A year into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has Canada done enough to help? - Global News | Canada News Media
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A year into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has Canada done enough to help? – Global News

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At Kozak Ukrainian Eatery in New Westminster, B.C., a jar sits next to the till, displaying a Ukrainian flag. A few loose coins sit inside.

Behind the counter, as the smell of fresh-baked pastries and simmering borscht wafts from the kitchen, Yana Naida doesn’t ask for a donation or acknowledge the jar. She smiles, thanks customers for their purchase, and continues on with her work.

The 19-year-old university student fled the Ukrainian town of Ternopil, outside of Lviv, three months after Russia launched its invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. She came to Canada because she not only knows English — it’s her major — but also because she knows the money she makes at Kozak will go a long way back home.

“For two dollars you can pay for a soldier’s supper,” she told Global News in an interview.

“I’m just a lot more useful here.”

Naida says she’s noticed a drop in donations for Ukraine, both in that jar by the register and in her other efforts to fundraise for Ukrainian-based charities over recent months. But she doesn’t doubt that Canadians, and the West overall, still supports her country.

“People can only give so much, especially after they gave so much at the start,” she said. “But people will ask about it at the store, when they hear my accent, and I know they still care.”

‘Canadians are where they need to be’

A year into the war — and with no end in sight — Canada and its Western allies are underscoring the need to keep helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia, despite the mounting economic cost.

Ipsos polling from January suggests people around the world remain supportive, although some signs of fatigue are showing. About two-thirds of those surveyed across 28 countries, including Canada, said they still follow news on the invasion closely, support taking in Ukrainian refugees and agree doing nothing in Ukraine will encourage Russia to invade elsewhere.

The support for refugees, however, has dipped seven points since March and April 2022, while the belief Russia will be encouraged if Ukraine is ignored is down five points.

But the poll also suggests Canadians are more willing to support Ukraine than most other countries surveyed. Canada was one of only three countries where a majority did not say their government can no longer afford to financially support Ukraine “given the current economic crisis” back home.

Those sentiments appear to be growing in countries like France, Germany, Poland, and Japan, according to the poll.


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy receives a standing ovation as he appears via videoconference to make an address to Parliament, in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang.


THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Canadians surveyed were also more supportive of economic sanctions against Russia, despite the impact on gas and food prices, and even deploying NATO forces to nations surrounding Ukraine.

The steadfast support is also noticeable in the halls of Parliament. Unlike in the United States, where a sizeable group of Republicans are openly questioning sending more aid to Ukraine, politicians of all parties in Canada have largely remained supportive.

“Canadians are where they need to be on supporting Ukraine … which undergirds the political support,” said Orest Zakydalsky, a senior policy adviser for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC).

Over the past year, the UCC, which represents the largest Ukrainian diaspora outside of Russia — nearly 1.4 million Canadians identify as Ukrainian — has lobbied the Canadian government to do all it can to help the war effort. That has included military, financial and humanitarian support as well as fast-tracking the entry of Ukrainians fleeing the war to seek temporary residency in Canada.


Ukrainian nationals fleeing the ongoing war in Ukraine arrive at Trudeau Airport in Montreal, Sunday, May 29, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes.


THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

To date, Canada has provided over $5 billion to Ukraine, including more than $1 billion in military equipment and support.

The federal government has also paid nearly $290 million in direct financial assistance to Ukrainians arriving in Canada, and established a $500-million Ukrainian Sovereignty Bond to allow Canadians to essentially invest in Ukraine’s survival.

“In terms of economic support, in some ways, Canada has been a leader,” Zakydalsky said.

But he adds Canada still needs to do more, including further economic sanctions on Russia and the figures who support the war and peddle disinformation.

He also wants a firm commitment from the government to extend the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program, which fast-tracks the entry process for Ukrainians and their families fleeing the war for Canada, beyond the current March 31 deadline.

“It’s creating some concern both in our community and amongst Ukrainians in Europe and Ukraine that the program may end,” he said.



1:49
Deputy PM Freeland greets 1st flight of Ukrainian refugees in Winnipeg


Since January 2022, 167,585 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada, including CUAET applicants and returning Canadian permanent residents. Over half a million applications through the CUAET program have been approved.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in a statement to Global News it continues to “closely monitor the ongoing needs of Ukrainians,” but would not say if the CUAET program will be extended. The agency added some of the approved applicants who have not arrived in Canada have chosen to stay closer to home instead.

“We’re working very hard … at making sure people have some normalcy in their life,” Zakydalsky said, pointing to local efforts to help newly-arrived Ukrainians navigate filing their taxes, learning English and getting driver’s licenses. “This (uncertainty over CUAET) makes that work difficult.”

What happens to military support?

Zakydalsky is also pushing Ottawa to follow with the rest of NATO and continue to increase its military aid to Ukraine, including more advanced weapons and equipment.

But experts say that may prove to be difficult in the war’s second year.

