ZOONOTIC DISEASES

Monkeypox, severe hepatitis raise concerns of virus outbreaks post-COVID

Saba Aziz - 

Yesterday 
Global News

Monkeypox virus is a smallpox-like viral infection transmitted from animals to humans.

 3D illustration

As the world continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, experts warn that emerging viruses are inevitable in the years to come and better surveillance is needed to stay ahead of potential new pathogens.

The recent appearance of monkeypox has left researchers scrambling to find out how the rare infectious virus is spreading in countries, including Canada, that don’t typically see it.

Meanwhile, cases of severe acute hepatitis in children have also raised concerns in several countries.

Read more:

Outbreaks of diseases like monkeypox becoming more frequent, WHO warns

“Emerging infectious disease can always hit us,” said Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer.

“And we should be as prepared as we can, which means reinforcing the global public health capacity,” she said during a news conference on Friday.

Climate change and the increased human-to-wildlife interaction are contributing factors when it comes to the emergence of viruses, which are “largely human-made,” experts say.

This is why outbreaks of endemic diseases are becoming more persistent and frequent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Animals and humans are changing their behavior, including food-seeking habits to adjust to rapidly changing weather conditions linked to climate change, said Mike Ryan, WHO’s emergencies director, during a news conference on Wednesday.

As a result, diseases that typically circulate in animals are increasingly jumping into humans, he said.

"Unfortunately, that ability to amplify that disease and move it on within our communities is increasing, so both disease emergence and disease amplification factors have increased."

Read more:

Climate change may heighten risk of new infectious disease spread across species: study

The warmer air and water make it easier for viruses and bacteria to thrive and multiply, explained Dr. Horacio Bach, an infectious diseases expert at the University of British Columbia.

It’s a “tumultuous situation” that has been brought to the forefront by the COVID-19 pandemic, said Dr. Donald Vinh, an infectious disease specialist and medical microbiologist at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

“We are in a fragile balance with our environment,” Vinh told Global News. “And unfortunately, if we don't respect our environment, the environment is going to introduce to us bugs that we're not prepared for.”

Mysterious hepatitis cases in children reported in Canada

A global population exhausted following two years of COVID-19 has had to face news of the arrival of monkeypox, though experts do not believe the latest outbreak will turn into another pandemic.

While both are infectious diseases, Bach said the spread of monkeypox is not linked to the global transmission of COVID-19.

Read more:

Monkeypox outbreak: Canada now has 77 confirmed cases

“It’s a completely different virus, so it’s not in the (same) family (as COVID)," he said.

Experts are calling monkeypox, which is endemic in at least 10 African countries, a “neglected disease,” as not enough research has been done or drugs developed to treat it.

While investigations are ongoing, “the sudden and unexpected appearance of monkeypox simultaneously in several non-endemic countries suggests that there may have been undetected transmission for some unknown duration of time followed by recent amplifier events,” the WHO said in an update on Saturday.

As for severe acute hepatitis in kids, some studies have pointed to a possible link with COVID-19 infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the infection with adenovirus, a common childhood virus, is the leading hypothesis for the recent cases.

Both SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and adenovirus have been detected in a number of the cases.

However, the exact role of these viruses in causing severe hepatitis is not yet clear, according to the WHO.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 restrictions and strict lockdowns have resulted in a change in the cycles of infection for other viruses such as influenza A and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), said Dr. Anna Banerji, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at the University of Toronto.

This is because newborn babies and infants have not been exposed to routine childhood illnesses, such as common-cold viruses, either through the mother in the womb or their older siblings.

“A lot of the viruses have shifted their seasons, but also some of the viruses are more severe because the babies haven’t been exposed to them through their maternal antibodies,” Banerji told Global News.

To better respond to future outbreaks, experts say better surveillance, global collaboration and health capacity building is needed.

“Capacitating every country to a reasonable level is really important,” said Tam, adding that there are “definitely gaps.”

Read more:

48 cases of norovirus, gastrointestinal illness linked to spot prawns across Canada: PHAC

Vinh agreed, saying the global response should be equitable and come early before the outbreak becomes large, spreading to different parts of the world.

“We need to be actively doing research and looking for potential new pathogens that are coming so that when they do appear and become a problem, we will already have solutions in hand,” he said.

“It's not when the infection is spreading in your community that you start studying the bug, it's well before that.”

Video: Monkeypox mortality rate unclear due to lack of surveillance in some countries: WHO

-- With files from Reuters, The Canadian Press and The Associated Press

Federal health officials provide update on COVID-19 and monkeypox – June 3, 2022

 

Stigma over monkeypox poses challenges in tracking Canadian cases

REST IN PAINT
Christopher Pratt, prominent Canadian painter and printmaker, dies at 86

TORONTO — Christopher Pratt, an esteemed Canadian painter and designer of Newfoundland and Labrador's provincial flag, has died at 86.


© Provided by The Canadian Press

Christopher Pratt, prominent Canadian painter and printmaker

The artist died Sunday at his home on Newfoundland's Salmonier River, his family said in a statement issued later in the day.

"Lauded from an early age as one of Canada’s finest painters and printmakers, he was faithful to his art all of his life," the statement read. "Until the day he could no longer get there under his own steam, he headed to his studio every morning without fail. He taught us how to look, and how to see. We will miss him every day."

Pratt is survived by his brother, four children, 11 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

The family statement said his "best friend and sometime wife," fellow painter Mary Pratt, died in 2018.

