SETTLER RULES

Sask. First Act passes in front of gallery full of First Nations and Métis people opposed to bill

Story by Adam Hunter • Mar 16

Provincial government members voted unanimously to pass the Saskatchewan First Act on Thursday in front of a gallery full of First Nations and Métis community members who travelled to the legislature in opposition of the bill.

Last fall, the government introduced Bill 88, saying it would confirm the province's autonomy and jurisdiction over its natural resources.

The act "asserts its exclusive legislative jurisdiction under the Constitution of Canada, and in particular, those matters listed in sections 92 and 92A of the Constitution Act,1867."

The act says Saskatchewan has jurisdiction over the following:
Exploration of non-renewable resources.
Development, conservation and management of non-renewable natural and forestry resources.
Operation of sites and facilities for generation and production of electricity.
Regulation of all industries and businesses falling within provincial jurisdiction.
Regulation of fertilizer use.

Premier Scott Moe said the bill is meant to benefit all Saskatchewan people. He said it is designed to "prevent federal intrusion into provincial jurisdiction, which is in all people's best interest in this province."

The passage of Bill 88 on Thursday was a formality, thanks to the Saskatchewan Party government having a voting majority. All Saskatchewan Party MLAs in attendance voted in favour of the bill, as did Saskatchewan United Party Leader Nadine Wilson.

Opposition NDP members stood and voted against the bill. While they stood, the Indigenous guests in the gallery stood in a show of solidarity.

The bill has been criticized by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN), which represents Saskatchewan's First Nations.

The FSIN has said the bill infringes on treaty rights. On Thursday, the FSIN "reaffirmed" its opposition to the Act and said it seeks in to be included in revenue sharing from natural resources.

"First Nations leaders believe the province of Saskatchewan does not have the legal authority to assert exclusive jurisdiction over natural resources, as Treaties signed with First Nations take precedence and pre-date the creation of the government," the FSIN said in a statement.

"FSIN will take legal action to oppose the Act, as it infringes on First Nations Inherent and Treaty Rights to land, water and resources."

Last fall, the legislative assembly of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MN-S) unanimously rejected Bill 88.

The bill was amended before passage Thursday. Government MLA for Athabasca Jim Lemaigre moved to make three changes, most notably to include the following:

"Nothing in the Act abrogates or derogates from the existing Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada that are recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982."

Moe said the inclusion of the amendments was done to clarify that the Bill does not infringe on Indigenous rights.

"There is no question as to what the government's intent is. This bill is not in any way there to circumvent or change or modify the treaty rights that all Indigenous people most certainly have access to."

MN-S vice-president calls bill 'short-sighted,' 'divisive'

Michelle LeClair, vice-president of MN-S, was among the people that were seated in the galleries who stood up when the Opposition stood before voting no.

"It was a show of support for them to say no because we say no, enough is enough."

LeClair called the bill "short-sighted" and "dismissive."

"To say that we are profoundly disappointed by the passage of this bill would be an understatement."

LeClair said the bill "potentially could create such an impact on our rights. Our hunting, gathering, our ceremonies, all of those things will be greatly diminished."


Métis Nation–Saskatchewan (MN–S) vice president Michelle LeClair speaks to reporters after the Saskatchewan First Act passed.© Camille Cusset/Radio-Canada

LeClair said the government has not met or consulted with MN-S on the bill.

"I don't know who they have been talking to. We heard the word dialogue throughout the minister's speech. But we haven't had any dialogue or discussions with the provincial government."

Moe and the government have dismissed claims that they did not consult with First Nations before introducing the bill last year.

LeClair said Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre suggesting the MN-S cancelled a meeting is "disingenuous."

"Consultation has to start early, it has to start before a bill is introduced."

LeClair said she wrote to the minister to have a "nation-to-nation dialogue," but did not hear back.

Opposition witnesses not allowed to take part in committee discussion

On Wednesday, the bill was discussed at committee for more than five hours.

Opposition justice critic Nicole Sarauer wanted to have Indigenous leaders who travelled to attend committee participate as witnesses and question Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre and officials, but that motion was denied by government members on the committee.

A government spokesperson said Thursday that the Opposition critic made "numerous surprise motions without notice," and that if Sarauer wanted to have witnesses appear she should have "provided notice in writing to the committee clerk in advance of the meeting."

Sarauer said Thursday that she believes Bill 88 will not fundamentally change any of the province's future court challenges over jurisdiction with the federal government.

She said she thinks Bill 88 "will be challenged" in court by Indigenous leaders sooner rather than later.

FORTY YEARS OF TRYING

Canada falling behind on connecting rural areas to high-speed internet: report

The government's efforts to connect rural parts of the country to high-speed internet are falling short, Canada's auditor general says in a report tabled Monday — which warns that the gap between cities and everywhere could lead to equality issues as work, education and many services move online.

Auditor General Karen Hogan leaves after speaking at a news conference in Ottawa on November 15, 2022. Hogan tabled four reports Monday, one of which flagged a connectivity gap between rural and urban Canada.© Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press

Story by Richard Raycraft • 

While nearly 91 per cent of Canadian households had access to high-speed internet in 2021, just 59.5 per cent of those in rural and remote areas enjoyed the same access. That number drops to 42.9 per cent for households on First Nations reserves.

"These findings emphasize the persistent digital divide for people living on First Nations reserves and in rural and remote communities, compared to people who live in urban areas," Auditor General Karen Hogan said in a news release.

"The government needs to take action so that there is affordable, high-speed connectivity coverage for Canadians in all areas of the country."

Ottawa has set a goal of connecting 98 per cent of Canadians to high-speed internet by 2026, with universal access by 2030.

