Walt Disney Co begins 7,000 layoffs


FILE PHOTO: A screen shows the trading info for The Walt Disney Company company on the floor of the NYSE in New York

Mon, March 27, 2023 
By Dawn Chmielewski

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Walt Disney Co on Monday began 7,000 layoffs announced earlier this year, as it seeks to control costs and create a more "streamlined" business, according to a letter Chief Executive Bob Iger sent to employees and seen by Reuters.

Several major divisions of the company - Disney Entertainment, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, and corporate - will be impacted, according to a person familiar with the matter. ESPN is not touched by this week's round of cuts, but is anticipated to be included in later rounds.

The entertainment industry has undergone a retrenchment since its early euphoric embrace of video streaming, when established media companies lost billions as they launched competitors to Netflix Inc.

Media companies started to rein in spending when Netflix posted its first loss of subscribers in a decade in early 2022, and Wall Street began prioritizing profitability over subscriber growth.

Iger said Disney would begin notifying the first group of employees who are impacted by the workforce reductions over the next four days. A second, larger round of job cuts will happen in April, "with several thousand more staff reductions." The final round will start before the beginning of the summer, the letter said.

The Burbank entertainment conglomerate announced in February that it would eliminate 7,000 jobs as part of an effort to save $5.5 billion in costs and make its money-losing streaming business profitable.

"The difficult reality of many colleagues and friends leaving Disney is not something we take lightly," Iger wrote, noting that many "bring a lifelong passion for Disney" to their work.

One of the first areas targeted for cuts was television production and acquisition departments, resulting in the departure of senior executives, a source confirmed.

Details of the layoffs had been closely guarded by the company, though insiders anticipated reductions would happen before Disney's annual shareholder meeting on April 3.

Anxiety has been building within Disney, as rumors swirled about areas of possible cuts.

"It’s a dark, black box," said one Disney executive who spoke to Reuters last week.

Many had expected cuts to fall heavily on the Disney Media and Entertainment Division, which was eliminated in a corporate restructuring. The unit has been without a leader since the exit of Kareem Daniel in November, shortly after Iger returned as the company’s CEO.

“It’s been a long time in the making,” said SVB MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson, adding that the company first began “to whisper” about the need to take out costs last fall, when Bob Chapek was still Disney’s chief executive.

Josh D’Amaro, chair of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, sent a memo to theme parks employees in February warning that the profitable division would experience cuts.

Officials for two of the unions representing cast members at Walt Disney World Resorts in Orlando, Florida, said “guest-facing” services were not expected to be affected by the layoffs.

"I don’t see where, when there are labor shortages in front-facing guest roles, it would be a good decision to lay off workers where the money train starts for the Walt Disney Co," said Paul Cox, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 631.

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Stephen Coates)

Disney Layoffs to Start This Week: Read Bob Iger’s Memo to Staff

Wilson Chapman
Mon, March 27, 2023 


We knew mass-layoffs were coming to Disney, we just didn’t know when. That lingering question was answered Monday via a memo to staff from CEO Bob Iger.

In the email, obtained by IndieWire, Iger explained that approximately 7,000 jobs from the entertainment giant will be cut across three stages. The first group of impacted employees will receive their notices during the next four days. “Several thousand” more staff members will be reduced from the company next month, in April, and a final round of layoffs will occur “before the beginning of the summer.”

“The difficult reality of many colleagues and friends leaving Disney is not something we take lightly. This company is home to the most talented and dedicated employees in the world, and so many of you bring a lifelong passion for Disney to your work here. That’s part of what makes working at Disney so special,” Iger wrote in his staff memo. “It also makes it all the more difficult to say goodbye to wonderful people we care about. I want to offer my sincere thanks and appreciation to every departing employee for your numerous contributions and your devotion to this beloved company.”

The Disney layoffs come as part of Iger’s massive restructuring of several Disney divisions. The reorg, which comes after Iger returned to the CEO position last November after originally stepping down from the post in 2020, will reverse many of the decisions made by his successor/predecessor Bob Chapek.

The Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution tech and product team Chapek formed will be dismantled; Kareem Daniel, one of Chapek’s main appointments at the company and the head of the DMED division, exited in November. With the exception of the parks/products and ESPN, which are now standalone branches, the entertainment divisions at the company — including Disney Studios, General Entertainment, Animation, Disney+, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight, and Hulu — will be brought under the roof of Disney Entertainment, led by Dana Walden and Alan Bergman. Layoffs will especially target DMED employees, but all Disney branches may be affected.

Read the full memo from Iger below.

Dana Walden, Bob Iger, and Alan Bergman attend the 2023 Oscars - Credit: Getty Images
Getty Images

Dear Fellow Employees,

As I shared with you in February, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our overall workforce by approximately 7,000 jobs as part of a strategic realignment of the company, including important cost-saving measures necessary for creating a more effective, coordinated and streamlined approach to our business. Over the past few months, senior leaders have been working closely with HR to assess their operational needs, and I want to give you an update on those efforts.

This week, we begin notifying employees whose positions are impacted by the company’s workforce reductions. Leaders will be communicating the news directly to the first group of impacted employees over the next four days. A second, larger round of notifications will happen in April with several thousand more staff reductions, and we expect to commence the final round of notifications before the beginning of the summer to reach our 7,000-job target.

The difficult reality of many colleagues and friends leaving Disney is not something we take lightly. This company is home to the most talented and dedicated employees in the world, and so many of you bring a lifelong passion for Disney to your work here. That’s part of what makes working at Disney so special. It also makes it all the more difficult to say goodbye to wonderful people we care about. I want to offer my sincere thanks and appreciation to every departing employee for your numerous contributions and your devotion to this beloved company.

For our employees who aren’t impacted, I want to acknowledge that there will no doubt be challenges ahead as we continue building the structures and functions that will enable us to be successful moving forward. I ask for your continued understanding and collaboration during this time.

In tough moments, we must always do what is required to ensure Disney can continue delivering exceptional entertainment to audiences and guests around the world – now, and long into the future. Please know that our HR partners and leaders are committed to creating a supportive and smooth process every step of the way.

I want to thank each of you again for all your many achievements here at The Walt Disney Company.

Sincerely,
Bob

Opinion
France demanded crippling payments. Now Haiti has a legitimate claim for slavery reparations | Opinion

Mario Joseph, Brian Concannon and Irwin Stotzky
Mon, March 27, 2023

The movement for reparations for slavery has enjoyed some success lately, but there is still a long way to go before slavery’s harms to Africans and their descendants are acknowledged, repaired and compensated. Better integrating Haiti into the movement for reparations can accelerate the larger movement’s journey toward justice, while also helping Haiti secure sovereignty and democracy.

