Canada issues LGBTQ2S+ travel advisory for U.S. | Canada News Media
Connect with us

News

Canada issues LGBTQ2S+ travel advisory for U.S.

Published

 on

OTTAWA –

Canada has updated its international travel advisories to warn members of the LGBTQ+ community that they may face discrimination if they travel to some places in the United States.

The move comes after at least 18 U.S. states passed laws that limit or ban certain things relevant to the community, including gender-affirming medical care for minors and teaching about sexual orientation in schools.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also warned in May that threats of violence against the LGBTQ+ community were becoming more frequent and intense.

Mid-morning Tuesday, Global Affairs Canada changed its U.S. travel advice to include a caveat for LGBTQ+ travellers because “some states have enacted laws and policies” that may affect them.

Unlike similar warnings for several other countries, such as Tanzania or Egypt, Canada’s U.S. warning doesn’t specify which states, or which of their laws or customs, are of concern. It only says travellers should check the local laws for their destination before travelling.

On a more general page about advice to international LGBTQ+ travellers, the government provides some links to resources to look up relevant laws around the world.

“Carefully consider whether you are comfortable visiting a destination where the laws and social customs affecting (LGBTQ+) people differ from those in Canada,” the government warns.

In May, the NAACP and the Human Rights Campaign, a U.S.-based LGBTQ+ advocacy group, were among several civil rights groups issuing their own travel advisories specifically for Florida. That came after Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, signed into law restrictions on drag shows, the use of bathrooms and the use of preferred pronouns in schools.

Florida teachers are also now required to teach that sex is “an immutable biological trait,” and that students must only use the pronoun of the sex on a person’s birth certificate. They also cannot teach anything about gender identity or sexual orientation until high school, a law critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

The groups said their advice wasn’t to avoid Florida at all costs. But they said if people still chose to travel there, they should use the opportunity to speak out against the laws, and if they chose not to, they should be clear about the reason why.

Canada’s general page for LGBTQ+ travellers warns that if they elected to use an X on their passport where it identifies gender, they may face discrimination in some places.

When asked about the change, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Tuesday that the travel advisories issued by Global Affairs Canada are based on advice from professionals in the department whose job it is to monitor for particular dangers.

She would not say if the Liberals had discussed the matter with U.S. President Biden, but said the relationship with the U.S. is one of the most important for the government.

“We are able to manage that relationship regardless of the choice that the people of the United States make,” said Freeland.

“Even as we work hard on that government-to-government relationship, every Canadian government, very much including our government, needs to put at the centre of everything we do the interests and the safety of every single Canadian and every single group of Canadians.”

In a written statement, U.S. Ambassador David Cohen did not directly address the new travel warning but said his country “stands for equality and equal treatment for all.”

“The United States is committed to promoting tolerance, inclusion, justice and dignity while helping to advance equality for the LGBTQI+ community,” he wrote.

“We all must continue to do this work with our like-minded partners not only in the United States, not only in Canada, but throughout the world.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2023.

Source link

Continue Reading

News

Canada’s Denis Shapovalov wins Belgrade Open for his second ATP Tour title

Published

 on

BELGRADE, Serbia – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is back in the winner’s circle.

The 25-year-old Shapovalov beat Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic 6-4, 6-4 in the Belgrade Open final on Saturday.

It’s Shapovalov’s second ATP Tour title after winning the Stockholm Open in 2019. He is the first Canadian to win an ATP Tour-level title this season.

His last appearance in a tournament final was in Vienna in 2022.

Shapovalov missed the second half of last season due to injury and spent most of this year regaining his best level of play.

He came through qualifying in Belgrade and dropped just one set on his way to winning the trophy.

Shapovalov’s best results this season were at ATP 500 events in Washington and Basel, where he reached the quarterfinals.

Medjedovic was playing in his first-ever ATP Tour final.

The 21-year-old, who won the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF title last year, ends 2024 holding a 9-8 tour-level record on the season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

Talks to resume in B.C. port dispute in bid to end multi-day lockout

Published

 on

VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.

The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.

The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.

The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.

The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.

MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.

In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.

“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.

“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”

In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.

“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.

The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.

“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”

The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.

The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.

A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

The Royal Canadian Legion turns to Amazon for annual poppy campaign boost

Published

 on

The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.

Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.

Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.

Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.

“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.

“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”

Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.

“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.

Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.

“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”

But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.

Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.

“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.

Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.

The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version