The government defines high-speed internet as 50 megabits per second for downloads and 10 megabits per second for uploads.

The report said the urban-rural gap is especially problematic because of how work, education, medicine and government services are moving online.

"Being connected is no longer a luxury but a basic essential service for Canadians. This fact became more apparent

as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which transformed how many Canadians live, work and learn," the report's summary says.

"Without access to fast, reliable, and affordable high-speed Internet and mobile cellular services, people residing in remote communities do not have the same opportunities as people residing in more urban areas."

Ottawa hasn't tracked gender equality aid results

A separate audit by the auditor general, released Monday, said that Global Affairs Canada (GAC) could not demonstrate that international aid programs meant to advance gender equality are working.

As part of Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) commits 15 per cent of its bilateral foreign aid to initiatives related to gender equality and improving women's quality of life. The government spends $3.5 billion yearly on bilateral development assistance for low and middle-income countries, says the report.

GAC has "significant weaknesses" when it comes to storing and managing project information, a news release on the auditor general's report said. As a result, says the release, GAC could not provide evidence to show that the programs are getting results.

"It is imperative that Global Affairs Canada act immediately to improve its information management practices and reporting on results to show parliamentarians and Canadians the value of Canada's bilateral international assistance to support women and girls in low- and middle-income countries," Hogan said in the news release.

Hogan reported that GAC also did not meet two of its three spending commitments under the Feminist International Assistance Policy.

"The department fell short on funding projects that directly supported the empowerment of women and girls or that were located in sub-Saharan Africa, where the benefit in terms of reducing poverty and advancing gender equality is typically higher," the news release said.

U of A only school in Canada with multiple winners of national Killam fellowships

Story by Craig Gilbert • 4h ago

Associate professor Temitope Oriola spoke at the Black Parents Association of Alberta (BPAA) rally at the Alberta legislature against racism experienced by Black students and parents in Alberta schools on July 25, 2020.© Greg Southam

Sheer elation, delight, joy. Ecstasy.

Dr. Temitope Oriola had all the good feels when he learned he would be one of eight winners of the recently reinstated Dorothy Killam Research Fellowships , part of the 2023 Killam Prize administered by Canada’s National Research Council (NRC).

But there was an extra layer of delight for the professor since his University of Alberta colleague, Dr. Kisha Supernant, was also named a Dorothy Killam Research Fellow.

That means the U of A is the only school in Canada with more than one recipient of the two-year, $80,000 annual research prize.

“Keep in mind, this is a national award from a national competition,” Oriola, a criminologist, said Thursday. “To be among eight winners is absolutely thrilling.”

The funding means Oriola, a professor in the U of A’s Centre for Criminological Research, will be able to hire four or five graduate students for his research project, which will seek out the perspectives of Black, Indigenous and people of colour working in the criminal justice system as lawyers, judges, police and correctional officers.

“This will bring in more graduate students who will be involved in the process not just as data collectors but collaborators,” he said, co-authoring papers and presenting the work to the public by attending conferences, for example.

They’ll be exploring how BIPOC individuals manage their identities as they navigate the criminal justice bureaucracy as employees.

“While much of what we hear about BIPOC people and the justice system is about victimization, these are BIPOC professionals who work in these organizations who do their best, like their other colleagues, to make a difference,” Oriola explained. “In a time of Black Lives Matter and calls to defund the police, how do BIPOC people view their role in the system?”

Oriola is inviting anyone who fits that description to contact him directly at oriola@ualberta.ca

The award represents a sort of reckoning of Oriola’s academic career. Being named a Killam Fellow about a decade after he was a Killam Scholar, supported by the same trust as a doctoral student, means coming “full circle” to what is a household name for established academics.

“Killam is an incredibly efficient and focused organization,” Oriola said. “They do a great job of showcasing cutting-edge research across the social sciences in Canada. It’s a path-breaking organization, one that’s been at the forefront of funding emerging scholars.”

Digging roots

Supernant’s work, which is closely tied to the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential school sites, could hardly be contained by a two-year fellowship. There is some groundwork she’s already done for her project, titled recognizing Indigenous data sovereignty and Indigenous rights in heritage management.

“Indigenous people don’t have rights to our own archeology,” she said. “This project is about empowering First Nations to assert their rights. How do nations themselves create a framework for protecting their heritage?”

Supernant also aims to advance the national conversation on the subject with an eye to aligning Canadian legislation with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.



Dr. Kisha Supernant, director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology, University of Alberta, speaks about the discovery of 169 potential remains with ground penetrating radar at the former Grouard Mission site in Treaty 8 during a news conference in Edmonton on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Photo by Ian Kucerak© Ian Kucerak

She hopes the work she’ll be able to do during the fellowship will build some momentum, and get to a place where the conversation can continue.

“No one expects all our work on this will be completed in two years,” she said. “The fellowship is designed to give me the space I need to move this forward and it’s a wonderful and exciting opportunity. It alleviates some teaching and administrative tasks I’d have otherwise, allowing me to focus on the project.”

Supernant will remain director of the Institute of Prairie and Indigenous Archaeology during her Killam fellowship, which will be “essential to the work of the project.”

Part of the plan involves the institute hosting a workshop/gathering of Indigenous leaders. The students she will have working will be involved in that conversation, as well.

“For me, the motivation for this work is thinking about the next generations,” she said. “There’s a lot of power in recognizing heritage. I’m always thinking about, ‘How can we build a better future for everyone?’”

A professor in the U of A’s anthropology department, she said it’s the right time to look to the past for a better future.

