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Carol Todd calls for police to take online harassment, sextortion seriously

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OTTAWA — A mother whose teenage daughter died by suicide 10 years ago told MPs Monday that police need to take online harassment seriously and not shame victims into thinking they brought their torment on themselves.

Carol Todd’s 15-year-old daughter Amanda Todd died in 2012 a few weeks after she posted a video on the internet detailing how she was blackmailed by an online predator.

Aydin Coban is awaiting sentencing after being convicted in August of extortion, harassment, possession of child pornography and communicating with a young person to commit a sexual offence.

The Dutch national was extradited to Canada to face the charges here.

Carol Todd told the House of Commons status of women committee Monday that she sat through every day of the nine-week trial.

“I was determined as her mom to be there to listen to what the jury was listening to,” she said.

“And one of the gaps that I found was some of the preventive things that law enforcement could provide in terms of taking a crime seriously. Making sure that it’s investigated, not victim shaming and not making my daughter feel that she was responsible and not making her parents feel like they were at fault.”

Todd said the country has learned a lot since Amanda’s death about what dangers lurk on the internet, in part because of her daughter’s case. But she said there is much more education to be done, for students, for parents and for teachers.

She wants more resources to put together a curriculum teachers can use, and she also wants the government to re-examine its legislation against cyberbullying.

That bill, which received royal assent in 2014, made it a crime to share intimate images without consent, and to clarify that Criminal Code offences, such as harassment, can also be committed online.

Todd said better definitions are needed of online exploitation and cyberbullying, and police need to understand what harassment really means.

“You can’t get a police officer to investigate unless that harassment has a death threat in it,” she said. “We need to really define and look at what it really means.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2022.

 

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press

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Trump snaps at reporter when asked about abortion: ‘Stop talking about it’

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PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Donald Trump is refusing to say how he voted on Florida’s abortion measure — and getting testy about it.

The former president was asked twice after casting his ballot in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday about a question that the state’s voters are considering. If approved, it would prevent state lawmakers from passing any law that penalizes, prohibits, delays or restricts abortion until fetal viability — which doctors say is sometime after 21 weeks.

If it’s rejected, the state’s restrictive six-week abortion law would stand.

The first time he was asked, Trump avoided answering. He said instead of the issue that he did “a great job bringing it back to the states.” That was a reference to the former president having appointed three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in 2022.

Pressed a second time, Trump snapped at a reporter, saying “you should stop talking about it.”

Trump had previously indicated that he would back the measure — but then changed his mind and said he would vote against it.

In August, Trump said he thought Florida’s ban was a mistake, saying on Fox News Channel, “I think six weeks, you need more time.” But then he said, “at the same time, the Democrats are radical” while repeating false claims he has frequently made about late-term abortions.

In addition to Florida, voters in eight other states are deciding whether their state constitutions should guarantee a right to abortion, weighing ballot measures that are expected to spur turnout for a range of crucial races.

Passing certain amendments in Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and South Dakota likely would lead to undoing bans or restrictions that currently block varying levels of abortion access to more than 7 million women of childbearing age who live in those states.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in ‘Baywatch’ for Halloween video asking viewers to vote

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NEW YORK (AP) — In a new video posted early Election Day, Beyoncé channels Pamela Anderson in the television program “Baywatch” – red one-piece swimsuit and all – and asks viewers to vote.

In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, set to most of “Bodyguard,” a four-minute cut from her 2024 country album “Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé cosplays as Anderson’s character before concluding with a simple message, written in white text: “Happy Beylloween,” followed by “Vote.”

At a rally for Donald Trump in Pittsburgh on Monday night, the former president spoke dismissively about Beyoncé’s appearance at a Kamala Harris rally in Houston in October, drawing boos for the megastar from his supporters.

“Beyoncé would come in. Everyone’s expecting a couple of songs. There were no songs. There was no happiness,” Trump said.

She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland – but she endorsed Harris and gave a moving speech, initially joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland.

“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said.

“A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided,” she said at the rally in Houston, her hometown.

“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”

The Harris campaign has taken on Beyonce’s track “Freedom,” a cut from her landmark 2016 album “Lemonade,” as its anthem.

Harris used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.

Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Party leaders pay tribute following death of retired senator Murray Sinclair |

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May pay tribute to the life of Murray Sinclair, former judge, senator and chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Sinclair died November 4, 2024 at the age of 73. (Nov. 4, 2024)



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