Trudeau creates fund for nonprofits to buy apartment buildings

Brian Platt, Bloomberg News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government is creating a $1.5 billion (US$1.1 billion) program to help Canadian nonprofit organizations buy affordable apartment buildings and keep the rents down.

It’s the latest in a series of pre-budget announcements focused on housing and affordability, as Trudeau tries to ease Canada’s severe housing crunch — and turn around his own sagging poll numbers.

The fund announced Thursday will provide $1 billion in loans and $470 million in grants to nonprofit groups for acquiring existing rental properties. 

“Instead of that apartment being sold to a speculator or profiteer, it can go to nonprofit organizations, community housing providers and the middle class,” said Trudeau’s office in a news release. “It’ll mean Canadians can live in the communities they love, with rent prices they can afford.”

This follows Wednesday’s announcement of a $15 billion top-up to an apartment construction loan program. The $55 billion program aims to finance the construction of more than 131,000 new apartments within the next decade.

Earlier in the week, Trudeau outlined a $6 billion infrastructure fund that provinces and municipalities can access — but only if they remove certain barriers to homebuilding, such as freezing municipal development charges and allowing up to four units on every lot.

The budget is set to be published April 16.

 

 

Trudeau pushes 3D-printed, prefabricated homes to solve supply crunch

Brian Platt, Bloomberg News

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced measures aimed at making it easier and cheaper to build new homes in Canada, with an emphasis on pre-fabricated modular housing.

The federal government will provide $50 million to a new fund meant to “support the scale-up, commercialization and adoption of innovative housing technologies and materials,” said Trudeau’s office in a news release.

A further $50 million will go through regional development agencies to help modernize homebuilding “through modular housing, mass timber construction, robotics, 3D printing and automation,” the release said.

Trudeau also announced $11.6 million to support the creation of a catalog of pre-approved home designs to reduce the cost and time it takes to build housing — a strategy first used during the Second World War.

Earlier this week, Trudeau announced a top-up to a $55 billion fund to provide low-cost financing for apartment building construction. On Friday he said $500 million of that would be used for new rental housing “using innovative construction techniques from prefabricated and modular housing manufacturers.”

The prime minister and his cabinet have made a series of announcements this week on housing measures that will be in the April 16 budget. Trudeau has been under fire over the past year due to Canada’s soaring cost of housing, and is trailing badly in the polls to Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Melissa Lantsman, deputy leader of the Conservatives, described Trudeau’s pre-budget announcements as “frantic” and accused him of re-branding and recycling policies that don’t get homes built. She said her party’s plan to provide a bonus to cities that increase homebuilding by 15 per cent annually — and fine those that don’t — would be more effective.

While Trudeau has pushed provinces and cities to allow up to four units on every lot, Lantsman said her party would allow communities to decide which types of housing work for them.

“We just want to see more approvals and less gatekeepers in the way,” she said.

WORKERS CAPITAL

Ontario pension fund preaches patience in private equity's long winter

Layan Odeh, Bloomberg News

Private equity firms have been slow to cash out of holdings and hand money back to their investors. Executives at Investment Management Corp. of Ontario say they’re ready if that trend continues.

“Most of our partners will probably say that the worst is over. We are just patient,” said Rossitsa Stoyanova, chief investment officer of the $77.4 billion (US$57 billion) Canadian pension manager. “We are prepared that we are not going to have exits for a while.” 

Private equity firms have seen a dramatic change in the investment climate since interest rates began their rapid climb in 2022. The high cost of borrowing has made it harder for them to finance new acquisitions, or find buyers for the assets they already hold at valuations they’ll find attractive. 

Still, there have been signs of a thaw in deal activity so far in 2024 now that it appears the Federal Reserve and other central banks are poised to start lowering interest rates. 

Overall, IMCO posted a 5.6 per cent return last year, underperforming the benchmark of 6.6 per cent, according to a statement Friday. The fund had positive returns in every major asset class except real estate, where it lost 13 per cent. It outperformed the benchmark in public stocks and fixed income, but undershot on private equity.

“It’s not that we saw something happening in 2023, or we were contrarians, Chief Executive Officer Bert Clark said in an interview. “We held to our long-term strategies and it worked.”

IMCO is a relative young organization, launched less than a decade ago to consolidate the management of a number of retirement funds for government workers in Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. As such, it’s still building up some of its investing programs, including private equity and private credit. 

