LET THE RICH PAY FOR THEIR PLAYHOUSE 

Alberta government greenlights $39M for new Calgary arena, lifting key first hurdle for project

CBC
Fri, September 1, 2023 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced the tentative deal for a new arena to replace Scotiabank Saddledome in April, days before kicking off her provincial election campaign. The province's $330-million contribution helped revive the long-delayed project. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press - image credit)

The United Conservative government has approved the first slice of provincial funding it offered for the Calgary Flames' arena project, as part of the deal announced with the City of Calgary and team owners before last spring's election.

When Premier Danielle Smith announced in April her government would contribute $330-million toward the $1.2-billion development, she noted the UCP MLAs who sit on Treasury Board would have to scrutinize details this summer before anything was finalized.

The money is now set to flow.

Tucked into this week's quarterly budget update was $39 million in grants approved for the Rivers District, the neighbourhood that includes land north of the Scotiabank Saddledome where the new arena will go.

That would go toward such expenditures as site preparation and land acquisition, for road and infrastructure near the area. This makes these grants the first tranche of provincial dollars for what will be a multi-year construction project.

"That's the only number you'll find in this report regarding the Rivers District moneys," Finance Minister Nate Horner told reporters on Thursday. "We've had a discussion at Treasury Board, but that's all I can give you at this time."

Provincial dollars don't make it into the budget without Treasury Board's approval. Horner added that the premier should have more to say, but on Friday a Smith spokesperson said "more to come in the coming weeks."

In inking the pre-election arena deal, Smith in a way departed from recent provincial orthodoxy to not directly subsidize major professional sports venues.

However, none of the province's contribution will go directly toward the $800-million arena itself — that cost will be shared by the city and Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp.

The provincial dollars will instead go to various related costs, such as road upgrades, infrastructure needs, half the cost of a community ice rink, and the eventual demolition of the Saddledome. In past (and abandoned) versions of the arena deal, the Flames group and city would have footed those bills those without Alberta government help.

The new arena for the Calgary Flames will be completely reimagined under the newly announced $1.2-billion deal, which its champions hope will trigger several new tower developments in the blocks around it. The province will build a new Sixth St. S.E. underpass as part of its $330-million contribution.

The province will build a new Sixth St. S.E. underpass as part of its $330-million contribution to the arena project, but won't fund the hockey and concert venue itself. (City of Calgary)

Provincial intervention appears to have broken a lengthy logjam and that decade-long string of failed joint ventures to give Calgary a new Flames arena and major concert venue.

The Saddledome is currently the third-oldest arena in the National Hockey League, though the two older ones — in New York and Seattle — have both had massive renovations that compare to the cost of a new facility.

It's not clear yet when the Calgary arena is scheduled to open, or when construction begins. These are among the several project details that have been withheld from the public since the province, city and Flames owners signed a memorandum of understanding in April.

The three parties were expected to sign the definitive project agreements this summer, but it's not clear that has happened yet.

Nor is it clear yet whether the $39-million installment now on the province's books matches the amount the city and Flames had expected in their initial deal.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for SPORTS STADIUM 

Q&A: Calgary Pride official talks about organizing the parade amid increased tensions


CBC
Fri, September 1, 2023 

A woman watches the Calgary Pride Parade pass by on 6 Avenue in 2019. Spectators that year numbered in the thousands. The Pride Festival will kick off on Saturday at Prince’s Island Park. (Helen Pike/CBC - image credit)

Calgary Pride is all set to host its annual parade this Sunday.

According to Anna Kinderwater, communications manager with Calgary Pride, it's crucial for allies and members of the local community to participate and showcase their support.

This year's parade comes amid concerns about a rise in anti-LGBTQ sentiment over the last year

"What we're hoping to focus on and bring folks' attention to is that ... we're here to have a good time and we're here to celebrate," Kinderwater said in a conversation on The Calgary Eyeopener.

"We're hoping that…[our] allies show up and really bring that sense of physical support and body presence this year."

The Pride Festival will kick off on Saturday at Prince's Island Park. While the first day is open to attendees who are 18 or older, Sunday's festivities will be open to participants of all ages.

Calgary Eyeopener host Loren McGinnis spoke to Kinderwater ahead of the Pride celebrations.

The following has been edited for clarity and length.

LM: How are you feeling headed into this weekend's festivities?

AK: Honestly, amazing. You know, festival planning can be overwhelming sometimes and we all have been in crunch time for about the last week, but it's always something we look forward to every year and we're always really excited.

LM: Does the public tenor around the parade and Pride events this year feel different?

AK: Oh yeah, [there] absolutely has been a level of raised anxiety … you know, we always want to come at this with the understanding ... this is still a celebration, right?

This is still something important for us to take up spaces of community and show people that we're still here and we're still proud and we're still going to represent our community and each other. So, yeah, the anxiety has been heightened, but we're still telling folks that we're bolstering security to make sure that this is a safe event for everybody.

This is, again, a place that people can come to celebrate and embrace and lean into their community.

Calgary Pride celebrations were back in person for the first time since 2019.

Calgary Pride celebrations were back in person for the first time last year since 2019. This year's festivities will be spread out over the course of two days. (Marc-Antoine Leblanc/CBC)

LM: What's your sense of the anxiety and what's driving that?