As a painter and printmaker, Christopher Pratt often explored landscapes, architecture and the body.

Toronto's Mira Godard Gallery, which is celebrating 60 years of promoting the Canadian art world, represented Pratt for over five decades.

Owner and director Gisella Giacalone, who shared a close professional relationship and friendship with Pratt, said she was completely heartbroken" over his death.

"I'm a great fan of his work on top of it all; he was a dedicated and talented artist," she said in an interview.

"He's one of Canada's greatest artists, and he has had a profound influence on Canadian art," she added. "He had so much artistic integrity, and I think you see that in the work. He produced many memorable and important works which will last forever."

Pratt's work is on display at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, The Rooms in St. John's, and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

Due to a notable love for his home province, which also had an impact on his work, Pratt was asked in 1980 to design the Newfoundland flag that still flies today.

"While he seldom admitted it, he was always delighted to see his design flying above private properties across the province, or held triumphantly aloft by Newfoundlanders and Labradorians around the world," the family statement said.

"He was never bothered by what politicians thought, but he was flattered and proud when the people of Newfoundland and Labrador embraced the flag as their own."

In recognition of his extensive body of work, Pratt became a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1983 and a recipient of the Order of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2018.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2022.

Sadaf Ahsan, The Canadian Press

Ontario’s right to disconnect act has kicked in. Experts say it’s good ‘in theory’

Aya Al-Hakim - Yesterday 

Cropped shot of a businesswoman sitting alone and typing on her laptop. 

While Ontario's right to disconnect law sounds like a good idea, experts say it's important to observe the impact of the practice on the well-being of employees and its practical application in the workplace before considering a pan-Canada approach.

According to the Employment Standards Act, 2000, section 21.1.1, the right to disconnect refers to “not engaging in work-related communications, including emails, telephone calls, video calls or sending or reviewing other messages, to be free from the performance of work.”

Read more:
Ontario law allowing employees to disconnect from technology after hours kicks in

The law went into effect in Ontario on June 3.

According to Basem Gohar, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the department of population medicine at the University of Guelph, "at face value, it sounds like a really good idea."

"There's a huge amount of burnout in various sectors...and the outcome of burnout is actually sickness and absenteeism," said Gohar.

"I think in theory it's a good idea. But how it will be applied, I guess only time will tell," he added.

Employers look to maintain productivity as remote work continues

Ontario enacted Bill 27: Working for Workers Act late last year and it requires employers with 25 or more people on staff as of Jan. 1, 2022 to establish a policy that outlines how they will ensure workers are able to disconnect from the workplace after hours.

Gohar said it's great that Ontario is leading this, but believes it's better to see what works and what doesn't before other provinces and territories across Canada follow suit.

"I feel in North America, we live to work...because career is the number one thing...we define ourselves by our profession and what we do. And we take a lot of pride in that...so I honestly don't know how this is going to work," said Gohar.

Read more:

Remote, hybrid work dividing Canadian employees as many required on-site

Dr. Lisa Belanger, CEO and founder of ConsciousWorks, a consulting firm that supports leaders and teams in maximizing their mental capacity and performance, says she's a huge fan of the concept but believes it's better to start working on improving company cultures rather than waiting for Canada to implement a policy.

She said policies are meant to be mandated and followed, and company leaders are not necessarily equipped to do that.

"Unfortunately we've not really upskilled our leaders to understand how to lead asynchronously and to be adaptive," Belanger said.

"We've seen some success in France...but it needs to be investigated more. It's not always followed...if nobody's auditing this, and if nobody's complaining or willing to go to the court system, then (we're not going to know)," she added.

Belanger said now is the time to get leaders to think through what flexible work is and what the future of work looks like.

According to Achkar Law, a Toronto-based law firm, "although working from home resonates as a flexible arrangement to some, for others, it is muddling the line between work and personal time, bringing on an issue of an employee’s right to disconnect."

Will working from home become even more popular amid high commuting costs?

The law firm also states that "some employees are experiencing 'burnout' as a negative effect of being constantly accessible and “plugged” into work."

Ontario's legislation aims to change that and Gohar thinks "it's good that there's at least an acknowledgment that employees have the right to disconnect and not think of work all the time because that's just not healthy."

Gohar says his main concern in regards to the law is that not all professions can afford to disconnect after hours, like health-care providers.

"Some professions, or some personalities even I would argue might have a sense of guilt for disconnecting, so if you're super attached to your work and if it's a certain profession that might have a staff shortage, you might feel guilty disconnecting even though you rightfully deserve it and you should recharge," Gohar said.

The Act itself doesn't provide many details about how this new law will work.

The Canadian Press reported on Thursday that this new policy was inspired by a 2016 law giving workers in France the right to turn off electronic work devices outside of business hours. Then in 2018, Canada’s federal government started reviewing labour standards and mulling whether to give workers the right to ignore work-related messages when at home.

A committee convened last October was expected to analyze the issue and provide then-labour minister Filomena Tassi with recommendations by spring. But the province of Ontario opted not to wait for federal regulations.

Global News reached out to provinces across the country on whether they'll be following suit, but only British Columbia provided a response. A spokesperson for B.C.'s Ministry of Labour aid in an e-mail that the ministry is aware of Ontario's new right to disconnect law.

"The ministry is watching with interest but there are no plans at this time to establish a similar law in B.C," the spokesperson told Global News.

