EU FAR RIGHT OPPOSES NATO TOO

This is why Sweden might not join NATO after all

Dr Gladden Pappin, President, HIIA
Fri, 6 October 2023 

This is why Sweden might not join NATO after all

Fifteen months after Sweden was invited to join NATO, its accession to the joint defence alliance is at a clear inflexion point.

Until this summer, Sweden’s accession looked like a fait accompli, pending what everyone assumed would be an eventual, pro forma approval by Hungary and Turkey.

But as Ukraine’s defensive efforts have run aground and attention has turned elsewhere even in the most hawkish corners of the Western alliance, the Swedish candidacy is firmly on the rocks.

It is worth asking why.

'Rapid shedding of historical neutrality'

In the weeks after the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, fundamental assumptions about the structure of the Western alliance were thrown out the window.

Age-old policies of neutrality suddenly looked “immoral,” and pressure was duly brought on Sweden and Finland to step away from the sidelines and join NATO.

During the spring of 2022, Swedes themselves expressed concern at the rapid shedding of their historical neutrality. Yet international frustration is currently directed at Turkey and Hungary for not yet ratifying Sweden’s accession.

Joining NATO is not like joining the Schengen Zone; it is a commitment to shed blood for one another in the event of any invasion.

The Alliance against NATO network take part in a demonstration in support of democratic forces in Turkey and against Swedish NATO membership, in Stockholm, June 2023 - Maja Suslin/AP

Hungary and Turkey aren’t stalling arbitrarily. The core problem with Sweden’s accession is that treating it as an inevitable expansion has undermined trust within the alliance.

Resolving potential points of dispute prior to expansion is essential for a defensive alliance.

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Swedish government to increase defence spending amid NATO bid

Unlike a mere security alliance where military norms and methods are harmonised, a mutual defensive alliance demands a far higher level of commitment.

Joining NATO is not like joining the Schengen Zone; it is a commitment to shed blood for one another in the event of any invasion.
Risks that need to be resolved beforehand

In the days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, NATO’s senior members and international influencers decided to push hard for its expansion — on an expedited basis, sidestepping typical NATO procedures.

But when diplomats describe Hungary’s hesitations about ratifying Sweden as an “annoying sideshow,” they stir bad blood which does not contribute to the strengthening of a defensive alliance.

While Hungary and Turkey have agreed to NATO’s expansion at a political and diplomatic level, the decision ultimately rests with the parliaments of both countries.

Allowing a new member to join NATO while it undergoes internal turmoil, or is in political tension with an existing member, brings with it obvious risks that should be resolved beforehand.

A security guard walks in front of a banner outside the venue of the NATO summit in Vilnius, July 2023 - AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis

There are other reasons that Sweden’s accession has stalled, as well. In recent months, Sweden has been undergoing a series of violent public incidents surrounding the burning of the Quran that have angered Turkey and prompted disappointment from the Hungarian foreign ministry as well.

Just recently, Sweden’s police chief Anders Thornberg noted that the country has experienced an “unprecedented” wave of violence.

NATO’s founding documents imply that internal stability and security, as well as mutual compatibility, are preconditions for accession and that internal strife shouldn’t be imported into NATO.

According to Article 4, parties to the treaty “will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.”

Allowing a new member to join NATO while it undergoes internal turmoil, or is in political tension with an existing member, brings with it obvious risks that should be resolved beforehand.
Engaging in careful diplomatic cultivation

Some level of cultural compatibility is also assumed by accession. Article 2 of the North Atlantic Treaty insists that “the further development of peaceful and friendly international relations” among the parties result from the treaty. Both Hungary and Turkey have complaints on these grounds.

In April, Sweden joined the European Commission’s case against Hungary at the European Court of Justice — part of the EU-level actions that are holding up billions of euros of funds to which Hungary is otherwise entitled.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrives for the 2nd day of the Europe Summit in Granada, October 2023 - AP Photo/Fermin Rodriguez

As a diplomatic strategy for paving the way to accession, decisions like these are strange, to say the least.

Second, state educational programming in Sweden has characterised Hungary as a backsliding democracy — drawing outrage from Hungarian parliamentarians.

Sweden PM asks military to help tackle violent gangs


Sweden raises its terror threat to four out of five after Quran burnings

While some have sought to pooh-pooh the anti-Hungarian educational material, noting that it was several years old, these issues are precisely the type that should be sorted out prior to accession.

Instead of engaging in careful diplomatic cultivation of Hungary, Sweden has assumed that Budapest will follow Ankara and hence does not require much direct attention. Such an approach is hardly good preparation for a defensive alliance.
Periodic Quran burnings need to be resolved in satisfactory manner

Similarly, an important part of Turkey’s international image is as a guardian of Islamic culture and civilisation.

The periodic burnings of the Quran that occur in Sweden are not only offensive to Turkey but also indicate the presence of a difficult internal situation.

Although Hungary comes from a different cultural background, it enjoys good relations with Turkey and is able to understand the perspective that has caused Ankara to take a cautious approach toward the Swedish accession.

Sweden’s accession is on hold precisely because Turkey and Hungary understand the nature of the alliance and want to proceed only when the diplomatic, strategic and political elements have been fully resolved.

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shakes hands with Sweden's PM Ulf Kristersson as NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg looks on in Vilnius, July 2023 - AP Photo/Yves Herman

Currently, it is an open question whether these matters can be resolved in a manner satisfactory to Turkey as well as to the parliamentary representatives of Hungary’s voters.

From a security standpoint, the urgency of the early days of the war has also faded. With Russia bogged down in Ukraine, it is not going to be launching incursions into NATO territory anytime soon, and claims about Russia’s imperial ambitions seem hardly credible.

Sweden struggles to handle the fallout from repeated Quran-burning protests


Sweden 'at risk' thanks to Russian-backed Quran burning disinformation

Arguments for NATO’s expansion now have to be made in a more specific and strategic, not broad-brush manner.

Sweden’s accession is on hold precisely because Turkey and Hungary understand the nature of the alliance and want to proceed only when the diplomatic, strategic and political elements have been fully resolved.

Urgency to join NATO subsided

The larger reason, then, is that Sweden’s accession to NATO no longer looks like an urgent military imperative for key NATO members.

Sweden’s military contribution to NATO would be rather slender, and the scenarios for mutual defence are likelier to involve committing American troops to protect Sweden than vice versa.

With NATO’s most hawkish members hesitant about their own arms transfers, while the alliance itself remains formally uninvolved, it is natural that overall sentiment toward expansion might also cool or slow.

Poland's PM Mateusz Morawiecki and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a press conference in Warsaw, April 2023 - AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk

Given that cultural differences among NATO members — and within countries — have already been increasing, it is important to ask whether each expansion strengthens overall defensive resilience or stretches mutual goodwill beyond the breaking point, by creating mutual obligations that eventually generate animosity.

