ST. JOHN, NB

City's inside workers set strike vote


Local Journalism Initiative
Fri, September 1, 2023 

The union that represents about 140 workers in 911 dispatch, customer services, recreation and financial services is planning a strike vote amid negotiations with the City of Saint John.

Negotiations between the city and CUPE 486, the union that represents the city's inside workers, have been stalled since Aug. 12, according to Mike Davidson, national servicing representative for CUPE's national office.

Davidson said the union is requesting cost of living increases, but negotiators have not brought forward an offer that matches the city's wage escalation policy, which was passed in 2019 and provides for increases on a three-year rolling average reflecting tax base growth.

"The city isn't even coming to the table with its own policy numbers, so ... members are forced into a strike vote now," Davidson told Brunswick News Thursday. "It's unfortunate, we feel it's a needless situation. Mayor and council have set a directive at the bargaining table, and they're completely ignoring it."

The city declined comment Thursday through a spokesperson, but on Friday issued a statement saying it has made a "fair and reasonable offer," adding "we believe it is in the best interests of everyone to finalize an agreement."

The statement lists both the city and the Police Commissioners of the City of Saint John as employers. Davidson said some court services staff with the commission are members of CUPE 486.

Employees would vote this coming Wednesday. Voting for a strike does not necessarily mean job action is imminent, but authorizing a potential strike gives negotiators extra options as part of the bargaining process, Davidson said.

He declined to provide specific numbers on the proposed increases.

Employees last received an increase in 2021, Davidson said, and have been impacted by inflationary pressures since then. He said the city had been in tough financial straits for years and workers "rolled up their sleeves and tried to be the solution," but that provincial and regional governments have been enjoying record revenues thanks to higher tax assessments.

The City of Saint John's proposed budget for 2024 represents $184 million, which is a four per cent increase over last year, and assumes a 3.35 per cent increase in property tax revenues.

In the city's statement, it says it is committed to reaching an agreement "that reflects our commitment to financial sustainability and enables us to continue working together to deliver quality services."

Davidson said the city had offered non-union employees salary increases according to the wage escalation policy. He said the union's cost-of-living request was not "too far apart" from what the policy would have recommended, and that wages were the last remaining sticking point.

"We've been waiting for the employer," he said.

The city said since bargaining started in June 2022, it has met with the union 26 times, including twice in July with a provincial-appointed conciliator.

"We are optimistic an agreement can be reached, but we are also taking prudent steps to have contingency plans ready to minimize the disruption to public services should a labour disruption occur,” the statement reads.

Andrew Bates, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Telegraph-Journal

Canadians want urgent climate action, but cost of living stands in the way: poll

 

 Sep 1, 2023  #GlobalNews #Canada #climate

The unprecedented wildfire season in 2023 has shown Canadians just how urgent it is to address the climate crisis, and new poll numbers show the majority of people want to see Ottawa move more quickly on environmental policy.

Ipsos polling, conducted on behalf of Global News, found nearly three in five Canadians agree that Ottawa will fail Canadians if it does not act urgently on climate change. But that also comes with 35 per cent of Canadians agreeing now is not the time to invest in climate change due to tough economic circumstances brought on by inflation. 

The survey comes weeks after Alberta placed a six-month moratorium on wind and solar energy project approvals, with only about one in four in Alberta agreeing with the stance that Canada has to do more to address climate change.

With more than 15.6 million hectares burned across the country so far this year, Kyle Benning has more on what might be ahead for green investments.

Gerald Taiaiake Alfred confronts reconciliation in new book


Local Journalism Initiative
Fri, September 1, 2023 

Gerald Taiaiake Alfred’s methods and temperament have evolved over the years as his roles have changed, but the spirit of his thinking has been consistent across his career.

At a time when the Canadian government is embracing reconciliation rhetoric, Alfred has compiled two decades of interviews and speeches he has given to make an urgent case for why this approach undermines – rather than reinforces – Indigenous rights and sovereignty.

The resulting book, It’s All About the Land: Collected Talks and Interviews on Indigenous Resurgence, hits store shelves September 12.

“Basically what I’m arguing in this book is that reconciliation is a flawed concept because it’s window dressing on continued colonization,” said Alfred.

“It’s being promoted as a solution to the problem when in fact it’s building on our defeat as nations and convincing many of us that being participants in the colonial project is the best that we can do. I disagree with that, and I think our ancestors disagree with that.”

The goals of reconciliation run contrary to the historic goals of Kanien’kehá:ka and Kahnawa’kehró:non activism, he said, noting this has always been about restoring nationhood, autonomy, freedom, and land.

“Reconciliation doesn’t offer any of that,” he said.

Instead, reconciliation – which he calls “Canadian citizenship with the flavour of Indigeneity to it” – subverts the cultural and political resurgence of Onkwehón:we by accepting the framework of Canadian authority and envisioning First Nations within that, he said.