"Our ministry has been focused on supporting workers and employers with priorities such as paid sick leave, the increase to the minimum wage and improvements to the workers’ compensation system."

— With files from The Canadian Press

Jacob Hoggard trial exposes misconceptions about consent, say experts



TORONTO — The sexual assault trial of Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard turned on one central issue: consent.



The Hedley frontman was found guilty of one count of sexual assault causing bodily harm against one of two complainants on Sunday, but acquitted of the same charge plus a count of sexual interference related to a teenage fan.

At the crux of the proceedings was a clash about consent, as is often the case in sexual assault trials, say observers.

The Crown alleged Hoggard violently and repeatedly raped a teenage fan and a young Ottawa woman in separate incidents in the fall of 2016, while the defence argued the sexual encounters were consensual.

High-profile cases like Hoggard's have the power to shape our understanding of consent, lawyers and advocates say, exposing harmful misconceptions that pervade the courts and society at large.

"It's great to be trying to shine a light on some of these stories and also worrisome," Toronto criminal and constitutional lawyer Megan Stephens said in an interview ahead of the verdict.

"These kinds of cases are the ones that make people wonder whether they should come forward and report what has happened to them."

Canada has some of the most progressive laws on the books about consent in sexual assault cases, said Stephens. The trouble lies in how the letter of the law is applied, she said.

The Criminal Code requires that consent be affirmatively communicated through a person's words or conduct, meaning through signals that indicate "yes," rather than the absence of a "no." Consent can be withdrawn at any point in a sexual encounter.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Gillian Roberts told the jury deciding Hoggard's fate that consent in the context of a sexual assault case is about whether the complainant "in her mind wanted the sexual touching to take place," citing a provincial appeal court ruling.

Stephens, a former Crown lawyer, said this "subjective standard" means many sexual assault cases come down to jurors' assessments of the credibility of the complainant and accused based on the evidence they present.

Jurors typically do their best to stick to the law, she said, but identity can influence their determinations and what and whose evidence is to be believed.


Many observers have noted the perceived gender imbalance on Hoggard's jury, which appeared to consist of 10 men and two women.

"We've learned a lot over the last few years about implicit biases and how those can affect our understandings and experiences. And I think the jury system is not immune from that," said Stephens, who advocates for women's rights in the justice system.

"It is hard for people to sometimes understand the experiences of others when they've never been in that place, whether it is a male juror making sense of a female complainant or a white juror making sense of the experiences of a Black woman."

Canadian courts have been grappling with the "myths and stereotypes" that plague the legal process, but even judges are prone to fall prey to them, said Pam Hrick, executive director and general counsel at Women's Legal Education and Action Fund.

Canada's highest court has issued a number of rulings in recent years finding that lower courts erred in their application of sexual assault law, said Hrick, serving as a course correction in a system that has subjected complainants to unfair scrutiny.

This shows how the social reckoning of the #MeToo movement has reverberated through the courts, but there's still work to close the gap between Canadian law and our evolving understanding of consent, said Hrick.

"There is a lag, I think, sometimes between public understanding the application or development of the law," she said. "We need to be vigilant in continuing to push for change and be continuing to try to safeguard some of the gains that we have made."

Farrah Khan, manager of Consent Comes First at Toronto Metropolitan University's Office of Sexual Violence Support and Education, said the Hoggard trial illustrates how misconceptions about sex and consent persist both in and out of the courtroom.

Defence lawyers alleged the complainants lied about being raped to cover up their embarrassment after being rejected by a "rock star."

The defence narrative fed into familiar tropes, such as the "jilted lover" embittered about unreturned affections and groupies who fall under a famous musician's sexual thrall, said Khan.

There were power dynamics at play in the case, such as differences in age and social status, that Canada's consent laws don't account for, but can nonetheless influence how sexual violence survivors process their own experiences, she added.

"It's important for survivors to understand it, because sometimes you can gaslight yourself in these situations," she said. "Just because you wanted to see someone, just because you wanted to kiss someone doesn't mean you want to be sexually assaulted."

The Canadian Women’s Foundation conducted an online survey of more than 1,500 Canadians in 2018 that found only 28 per cent of respondents fully understood what it means to give consent, a drop from 33 per cent in 2015 before the #MeToo movement emerged.

With so many young people who grew up listening to Hedley keeping track of the Hoggard case, Khan said she's concerned the next generation will suffer similar confusion unless we start prioritizing consent and pleasure in sex education.

"The challenge is that we treat consent like a checkbox," she said. "Consent is about a conversation... And it's ongoing, it's reversible."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Month Date, 20XX.

Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press

ISLAMOPHOBIA IN CANADA
Trudeau joins London march marking anniversary of deadly attack on Muslim family
Yesterday 5:40 p.m.

LONDON, Ont. — Relatives, community members and dignitaries called for an end to racism and Islamophobia on Sunday during an emotional tribute marking the one-year anniversary of a deadly attack on a Muslim family in London, Ont.

Video: Minister Hussen reflects on 1-year anniversary of Muslim family killed in London, Ont. attack

 

'Let's go beyond tolerance': Justin Trudeau on Islamophobia at 'Our London Family'

 memorial march

Leaders from the Muslim community and friends of the victims called on all levels of government for action to address Islamophobia.

Pleas for compassion and tolerance mixed with expressions of grief and mourning for the four people killed in what prosecutors have described as a hate-motivated act of terrorism.