AK: There's been a really big uptick in experienced hate crime and just in general, aggression across the city, right? I think it's been shown in a lot of areas specifically targeted towards our community. But they've just been popping up all over the city and I think … across the province.

We're just here to affirm folks like, yes, you will be protected. And we're taking measures with the City of Calgary, you know, well, respecting the past of Pride.

We're also taking measures at the Calgary police to make sure that everybody is showing up and they are able to support us and that everybody can come and celebrate and they will be protected while they do that.

LM: What can you tell us about that, about the measures being taken to make sure performers and spectators and attendees are safe?

AK: Right now, it's just our security is being bolstered. It's something we're just making sure [of].

We have to come through and make sure we've got more shifts, we've got more people on hand, we've got people who are ready to respond if anything did happen. So, right, it's obviously something we really want to do [and] make sure that folks are coming in and the key is to celebrate.

Kenneth Wyse, who performs under the name Kendall Gender, is pictured getting ready for a photo shoot in December 2020. The drag performer is one of the headliners at this year's Pride Festival. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

LM: You've been making the case that … this year, this series of events and parade is especially important for people to show up to the parade. Why is that?

AK: We're kind of communicating that Pride is mandatory this year. You know, I think that physical presence ... and having that support visible is incredibly important not only to the community but, you know, like younger queer folks who maybe haven't realized that about themselves yet, or folks who are in the closet.

Through all of this, they are even more hesitant to come out than they were before. So having that ally presence and either bringing your friends, your family, your chosen family and everybody showing, showing up physically, you know, being there in the crowd, that really communicates a power.

I think people underestimate the power that comes from a crowd and a level of that visible showing of support, it's invaluable, right?

A dog is pictured at the 2018 edition of the Calgary Pride Parade. The event is back this year with heightened security measures amid rising tensions. (Terri Trembath/CBC)

LM: What are some of the highlights of the parade do you expect?

AK: We've got like over a couple [of] 100 entries this year, so we're really excited for that. It's going to be a really great parade this year. And then, yeah, our parade is taking place the same route as last year.

So it's going to be Ninth Avenue S.W. and it's going to be starting at Fourth Street S.W. and working its way towards Fort Calgary. And then the festival itself is going to be taking place back at Prince's Island Park this year and it would be…a two-day festival which [we] are really, really excited about.

States and families wrestle over compassion in transgender youth care bans in Tennessee, Kentucky


The Canadian Press
Fri, September 1, 2023 


Questions over which side was being more compassionate emerged as a key fault line in a federal appeals court Friday, as judges heard arguments on whether to block transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming care in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Supporters of trans kids being able to get puberty blockers and hormone therapy argued that it is safe, necessary health care that's backed by every major medical group. Advocates of state-level bans on children seeking the care countered that these are experimental and life-altering procedures that young people shouldn't be exposed to.

Earlier this year, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reversed lower court decisions and allowed both Kentucky and Tennessee to move ahead with preventing transgender minors from accessing the care. The move sparked alarm among advocates, who countered that doing so would immediately harm transgender young people currently receiving gender-affirming care, as well as those who may need to access it in the future.

Yet attorneys representing Kentucky and Tennessee argued that since the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled states can prohibit abortion, states are free to regulate gender-affirming care procedures as they see fit.

Friday’s hearing, which was held over video, comes amid a flurry of rulings this week stemming from disputes over limits on transgender and LGBTQ+ rights across the country over new laws in Republican-led states.

“The states play a front line in the indispensable role in regulating the practice of medicine,” said Solicitor General Matthew Kuhn, representing the Kentucky attorney general’s office.

But lawyers for transgender youth and their families said the teenage years are exactly when gender-affirming care should be administered.

“The evidence in this record shows that withholding treatment of even up to until the age of 18, and allowing puberty to occur consistent with the sex identified at birth, is extraordinarily harmful to these children,” said Stephanie Schuster, an attorney for Kentucky families.

U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar said Schuster's concern over the well-being of the child as the “nut of the case.”

“I feel like there's compassion in both directions,” Thapar said. "It’s not crazy to say that there’s a compassionate component to the other side of this — that maybe this is the kind of thing people might regret if they do it at age 14, 15.”

Elsewhere in the U.S., the Texas Supreme Court allowed a law against gender-affirming care for youth to take effect Friday, while a federal court on Thursday blocked enforcement of a Texas anti-drag law that performers fear could shut them down or put them in jail. A federal judge in Kansas on Thursday told the state to stop letting transgender people change their birth certificates so the documents reflect their gender identities. Canada this week updated its travel advisory to the U.S., warning members of the LGBTQ+ community that they could face barriers and risks in American states that have enacted laws that may affect them.

And in Florida, a federal judge on Friday rejected requests to make it easier for transgender adults and children in the state to access gender-affirming care, at least for now.

Tallahassee-based U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle said he would not immediately block enforcement of provisions of a new state law that is resulting in transgender adults continuing to receive hormone treatments. He might reconsider, he said, if he is given more medical evidence about the harm of halting treatments.

Florida is one of 22 states to adopt a law in the last few years banning gender-affirming care for children, including Texas, where enforcement began on Friday. But unlike others, the one signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in May also has provisions aimed at care for transgender adults.

