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Evacuating as many Afghans as Canada wants ‘nearly impossible’: Trudeau – Globalnews.ca

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It will be “almost impossible” to get many people out of Afghanistan in the coming weeks, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau warned reporters on Thursday.

That’s because the Taliban is continuing to block access for Afghans wishing to leave the country, he said.

“Unless the Taliban shift their posture significantly, which is something the international community and Canada are working on, it is going to be very, very difficult to get many people out,” Trudeau, who is running for re-election, told reporters.

“We will get some, certainly, but to get many people out, as many as we’d want, is going to be almost impossible in the coming weeks.”

Read more:
Canada has reached a deal for 2 military planes to resume ‘flying regularly’ into Kabul

The admission comes just after the Liberal leader announced that two Canadian planes will be making regular flights to and from Kabul to help evacuate people from the region. Canadian troops have also arrived on the ground to help international partners with the evacuation efforts, Trudeau said.

Still, he cautioned, there are lots of hurdles hampering these efforts.

“There are real challenges and impediments on the ground in terms of getting people out, even though there is a clear wish, obviously by Canada and by countries around the world to get as many people out to safety as possible,” he said.

“The situation on the ground is extremely complex, extremely difficult.”






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Emerging signs of resistance to Taliban rule in Afghanistan


Emerging signs of resistance to Taliban rule in Afghanistan

As the conditions in the country quickly destabilized in the last week, Canada pledged to bring over 20,000 people from Afghanistan into the country.

However, progress on filling those spots has been slow — and while Trudeau pointed to the Taliban as the biggest impediment to evacuation progress, those working on the ground say Canada’s lack of communication has been a much bigger issue for those seeking safety.

“The information that I’m hearing from other lawyers and from people who are contacting me from Afghanistan is that getting to the airport is not really the issue,” said immigration lawyer Chantal Desloges.

“The issue is that there’s just no information out there. The system is so opaque.”

Desloges wasn’t alone in her concerns.

“All we know is that the Canadian government website was updated to state that they will now expand the (refugee) program for vulnerable groups such as human rights leaders, people from the LGBTQ community,” said Roushan.

“But we don’t know anything else about the program.”

Read more:
‘No special hotline’: Canadian hurdles keep Afghan refugee offer out of reach, lawyers say

There’s no clear indication of who is eligible for one of the over 20,000 seats on a plane to Canada, Desloges explained, nor how to go about accessing this help.

“There’s only very general information,” Desloges said. “All of the lawyers have been talking to each other because we’re all getting these calls and nobody really knows what to tell people.”

When pressed on these issues on Thursday, the Liberal leader said the government is working to beat down the barriers preventing Afghans from accessing Canadian help.

“It is an extremely difficult situation, but I can assure you that I, and our ministers, and our government is working extremely hard to ease all the barriers, whether they be around paperwork or bureaucratic, to ensure that people are getting out of there as quickly as possible and to safety,” Trudeau said.






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Trudeau discusses Afghanistan evacuations, says situation is ‘extremely difficult’


Trudeau discusses Afghanistan evacuations, says situation is ‘extremely difficult’

As the confusion continues, planes are starting to arrive carrying people from Afghanistan. Trudeau confirmed that 92 people arrived on Canadian soil Tuesday night alone — and more will be coming.

“We’ve so far evacuated over 800 Afghans under our Special Immigration Measures, more than 500 of whom are already starting new lives in Canada,” said Alexander Cohen, a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino, in an emailed statement to Global News.

And as Canada ramps up its flights to the region, other countries have been continuing their evacuation efforts. American, French, Dutch, German, Spanish and British aircraft all left the country with evacuees on Wednesday, the BBC reported.

Trudeau defended Canada’s evacuation efforts, noting that “many” of these international flights “have been leaving Afghanistan and leaving the Kabul airport not full.”

“I can assure you that Canada, our forces and our personnel are working as hard as they can every single day to get people out of Afghanistan following up,” he said.

Read more:
The Taliban are promising they’ve changed. Be ‘highly skeptical,’ experts say

For those who remain trapped in Afghanistan, however, reports of a brutal crackdown have been emerging.

“On the ground, there’s plenty of reports of groups of Taliban fighters knocking door-to-door, looking for those who were, as they believe, conspirators with the Western forces,” said Bessma Momani, a Middle East expert at the University of Waterloo.

“Certainly a lot of women (are) being denied access to education. Already, we’re seeing reports of that.”

The Taliban has been designated by Canada as a terrorist organization. They held power in Afghanistan for five years until the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.