Haitians suffered many of the same harms that enslaved people and their descendants faced in the United States, the Caribbean and elsewhere — forced labor, murder, mutilation, sexual assault, family separation and all the other horrors of the slave ships and the plantations. Haitians, likewise, suffered after slavery’s abolition from systematic discrimination that kept Black people from learning, earning and voting their way out of poverty.

But the slave-owning powers that ran the world in 1804 when Haiti won its independence from France reserved some harms exclusively for the world’s first Black Republic — and the first country to abolish slavery.

The white-supremacist ideology that justified slavery could not survive the example of a stable, prosperous Haiti founded by self-emancipated slaves, so the powers-that-were, especially the United States and France, ensured that Haiti remained poor and unstable. The United States refused to even recognize the second independent country in the Americas until 1862. France recognized Haiti in 1825, but only after its fleet of warships in Port-au-Prince harbor forced Haiti to agree to compensate French slave-owners for their losses by threatening to destroy Haiti’s capital and reinstitute slavery.


Haiti’s coerced compensation to France — often called the Independence Debt — exceeded 10 years of government revenue. It included payments for the value of the emancipated Haitians themselves. Haiti was forced to finance the debt through French banks on predatory terms. It did not complete payments until the 1940s, after over a century of sacrificing investing in education, healthcare and industrial development. Haiti’s current poverty and instability is to a large extent the result — the intended result —of the Independence Debt.

The unique harm that the Independence Debt imposed on Haiti provides unique opportunities to claim reparations. The violence and threats that forced Haiti’s agreement to the debt fall squarely into the well-established legal theory of unjust enrichment. Haiti’s government unquestionably has standing to assert the claim. Calculating the damages for restitution is straightforward (Haiti’s government calculated the claim at $21 billion in 2003).

The example of a successful restitution claim by Haiti might be as dangerous for the former slave-owning countries as the example of Haiti’s 1804 independence was. The claim’s legal advantages might allow it to make a crack in the wall that has so far protected those countries from responsibility to return any of their unjust enrichment from slavery, which could generate a deluge of justice for all those harmed by slavery.

In fact, the United States and France fear the example of a restitution claim enough to once again ensure that Haiti remains poor and unstable. When Haiti’s elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide prepared a restitution claim in 2003, France and the United States stopped the potential legal proceedings by overthrowing the President. The Haitian governments that followed the ouster have dismantled Haiti’s democracy, allowed gangs to control half of Haiti’s territory and stolen enough money to leave half of all Haitians facing hunger. But in almost 20 years none of these governments have pressed the restitution claim, so all have earned reliable international support.

Last Friday, the University of Miami Law School symposium convened scholars from around the world to discuss Haiti’s restitution claim. The participants were optimistic about the strength of the legal claim, but pessimistic that Haiti would be allowed the freely-elected, sovereign government that pursuing a restitution claim requires. In fact, the same day, President Biden was in Canada trying to convince Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lead a military intervention that Haitians reject as designed to prop up their brutal, repressive government.

Canada refused to lead the intervention, as the Caribbean Community did last month. The refusal likely derails the intervention, and gives Haiti an opportunity to reclaim its democracy. Supporters of reparations, especially in the United States, can help Haiti seize that opportunity—and advance their own chances for reparations—by insisting that their governments allow Haitians to vote for a government that would stand up for its citizens’ right to restitution of the Independence Debt.

Mario Joseph is Managing Attorney of the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux in Port-au-Prince. 

Brian Concannon is Executive Director of the Boston-based Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti. 

Irwin Stotzky is Professor of Law at the University of Miami School of Law.

 All three are human rights lawyers.

Joseph

Concannon

Stotzky

CANADIAN COLONIALIST COPS

International support force needed in Haiti, says UN human rights commissioner

Story by Sarah Ramsaran • Saturday, March 25,2023

The UN high commissioner for human rights says an international support force is needed in Haiti to help end the gang violence and restore order to the country.

"I firmly believe that it is important to support the national police, but it can only be done through an international support force of sorts that is time bound … that gives the intelligence, that provides the type of support that the national police needs," Volker Türk said in an interview airing Sunday on Rosemary Barton Live.

U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday that deploying a military force to Haiti is "not in play at the moment."

But it's also not "off the table," he said during his trip to Ottawa.

The Canadian government has announced it will provide $100 million in aid to the Haitian National Police to help the country restore law and order.

"Canada will keep Haiti in the heart of the solution for resolving this crisis ... We are determined to increase international support for Haiti, including through humanitarian assistance," Trudeau said during a press conference by the two leaders Friday.

Türk told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Barton he has spoken to the Haitian police about the help they need.

"I've been able to talk to the chiefs, many of them who are actually wanting to do something about it. But they need better equipment, they need the training, they need the support from the international community to be able to do their jobs."

Related video: Gang violence forcing people in Haiti to abandon their homes (cbc.ca)

Duration 2:09  View on Watch

MSF hospital temporarily closes

Türk visited Haiti back in February of this year and witnessed the violence first hand. He described it as an "absolutely horrific" situation.

"There are snipers, people shooting at children, there is sexual violence, there are killings, kidnappings and unfortunately ever since I left, the situation has only become worse," he said.

In less than three months, 627 people were killed by gangs and 365 people were kidnapped in Haiti, according to Türk. About half of the country's population is now in need of humanitarian assistance.



Police officers take cover during an anti-gang operation in the Lalue neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 3.© Odelyn Joseph/The Associated Press

The violence is so bad in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, that medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières had to temporarily close its hospital in the Cité Soleil neighbourhood.

Benoit Vasseur, MSF's head of mission in Haiti, said he regularly sees dead bodies lying on the streets of Port-au-Prince.

"One of our patients got shot in the back, a 70-year-old man trying to reach our facilities," he said. According to Vasseur, MSF's hospital in the Turgeau suburb of Port-au-Prince saw more than 100 bullet injuries in one week.

When it comes to what the international community can do right now to end the violence, Türk says it's absolutely critical to immediately enforce the arms embargo.

"There's not one single arm that is produced in Haiti, but there are still arms flowing into the country," he said.

"I think there's enough information out there where these arms are coming from and who is transporting them. So I think that has to stop."

Haiti's sudden turn for the worse puts Trudeau on the spot

Story by Evan Dyer 

CBC

"There's one event that tells it all," Haitian businessman Marco Larosilière told CBC News from his home in Port-au-Prince.

"Last week, the general inspector of the national police was kidnapped with his son in front of his school."

If a high-ranking official of the national police is not safe, said Larosilière, "what about the rest of the population?"

"It's unbearable," he added. "You feel that every day, the situation is getting worse and worse. And you're thinking it can't be worse. And the next day, you find out it's worse."