Salman Afzaal, 46, his wife Madiha Salman, 44, their 15-year-old daughter Yumnah and her 74-year-old grandmother, Talat Afzaal, died after police say they were deliberately hit by a truck during an evening walk in London on June 6, 2021. The family's nine-year-old son was hurt, but survived.

Esa Islam, a cousin of the Afzaal family, said the attack has left a gaping wound in his heart.

"Last year, I would never be able to understand how all it took was one act of hatred to change my entire life," he said.

Islam made his remarks before hundreds of mourners who gathered at the football field of the high school his cousin Yumnah attended before her death.

"I miss being able to go over to their house and have fun conversations about Harry Potter with Yumnah," Islam said.

"I miss the simple things, the things we always take for granted until they're gone."

Maryam AlSabawi, a close friend of Yumnah, said she misses having lunch and going to the mall with her.

"I miss talking about our plans for the future," she said. "I just miss your presence, the sound of your laughter, the stories you would tell me and the 3 a.m. texts about the most random things."

AlSabawi said she has been struggling with sleepless nights, fear of trucks and an inability to go for walks.

"We didn't just lose you and your beautiful family, but we lost our sense of belonging, our sense of community, our sense of safety, our sense of self," the 16-year-old girl said.

"We even lost our innocence. The world isn't as kind as we had believed it to be."

She said she and a group of friends have started a group called the Youth Coalition Combating Islamophobia.

"The world placed the responsibility on our shoulders that would have crushed a mountain, but we will carry it because others haven't," she said.


The coalition organized the event and a march that took place in London on Sunday, where hundreds walked to the school of the London Islamic Centre.

"It's been a very difficult year for the Muslim community here in London," said Asad Choudhary, a former principal at the London Islamic Centre and youth mentor.

On top of organizing events to raise awareness about Islamophobia, the youth coalition has developed a lesson plan on the issue of Islamophobia, with the help of educators, for teachers to use in their classes in London, Ont.

"Essentially, it talks about what Islamophobia is, what happened on June 6, 2021, here in our city, and how do we support the combating of Islamophobia," he said.

"What the youth came up with is that people need to understand what a stereotype is, when people look at Muslims and that stereotype that ... comes forth, and that creates implicit biases, which creates hate."

Islam said politicians should follow their supportive words with action to prevent similar attacks in the future.

"I'm tired of not seeing action by the politicians that we elect to lead us, hearing them make unfulfilled promises and speak hollow words of sorrow," he said.

He singled out Ontario Premier Doug Ford's Progressive Conservative government for not committing to pass a law to fight Islamophobia and other forms of hate.

A bill tabled by the Ontario NDP earlier this year — called the Our London Family Act — would have established a provincial review of hate crimes and hate motivated incidents in Ontario.

The bill would also have designated safe zones around houses of worship, prevented white supremacist groups from registering as societies and established an anti-racism council that would provide input on government policies.

However, it was defeated shortly after being introduced.

The bill was created with the National Council of Canadian Muslims and follows recommendations put forward by that organization.

"Despite all of the promises we heard last year, one year later, it feels there's still an unwillingness by our elected leaders to take concrete action against ... Islamophobia," Islam said.

While Ford didn't attend the Sunday event, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra were among the attendees.

Trudeau said people should not ignore the reality that millions of Canadians are facing microaggression, discrimination and systemic racism every day.

He said the government has taken action to address hate and racism in Canada and added that there is more work to be done.

"On this day that we grieve, we also come together in commitment and resolve to make sure that tomorrow and next year, and all the days in the future, are also better," said Trudeau.

"The lives of three generations of the Afzaal family were taken by a brutal, cowardly and brazen act of terrorist violence."

He said his government has launched a new anti-racism strategy and a national action plan to combat hate and has allocated millions of dollars in funding to grassroots organizations, many led by Muslims, to combat hate.

"We're also launching a process to appoint Canada's very first special representative on combating Islamophobia," he said.

There are several other events planned to commemorate the first anniversary of the June 6 tragedy, including a vigil on Monday.

A 21-year-old man faces four counts of first-degree murder in the attack. The case has not yet gone to trial.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2022.

Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press

Liberals begin search for special representative to combat Islamophobia in Canada

Eric Stober

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Geoff Robins

Thousands of people march against Islamophobia in memory of the Afzaal family in London, Ont. on Sunday, June 5, 2022.

The Liberal government will begin to search for a special representative to combat Islamophobia in Canada, the minister for diversity announced on the first anniversary of an attack that killed a Muslim family while they were out for a walk in London, Ont.

Ahmed Hussen, the minister of diversity, inclusion and youth of Canada, said Monday that applications are now open for the special representative, who will advise the federal government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and offer recommendations.

"The special representative to combat Islamophobia will be the champion, the expert, the advocate and the adviser to the government on Islamophobia," Hussen said.

The new role was a key recommendation made by the National Summit on Islamophobia that took place in July 2021 following the deaths of four members of the Afzaal family who were hit by a truck on June 6, 2021. Only one member of the family, a nine-year-old boy, survived the attack.

A 21-year-old man faces four counts of first-degree murder in the attack. The case has not yet gone to trial.

Trudeau was present in the London, Ont., community on Sunday for a memorial marking the deaths.

“The lives of three generations of the Afzaal family were taken by a brutal, cowardly and brazen act of terrorist violence,” he said, noting that people should not ignore the reality that millions of Canadians are facing microaggression, discrimination and systemic racism every day.