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Afghan refugees board bus after arriving in Canada from Kabul


Afghan refugees board bus after arriving in Canada from Kabul

A report from the U.S. State Department published during that time found women living under the Taliban were forbidden from attending school or work, were subject to rape and forced marriages by the Taliban. They required women to wear burqas in public and refused to let women leave their homes without a male escort.

Punishments were severe. The report found the Taliban also carried out public executions, chopped off the hands of thieves and stoned women accused of adultery to death.

The conditions in Afghanistan improved over the two decades since the U.S. began its longest war in Afghanistan. A new constitution calling for women’s equality was adopted, the first democratic election was held, and nearly all Afghans had access to electricity.

Now, with the Taliban back in power, the future remains foggy.

“Time will tell what the rule of the Taliban will bring,” Momani said.

— with files from Global News

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Netflix’s subscriber growth slows as gains from password-sharing crackdown subside

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Netflix on Thursday reported that its subscriber growth slowed dramatically during the summer, a sign the huge gains from the video-streaming service’s crackdown on freeloading viewers is tapering off.

The 5.1 million subscribers that Netflix added during the July-September period represented a 42% decline from the total gained during the same time last year. Even so, the company’s revenue and profit rose at a faster pace than analysts had projected, according to FactSet Research.

Netflix ended September with 282.7 million worldwide subscribers — far more than any other streaming service.

The Los Gatos, California, company earned $2.36 billion, or $5.40 per share, a 41% increase from the same time last year. Revenue climbed 15% from a year ago to $9.82 billion. Netflix management predicted the company’s revenue will rise at the same 15% year-over-year pace during the October-December period, slightly than better than analysts have been expecting.

The strong financial performance in the past quarter coupled with the upbeat forecast eclipsed any worries about slowing subscriber growth. Netflix’s stock price surged nearly 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out, building upon a more than 40% increase in the company’s shares so far this year.

The past quarter’s subscriber gains were the lowest posted in any three-month period since the beginning of last year. That drop-off indicates Netflix is shifting to a new phase after reaping the benefits from a ban on the once-rampant practice of sharing account passwords that enabled an estimated 100 million people watch its popular service without paying for it.

The crackdown, triggered by a rare loss of subscribers coming out of the pandemic in 2022, helped Netflix add 57 million subscribers from June 2022 through this June — an average of more than 7 million per quarter, while many of its industry rivals have been struggling as households curbed their discretionary spending.

Netflix’s gains also were propelled by a low-priced version of its service that included commercials for the first time in its history. The company still is only getting a small fraction of its revenue from the 2-year-old advertising push, but Netflix is intensifying its focus on that segment of its business to help boost its profits.

In a letter to shareholder, Netflix reiterated previous cautionary notes about its expansion into advertising, though the low-priced option including commercials has become its fastest growing segment.

“We have much more work to do improving our offering for advertisers, which will be a priority over the next few years,” Netflix management wrote in the letter.

As part of its evolution, Netflix has been increasingly supplementing its lineup of scripted TV series and movies with live programming, such as a Labor Day spectacle featuring renowned glutton Joey Chestnut setting a world record for gorging on hot dogs in a showdown with his longtime nemesis Takeru Kobayashi.

Netflix will be trying to attract more viewer during the current quarter with a Nov. 15 fight pitting former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson against Jake Paul, a YouTube sensation turned boxer, and two National Football League games on Christmas Day.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Promise tracker: What the Saskatchewan Party and NDP pledge to do if they win Oct. 28

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REGINA – Saskatchewan’s provincial election is on Oct. 28. Here’s a look at some of the campaign promises made by the two major parties:

Saskatchewan Party

— Continue withholding federal carbon levy payments to Ottawa on natural gas until the end of 2025.

— Reduce personal income tax rates over four years; a family of four would save $3,400.

— Double the Active Families Benefit to $300 per child per year and the benefit for children with disabilities to $400 a year.

— Direct all school divisions to ban “biological boys” from girls’ change rooms in schools.

— Increase the First-Time Homebuyers Tax Credit to $15,000 from $10,000.

— Reintroduce the Home Renovation Tax Credit, allowing homeowners to claim up to $4,000 in renovation costs on their income taxes; seniors could claim up to $5,000.

— Extend coverage for insulin pumps and diabetes supplies to seniors and young adults

— Provide a 50 per cent refundable tax credit — up to $10,000 — to help cover the cost of a first fertility treatment.

— Hire 100 new municipal officers and 70 more officers with the Saskatchewan Marshals Service.

— Amend legislation to provide police with more authority to address intoxication, vandalism and disturbances on public property.

— Platform cost of $1.2 billion, with deficits in the first three years and a small surplus in 2027.

NDP

— Pause the 15-cent-a-litre gas tax for six months, saving an average family about $350.