Larosilière's own neighbourhood has so far been spared, although he can hear the gunfire.

He's essentially trapped in Port-au-Prince, unable to reach his agrifood business in Haiti's south because of the gangs' stranglehold on the capital.

Over the past two weeks, the situation in Port-au-Prince has taken a sudden and dramatic turn for the worse.

Dr. William Pape of Cornell University is a member of the World Health Organization's scientific committee and one of Haiti's most distinguished medical doctors. He warned last week that the country could be on the road to a Rwanda-scale massacre (albeit without the inter-ethnic element of those events).

And last week, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was forced to close its hospital in Cite Soleil, a place famous for staying open no matter what. "We are living scenes of warfare just meters from the establishment," said MSF medical adviser Vincent Harris in a media statement.

Biden visit raises the pressure

The spiraling chaos comes at a difficult time for the Trudeau government as it prepares to welcome U.S. President Joe Biden to Canada.

Canada has been saddled with the expectation that it will "take the lead" in restoring order to Haiti because the Biden administration pressured it to do so — and because it suggested to other countries that Canada was going to do so.

The last time Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Biden shared a bilateral stage was in Mexico City on January 11. "We're all very aware that things could get worse in Haiti," Trudeau said then.

"That's why Canada and various partners, including the United States, are preparing various scenarios if it does start to get worse."

Since then, U.S. pressure on Canada appears only to have increased.

By the time Trudeau headed to the Bahamas in February as a guest of the 15 member states of Caricom, the Caribbean community of nations, the belief that Canada was in charge of fixing Haiti was shared by all.

The other thing everyone agreed on was that, as Haiti's acting prime minister Ariel Henry told Trudeau in Nassau, "the situation is getting worse and worse."


Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, takes part in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister of Haiti Ariel Henry during the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Nassau, Bahamas, on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023.© Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

Canada's ambassador in Haiti, Sébastien Carrière, echoed that view in an interview with CBC News. "I think you'd have to be blind to not realize that it's gotten worse," he said.

But that was in February. What has happened so far in March has been even more disturbing.

No more safe zone

When 2023 began, there were still areas of Port-au-Prince that felt like they were beyond the reach of the gangs. "When you start a story for children, you say, 'Once upon a time,'" said Fritz Jean. "This is no longer the case."

Jean, the former governor of the Bank of Haiti and the leading figure of Haiti's political opposition, spoke to CBC News from the formerly safe, middle-class neighbourhood of Petionville.

"Right now, you're in danger in any part of Petionville because gangs can penetrate any time. In the middle of the street, they're kidnapping people, killing people. This is the situation that we live in right now. In fact, they're killing with impunity. They're kidnapping with impunity. The police force cannot handle the situation. They are completely outgunned."

Global Affairs Canada told CBC News that it maintains an evacuation plan for Canadians in Haiti. Asked about the number of Canadian citizens there, GAC's Charlotte MacLeod said "there are presently 2,834 registrants in Haiti. As registration with the service is voluntary, this is not a complete picture of the number."


Fritz Jean, an economist and former governor of Haiti's central bank, at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Feb. 26, 2016.© Dieu Nalio Chery/Associated Press

Last week, Haiti's interior minister told residents of Port-au-Prince to prepare to defend themselves in their own homes. But few Haitians have the means to do so.

"This happened to a friend of mine one week ago," Jean said. "His wife was shot. Even the ambulance could not get up there where he lives. He lives on top of a hill in Kenscoff (south of Petionville). So, we are to do it ourselves."

Wounded civilians, closed hospitals


cbc.ca Gang violence forcing people in Haiti to abandon their homes
2:09

cbc.caUN human rights commissioner calls situation in Haiti 'absolutely horrific'
8:12

That situation is all too common.

An MSF emergency clinic in the central district of Turgeau reported last week a tenfold increase in the number of gunshot wounds it was seeing.

"It's hard to tell how many people are wounded in total across the city because many people are too terrified to leave their neighbourhoods," said MSF's Dr. Freddy Sampson.

"You have gangs committing murder inside the hospitals," Larosiliere told CBC News. "You have health personnel who are afraid to come to work. Every week they kidnap, like, three or four doctors. And they're asking the institution where they work to pay ransom."

Schools are also being subjected to violent extortion, said Larosiliere.

"What we notice is many schools are now being closed because they are receiving threats from gangs with letters and a bullet inside, telling the schools that if you want to operate you have to pay ransom," he said. "As a result, only the kids of the elites can attend classes online."

Until recently, 60 per cent of the capital was considered to be under gang control, said Larosiliere. "But now, 100 per cent of the capital is controlled by gangs," he said.

"You have to be creative — when to leave home, when to come back, make sure there are enough people on the streets. But still, you have at least five or 10 kidnappings a day. Some days they even kidnap 30 people. And it happens that they kidnap a whole school bus. Imagine! A school bus! With little kids!

"And you know what? I'm sure Trudeau knows that. I'm sure Biden knows that."

General's words go viral

When Gen. Wayne Eyre, chief of the defence staff, said last week that Canada's military lacks the resources to both help Ukraine and lead a rescue mission in Haiti, his words quickly went viral on the island.

"My concern is just our capacity," Gen. Eyre told Reuters. "There's only so much to go around ... It would be challenging."

In stating that Haitians "have to own the solution," Gen. Eyre was merely echoing what Trudeau and other government officials have said repeatedly — that large outside interventions have no record of sustained success in Haiti, and that the only lasting solution can come from building Haiti's own forces.

But the statement still came as a disappointment to many.


Police officers take cover during an anti-gang operation in the Lalue neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti on March 3, 2023.© Odelyn Joseph/Associated Press

"The disappointment is mostly because people don't believe that," Haitian economist Etzer Emile told CBC News. "People don't believe a great country, a rich country like Canada can say that its army doesn't have capacity because we're so busy in Ukraine.

"They say, 'Why'd you give Ukraine so many weapons, and you don't give the police force in Haiti weapons?' Because the few tanks that the Haitian police got from Canada, they bought them from Canada. They're not gifts.

"A lot of people in Haiti were expecting a lot from Canada, you know? Canadians have a very good perception in Haiti. And people are expecting a lot from them in terms of really helping, to really see concrete things on the ground.

"So I think we have to have very fair and frank conversations with the Haitian people. Because we need help, and we have to find the best way to do so."

'If you want to help us, help us'

Larosiliere also said it's time for Canada to tell Haiti clearly what it is and isn't willing to do.

"Trudeau needs to come forward, straightforward and clean. If you want to help us, help us," he said. "But don't make any show of demonstration of boats and planes." (The Canadian Forces recently deployed two ships and a reconnaissance plane on missions around Port-au-Prince.)