“I think what this war has exposed is the limits of Canada’s military and Canada’s overall power,” said Andrew Rasiulis, a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute and a former official in the Department of National Defence.

After weeks of requests by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the West to send Leopard 2 battle tanks, Canada last month donated four out of the 112 currently owned by the Canadian Armed Forces, which includes 82 designed for combat.

Defence Minister Anita Anand left the door open to sending even more tanks in the future, though she also emphasized the need to ensure the Canadian Army has enough of the heavy weapons to train and defend the country and its NATO allies.

Rasiulis suspects that means Canada still needs to hold onto its remaining tanks to meet its commitment to upgrade the 2,000-soldier battlegroup it leads in Latvia to a brigade, which will mean boosting troops and equipment.

Canada’s military, along with other Western nations, is also facing a recruitment crisis that Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre has told Global News makes him worried about the “collective ability to defend democracy at large.”

“I am concerned, but I’m concerned for the wider West as well,” he said last month in an interview with The West Block.

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While it is supposed to be adding about 5,000 troops to regular and reserve forces to meet a growing list of demands, the military is instead short more than 10,000 trained members — meaning about one in 10 positions are currently vacant.

In addition to a lack of recruits, the Canadian military continues to face longstanding challenges in procuring new equipment, maintaining aging gear, and tracking down replacement parts.

One area where the military does not appear to be having recruitment issues is in its cybersecurity force, which has been tasked with combating Russian cyberattacks and other forms of online warfare since before the invasion began.

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The head of that cyber force, Rear Adm. Lou Carosielli, told a parliamentary committee this month that his team has met recruitment targets over the past three years. That has allowed the Canadian Armed Forces to establish a cyber task force to help Ukraine defend itself from Russian hackers, and another as a permanent part of the Latvia brigade.

“The threat is not limited to Ukraine alone,” Carosielli said, noting the Latvia cyber force helps that country and other European allies in the cybersecurity sphere.

More recently, Canada’s military contributions to Ukraine have been largely focused on contracting and purchasing equipment from elsewhere rather than donating from its own stocks. This has included the procurement of over 200 armoured vehicles from Mississauga-based Roshel and the purchase of an American-made air defence system at a cost of $406 million.



2:11
Russian state TV spins Global News exclusive into propaganda targeting Canada


Rasiulis says that will likely be the strategy going forward, while putting more weight behind further financial and humanitarian aid and bolstering Western support for other initiatives like prosecuting Russian war crimes.

“That’s where Canada, politically-speaking, would be best placed and I think is where they are now moving,” he said.

“Canada is still a peacetime economy. And that means … money is always a limitation. But maintaining that moral high ground is important and also cost-effective.”

Back in New Westminster, Naida says she will continue to send a sizeable portion of her wages to a few select charities in Ukraine focused on military aid, and others that provide direct assistance like meals, clothing and essential items to refugees who fled the war-torn east.

Any additional help she receives from Canadians — whether it be the government or the next customer who walks into Kozak — will be welcome, she adds.

“People need to live their own lives. I get it. I cannot ask for more,” she said. “We are doing everything we can.”

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Mexican schools have 6 months to ban sale of junk food or face heavy fines

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Schools in Mexico will have six months to implement a government-sponsored ban on junk food or else face heavy fines, officials said Monday.

The rules, published on Sept. 30, target products that have become staples for two or three generations of Mexican schoolkids: sugary fruit drinks sold in triangular cardboard cartons, chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, salty peanuts with chile. School administrators who violate the order will face fines equivalent to between $545 and $5,450, which could double for a second offense, amounting to nearly a year’s wages for some of them.

Mexico’s children have the highest consumption of junk food in Latin America and many get 40% of their total caloric intake from it, according to the U.N. Children’s Fund which labeled child obesity there an emergency.

The new ban targets products that have become staples for two or three generations of Mexican schoolkids: sugary fruit drinks sold in triangular cardboard cartons, chips, artificial pork rinds and soy-encased, salty peanuts with chile.

Previous attempts to implement laws against so-called ‘junk food’ have met with little success.

President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday schools would have to offer water fountains and alternative snacks, like bean tacos.

“It is much better to eat a bean taco than a bag of potato chips,” Sheinbaum said. “It is much better to drink hibiscus flower water than soda.”

However, the vast majority of Mexico’s 255,000 schools nationwide do not have free drinking water available to students. According to a report in 2020, the effort to install drinking fountains succeeded in only about 10,900 of the country’s schools, or about 4% of them. Many Schools are located in areas so poor or remote that they struggle to maintain acceptable bathrooms, internet connection or electricity.

Also the most common recipes for beans, refried beans, usually contain a significant dose of lard, which would violate rules against saturated fats.

Mexico instituted front-of-package warning labels for foods between 2010 and 2020, to advise consumers about high levels of salt, added sugar, excess calories and saturated fats. Some snack foods carry all four of the black, octagonal warning labels.