In recent days, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has explained that Poland will not be transferring new arms acquisitions to Ukraine.

Poland says it will stop sending weapons to Ukraine

Poland said its army will soon be the strongest in Europe. But is that possible?

Likewise, President Andrzej Duda has warned that Poland will not be pulled down along with Ukraine, as the latter continues to suffer.

With NATO’s most hawkish members hesitant about their own arms transfers, while the alliance itself remains formally uninvolved, it is natural that overall sentiment toward expansion might also cool or slow.
NATO membership is a serious committment

Ultimately, it is crucial to understand what the commitment to NATO membership means both for an incoming member and for existing members of NATO.

Decisions about expanding collective defence obligations can only be made clearly when that is evaluated frankly and democratically by each existing member.

With the rush of spring 2022 now a fading memory, the opportunity for cooler heads to ask questions has now arisen.

Sweden may yet join NATO, or the difficulties that have arisen may block its path for the foreseeable future.

Either way, the overall interests of the alliance are served only when each member — including the new one — is fully prepared for the mutual obligations such a step entails.

Dr Gladden Pappin is President of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA). Since 2021, he has been living in Hungary and has been a senior guest lecturer at Mathias Corvinus Collegium.

EU veteran Tusk heads into final week of battle to steer Poland from populism


Shaun Walker in Bydgoszcz
Fri, 6 October 2023 

Photograph: Darek Delmanowicz/EPA

“I want this message to reach everybody in Poland,” said Donald Tusk, speaking to a rally of supporters, gathered in a cavernous indoor sports arena in the city of Bydgoszcz. “This is really the last chance.”

As a vicious, bruising campaign comes to its climax ahead of parliamentary elections on 15 October, Tusk, a veteran of Polish and European politics, has sought to make this point with increasing urgency.

Related: Polish elections: who are the key players and what is at stake?

The rally was just one stop on a busy campaign trail for Tusk, whose Civic Coalition is seeking to prevent the nationalist, populist Law and Justice (PiS) government from winning a third term.

Crowds of local supporters queued to see Tusk in Bydgoszcz, and at least 2,000 packed the hall to hear him speak, waving Polish flags and applauding regularly. Tusk told them that the parliamentary vote would be a referendum – on Poland’s future as a state with democratic norms as well as on its place inside the EU.

“It will be crucial for Poland’s future, for the future of our children and grandchildren,” he said, to cheers from the loyal audience.

Tusk is perhaps Poland’s best-known politician internationally. He was prime minister between 2007 and 2014, when he left to become European Council president. A year later, his party suffered a surprise defeat in elections, with PiS coming to power.

Now, Tusk is back. He has run a slick campaign, designed to counter the stereotype that his is the party of the metropolitan elite. In Bydgoszcz, he referred to himself several times as a “normal person”, and frequently talked about his grandchildren. A campaign video shows him cheerfully boarding his campaign bus with a stack of takeaway pizza boxes to deliver to his aides. He is not a great orator, but appears very comfortable on stage and brings the gravitas of experience: he’s done the job before, after all.

His key foe in this battle is the other major figure of recent Polish politics, the PiS chair, Jarosław Kaczyński, who controls his party tightly in a largely behind-the-scenes role. PiS has used its eight years in power to try to reshape Poland, eroding democratic institutions, curtailing women’s rights and demonising migrants and minorities. It has clashed with Brussels over the rule of law, leading to tens of millions of euros of EU funds for Poland being blocked.

At the same time, the PiS government has introduced various policies that have increased welfare and social spending, winning them support among many who felt the years after the transition from communism were unfair.

Kaczyński is now fighting for another four years to continue implementing his vision for the transformation of Poland. His government has launched ferocious attacks on Tusk and his party, drawing from the populist playbook to claim the opposition represents foreign forces that want to subjugate Poland.

A large part of the PiS campaign has focused specifically on Tusk, with Kaczyński calling him “the personification of evil” earlier in the summer. Tusk is regularly accused of being a German or Russian agent on public television, which is staunchly pro-PiS.

Kaczyński at a campaign rally in Busko-Zdrój. Photograph: Piotr Polak/EPA

Tusk has tried to portray himself as a patriot, coming up with a red-and-white heart as a campaign symbol and describing a huge march of supporters in Warsaw last weekend as the “march of a million hearts”.

“Tusk’s ambition is for the de-Pisification of Poland … but he is also fighting for his own legacy, for those years before 2015. He’s been smeared day and night for eight years,” said Jarosław Kuisz, the author of an upcoming book on recent Polish politics.

It has been the nastiest campaign most Poles can remember, and both sides have sought to portray a victory for the other as an apocalyptic scenario.

“I really think these elections are of historical importance,” said Adam Bodnar, a law professor who spent several years as Poland’s human rights ombudsman during PiS rule and who is now standing for election to the upper house of parliament as a Civil Coalition candidate in Warsaw.

“These elections won’t be fair, but there is still at least a chance to fight them and win … This is the last chance to stop the construction of a semi-authoritarian system.”

Most independent polls suggest the race is too close to call. A poll this week by the Kantar agency put PiS on 34% and Civic Coalition on 30%, meaning the ability to form the next government is likely to rest on the results of several smaller parties. One outcome is a hung parliament with no workable coalition possible, and the prospect of another election in the near future.

The Kantar poll suggested that Civic Coalition, together with the leftwing Lewica and the centre-right Third Way, could put together a narrow parliamentary majority, but the margins are slim and the system used to translate votes into mandates is complicated, meaning there is still much uncertainty.

“I don’t remember a campaign where so much is unclear and the polls differ by such margins,” said Jacek Karnowski, the editor-in-chief of Sieci, a strongly pro-PiS weekly magazine. He said he was confident of a PiS victory.

The entire outcome could hinge on a few tenths of a per cent one way or the other for a smaller electoral grouping, such as Third Way, which has polled at about 8-10% over recent months. Third Way will make it into parliament only if it passes the threshold of 8%; if it falls below that, all its votes will be transferred to other parties, with a disproportionate amount going to the biggest party, likely to be PiS.

A poster showing Jarosław Kaczyński behind bars during an opposition march in Warsaw. Photograph: Rafal Oleksiewicz/AP

Lewica, Poland’s main leftwing force, is one of the other smaller parties to watch, along with Confederation, a grouping of libertarians and far-right nationalists that is far more extreme than PiS and opposes Poland’s backing for Ukraine. Both have won support among younger voters, although Confederation has fallen sharply in the polls since the summer and is now polling at about 8%.

Part of the attraction of these parties for younger Poles is that they seem more in tune with the concerns of the younger generation than the two main parties, led by ageing men – Tusk is 66 and Kaczyński is 74.

