARIO

Facing a rising tide of hatred, North Bay Pride picks protest over parade

Story by Aya Dufour •2w

North Bay community members will see a protest instead of a parade during this year's Pride celebrations in the northern Ontario city.

Jason Maclennan, North Bay Pride's director of communications, said the switch is necessary to reflect the need for change.

"A Pride parade is people celebrating who they are," he said. "A march is people demanding change, and that's what we need to have right now."

Instead of having a festive tone, the Sept. 16 event will focus on demanding more equity and inclusion.

Maclennan said community members have been facing increased hate, including online comments, death threats, and the normalization of anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ discourse in public life.

"People need to stop sharing hate and misinformation about the community."

He said hate groups tend to comprise only a few people, but they are organized.

"They will use buzzwords like grooming, and instead of actually researching and looking into it, [people] fall for that narrative.

"It's an emotional response," he said. "Then they share it, and it becomes bigger, and bigger and bigger."

He added this kind of discourse is detrimental to the 2SLGBTQ+ community in North Bay.

"It's forcing people back in the closet, denying who they are," he said.

"It contributes to suicide rates in youth and people not understanding their children when they come out."

Maclennan said the group has struggled to meet with local elected officials to express their concerns.

Related video: Thousands take in Vancouver Pride Parade (Global News)

Duration 1:48 View on Watch

"It's so important that political leaders step up against hate and if they aren't doing that, they shouldn't be in politics," he said.

The riding's member of Parliament, Anthony Rota, was not available to comment on this before publication of this story, and MPP Vic Fideli did not respond to CBC's request for comment.

Anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes rising elsewhere

Laur O'Gorman, chair of Fierté Sudbury Pride, said the organization also wanted to plan a march instead of a parade during their events in July.

"Especially this year, with all the pushback, we felt like we really had to do a march, something that is stronger and more political," they said.

However, disagreement with the city over the police's role in the event led Fierté Sudbury Pride to drop the march altogether from this year's program.

At the time, the Greater Sudbury Police Service (GSPS) said in an email to CBC News that it respected Sudbury Pride's decision to cancel the parade and would "continue to work towards repairing and creating relationships built on mutual respect and understanding."

Still, O'Gorman believes actions are needed to slow down the pace of anti-LGBTQ+ hate.

"I frequently find things about myself coming up online," they said. "There are posts saying that I'm friends with pedophiles and that we have pedophiles on the Pride board. Not true at all."


Fierté Sudbury Pride has lit up the Big Nickel with the Pride colours in past Pride events.

 (Submitted by Alex Tétreault)© Provided by cbc.ca

O'Gorman said they have also received threats, including one captured on video.

"That person said: 'I know where you live, I know when you're home, I know when you're away, and I'm going to do something Sudbury will be remembered for.'"

Another incident included being followed in the street and having insults hurled at them.

O'Gorman said they brought evidence of these threats to the police, but added no action was taken as authorities do not consider these to be "direct threats."

Contacted by CBC News to respond to O'Gorman's comment, Sudbury police said in an email Tuesday: "We would be happy to review the matter once provided the specifics regarding the incident."

O'Gorman believes North Bay Pride is doing the right thing in holding a protest.

"We would have loved to march, because it's badly needed. For us, though, we needed to do it without the police leading the way."

A store owner was killed over a Pride flag she flew in front of her California business

CEDAR GLEN, Calif. (AP) — A dispute over an LGBTQ+ pride flag at a California clothing store spiraled into deadly violence this weekend when a man shot and killed the 66-year-old business owner right in front of her shop, authorities said.

The man ran away from the store after the shooting Friday night but was later found and killed in a confrontation with officers from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

The agency said Laura Ann Carleton was pronounced dead at Mag.Pi, the store she owned and operated in Cedar Glen. The small community in the San Bernadino Mountains is roughly 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles.

Before the shooting, the man “made several disparaging remarks about a rainbow flag that stood outside the store,” sheriff's officials said.

It was not immediately clear what happened when officers confronted the man, whose identity hadn't been released as of Sunday.

Carleton, who preferred to be called “Lauri,” is survived by her husband and nine children in a blended family.

An LGBTQ group in nearby Lake Arrowhead said Carleton didn’t identify as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. But she spent time helping and advocating for everyone, and was defending her Pride flags placed in front of her shop on the night of the shooting, the group said.