Last year, the Toronto-based manager allocated $509 million to three new private equity partners, including European buyout funds managed by Cinven Capital and IK Investment Partners, and did nearly $1 billion in direct and co-investment PE deals. 

The fund has also been growing its credit business, investing in everything from investment grade credit to structured private credit through external fund managers and co-investments — including allocations to funds run by Ares Management, Carlyle Group and Blackstone. 

IMCO boosted its activity in private credit last year, raising it to nearly 50 per cent of the global credit portfolio as of December. Management plans to increase that to 70 per cent, according to the fund’s annual report. 

IMCO is also look for exposure exposure to the infrastructure that supports the energy transition and artificial intelligence, according to Stoyanova. Last year, the fund committed $400 million in Northvolt AB, a Swedish sustainable battery company, via convertible notes. And it invested $150 million in CoreWeave, a cloud-computing firm. 

Imco sold some of its stakes in infrastructure funds in the secondary market and may do the same in private equity funds in the future “to make room for direct investments or to commit to the fund manager’s next vintage,” Stoyanova said.     

Office buildings and retail assets were 53 per cent of Imco’s property holdings as of Dec. 31, with a heavy tilt toward Canada. 

IMCO, which inherited a big chunk of its property portfolio from the pension funds it assumed control of years ago, has been diversifying into European and U.S. real estate, according to Stoyanova. Last year, the pension fund disposed of around $1 billion in Canadian real estate assets. “Obviously in order to transform it, we need to dispose assets to get dry powder to buy new ones,” she said. 

Pensions giant to create UK superfund in boost for Hunt

Szu Ping Chan
Sun, 7 April 2024

The Chancellor has previously said he wants to boost returns for savers while directing more cash to higher-returning assets - Paul Grover for The Telegraph

Britain’s biggest long-term savings and retirement business is drawing up plans to launch a new superfund to back fast-growing companies in a boost for Jeremy Hunt.

Phoenix, which owns insurer Standard Life, is in the early stages of creating a multibillion-pound investment vehicle that insiders say will help turbocharge investment in high-growth sectors and lift pension returns.

This includes pooling cash to invest in life sciences and fintech businesses, as well as injecting long-term venture capital into unlisted companies in the UK and overseas.

The fund, which is expected to launch this year, will also help the FTSE 100 company to meet a goal of investing at least 5pc of its defined contribution (DC) workplace pension assets in unlisted companies by 2030.


It is understood that Phoenix, which has over £280bn of total assets under management and 12 million customers, currently has less than 1pc of the relevant cash invested in these assets.

This means it needs to plough billions of pounds more into investments such as science and technology over the next five years, which stems from the Chancellor’s Mansion House reforms unveiled last summer.

The fund will also enable thousands of smaller pension funds to gain access to venture capital and high-growth companies by contributing to the investment vehicle.

Smaller funds traditionally do not have the financial firepower to tap into these investments because of the higher costs charged by venture capital firms.

However, by handing over cash to the Phoenix fund, it is possible that even the smallest of Britain’s 27,000 workplace pension schemes will have access to these investments.

This idea has been partly inspired by similar investment funds in Australia, such as IFM which specialises in infrastructure investments.

Mr Hunt has announced he wants to boost returns for savers while directing more cash towards productive, higher-returning assets under plans first announced in last year’s Mansion House speech.

He claimed the reforms could boost individual pension pots by up to £1,000.

However, some pension funds openly warned the Chancellor against mandating UK-based investment, which they say could reduce investor returns.

Phoenix is said to be aiming for around 40pc of UK-focused investment as part of its Mansion House commitment, but sources suggested this was not a target and the focus would be on returns over location.

Britain’s largest local government pension scheme is also understood to be plotting a new UK-focused fund as part of a new £2bn investment drive into private markets.

Border to Coast, which manages the pension pots of local government workers from Bedfordshire to Teesside, will invest hundreds of millions of pounds of this pot into UK infrastructure, private equity and private credit over the next year. This will be achieved through a new “UK Opportunities” fund focusing on British assets.

Border to Coast is the largest local government pension scheme in the UK with just under £60bn in assets. Its new UK Opportunities fund will target projects including housing, transport and renewable energy, all of which money managers said would benefit UK communities.

The Chancellor also used his March Budget to force asset funds to disclose how much of savers’ money is invested in Britain, as he seeks to drive more domestic investment.