“Gen Z people are either frustrated and angry, or disengaged. They will tell you they’ve got nothing in common with either Kaczyński or Tusk,” said Weronika Sarnowska, a 31-year-old Lewica candidate in Warsaw. For most of those who do vote, “it’s a protest vote, an anti-duopoly vote”, she said.

Nevertheless, Lewica and Third Way are very clear that PiS is the greater threat. “We are not symmetrists, we don’t say both of them are evil, because the only evil one is PiS,” said Michał Kobosko, who is top of the Third Way party list for Warsaw.

If the opposition does well enough to install Tusk as prime minister, there will still be a difficult period of government ahead, as PiS has politicised many state institutions, and the PiS-allied president, Andrzej Duda, will have nearly two years of his term left with the ability to veto legislation.

There is also the possibility that the election will yield no clear result and lead to months of coalition wrangling and perhaps new elections. But if there is a path to a workable governing coalition for either PiS or Civil Coalition, the election may be the end for one of the two men who have dominated Polish politics for the past two decades.

“For Kaczyński, if PiS lose it would be very difficult to rebuild this system again later, and if Tusk is the clear loser it will be the end for him … This is their final battle,” said Karnowski.

Additional reporting by Katarzyna Piasecka

Six people accused of assassinating Ecuador presidential candidate are killed in prison

ISN'T THAT CONVIENIENT

Our Foreign Staff
Fri, 6 October 2023

Fernando Villavicencio was shot dead at a campaign event in Quito on August 9 - REUTERS

Six people accused of assassinating an anti-corruption presidential candidate in Ecuador were killed in prison on Friday.

The suspects who were implicated in the attack in August on Fernando Villavicencio were killed at a jail in the Guayas province, Ecuador’s prisons agency, SNAI, said.

Ecuador’s government condemned the killings which come barely a week before a crucial run-off election.

President Guillermo Lasso pledged “neither complicity nor cover-up” in getting to the bottom of the crime, in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Here the truth will be known,” he said.

Mr Lasso announced he was calling off a visit to Seoul and returning from a trip to New York to handle the incident. 

A woman wounded in the attack on Fernando Villavicencio - GETTY IMAGES

The killings took place in Litoral Penitentiary in Guayaquil, the South American country’s largest city.

SNAI said in a statement the six men were all Colombian nationals. It gave no more details of the killings.

The government has said authorities are determined to identify those behind Mr Villavicencio’s murder.

Mr Lasso previously suggested Mr Villavicencio was the victim of a gang assassination.

Mr Villavicencio, a prominent journalist, was gunned down less than two weeks before a first-round general election.

Police arrested the six Colombians on the day of the assassination. A seventh suspect, also Colombian, was shot and killed by police, while other suspects were later arrested.

The US agreed to send FBI agents to assist Quito officials with the investigation.

Business heir Daniel Noboa, who holds a narrow lead in some polls ahead of the run-off, said in a social media post that the government must provide details of what occurred at the prison and that peace must be restored in the country.

His main rival for the presidency is Luisa Gonzalez, a protege of leftist former President Rafael Correa. She has said that surging crime is unprecedented and that voters should not allow “terror” to stop them from voting for change.

Italian court blocks deportation of migrant to Tunisia, saying it’s not a safe country

Giulia Carbonaro
Fri, 6 October 2023 


A court in Italy’s Florence ruled to block the deportation of a migrant to Tunisia after declaring that the country cannot be considered “safe”, delivering a significant blow to Giorgia Meloni’s government.

Cooperation with Tunisia in dealing with the surging numbers of migrant arrivals to Italy’s coasts has become crucial to the right-wing coalition government led by Meloni.

After talks spearheaded in part by Meloni, the European Union struck a deal with the Tunisian government earlier this year which will see the block giving the North African country €100 million to combat undocumented immigration.

At the same time, Meloni - who’s been cultivating Italy’s relationship with the Kais Saied government - has been pushing to have Tunisia considered a safe third country where migrants arriving from the country’s shores can eventually be relocated back there.

Tunisia’s President Saied, who has been hostile against migrants living in the country, has likely agreed to the deal because the country is currently facing rampant inflation and a major debt crisis.

Several human rights activists condemned the deal, raising doubts about whether Tunisia can really be considered a safe country to relocate migrants. In the wake of the EU-Tunisia deal, Amnesty International wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter that the agreement was “ill-judged” in relation to the “mounting evidence of serious human rights abuses by authorities” in Tunisia which would make the EU “complicit”.

On Wednesday, a court in Florence agreed with human rights activists, saying that Tunisia cannot be considered a safe country where democracy and human rights are respected.

It’s the first time that a migrant deportation to Tunisia is blocked in Italy, and the second time that a court defies the government’s recent attempts to deal with migration by relying on third countries like Tunisia to handle the issue.

In March, a court in Catania, Sicily, rejected the legitimacy of the government’s new rule stating that migrants arriving to Italy from “safe” countries can immediately be deported back without the possibility of asking for asylum. The judge ruled that the new decree was against both the Italian Constitution and EU law.

Now the Florence judge ruled that because of the ongoing socio-economic, water, and food crisis in Tunisia and the country’s “authoritarian descent”, Tunisia can no longer be considered safe.

Meloni isn’t happy about the latest ruling in Florence, and the government has already said it plans to appeal the decision.

She isn’t happy in general about what her government has managed to do in terms of tackling migration in the country. Meloni, who once suggested setting a naval blockade in the Mediterranean to stop migrant arrivals, has passed many tough new rules to stop migration - to little or no avail, as the number of migrants arriving to Italy’s shores this year has exceeded 130,000.

Last week, the Italian Prime Minister admitted she had hoped to “do better” on migration.

Oregon seeks $27M for dam repair it says resulted in mass death of Pacific lamprey fish



PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon officials are seeking more than $27 million in damages over dam repairs they say killed more than half a million Pacific lamprey fish in what they've described as one of the largest damages claims for illegal killing of wildlife in state history.

In a claim filed in Douglas County Circuit Court on Friday, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said that recent repairs to Winchester Dam in the southern part of the state resulted in the death of at least 550,000 juvenile Pacific lamprey, an eel-like fish key to local ecosystems and of cultural significance to many Native American tribes in the region. The fish is also listed as a protected species in Oregon.

“The North Umpqua River’s diverse fish populations are unique within Oregon and are of considerable social, cultural, and economic importance locally and regionally,” the fish and wildlife department said in a news release. “The damages claim seeks reparation for the loss of a valuable public resource.”

The complaint was filed against the Winchester Water Control District along with TerraFirma and DOWL, companies that were contracted, respectively, for dam repairs and fish salvage operations.

The department has accused the defendants, among other things, of unlawful killing of fish and negligence.