Hussen said Monday that it was a "somber occasion" and that the new representative will "work tirelessly to combat Islamophobia."

The Liberals' 2022 budget included $1.2 million in funding for the role and Hussen said there will be a "transparent" process for selecting the representative.

Ottawa launches process to hire special representative on combatting Islamophobia

 – June 6, 2022

 

Speaking with reporters on Parliament Hill, Ahmed Hussen, the minister of housing and diversity and inclusion, announces the opening of the application process for Canada’s special representative on combatting Islamophobia. He is joined by Liberal MPs Omar Alghabra and Iqra Khalid. The update comes on the one-year anniversary of a deadly hate-motivated attack on a Muslim family in London, Ontario. Four members of the Afzaal family died after they were struck during an evening walk by a pickup truck driven by a 20-year-old man. The family's nine-year-old son was injured, but survived.

'Very relieved': Crown stays tax evasion charges against former Calgary MP Rob Anders


CALGARY — The Crown stayed all charges of tax evasion Monday against a former member of Parliament from Alberta.

A trial for Rob Anders, 50, was scheduled to begin in Calgary on five charges, some of which dated back to his time in politics.

But before it did, Crown counsel Tyler Lord informed Judge Heather Lamoureux that he was entering a stay of proceedings.

"Last week, new information came to my attention, the consideration of which led me to believe that I no longer had a reasonable prospect of getting a conviction," Lord said outside court.

"He's very relieved," defence lawyer Paul Brunnen said of his client.

Tax authorities alleged that Anders failed to report more than $750,000 in net income over five years. They accused him of evading taxes payments between 2012 and 2018, and of claiming refunds or credits he wasn’t entitled to receive between 2012 and 2015.

Anders was first elected as a Reform MP in 1997 and went on to represent his riding of Calgary West — as a Conservative in later years — until 2015. He was a co-founder of the Conservative Party of Canada.


He did not run in the 2015 federal election after losing the nomination in his redistributed riding. He tried to run in the rural riding of Bow River, but lost that candidacy bid as well.

Anders was not in court Monday.

"Mr. Anders was not required to come down today." Brunnen told the court. "There's a bit of a collection of press people outside. We were a little concerned."

Anders attracted media attention several times while he was in office. Saying Nelson Mandela was a "communist" and a "terrorist," Anders was the sole parliamentarian to vote against making the anti-apartheid revolutionary an honorary citizen of Canada in 2001.

In 2005, Anders used public funds to send pamphlets to residents in Richmond, B.C., far removed from his own riding. The leaflets included a survey question about homosexual marriage in a mailout otherwise addressing crime and crystal meth abuse.

Anders also served as a member of the veterans affairs committee in Stephen Harper's government in 2011, but was removed a year later, partly based on his tendency to fall asleep during meetings.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2022.

Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press

Crown stays tax evasion charges against former Calgary MP Rob Anders


CALGARY — A two-week trial scheduled to begin in the tax evasion case of Rob Anders, a former Conservative member of Parliament, has been cancelled after the Crown stayed all charges.

Anders, who is now 50, faced five charges, some of which dated back to his time in politics.

He was elected as a Reform MP in 1997 and went on to to represent his Calgary riding until 2015.


A Crown prosecutor told reporters that he received new evidence last week that would have made it difficult to secure a conviction.

Anders' lawyer said his client was very relieved.

The former MP was not in court today.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2022.

Tax evasion trial scheduled to begin for former Calgary MP Rob Anders

CALGARY — A two-week trial is scheduled to begin in the tax evasion case of former Conservative member of parliament Rob Anders.


Former Calgary MP Rob Anders

Anders, who is now 50, faces five charges, some of which date back to his time in politics.

He was elected as a Reform MP in 1997 and went on to to represent his Calgary riding until 2015.

Court documents show that tax authorities allege Anders failed to report more than $750,000 in net income over five years.

He has entered not guilty pleas to all of the charges.

The government alleges that Anders under-reported his income in 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Prosecutors further allege that between 2012 and 2018, he evaded payment of taxes, and between 2012 and 2015 he claimed refunds or credits he wasn’t entitled to receive.

An application to obtain a search warrant for his Calgary home was filed in March 2013 by the Canada Revenue Agency and outlines some of the allegations in the investigation.

The charges stem from an audit in 2012 and 2013 that found reported net rental losses on properties in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario at the same time as there were “unexplained” deposits in Anders’s bank account.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 6, 2022.

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/10/former-mp-rob-anders-accused-of-not.html

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for ROB ANDERS 

Canada, Chile sign memorandum of understanding to advance gender equality

OTTAWA — Canada and Chile have signed an agreement to advance gender equality and women's empowerment in both countries.

© Provided by The Canadian Press  

TWO SOCIAL DEMOCRATS IN OFFICE, CHILE'S BORIC (L) CANADA'S TRUDEAU (R)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Chilean President Gabriel Boric attended a special signing ceremony today in Ottawa, where they say they committed to working together on issues that affect gender equality.

Those issues include COVID-19 recovery efforts, women in positions of leadership, gender-based violence and peace and security.

Gender Equality Minister Marci Ien says the agreement seeks to set up a framework for the two governments to co-operate on public policies to promote women's empowerment.

She says both countries are intent on supporting each other’s goals to remove socio-economic, cultural and institutional barriers that prevent women from participating in the economy and public life.