"Canada used to be well-respected until they made promises they could not keep. Now, they are the laughing stock on social media. So now, what can we expect from Canada?" he asked. "Canada needs to be candid about it. Will they help us militarily?"



Haitian businessman Marco Larosilière at his home in Port-au-Prince.© CBC News

Larosiliere's view that a military intervention is the only way to defeat the gangs is not universally held in Haiti, but it does appear to garner about 70 per cent support in opinion polls. He said opposition is strongest among wealthier Haitians who live in the safest neighbourhoods, and members of the diaspora abroad who care about Haiti's sovereignty but don't have to live with the consequences of insecurity.

Defeating the gangs should not be too hard, he said. "We're talking about some criminals with some machine guns, in front of a well-trained army, professional army. They won't last."

Splits on intervention linger

But Canada also has to contend with the fact that a part of Haitian society rejects the idea of direct intervention — partly because it hasn't worked in the past, and partly because they fear it will only shore up and extend the illegitimate rule of unelected acting Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

Fritz Jean said he sympathizes with those who want Canadian soldiers or U.S. Marines to storm ashore and defeat the gangs.

"I understand those people," he said. "I understand them because they are living a dire situation. Kidnapping, collective rape of women and children — particularly young, underage women.

"So they're asking for any solution that can help them right away to make sure that the gangs can no longer kidnap them, can no longer rape their children."



Children run towards their parents at the end of their school day as police carry out an operation against gangs in the Bel-Air area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti on March 3, 2023.© Odelyn Joseph/Associated Press

But Haiti has learned from experience with foreign military interventions, he said, that "it's not a sustainable security situation."

"For 13 years, we had the MINUSTAH (UN peacekeeping mission) in Haiti," he said. "But look at the situation right now.

"So what we are saying, we have to have a sustainable security in Haiti and in order for us to do that, we really have to reconstruct the police force. Make sure that the police force — the same way that Prime Minister Trudeau was saying — has to be trained, they have to have equipment, but also they have to get paid.

"It's dysfunctional right now. The police force that has been created by Canada and the U.S. has to be reconstructed."

"You have to look at the past to see what international intervention did to this country before," said Emile.

"Because we had MINUSTAH for 13 years and they spent $7 billion, but that didn't help Haiti to create its capacity, to reinforce its capacity to do justice and security.

"More people are for an international intervention. I understand that because they're fed up and they realize that the current national force actually didn't deliver. Not because they can't, because they don't want to."

There is not a single official in Haiti who hasn't overstayed his or her electoral mandate. Delaying elections allows them to remain in their posts, and Emile expresses a commonplace view when he suggests the government of Ariel Henry wants gang warfare.

"I believe the government used insecurity to stay in power, because when you have insecurity, there's no way you can have an election," he said.

"For me, it's just a setup."

CBC• Mar 15,2023 

Senate Democrats urge Pentagon to safeguard abortion access

Story by Ellen Mitchell • 

The majority of Senate Democrats on Monday pressed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to maintain access to abortion care for service members and their dependents, warning that restricting such care could hurt national security.


Senate Democrats urge Pentagon to safeguard abortion access© Provided by The Hill

In a letter led by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, the 38 lawmakers tell Austin that “it is imperative that the Department of Defense continue to take action to protect the rights of service members and their families to access abortion care.”

“State laws restricting or prohibiting our service members from accessing reproductive care send a message that the United States does not trust those who serve in uniform – whom we trust to protect our country – to make their own decisions about their health care and families,” the letter reads. “These laws also jeopardize the health and overall readiness of our military.”

The letter was coauthored with Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and signed by 36 Democrats as well as Independent Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Angus King (Maine).

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last June, 13 states have outlawed most abortions, with several others severely restricting the procedure.

The RAND Corporation estimates that 40 percent of active-duty women who serve in the United States face limited or no access to abortion services where they are stationed, according to the letter.

Prior to the court’s decision, the Department of Defense allowed abortion services at military treatment facilities under limited circumstances, including pregnancy caused by rape or incest or endangering the health and life of the woman. In most other cases, service members were required to pay out of pocket themselves at civilian medical facilities.


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MSNBCUnpacking Wyoming’s abortion ban and the Texas abortion pill lawsuit
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Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Pentagon officials have vowed to continue to allow abortion services at military treatment facilities, including in states where the procedure is no longer allowed or limited.

Austin first announced in October that the Pentagon would also provide leave to service members and their dependents for travel required to access reproductive health care and would reimburse individuals for the trek.

Policies released in February gave additional details and guidance on how the directives would function.

In his October decision, Austin argued that restricting access to reproductive care “will interfere with our ability to recruit, retain, and maintain the readiness of a highly qualified force.”

Senate Republicans, however, are skeptical, with 12 asking Austin for the data to back up his readiness claims.

Led by Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the lawmakers in a letter earlier this month accused the Pentagon of a “blatant attempt to circumvent numerous federal statutes” and policies that “can only be interpreted as a purely political action taken without consulting Congress.”

The divide has also led to a hold on President Biden’s nominations for top Pentagon positions since February, with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) last week vowing to maintain the freeze until the policy is altered.

And in a contentious Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week, Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) included abortion access in the military as among so-called “social experiments” and “radical agendas,” at the Pentagon.

In Monday’s letter, Senate Democrats argue that state laws restricting abortions will not stop service members from needing or seeking care.

“Abortion restrictions and bans only force service members to travel farther to states that have not restricted abortion, further compromising both the financial security of the service members and military readiness,” they write. “Our service members should not be forced to needlessly risk their personal health and safety for routine health care simply because they pledged to protect and defend our nation.”

UCP GOVERNMENT
Alberta sees longer surgical wait times in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic: CIHI

Story by Anna Junker • Yesterday 


An Alberta Health Services building.© Provided by Edmonton Journal

Fewer surgeries are being performed within the recommended time frame in Alberta compared to before the pandemic, according to the Canadian Institute of Health Information.

New data published by the non-profit organization that tracks health-care systems shows that in Alberta, about 78,000 fewer surgeries were performed since March 2020 compared to pre-pandemic rates.

Between April and September 2022, only 27 per cent of knee replacement patients had surgery within the recommended six-month period, compared to 62 per cent in 2019. However, the institute notes that Alberta was among four provinces that performed more joint replacements over the five-month period, compared to the same time frame in 2019.

It’s a similar story for hip replacement patients, where 38 per cent had surgery within the recommended six-month period, compared to 64 per cent in 2019.

However, a higher proportion of patients were receiving cataract surgery within the recommended timeframe, 65 per cent compared to 44 per cent in 2019.

CIHI found it is also taking longer for cancer patients to get surgery compared to before the pandemic in Alberta. For example, in the case of lung cancer patients, it took on average 21 days for a patient to have surgery in 2019, whereas, in 2022, it took an average of 34 days.