Neither DOWL nor Ryan Beckley, president of the water control district and owner of TerraFirma, immediately responded to emailed requests for comment.

Built in 1890 on the North Umpqua River, Winchester Dam is a former hydropower plant that is now privately owned by the water district's residents, who largely use it for water sports and recreation, according to the complaint.

Environmental groups have long criticized the dam, describing it as an old, disintegrating structure that kills or prevents fish including lamprey and salmon from swimming upstream.

Jim McCarthy, Southern Oregon Program Director of WaterWatch of Oregon, said he hoped the damages claim would mark a turning point for lamprey conservation.

“This is wonderful news for Pacific lamprey which, for too long, have been disregarded and treated as disposable, leading to dramatic declines,” he said. “This is a win for Native American tribes which have worked so hard to raise awareness about the importance and value of these fish, and to restore them.”

The complaint stems from repairs that the Winchester Water Control District requested last year.

To carry out the repairs, the district received authorization from the fish and wildlife department to temporarily drain part of the reservoir behind the dam and close the fish ladder. This, on the condition that it take steps to salvage and relocate fish and make a “sufficient effort" to ensure that no more than 30,000 juvenile lampreys were killed in the process.

When the water drawdown started on August 7, however, those salvaging efforts were not completed, stranding and exposing thousands of lamprey in the sediment, according to the complaint. Two days later, the fish and wildlife department determined that an emergency salvage operation was necessary and recruited employees from across the western side of the state to assist. At least 550,000 lamprey died as a result, the complaint said.

The incident was raised during recent legislative hearings at the state Capitol in Salem. State Sen. Jeff Golden, the chair of the chamber's natural resources committee, has requested that the departments of Fish and Wildlife, Water Resources and Environmental Quality submit a report to lawmakers in the coming months.

___ Claire Rush is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Claire Rush, The Associated Press

Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting women's oppression

Jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi wins the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting women's oppression© Provided by The Canadian Press

OSLO — Imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in recognition of her tireless campaigning for women’s rights and democracy, and against the death penalty.

Mohammadi, 51, has kept up her activism despite numerous arrests by Iranian authorities and spending years behind bars. She has remained a leading light for nationwide, women-led protests sparked by the death last year of a 22-year-old woman in police custody that have grown into one of the most intense challenges to Iran’s theocratic government.

Berit Reiss-Andersen, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, began Friday's announcement with the words “Woman, Life, Freedom” in Farsi — the slogan of the demonstrations in Iran.

“This prize is first and foremost a recognition of the very important work of a whole movement in Iran with its undisputed leader, Narges Mohammadi," Reiss-Andersen said. She also urged Iran to release Mohammadi in time for the prize ceremony on Dec. 10.

For nearly all of Mohammadi’s life, Iran has been governed by a Shiite theocracy headed by the country’s supreme leader. While women hold jobs, academic positions and even government appointments, their lives are tightly controlled. Women are required by law to wear a headscarf, or hijab, to cover their hair. Iran and neighboring Afghanistan remain the only countries to mandate that.

In a statement released after the Nobel announcement, Mohammadi said she will "never stop striving for the realization of democracy, freedom and equality.”

“Surely, the Nobel Peace Prize will make me more resilient, determined, hopeful and enthusiastic on this path, and it will accelerate my pace," she said in the statement, prepared in advance in case she was named the Nobel laureate.

An engineer by training, Mohammadi has been imprisoned 13 times and convicted five. In total, she has been sentenced to 31 years in prison. Her most recent incarceration began when she was detained in 2021 after attending a memorial for a person killed in nationwide protests.

She has been held at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, whose inmates include those with Western ties and political prisoners.

U.S. President Joe Biden and Amnesty International joined calls for Mohammadi’s immediate release.

“This award is a recognition that, even as she is currently and unjustly held in Evin Prison, the world still hears the clarion voice of Narges Mohammadi calling for freedom and equality,” Biden said in a statement. “I urge the government in Iran to immediately release her and her fellow gender equality advocates from captivity.”

Friday's prize sends "a clear message to the Iranian authorities that their crackdown on peaceful critics and human rights defenders will not go unchallenged,” Amnesty said.

Mohammadi's brother, Hamidreza Mohammadi, said that while “the prize means that the world has seen this movement,” it will not affect the situation in Iran.

“The regime will double down on the opposition" he told The Associated Press. "They will just crush people.”

Mohammadi's husband, Taghi Rahmani, who lives in exile in Paris with their two children, 16-year-old twins, said his wife "has a sentence she always repeats: ‘Every single award will make me more intrepid, more resilient and more brave for realizing human rights, freedom, civil equality and democracy.'”

Rahmani hasn't been able to see his wife for 11 years, and their children haven't seen their mother for seven, he said.

Their son, Ali Rahmani, said the Nobel was not just for his mother: "It's for the struggle."

"This prize is for the entire population, for the whole struggle from the beginning, since the Islamic government came to power," the teen said.

Women political prisoners in Evin aren’t allowed to use the phone on Thursday and Friday, so Mohammadi prepared her statement in advance of the Nobel announcement, said exiled Iranian photographer Reihane Taravati, a family friend who spent 14 days in solitary confinement there before fleeing to France this year.

Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and the second Iranian woman, after human rights activist Shirin Ebadi won in 2003.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Friday's selection “a tribute to all those women who are fighting for their rights at the risk of their freedom, their health and even their lives.”

It’s the fifth time in its 122-year history that the Nobel Peace Prize has been given to someone in prison or under house arrest. In 2022, the top human rights advocate in Belarus, Ales Bialiatski, was among the winners. He remains imprisoned.

Mohammadi was in detention for the recent protests of the death of Mahsa Amini, who was picked up by the morality police for her allegedly loose headscarf. More than 500 people were killed in a security crackdown, while over 22,000 others were arrested.

But from behind bars, Mohammadi contributed an opinion piece for The New York Times in September. “What the government may not understand is that the more of us they lock up, the stronger we become,” she wrote.

Iran's government, which holds Mohammadi behind bars, criticized the Nobel committee's decision as being part of the “interventionist and anti-Iranian policies of some European countries.”

It “is another link in the chain of pressure from Western circles against Iran,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said in a statement. Iranian state media described Mohammadi as being “in and out of jail for much of her adult life," calling her internationally applauded activism “propaganda” and an “act against national security.”

In Tehran, people expressed support for Mohammadi and her resilience.

"The prize was her right. She stayed inside the country, in prison and defended people, bravo!" said Mina Gilani, a girl's high school teacher.

Arezou Mohebi, a 22-year-old chemistry student, called the Nobel “an award for all Iranian girls and women,” and described Mohammadi "as the bravest I have ever seen."

Political analyst Ahmad Zeidabadi said the prize might lead to more pressure on Mohammadi.