The law requires that they give consent to treatment in person and with a physician present. Advocates say that’s a problem because much of the care is prescribed by nurse practitioners and/or through telehealth – and that it’s too hard for many patients to get or get to in-person appointments with physicians.

Hinkle also heard arguments Friday on whether to certify a group of transgender people as a class that rulings in the case would cover. He said he was willing to do that, but only with a clear definition of the class. But he said the hold on enforcement of the law for the plaintiffs in the case would not extend to other minors in the class.

Hinkle noted that he has a trial scheduled to start Nov. 13 to determine whether the law is constitutional.

He told lawyers for Florida that there are some problems with the law. “It is fairly remarkable that the state of Florida would tell a 40-year-old trans woman who has a doctor who says ‘You can take estrogen and it will improve your life,’ and the state of Florida says, ‘No you can’t take that.’”

___

Mulvihill reported from Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Kimberlee Kruesi And Geoff Mulvihill, The Associated Press

GLOBAL FUNDAMENTALISM OPPOSES HUMAN RIGHTS

Rainbows, drag shows, movies: Lebanon's leaders go after perceived symbols of the LGBTQ+ community

SOUNDS LIKE THE GOP

Fri, September 1, 2023 



BEIRUT (AP) — Rainbows, school books, movies and drag shows have all been targeted in Lebanon in recent weeks as politicians, religious leaders and vigilante groups step up a campaign against the LGBTQ+ community in a country that has long shown relative tolerance.

At a time when Lebanon is in the grips of one of the world’s worst economic meltdowns in more than a century, the country and its leaders have been deeply split on how to deal with the crisis. Political factions have been so divided they haven’t been able to choose a new president for 10 months.

But in recent weeks they united to fight the LGBTQ+ community. Politicians and religious leaders have intensified a campaign that in many ways mirrors the culture wars in the United States, raising alarm over symbols and trends that might normalize queerness as an existential threat to society.

It comes at a time when an escalating crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community is also underway elsewhere in the region.

In some cases, the targeting comes after a spate of recent Quran burnings in Europe, which sparked angry protests in Iraq and other Muslim-majority countries. Local religious and political leaders have painted the LGBTQ+ community as part of Western attacks on Islamic values. In these demonstrations, many protesters burned rainbow flags.

In Iraq, some lawmakers are pushing a proposal that would expand a 1988 law on prostitution to include a paragraph imposing life in prison or the death penalty on those who have same-sex relations.

Lebanon was once seen as a place of relative tolerance in the region when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights. That has changed in recent years, as crackdowns on free speech and expression have surged.

In recent months, both rhetoric by politicians and harassment by individuals have increased.

Last week, several dozen men from a Christian extremist group dubbing itself the Soldiers of God trashed a Beirut club hosting a drag show. They beat up several people, driving some patrons to hide in a bathroom.

“This is the venue of Satan!” one member yelled while filming on his mobile phone. “Promoting homosexuality is not allowed! This is just the beginning!”

The education minister also recently banned a game of Chutes and Ladders that was distributed to schools as part of a USAID project because it was decorated with a rainbow, Lebanese media reported. A video circulated online showing a man in the northern city of Tripoli using black paint to cross out a rainbow on the side of a van distributing books.

In early August, Culture Minister Mohammed Murtada requested for the General Security Directorate to ban the movie “Barbie," saying it “promotes homosexuality and transgenders.” The Directorate, however, ruled that the movie is permitted, and it is reportedly expected to start showing in early September.

The Islamic Cultural Center submitted a request to the public prosecutor’s office to shut down Helem, the first LGBTQ+ rights organization in Lebanon and the Arab World, founded in 2004. The prosecutor’s office referred the case to the Interior Ministry, which has not yet acted on it.

Some shops have removed rainbow-decorated cakes or T-shirts from display. In June, the Interior Ministry restricted events connected to Pride month.

The anti-LGBTQ+ campaign is being spearheaded by religious figures from Lebanon’s multiple of Christian and Muslim sects, as well as political officials.

In a meeting earlier this month, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, several government ministers and the head of the Maronite Church Cardinal Beshara Rai discussed homosexuality. Afterward, the premier told reporters that “there is unanimity to abide by moral Lebanese and family values.”

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, called in a recent speech for the death penalty on people engaged in same-sex acts, calling homosexuality “a clear and present danger.” He accused NGOs of circulating books for school children that promote homosexuality and called for the books to be banned.

The group Soldiers of God was formed in 2019 as a sort of Christian self-defense group. Its young men would tour Beirut’s predominantly Christian eastern neighborhoods acting as guards against strangers coming in — at a time when frictions with rival supporters of Hezbollah often broke out.

Lebanon does not have a law that clearly bans same-sex acts. But Article 534 of the penal code prohibits sexual relations that “contradict the laws of nature” and has been used to penalize homosexuality, although some judges have held that consensual same-sex relations do not fall under the law.

In July, a handful of legislators called for abolishing Article 534. One of them, independent lawmaker Mark Daou, accused Hezbollah of using LGBTQ+ “to create a diversion” and to “terrorize a group within society.”