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Prostate cancer surgeries have also seen an increase in wait times, with an average wait of 76 days in 2022, compared to 45 in 2019. Some patients are seeing a wait time of as many as 168 days.

Patients scheduled for breast cancer surgery had an average wait of 21 days, compared to 17 in 2019.

In response to the data, Scott Johnston, press secretaray to Health Minister Jason Copping, said in a statement that Alberta is ramping up efforts to address surgical wait times.

“As of March 2023, Alberta Health Services is completing surgeries at an average of 109 per cent of pre-pandemic surgical volumes, and the total surgical wait list for adults sits at 68,052,” he said. “For comparison, in February 2020, just before the pandemic, our total waitlist was virtually the same at 68,000.”

Johnston also said data for key benchmark surgeries is trending in the right direction and as of January, AHS was reporting improvements in knee replacement surgeries being completed within the recommended time frame at 39 per cent, and hip replacement surgeries at 49 per cent.

But the rates still remain below pre-pandemic levels.

As for cancer surgeries, he said they are nearly at 112 per cent of pre-pandemic volumes. As of March 6 of the 2022-23 fiscal year, AHS has completed approximately 20,930 cancer surgeries, compared to approximately 18,760 by the same times in the 2018-19 fiscal year. About 63 per cent of surgeries are being completed within the clinically recommended wait times.

Johnston added the provincial health authority has completed about 272,600 surgeries in the 2022-23 fiscal year.

ajunker@postmedia.com

POLITICAL PERSECUTION
German prosecutors search home of pro-Kremlin activists

INSTEAD OF BUSTING GERMAN CORPORATIONS DEALING WITH RUSSIA

Story by By REUTERS • Mar 27,2023

German prosecutors said on Monday they searched the home of two pro-Kremlin activists, looking for evidence to corroborate a Reuters report that the couple donated cash to buy radios for Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

A participant carries a flag with the "Z" symbol in support of the Russian armed forces involved in a conflict in Ukraine, during the Immortal Regiment march on Victory Day, which marks the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Saint Petersburg, Russia May 9, 2022.

© (photo credit: ANTON VAGANOV/ REUTERS)

Reuters reported in January that Max Schlund and his romantic partner Elena Kolbasnikova donated funds collected from supporters in Germany to a Russian army division fighting in Ukraine, and the money was used to purchase walkie-talkie radios, headphones and telephones.

European Union sanctions ban supplying, or financing the purchase of certain goods for the Russian military. The banned list includes radio gear. Under German law, the criminal penalty for anyone found to have violated sanctions is up to five years in prison.

Ulf Willuhn, a representative of the Cologne public prosecutors, said officers executed a search warrant on Monday morning at the couple's address, and took computers and folders containing written documents.

Kolbasnikova and Schlund did not immediately respond to requests for comment that Reuters sent to them on messaging apps. Kolbasnikova previously described the original Reuters report as "lies and provocation."


People take part in a protest against the delivery of weapons to Ukraine and in support of peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany February 25, 2023 (credit: REUTERS/CHRISTIAN MANG)

Crimes that the couple could be charged with

Willuhn said they would use the evidence they took to evaluate if Schlund and Kolbasnikova had violated paragraph 18 of the German foreign trade and payments act, which sets out punishments for breaches of international sanctions.

He said the search was triggered in part by the Reuters reporting on the donation to buy gear for the Russian army division in Ukraine.

Alongside that, he said prosecutors had also been looking for evidence of whether the couple violated section 140 of the German criminal code, which covers speaking approvingly of criminal acts.

That line of inquiry relates to allegations, reported in the German media, that the couple displayed the "Z" symbol, used by supporters of the Russian invasion, and re-posted a recruitment ad for pro-Kremlin military contractors.

In an audio message sent to supporters on social media on Monday, Kolbasnikova said she was not surprised the search had happened because the German authorities were "committing lawlessness" to try to silence political opponents.

"We will keep fighting ... God is on our side, and Moscow is at our backs. Three cheers for victory!" she said.

Kolbasnikova called on her supporters to attend a previously scheduled rally in Cologne on March 29 to protest in support of free speech and against what she described as "Russophobia."

A spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, said this month that Kolbasnikova was the victim of persecution by the German authorities.

ANTI-ASIAN SCAPEGOAT

MP Han Dong threatens legal action against Global over foreign interference report

Story by The Canadian Press •

OTTAWA — Han Dong is threatening legal action against Global News and its parent company after the media outlet published an allegation the Toronto MP spoke to a Chinese diplomat about delaying the release of two Canadians.


MP Han Dong threatens legal action against Global over foreign interference report© Provided by The Canadian Press

"Yes, I am taking legal action against Global News and Corus Entertainment," Dong said in a statement on Monday. "I have retained a lawyer to begin legal action to its fullest extent."

The statement follows a Global News report last week, citing anonymous security sources, that alleged the Toronto MP spoke about Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig with a Chinese diplomat in Toronto in February 2021.

The two Canadian men had been detained by China in December 2018, just over a week after the RCMP arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition warrant.

Global News alleged that Dong told China's consul general in Toronto that releasing the men would benefit the Conservatives, but also that showing some "progress" in the case would help the Liberals.

Global News has also published allegations that Dong benefited from Chinese foreign interference in the Canadian electoral process.

The Canadian Press has not independently verified the allegations against Dong, who announced Wednesday that he was leaving the Liberal caucus and would sit as an Independent to defend himself.

Global News editor-in-chief Sonia Verma stood by the outlet's reporting on Monday, saying in a statement: "Global News is governed by a rigorous set of journalistic principles and practices, and we are very mindful of the public interest and legal responsibility of this important accountability reporting."

Dong did not immediately respond to questions about his lawyer's identity, or whether he has filed a statement of claim in court to formally launch legal proceeedings.

In his statement on Monday, Dong pushed back against allegations of having worked with Beijing by relating his father's experience under the Chinese Communist regime, which included having been sent to a "re-education camp" in 1970.

"The trauma left on my father is one of the compelling reasons why, as co-chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association and a member of Parliament, I took every available opportunity to advocate on behalf of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor and to call for their immediate release," he said.

"It is inconceivable that I would ever suggest a falsely accused individual should spend an extra minute in jail."

Dong said he supports a public inquiry on foreign interference in Canada, and that he is willing to meet with former governor general David Johnston, who has been tapped as a special rapporteur to look into such allegations.

"I can look at myself in the mirror and know, with full certainty, that I have the truth on my side," he said. "My anonymous false accusers and their enablers cannot say the same."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

MP Han Dong says he has retained a lawyer, plans to take legal action against Global News

Story by Catharine Tunney • CBC

MP Han Dong says he has retained a lawyer and plans to sue Global News after it published a story alleging he advised a senior Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that Beijing should hold off on freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — the two Canadians being held by China at the time.