“The prize will simultaneously bring possibilities and restrictions,” he wrote online. “I hope Narges will not be confined by its restrictions.”

Before being jailed, Mohammadi was vice president of the banned Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran, founded by Nobel laureate Ebadi.

The Nobel prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). Unlike the other Nobel prizes that are selected and announced in Stockholm, founder Alfred Nobel decreed the peace prize be decided and awarded in Oslo by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The Nobel season ends Monday with the announcement of the winner of the economics prize, formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

___

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Leicester reported from LePecq, France and Becatoros from Athens, Greece. Mike Corder at The Hague, Netherlands, Nicolas Garriga in Paris and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed.

___

Follow all AP stories about the Nobel Prizes at https://apnews.com/hub/nobel-prizes

Jon Gambrell, John Leicester And Elena Becatoros, The Associated Press

Change in Iran 'irreversible': Narges Mohammadi


Cécile FEUILLATRE and Stuart WILLIAMS
Fri, 6 October 2023 

Mohammadi is held in Tehran's Evin prison which was hit by a fire in October 

(KOOSHA MAHSHID FALAHI)

Rights campaigner and 2023 Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi said in a September interview with AFP that she retained hope for change in Iran, despite having no prospect of release from prison and enduring the pain of separation from her family.

In the interview, where Mohammadi gave written answers to AFP from Evin prison in Tehran, she insisted the protest movement that erupted one year ago in Iran against the Islamic republic is still alive.

First arrested 22 years ago, Mohammadi, 51, has spent much of the past two decades in and out of jail over her unstinting campaigning for human rights in Iran. She has most recently been incarcerated since November 2021 and has not seen her children for eight years.


While she could only witness from behind bars the protests that broke out following the death on September 16, 2022 of Mahsa Amini -- who had been arrested for violating Iran's strict dress rules for women -- she said the movement made clear the levels of dissatisfaction in society.

"The government was not able to break the protests of the people of Iran and I believe that society has achieved things that have weakened the foundations of religious-authoritarian rule," she told AFP.

Noting that Iran had even before September 2022 seen repeated protest outbreaks, she added: "We have seen cycles of protests in recent years and this shows the irreversible nature of the situation and the scope for the expansion of the protests."

- 'Realising democracy' -

She said that after "44 years of oppression, discrimination and continuous repression of the government against women in public and personal life" the protests had "accelerated the process of realising democracy, freedom and equality in Iran".

Mohammadi said the protests opposing the Islamic republic had involved people "beyond urban areas and educated classes" at a time when religious authority was "losing its place" in society.

"The weakening of the religious element has created a vacuum that the government has not been able to fill with other economic and social factors, as the government is essentially ineffective and corrupt."

But she was bitterly critical of what she described as the "appeasement" by the West of Iran's leaders, saying foreign governments "have not recognised the progressive forces and leaders in Iran and pursued policies aimed at perpetuating the religious-authoritarian system in Iran."

Mohammadi said she was currently serving a combined sentence of 10 years and nine months in prison, had also been sentenced to 154 lashes and had five cases against her linked to her activities in jail alone.

"I have almost no prospect of freedom," she said.

- 'Indescribable suffering' -

But she said she "kept the hope of seeing the light of freedom and hearing its voice" and in prison organised discussions in the women's wing of Evin as well as singing and even dancing.

"Prison has always been at the core of opposition, resistance and struggle in my country and for me it also embodies the essence of life in all its beauty."

"The Evin women's wing is one of the most active, resistant and joyful quarters of political prisoners in Iran. During my years in prison, on three occasions, I shared detention with at least 600 women, and I am proud of each of them."

But for Mohammadi, the cost of her activism has also been immense, meaning she has missed much of the childhood of her twin children Kiana and Ali who now live, along with her husband Taghi Rahmani, in France.

As well as not seeing them for eight years, restrictions placed by the prison on her telephone calls mean she has not even heard their voices for more than a year and a half.

"My most incurable and indescribable suffering is the longing to be with my children from whose lives I departed when they were eight."

"The price of the struggle is not only torture and prison, it is a heart that breaks with every regret and a pain that strikes to the marrow of your bones."

But she added: "I believe that as long as democracy, equality and freedom have not been achieved, we must continue to fight and sacrifice."

cf-nzg-sjw/jm

US fears Canada-India row over Sikh activist's killing could upend strategy for countering China

MATTHEW LEE
Fri, October 6, 2023 


 A man rides a bike outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Surrey, British Columbia, on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, where temple president Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down in his vehicle while leaving the temple parking lot in June.

 (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is nervously watching a dispute between Canada and India, with some officials concerned it could upend the U.S. strategy toward the Indo-Pacific that is directed at blunting China’s influence there and elsewhere.

Publicly, the administration has maintained that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations that the Indian government may have been involved in the killing of a Sikh separatist near Vancouver are a matter between the two countries.

But U.S. officials have also repeatedly urged India to cooperate in the investigation. Those calls have been ignored thus far by India, which denies the allegations.

Behind the scenes, U.S. officials say they believe Trudeau’s claims are true. And they are worried that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be adopting tactics to silence opposition figures on foreign soil akin to those used by Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea, all of which have faced similar accusations.

Perhaps of more concern, though, is that the Canada-India dispute could have major implications for one of the administration’s main foreign policy priorities: the Indo-Pacific strategy, which seeks to counter China's increasing assertiveness in the region, according to numerous U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the extreme sensitivity of the matter.

Both Canada, a Pacific country and key NATO ally that shares with the United States the longest undefended border in the world, and India are critical to U.S.-led efforts to present a united and democratic front against growing Chinese assertiveness.

Aside from countering Russia’s war in Ukraine, the administration has been most focused on dealing with China as a competitor and the potential international threat it poses. To that end it has boosted its diplomatic efforts in the Indo-Pacific, including by creating a leaders group that brings together Australia, Japan, India and the United States. President Joe Biden has hailed the formation of the so-called Quad as a key part of that effort.

The fear — albeit a worst-case scenario envisioned by U.S. policymakers — is that the dispute will escalate in the same way that Britain's row with Russia did over the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury, England, in 2018.

In that case, Britain accused Russia of an assassination attempt on its soil and expelled 23 Russian diplomats from the country. It also sought similar action from its NATO allies and European partners, which almost all agreed to take. For its part, the U.S. expelled 60 Russian diplomats and ordered the closure of Russia's consulate in Seattle in solidarity with its British ally. Russia responded with reciprocal actions, including closing down the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg.

Shortly after Trudeau made public his allegations last month and expelled a senior Indian diplomat, U.S. officials began to fret over the possibility that Canada might decide to go “full Skripal” with mass diplomatic expulsions and make requests, as the British did in 2018, of its allies to do the same.