Poorly performing funds will also be blocked from taking on new business from workplace pension schemes under the plans.

Andy Briggs, the boss of Phoenix, has previously warned that British pensioners are not saving enough for retirement.

It is understood that the Government wants to increase the level of compulsory savings poured into pensions via workplace schemes to 12pc, but is yet to consult on the proposal.

Mr Briggs previously told The Telegraph: “The state pension just can’t cope in the way that it was originally designed to do.

“Effectively, state pensions are going to have to be paid later and at a lower level, and people are going to have to make greater personal provision.”

A Phoenix spokesman declined to comment.

 

Canada warns Trump 10% tariff risks sparking global retaliation

Eric Martin and Iain Marlow, Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump’s campaign promise to hike import tariffs could trigger retaliation from other nations including trade partners, Canada’s ambassador to the US warned.

Ambassador Kirsten Hillman said in an interview Friday that Canada thinks the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement for free trade, negotiated during Trump’s first term, should exclude it from his plan to impose 10% duties on goods from around the world if he’s elected to another term in November. Chinese imports would face a 60% tariff.

“It’s not a one-way street — other countries, if that policy is enacted, will respond,” said Hillman, who helped negotiate the USMCA. “That could potentially raises costs for everybody.”

A second Trump White House should expect trade partners to respond with reciprocal tariffs, as they did for duties on steel and aluminum that Trump imposed in his first term, Hillman said. Canada, the US and Mexico negotiated the USMCA at Trump’s insistence to replace the two-decade-old North American Free Trade Agreement, which he blamed for the loss of US manufacturing jobs.

Although Trump threatened at one point to end free trade in the region altogether, the nations fashioned a deal that won broad bipartisan support in the US Congress. They’ve since focused on deepening integration, especially in critical industries like semiconductors, after the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Hillman, who previously worked as a trade lawyer and negotiator, said she doesn’t see the world breaking down into rival trade blocs even though she agreed that returning some supply chains to the region for critical inputs like food and energy makes sense. 

Hillman downplayed concerns about a USMCA review scheduled for 2026, calling it an opportunity to improve the deal rather than renegotiate it.

With the US election looming, Hillman said Canada continues to use its network of consulates to establish relationships nationwide with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers and aides.

Hillman added that she’s been in touch with some Trump advisers since he left office.

“Obviously, that’s deeply important, in order to get as much information as we can from every region to inform ourselves as to what’s happening under both potential outcomes after the next election,” she said.

--With assistance from Josh Wingrove.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

 

Trudeau unveils $2.4 billion package for Canada’s AI sector

Mathieu Dion, Bloomberg News

Canada is launching a fund to boost its artificial intelligence sector and creating a new AI safety institute as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continues to roll out spending announcements in advance of a new budget. 

The government unveiled a $2.4 billion package of measures related to artificial intelligence on Sunday. The centerpiece is $2 billion for “computing capabilities and technological infrastructure” that can accelerate the work of AI researchers, startups and other firms, according to a statement. 

Other money will be allocated to speed the adoption of AI in sectors such as agriculture and health care, the statement said. The funds “will help harness the full potential of AI so Canadians, and especially young Canadians, can get good-paying jobs while raising our productivity, and growing our economy,” Trudeau said.

Benjamin Bergen, head of the Council of Canadian Innovators, said his group was looking for more clarity on how companies will be able to gain access to the computing power and infrastructure the government plans to make available. “If this gives Canadian companies the resources to compete globally, today’s announcement is a step in the right direction,” he said.

The prime minister made the announcement in Montreal, one of a number of AI hubs that has emerged in Canada. Quebec’s largest city has developed expertise in fundamental research, partly because of the presence of renowned AI researcher Yoshua Bengio. Last year, he joined Elon Musk and Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak in signing a letter calling on developers to hit the pause button on training powerful AI models.

Bengio said during the Montreal event that many researchers “are very worried about the trajectory that AI is taking.” He hailed the proposed Canadian AI Safety Institute, which the government announced with a $50 million budget. “Canada places itself on the right side of history with this announcement.”

Canada has yet to adopt a law to regulate AI. The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act was introduced in 2022, but it’s still under consideration by members of parliament.