“I don’t think this work would have even been possible 10 or 15 years ago,” Supernant said. “When Indigenous people are empowered to tell their own stories, everyone benefits from an enriched understanding of the past.”

crgilbert@postmedia.com
@yegcraig

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Temitope Oriola: How we treat women and minorities in public life needs work

World ‘population bomb’ may never go off as feared, finds study

Story by Jonathan Watts • Yesterday 

The long-feared “population bomb” may not go off, according to the authors of a new report that estimates that human numbers will peak lower and sooner than previously forecast.


Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images© Provided by The Guardian

The study, commissioned by the Club of Rome, projects that on current trends the world population will reach a high of 8.8 billion before the middle of the century, then decline rapidly. The peak could come earlier still if governments take progressive steps to raise average incomes and education levels.

The new forecasts are good news for the global environment. Once the demographic bulge is overcome, pressure on nature and the climate should start to ease, along with associated social and political tensions.

But the authors caution that falling birthrates alone will not solve the planet’s environmental problems, which are already serious at the 7.8 billion level and are primarily caused by the excess consumption of a wealthy minority.

Declining populations can also create new problems, such as a shrinking workforce and greater stress on healthcare associated with an ageing society, as countries like Japan and South Korea are finding.

Related video: UN Reports Climate Time Bomb Ticking But World Can Still Avert Worst Calamities (Dailymotion)

One of the authors of the report, Ben Callegari, said the findings were cause for optimism – but there was a catch. “This gives us evidence to believe the population bomb won’t go off, but we still face significant challenges from an environmental perspective. We need a lot of effort to address the current development paradigm of overconsumption and overproduction, which are bigger problems than population.”

Previous studies have painted a grimmer picture. Last year, the UN estimated the world population would hit 9.7 billion by the middle of the century and continue to rise for several decades afterwards.

The new projection, released on Monday, was carried out by the Earth4All collective of leading environmental science and economic institutions, including the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Stockholm Resilience Centre and the BI Norwegian Business School. They were commissioned by the Club of Rome for a followup to its seminal Limits to Growth study more than 50 years ago.

The report is based on a new methodology which incorporates social and economic factors that have a proven impact on birthrate, such as raising education levels, particularly for women, and improving income. It sketches out two scenarios depending on the extent to which such policies are pursued.

In the business-as-usual case, it foresees existing policies being enough to limit global population growth to below 9 billion in 2046 and then decline to 7.3 billion in 2100. This, they warn, is too little too late: “Although the scenario does not result in an overt ecological or total climate collapse, the likelihood of regional societal collapses nevertheless rises throughout the decades to 2050, as a result of deepening social divisions both internal to and between societies. The risk is particularly acute in the most vulnerable, badly governed and ecologically vulnerable economies.”

In the second, more optimistic scenario – with governments across the world raising taxes on the wealthy to invest in education, social services and improved equality – it estimates human numbers could hit a high of 8.5 billion as early as 2040 and then fall by more than a third to about 6 billion in 2100. Under this pathway, they foresee considerable gains by mid-century for human society and the natural environment.

“By 2050, greenhouse gas emissions are about 90% lower than they were in 2020 and are still falling,” according to the report. “Remaining atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases from industrial processes are increasingly removed through carbon capture and storage. As the century progresses, more carbon is captured than stored, keeping the global temperature below 2C above pre-industrial levels. Wildlife is gradually recovering and starting to thrive once again in many places.”

Largest strike in decades brings Germany to a standstill

Story by By Klaus Lauer and Ilona Wissenbach • 6h ago

Verdi calls nationwide strike over wage dispute in Germany© Thomson Reuters

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Airports and bus and train stations across Germany were at a standstill on Monday, causing disruption for millions at the start of the working week during one of the largest walkouts in decades as Europe's biggest economy reels from inflation.



Verdi calls nationwide strike over wage dispute in Germany© Thomson Reuters

The 24-hour strikes called by the Verdi trade union and railway and transport union EVG were the latest in months of industrial action which has hit major European economies as higher food and energy prices dent living standards.

Terminals were largely deserted as airports, including two of Germany's largest in Munich and Frankfurt, suspended flights, while rail services were cancelled by railway operator Deutsche Bahn. Striking workers wearing yellow or red high-visibility jackets blew horns, sirens and whistles, held up banners and waved flags during protests.

The Airports Association ADV estimated that 380,000 air passengers were affected. In Frankfurt alone, almost 1,200 flights for 160,000 passengers were cancelled and stranded travellers slept on benches. In Cologne, the lack of city trains prompted a dash for taxis.



Verdi calls nationwide strike over wage dispute in Germany© Thomson Reuters

Employees are pressing for higher wages to blunt the effects of inflation, which reached 9.3% in February. Germany, which was heavily dependent on Russia for gas before the war in Ukraine, has been particularly hard hit by higher prices as it scrambled for new energy sources, with inflation rates exceeding the euro-area average in recent months.



Verdi calls nationwide strike over wage dispute in Germany© Thomson Reuters

Persistent cost pressures have pushed central banks to a series of interest rate increases, though policymakers have said it is too early to talk of a price-wage spiral.

Verdi is negotiating on behalf of around 2.5 million employees in the public sector, including in public transport and at airports, while EVG negotiates for around 230,000 employees at Deutsche Bahn and bus companies.

In the hours running up to the strike, both sides dug in their heels, with union bosses warning that considerable pay hikes were a "matter of survival" for thousands of workers.

"Millions of passengers who depend on buses and trains are suffering from this excessive, exaggerated strike," a Deutsche Bahn spokesperson said on Monday.

Verdi is demanding a 10.5% wage increase, which would see pay rising by at least 500 euros ($538) per month, while EVG is asking for a 12% raise or at least 650 euros per month.