If asked by Canada to expel a large number of Indian diplomats, these officials said, the U.S. would have little choice but to comply. That, in turn, could lead to a rupture in U.S.-Indian relations and the possibility that India might either narrow its cooperation with the Quad or drop out entirely.

At the moment, there’s relief it hasn’t escalated to that point yet — but that could still change.

“I’m not saying we're at the danger zone yet,” said Danny Russel, a former senior diplomat in President Barack Obama’s administration, who is now vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York. “But it is a situation I would certainly be watching.”

The allegation of Indian involvement in the murder was supported by intelligence from the “Five Eyes” grouping of Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the U.S.

Even before Canada made the accusations public, Trudeau had frosty encounters with Modi during last month’s Group of 20 meeting in New Delhi, and a few days later, Canada canceled a trade mission to India planned for the fall.

This week, India told Canada to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats in the country, ramping up the confrontation. Trudeau and other Canadian officials, including Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, have hinted that Canada won't take reciprocal measures.

Trudeau has appeared to try to calm the diplomatic clash, saying that Canada is “not looking to provoke or escalate," but officials said the concern in Washington persists.

Why is India so worried about Sikh separatist calls for Khalistan?

Story by Analysis by Rhea Mogul, CNN • Fri, October 6, 2023 

In the early hours of June 23, 1985, a bomb planted in the cargo hold of Air India flight 182 traveling from Montreal to New Delhi exploded off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people on board.

The people arrested and charged for the bomb attack were Indian-born Sikh Canadians, alleged by prosecutors to be radical separatists seeking revenge for the Indian army’s deadly storming of the Golden Temple in Punjab state the previous year. Only one was convicted; two were acquitted in 2005, and in 2016, Canada released the only person ever found guilty of the bombing.

Nearly four decades on, that terrorist attack – which remains the worst in Canada’s history – and the wider history of overseas Sikh separatism has suddenly been thrust back into the international spotlight in the wake of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegations the Indian state may have been involved in the June killing on Canadian soil of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

New Delhi had previously designated Nijjar, an Indian-born Canadian national, as a terrorist, and accused him of being behind a banned militant group that sought to “radicalize the Sikh community across the world” in support of Khalistan – a separate Sikh homeland that would include parts of India.

Nijjar’s supporters rejected the terrorist label, arguing it was used to discredit the Sikh leader, who was known for his Khalistan advocacy and speaking out against alleged human rights abuses by India’s government.

Trudeau’s assassination claim has inflamed relations woth New Delhi, which has fiercely denied the allegation and taken a series of diplomatic measures to make clear its displeasure with Canada.

Relations between the two countries – both key US allies – have nosedived and neither side shows signs of backing down.

The question some are now asking is, why has an issue that has laid largely dormant in recent years suddenly become such a live issue again?



Irish naval authorities bring ashore debris from an Air India Boeing 747 in Cork, Ireland, following the bombing of the aircraft on June 23, 1985. 

- Andre Durand/AFP/Getty Images/File© Provided by CNN

Stuck in the past?

Sikhism, a monotheistic faith, was founded in the Punjab region in the 15th century by Guru Nanak, a non-practicing Hindu who preached about freedom of religion, community service and inclusiveness.

Amplified calls for the creation of Khalistan date back to when India gained its independence in 1947. The departing British split the country in two, in what became known as Partition, with the demarcation slicing Punjab – once home to a large and powerful Sikh empire – in half.

Muslims were expected to go to newly formed Pakistan, and Hindus and Sikhs to independent India. While Sikhs formed a majority in Punjab, they were a minority in India, where they today make up less than 2% of the country’s 1.4 billion population.



A nurse with two child victims of communal violence in Amritsar, Punjab, during the Partition of British India in 1947.

 - Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images/File© Provided by CNN

Some in the Sikh community felt mistreated in the new Hindu-majority nation, and the struggle began for greater political and cultural autonomy. Bloodshed between Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus ensued, prompting some Sikh leaders to call for the creation of a new homeland.

The calls sparked further clashes between the separatists and the Indian government, which claimed many lives.

But while there hasn’t been an active insurgency in Punjab for nearly three decades – a 2021 Pew Research Center survey found 95% of Sikhs were “very proud” to be Indian, while 70% agreed that a person who disrespects India cannot be a Sikh – security officials in the region have in recent years sounded the alarm for renewed calls for separatism after sporadic violence, blasts and targeted killings of Hindu religious leaders.

“Khalistan is now mostly a bogey term in India,” said Amandeep Sandhu, author of Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines. “But there is a sense that injustice has been done to the Sikhs and Punjab.”

Earlier this year, police embarked on a colossal hunt for Amritpal Singh, a Sikh separatist who had revived calls for an independent homeland. His comments about social issues and protecting religious rights of Sikhs against India’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) struck a chord among some in the state.

Police had accused Singh of attempted murder, obstruction of law enforcement and creating “disharmony” in society, prompting him to hide from authorities while hundreds of his supporters marched through the streets of Punjab, demanding his freedom. He was arrested in April, after more than one month on the run.


Amritpal Singh leaves the Golden Temple along with his supporters, in Amritsar, India, March 3, 2023.

 - Stringer/Reuters© Provided by CNN

And amid tensions with Canada, India’s anti-terror agency last week conducted raids across seven Indian states and union territories in connection with alleged Khalistan violence and promised a reward for information leading to the capture of five individuals who it accused of “spreading terror” in the state of Punjab.
Memories of a painful insurgency

Prime Minister Modi and the ruling BJP have long maintained that Canada’s inaction toward extremism within the sizable Sikh diaspora poses a national security threat to India.

And although Modi has yet to publicly address the growing rift with Ottawa, Indian authorities have called Canada a “safe haven for terrorists,” and New Delhi has suspended visas for Canadian citizens, citing “security threats” against diplomats in the country.

At the same time, some Sikh supporters of Khalistan have made comments perceived as anti-national and threatening toward India and its government.

“India has consistently accused Canada of accepting people responsible for violence in India and has asked for the extradition [of Sikh separatists] including those responsible for the Air India bombing,” said Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic affairs editor at The Hindu newspaper in New Delhi. “India has always said Canadian authorities have been dragging their feet over it.”

That bombing capped a period when clashes between the Indian state and Khalistani militants had reached an apex.

The decade-long Khalistan insurgency in the 1970s and 80s saw the massacre of civilians, indiscriminate bombings and attacks on Hindus. And in counterinsurgency operations, Indian security forces were accused of a multitude of human rights abuses.



The first photos of the damaged Akal Takhat after the army stormed the sikh Golden Temple complex in Amritsar on June 9, 1984

. - Sondeep Shankar/Hulton Archive/Getty Images© Provided by CNN

The insurgency reached its peak in 1984 when then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered Indian troops to storm the Golden Temple in Amritsar, Sikhism’s holiest shrine, to dislodge a Sikh militant and his supporters who had been hiding in the complex.

