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Canada terror rules unchanged as Afghans face humanitarian crisis and winter looms – CTV News

Published

2 years ago

October 1, 2022

OTTAWA –

Opposition parties and aid groups say the Trudeau government is dragging its feet in carving out exemptions to anti-terrorism laws to allow humanitarian groups to reach desperate people in Afghanistan.

“There is nothing but political will interfering with us solving this problem,” said NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson.

In June, a multi-party committee called on the government to modify the Criminal Code so that major humanitarian groups can help Afghans without being charged with assisting the Taliban.

Representatives from 10 humanitarian groups told MPs in March that Global Affairs Canada informed them they would not be able to pay a driver to deliver food or buy supplies within Afghanistan because that would incur taxes sent to the Taliban.

That would mean supporting the terrorist group, which has been listed as such under Canadian law since 2013.

Liberal MP Salma Zahid, who sat on the special parliamentary committee, said Canada must find a workaround like its allies did to ensure much-needed aid is delivered.

“I think the minister of Public Safety and as well as the minister of Justice are looking into it,” she said in an interview Thursday.

“They have to find some solutions.”

The issue was well-known last December when the UN Security Council issued an exemption to anti-terrorism sanctions on the Taliban that allowed humanitarian aid to reach Afghanistan.

By June, Australia invoked that resolution to get help to Afghanistan, while the U.S. and European Union modified their rules to ensure humanitarian groups could respond.

That same month, public servants warned Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly of challenges Canadian organizations were facing in Afghanistan before she met with former female Afghan parliamentarians.

“There is no ability to provide exemptions under current Canadian law,” reads a briefing note obtained through an access-to-information request.

“The need for mitigation measures imposes serious constraints on humanitarian and development activities that the government is able to support and the organizations with which Canada is able to partner.”

International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan said the Liberals plan to modify the law, but couldn’t explain why departments that handle the Criminal Code haven’t moved.

“They’re working on options right now with the ministers of Public Safety and Justice,” Sajjan said in a Thursday interview.

The office of Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino had no explanation for the holdup nor a timeline, and did not confirm that Ottawa actually intends to amend the current laws.

“We continue to explore new ways to support Afghans, while following Canada’s Criminal Code,” wrote spokeswoman Audrey Champoux.

The Department of Justice did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

“I, as minister of International Development, have to work within the current laws that we have,” Sajjan said.

He stressed that the government has found ways to deliver $144 million in aid to Afghans through organizations that can comply with Canada’s rules. Much of that is going to Afghans who have fled their country; the rest is largely procured by the UN thanks to the Security Council exemption.

“I just want to stress, it’s not preventing us from actually providing the funding to the Afghan people themselves,” Sajjan said.

Humanitarian groups say otherwise, arguing their hands are tied as desperation mounts.

This month a coalition of 18 groups, including as the Canadian Red Cross and Islamic Relief, decried the Liberals’ “disheartening lack of urgency in acting to remove the barriers.”

In late August, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said more than half the Afghan population — some 24 million people — need assistance, and close to 19 million are facing acute levels of food insecurity.

On Tuesday, the UN warned that drought, economic tumult and high oil prices will only make this worse as winter sets in.

Conservative Sen. Salma Ataullahjan said the government must implement a solution this fall to help the millions of people who are struggling.

“Especially, I think of the women, I know how hard it is in that society to function if you don’t have a man,” she said.

The party’s foreign affairs critic noted that aid groups were raising the Criminal Code issue months before their testimony this spring.

“They’ve had a lot of time to fix the problem,” said Michael Chong, who argued the Liberals should have had legislation ready to table when the House resumed sitting this month.

“This inability to execute on something that everyone agrees upon is part of a broader pattern in this government of being unable to implement policy,” he said.

“This government struggles to put words into action.”

Instead of incompetence, McPherson chalked it up to indifference.

“There is no way that it should be taking this long for them to sort this out,” she said.

“I’ve spoken to Liberal members of Parliament who are appalled at their own government for not doing anything on this.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2022.

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Langford, Heim lead Rangers to wild 13-8 win over Blue Jays

Published

3 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Rookie Wyatt Langford homered, doubled twice and became the first Texas player this season to reach base five times, struggling Jonah Heim delivered a two-run single to break a sixth-inning tie and the Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 13-8 on Tuesday night.

Leody Taveras also had a homer among his three hits for the Rangers.

Langford, who also walked twice, has 12 homers and 25 doubles this season. He is hitting .345 in September.

“I think it’s really important to finish on a strong note,” Langford said. “I’m just going to keep trying to do that.”