Stranded passengers expressed both sympathy and unhappiness about the strike action.



Verdi calls nationwide strike over wage dispute in Germany© Thomson Reuters

"Yes, it's justified but I for one never went on strike in my entire life and I have been working for more than 40 years. At the same time, in France they go on strike all the time about something," said passenger Lars Boehm.

Massive strike brings Germany to standstill  Duration 0:45  View on Watch

Sharp wage increases would squeeze the fiscal room for manoeuvre for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government, making already fractious negotiations over the federal budget more difficult in his three-way coalition.

Employers are warning that higher wages for transport workers would result in increased fares and taxes to make up the difference.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the pro-business FDP is focused on reducing the deficit after higher spending during the pandemic and energy crisis.

A government spokesperson on Monday said politics should stay out of the wage talks, while Interior Minister Nancy Faeser expressed confidence that a solution would be found this week.

FURTHER STRIKES

EVG chairman Martin Burkert warned further strikes were possible, including over the Easter holiday period.

"We have been dragged along here for too long. The big ones benefit and the small ones, who keep everything running, get nothing," said striking worker Christoph Gerschner. "People have second or third jobs to make ends meet."

Monday's walkouts are part of waves of disruptive labour strikes in wealthy European countries in recent months including in France and Britain, where hundreds of thousands of transport, health and education workers are pressing for higher wages.

Protests against President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms have sparked the worst street violence in years in France.

Commerzbank Chief Economist Joerg Kraemer said the economic impact of Monday's strike on Germany's 181-million-euro ($194-million)-a-day transport sector was limited so far but this could change if the strikes persisted over a longer time.

"The strike will strain people's nerves" and "damages the image of Germany as a business location", he said. "But economically, the losses are likely to be limited to the transportation industry because factories will continue to operate and many employees will be working from home."

The head of the Bundesbank, Joachim Nagel, said last week Germany needed to avoid a price-wage spiral.

"To be clear: Preventing inflation to become persistent via the labour market requires that employees accept sensible wage gains and that firms accept sensible profit margins," he said.

"Despite signs of second-round effects, we have not observed a destabilising price-wage spiral in Germany so far."

($1 = 0.9293 euros)

(Reporting by Klaus Lauer, Tom Sims, Ilona Wissenbach, Balazs Koranyi, Christoph Steitz, Sarah Marsh, Writing by Miranda Murray and Matthias Williams; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Ed Osmond)

Louvre staff block entrances as part of pension protest

Story by The Canadian Press • 

PARIS (AP) — The Louvre Museum in Paris was closed to the public on Monday when its workers took part in the wave of French protest strikes against the government's unpopular pension reform plans.


Louvre staff block entrances as part of pension protest© Provided by The Canadian Press

Dozens of Louvre employees blocked the entrance, prompting the museum to announce it would be temporarily closed.

The demonstrators toted banners and flags in front of the Louvre's famed pyramid, where President Emmanuel Macron had celebrated his presidential victory in 2017. They demanded the repeal of the new pension law that raises the retirement age from 62 to 64.

The showbusiness, broadcasting and culture branch of the CGT union tweeted an image of the Mona Lisa with an aged and wrinkled face, with the words: “64 it’s a No!”

Related video: Pension reform protesters block Paris' Louvre (Reuters)   View on Watch

The action comes on the eve of another nationwide protest planned for Tuesday against the bill — and as Macron holds a meeting with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne to discuss the way forward. The Louvre is always closed on Tuesdays, so staff protested a day earlier.

Some tourists were stoic about the artistic blockade.

“If you firmly believe that this will bring some change, there’s plenty of other things that we can see in Paris," said Britney Tate, a 29-year-old doctoral student from California.

Others who had traveled thousands of miles were more vocal about the inconvenience.

“We’re going to respect their strike tomorrow, but to do this today, it’s just heartbreaking,” said Karma Carden, a tourist from Fort Myers, Florida. “We knew that Versailles would not be open because of the protest, but we knew the Louvre was open.

"I understand why they’re upset, but (it's bad) to do this to people from around the world who’ve traveled from around the world for this and paid thousands of dollars,” she added.

The Associated Press

Louvre Museum in Paris blocked by union protests

Story by Barbara O’Sullivan • 6h ago

The protests called by the unions to protest in France against the pension reform have moved this Monday to the vicinity of the Louvre Museum in Paris, which has been forced to close its doors due to the blockade of its main access.


File - Main entrance to the Louvre Museum in Paris - Europa Press/Contacto/Paulo Amorim© Provided by News 360

The museum itself has reported on social networks that it does not admit visitors due to the mobilizations. ''We thank you for your understanding,'' added the institution, which does not clarify when it plans to reopen its doors.

Related video: Pension reform protesters block Paris' Louvre (Reuters)
Duration 1:06  View on Watch

DailymotionLouvre museum closed due to pension protests
0:35

CNBCThe French protests seem to be growing — and that wasn't expected, economics lecturer says
4:32

StringersHubFrance: Pension Reform Protesters Block Louvre Museum In Paris
0:20


The action had been previously announced by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), which had confirmed the participation of staff of the museum itself has also joined the strike. They demand ''the withdrawal of the pension reform'', promoted by the government of Emmanuel Macron.

This reform, which proposes among other measures to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years, has led to a wave of protests that began in January and has intensified in recent weeks, after the Executive approved by emergency the processing of the measure in Parliament.

Source: (EUROPA PRESS)

FIRST READING: How Canadian politics is (actually) different than U.S. politics

Opinion by Tristin Hopper • 6h ago
National Post

U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a gala dinner in Ottawa on March 24.