The attempt sparked a backlash. The spiritual leader of Lebanon’s minority Druze community, Sheikh Sami Abou el-Mouna, said eliminating the article would promote “vice and permitting what is prohibited.” Some lawmakers took back comments backing the abolishment.

The backlash made some strange political allies.

In response to the call to repeal Article 534, Ashraf Rifi, a staunchly anti-Hezbollah Sunni legislator, said he is working on a draft law that criminalizes any attempt to legalize homosexuality.

Meanwhile, the Union Center for Research and Development, a reportedly pro-Hezbollah think tank, put forward a study titled “Resisting Homosexuality in Lebanon,” which calls for criminalizing homosexuality.

Hussein Ayoub, an official at the center, said he hopes a parliament member will adopt the study’s proposals to put into law. He denied that his center did the study on behalf of Hezbollah.

Khaldoun Oraymet, a senior Sunni cleric religious judge, called homosexuality “satanic” and “a very dangerous phenomenon.” He said mosques, churches, schools and families should fight it.

Many LGBTQ+ people are laying low, even in areas where they once could freely mingle and express themselves.

Tarek Zeidan, who heads Helem, told The Associated Press that political leaders are scapegoating a vulnerable group to distract from their failure to solve the country’s economic and political breakdown and infrastructure collapse.

“Do any of these people have solutions for water, electricity, and health care? They have nothing,” Zeidan said. “And when they have nothing to offer, they create an enemy.”

Bassem Mroue And Kareem Chehayeb, The Associated Press

NWT wildfires: Convoy plans to defy evacuation order, enter Yellowknife 

Global News

Aug 31, 2023  #wildfires #northwestterritories #GlobalNews

The Northwest Territories' plan to reopen Yellowknife is on hold, fuelling frustration among people eager to return home.

Authorities say it’s still dangerous to return and are warning that anyone who tries could face serious consequences. 

Global's Jayme Doll explains what's behind the delay, the pleas from officials to remain patient and how one group is planning to defy the evacuation order and enter the city anyway.

QUEBEC

Facebook class action lawsuit gets green light to go ahead


CBC
Fri, September 1, 2023 

A class action case against Facebook in Quebec can now go ahead. (Dado Ruvic/Reuters - image credit)

A class action lawsuit alleging Facebook allowed advertisers to discriminate is set to go ahead after the Supreme Court of Canada this week refused to hear an appeal filed by the social media giant.

The case, which could include thousands of Quebec residents, will return to Quebec Superior Court to be heard after the Supreme Court of Canada this week refused to give Facebook leave to appeal a ruling by the Quebec Court of Appeal.

"We're very happy," said lawyer Jean-Michel Boudreau, a member of the IMK LLP team spearheading the class action. "I think this is an important case and now we know for sure that the class action can move forward."

Boudreau's law firm has estimated the class action could lead to $100 million in damages.

Lisa Laventure, head of communications for Facebook's parent company Meta Canada, declined to comment on the Supreme Court's decision or the company's next move.

'Microtargeting' ads

The Supreme Court's decision is the latest development in a case that began in 2019 which centres on the practice of allowing advertisers to "microtarget" ads to Facebook users according to their ages or genders.

The application to launch the class action suit, which had been in the works for a while, was filed days after a CBC News investigation revealed that nearly 100 employers — including government departments — posted microtargeted job ads on Facebook that experts said could violate Canadian human rights law.

Under federal and provincial human rights law, employers aren't allowed to restrict who sees job ads based on age, gender, race or religion, unless the restriction is a bona fide occupational requirement or is part of a specific initiative like a student summer job program.

In December 2020, in response to calls from the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Facebook announced it would begin enforcing new rules for advertisers in Canada to prohibit discrimination in ads for jobs, housing and credit services.

But while the new rules are supposed to stop advertisers from targeting those kinds of ads based on such criteria as age, gender or postal code, they do not prohibit microtargeting for other kinds of ads.

Court of appeal clears class action

The application for the class action suit was filed in the name of Lyse Beaulieu, who was between 63 and 65 years old when she was searching Facebook and other sites for a job between 2017 and 2019. It was rejected initially by the Quebec Superior Court on the grounds that the definition of the class involved was too broad and could cover "several thousand if not millions of members."

The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned that decision. It said the case raises questions about new forms of discrimination in the digital world, whether social media platforms can be held responsible for third-party ads they post and whether platforms are able to control the ads on their platforms.

The Supreme Court's refusal to hear Facebook's appeal means the Quebec Court of Appeal ruling stands.

Boudreau said the case now returns to Quebec Superior Court, where a new judge will have to be assigned to hear the case. The official notice of the class action likely will be published this autumn, he said.

Under Quebec law, people who fit the description covered by the class action are automatically included in the class action suit unless they opt out.

Unless there's an out-of-court settlement, Boudreau said he expects to wait 3 to 5 years for a day in court.

He said he hopes the court case and the discovery process also will shed light on how the social media giant has been using algorithms to direct ads to Facebook users.

"Everybody is talking about AI," he said. "There is a component of our lawsuit that is about algorithmic discrimination."

The class action could also have an impact on other social media companies, Boudreau said.