Over 140,000 people were known to be active AI professionals in Canada, as of last year, according to the government. In 2022, almost 30 per cent of all venture capital activity in Canada, or about $8.6 billion, was related to AI.

Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told Bloomberg News in March that it will soon be mandatory for the government to be given advance notice when non-Canadian firms plan to invest in key technology sectors such as AI and quantum computing. The notice would give the government time to consider the national security impacts of the investment — a measure that’s seen as aimed at controlling the flow of Chinese money into Canadian entities. 

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is due to release her budget plan for fiscal 2024-25 on April 16, but the government has held a series of events to release parts of it. 

 

Latest milestones move Cedar LNG closer to getting a green light

The proposed US$3.4-billion Cedar LNG facility is looking more likely to become a reality in the wake of recent positive statements by the project partners.

RBC Capital Markets said Friday it expects Pembina Pipeline Corp. and its partner, the Haisla Nation of B.C., to green light the project with a final investment decision soon.

"We expect a positive final investment decision for the Cedar LNG project will occur assuming there is no deterioration in the project finance market," RBC analyst Robert Kwan wrote in a note to clients.

"Pembina has made progress on a number of key items."

Cedar LNG is a proposed floating liquefied natural gas facility that pipeline company Pembina is planning to build with the Haisla in Kitimat, B.C.

The facility, which would produce LNG for export to Asian markets, would be owned by the Haisla, making it the largest Indigenous-owned infrastructure project in the country.

Pembina announced Thursday that it has signed a long-term natural gas supply agreement for the facility with ARC Resources Ltd., a Calgary-headquartered company that has natural gas drilling operations in the Montney region of northeast B.C. and northwest Alberta.

Under the terms of the agreement, ARC will deliver approximately 200 million cubic feet per day of natural gas for liquefaction to the facility, for a term of 20 years commencing with the start of commercial operations, which are anticipated in the second half of 2028.

Pembina also said Thursday it has issued a formal "notice to proceed" to its contractors for the engineering, procurement and construction of the LNG production unit.

Cedar LNG has already obtained all major regulatory approvals and is advancing an agreement that would connect the floating facility to Coastal GasLink, the TC Energy-owned pipeline that will also carry natural gas to the Shell-led LNG Canada facility.

Construction of LNG Canada near Kitimat nearing completion and it is expected to be the country's first liquefied natural gas export terminal.

Another smaller LNG facility, Woodfibre LNG, has also received regulatory approval for construction near Squamish, B.C.

Pembina said Thursday it expects to make its final investment decision on Cedar LNG by the middle of this year.

The company had previously said a decision could be made before the end of the first quarter, with onshore construction work starting as soon as the second quarter of this year. But it later deferred its decision, saying ongoing negotiations for natural gas supply, as well as the obtaining of certain third-party agreements and project financing, must first be resolved.

Proponents of a Canadian LNG industry say liquefied natural gas from Canada could help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by replacing coal in countries that still rely on the dirtier fuel.

But environmentalists argue that LNG creates its own emissions through the liquefaction and transportation process, as well as through the drilling and flaring of natural gas in Western Canada.

They argue that building massive LNG terminals that require huge upfront capital investments "locks in" future greenhouse gas emissions at a time when the world needs to be planning for a lower-carbon future.

The capital cost of Cedar LNG was originally estimated at US$2.4 billion, but Pembina said Thursday it now estimates capital costs at US$3.4 billion.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 5, 2024.

Baltimore bridge rebuild is ‘too dangerous’ after deaths of six migrants, Latino workers say


Michelle Del Rey

The Independent
Sun, 7 April 2024 

Latino construction workers say they are scared about working on a project to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, citing dangerous conditions. Miguel Velasquez, 41, speaks about the dangerous conditions in the industry and his relationship with one of the victims 

(Julia Saqui/ The Independent)

Latino workers have said they are too afraid to take on jobs rebuilding the Baltimore bridge after six migrants died in its collapse last month.

José Luis Juarez, 41, from Guatemala, told The Independent that he wouldn’t work on construction of a new Francis Scott Key Bridge - even if he was paid a million dollars.

“I don’t know if that’s where I’m going to die,” the construction worker said as he visited a memorial to the late workers on Saturday, 6 April. “Yes we’re going to die, but we don’t want to die that way.”

Eight Latino migrant workers were filling potholes on the bridge in the early hours of 26 March when a huge cargo ship slammed into a column, causing its immediate collapse. The men were plunged into the Patapsco River.

