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OTTAWA – Two-thirds of Canadians are optimistic about where human rights are headed in this country, but there is growing pessimism about the state of rights abroad, a new survey found.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg released its second survey on the topic as it seeks to ensure its exhibits match Canadians’ concerns.

In an increasingly polarized world, museum CEO Isha Khan said she is encouraged that the poll suggests a majority of people share a common sense of social responsibility.

“I think particularly now when we feel polarized, we feel divided in so many ways; it was really heartwarming to see that two-thirds of Canadians felt optimistic about human rights in Canada and about the protections we have here,” she said.

“It felt good to see that 74 per cent of people believe that they have a collective responsibility to care for one another. I mean, that’s huge at a time where it’s really easy to spend time thinking about some really horrific things going on in the world.”

The outlook on human rights among Canadians appears to be less rosy on what’s happening abroad, with only one-third of respondents saying they are optimistic about the trajectory of rights internationally.

Respondents say war and violence are the key drivers of this pessimism, followed by sexism and women’s rights.

Domestically, challenges appear to be emerging when it comes to the rights to health care and safe, affordable housing. A majority of respondents said these rights are in a weaker place than a decade ago in Canada, with 81 per cent saying the right to housing has weakened.

“Those are tough systemic issues and they’re on the minds of Canadians is what (the result) told us. So we’ve got to find a way to take that energy, that anxiety, that concern and make ways for people to contribute to those issues,” Khan said.

As the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the first national museum outside the capital region, Khan and her team travelled from Winnipeg to Ottawa to share the findings with civil society organizations, parliamentarians and government officials.

Khan said the goal of these meetings to is to share how Canadians are feeling on human-rights issues to help inform policy and discourse.

The survey of 2,500 people was held this fall, done online and by phone when requested. It was conducted by Probe Research in collaboration with the museum. Due to the online nature of the polling, a margin of error cannot be assigned.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.

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OTTAWA – The federal government is seeking to censor transcripts of a trial taking place in open court, citing a need to limit damage after sensitive national security information spilled out during testimony.

Lawyers for Abousfian Abdelrazik, the plaintiff in the civil case, reject the federal legal justification for the move and say it could prevent their client from relying on statements already made in court.

The Crown’s request comes part way through an eight-week Federal Court hearing of Abdelrazik’s lawsuit against Ottawa over his imprisonment in Sudan two decades ago.

Canadian officials had long eyed the Montreal man as a suspected extremist before he was arrested in Khartoum in 2003.

Abdelrazik, who denies involvement in terrorism, says he was tortured during two periods of detention by the Sudanese intelligence agency.

He claims Canadian officials arranged for his arbitrary imprisonment, encouraged his incarceration by Sudanese authorities and actively obstructed his repatriation to Canada for several years

The government argues Abdelrazik was an author of his own misfortune, saying Canada did not urge Sudan to keep him in detention or to mistreat him.

In August last year, the court issued an order under the Canada Evidence Act confirming redactions to 1,469 documents produced by the government in the case.

Federal lawyers say despite efforts to carefully prepare witnesses, there have been multiple inadvertent disclosures of information protected by the order during testimony — including statements by a former Canadian Security Intelligence Service officer.

“The parties are making extensive efforts to avoid the disclosure of protected information during these proceedings,” federal lawyer Andrew Gibbs said in a letter sent last Friday to the court for review by presiding trial judge Patrick Gleeson.

“That said, even with the utmost caution and preparation, mistakes happen.”

An accompanying affidavit from a senior official with CSIS’s litigation and disclosure branch says the fact several unintended disclosures have occurred in court “does not negate the need for further protection of that same information.”

“At the moment, information that was inadvertently disclosed during trial has been limited to oral testimony of the witnesses,” the affidavit notes.

“Allowing the protected information to be permanently recorded in public transcripts will increase the risk of further injury,” says the official, identified only as Marie-Eve.

As a result, the information “should be redacted from the public record to prevent further injury to national security.”

The affidavit includes a classified exhibit listing the inadvertent disclosures to date. The exhibit is not public.

Paul Champ, a lawyer for Abdelrazik, said transcripts from the start of the trial in late October through Nov. 4 would not be affected by the federal request. However, all subsequent ones would be reviewed with an eye to stripping them of information covered by the court order.

The letter from Gibbs sets out a suggested protocol for reviewing testimony and making possible redactions to transcripts as the trial proceeds.

Champ accused the federal attorney general of being fixated only on secrecy for secrecy’s sake, with no regard for Mr Abdelrazik’s fundamental human rights, including his right to a fair trial.

“Seeking to redact the transcripts of an open trial is a troubling continuation of this pattern.”

In his own letter for review by Gleeson, Champ expresses concern the government “intends to make a large number of redactions” to the open court record.

Some of that testimony “may be highly relevant,” and the proposed protocol set out by Gibbs could mean having to make submissions to a judge to determine if Abdelrazik can rely on it for his case, Champ added.

Champ rejects the federal argument that the Canada Evidence Act allows for the redaction of information from transcripts of testimony that has already been heard in open court.

Gleeson is expected to consider the matter this week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.

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OTTAWA – Parliament closes in on its eighth week of gridlock over a privilege motion, as Canada Post employees are on strike and calls emerge to exclude Mexico from upcoming trade talks.

While question period has continued, other house business is on hold due to a Conservative privilege motion calling on the government to turn over unredacted documents on a green technology fund.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and some members of his cabinet are not in Ottawa for the first half of the week, as they attend the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Lima, Peru this weekend, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said many nations have been approaching Canada on how to work with the incoming Donald Trump administration in the United States.

The Canada-U.S.-Mexico free trade agreement signed during the first Trump presidency is up for review in 2026, and the premiers of Ontario and Alberta say Canada should oust Mexico from the deal over not matching Canadian and American tariffs on imports like electric vehicles. Trudeau says Mexico is a “solid partner,” but acknowledged the concerns.

Meanwhile back in Canada, Canada Post workers hit the picket line Friday, and Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon says that he is ruling out early intervention for now, though he recently ordered binding arbitration in recent job action at ports in Montreal and British Columbia.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.