Elizabeth Thompson can be reached at Elizabeth.thompson@cbc.ca

Montreal employee's death sparks call for city to do more about workplace harassment


CBC
Fri, September 1, 2023 

Marie-Hélène Henry was known for her love for animals. She died on Aug. 12, and her death has renewed calls for the city to improve the ways it handles workplace harassment. (Submitted by Marie-Hélène Henry's family - image credit)

Marie-Hélène Henry loved animals and was always in their company.

She was a city of Montreal employee, working at the Botanical Garden. She was also on the autism spectrum and that's why she was regularly bullied at work, according to her best friend.

"We were consoling her almost daily because she found it so hard to go to work," said Marie-Claude Piguet.

Henry took her own life on Aug. 12. She was 47.

Her death comes just a few months after the blue-collar workers' union filed a complaint with the city over the alleged abuse she was suffering at work.

Jean-Pierre Lauzon, president of the Syndicat des cols bleus regroupés de Montréal (SCFP 301), said in a statement that the union is devastated by the turn of events.

"We supported her," said Lauzon, citing the union's effort to file psychological harassment complaints with the city's Division du respect de la personne respect — a department that handles such complaints.

"The procedures are always very long in the city of Montreal."

Lauzon said the union will conduct a thorough investigation to prevent such a situation from happening again and will co-operate with Quebec's workplace safety board (CNESST) as it launches its own investigation.

7 pages of complaints

Henry's father died of cancer last October. And Piguet said the bullying had become worse in recent months.

"There's about seven pages worth of complaints that she gave to her union representative in order to get help. But help did not come," she said.

On Friday, the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) hosted a news conference about the ongoing harassment issues among city workers.

"We have a lot of Black and Arab blue-collar workers complaining about being harassed. Not only are they being harassed, but some are exposed to physical violence and intimidation," said executive director Fo Niemi.

Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) executive director Fo Niemi said Black and Arabic blue collar workers with Montreal are often victims of harassment.

Center for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR) executive director Fo Niemi said Black and Arabic blue-collar workers with Montreal are often victims of harassment. (Rowan Kennedy/CBC)

When these victims file complaints with their immediate supervisors, there is usually no response, he said. Then when they go through human resources, still nothing happens, he said.

In this case, Henry was not a person of colour, but somebody with a disability, he explained.

Also at the news conference were blue-collar workers who have made their own allegations against the city over harassment. Among them was Maxime Charles, who offered his sympathies to Henry's family.

"This really touches us," he said. "This is happening in every borough."

Charles said he has taken leave from work because of the harassment, and he understands how such treatment can affect a person's mind.

"We are fed up. We are tired. We are scared," said Charles, calling for immediate action.

Complaints of harassment spur vow to change

Harassment among city employees is not a new allegation in Montreal.

A report, commissioned by the city's comptroller general and published in April 2021, described a long-running climate of tension among blue-collar workers.

Workers "almost unanimously report inequitable or discriminatory treatment," read the report authored by Tania Sabia, an industrial relations expert with the Université de Montréal.

A second report that year, produced by an expert hired by the union, documented the same problems as the first. Written by Université du Québec à Montréal professor Angelo Soares, the report concluded the workers' allegations of discrimination were "founded" and urged the city of Montreal, the Montréal-Nord borough and the union to take "urgent" action to correct them.

Marie-Hélène Henry worked for Montreal at the Botanical Garden. She was 47 when she died.

Marie-Hélène Henry worked for Montreal at the Botanical Garden. She was 47 when she died. (Submitted by Marie-Hélène Henry's family)

In June, after months of hearings and public meetings, Montreal introduced a new process for reporting discrimination and harassment while revising its human resources policy.

But Gino Clyford Lubérisse, a Montreal blue-collar union delegate, said it's still not enough and the disciplinary process takes too long.

"We're asking how much longer we will have to wait," he said. "Who will be held accountable for this?"

Mayor says investigation is 'right thing'

Montreal's Official Opposition said in a statement that what Henry went through is unacceptable. Along with the CNESST investigation, the coroner's office is also looking into the circumstances surrounding the woman's death.

Surviving members of Henry's family did not want to appear on camera but told CBC News that her work environment was toxic and a contributing factor in her death.

They are calling on the city to give managers more tools and training to deal with harassment.

In a statement, city spokesperson Hugo Bourgoin said Montreal will respect confidentiality and not comment on the specific case.

However, the city is committed to providing all of its employees with a healthy and respectful work environment and is making every effort to achieve this, he said.

The human resources department is also continuing its efforts to educate and equip stakeholders, as well as all managers, so zero tolerance is truly embodied when it comes to racism, discrimination and harassment, he said.

Employees who are going through difficult times have resources, such as an employee assistance program, available to them, Bourgoin added.

"There is an investigation and I think it's the right thing to be done, we will participate in that," said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante when asked about Henry's death during a news conference Friday.

"And whatever comes out of it, we will take it and act on it."

Greenbelt controversy putting pressure on Ford government, knocking it off message, experts say

CBC
Fri, September 1, 2023

A sign welcomes drivers to the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve, the largest parcel of land the Ford government removed from the Greenbelt last December. 

(Patrick Morrell/CBC News - image credit)

It's been a rough couple weeks for Premier Doug Ford's government.

Two independent, legislative watchdogs — in successive reports released just weeks apart from each other — found major flaws with the province's decision to remove land from the Greenbelt last December to build housing.