Trudeau says Canada and Chile have had a long-standing, positive relationship, and at a time when authoritarian states are rising and democracies are backsliding, it's important to welcome a "strong, progressive voice" on the world stage.

"It is great news for Chile, it is great news for Canada, to have such a strong partner at the end of the continent."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2022.

———

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

The Canadian Press

AMERIKA

A California woman was jailed for having a stillbirth. 

Her attorney says prosecution for miscarriages will 'only get worse' under the nation's current abortion rights crackdown.

Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
Sat, June 4, 2022


Attendees hold up signs during a Texas Rally for Abortion Rights at Discovery Green in Houston, Texas, on May 7, 2022.

Mark Felix/AFP via Getty Images

Attorney Samantha Lee represented a woman charged with murder after her stillborn tested positive for drugs.

Chelsea Becker, who struggled with addiction during her pregnancy, was freed from jail after 16 months.

Lee told the San Francisco Chronicle she expects similar prosecution for miscarriages "to only get worse."

The attorney who represented a California woman charged with murder after her stillborn baby tested positive for drugs said cases like her clients' will "only get worse" amid a national crackdown on reproductive rights.

Chelsea Becker, who struggled with addiction during her pregnancy, faced murder charges in Kings County after experiencing a stillbirth in 2019, which the DA blamed on her drug use. Though she was unable to raise the $2 million needed to post bail and served 16 months in jail, the charges were ultimately dropped and she was freed in 2021.

Becker's attorney, Samatha Lee of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, told the San Francisco Chronicle her client's case — and a similar 2018 case — are part of a growing national trend of criminalizing pregnant people after stillbirth and miscarriage.

"When that door is opened, then anything someone does or doesn't do during their pregnancy could be charged similarly," Lee told the San Francisco Chronicle. "We're already seeing it, and we expect it to only get worse."

National Advocates for Pregnant Women has found criminal prosecutions against pregnant people have tripled from 2006 to 2020 compared to cases prosecuted from 1973 to 2005. As the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade protections after a draft court opinion was leaked, several states have laws in place to make abortion a criminal offense.

Becker, who had a second child who was placed into foster care and adopted before her release from jail, has since become an advocate for a California bill that would stop pregnancy loss criminalization.

"I hope that in the future, no woman will ever be prosecuted for losing a pregnancy," she wrote in a letter to state lawmakers.

BIDEN'S POLLING NUMBERS

Biden entered office facing daunting crises – only to be hit with more crises

Lauren Gambino in Washington

THE GUARDIAN
Mon, June 6, 2022

Photograph: Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images

In his third run for president, Joe Biden’s pitch to Americans was simple: after half-a-century in elected office, including eight years as vice-president, he understood the demands of what is arguably the hardest job in the world. It was a point Biden stressed on the campaign trail, in his own folksy way: “Everything landed on the president’s desk but locusts.”

Nearly a year-and-a-half into his presidency, Biden now appraises his own fortunes differently. “I used to say in Barack’s administration: ‘Everything landed on his desk but locusts’,” he told Democratic donors in Oregon. “Well, they landed on my desk.”

Successive mass shootings, including a racist attack at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and a massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, that left 19 elementary school students and their teachers dead, present just the latest test for a president desperate to act but constrained, once again, by the limits of his own power.

“Enough. Enough,” Biden repeated in a rare primetime address to the nation, pleading with Congress to honor the communities shattered by mass shootings by finally tightening the nation’s gun laws. He called for a ban on assault-style weapons and lifting legal immunity for gun manufacturers. With razor-thin Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, Biden does not have the votes to move his legislative agenda without consensus.

“I just told you what I’d do,” he said. “The question now is: What will the Congress do?

Biden inherited a nation in tumult, plagued by disease and division and still reeling from the bloody insurrection at the US Capitol. In his inaugural address, he said the country faced a “historic moment of crisis and challenge” and identified four national trials that he vowed to confront: the pandemic, the ensuing economic downturn, racial injustice and climate change.

Though his administration has made varying degrees of progress on each, those issues remain unresolved while the list of unforeseen challenges demanding the president’s attention grows ever-longer.

Inflation has surged to its highest level in nearly four decades, leaving American families struggling to afford the basic necessities like groceries, gas and rent. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens the liberal world order, while pushing the cost of food and fuel even higher.

A shortage of baby formula, caused by the closure of a major manufacturing plant due to contamination, has become so dire that Biden has invoked wartime powers to speed up production and restock shelves. And any moment now, the supreme court is expected overturn the constitutional right to an abortion, leaving tens of millions of American women without access to the procedure.

The confluence of high-stakes events has left Americans deeply pessimistic about the direction of the country and frustrated with their leaders in Washington. The pandemic, which has now claimed more than 1 million American lives, warnings of an economic “hurricane” and a stalled legislative agenda have only deepened public dissatisfaction, including among Biden’s supporters.

“Biden came into office facing arguably the most daunting challenges since FDR, between the pandemic and the economy and global warming and racial justice, only to then be hit by an almost-perfect storm of crises with inflation and Ukraine and the supply chain and baby formula,” said Chris Whipple, author of the forthcoming book, The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden’s White House.

Joe Biden speaks on mass shootings from the White House on Thursday. 

Photograph: Yuri Gripas/EPA

“He’s been dealt an extraordinarily bad hand.”

Leon Panetta, a former CIA director and defense secretary under Barack Obama and a former White House chief of staff to Bill Clinton, agreed.