There was an outpouring of support on social media over the weekend, with commenters expressing shock and sadness on the store's accounts. Many included rainbow flag emojis.

Law enforcement agencies in several states have investigated the destruction of rainbow Pride flags as potential hate crimes in recent years.

The Associated Press

Four dead after scissor lift topples at house under construction

NOT SCISSORLIFT OPERATROR CERTIFIED

The Canadian Press
Sun, August 20, 2023



MONTREAL — Four family members are dead after a construction project turned tragic over the weekend in Quebec's Bas-St-Laurent region, provincial police say.

Investigators said two men and two women were working on a new house atop a scissor lift on Saturday in St-Léandre, a rural municipality of fewer than 400 people, when the device toppled for an unknown reason.

"The occupants fell several meters. On the spot, we found the death of one of them," said provincial police spokesman Stéphane Tremblay, referring to a 27-year-old man.

He said three others were badly injured and were taken to hospital but died during the night.

Tremblay confirmed Sunday that the four people were part of the same family.

The victims include a 27-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman from St-Léandre and a 53-year-old woman and 60-year-old man from Rivière-du-Loup.

Officials said a coroner's inquest is underway, while an investigation by Quebec's workplace health and safety board aims to determine whether an equipment breakdown occurred.

TOO MANY ON THE SCISSOR LIFT

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2023.

Canada considering foreign student visa cap to address housing shortage

Reuters
Mon, August 21, 2023 

FILE PHOTO: Houses are seen for sale and under construction in a neighbourhood of Ottawa


OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government, under pressure over the rising cost of housing, could consider capping foreign student visas, which have rocketed in recent years, new Housing Minister Sean Fraser said on Monday.

Official data show there were more than 800,000 foreign students with active visas in 2022, up from 275,000 in 2012. Canada is a popular destination for international students since it is relatively easy to obtain a work permit.

Fraser, who was immigration minister before taking up his job last month, said the sharp rise in the number of students was putting pronounced pressure on some housing markets.

Asked whether a cap could be imposed on the number of foreign students, he said, "I think that is one of the options that we ought to consider." The government has not yet made a decision, he added.

"We've got temporary immigration programs that were never designed to see such explosive growth in such a short period of time," Fraser told reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet retreat in the Atlantic province of Prince Edward Island.

The official opposition Conservative Party, ahead in the polls of a federal election which must be held by October 2025, say the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not doing enough to tackle the housing issue.

Canada, which has a population of around 39.5 million people, plans to take in a record 500,000 new permanent residents in 2025. Fraser said limiting the number of newcomers was not the answer.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Josie Kao)

Post comparing 2003, 2023 Kelowna wildfires misses the mark: 'Photos are not enough'

Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, also known as 'The Food Professor,' tweeted two pictures comparing wildfires in Kelowna in 2003 and 2023

Tuvana Sahinturk

Mon, August 21, 2023 

On Aug. 20, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, the director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University, posted two pictures of the Kelowna fires that took place in B.C. 20 years apart, suggesting the two fires don’t look all that different.

This comes after the wildfire season has gotten significantly worse for Canada in 2023, becoming the worst on record according to government figured reported by BBC News.

A July 2023 article titled Why Canada's Wildfires Are So Bad This Year" by the College of Natural Resources in North Carolina found: “The release of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases continues to drive changes in the climate, contributing to warmer-than-average surface temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns — trends that are expected to increase the frequency, intensity and duration of wildfires.”

Since its posting, Charlebois’ tweet has gotten major attention on the platform. While some people were quick to jump on the train and support his theory, others were upset at the apparent denial of climate change. Some suggested that there is more to climate change than photo comparisons.

In an interview with Yahoo Canada, Ryan Ness, the Director of Adaptation at the Canadian Climate Institute, said that we may see the kind of wildfires that affect Kelowna much more often than every 20 years in the future.

"We have to recognize that what we're seeing is the beginning of our new climate reality. Wildfires are going to be more frequent and more severe than they ever have been before on average," Ness said.

While Canada has always had extreme weather and climate-related disasters, Ness added that the current state of the fires is not something to be brushed off.

"It's always possible to point to some historic example of a flood or a wildfire and say, 'Oh well, it's always been this way,'" Ness said.

"While it is true that we've always had floods and we've always had wildfires, the difference now is how often they're occurring, how big they are when they do occur, and how much they're happening just about everywhere."