Baltimore locals working on a memorial left for the six victims of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse - Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38; Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35; 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera; Jose Mynor Lopez, 35; Miguel Luna, 49, and one who had not been identified 

(Julia Saqui/The Independent)

Two men survived, with one rescued from the water. Six others perished.

Divers have been able to recover the bodies of Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, 38; Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35; and 26-year-old Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera. Three men remain missing: Jose Mynor Lopez, 35, Miguel Luna, 49, and one who has not been identified.

The men were from a number of Latin American countries including Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala.

Mr Juarez, who has been working in construction for at least 10 years, said that he got a lump in his throat as he viewed the makeshift memorial. It is located at an intersection leading to the bridge, which police have closed off to the public.

Mourners have left bottles of Modelo, boots, prayer candles and have constructed crosses representing the lives of each of the men, each draped with a construction vest and a hard hat on top. The crosses form a circle around a grassy corner near the intersection. A sign reading “Find the missing” has been placed at the center.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore was struck by a cargo ship called “Dali” on 26 March. Authorities, including the US Coast Guard and Maryland State Police continue working to reopen the bridge

 (Julia Saqui/The Independent)

“You come here, and you say maybe that could be me,” Mr Juarez said. He added that colleagues in the construction industry are also not interested in working to rebuild the bridge.

“Imagine all the days that have passed and they still haven’t found the bodies of the missing,” he said. “You imagine how the families are suffering…I have kids and I don’t want that to happen to them.”

Miguel Velasquez, 41, another construction worker at the memorial, said that some migrants who come to the US might be more willing to do the work because of a lack of options.

“The situation in this country is you don’t get to choose your job,” he said. “You have to take the jobs they put in front of you.”

Mr Velasquez, who lives in Baltimore but is from Latin America, said that he worked in construction for 10 years and now owns his own gardening business.

Baltimore construction worker Miguel Velasquez said he would not work on the rebuilding of the bridge (Julia Saqui/ The Independent)

He said that he would refuse the opportunity to work on rebuilding the bridge if it was given to him.

“My point of view is that for people who come from Latin America and are brand new, even if they don’t want to, they have to take the opportunity,” he said, explaining the need to survive and provide for family without many options.

Mr Velasquez said that he knew Miguel Luna, one of the victims. The two played in the same soccer league and he often went to the food truck that Mr Luna owned with his wife selling Salvadorian food.

“He was a good person,” he said.

In the wake of the disaster, labor experts pointed out that it will likely be migrant workers who rebuild the bridge.

The incident has also put the plight of migrant workers in the spotlight as concerns continue to be raised over how construction workers are treated, and what provisions could make their jobs safer.

Miguel Luna, 49, was on the Maryland bridge when it collapsed and is presumed dead. His body is still missing (Supplied)

According to the US Bureau of Labor, Latinos made up 30 per cent of construction workers in 2021. In the same year, 14 per cent of all work-related fatalities were of foreign-born Hispanic or Latino workers, the majority of whom worked in construction.

Gustavo Torres, director of CASA, a nonprofit organization that helps Maryland’s migrant workers, said he has spoken to people who are deeply worried about having to take jobs rebuilding the bridge following the disaster.

He said that he plans to meet with Julie Su, acting US Secretary of Labor, next week to discuss potential safety provisions.

“They’re going to rebuild the bridge but they require and demand better salaries and protections”, Mr Torres told The Independent.

CASA sent a letter to the Biden administration this week requesting work permits for long-term workers in the construction industry, including temporary protected status and humanitarian parole.

A friend and colleague of the men who died left his construction boots on one of the crosses at the memorial to honor the victims of the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse. (Julia Saqui/The Independent)

The administration is committed to at least ensuring that the families of the victims have visas, Mr Torres said. The president met with the families on Friday during his visit to Baltimore to tour the wreckage.

CASA has called for a full investigation into the bridge collapse that took the migrant workers’ lives.

“What happened? Where were the mistakes? Who made the mistakes?” he said.

However, Mr Torres said that the organisation’s primary goal is to make sure that the bodies of the three remaining victims are returned to their families.

Muslims face dwindling representation in Modi's India

BJP FASCISM

Parvaiz BUKHARI
Sun, 7 April 2024 

Muslim representation in India's parliament has dwindled over the years, even in areas where they make up a majority of voters (-)

More than half the voters in the Indian city of Rampur are Muslim, but its member of parliament is a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's muscular Hindu-first agenda.