Whenever a U.S. president comes to Canada, their advisers usually tell them to say something about how Canada is different than the United States. “We have our separate identities. We are not the same,” goes one particularly blunt example from Richard Nixon in 1972. The idea is to reassure Canadians that they are unique and special, and aren’t just cold-weather facsimiles of their hegemonic neighbour.

Nevertheless, Canada and the United States are indeed two of the most eerily similar countries on earth. We are both transcontinental former British colonies primarily populated by immigrants. Our respective national holidays are only three days apart. We use the same electrical outlets and even our currency is the same size and shape.

But to the keen observer, there are differences much more fundamental than the fact that one country celebrates Thanksgiving in October, while the other does it in November. Below, a quick guide to how to tell the difference between U.S. and Canadian politics.

We both love guns, but in deeply different ways

Although the United States has the world’s highest rate of civilian gun ownership, Canada isn’t far behind. If you exclude microstates and failed states, Canada easily ranks as the world’s second gun-owningest nation.

But the similarities grind to a halt when it comes to gun culture. The United States is home to the unique belief that guns are an inalienable birthright that should be chiefly retained for the purpose of violently overthrowing the government if required.

In Canada, guns are a state-controlled privilege that are officially used only for two things: killing animals and putting holes in targets. With vanishingly few exceptions, Canadian law does not acknowledge firearms even as a means for self-defence. If you show up to the (mandatory) Canadian Firearms Safety Course talking about how you need a shotgun to protect your family, there’s a chance you may get your acquisition licence denied.

Indigenous issues are a much bigger deal in Canada

Canada’s institutionalized repression of Indigenous people easily ranks as one of the country’s greatest national sins. And yet, for every wrong Canada has committed against its first peoples, there’s usually an equivalent or greater wrong in the U.S. Like Canada, the U.S. even maintained a vast network of abusive, assimilationist Indian residential schools, complete with forgotten children’s graveyards.

Despite this, Indigenous issues in the United States aren’t a major part of the national conversation. It wasn’t until 2014 that a U.S. president even visited a Native American reservation.

One reason is that the Indigenous population is proportionally much smaller in the U.S. There are about three million Native Americans in the United States, as compared to 1.8 million Indigenous people in Canada.

Ironically, the reduced political visibility of Indigenous people in the United States may be to their advantage. While Canadian governments are much louder with their pro-Indigenous rhetoric, there’s a case to be made that Native Americans in the U.S. have been more successful at securing self-government and economic sustainability. “Much of Canada’s progress remains symbolic, based in government recognition as opposed to policy,” reads one recent analysis published in the Harvard Political Review.

Canada doesn’t really do free speech

Canada has “free expression,” to be sure: You’re free to tweet as many insults as you want at your least favourite journalist, and you can slap a bumper sticker on your truck reading “f—k Trudeau.” But Canada does reserve the right to throw its citizens in jail if they say something that “incites hatred.”

The United States maintains a much more uncompromising view of free speech. The U.S. Constitution bars the government from making any law “abridging the freedom of speech,” and multiple court challenges have found that this includes rhetoric that would be considered “hate speech” almost anywhere else.

It’s a philosophy that trickles down to all aspects of U.S. civic life. For one, it’s much harder to win a defamation suit in the United States; the litigant has to prove malice instead of just proving that the defendant was incorrect.

Americans are also much more free-wheeling in their regulation of broadcast media. The radio dial in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal all feature U.S.-registered stations that are openly targeted at cross-border Canadian audiences.

The CRTC would have no problem shutting down a Canadian radio station operating as a front for a U.S. audience, but the Americans leave them alone on the grounds that it’s not the place of the government to decide what should be on the radio.

Canadian government is way more opaque and secretive

Bob Woodward is the U.S. journalist famous for uncovering Watergate, the 1970s-era scandal in which the administration of U.S. president Richard Nixon was found to be ordering illegal monitoring of political opponents and then using federal resources to cover it up.

Woodward has said that if Watergate happened in Canada, the perpetrators probably would have gotten away with it. The culture of official opacity is just too strong.

For example, during the Trump administration, American reporters were fed almost daily leaks from the FBI. But in Canada, the recent CSIS leaks regarding allegations of Chinese electoral interference were so unusual that they immediately led to official calls for the leakers to be hunted down and prosecuted.

Our health-care systems both suck (but in the exact opposite way)

The health-care systems in the United States and Canada both suffer from the same general problem: They’re disproportionately expensive, while still underperforming relative to all other advanced economies. The United States has the world’s highest per-capita health-care expenditure only to have huge swaths of its population unable to access health insurance. Canada has the world’s second highest per-capita health-care expenditure only to suffer chronic shortages, resulting in millions of people being denied access to primary care or placed on interminable waiting lists.

The U.S. differs from every other advanced economy in the belief that health care should be provided almost exclusively by private actors. Canada, meanwhile, also differs from every other advanced economy in the belief that health care should be covered exclusively by the public option. They’re both uncompromising positions resulting in massive inefficiencies that don’t exist to the same extent in more nuanced systems.

Abortion law is … different

After the repeal of Roe v. Wade last year, the United States has witnessed the virtual criminalization of abortion in some of its more conservative states.

The situation couldn’t be more different in Canada. Not only is Canada more liberal on abortion than the U.S., it’s home to the most liberalized abortion regime in the world. There are no laws whatsoever governing abortion in Canada. While Canadian hospitals do maintain ethics guidelines curbing practices such as elective late-stage abortion and sex-selective abortion, neither is subject to state penalties. You won’t find this even in the most pro-abortion corners of Europe, where the practice is typically cut off after 12 weeks’ gestation.