“It’s not radical in terms of challenging the pillars of what Canada is and the policies of Canada,” he said of reconciliation. “It just advocates making them more open to our participation.”

He said it’s a crucial time, especially with social technologies that help cement a moderate view of the place of Indigenous communities in Canada.

While the material in the book hearkens back to a consistent theme, the tone shifts because his words come from engagements with different kinds of audiences.

“Each section is a slightly different take on it because I’m trying to persuade a different audience in every interaction that I’ve had.”

Alfred’s editor, Ann Rogers, who is not Indigenous, found her perspective shifting as she wrestled with the text, she said.

“Every time I went back into it, I always came out with something else. It’s like you don’t stand in the same river twice,” Rogers said. “I could tell my own thinking was changing because I was reacting differently. For me it was very transformative.”

The biggest challenge in editing the book was that it was hard to cut anything, she said. “His thinking is very nuanced,” she said.

This is particularly impressive, she said, given that he does not rely on notes when speaking, preferring to engage with audiences “without a net,” in his words.

“I just think there’s so much people have to learn from him,” said Pamela Palmater, a Mi’kmaq lawyer, professor, activist, and politician who contributed the book’s foreword.

“His message is even more important now because we’re really at risk in this whole phase of reconciliation of just softening everything, watering everything down, and making it look like everything’s okay and just passively assimilate into society,” she said.

“(Alfred’s) message is ‘don’t do that.’”

For Alfred, the book’s title – It’s All About the Land – was an easy decision.

“That phrase has been in my head since 1992, and it’s been something I’ve been repeating to myself over and over as a professor, giving speeches, and in my own life, personally, too.”

He is concerned the modern Land Back movement can be too focused on social media rather than on-the-ground action.

“What are they actually doing compared to what our uncles and parents and grandparents did in the 70s and 80s? We’re talking about people that uprooted their whole lives to go reoccupy land and defend that with guns,” he said, adding those people went on to start schools, raise families, and defend territory for future generations.

“Compare that to putting out a hashtag – #LandBack – and going to the coffee shop. It’s something we really need to think about in terms of what exactly is a movement.”

He emphasized he is not dismissing online activism, which he sees as necessary. “But I think too much effort is put into that,” he said.

Kahnawa’kehró:non will be able to buy the book at Iron Horse, and a local book launch is planned for Kahnawake on September 18 at 5:30 p.m. at Tóta Ma’s Café.

Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door

Quebec ophthalmologists question low prices offered by LASIK MD for outsourced cataract surgeries


CBC
Fri, September 1, 2023 

LASIK MD specializes in eye surgery. 

As several health-care institutions in the Montreal area prepare to award millions in contracts to the private sector when they outsource eye surgeries, Quebec's association of ophthalmologists is raising concerns about the quality of care.

An analysis of the bids submitted shows that one of the biggest players in the industry, Vision Group/LASIK MD, is offering its services at less than $600 per procedure.

But professionals in the ophthalmology industry argue that is below cost and could interfere with patient care.

"We don't want to impugn anyone's intentions, but we have to ask ourselves questions and ensure that the quality is good," said Dr. Salim Lahoud, president of the ophthalmologists association, AMOQ.

Other bids ranged from $850 to over $1,000 per procedure.

In the province's public health network, cataract surgery costs $1,573.

Those amounts, whether in the public or private sector, do not include the doctors' pay, which is covered by Quebec's health insurance board (RAMQ).

Over the next five years,185,000 cataract operations — expected to cost at least $115 million — will likely be outsourced, according to data compiled by Radio-Canada.

Dr. Lahoud says he shared his concerns with the Health Ministry and the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec.

But Vision Group/LASIK MD president Dr. Mark Cohen denies offering below-cost prices for cataract surgeries. He says his business' cost structure allows the group to make a lower bid.

Dr. Mark Cohen, President and National Medical Director, Vision Group/LASIK MD
Dr. Mark Cohen says LASIK MD has significant purchasing power given that it performs more than 100,000 ophthalmic surgeries every year in Canada. (Submitted by Lasik)

"It's a little lower than $600 and we would never bid at a price where we would lose with each surgery. That I can guarantee," said Dr. Cohen, who explained that LASIK MD rooms are typically used one day per week."We have four days when it's empty, but we already have all the infrastructure and all the equipment, so we don't have any fixed costs to add."

Dr. Cohen says that his business has significant purchasing power, particularly for intraocular lenses, given that it performs more than 100,000 ophthalmic surgeries every year in Canada, while a typical hospital in Quebec will do 3,000 cataract surgeries a year.

The Health Ministry said by e-mail that it has "no reason to believe that the company that wins the call for tenders would not offer quality services, since the MSSS and the institutions have all the necessary leverage if the services are not up to standard."

Competition questions

Under Canada's Competition Act, it is illegal to charge below cost with the aim of squeezing out competition only to charge high prices later. But prices that are legitimately low can benefit the public purse.