Toronto-area MP Han Dong announced he was leaving the Liberal caucus after Global News published a story alleging he advised a senior Chinese diplomat in February 2021 that Beijing should hold off on freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor — the two Canadians being held by China at the time.

Dong, who left Liberal caucus last week, confirmed to Global that he had a discussion with Consul General Han Tao but emphatically denied that he had advised Beijing to delay releasing the two Canadians.

On Friday, the Globe and Mail reported that the government received a CSIS transcript of Dong's conversation with the consul and concluded that there was no "actionable evidence," adding that it could not be determined that Dong asked the Chinese government to keep the two Canadians in prison for political reasons.

In a statement posted to Twitter Monday, Dong said he has a lawyer to "begin legal action to its fullest extent."

Dong writes that his father was shaped by the time he spent at the May Seventh Cadre School re-education camp in 1970 during China's cultural revolution, where he was "subjected to forced labour and 24-hour surveillance" for a year.

"From that experience my father knew there was no future left for him in China," Dong wrote.

He said his father came to Canada two months after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 and brought the rest of family over the next year.

"The trauma left on my father is one of the compelling reasons why, as co-chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association and a Member of Parliament, I took every available opportunity to advocate on behalf of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor and to call for their immediate release," he wrote.

"It is inconceivable that I would ever suggest a falsely accused individual should spend an extra minute in jail."

CBC News has reached out to Global and Corus Entertainment for comment.

'I have the truth on my side:' Dong

The Don Valley North MP said he supports a public inquiry into Chinese government interference and said he is willing to meet with former governor general David Johnston, the government's recently appointed special rapporteur on foreign interference, and provide him with information.

"Despite the abuse and shame my family has suffered over the last few weeks, I truly believe that my parents made the right decision to come to Canada," Dong wrote.

"I can look at myself in the mirror and know, with full certainty, that I have the truth on my side. My anonymous false accusers and their enablers cannot say the same."

During a news conference Friday, Trudeau was asked if he believed Dong advocated for the delayed release of Kovrig and Spavor.

He responded by recommending that people watch Dong's speech in the House of Commons earlier this week.

"We fully accept that he is stepping away from the Liberal caucus in order to vigorously contest these allegations," said Trudeau.

"Interference from authoritarian governments like China, Russia, Iran and others is a very real challenge to our democracies and it's absolutely unacceptable."

Dong is also the centre of allegations his election campaign benefited from Beijing's meddling and that he was "a witting affiliate."

Global News cited anonymous sources who alleged national security officials gave an urgent briefing to senior aides from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office in 2019 "warning them that one of their candidates was part of a Chinese foreign interference network."

Dong also denies those allegations.

March 27, 2023

KINSELLA: Can former Liberal MP Han Dong be charged with treason?

Opinion by Warren Kinsella • Thursday, March 23,2023

MP for Don Valley North Han Dong.© Provided by Toronto Sun


Can he be charged with treason?

It’s a question many are asking. It’s a fair question.

Since Wednesday night, when Global News dropped a bomb on Canadian politics — that former Liberal and now Independent MP Han Dong had allegedly lobbied China’s regime to illegally keep two Canadians in prison there, that’s a question I’ve been asked many times: If the allegations are true, can Dong be prosecuted for treason?

It’s important to emphasize, here, that the Toronto-area MP hasn’t been charged with any crime. He’s resigned from the Liberal caucus to clear his name — as a Conservative MPP in Ontario did earlier this month, for similar reasons — but no one has charged Han Dong with breaking any law.

And that may be because there’s no law to charge him with breaking.

In Canada, as with our allies, “treason” remains a serious crime. In the Criminal Code, it is defined in this way: “Every one commits treason who, in Canada, uses force or violence for the purpose of overthrowing the government of Canada or a province …

“[Or] without lawful authority, communicates or makes available to an agent of a state other than Canada, military or scientific information or any sketch, plan, model, article, note or document of a military or scientific character that he knows or ought to know may be used by that state for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or defence of Canada.”

We’ve got a criminal prohibition against “high treason,” too. But it’s a dramatically higher bar for prosecutors to clear. High treason is killing or attempting to kill our King or Queen — or waging actual war against Canada, or helping the enemy during a time of war.

But, as far as we know, we’re not at war. And, so far, the allegations against Dong don’t seem to fit a “treason” charge, either.

In the United States, someone facing similar allegations might not be so lucky.

The Americans don’t mess around. There, treason is a capital offence — you can be put to death for it.

Chapter 115 of the U.S. Code: “Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years.”

Having sworn an oath to Canada, the allegations Dong faces would be a violation of a similar law here. And “giving aid or comfort” to the enemy — here, China — would easily describe the untried allegations against Han Dong.

In Britain, the law against treason has been around for nearly seven centuries. It’s one of the oldest statutes in the United Kingdom

Though amended many times over the years, The Treason Act 1351, as in Canada, distinguishes between treason and high treason. High treason is killing the King or Queen — but also, originally, less serious offences like making counterfeit currency.

Ironically (given their origins), Americans seem to have borrowed the “aid or comfort” idea from the Brits. There, the allegations against Dong would arguably amount to high treason. The last Briton executed for treason — collaborating with wartime Germany — was hanged in 1946.

LILLEY: Liberal MP Dong resigns from party over interference claims

For those who remain livid about the allegations against Han Dong, we’re sorry: He can’t be charged with high treason or even mere treason.

He wasn’t a cabinet minister or a senior bureaucrat or a member of the military, so he isn’t easily caught by the new version of the Official Secrets Act, the Security of Information Act. Did he — as the Act says — harm “Canadian interests”?

The interests of the two Michaels, to be sure, if true. But were those identical to Canada’s? That’s less clear.

What’s clear, however, is this: While Han Dong may not be in any legal jeopardy, he sure is, politically.

CSIS is not his friend. And CSIS has apparently decided he needed to be removed from the Trudeau government.

And he has been.

MP Han Dong resigns from Liberal caucus, denies advising China to delay Two Michaels' release

Story by Ryan Tumilty , Catherine Lévesque • Wednesday, March 22,2023

OTTAWA — MP Han Dong has resigned from the Liberal caucus and will sit as an Independent after a new report alleged that he spoke with Chinese diplomats in 2021 to advise them to continue to hold two Canadians captive to help the Liberal party.


Han Dong . 

Dong, who represents the Toronto riding of Don Valley North, announced his resignation in an emotional address in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening. He said he informed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the leadership of the Liberal party caucus that he would be sitting as an Independent, even as he vehemently denied the allegations.