It is a situation repeated across Hindu-majority India, where many consider victory for Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in upcoming general elections a near certainty -- and see Muslim candidates as a recipe for defeat at the ballot box.

While India's 220 million Muslims make up a little under a fifth of its 1.4 billion population, Muslim representatives in parliament have almost halved to less than five percent since the 1970s.

"Everyone wants a connect with BJP," said Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi, who is confident of re-election as MP for Rampur in Uttar Pradesh state when the six-week-long elections begin on April 19.

Lodhi, a Hindu, replaced Rampur's Muslim MP in a 2022 by-election, jumping ship from the last lawmaker's party to become a BJP loyalist.

Muslim leaders worry at the lack of representation. There were just 27 Muslim MPs in the 543-seat lower house in parliament -- and none of them were among the BJP's 310 lawmakers.

Ziya Us Salam, author of a book on Muslims in India, says members of the faith had for decades placed their trust in secular parties, a process that created an "acute absence of Muslim leadership".

Today, an overtly Muslim leader would be challenged as stoking sectarian divisions, yet few question when Modi champions constitutionally secular India as a "Hindu Rashtra", or Hindu state.

"Nobody talks of (Modi) being the leader of only Hindus," Salam said.

He also argues that successive gerrymandering policies since independence in 1947 have redrawn electoral boundaries to split areas with substantial Muslim populations.

- 'Not able to vote' -

Rampur has elected Muslim MPs 15 out of 18 times since 1952.

But Kanwal Bharti, a 71-year-old activist and writer from the city, said the BJP's dominance means that it "doesn't seem possible anymore" for a Muslim candidate to win Rampur.

Rampur's last Muslim MP was veteran politician Mohammad Azam Khan -- but he quit after more than 80 legal cases were brought against him, ranging from land grabbing to intimidating government officials.

His supporters said many of the accusations were years old and that charges had only been belatedly brought after the BJP won state elections in 2017.

Khan was jailed for three years in 2023 for hate speech against BJP rivals.

Past elections were marred by allegations that security forces blocked Muslims from voting.

A legal challenge that a 2022 parliamentary by-election vote was manipulated "by using every unconstitutional means" to stop voters from Muslim-dominated areas was dismissed on a technicality.

Some Muslim voters in Rampur worry about casting a ballot later this month.

"If the conditions during the last election are repeated, I will again not be able to vote," said 75-year-old Mohammad Salam Khan, reading a newspaper in his son's electrical repair shop.

- 'Intimidation' and 'elimination' -

It is part of a wider shift, said Asaduddin Owaisi, one of two lawmakers in the last parliament from the All India Council for Unity of Muslims.

Owaisi believes even secular parties avoid selecting Muslim candidates because they fear they would not appeal to Hindu voters.

"They are afraid to even give a ticket to a Muslim candidate," Owaisi said, accusing the ruling party of stoking fear against Muslims.

"It is very difficult for the Muslim candidates from any political party to win".

The BJP denies "active discrimination" based on religion, pointing out that representation depends on candidates winning elections.

A handful of Muslim candidates the BJP fielded in the last two national elections all lost, with critics accusing the party of showing disinterest in their campaign.

"We have this aspiration, ideally, to have people from every community," BJP national spokesperson Mmhonlumo Kikon told AFP.

But Salam, the author, believes Muslims are being squeezed out of the democratic process.

"So, you don't give tickets to Muslims at one place, you redraw constituencies at another place... or you don't allow Muslims to vote," Salam said.

"It's not just intimidation," he added. "It's also elimination."

pzb/pjm/sn/smw

Australia did not list George Soros as a 'global terrorist'

Kate TAN / AFP Australia
Sun, 7 April 2024 

Australia has not declared George Soros a "terrorist", contrary to what social media posts shared thousands of times falsely claimed. A spokesperson for Australia's Attorney-General's Department also told AFP that the Hungarian-born American business and philanthropic mogul -- a frequent target of online misinformation -- was not on the country's sanction list.

"Australia declares George Soros a global terrorist!" a Facebook post published on April 2 read.

Screenshot of the misleading post, captured on April 4

The same false claim was shared on Facebook here in Australia. It also spread in the United States on social media platform X here and here.