What’s more, there is basically nobody in Canadian politics who has any interest in changing this. Even the People’s Party of Canada — the usual home for fringe right-wingers — has announced that it doesn’t want to touch the abortion issue with a 10-foot pole.

Americans are weirdly more deferential to their political class

The United States takes a lot of pride in the fact that they fought a war to break away from the British monarchy. In the words of one frequent refrain among American political pundits, “we fought a war so we wouldn’t have to listen to royals.”

So it’s somewhat odd that the Americans maintain a level of etiquette with their political class that borders on the crypto-monarchist. For one, elected politicians retain their titles for life. More than 20 years after he last served in elected office, Al Gore is still officially referred to as “Mr. Vice President.” Even Hillary Clinton is known as “Madam Secretary” — a reference to the four years she spent as an appointed member of the U.S. cabinet.

Biden apologizes for his French, promises strong ongoing ties, and disses Toronto's Maple Leafs

Full video and transcript: Read or watch Joe Biden's speech to Parliament

JOE BIDEN VISIT

Probably the biggest policy takeaway from the visit is that Canada and the U.S. rejigged the Safe Third Country Agreement to now include illegal border-crossers. Under the prior version, Canada could turn away asylum-seekers from U.S./Canadian border crossings on the grounds that they were already in a safe country and thus didn’t need the protection of the Canadian refugee system. But the measures didn’t apply if the asylum-seeker crossed the border illegally and made an “inland” claim. Naturally, there are some cynics out there who will claim that Canada doesn’t need permission from the United States to close a giant, brazenly exploited hole in its border – particularly when Canada very easily did just that at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.


It was basically a guarantee that Biden would have to deliver at least one hockey joke while in Canada – and his wasn’t actually that bad. “I like your teams, except the Leafs,” he told the House of Commons.© Kenny Holston/Pool via REUTERS

Canada made sure to gently remind the U.S. delegation that two Canadians did hard time in a Chinese prison because the RCMP answered a U.S. request to arrest Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, the two Canadians detained by Beijing in retaliation for the Wanzhou arrest, were guests of honour at Biden’s speech to parliament – and they even got a standing ovation.

Former prime minister Jean Chrétien was seen wandering the halls of parliament before Friday’s address by Biden. When reporters asked him how U.S.-Canadian relations were doing, he replied “good.”

It was the considered opinion of First Reading that if Biden misspoke at any point during the visit, it would probably be to refer to the prime minister as “Pierre Trudeau.” Biden knew Pierre Trudeau when he was a U.S. senator, and the word “Pierre” would have been on his mind after a private meeting with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. But Biden’s most notable gaffe was instead to refer to Canada as “China” during his speech to Parliament.

To watch the whole speech (it’s only 30 minutes) or read a transcript, click here. We also called up a bunch of politicos (including Brian Mulroney’s former speechwriter) to get their take on the speech.


As much as this newsletter delights in covering the obscene travel expenses of the Canadian prime minister, here’s a quick reminder that it’s way, way more expensive to move the U.S. president. For one thing, during the entire 27 hours that Joe Biden was in Ottawa, a refueling tanker had to circle above the city just in case nuclear war broke out and Biden had to take shelter at 40,000 feet (the tanker also had to top up the fighter jets that were similarly maintaining a constant vigil over the Canadian capital). Here’s a snapshot, captured by the National Post’s Bryan Passifiume, showing an RCAF tanker returning to base and passing on the “overwatch” duties to a USAF plane.© Bryan Passifiume

Disorganized foreign-aid reporting means Ottawa can't track feminist outcomes: audit

Story by The Canadian Press •

OTTAWA — Global Affairs Canada has no sense of whether development aid meant to help women and girls abroad is actually advancing gender equity, according to an audit tabled in Parliament on Monday morning.


International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan 

"It was highly problematic that critical information, such as project progress reports, could not be readily found," reads a report by auditor general Karen Hogan.

"The department could not use that information to monitor overall progress toward gender-equality outcomes."

Hogan found Ottawa does not track whether an annual $3.5 billion in bilateral aid is actually meeting the goals of Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy, and she noted that aid for Africa has been diverted to Ukraine.

The audit found the department struggled to provide information on projects because of a lack of standardized record keeping and forms not getting filled out.

"Some of the required information had been stored on computers of staff who had since left the department, so officials were unable to find the required information," the report says.

"The department missed an opportunity to demonstrate the value of international assistance."

Last year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ranked Canada and Iceland first for their spending on foreign aid that contributes to gender equality.

But the audit says Ottawa can’t track of whether money is helping improve the lives of women and girls.

Still, Hogan found that Global Affairs Canadatracks indicators — but not actual progress — on half of the projects covered by the audit.

In one case, this saw the department assessing how many people received food but not whether their health had improved.

In another, programs meant to keep teen girls in school during menstruation did track whether Canada's funding created separate bathrooms and handwashing facilities in schools, but did not assess whether this had improved school attendance.

These difficulties with measuring outcomes applied for 24 out of 26 of the department's stated policy indicators, in part due to poor data collection, Hogan found.

"While individual project files included useful information, because of the weaknesses in information management practices … this information was not being rolled up and used at the departmental level," the audit says.

"Senior management did not, and were unable to, review the complete impact of programming. Without a full account of project outcomes, senior management could not respond to evolving conditions and make changes to improve policy implementation."

However, the audit did find that Global Affairs Canada is generally successful at designing programs through an equity lens using the criteria set out under its gender-based analysis, with more than 80 per cent of spending going to projects that integrate gender.