— Remove the provincial sales tax from children’s clothes and ready-to-eat grocery items like rotisserie chickens and granola bars.

— Pass legislation to limit how often and how much landlords can raise rent.

— Repeal the law that requires parental consent when children under 16 want to change their names or pronouns at school.

— Launch a provincewide school nutrition program.

— Build more schools and reduce classroom sizes.

— Hire 800 front-line health-care workers in areas most in need.

— Launch an accountability commission to investigate cost overruns for government projects.

— Scrap the marshals service.

— Hire 100 Mounties and expand detox services.

— Platform cost of $3.5 billion, with small deficits in the first three years and a small surplus in the fourth year.

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

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Bad weather forecast for B.C. election day as record numbers vote in advance polls

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VANCOUVER – More than a million British Columbians have already cast their provincial election ballots, smashing the advance voting record ahead of what weather forecasters say will be a rain-drenched election day in much of B.C., with snow also predicted for the north.

Elections BC said Thursday that 1,001,331 people had cast ballots in six days of advance voting, easily breaking a record set during the pandemic election four years ago.

More than 28 per cent of all registered electors have voted, potentially putting the province on track for a big final turnout on Saturday.

“It reflects what I believe, which is this election is critically important for the future of our province,” New Democrat Leader David Eby said Thursday at a news conference in Vancouver. “I understand why British Columbians are out in numbers. We haven’t seen questions like this on the ballot in a generation.”

He said voters are faced with the choice of supporting his party’s plans to improve affordability, public health care and education, while the B.C. Conservatives, led by John Rustad, are proposing to cut services and are fielding candidates who support conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and espouse racist views.

Rustad held no public availabilities on Thursday.

Elections BC said the record advance vote tally includes about 223,000 people who voted on the final day of advance voting Wednesday, the last day of advance polls, shattering the one-day record set on Tuesday by more than 40,000 votes.

The previous record for advance voting in a B.C. election was set in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when about 670,000 people voted early, representing about 19 per cent of registered voters.

Some ridings have now seen turnout of more than 35 per cent, including in NDP Leader David Eby’s Vancouver-Point Grey riding where 36.5 per cent of all electors have voted.

There has also been big turnout in some Vancouver Island ridings, including Oak Bay-Gordon Head, where 39 per cent of electors have voted, and Victoria-Beacon Hill, where Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau is running, with 37.2 per cent.

Advance voter turnout in Rustad’s riding of Nechako Lakes was 30.5 per cent.

Total turnout in 2020 was 54 per cent, down from about 61 per cent in 2017.

Stewart Prest, a political science lecturer at the University of British Columbia, said many factors are at play in the advance voter turnout.

“If you have an early option, if you have an option where there are fewer crowds, fewer lineups that you have to deal with, then that’s going to be a much more desirable option,” said Prest.

“So, having the possibility of voting across multiple advanced voting days is something that more people are looking to as a way to avoid last-minute lineups or heavy weather.”

Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.

Environment Canada said the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.

Eby said the forecast of an atmospheric weather storm on election day will become a “ballot question” for some voters who are concerned about the approaches the parties have towards addressing climate change.

But he said he is confident people will not let the storm deter them from voting.

“I know British Columbians are tough and they’re not going to let even an atmospheric river stop them from voting,” said Eby.

In northern B.C., heavy snow is in the forecast starting Friday and through to Saturday for areas along the Yukon boundary.

Elections BC said it will focus on ensuring it is prepared for bad weather, said Andrew Watson, senior director of communications.

“We’ve also been working with BC Hydro to make sure that they’re aware of all of our voting place locations so that they can respond quickly if there are any power outages,” he said.

Elections BC also has paper backups for all of its systems in case there is a power outage, forcing them to go through manual procedures, Watson said.

Prest said the dramatic downfall of the Official Opposition BC United Party just before the start of the campaign and voter frustration could also be contributing to the record size of the advance vote.

It’s too early to say if the province is experiencing a “renewed enthusiasm for voting,” he said.

“As a political scientist, I think it would be a good thing to see, but I’m not ready to conclude that’s what we are seeing just yet,” he said, adding, “this is one of the storylines to watch come Saturday.”

Overall turnout in B.C. elections has generally been dwindling compared with the 71.5 per cent turnout for the 1996 vote.

Adam Olsen, Green Party campaign chair, said the advance voting turnout indicates people are much more engaged in the campaign than they were in the weeks leading up to the start of the campaign in September.

“All we know so far is that people are excited to go out and vote early,” he said. “The real question will be does that voter turnout stay up throughout election night?”

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

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version said more than 180,000 voters cast their votes on Wednesday.



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