“Let me be clear, what has been reported is false,” he said. “And I will defend myself against these absolutely untrue claims.”

“I’m taking this extraordinary step because to sit in the government caucus is a privilege and my presence there may be seen by some as a conflict of duty and the wrong place to be as an independent investigation pursues the facts in this matter,” he added.

“I’ll be sitting as an Independent so the business of government and indeed the business of Parliament is not interrupted as our work to clear my name and the truth is presented to Parliament and to Canadian people.”

The Liberal MP has faced allegations of having received help from China in winning his Toronto seat. He has denied that, and has has also defended his record in missing votes condemning China’s human rights abuses of the Uyghur minority.

“Members skip their votes, abstain their votes all the time and I wasn’t the only one that skipped the vote,” he told reporters outside the House of Commons Tuesday.

He said he has cast several votes in Parliament that could be deemed hostile to China, including voting to include Taiwan in the World Health Organization.

A Global News story last month reported that CSIS warned the Prime Minister’s Office before the 2019 election that Dong received assistance from the Chinese consulate when he successfully ran for the Liberal party’s nomination in the Toronto riding of Don Valley North. According to Global’s reporting, the consulate bussed in seniors and Chinese international students to vote for Dong in the nomination race that was contested by other Liberal candidates.

Global published new reporting on Wednesday citing anonymous national security sources alleging that Dong had spoken with China’s consul general in February 2021 and advised him that releasing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor too soon would help the Conservatives.

The Prime Minister’s Office said it only became aware of the conversation between Dong and China’s consul general after Dong told them following Global News’ inquiries about the matter.

Dong, who vehemently denied Global’s story, said he spoke with the consul general, but urged him to release the two men as soon as possible.

Related video: Liberal MP Han Dong announces he's leaving Liberal caucus amid foreign interference allegations (cbc.ca)  Duration 4:18  View on Watch

“At every opportunity before they returned home, I adamantly demanded their release to Canada without delay. Any suggestions otherwise are false and are attempts to mislead you and your readers, and slander me,” he told Global News.

The two men were ultimately released in September 2021, a few days after a federal election in which Dong’s Liberal party won a minority government.

“Let me assure you as a parliamentarian and as a person, I have never and I would never or support the violation of the basic human rights of any Canadian, of anyone, anywhere,” said Dong in the House of Commons Wednesday night.

“I want to assure Mr. Michael Spavor and Mr. Michael Kovrig and their families that I did nothing to cause them any harm,” he added. “Like everyone in this House, I’ve worked hard and advocated for their interest as a parliamentarian. The allegations made against me are as false as the ones made against you.”

His final words in his address were for his wife and children. In tears, he said the truth would protect them and they would get through this together.

Since Dong was elected in 2019, the House of Commons has had two votes connected to the Uyghur genocide and in both cases Dong was not present. In a vote this year, Dong was present for votes on other motions immediately before and immediately after the genocide vote.

Dong did not respond when the National Post initially reported on the missed votes, but spoke with reporters late Tuesday and said he didn’t miss them for a specific reason.

“Members skip their votes, abstain their votes all the time and I wasn’t the only one that skipped the vote,” he told reporters outside the House of Commons Tuesday.

He said he has cast several votes in Parliament that could be deemed hostile to China.

“I voted to condemn China when they sanctioned one of our vice chairs of a standing committee. I voted to include Taiwan in the WHO. In 2020 I moved a motion in ethics committee to study election interference, domestic and international,” he said.

Dong was asked several times if he believes a Uyghur genocide is occurring in China’s Xinjiang’s region, as many human rights groups allege, and said he has concerns about human rights there.

“I have no doubt there is a severe human rights abuse in the Xinjiang region and that needs to be looked at independently,” he said. “I have deep concerns about human rights abuse in China, especially in the Xinjiang region, and I call for the opportunity for an independent Canadian review.”

Dong said the broader accusations against him, that the Chinese consulate helped him secure his nomination don’t add up.

“I’ve never been offered nor would I accept help from a foreign country or representative from a foreign country,” he said. “I’m a Canadian nominated by Liberals, registered Liberals in Don Valley North and elected by Canadians to serve Canadians. I’m just going to focus on my work.”

Dong noted that he has never received a call from CSIS, the RCMP, or Elections Canada about any of his campaigns and all of his expense and donations have been publicly reported.

He also defended Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s approach on the issue of foreign interference.

“The prime minister’s decision to have a special rapporteur to look into this and make a decision of whether a public inquiry is needed, I think it’s a very good decision.”

The RCMP told a House committee last month it did not open any investigations into foreign meddling in either the 2019 or 2021 elections. Independent panels overseeing each of those votes did not find any attempted interference that put the integrity of the elections at risk.

A closer look at MP Han Dong’s voting record on China

Story by Andrew Russell • Yesterday 

Provincial Liberal candidate Han Dong celebrates with supporters while taking part in a rally in Toronto on Thursday, May 22, 2014. Han Dong, the member of Parliament at the centre of allegations of Chinese meddling in the 2019 federal election, says he is resigning from the Liberal caucus and will sit as an Independent. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

A look at MP Han Dong’s political background and voting record

Toronto-area MP Han Dong is at the centre of a political firestorm following a Global News report that he allegedly spoke with a Chinese diplomat in 2021, advising Beijing to delay freeing Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, according to two intelligence sources.

While Dong acknowledged the conversation with China’s consul-general in Toronto, Han Tao, he strongly denied the allegations that he told Beijing to hold off the release of the two Canadians.

He has subsequently resigned from the Liberal caucus, giving an emotional speech Wednesday night in the House of Commons.

“What has been reported is false, and I will defend myself against these absolutely untrue claims,” said Dong, who will now sit as an Independent.

“Let me assure members that, as a parliamentarian and as a person, I have never advocated, and I will never and would never advocate or support the violation of the basic human rights of any Canadian or of anyone, anywhere, period.”

Video: Han Dong leaving Liberal caucus, will sit as an Independent

Global News previously reported last month that Dong is one of at least 11 Toronto-area riding candidates who was allegedly supported by Beijing in the 2019 federal election, according to national security sources.

The sources spoke to Global News on the condition of anonymity, which they requested because they risk prosecution under the Security of Information Act.

Dong has denied the allegations.

In an effort to glean more about the Don Valley North MP’s positions on issues regarding China, Global News has compiled a review of his votes and statements inside and out of the House of Commons:

Statements on the Two Michaels

Trudeau says foreign interference ‘very real challenge,’ urges people to watch Han Dong’s speech  View on Watch

Kovrig and Spavor spent more than 1,000 days in prison in China in what was believed to be in retaliation for Canada’s 2018 detention of Meng Wanzhou. The Huawei senior executive was arrested in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition warrant over fraud charges related to U.S. sanctions violations against Iran.