Yet the auditor warns this is coming at the expense of meeting another target, which is to have at least 15 per cent of project funding directly target the empowerment of women and girls, instead of just including them in projects.

The report notes that academics generally say this is required in order to produce meaningful change that makes countries less reliant on foreign aid.

The department says it accepts the findings of the audit and is planning to shore up its data collection.

Auditors only looked at direct development aid, which excludes the one-third of Canada's aid dollars that are sent to United Nations organizations or as humanitarian relief to emerging crises.

The analysis examined records Ottawa created and assembled in the four years ending in March 2021, but not the actual activities of the foreign groups that get Canadian funding.

International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan will speak with reporters this afternoon.

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

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

Site of Atlanta’s proposed ‘Cop City’ training center is partially closed after deadly traps found

Story by Nick Valencia • Yesterday 

Alarge portion of a public park near Atlanta on the proposed site of a police and fire training facility – dubbed “Cop City” by critics – has been temporarily closed by an executive order, after county officials said they located “life threatening” hidden traps scattered in the park.

“They confiscated booby traps, boards with nails that were hidden by leaves and underbrush. You could kill a small child or a pet with those,” DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond told CNN by phone.

Thurmond said the park is a very popular area where people walk and enjoy nature.

“It’s just not safe right now,” he added.

The planned facility has received fierce pushback since its conception, by residents who feel there was little public input, conservationists who worry it will carve out a chunk of much-needed forest land and activists who say it will militarize police forces and contribute to further instances of police brutality.

Thurmond said he “understands the pushback against Cop City, but this is too far.”

Under the executive order, unauthorized persons entering the properties will be subject to prosecution for criminal trespass, and unauthorized parked vehicles will be towed and impounded, according to a news release about the executive order.

NOT AN IED

Site of Atlanta’s proposed ‘Cop City’ training center is partially closed after deadly traps found© Provided by CNNThe nail-filled boards were found throughout the shuttered sections of the park, a county official said. - DeKalb County

DeKalb County has been unable to send its parks employees into the site of the proposed $90 million, 85-acre training facility because “they have been attacked with rocks” and other objects, Thurmond said.

Tensions between law enforcement and protesters have continued to rise since the January shooting death of a protester, who law enforcement says fired on officers first and seriously wounded a state trooper.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation on Friday released an incident report in which a trooper with the state’s Department of Public Safety SWAT team described law enforcement officers calling for the protester, Manuel Paez Terán, to come out of his tent during a clearing operation.

Paez Terán refused to leave, the report says, and as the protester was zipping up the front door of the tent, the trooper fired pepper bails into the opening. Paez Terán then started shooting “steadily,” the report says. The trooper says he ditched the pepper ball launcher and fired his pistol at the shooter.

“While shooting I observed a small explosion at the front of the tent and a large plume of white powder going into the air,” the officer writes in the report.

The officer says he fired until it became clear Paez Terán was no longer shooting or had set off additional explosive devices. A use of force report indicates in addition to the trooper firing at the protester, five other troopers shot their weapons.

A spokesperson for Paez Terán’s family sent CNN a statement calling on the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to release witness statements and evidence. It also criticized the bureau for investigating the shooting, which came during an operation the bureau planned.

“The GBI is investigating its own tragic operation. The family calls upon the GBI to explain what steps it has taken to preserve the integrity of its investigation of its own operation,” said Enchanta Jackson.

Jackson noted the incident report was filed February 13.

“The officer narratives released today by the Department of Public Safety were drafted weeks or, in some cases, months after the incident,” Jackson said. “When officers drafted these statements, each had the opportunity to review the publicly available video and the press releases issued by the GBI.”

Kamau Franklin, the leader of the Community Movement Builders organization which opposes the facility, calls the latest move by DeKalb County an excuse to close the park and criminalize the climate activists working to preserve the green space.

“I think part of the reason is to stop and quell protests and then, to continue putting out a narrative that suggests that people who are protesting against Cop City are criminals or criminal-minded,” he told CNN. “They want to put fear into people who use the park by suggesting it’s sabotaged and booby-trapped, but without presenting any real evidence that links anything that they allegedly found to any organizers or activists.”

He says the claim that organizers sought to hurt anyone trying to enter the park flies in the face of why they’re protesting in the first place.

“The very reason we use the area, the very reason that these protests are happening is to stop the Cop City training center from going on so that the community around here can have continued access, as was promised, to that environment and to that park.”

Task force will look into controversial plan

The South River Forest Public Safety Training Center is set to be built on a piece of land which used to be a prison farm. Though it is just outside Atlanta city limits, the plot of land is owned by the city, meaning residents who live around the site do not have voting power for the leaders who approved it.

The training center would be built in a predominantly Black and Brown neighborhood.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens has established a community task force to address the opposition and controversy surrounding the training center.

More than 40 “experts and community stakeholders” will join the South River Forest Public Safety Training Center Community Task Force, according to the mayor’s office. The task force adds members to the existing advisory committee.

“The new Community Task Force will add more voices and broaden the scope of community input to include the surrounding green space and the nearby site of the former Atlanta Prison Farm, as well as public safety training curriculum,” the mayor’s office said in a news release.

Included in the task force are representatives from the Georgia NAACP, ACLU, and Georgia State University, as well as other community and clergy members.

“The ACLU of Georgia is committed to helping ensure the safe and unencumbered right to protest, and as such, joins the City’s task force with demonstrators’ First Amendment rights at the forefront,” officials from the organization said in a statement.

The organization said “dozens of people” at the site have been charged with domestic terrorism in recent months. They call the charges “an over-criminalization of demonstrators under a constitutionally dubious statute.”