The operation destroyed much of the temple and left hundreds dead, sparking widespread Sikh outrage. Months later, Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguards in an act of revenge.

“In some ways, before extremism came to the West, it was Sikh extremism that was defining India’s national security concerns,” said Harsh Pant, vice-president of the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi think tank. “As a result, there is a degree of sensitivity involved in how the Indian government frames its national security agenda.”

Riots broke out in the days after Gandhi’s assassination, killing some 3,000 people – predominantly Sikhs – according to official figures, in one of the worst outbreaks of communal violence since India’s partition.
A disconnect with the diaspora

In the years that followed Gandhi’s killing, advocacy for Khalistan diminished within India, though painful memories remain etched in the minds of many Sikhs still living there, many of whom were afraid to speak to CNN for fear of retribution from authorities and because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Those events continue to resonate with the Sikh diaspora in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, many of whom say they are still seeking reconciliation for the human rights abuses committed against the community.



Protesters rally outside the Indian consulate in Toronto against the Indian government's alleged involvement in the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on September 25, 2023.

 - Cole Burston/AFP/Getty Images© Provided by CNN

Several overseas Sikh organizations say the Khalistan movement is being falsely equated with terrorism by the Indian government, and say they will continue to peacefully advocate for the creation of a separate homeland.

Those violently pursuing the Khalistan cause, analysts say, form a minority in Punjab. “Indian communities have dissociated, more or less, dissociated from the idea [of Khalistan],” said Pant, the analyst.

“The national security establishment is saying this is now less of a responsibility for the Indian government at home, but there is more responsibility on our partners in UK, Australia and Canada to see how this can be best resolved.”

As such, Nijjar’s death has come to symbolize a growing disconnect between members of the Sikh diaspora and Modi’s government.

For weeks after Nijjar was gunned down by two masked men while he was in his van outside a Sikh temple, many Canadian Sikhs urged authorities to investigate the murder, claiming he was killed for political reasons.



Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to media outside his office in Ottawa on September 25, 2023. 

- Blair Gable/Reuters© Provided by CNN

And Trudeau’s statement was welcomed by some members of the diaspora.

“The larger [Sikh] community is standing by the statements from Trudeau and they want action upon this,” said Jasveer Singh, a British Sikh and senior press officer with the Sikh Press Association.

“There is a sense that Sikhs are incapable of being free [in India],” he added. “There’s a lot of depth to this issue.”

 CNN.com

Hazardous waste plant, directors face 84 charges after explosion killed worker in St. Catharines

Story by Samantha Beattie •

A hazardous waste management company and its owners are facing 84 charges after a series of explosions occurred earlier this year, killing a worker and triggering nearby homes to be evacuated in St. Catharines, Ont.

Ssonix Products and three directors are each facing 21 charges under the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, the city said last week. If found guilty of any of these provincial offences, the company could be fined up to $500,000 and the directors up to $50,000.

Owner Steve Baker declined to comment when reached by CBC Hamilton Friday.

The city did not immediately respond to a request for the types of charges laid.

The explosion happened on Jan. 12 at about 6:30 a.m. Ryan Konkin, 37, was the only worker in the building and was rushed to hospital with "significant burns" but later died of his injuries, Fire Chief Dave Upper previously said.

Konkin's fiancée, Natalia Sepúlveda-Lastra, said the first responders who treated him heard his final words.

"He managed to say to the nurses, 'All I did was open the door.' ... I wish I could've been the one that heard that," Sepúlveda-Lastra said.


Residents who lived near the site were forced to leave their homes for most of the day as firefighters worked to put out the blaze.
Company applies to reopen

The industrial waste processing business has been closed since the fire, but in August applied to the province seeking environmental compliance approval so it can reopen, according to a provincial notice posted online.

The main building that included an office, lab and storage was partly destroyed and then demolished, but Ssonix Products is proposing limiting operations to one remaining building until the other can be rebuilt, the notice says. In the meantime, it would use three sea containers and a trailer.


The explosion killed one worker and took fire fighters all day to put out, resulting in residents having to evacuate the area. (Dina Mavridis/Twitter)© Provided by cbc.ca

The company has also faced one Ministry of Labour order earlier this year, and has been obligated to meet 11 requirements.

Orders are issued when a ministry inspector determines a contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Some examples include clearing debris to prevent trip hazards or protecting workers from electrical hazards.

Requirements are orders issued when an inspector has to get information or verify compliance. Examples of those include a requirement to provide documents or to keep employees away from the scene.

CANADA

These drag performers say protests, threats won't stop them from reading to kids at storytime events

Story by Anya Zoledziowski •CBC

Adorned in fake lashes and colourful, blown out wigs, Fay and Fluffy walked out in front of cheering children at an outdoor amphitheatre in Mississauga, where they sang songs and read stories.

Before opening their books to read, Fay and Fluffy greeted the crowd enthusiastically, shouting "All are welcome here!" The Aug. 16 event seemed light and playful, with children laughing at stories full of monkeys and elephants.

But then, more than a dozen protesters appeared, surrounding the audience of about 50 people. A sign that read, "stop sexualization of children," was hoisted high by protesters wearing T-shirts emblazoned with phrases like, "Groom dogs not children," and "there are only two genders." One protester appeared to be livestreaming the event.



Protesters surrounded the Fay and Fluffy storytime event in Mississauga, Ont., on Aug. 16. (Mia Sheldon/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca

Police and security watched attentively nearby, while a few parents told protesters to be quiet. When the show ended, Fay and Fluffy were quickly escorted off stage. Protesters followed them out, chanting, "Leave our kids alone."

Fluffy was in tears.

"I've never felt like that before," she said as Fay consoled her.

The last year has been marked by similar protests — and in some cases, threats of violence — at drag storytimes across the country.

Last summer, protests formed outside an Edmonton library over a drag storytime. The same has happened in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In Quebec, one storytime event was moved to a secret location for safety reasons.

Often, the signs protesters carry have similar themes, including slogans that compare drag to pedophelia, sexual exploitation and grooming.

"A lot of those are kind of tied into the idea that educating kids about queerness is inherently grooming them and going to turn them gay and trans, which is their worst fear," said 19-year-old Isaac Maker, who reads at the library in Peterborough, Ont., every month while in the drag persona of "Betty Baker."
Pastor calls drag storytime 'destructive'

Hill City Baptist Church pastor Ben Inglis organized the first protest at a Betty Baker drag story hour in Peterborough last fall. He believes these events normalize being transgender.

"I would love to see drag story hours dry up and be erased from public memory," Inglis said. "We believe this is a destructive thing for kids and a destructive thing for families and for our nation."

For Maker, drag is about supporting kids.