Comments from some users on the posts indicated that they believed the claim was true.

"WOW - Awesome," a comment read.

"Why hasn’t America, he’s bought 90% of our government," another comment read.

AFP previously debunked separate false claims that Soros was arrested for interference in the 2020 US election and that he was detained by police in Switzerland in 2019.

The latest online claim about him is also false. Australia has no law or legal framework that lists individuals as "terrorists."

"Division 102 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Criminal Code) enables the Minister for the Australian Federal Police to list organisations as terrorist organisations... Individuals are not able to be listed under this framework," a spokesperson for the Attorney-General's Department told AFP on April 3.

She added that Australia "has no other frameworks to list individuals as terrorists."

There were 29 "terrorist organisations" listed in Australia when the false claim circulated online. Neither Soros' Fund Management company nor his Open Society Foundations were mentioned (archived links here, here and here ).

While it only lists terrorist organisations, Australia's law enables the foreign minister to "designate a person or entity who commits, attempts to commit, participates in or facilitates the commission of, terrorist acts"(archived link).

Such designation would result in the freezing of the assets of the said person or entity. It would also be considered an offence to use, move or sell said assets.

Resolution 1373 of the UN Security Council encourages Australia, as a UN member-state, to counter terrorism by imposing financial sanctions on people engaged in terrorist activities.

AFP checked the Australian government's consolidated list of the people and entities subject to sanctions as of March 29, 2024 and found no mention of Soros (archived link).

A spokesperson from the Attorney-General's Department also confirmed to AFP that Soros was not included in Australia's sanctions list.


Australia is also encouraged to implement the UN Security Council's sanctions regime which includes "comprehensive economic and trade sanctions" and "arms embargoes, travel bans, and financial or commodity restrictions" (archived links here and here).

As of April 5, 2024, Soros has not been included in the UN's sanctions list (archived link).

SCOTLAND 

New pro-Yes billboard campaign ahead of 'festival of independence'

Hamish Morrison
Sun, 7 April 2024 

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf (centre) takes part in a Believe in Scotland march from Edinburgh Castle (Image: PA)

NEW billboards will be set up across Scotland’s biggest city today to promote independence.

Believe in Scotland have launched a new advertising campaign in Glasgow helping to promote the cause.

Four billboards will be put up around the city as part of a wider campaign of activism led by the group.

Along with the advertising campaign, the group is hosting a march and rally for independence on Saturday, April 20, followed by a “mass campaign day” of leafleting in the south side of Glasgow on Sunday.

Yessers have already helped Believe in Scotland to smash its fundraising target to cover its costs, with £3,385 raised at the time of writing, out of a goal of £2000.

READ MORE: Humza Yousaf reveals his ‘one wish’ for SNP’s 90th birthday – and his own

The group said that excess cash would be used to “book more billboards across the country and put on more events”.

Believe in Scotland founder Gordon MacIntyre-Kemp said: “Earlier this year Believe in Scotland ran its annual big Indy Movement Survey receiving 4,623 responses.

“One of the questions asked indy supporters to prioritise Believe in Scotland’s campaigning activities and the top three responses were billboards, our days of action and repeating the success of the march and rally we ran last year.

The National:

“So we’ve combined all of those for Glasgow’s Big Indy Weekend, on April 20.

“Our march and rally aims to have less of a political protest feel and more of a festival of independence feel. We think independence is a means to an end. We are going to be talking about our hopes and dreams for an independent Scotland, not bombarding people with politics.

READ MORE: Young Scots for Independence announce major international event on path back to EU

“People that went to our Edinburgh march and rally last year told us it felt like the 2014 Yes Family was coming back together and that's what we are aiming for.

“In the run up to the event we will run a series of simple messages on billboards starting on Monday, some related to Glasgow and others more general indy messages.

“We have a great line up for the rally and still have a few more speakers to announce. On the evening of Saturday 20, we have an afterparty (partly to thank for all the volunteer stewards) featuring a performance from Trad Singer of the Year Iona Fyffe.

“Then on Sunday we are calling on all indy supporters in the Glasgow area to join us at Langside Hall at 10.30am for a mass leafleting session in Glasgow south side.

“Scotland has a highly organised and effective national campaigning umbrella group. It’s fully democratic, run by the elected representatives of 142 local and national Yes groups – it's called Believe in Scotland and everyone is welcome to join us.”