“In my over 50 years of public life, I’ve never seen as many critical crises taking place as we’ve seen in these last few years,” he said.

Republican opposition, the courts and a host of new troubles have thwarted many of the president’s most ambitious goals, leaving the administration struggling to respond to the many domestic concerns. The predicament threatens a central promise of the Biden presidency: “I got elected to solve problems,” he told reporters in March 2021.

The White House has been working to rebuild public confidence in Biden’s leadership since America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August. The devastating end to America’s longest war, in which 13 US service-members and scores of Afghans died, marked a precipitous decline of the president’s approval ratings which now hover at around 40%. Satisfaction with his stewardship of the economy is even lower.

As the challenges mount, Biden has become increasingly frank about the constraints on his presidency while Republicans accuse him of shirking responsibility.

Speaking to reporters after a virtual roundtable with infant formula manufacturers last week, Biden said the administration couldn’t simply “click a switch” to bring down the cost of gas or food. Despite airlifts of formula from abroad, he predicted the formula shortage would persist for another two months and then revealed he wasn’t made aware of the crisis until April. The admission raised new questions about why an administration composed of Washington veterans was so slow to recognize the problem.

In my over 50 years of public life, I’ve never seen as many critical crises taking place as we’ve seen in these last few years 

Leon Panetta

When pressed to explain the administration’s response, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre pointed to the cascade of challenges Biden faced.

“The President has multiple issues – crises – at the moment,” she said. “When he walked into the administration, he talked about the multiple crises that we needed to deal with as a country – so that’s number one to remember.”

Panetta said the White House has a positive story to tell about American resilience in the face of extraordinary hardship but has done a “lousy” job of sharing its vision to the public. In the vacuum, he said the White House is left scrambling to respond.

“When you deliver a different message every day, at a time when there are so many problems and people are feeling frustrated, it’s very difficult for them to feel like anything’s getting done,” Panetta said, adding: “If you can have that larger message… then you don’t have to spend your time bouncing off the wall, every time there’s a new crisis.”

Since taking office, Biden has had a number of hard-won victories, largely eclipsed by anxiety over inflation and rising costs.

Congress passed a $1.9tn Covid-19 relief package that slashed poverty and sent him a $1.2tn infrastructure package approved with bipartisan support. The administration’s mass vaccination campaign has resulted in nearly 67% of Americans being fully immunized against Covid-19, with shots for children younger than five potentially available within the coming weeks. He filled a record number of federal judicial vacancies during his first year and successfully nominated the first Black woman to supreme court justice.

Meanwhile, the economy continues to grow, with unemployment at record lows and consumer spending robust. On Friday, it was reported that 390,000 more jobs were created.

“Biden has done a very good job with things over which he can use the levers of the presidency and the levers of the government to do it,” Elaine Kamarck, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said, noting the consequential exception of the Afghanistan exit. “But there are many things happening now where there simply are no levers.”

The tools for combating inflation – voters’ top priority – rest largely with the Fed, not the president. Still, rising costs have become a major political liability for Biden ahead of the November elections, as the administration faces sharp criticism for wrongly predicting inflation would likely be “transitory”.

Biden speaks on Uvalde Texas mass shooting from White House, on 24 May. 

Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA

Biden has sought to blame Russian president Vladimir Putin for exacerbating inflation and new lockdowns in China, as well as Republicans for blocking his domestic policy agenda, which he has said would ease the financial burden on American families.

“All presidents suffer a decline in their popularity midway through their first term and it’s often due to the fact that they cannot deliver on all of the promises that they make,” said Todd Belt, the director of the political management program at the George Washington University and co-author of The Post-Heroic Presidency. “This is particularly acute for Biden because he did make a lot of promises and he hasn’t been able to follow through on them.”

Even when the president is powerless to act unilaterally, Belt added, “he at least has to look like he’s trying”.

Democrats, with their slim control of Congress at risk, have grown frustrated with the president.

Progressives want to see him throw all his energy and political capital into issues like climate change, votings rights, immigration and abortion – and where this fails to push for rule-changes in the Senate to overcome Republican opposition. They also want to see him take more executive action, like on student-debt forgiveness. Meanwhile, many moderates in his party are upset that he promised bipartisanship and then put forward proposals that failed to win over their most conservative members, much less a single Republican.

Donna Brazile, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee, said Biden must continue to “lead and communicate directly with the American people”.

“Congress is broken,” Brazile wrote in an email, “and Biden doesn’t have a big majority in either chamber, so it’s vital that he builds out and not just clamor inside.”

Biden has received widespread praise for rallying Nato allies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Perhaps the most consequential act of his presidency was to rally Western allies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, said Whipple, the author.

“Almost unquestionably, Joe Biden’s presidency is going to be defined by Ukraine and by how well he defends democracy against autocracy in its moment of danger with an invasion in the heart of Europe,” he said.

But in the short-term and at home – which is where most voters’ concerns lie – Biden’s handling of Ukraine has done little to improve his approval ratings or increase the likelihood of Democrats keeping control of Congress. And last week Biden warned that Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports could raise the cost of staples like bread even more.

“I understand that families who are struggling probably don’t care why the prices are up – they just want them to go down,” Biden conceded in a speech on Friday.

He couldn’t promise that inflation would recede, only that he would try his best to make it happen.

“As your President,” he said, “I remain committed to doing everything in my power to blunt the impact on American families.”