“The ACLU of Georgia is committed to helping ensure the safe and unencumbered right to protest, and as such, joins the City’s task force with demonstrators’ First Amendment rights at the forefront,” the ACLU of Georgia, which is part of the new task force, said in a statement.

Like many of those who are part of the new task force, the ACLU of Georgia opposes the training center’s construction.

Noticeably absent from the task force is anyone from the Muscogee Nation, or “Creek” Native American tribe. When asked by CNN why there was no Native American representation on the task force, the mayor’s office did not reply.

The “Creek” have maintained the land in the Weelaunee Forest, which is expected to house the training center, is sacred Native American land. Their fight has been joined by a robust coalition of decentralized activists, including climate activists who believe paving the 85 acres would – among other things – lead to an increase in flooding in an already flood-prone area.

Anti-policing activists, some of whom have traveled from as far as France and Canada, have also joined the movement.

CNN’s Pamela Kirkland contributed to this report.

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Canadian young adults who live alone are more likely to struggle with unaffordable housing, study finds

Story by Kate Choi, Associate Professor, Sociology, Western University and Sagi Ramaj, PhD Student, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto • THE CONVERSATION 

Canada is experiencing a housing affordability crisis. Over the past 20 years, housing prices have increased at double the rate of income growth. Partly fuelled by dramatic interest hikes, rental prices have also risen precipitously in recent months. In March 2023, the year-over-year rent increased by 9.7 per cent.


One in five young adults live in unaffordable housing and spend 30 per cent or more of their pre-tax income on housing costs.© (Shutterstock)

Young adults are among the groups most adversely affected by the housing crisis. One in five young adults live in unaffordable housing and spend 30 per cent or more of their pre-tax income on housing costs.

Rising housing costs, declining real wages and increasing job instability have been identified as key reasons why young adults have limited access to affordable housing.

During this time, Canada has also witnessed the diversification of young adults’ living arrangements. More young adults live with their parents, extended family or roommates, primarily because there is a greater need to pool resources to cover high housing costs.

A young adult’s living arrangement is the product of their ability to transition into an adult economic role and gain access to private safety nets during financial crises.

The diversification of Canadian young adults’ living arrangements during the housing affordability crisis raises two questions. First, among young adults, who are the ones with the highest risk of having unaffordable housing? Second, to what extent does living with family or roommates reduce young adults’ risk of having unaffordable housing?

Young adults’ housing vulnerability

Our study addresses these questions by documenting variations in young adults’ risk of having unaffordable housing according to their living arrangements. We focus on young adults between 25 and 34 years of age.

We show that young adults living alone with their children have the highest predicted risk of having unaffordable housing. Over half of Canadian-born young adults living alone with their children live in unaffordable housing. Those who live alone are a close second: 38 per cent of young adults who live alone do so.

Living with parents, extended family or roommates reduces young adults’ predicted risk of having unaffordable housing. However, the protective effect of living with parents or extended family is greater than that of living with roommates. For example, seven per cent of Canadian-born young adults living with parents live in unaffordable housing compared with 16 per cent of young adults living with roommates.



The predicted percentage of Canadian-born young adults versus foreign-born young adults having unaffordable housing.© (Kate Choi and Sagi Ramaj)

Unequal risks based on nativity status

Many foreign-born young adults come to Canada without their parents or without having extended family in Canada. As such, these young adults may not be able to pool resources with parents or kin to cover housing costs.

Due to labour market discrimination, others may not have access to the financial resources necessary to establish independent households. They may also have fewer social ties in Canada, meaning that they have limited access to information about housing vacancies.



The predicted percentage of Canadian-born young adults who have moderate versus severe unaffordable housing.© (Kate Choi and Sagi Ramaj)

Our findings reveal that foreign-born young adults are generally more likely than Canadian-born with the same living arrangement to live in unaffordable housing. Fifteen per cent of foreign-born and seven per cent of Canadian-born young adults who live with their parents live in unaffordable housing.

Those who live alone with their children are an exception. Foreign-born young adults who live with their children only are less likely than their Canadian-born peers to live in unaffordable housing. This is partly because a higher share of foreign-born single parents have been previously married.

Particularly concerning is that foreign-born young adults with housing unaffordability issues are disproportionately more likely to have severely unaffordable housing, spending at least half of their pre-tax income on housing.



The predicted percentage of foreign-born young adults who have moderate versus severe unaffordable housing.© (Kate Choi and Sagi Ramaj)

Reducing housing vulnerability

Canada is implementing its National Housing Strategy, which aims to invest at least $82 billion to address the housing needs of Canadians. Within this strategy, young adults have been identified as one of the groups with the most unmet housing needs.

When implementing this strategy, the Canadian government should increase the supply of affordable housing units that meet the housing needs of young adults in Canada.

In particular, the government should create more affordable housing that can accommodate young adults who live alone or only with their children. Doing so will reduce young adults’ risk of having unaffordable housing and the burden it places on families by forcing them to subsidise the housing needs of young adults.

Read more: How Canada plans to break records with its new refugee targets

To fuel the post-pandemic economic recovery, Canada is aiming to welcome 500,000 new immigrants a year by 2025. Immigration and Settlement Services should consider allocating more resources to address the housing needs of these newcomers into Canada.

Doing so will protect immigrants from having severely unaffordable housing and ensure that housing affordability in Canada does not erode any further. Access to affordable housing will create an environment where young adults and all Canadians can thrive.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

Read more:
Ethno-racial minorities in Canada have less access to affordable housing than white people
New study reveals intensified housing inequality in Canada from 1981 to 2016

Kate Choi receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Sagi Ramaj has previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.