On X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, more users quote-posted Charlebois' post, lambasting the notion that the wildfires are alike.

How do the wildfires in 2003 compare to 2023?

The McDougall Creek wildfire burns on the mountainside above houses in West Kelowna, B.C., on Friday, August 18, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The Okanagan Mountain Park Fire in 2003 was unquestionably tragic. The fire consumed 250 square kilometres, an area that is nearly twice the size of the city of Vancouver. More than 33,00 people were forced to leave their homes and it caused approximately $200 million in damages.

While the fire died on its own weeks later in mid-September, it was the biggest interface fire B.C. has had until this year.

The current McDougall Creek wildfire featured in Charlebois' post has now caused 30,000 people to be under evacuation orders while another 36,000 were under alert to be ready to flee, according to the Guardian.

As of Sunday afternoon, 410 square kilometres were covered in the area by the blaze. Currently, 3,400 workers are involved in firefighting in B.C. with West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund, announcing that 500 firefighters are specifically engaged in managing the McDougall Creek wildfire.

With more than 13 million hectares already burned, Canada is in the midst of its worst wildfire season on record, with weeks more to go — though some suggest some of the fires can burn well into winter, offering no usual reprieve from the changing seasons.

This is about double the size of the previous record of 7.3 million hectares in 1989 and is roughly the size of Greece.

Since posting his initial tweet, Charlebois has updated it to include a call for people to set politics aside and concentrate on helping those who have been impacted by these terrible incidents.

Federal government urged to commit financial aid for displaced N.W.T residents


CBC
Mon, August 21, 2023

Evacuees without transportation line up in Yellowknife on Aug. 17. Roughly 20,000 of the city's residents are displaced due to nearby wildfires, along with residents from many other N.W.T. communities. (Tyson Koschik/CBC - image credit)

Calls are growing, both from inside and outside the federal government, for Canada to help the people of the Northwest Territories who are being financially affected by wildfires as costs mount for residents who fled their homes.

Gosma Buddoo, who lives in Yellowknife, fled to Edmonton along with some of his employees who live in Hay River, N.W.T.

The group incurred a week's worth of hotel expenses before finding a better arrangement.

"We are going to have to buy clothes because we just packed basically for a few days when we were leaving," he said.

"Food is another issue because we don't have access to cooking facilities at our hotel. So we have to buy meals on the go, which is more expensive than preparing your own meals."

On Sunday, N.W.T. Premier Caroline Cochrane described the coming bill for the wildfires as a large one. The territory will need financial help but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hasn't committed any money yet, she said.

The issue prompted a call from NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh for immediate federal support.

"People and community leaders are dealing with the stress of this horrible situation — they should not have to fend for themselves," he stated.

'Support is needed very quickly'

N.W.T. Liberal MP Michael McLeod said he's encouraging his government to do more to help.

"Discussions are happening now. So I'm hoping we're going to have some answers fairly soon. Money and support is needed very quickly," he said.

He told CBC that the federal government has supported the United Way's efforts to help affected communities through a donation-matching program.

Member of Parliament Michael McLeod in Nahanni Butte on Sept. 30.

N.W.T. MP Michael McLeod, pictured here in Nahanni Butte on Sept. 30, 2022, says he wants to see the federal government decide soon on financial aid for N.W.T. residents. (Jenna Dulewich/CBC)

Indigenous governments are also receiving support from the federal government; in turn, several are offering direct financial assistance to evacuees.

The N.W.T. government and several Indigenous governments are also offering evacuation and lost income support.

McLeod said there is also a process in place to make it easier to apply for employment insurance if you cannot work while evacuated, he said.

Federal ministries have not yet been able to provide CBC with a complete picture of what funding the United Way and Indigenous governments have received or details about what additional aid may be coming.

N.W.T. says no financial aid for evacuees who organized own travel, accommodations


CBC
Mon, August 21, 2023 

Officials in the Northwest Territories are expected to hold a virtual news conference at 7 p.m. MT (9 p.m. ET) to update residents on the wildfire situation and resulting evacuations. (Tyson Koschik/CBC - image credit)

The N.W.T. government will not be offering financial support to evacuees who found their own accommodations, nor does it intend to help cover travel costs for people who left in their own vehicles, a spokesman for the territorial government says.

People who relied on the N.W.T.'s evacuation flights will have assistance returning when the order is lifted, said Jennifer Young, director of corporate affairs for the territory's municipal and community affairs department, said during a Monday evening wildfire update.