On Wednesday, Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake found that Housing Minister Steve Clark chose to "stick his head in the sand" rather than oversee the process of selecting which sites would be removed from the Greenbelt — a vast 810,000-hectare area of protected farmland, forest and wetland stretching from Niagara Falls to Peterborough meant to be permanently off-limits to development.

Instead, Clark left it to his chief of staff at the time, Ryan Amato, whose actions alerted some developers to a potential policy change and resulted in their private interests being improperly advanced, the integrity commissioner found.

That report came just two weeks after Ontario Auditor General Bonie Lysyk's report first revealed how a small group of well-connected developers suggested to Amato many of the sites that would ultimately be removed, providing the landowners with a potential windfall upwards of $8 billion.

Political watchers who spoke to CBC Toronto say the impact of the Greenbelt controversy is putting pressure on the Ford government, and knocking it off its preferred course at a crucial time.

PCs 'caught in a news cycle,' expert says

Mitch Heimpel, director of campaigns and government relations with public affairs firm Enterprise Canada, said the government has been "caught in a news cycle" for the past month that is preventing it from getting its message out.

He said Ford's "big announcement" at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference earlier this month "largely got eaten" by stories related to the Greenbelt controversy. The premier announced there the province would extend "strong mayor" powers to 21 smaller cities and launch a $1.2 billion fund to reward municipalities that meet home-building targets.

At recent events, reporters have asked both Ford and Clark flurries of questions about Greenbelt-related issues, no matter the substance of the announcement.

"It's making it hard for them to get positive news out," Heimpel said.

.Minister of Housing Steve Clark speaks during a news conference at Queen’s Park, in Toronto, on Aug. 31, 2023. Clark is facing calls to step down over his handling of the process that led to protected Greenbelt lands being selected for housing development. (Alex Lupul/CBC)

All three Opposition party leaders have repeatedly called over the past few weeks for the resignation of Clark, who has apologized for the "very real flaws" in the process and for failing to oversee his former chief of staff. Ford has said Clark will keep his job and the government will continue to move forward with its agenda to build 1.5 million homes by 2031.

Heimpel said replacing Clark right now would come with a cost.

On the one hand, Heimpel said, it would demonstrate accountability. But it would also slow down the government while a new minister gets up to speed on the many initiatives underway to spur housing construction and change planning rules across the province.

"That could really hamstring the government's agenda in the fall if they were to change horses now," he said.

More shoes could drop, says professor

Christopher Cochrane, associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto Scarborough, said the integrity commissioner's report settled some issues, like establishing that Clark broke ethics rules, while leaving others unresolved.

Those unresolved issues could keep the controversy alive.

"There are unregistered lobbyists who had contracts with companies that would be in contravention of the [Lobbyists Registration Act]. There are mixed reports about whether, in fact, the chief of staff of the housing minister had been taking orders from others," Cochrane said. "There's certainly plenty of opportunity here for a sequel."

That sequel may even come in the form of another integrity commissioner's report from Wake himself.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles, who filed the initial complaint that led to Wednesday's integrity commissioner's report into Clarke, has also requested the commissioner look at Ford's daughter's wedding events, which some developers attended.

The integrity commissioner's office told CBC Toronto Thursday it is still considering whether to launch an inquiry into Ford. Work on that was paused during the Clark probe.

Aerial (drone) views of lush farmland in the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve in Pickering, Ont., the largest parcel of land removed from the Greenbelt last December.
 (Patrick Morrell/CBC News)

Another big question is what the RCMP will do. The national police agency is assessing whether or not to conduct an investigation of its own into the Greenbelt land swap after receiving a referral from the Ontario Provincial Police.

Cochrane said it's also possible that the legislature could censure Clark in some way, as the integrity commissioner recommended. Members of Provincial Parliament aren't sitting now but will return on Sept. 25.

Given that the Progressive Conservatives have a majority government, however, it would require members of his own party to vote in favour of any punishment.

"It's ultimately up to the premier to hire and fire the ministers," Cochrane said. "It's the premier's call."

What the government can do pull itself out

The government has already taken some action following the reports.

First, it has pledged to implement 14 of the auditor general's 15 recommendations (the 15th is to reverse the Greenbelt decision, which it has declined to do), and struck a working group to implement them.

Second, it has begun the process of returning two properties in Ajax, Ont., back to the Greenbelt after their landowner listed them for sale. The province says it is willing to reinstate environmental protections on land removed from the Greenbelt if it believes landowners won't be able to meet the government's directive that developers show significant progress on approvals by the end of this year, with construction to begin in 2025.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford delivers remarks at Lakeshore Collegiate Institute in Toronto, on Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford stood by Housing Minister Steve Clark and doubled down on a pledge to build more homes in Ontario amid a flurry of questions about the Greenbelt. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)

Going forward, Heimpel said, the government should be able to continue advancing its policies given their control of the legislature.

"They're going to be able to get things done," he said. "The question is, are they going to be able to get their message out about the things they're accomplishing? That's going to be harder because of these reports."

Heimpel said the government will have to "demonstrate results" by getting "shovels in the ground" and "get[ting] those houses built."

