Ottawa is deploying up to 225 Canadian soldiers to Britain where they will train new recruits that have signed up to defend Ukraine from Russia’s military assault.
Defence Minister Anita Anand announced Thursday that the first contingent of about 90 Canadian soldiers, from 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry in Edmonton, will head to southeast England next week. There, they will teach frontline combat, including weapons handling, battlefield first aid, fieldcraft and patrol tactics.
Also on Thursday, Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada is scheduled to testify on her government’s opposition to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to circumvent sanctions against Russia.
Mr. Trudeau in early July carved out a loophole in sanctions on Moscow to allow the import, repair and export of Russian pipeline turbines.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES
CROMWELL TO REVIEW HOCKEY CANADA – Former Supreme Court of Canada judge Thomas Cromwell will lead an independent review of Hockey Canada’s governance amid calls for a change in leadership of the governing body for its handling of recent allegations of sexual assault against players. Story here.
TARIFFS TO BE CUT – The U.S. Department of Commerce is lowering tariffs against most Canadian softwood producers by half, but the long-running trade dispute lingers. Story here.
UNAWARE OF INTELLIGENE REPORTS: JOLY – Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says she and her department were unawareof intelligence reports delivered weeks before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in which diplomats in Kyiv were told Ukrainians who worked for the Canadian embassy there were likely on lists of people Moscow intended to detain or kill. Story here.
SCHOLZ URGES RUSSIA TO TAKE TURBINE – German chancellor Olaf Scholz paid a visit to a Russian pipeline turbine released from Canadian export controls, but now stranded in Germany amid a standoff with the Kremlin. He urged Moscow to take back the gear, which it had said was needed to bring shipments of natural gas to Germany back to previous levels. Story here. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada was to make clear her country’s disappointment over Ottawa’s decision to allow the return of equipment to a state-controlled energy giant in Russia despite war-related sanctions. Story here.
NOTLEY BLAMES UCP FOR HEALTH OFFICERS’ BIG SALARY – Alberta Opposition Leader Rachel Notley says the United Conservative Party government, particularly former finance minister Travis Toews, must bear the responsibility and fallout for the record-setting, six-figure bonus payment to the Chief Medical Officer of Health. Story here.
HORGAN QUIPS ABOUT NEWSPAPER APPEAL FOR DOCTOR – British Columbia Premier John Horgan suggested the approach of a Victoria couple who placed a newspaper ad to find a family doctor could be one of his next steps to press the federal government to increase health funding. Story here.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Scott Aitchison is campaigning virtually. Roman Baber is campaigning in Brockville and Kingston. Jean Charest is in Montreal. Leslyn Lewis is in New Brunswick, visiting Moncton and Quispamsis. Pierre Poilievre is in Brandon and Winnipeg.
FINAL OFFICIAL DEBATE – Jean Charest took on absentee candidates in the final Conservative leadership debate, declaring that showing up for such events is a show of respect for the party members who will choose the new leader. Story here.
DEBATE DETAILS – Canadian Press reporter Sarah Ritchie was the pool reporter for the debate, providing details from the debate studio for colleagues in the parliamentary press gallery. Given the size of the studio where the three candidates and moderator were placed, there was only room for one journalist. Among Ms. Ritchie’s observations:
– ”The room is small. In front of the centre table are six DSLR cameras on tripods, with camera operators crouched on stools behind them. They have very little room to move and had to rearrange lighting before the debate began because a candidate knocked over a light trying to get to the table.”
– ”Before things got started, Jean Charest remarked that the setup is “bizarre” and said “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
– ”All three candidates have papers in front of them. Charest is writing himself occasional notes with a black Sharpie.”
– ”Charest and Aitchison chat about learning to speak French during the break. … Aitchison tells Charest, “I’m getting better, like I was almost able to capture some of the things you’re saying” in French.
THIS AND THAT
The House of Commons is not sitting again until Sept. 19. The Senate is to resume sitting on Sept. 20.
NEW DIPLOMATS – Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has announced the appointment of 11 new ambassadors as well as a high commissioner and consul-general. New ambassadors are en route to such counties as a El Salvador, Latvia and Senegal. Details here.
FREELAND IN DARTMOUTH – Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, in Dartmouth, N.S., visited a Canadian freight company, Armour Transportation Systems, met with truck drivers and workers, and held a media availability. She was also scheduled to host a roundtable with energy industry representatives to discuss opportunities in Atlantic Canada to advance energy security.