Heim was 1-for-34 in September before he lined a single to right field off Tommy Nance (0-2) to score Adolis García and Nathaniel Lowe, giving Texas a 9-7 lead. Heim went to the plate hitting .212 with 53 RBIs after being voted an All-Star starter last season with a career-best 95 RBIs. He added a double in the eighth ahead of Taveras’ homer during a three-run inning.

Texas had 13 hits and left 13 men on. It was the Rangers’ highest-scoring game since a 15-8 win at Oakland on May 7.

Matt Festa (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win, giving him a 5-0 record in 13 appearances with the Rangers after being granted free agency by the New York Mets on July 7.

Nathan Eovaldi, a star of Texas’ 2023 run to the franchise’s first World Series championship, had his worst start of the year in what could have been his final home start with the Rangers. Eovaldi, who will be a free agent next season, allowed 11 hits (the most of his two seasons with Texas) and seven runs (tied for the most).

“I felt like early in the game they just had a few hits that found the holes, a few first-pitch base hits,” said Eovaldi, who is vested for a $20 million player option with Texas for 2025. “I think at the end of the day I just need to do a better job of executing my pitches.”

Eovaldi took a 7-3 lead into the fifth inning after the Rangers scored five unearned runs in the fourth. The Jays then scored four runs to knock out Eovaldi after 4 2/3 innings.

Six of the seven runs scored against Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in 3 2/3 innings were unearned. Bassitt had a throwing error during Texas’ two-run third inning.

“We didn’t help ourselves defensively, taking care of the ball to secure some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

The Blue Jays’ Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had a double and two singles, his most hits in a game since having four on Sept. 3. Guerrero is hitting .384 since the All-Star break.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Blue Jays: SS Bo Bichette (calf) was activated and played for the first time since July 19, going 2 for 5 with an RBI. … OF Daulton Varsho (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list and will have rotator cuff surgery … INF Will Wagner (knee inflammation) was placed on the 60-day list.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Chad Bradford (5-3, 3.97 ERA) will pitch Wednesday night’s game on extended five days’ rest after allowing career highs in hits (nine), runs (eight) and home runs (three) in 3 2/3 innings losing at Arizona on Sept. 14.

Blue Jays: RHP Bowden Francis (8-4, 3.50) has had two no-hitters get away in the ninth inning this season, including in his previous start against the New York Mets on Sept. 11. Francis is the first major-leaguer to have that happen since Rangers Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan in 1989.

—

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Billie Jean King set to earn another honor with the Congressional Gold Medal

Published

4 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billie Jean King will become the first individual female athlete to be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey announced Tuesday that their bipartisan legislation had passed the House of Representatives and would be sent to President Joe Biden for his signature.

The bill to honor King, the tennis Hall of Famer and activist, had already passed unanimously in the Senate.

Sherrill, a Democrat, said in a statement that King’s “lifetime of advocacy and hard work changed the landscape for women and girls on the court, in the classroom, and the workplace.”

The bill was introduced last September on the 50th anniversary of King’s victory over Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” still the most-watched tennis match of all-time. The medal, awarded by Congress for distinguished achievements and contributions to society, has previously been given to athletes including baseball players Jackie Robinson and Roberto Clemente, and golfers Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson and Arnold Palmer.

King had already been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. Fitzpatrick, a Republican, says she has “broken barriers, led uncharted paths, and inspired countless people to stand proudly with courage and conviction in the fight for what is right.”

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Account tweaks for young Instagram users ‘minimum’ expected by B.C., David Eby says

Published

4 hours ago

September 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

SURREY, B.C. – Premier David Eby says new account control measures for young Instagram users introduced Tuesday by social media giant Meta are the “minimum” expected of tech companies to keep kids safe online.

The parent company of Instagram says users in Canada and elsewhere under 18 will have their accounts set to private by default starting Tuesday, restricting who can send messages, among other parental controls and settings.

Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday, Eby says the province began talks with social media companies after threatening legislation that would put big tech companies on the hook for “significant potential damages” if they were found negligent in failing to keep kids safe from online predators.

Eby says the case of Carson Cleland, a 12-year-old from Prince George, B.C., who took his own life last year after being targeted by a predator on Snapchat, was “horrific and totally preventable.”

He says social media apps are “nothing special,” and should be held to the same child safety standards as anyone who operates a place that invites young people, whether it’s an amusement park, a playground or an online platform.

In a progress report released Tuesday about the province’s engagement with big tech companies including Google, Meta, TikTok, Spapchat and X, formerly known as Twitter, the provincial government says the companies are implementing changes, including a “trusted flagger” option to quickly remove intimate images.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024

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