"If you self-evacuated on your own means, the expectation will be that you re-enter on your own means," said Young.

Instead, residents should be looking into their insurance policies to help cover expenses, she said.

Approximately 68 per cent of residents in N.W.T. have evacuated due to wildfires, Young added during the Monday update.

A wildfire burning about 15 kilometres northwest of Yellowknife caused the evacuation of about 20,000 from the N.W.T. capital city beginning late last week.

Nearby Dene communities of Dettah and Ndilǫ, as well as residences along the Ingraham Trail, were also evacuated. Other N.W.T. communities under evacuation orders are Jean Marie River, Kakiska, Kátł'odeeche First Nation, Hay River, Enterprise and Fort Smith.

Lighter winds, rain and firefighting tactics over the weekend helped prevent the fire's advance toward Yellowknife. It was forecast to travel up to four kilometres closer to the city; instead, it only moved between 100 and 200 metres, according to fire officials.

Mike Westwick, N.W.T. fire Information officer, said crews are looking at weeks of work before most people can go home, but that is dependent on a lot of factors, especially weather.

The rain that fell in the Yellowknife area over the past 72 hours helped reduce fire activity and gave firefighters a chance to assess the situation better.

But he said the rain is not enough to end the threat to the city, he said there would need to be about 60 millimetres in a 10-day span of rain.

In context, there has been only around 10 millimetres in the past few days and the forecast is looking dry in the coming days.

Westwick said the biggest concern for fire crews is the wildfire burning about four kilometres from Fort Smith, N.W.T.

He said they expect challenging winds which could push the fire toward the community again.

Westwick said crews have been working on a control line and structural protection.

The Hay River fire remains eight kilometres from the community, 10 kilometres from K'atl'odeeche First Nation and 14 kilometres from Kakisa.

"We're concerned by the incoming weather over the next few days," Westwick said of the fire near those communities.

But he said he's happy with the protections that have been put into place in recent days, including dozer lines and sprinklers.

"They're going to continue to stand tall and continue to do that work and stay safe," he said of the crews on the ground.

N.W.T. premier says no commitment from Trudeau on financial assistance for evacuees

CBC
Sun, August 20, 2023 

N.W.T. Premier Caroline Cochrane says the prime minister has not committed financial assistance to the residents who have been displaced from the Northwest Territories as a result of wildfire evacuation orders. (Liny Lamberink/CBC - image credit)

The prime minister has not committed financial assistance to the residents who have been displaced from the Northwest Territories as a result of wildfire evacuation orders, according to the premier.

A wildfire burning out of control northwest of Yellowknife triggered the evacuation of the N.W.T.'s capital city of about 20,000 people, the neighbouring Yellowknives Dene communities of Ndilǫ and Dettah and residences along the Ingraham Trail last week.

The N.W.T. communities of Fort Smith, Enterprise, Hay River, Kátł'odeeche First Nation, Kakisa and Jean Marie River are also under evacuation orders.

In a virtual news conference on Sunday night, Premier Caroline Cochrane said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau guaranteed the federal government would "put a priority on making sure that we were safe. Didn't say financial supports, in fairness."

Cochrane said she has also been in touch with Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

"This is going to be a large bill and we are going to need financial help going forward."

"Not only are we looking at the evacuations, we need to bring people home, we don't know how long it will be so I have emphasized to Minister Freeland that we may be asking for more supports."

Evacuees leave Yellowknife

Evacuees leave Yellowknife by road on Friday. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)

Trudeau made an announcement on Sunday where he said he had spoken with Cochrane but gave no details on the conversation.

N.W.T.'s Liberal MP Michael McLeod has not been present for the daily news conferences hosted by the territorial government.

Weather to worsen fire situation in South Slave region

Weather conditions in the N.W.T.'s South Slave region are expected to worsen, increasing the wildfire threat to the communities of Hay River, Kakisa, Enterprise and Fort Smith, according to NWT Fire.

Mike Westwick, N.W.T. fire information officer, said at the news conference that the weather could push fire closer to Fort Smith.

"Got some tough days ahead for our friends in the South Slave for sure," he said.

"Keep your thoughts and your prayers if you're giving them with Fort Smith and Hay River."

In Yellowknife, he said fire suppression efforts held the fire northwest of the city from moving closer to the community. He said initial estimates were that it could move four kilometres closer on Sunday, but that didn't happen.