But under the new rules, schools will have to phase out any product containing even a single warning label from school snack stands. It wasn’t immediately clear how the government would enforce the ban on the sidewalks outside schools, where vendors usually set up tables of goods to sell to kids at recess.

Mexican authorities say the country has the worst childhood obesity problem in the world, with about one-third of children overweight or obese.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Panthers’ Reinhart named NHL first star after posting nine points over four games

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NEW YORK – Florida Panthers centre Sam Reinhart was named NHL first star of the week on Monday after leading all players with nine points over four games last week.

Reinhart had four goals, five assists and a plus-seven rating to help the Stanley Cup champions post a 3-0-1 record on the week and move into first place in the Atlantic Division.

New York Rangers left-winger Artemi Panarin took the second star and Minnesota Wild goaltenderFilip Gustavsson was the third star.

Panarin had eight points (4-4) over three games.

Gustavsson became the 15th goalie in NHL history to score a goal and had a 1.00 goals-against average and .962 save percentage over a pair of victories.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Browns QB Deshaun Watson’s season ended by ruptured Achilles tendon, team said he’ll have surgery

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CLEVELAND (AP) — Deshaun Watson won’t finish the season as Cleveland’s starting quarterback for the second straight year.

He’s injured again, and the Browns have new problems.

Watson ruptured his right Achilles tendon in the first half of Sunday’s loss to Cincinnati, collapsing as he began to run and leading some Browns fans to cheer while the divisive QB laid on the ground writhing in pain.

The team feared Watson’s year was over and tests done Monday confirmed the rupture. The Browns said Watson will have surgery and miss the rest of the season but “a full recovery is expected.”

Watson was injured on a noncontact play in the second quarter of Cleveland’s 21-14 loss to the Bengals and carted off the field in tears.

It’s the second significant injury in two seasons for Watson, who broke the glenoid (socket) bone in his throwing shoulder last year after just six starts.

The 29-year-old went down Sunday without being touched on a draw play late in the first half. His right leg buckled and Watson crumpled to the turf. TV replays showed his calf rippling, consistent with an Achilles injury.

He immediately put his hands on his helmet, clearly aware of the severity of an injury similar to the one Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers sustained last year.

As he was being assisted by the team’s medical staff and backup Dorian Thompson-Robinson grabbed a ball to begin warming up, there was some derisive cheers and boos from the stands in Huntington Bank Field.

Cleveland fans have been split over Watson, who has been accused of being sexually inappropriate with women.

The reaction didn’t sit well with several Watson’s teammates, including star end Myles Garrett, the NFL’s reigning Defensive Player of the Year, who was appalled by the fans’ behavior.

“We should be ashamed of ourselves as Browns and as fans to boo anyone and their downfall. To be season-altering, career-altering injury,” Garrett said. “Man’s not perfect. He doesn’t need to be. None of us are expected to be perfect. Can’t judge him for what he does off the field or on the field because I can’t throw stones for my glass house.

“Ultimately everyone’s human and they’re disappointed just like we are, but we have to be better than that as people. There’s levels to this. At the end of the day, it’s just a game and you don’t boo anybody being injured and you don’t celebrate anyone’s downfall.”

Backup quarterback Jameis Winston also admonished the uncomfortable celebration.

“I am very upset with the reaction to a man that has had the world against him for the past four years, and he put his body and life on the line for this city every single day,” he said. “The way I was raised, I will never pull on a man when he’s down, but I will be the person to lift him up.

“I know you love this game. When I first got here, I knew these were some amazing fans, but Deshaun was treated badly and now he has to overcome another obstacle. So I’m going to support him, I’m going to lift him up and I’m going to be there for him.”

The injury is yet another twist in Watson’s tumultuous time with the Browns.

Cleveland traded three first-round draft picks and five overall to Houston in 2022 to get him, with owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam approving the team giving Watson a fully guaranteed, five-year $230 million contract.

With a solid roster, the Browns were desperate to find a QB who could help them compete against the top AFC teams.

The Browns had moved on from Baker Mayfield despite drafting him No. 1 overall in 2018 and making the playoffs two seasons later.

But Watson has not played up to expectations — fans have been pushing for him to be benched this season — and Cleveland’s move to get him has been labeled an abject failure with the team still on the hook to pay him $46 million in each of the next two seasons.

Watson’s arrival in Cleveland also came amid accusations by more than two dozen women of sexual assault and harassment during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Texans. Two grand juries declined to indict him and he has settled civil lawsuits in all but one of the cases.

Watson was suspended by the NFL for his first 11 games and fined $5 million for violating the league’s personal conduct policy before he took his first snap with the Browns. The long layoff — he sat out the 2021 season in a contract dispute — led to struggles once he got on the field, and Watson made just six starts last season before hurting his shoulder.

Cleveland signed veteran Joe Flacco, who went 4-1 as a starter and led the Browns to the playoffs.

Before Watson got hurt this year, he didn’t play much better. He was one of the league’s lowest-rated passers for a Cleveland team that hasn’t scored 20 points in a game and is back in search of a franchise QB.

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