While two national security sources told Global News that Dong urged Chinese Consul General Han Tao to delay freeing the Michaels, Dong pushed back strongly against the allegations in a response to Global News.

“I raised the status of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig and called for their immediate release,” he wrote.

“At every opportunity before they returned home, I adamantly demanded their release to Canada without delay. Any suggestions otherwise are false and are attempts to mislead you and your readers, and slander me.”

Global News reviewed all statements made by Dong in Parliament since he was elected in 2019 and found no remarks related to the Two Michaels or calls for their freedom prior to March 2023.

Dong did not respond to questions about where he’s previously made such statements.

The Globe and Mail reported Thursday that the Trudeau government determined there was no “actionable evidence” after it received a CSIS transcript of a 2021 conversation between Dong and China’s top diplomat in Toronto.

According to The Globe, a senior government source indicated that conclusions could not be drawn that Dong asked Beijing to keep the two Canadians in prison for political reasons.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked Friday by reporters about whether he believed Dong advocated for delaying the Michaels’ freedom.

The prime minister did not directly answer that question despite his office’s review of the conversation’s transcript.

“Dong gave a strong speech in the House that I recommend people listen to. We fully accept that he is stepping away from the Liberal caucus in order to vigorously contest these allegations,” the prime minister said.

Trudeau added that meddling by China, Russia or Iran “is a very real challenge to our democracy and is absolutely unacceptable.”

Calls for interference inquiry

Shortly after resigning from the Liberal caucus, Dong voted Thursday for an inquiry into foreign election interference.

The Trudeau government has been under intense pressure for perceived inaction after reports of China's alleged meddling in Canadian elections.

Dong voted with the Conservative Party, Bloc Québécois and New Democrats to help pass the motion with 172 votes in favour and 149 against, largely comprised of Liberal MPs.

Canada-China relations

Since 2019, there have been three votes on Canada-China relations. One was to review “the Canada–China relationship,” the second a call to combat growing Chinese foreign operations in Canada, and third recognizing that authoritarian regimes like China “increasingly pose a threat to the rules-based international order.”

Dong voted with the entire or vast majority of the Liberal caucus against the three motions.

Uyghur Genocide

On Feb. 1, a Liberal motion was brought forward condemning China’s human rights abuses of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang and called on the government to bring 10,000 Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims to Canada.

Uyghurs in other countries, the motion said, are pressured to return to China, where they face “forced sterilization, forced labour, torture and other atrocities.”

Dong voted before and after the Uyghur genocide motion but missed the show of hands on the Uyghurs, which passed with the unanimous consent of all 322 MPs present. His absence was first reported by the National Post.

The Toronto MP did not respond to questions from Global News about his non-attendence and referred Global to his statement before the House of Commons.

“Members skip their votes, abstain their votes all the time, and I wasn’t the only one that skipped the vote,” he told reporters Tuesday.

In February 2021, there was a House vote to declare that China’s treatment of the Uyghurs constituted genocide.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet abstained, but MPs were free to vote. Dong skipped that motion, which passed unanimou

Election interference

Amid a flurry of questions from reporters about the stunning allegations against him, Dong said that in 2020 he had called for a motion to study “election interference.”

In November 2020, Dong did call for a study on “ways to further protect Canada’s democratic and electoral institutions from cyber and non-cyber interference.”

The study, he said at the time, should include “how new domestic and international stakeholders, as well as other orders of government, can work together to strengthen Canada’s whole-of-society preparedness, resilience and civic engagement in the face of evolving threats to democracy.”

Wuhan Institute

In 2021, a Conservative motion sponsored by MP Michael Chong requested that the Public Health Agency turn over unredacted documents related to the shipment of viruses sent from Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory to Wuhan, China in 2019, and the subsequent firing of two scientists from the Winnipeg facility.

Dong voted with the nearly entire Liberal caucus against the motion, which nonetheless passed in Parliament.

Taiwan

Speaking to reporters outside the House of Commons earlier this week, Dong said he had voted in favour of motions considered hostile to Beijing’s interests.

“I voted to condemn China when they sanctioned one of our vice chairs of a standing committee," he said. "I voted to include Taiwan in the WHO. In 2020, I moved a motion in [an] ethics committee to study election interference, domestic and international.”

China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and views any overture of support as meddling in its internal affairs.

In October 2022, Dong indeed joined 323 MPs in voting for the politically sensitive country to become a WHO member. And in June 2021, Dong joined all 327 MPs in favour of unanimously passing a Parliamentary committee motion to condemn Chinese sanctions levied against Conservative MP Michael Chong.

Hong Kong

In February, Dong publicly supported the Liberal government’s move to expand the open-work permit program for Hong Kong residents.

The former British colony, which reverted to Beijing's control in 1997, has seen a massive wave of emigration following anti-government demonstrations four years ago. The protests were sparked by a bill that would have allowed people to be extradited from Hong Kong to mainland China.

“[This] announcement will ensure that Hong Kong residents who share Canada's values of freedom and democracy will continue to be able to seek opportunities to settle and succeed in Canada,” Dong said in a press release at the time.

Former Meta security exec fell victim to ‘Predator’ spyware attack

Story by MobileSyrup • Mar 20, 2023

Artemis Seaford, former security policy manager at Meta, had been under surveillance by the Greek national intelligence service for an entire year using commercially available spyware known as “Predator,” as shared by The New York Times.


Former Meta security exec fell victim to ‘Predator’ spyware attack© Provided by MobileSyrup

According to the publication, Seaford’s phone was bugged in September 2021. Seaford, who holds both Greek and US citizenship, is reportedly the first known American citizen to be targeted by the commercially available spyware. She discovered that she had been spied on after her name appeared on a leaked list of spyware targets in the Greek news media in November 2022. Between getting infected and realizing that her phone had been bugged, Seaford was secretly under surveillance by the Greek national intelligence service.

Seaford eventually took her phone to Citizen Lab, a digital research unit with the University of Toronto, which confirmed that her phone had been infected with the malware.

It is unclear why Seaford was targeted by the Greek national intelligence service. The Greek government denies that it used spyware to hack and track Seaford. A representative from the government told the New York Times that “the Greek authorities and security services have at no time acquired or used the Predator surveillance software.” It added, “the alleged use of this software by nongovernmental parties is under ongoing judicial investigation.”

Seaford hopes that her story will encourage other victims of spyware abuse to speak out. “I hope is this story will encourage other victims of spyware abuse to speak out. There are more of us out there, and our stories should be neither instrumentalized nor silenced,” tweeted Seaford. “We deserve better. Ultimately, we need our governments and EU bodies to protect us.”

Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: The New York Times