"The whole point is drag is so playful and so colourful and so creative, and being able to bring that to storytime just gives kids another reason to want to play," said Maker.



Isaac Maker, who performs in drag as Betty Baker, reads and sings to kids during storytime events at the library in Peterborough, Ont., every month. (Mia Sheldon/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca

At the latest event in August, Maker sang a song about resilience. Protesters have shown up at several storytimes, but they're typically outnumbered by counter-protesters there in support of the event.

Maker has no plans to stop performing, but said, "It's hard to be a public figure when you're getting death threats and people call you a groomer and a pedophile."
Confrontation in Calgary

Out West, similar confrontations are taking place.

On Feb. 25, Calgary preacher Derek Reimer — a man with a history of violence — stormed a drag storytime event called Reading with Royalty hosted by the Calgary Public Library. Reimer allegedly pushed parents out of the way and shouted transphobic and homophobic epithets at children in attendance.

He was later arrested and has since appeared at subsequent drag storytimes and been charged with hate-motivated crimes.

It was the first time something like that had happened in the nearly six years the Calgary Public Library has hosted Reading with Royalty, spokesperson Mary Kapusta told CBC's The National.

"The level of intimidation and harassment that we felt and observed in that space, it did not feel at that moment that it was a safe space for children."

Kapusta says the library's Reading with Royalty events are geared toward small children, and are "really beautiful, fun and joyful." But she said the library has had to adjust how events are organized so staff, performers and families feel safe. Kapusta says this can include staff check-ins, having families pre-register for events and having police on site during drag storytimes.



Protesters at a recent drag storytime in Calgary had to gather 100 metres away from where the event was being held after city council brought in a new safety bylaw that prohibits demonstrations from taking place near the entrances of libraries or recreation centres. (Mia Sheldon/CBC )© Provided by cbc.ca

The city itself acted fast following the incident. In March, Calgary council members voted 10-5 in favour of a new safety bylaw that prohibits protests from taking place within 100 metres of a public library or recreation centre entrance.


Related video: Dueling protests over the issue of transgender policy in schools were held in cities across Canada (Global News)  Duration 4:11 View on Watch


On Aug. 4, Calgary's Seton Library hosted its first drag storytime since the February incident. About six protesters stood far from the entrance, in accordance with the new bylaw.

"We are all part of the basic freedom movement of Canada," said one protester, who added that he believes drag performances are inherently sexual and encourage young people to be transgender.

Inside, local performers Aida Cupcake and King Neptune performed for a crowd of children. A large group of LGBTQ supporters, including Calgary's Rainbow Elders, a group of seniors in the LGBTQ community, sat outside the library, many decked out in rainbow colours.

These supporters outnumbered the protesters, and several said they were there to make sure families and performers felt comfortable and supported.

"Drag queens are not trying to groom your children for any sort of purpose," said Aida Cupcake, known as Steven Morton out of drag, in an interview with CBC the day before the performance. "They want to make sure queer kids stay alive."



Calgary's Aida Cupcake, left, and King Neptune, centre, chat about the books they plan to read during a drag storytime event. (Mia Sheldon/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca

Dramatic rise in hate crimes

Since 2022, more than 160 drag events have been targeted in the U.S., according to LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD.

All this is coinciding with a dramatic rise in hate crimes targeting LGBTQ people across North America. Police-reported hate crimes related to sexual orientation in Canada rose 64 per cent between 2020 and 2021, according to Statistics Canada.

A recent study from U.K.-based Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think-tank specializing in hate, extremism and disinformation, found that around the world, far-right groups, religious activists, conspiracy theorists who gained momentum during the pandemic and mostly right-wing anti-LGBTQ influencers are driving anti-drag sentiment.

Nowhere is the trend worse than in the U.S., the study found. Indeed, anti-drag views have permeated U.S. politics, with several states, including Montana and Tennessee, attempting to ban drag entirely.

"One of the scary trends I've seen is that it's — and I'm going to be careful not to over generalize — a community that seems to be fuelled by misinformation, by rage, but also by this sense of community," said University of Alberta law professor Timothy Caulfield, who specializes in misinformation.

"COVID and the anti-vaxx movement sort of gave them cohesion: They had their social media groups, COVID starts to subside, and it's almost like they were looking for another topic to vent their rage, and they found, for example, drag events."

According to Caulfield, "protecting the children" rhetoric at anti-drag protests is effective.

"If you disagree with them or tell them they're wrong or say that this is misinformation or this is about hate, they immediately retreat to, 'Well, you don't want to protect our children,' " he said.



Though there have been protests at Betty Baker's Peterborough events, her fans, who wear buttons and pins with her face to show their support, frequently outnumber demonstrators.

 (Anya Zoledziowski/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca

Drag groups supportive, parent says

For Charlie, an all-ages drag troupe in Edmonton gave his LGBTQ son a purpose. CBC is not using Charlie's last name because he fears backlash.

Charlie says he considers himself an understanding and accepting right winger, somebody who was willing to go check out drag shows to see what it was all about.

"If I didn't like it, my kid wouldn't be in it," he told CBC.

Charlie and his son first checked out Dragging Youth in Edmonton in December. They don't perform in drag but they've volunteered behind the scenes, selling merchandise and taking photographs at events.

The sense of community fostered by such groups is a big deal for kids like Charlie's son.

Studiesshowthat LGBTQ youth are more likely to suffer from mental health issues, including anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide than their non-LGBTQ peers.

Studies alsoshow that when LGBTQ youth have support, such as a trusted adult, risk of suicide declines dramatically and mental health outcomes improve.

"He can talk to anybody within Dragging Youth," Charlie said of his son. "Show up, and they'll find him the support."



JP Kane, seen preparing to embody the Fay Slift drag persona, says the storytime events are about joy, literacy and acceptance and that, 'we want all kids to thrive.' (Anya Zoledziowski/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca
Drag performers vow to keep reading

That's partly why Fay Slift and Fluffy Soufflé do what they do.

Out of character, the drag performers are known as JP Kane and Kaleb Robertson. Collectively, they have years of child-care experience. Kane is an elementary school teacher, while Robertson nannied and babysat.

They've also won a Canadian Screen Award for their television show, The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy, which airs on Family Jr. Canada.

To them, drag storytime is about literacy, joy and acceptance.

"We want trans kids, we want queer kids, we want all kids to thrive," Kane said, adding they won't stop performing amid the protests and threats.

"They ignore the beauty and the universe that is drag," Robertson said of the protesters.

"If they want to come and hold out their signs, we can't stop that. We don't need to stop that. But don't stop us from doing what we're doing."

Fluffy Soufflé says she's never experienced anything like the protest that took place at the Fay and Fluffy event in Mississauga last month, but she says it won't stop them from reading to kids. 

(Anya Zoledziowski/CBC)© Provided by cbc.ca