"People have to see progress on the housing crisis. That is ultimately, I think, the measure by which the premier thinks he'll be judged," he said.

Ultimately, it's Ontario voters who will get the final say at the ballot box, although they likely won't have that chance for another three years.

Ontario housing minister apologizes for his role in Greenbelt land swap, keeps job




TORONTO — Ontario's housing minister offered an apology Thursday for the way the government removed land earmarked for development from the protected Greenbelt, a process two legislative watchdogs have said was hasty and flawed.

But Steve Clark will stay on in his job – despite repeated calls by critics for his resignation – after Premier Doug Ford backed the housing minister and defended the province’s Greenbelt plan.

"I want to make it very clear to Ontarians that I'm sorry that we didn't do a better job and that I personally didn't do a better job in terms of the oversight," Clark said at a news conference.

The apology came a day after a scathing report from the province's integrity commissioner, who found Clark violated ethics rules during a process that was marked by "unnecessary hastiness and deception."

Integrity Commissioner J. David Wake found Clark's chief of staff — who resigned last week — was the driving force behind the land swap that benefited certain land developers, and that the minister failed to oversee his staff.

Clark said he accepted responsibility for what happened but did not specify what new measures he would take to improve the situation, other than that the "process" would be different going forward.

"I apologize to Ontarians that I did not provide more oversight to my chief of staff — my former chief of staff — and for this process," he said.

Ontario created the Greenbelt in 2005 to protect agricultural and environmentally sensitive lands in the Greater Golden Horseshoe area from development.

Last year, the province took 7,400 acres of land out of the Greenbelt to build 50,000 homes and replaced it with about 9,400 acres elsewhere.

The move sparked a public outcry and calls for Clark's resignation.

Ford rebuked those calls earlier Thursday when he doubled down on both his Greenbelt plan and support for Clark, who he said will remain part of the team as the government tries to fulfil its goal of building 1.5 million homes over 10 years.

"Minister Clark has a tough job and his goal is to continue building homes," Ford said.

"I saw the report, I read a good chunk of it last night, and, admittedly, the process could have been a lot better – and I agree."

The premier nonetheless said he had "confidence" in Clark.

The integrity commissioner had recommended to the legislature that Clark be reprimanded.

Ford did not say what reprimand Clark might face.

"That's going to go to the legislature and we'll see when we get back into the house in September," he said. The legislature is set to resume on Sept. 25.

The integrity commissioner, like the auditor general in a separate investigation, found the housing minister's chief of staff selected 14 of the 15 sites that were removed from the Greenbelt. He found that neither Ford nor Clark knew what Ryan Amato was up to.

"It may seem incredible that Minister Clark would have chosen to stick his head in the sand on such an important initiative being undertaken by his ministry but I believe that was exactly what he did," Wake wrote.

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk said in her own recent report that developers who had access to Amato at a developer conference wound up with 92 per cent of the land. The owners of the sites removed from the Greenbelt stand to see their land rise in value by at least $8.3 billion, she found.

Ford said Thursday that he was ultimately responsible for the Greenbelt process.

"The buck stops with me," the premier said, although he didn't explain what that meant or how he or Clark would take responsibility.

The opposition parties said the comments from Ford and Clark fell short.

"The buck's not stopping anywhere," said Interim Liberal Leader John Fraser.

Fraser called for a legislative committee investigation into the Greenbelt land swap.

He said the Liberals have written to the chair of the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy to begin that work. Fraser said he wants Ford to waive cabinet privileges for legislators so they can participate.

New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles said Ontarians deserve better than "fake apologies."

"His words are meaningless without any action to back them up," she wrote in a statement. "Ontarians have lost all trust in this minister and he needs to go."

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner said the Greenbelt swap is not about housing.

"It's about a government that is denying ordinary Ontarians access to the homes they need because wealthy elite insiders came calling," he said.

All three opposition leaders have demanded Clark resign from his post, as have all the chiefs of Ontario First Nations, who said they were not consulted on the development of lands on their traditional territory.

Ford and Clark have been at the helm of the government's pledge to build 1.5 million homes over 10 years. They have repeatedly said that the 50,000 homes slated for development on land removed from the Greenbelt are needed to achieve that goal.

But the province's housing task force and three regions where the land was removed have said the Greenbelt land was not needed to achieve that target.

The RCMP is reviewing information to determine whether it should investigate the Greenbelt land swap. Ford has said he is confident nothing criminal took place.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2023.

Liam Casey and William Eltherington, The Canadian Press

China's new national map has set off a wave of protests. Why?

Fri, September 1, 2023



BANGKOK (AP) — China has upset many countries in the Asia-Pacific region with its release of a new official map that lays claim to most of the South China Sea, as well as to contested parts of India and Russia, and official objections continue to mount. What is the map, and why is it upsetting people so much?

WHAT IS CHINA CLAIMING?

China's Ministry of Natural Resources released the new “standard” national map on Monday, part of what it has called an ongoing effort to eliminate “problem maps.” In it, China clearly shows its so-called nine-dash line, demarcating what it considers its maritime border, claiming almost the entirety of the South China Sea. The current, and other recent iterations of the annual map, include a 10th dash to the east of Taiwan.