Westwick said as long as conditions stay dry and windy, the fire will present a risk to the community.

"We do expect to see more fire activity on this fire going forward," he said.

"We've got a serious situation here," he said.

He said the Jean Marie River fire hasn't grown in the past few days.

Homeless population not left behind: officials

Government officials and law enforcement said they believe most, if not all, of Yellowknife's homeless population have made it out of the city.

Jennifer Young, director of corporate affairs for the department of Municipal and Community Affairs, said members of the underhoused population are registered at evacuation centres. She said the supports available to them depends on the evacuation centre, but that many have social programs available.

N.W.T. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Matt Halstead said officers in Yellowknife have checked in on members of the underhoused community and helped them evacuate.

"It should go without saying that these individuals have their own decision making ability and no one has been forced to leave," he said.

"We believe the vast majority, if not all, of our shelter users and underhoused have made it to evacuation centres."

YOU'RE WELCOME

Justin Trudeau thanks Canadians for respecting family's privacy after split with wife

CANADIANS ARE POLITE

CBC
Mon, August 21, 2023 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to reporters on Aug. 18, 2023. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked Canadians Monday for respecting his family's privacy after he and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, announced earlier this month they were separating.

"I really, really want to thank Canadians for having been so incredibly gracious and incredibly generous in respecting our privacy and our space," Trudeau said during a media availability in P.E.I. ahead of a three-day cabinet retreat. It was his first public statement on the separation since it was announced.

"I got a really good 10 days with the family to focus on the kids, to focus on being together and moving forward."

Trudeau and Grégoire announced their separation in statements posted to social media on August 2. They have been married for 18 years.

They have three children together: two sons, Xavier, 15, and Hadrien, 9, and one daughter, 14-year-old Ella-Grace.

"I want to thank all the people who've reached out over the past number of weeks with warm wishes, with personal messages, with personal stories that have been just wonderful and positive," Trudeau added.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office released when the separation was announced, Trudeau and Grégoire Trudeau have "signed a legal separation agreement."

"They have worked to ensure that all legal and ethical steps with regards to their decision to separate have been taken, and will continue to do so moving forward," Trudeau's office said.

'Nation-building moment': Yukon eyes connection to B.C. electricity grid

The Canadian Press
Sat, August 19, 2023 



Yukon's energy minister says Canada's push for more green energy and a net-zero electricity grid should spark renewed interest in connecting the territory's power to British Columbia.

Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources John Streicker says linking the territory's power grid to the south would help with the national move to renewable energy, support the mineral extraction required for green projects, and improve northern energy and Arctic security.

"We're getting to the moment in time when we will want an electricity grid which stretches from coast to coast to coast. … I think that the moment is coming for this — it's sort of a nation-building moment. And I think that from the Yukon's perspective, we're very interested," Streicker said in an interview.

The idea of a link, originally proposed to span 763 kilometres between Whitehorse and Iskut, B.C., was first floated in 2016 but sat on the shelf after a viability study put the price tag at as much as $1.7 billion.

Two years later, Yukon's then-energy-minister Ranj Pillai — now premier — mused again about the possibility of connecting to power from B.C.'s Site C hydro dam.

The idea appeared to have been resurrected at this year's Western Premiers' Conference in June, with both Pillai and B.C. Premier David Eby publicly mentioning early conversations.

At the conference, Eby said British Columbia was fortunate to have the ability to support other jurisdictions with its hydro electricity.

"So certainly part of the conversation was how do we support each other in sharing our strength?" he said.

"And one of those that British Columbia was able to put on the table is if we can find ways to enter ties with, for example, with the Yukon, to support them in their efforts to access more electricity to grow their economy and decarbonize their electrical grid, then that's very good news for everybody."

The federal government has set a target of making the country's electricity grid net-zero by 2035.

Canada's grid is already nearly 85 per cent clean, but demand is expected to double by 2050 as things like cars, buses and trains become electric, and homes and buildings switch away from fossil-fuel heating sources.

In Yukon, all but four communities are connected to the same electricity network with about 93 per cent of electricity generated by hydro plants and wind and the remainder from diesel and liquefied natural gas.

Like the rest of the country, the territory's need for electricity is growing as its population expands and people have more interest in greener technology, Streicker said, adding that connecting to B.C. would also help stabilize the system when new mines come on and off the grid.

"I think ultimately … there's an opportunity for us to sell power," he said.