Pope Francis fuels new speculation on future of pontificate

Pope Francis fuels new speculation on future of pontificateFILE - Pope Francis arrives on a wheelchair for an audience with children in the San Damaso courtyard at the Vatican, Saturday, June 4, 2022. Pope Francis added fuel to rumors about the future of his pontificate on Saturday by announcing he would visit the central Italian city of L'Aquila in August for a feast initiated by Pope Celestine V, one of the few pontiffs who resigned before Pope Benedict XVI stepped down in 2013. 

(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)


NICOLE WINFIELD
Sun, June 5, 2022

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis added fuel to rumors about the future of his pontificate by announcing he would visit the central Italian city of L'Aquila in August for a feast initiated by Pope Celestine V, one of the few pontiffs who resigned before Pope Benedict XVI stepped down in 2013.

Italian and Catholic media have been rife with unsourced speculation that the 85-year-old Francis might be planning to follow in Benedict’s footsteps, given his increased mobility problems that have forced him to use a wheelchair for the last month.

Those rumors gained steam last week when Francis announced a consistory to create 21 new cardinals scheduled for Aug. 27. Sixteen of those cardinals are under age 80 and eligible to vote in a conclave to elect Francis’ successor.

Once they are added to the ranks of princes of the church, Francis will have stacked the College of Cardinals with 83 of the 132 voting-age cardinals. While there is no guarantee how the cardinals might vote, the chances that they will tap a successor who shares Francis’ pastoral priorities become ever greater.

In announcing the Aug. 27 consistory, Francis also announced he would host two days of talks the following week to brief the cardinals about his recent apostolic constitution reforming the Vatican bureaucracy. That document, which goes into effect Sunday, allows women to head Vatican offices, imposes term limits on priestly Vatican employees and positions the Holy See as an institution at the service of local churches, rather than vice versa.

Francis was elected pope in 2013 on a mandate to reform the Roman Curia. Now that the nine-year project has been rolled out and at least partially implemented, Francis’ main task as pope has in some ways been accomplished.

All of which made Saturday’s otherwise routine announcement of a pastoral visit to L’Aquila carry more speculative weight than it might otherwise have.

Notable was the timing: The Vatican and the rest of Italy are usually on holiday in August to mid-September, with all but essential business closed. Calling a major consistory in late August to create new cardinals, gathering churchmen for two days of talks on implementing his reform and making a symbolically significant pastoral visit suggests Francis might have out-of-the-ordinary business in mind.

“With today’s news that @Pontifex will go to L’Aquila in the very middle of the August consistory, it all got even more intriguing,” tweeted Vatican commentator Robert Mickens, linking to an essay he had published in La Croix International about the rumors swirling around the future of the pontificate.

The basilica in L’Aquila hosts the tomb of Celestine V, a hermit pope who resigned after five months in 1294, overwhelmed by the job. In 2009, Benedict visited L’Aquila, which had been devastated by a recent earthquake and prayed at Celestine’s tomb, leaving his pallium stole on it.

No one at the time appreciated the significance of the gesture. But four years later, the 85-year-old Benedict would follow in Celestine’s footsteps and resign, saying he no longer had the strength of body and mind to carry on the rigors of the papacy.

The Vatican announced Saturday Francis would visit L’Aquila to celebrate Mass on Aug. 28 and open the “Holy Door” at the basilica hosting Celestine’s tomb. The timing coincides with the L’Aquila church’s celebration of the Feast of Forgiveness, which was created by Celestine in a papal bull.

No pope has travelled to L’Aquila since to close out the annual feast, which celebrates the sacrament of forgiveness so dear to Francis, noted the current archbishop of L’Aquila, Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi.

“We hope that all people, especially those harmed by conflicts and internal divisions, might (come) and find the path of solidarity and peace,” he said in a statement announcing the visit.

Francis has praised Benedict’s decision to retire as “opening the door” for future popes to do the same, and he had originally predicted a short papacy for himself of two to five years.

Nine years later, Francis has shown no signs he wants to step down, and he has major projects still on the horizon.

In addition to upcoming trips this year to Congo, South Sudan, Canada and Kazakhstan, in 2023 he has scheduled a major meeting of the world’s bishops to debate the increasing decentralization of the Catholic Church, as well as the continued implementation of his reforms.

But Francis has been hobbled by the strained ligaments in his right knee that have made walking painful and difficult. He has told friends he doesn’t want to undergo surgery, reportedly because of his reaction to anesthesia last July when he had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his large intestine removed.

This week, one of his closest advisers and friends, Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, said talk of a papal resignation or the end of Francis’ pontificate was unfounded.

“I think these are optical illusions, cerebral illusions,” Maradiaga told Religion Digital, a Spanish-language Catholic site.

Christopher Bellitto, a church historian at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, noted that most Vatican watchers expect Francis will eventually resign, but not before Benedict dies. The 95-year-old retired pope is physically frail but still alert and receiving occasional visitors in his home in the Vatican gardens.

“He’s not going to have two former popes floating around,” Bellitto said in an email. Referring to Francis' planned visit to L'Aquila, he suggested not reading too much into it, noting that Benedict’s gesture in 2009 was missed by most everyone.

“I don’t recall a lot of stories at the time saying that Benedict’s visit in 2009 made us think he was going to resign,” he said, suggesting that Francis’ pastoral visit to l’Aquila might be just that: a pastoral visit.