Université de Montréal competition law Prof. Pierre Larouche says it's in the best interest of the public health network to maintain competition among its private sector suppliers. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)

"In the short term, if bidding at a low price allows the public to have a better price, and it affects competition without eliminating it, that's OK," said Prof. Pierre Larouche, who teaches competition law at the Université de Montréal

He also says it's in the best interest of the public health network to maintain competition among its private sector suppliers.

"If we take a long-term perspective, we must make sure to have competition during the first round of public contracts, but also for the second and third rounds," he said. "I don't know if the network has the foresight to do that with five-year contracts here [with options].

For its part, the Health Ministry said in an email that the call for tenders helps create competition with the hope of improving the performance of the health and social services network."

Many Dynalife physicians unhappy with new contracts offered amid transition: AMA

FIRST THEY CENTRALIZE IT THEN THEY PRIVATIZE IT NOW THEY BRING BACK IN HOUSE

CBC
Fri, September 1, 2023 

The Alberta Medical Association says a majority of Dynalife physicians being transferred to Alberta Precision Labs believe the process has been unfair to date. (Submitted by Biohubx - image credit)

A number of laboratory physicians being transitioned from the private provider Dynalife to the government-owned Alberta Precision Labs believe the process has been unfair in advance of their contracts expiring effective Sept. 1, according to the Alberta Medical Association (AMA).

In a letter sent to Alberta Precision Labs (APL) and Alberta Health Services from the AMA on Aug. 29, the doctors' association wrote that it held a town hall the prior week with 52 of the laboratory physicians currently employed or contracted to Dynalife.

"The overwhelming majority of [Dynalife] physicians believe that an unfair process has been undertaken by APL to provide new terms of an agreement on a 'take it or leave it' basis that are inferior to the agreement that is currently in place with [Dynalife]," the letter reads.

"As such, the vast majority of [Dynalife] physicians will not be signing the new proposed APL contract as requested by Aug. 31."

It was unclear how many physicians signed the new contracts. In a letter sent by the AMA to Dynalife physicians Sept.1, the doctors' association wrote that it understood via polling that "most Dynalife pathologists have not signed the new APL contracts" despite the Aug. 31. deadline.

In a file photo, Alberta Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange speaks at the opening of the emergency room at Peter Lougheed hospital in Calgary on Aug. 22. Earlier this month, LaGrange announced that Dynalife ownership was transferring all staff, operations and physical labs to Alberta Precision Labs. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

There are around 75 lab physicians who work for Dynalife as contractors, which represent around a third of all lab physicians in Alberta, according to Dr. Christopher Naugler, president of the section of laboratory medicine with the AMA.

Despite the midnight deadline, AHS said that physicians may take until Sept. 25 to review the contract and decide whether they wish to sign.

"Whether Dynalife physicians choose to sign the [contract] or not, APL will compensate them for the work that they perform between Sept. 1 and Sept. 25," the health authority wrote in a statement.

The main question of the AMA at this stage, according to Naugler, is what happens to the employment of those who don't sign the contracts on Sept. 26.

"AHS doesn't say one way or another, so the doctors are left under this big cloud of uncertainty," Naugler said, adding he would have concerns about health impacts to Albertans should service be impacted.

CBC News reached out late Friday afternoon to AHS to inquire what would happen to physicians who don't sign their contracts by the deadline.

Earlier this month, Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said AHS had signed a memorandum of understanding that will see Dynalife transfer all of its staff, operations and physical locations to APL by the end of 2023.

That followed months of concerns over waits that sometimes ranged as long as a month to book appointments for routine tests, particularly in Calgary and southern Alberta.

Contracts expired at midnight

In a letter sent to Dynalife contractors on Aug. 28, Dynalife CEO Jason Pincock thanked employees for their services while confirming their contractual agreements would expire at midnight on Aug. 31.

"Given the timing of the operational transfer between AHS/APL and DynaLIFE there has been little time to prepare in advance for this change," he wrote.

In its letter sent Aug. 29, the AMA wrote that the key differences between the existing Dynalife contract and the proposed new APL contract that it wanted included were:

An acknowledgement of a workload limit.


Extra pay if one works over that workload limit, along with the right to refuse extra work.


Pool funds for unfilled full-time equivalent positions that are retained by the medical staff.

Christopher Naugler, president of the AMA section of laboratory physicians.

Christopher Naugler, president of the AMA section of laboratory physicians. (Submitted by Christopher Naugler)

Naugler, the president of the section of laboratory medicine with the AMA, said lab physicians often are invisible in the health-care system, but are highly trained specialists that oversee all lab tests across Canadian jurisdictions.

But in Alberta, these doctors have faced constant change with different entities operating, especially the public lab systems, Naugler said.

"So doctors, really, are left in a position of not knowing where their jobs will be, who their employer will be," he said. "And there's such competition for lab doctors among provinces, that a concern certainly that my colleagues and I share is that we need to be able to retain and recruit physicians.

"With the amount of uncertainty in the lab system right now, we're worried there may be challenges with that."

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.