"I'm not saying that that's where we are today, but we do spill energy in the summer, and we do need energy in the winter. So that may be the type of future that we have."

In 2022 Canada released its critical mineral strategy proclaiming minerals the "building blocks for the green and digital economy" while acknowledging "gaps" in enabling energy infrastructure, which could be addressed through investments such as expanding transmission lines.

"One of the things that you will need to develop that transition away from fossil fuels is things like copper to help with more electric vehicles, or for transmission lines," Streicker said.

"And so you'll need some critical minerals, and the Yukon has that potential as well."

The pitch comes at a time when British Columbia is also on the hunt for new sources of electricity.

In June, BC Hydro said it was preparing a call for new independent power producers as forecasts suggest the province is going to need enough new power to run 270,000 homes starting as early as 2028.

In a statement, B.C.'s Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation said that while the province is open to sharing excess power, the "priority is to meet this growing demand at home."

“The possibility of creating a power grid connection between British Columbia and Yukon has long been discussed, however building the transmission infrastructure poses challenges and a potential cost of over $1 billion," the statement says. It says the idea will be a topic for the task force in charge of finding new sources of electricity.

The territories are often excluded when it comes to research on the future of Canada's electricity grid.

Brett Dolter, an assistant economics professor at the University of Regina who focuses on climate and energy policy, said studies on how provinces could get to net-zero found that transmission played a key role, particularly when connecting provinces with hydro assets, like B.C., to neighbouring provinces still relying on coal or natural gas.

"Connecting provinces together could help get to zero emissions for less cost than if we tried to operate each province as its own little fiefdom, operating only to meet its own domestic needs," he said.

The key question, he said, will be if connecting B.C. and Yukon will allow for cheaper electricity.

"B.C. has been a big exporter of electricity. So they might be looking to this project as an export opportunity. The Yukon would probably be happy if they can boost supply and maybe eliminate the use of some of those diesel generators, which don't run that much, but that's an expensive kind of power generation," he said.

"So if there's any way that buying B.C. power can offset diesel, I think that the Yukon is going to benefit. And then it'd be a further benefit if the Yukon can develop some of these renewables that might feed into B.C."

Lynne Couves, program director for the renewables in remote communities program at the Pembina Institute, said while the price tag is significant, the decision to go ahead or not is far from simple and needs to be considered with an eye on the future.

“When we consider long-term benefits of these projects, and the opportunity to electrify and decarbonize across sectors, I think that there's definitely some positives in looking at these numbers in a different way,” she said.

Couves said the fact that Yukon is not covered under the federal government's recently announced electricity regulations could be an obstacle to accessing funding.

At the same time, conversations around reconciliation, Indigenous rights to self-determination and energy sovereignty are common in the territories, she said.

"More opportunities for Indigenous-owned renewable energy development is really, really important."

Streicker said the territory will be promoting the idea of a link as part of its submission to Ottawa from energy roundtables set up around the country.

He said early conversations have taken place with Yukon First Nations governments that have expressed interest in a possible equity stake in this type of infrastructure.

Streicker said the cost of a project has likely grown since the $1.7-billion estimate from seven years ago and would have to include help from the federal government, but he believes the willingness to have the conversation is there.

Along with the benefits around Arctic sovereignty and critical minerals, he said Canadians understand the need for equity in smaller northern communities.

"There's a bit of a sense, for example, that if you're in British Columbia, and you're trying to develop, say, access to internet, you don't give up on small communities just because they're in the north," he said.

"And I think there's a similar sort of sense that Canadians have about the territories, and it's just the cost of having a country which has such a broad geography."

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

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press

Planting roots: Quebec cemetery turns former golf course into forest for the deceased

The Canadian Press
Sun, August 20, 2023



SAINTE-SOPHIE, Que. — At a new ecological cemetery north of Montreal, there are no gravestones or plaques. Instead, people locate burial sites with the help of a cellphone app.

Cemetery Forêt de la Seconde Vie opened in Ste-Sophie, Que., on Aug. 7 with the goal of transforming a 232,000-square-metre ex-golf course into a dense forest. It plants trees along the former fairways and greens to mark the burial sites of cremated remains, a process it calls "planting roots."

Visitors can use the cemetery's application to find their loved one's tree. Once there, they're asked to scan the surrounding landscape with their cellphone camera until a virtual chest pops up on screen, revealing digital memorabilia within: photos, videos and even recipes belonging to the deceased.