In the far northeastern corner of China on the border with Russia, it shows Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island, an island at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, as Chinese territory, even though the countries signed an agreement nearly 20 years ago to split the island.

Along the southern border with India, it shows Arunachal Pradesh and the Doklam Plateau, over which China and India have long feuded, clearly within Chinese borders, along with Aksai Chin in the western section that China controls but India still claims.

HOW HAVE COUNTRIES REACTED?

China's longstanding claims in the South China Sea have brought it into tense standoffs with Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines, all of which have competing claims. China and India fought a war over their border in 1962, and the disputed boundary has led to a three-year standoff between tens of thousands of Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Ladakh area. A clash three years ago in the region killed 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese.

After the release of the map, India fired back first, saying China's claims have no basis. Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said “such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question.” It lodged a formal complaint on Tuesday through diplomatic channels.

Malaysia then rejected China’s “unilateral claims” and added that the map is “not binding” to the country. Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines have since followed suit.

Vietnam said the claims violate its sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly islands and jurisdiction over its waters and should be considered void because they violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Illustrating how provocative the nine-dash line is considered by Hanoi, Vietnam in July banned the popular “Barbie” movie because it includes a view of a map showing the disputed Chinese claims.

The self-governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own, also rejects the nine-dash line and Beijing’s South China Sea claims.

The territorial claims at times lead to direct confrontation. A little more than a week ago, Philippine boats breached a Chinese coast guard blockade in a disputed area of the South China Sea to deliver supplies to Filipino forces guarding a contested shoal.

In its response to the map, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs cited a 2016 ruling by an arbitration tribunal in The Hague under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea that largely invalidated China’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea and upheld the Philippines’ control over resources in a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

Russia, for which Chinese support in its war against Ukraine has been critical, has not yet responded.

WHAT DOES CHINA SAY?

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin sidestepped questions Thursday about specifics of the nine-dash line and why China has been using a 10th dash in recent years, telling reporters only that “China's stance on the South China Sea is consistent and clear.”

He also didn't directly address the protests over the map, saying that the update was “routine practice every year” with the aim of providing standard maps and to “educate the public to use maps in accordance with rules.”

“We hope that the relevant sides can see it in an objective and rational way,” he said.

WHY NOW?

The national map is an annual production that could be released any time, and China knows well that its claims are contentious, even though they are not new.

It seems significant, then, that Beijing chose to release the map on the heels of a late August meeting of the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- and just before China is to participate in top-level meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Group of 20 rich and developing nations.

At the BRICS meetings, the China-Russia relationship was broadly seen as strengthened as the group voted in favor of a proposal pushed by Beijing and Moscow to invite Iran and Saudi Arabia, along with four other countries, to join. On the sidelines, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping even talked about their disputed border, agreeing to intensify efforts to de-escalate tensions.

Most of the governments with which China has disputes in the South China Sea are ASEAN members, and India is hosting the G20 talks.

In releasing the map now, Beijing is widely seen as signaling it has no intention of backing down on any of its claims and is making sure that its positions are fresh in the minds of other countries in the region.

The Associated Press

Statue believed to depict Marcus Aurelius seized from Cleveland museum in looting investigation

Thu, August 31, 2023 



NEW YORK (AP) — A headless bronze statue believed to depict the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius was ordered seized from the Cleveland Museum of Art by New York authorities investigating antiquities looted from Turkey.

A warrant signed by a judge in Manhattan on Aug. 14 ordered the seizure of the statue, which the museum acquired in 1986 and had been a highlight of its collection of ancient Roman art.

The warrant was secured as part of an ongoing investigation into a smuggling network involving antiquities looted from Bubon in southwestern Turkey and trafficked through Manhattan, a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said. No details of the investigation were provided.

The 76-inch (1.9-meter) statue dates from A.D. 180 to 200 and is worth $20 million, according to the district attorney's office.

The Plain Dealer of Cleveland reported that the statue was removed from view more than two months ago and that the museum changed the description of the piece on its website, where it now calls the statue a “Draped Male Figure " instead of indicating a connection to Marcus Aurelius.

Turkey first made claims about the statue in 2012 when it released a list of nearly two dozen objects in the Cleveland museum’s collection that it said had been looted from Bubon and other locations. Museum officials said at the time that Turkey had provided no hard evidence of looting.

“The enduring dispute surrounding this matter has kept him separated from his hometown,” Zeynep Boz of Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism said of the statue.

In an emailed statement, Boz said the seizure "provides a strong sense of hope, long-awaited, for the rectification of a willing wrongdoing.”

Todd Mesek, a spokesperson for the museum, said in a statement Thursday that the museum could not comment on the Marcus Aurelius statue while it is the subject of litigation.

Mesek said the museum “takes provenance issues very seriously and reviews claims to objects in the collection carefully and responsibly.”

The Manhattan district attorney's office has worked in recent years to repatriate hundreds of objects looted from countries including Turkey, Greece, Israel and Italy. It was unclear who might be targeted in the investigation of the statue seized in Cleveland.

Marcus Aurelius ruled as Roman emperor from A.D. 161 to 180 and was a Stoic philosopher whose “Meditations” have been studied over the centuries.

The seized statue shows a man in flowing robes holding one hand in front of him in a regal pose.

Karen Matthews, The Associated Press