The cemetery claims to be the first in North America to be an official forest producer, a certification that in Quebec involves consulting a registered forest engineer to develop a land management plan.

For Mylène Hébert, 27, the concept was a welcome alternative to a traditional burial for her father, a longtime resident of Ste-Sophie who died in 2021 at the age of 55. She rejected the idea of a graveyard interment, which she called "gloomy" and "negative," and she said she was immediately drawn to Forêt de la Seconde Vie when she heard about it. She plans to plant his tree on Oct 1.

"I think it's incredible," she said in a phone interview. "With paper photos, we can lose them," but with the cemetery app, "they will be recorded when we go visit ... I can't wait to see how it's going to look in 20 years, 30 years, 40 years."

In 2019, co-founders Ritchie Deraiche and Guillaume Marcoux bought the property that would become Forêt de la Seconde Vie. Both fathers of young children, they said they came up with the idea while reflecting on how to combine environmental stewardship with family legacy.

"We wondered what concrete difference we could actually make right now in terms of preserving the environment, preserving and creating an ecosystem, biodiversity, and then, what we can leave to the generations that follow us," Marcoux said in a recent interview.

The endeavour was especially personal for Deraiche. In June, his grandmother became the first person to have their ashes buried under a new tree on the site.

The founders hope their clients develop a similar, personal connection to the cemetery. Its very design is supposed to facilitate an emotional attachment to the land, allowing visitors to "immerse themselves in the forest and create a sense of belonging," Marcoux said.

An online map advertises five thematic zones — with names like the Woods of Sighs and the Nourishing Forest — each with five tree species from which customers can choose.

Though there's little to observe so far, around 20 spindly saplings — the first of 7,000 planned trees — stand as testaments to the cemetery's first clients. Elsewhere, wooden stakes poke out of expansive golf fairways to delineate future planting sites.

But there are other points of interest, including swings, a hammock and a large sculpture of outstretched fingers emerging from the Earth. These opportunities for amusement distinguish Forêt de la Seconde Vie from traditional, solemn burial grounds and foster visitors' bond with the property, Fannie Tremblay, its administrative director, said during a site visit.

The cemetery further achieves this by encouraging the living to invest — both financially and emotionally — in their own trees before their death. Tremblay is among them, with a fledgling oak tree in her name in the cemetery's northwest corner.

An 18-square-metre plot with a memorial tree and virtual chest starts at $3,750, according to the company website. At $14,999, the most expensive Forêt de la Seconde Vie package includes an additional 55 square metres and burial rights for the ashes of as many as eight other people.

The customizable tributes at Forêt de la Seconde Vie are part of a "major cultural shift" in attitudes about funerals in North America, explained Tanya Marsh, a law professor at Wake Forest University, in North Carolina, who studies the treatment of human remains.

Two trends are driving that shift, she said in a recent interview. The first, she noted, is "a greater interest in memorialization options and personalization," in contrast to the "prepackaged services and goods" one might find at a funeral home.

The second is what Marsh called an "increased interest in greening the funeral." She pointed to the rapidly growing popularity of cremation, a practice that consumes fuel but, she said, may be seen as more environmentally friendly than embalming and burial in coffins.

Cremation Association of North America data show the five-year average cremation rate was 57.5 per cent in the U.S. and 74.8 per cent in Canada in 2021, compared to 33.8 per cent and 55.8 per cent, respectively, in 2006.

Marsh expects alternative funeral practices to become more common in the years ahead.

"Death is the ultimate human problem. And we're always gonna have to deal with it," she said. "And so people are just gonna continue innovating and coming up with these new and interesting ways … (to) help us process grief."

"So it's an exciting time to be interested in death."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2023.

Thomas MacDonald, The Canadian Press

U$A

Tribal courts across the country are expanding holistic alternatives to the criminal justice system


Inside a jail cell at Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, Albertyn Pino’s only plan was to finish the six-month sentence for public intoxication, along with other charges, and to return to her abusive boyfriend.

That’s when she was offered a lifeline: An invitation to the tribe’s Healing to Wellness Court. She would be released early if she agreed to attend alcohol treatment and counseling sessions, secure a bed at a shelter, get a job, undergo drug testing and regularly check in with a judge.

Pino, now 53, ultimately completed the requirements and, after about a year and a half, the charges were dropped. She looks back at that time, 15 years ago, and is grateful that people envisioned a better future for her when she struggled to see one for herself.

“It helped me start learning more about myself, about what made me tick, because I didn't know who I was,” said Pino, who is now a case manager and certified peer support worker. “I didn't know what to do.”

The concept of treating people in the criminal justice system holistically is not new in Indian Country, but there are new programs coming on board as well as expanded approaches. About one-third of the roughly 320 tribal court systems across the country have aspects of this healing and wellness approach, according to the National American Indian Court Judges Association.

Some tribes are incorporating these aspects into more specialized juvenile and family courts, said Kristina Pacheco, Tribal Healing to Wellness Court specialist for the California-based Tribal Law and Policy Institute. The court judges association is also working on pilot projects for holistic defense — which combine legal advocacy and support — with tribes in Alaska, Nevada and Oklahoma, modeled after a successful initiative at the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana.

“The thought and the concept will be different from tribe to tribe,” said Pacheco. “But ultimately, we all want our tribal people ... to not hurt, not suffer.”

People in the program typically are facing nonviolent misdemeanors, such as a DUI, public intoxication or burglary, she said. Some courts, like in the case of Pino, drop the charges once participants complete the program.

A program at the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe in Washington state applies restorative principles, and assigns wellness coaches to serve Native Americans and non-Natives in the local county jail, a report released earlier this year by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation outlined. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma has a reintegration program that includes financial support and housing services, as well as cultural programming, career development and legal counsel. In Alaska, the Kenaitze Indian Tribe’s wellness court helps adults in tribal and state court who are battling substance abuse and incorporates elements of their tribe's culture.

“There’s a lot of shame and guilt when you’re arrested," said Mary Rodriguez, staff attorney for the court judges association. “You don’t reach out to those resources, you feel that you aren’t entitled to those resources, that those are for somebody who isn’t in trouble with the law.”

“The idea of holistic defense is opening that up and reclaiming you are our community member, we understand there are issues,” Rodriguez said. "You are better than the worst thing you’ve done.”

The MacArthur Foundation report outlined a series of inequities, including a complicated jurisdictional maze in Indian Country that can result in multiple courts charging Native Americans for the same offense. The report also listed historical trauma and a lack of access to free, legal counsel within tribes as factors that contribute to disproportionate representation of Native Americans in federal and state prisons.

Advocates of tribal healing to wellness initiatives see the approaches as a way to shift the narrative of someone's life and address the underlying causes of criminal activity.

There isn't clear data that shows how holistic alternatives to harsh penalization have influenced incarceration rates. Narrative outcomes might be a better measure of success, including regaining custody of one's children and maintaining a driver's license, said Johanna Farmer, an enrolled citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota and a program attorney for the court judges association.

Some tribes have incorporated specific cultural and community elements into healing, such as requiring participants to interview their own family members to establish a sense of rootedness and belonging.

“You have the narratives, the stories, the qualitative data showing that healing to wellness court, the holistic defense practices are more in line with a lot of traditional tribal community practices,” Farmer said. "And when your justice systems align with your traditional values or the values you have in your community, the more likely you’re going to see better results.”

While not all of these tribal healing to wellness programs have received federal funding, some have.

Between 2020 and 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice distributed more than a dozen awards that totaled about $9.4 million for tribal healing to wellness courts.

This year, the Quapaw Nation in Oklahoma started working on a holistic defense program after seeing a sharp increase in cases following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said a large area of eastern Oklahoma remains a Native American reservation.

So far this year, about 70 cases have been filed, up from nearly a dozen in all of 2020, said Corissa Millard, tribal court administrator.

“When we look at holistic approaches, we think, what’s going to better help the community in long term?” she said. “Is sending someone away for a three-year punishment going to be it? Will they reoffend once they get out? Or do you want to try to fix the problem before it escalates?”

For Pino, the journey through Laguna Pueblo's wellness court wasn't smooth. She struggled through relapses and a brief stint on the run before she found a job and an apartment to live in with her son nearby in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her daughters live close by.

She largely credits the wellness court staff for her ability to turnaround her life, she said.

“They were the ones that stood by me, regardless of what I was choosing to do; that was the part that brought me a lot of hope,” she said. “And now where I’m at, just to see them happy, it gets emotional, because they never let go. They never gave up on me.” ___

Associated Press writer Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona, contributed.

Hallie Golden, The Associated Press