MILLER IN MUSKEG LAKE CREE NATION – Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller, in the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, and Kelly Wolfe, chief of Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, concluded the 1919 Soldier Settlement Specific Claim.
MENDICINO AND RODRIGUEZ IN MONTREAL – Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, in Montreal, announced $41.8-million to the Quebec government to support gun and gang violence prevention and intervention activities in municipalities and Indigenous communities across the province. Also present: Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez, who is the Quebec lieutenant for the government.
PETITPAS-TAYLOR IN KENSINGTON – Official Languages Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor, in Kensington, Prince Edward Island, announced support for community organizations.
ST-ONGE IN MISSISSAUGA – Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge, in Mississauga, announced the fourth national-level organization to receive funding from the Community Sport for all Initiative.
VANDAL IN THOMPSON – Northern Affairs Minister Daniel Vandal, also responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, in Thompson, Man., officially unveiled the new PrairiesCan service location in the community and announced $2,350,435 for seven projects in communities across northern Manitoba.
THE DECIBEL
Thursday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcasts features Globe health reporter Wency Leung, answering questions from listeners about monkeypox as cases climb worldwide. Ms. Leung walks listeners through what we know so far – including the severity of the disease, who it’s affecting, and the availability of vaccines today. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
The Prime Minister is on a two-week vacation in Costa Rica.
LEADERS
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh was scheduled to hold a media availability on fixing Canada’s heath care system, with Ontario Nurses’ Association President, Cathryn Hoy.
No schedules released for other party leaders.
OPINION
John Ibbitson (The Globe and Mail) on how the federal Conservative Party is about to become Pierre Poilievre’s personal property: “Pierre Poilievre’s decision to boycott Wednesday night’s leadership debate confirms the schism between his faction of the Conservative Party and the more moderate faction led by former Quebec premier Jean Charest. This could be seen as bad news for the party. Traditionally, the conservative coalition has been strongest when Blue Tories and Red Tories work together. But the years of conservative rift and reunion, of Reformers and Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance and the reunited Conservative Party are ancient history. None of it matters any more. The Conservative Party is about to become the personal property of Pierre Poilievre.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail) on how Quebec anglophones, feeling forsaken by the provincial Liberals, weigh their options: “Ms. Anglade is clearly in a pickle. A June Léger Marketing poll had the QLP at 10 per cent support among decided francophone voters, compared with 50 per cent support for the CAQ. Ms. Anglade desperately needs to move the needle before Oct. 3 if the QLP has any hope of preserving any of the ridings with francophone pluralities that it now holds, including her own Montreal seat. Fully 13 of the QLP’s sitting MNAshave opted not to run again, leaving many of those seats up for grabs by other parties. So far, Ms. Anglade has focused on pocketbook issues to woo anglophones and francophones alike. The QLP is promising to cut income taxes for the middle class, eliminate sales taxes on basic food and hygiene necessities and freeze Quebec’s already low electricity rates. In her efforts to rebuild her party in French Quebec, however, Ms. Anglade has left many anglophone voters feeling forsaken.”
Tahara Bhate and Kevin Wasko (Contributed to The Globe and Mail)on how supporting nurses must be an immediate priority as emergency departments are in crisis: “After 2 1/2 years of hearing that our health system is under threat, both governments and the public have responded with indifference to the current crisis. But our new reality is beyond sobering – for the first time, we are facing the spectre of preventable deaths in our emergency rooms. The same focused crisis response seen early in the pandemic is now needed again. As terrible as that time was, there was a mobilization of system transformation on a scale we could have only imagined: We saw overnight adoption of virtual care, clinicians and nurses working to their fullest possible scope of practice, new types of clinics launched within days and a true, system-wide response to a singular problem. That urgency and unity of purpose is what is needed now, both in terms of funds and the political and administrative will to do things differently.”
Charles Burton (Contributed to The Globe and Mail)on how Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit has brought the thorny `one China’ debate into sharp focus: “As a sovereign nation, Canada should not be taking direction from China or be intimidated into shunning Taiwan’s democratic regime. Canada must retain its ability to negotiate bilateral trade and other matters of critical geostrategic interest, including global health, airspace, and climate change, with Taiwan directly. We need to have the courage to calmly make this clear to Beijing. But, inexplicably, Canada has had no ambassador to China in place since Dominic Barton decamped from his Beijing post in December, 2021. Our voice in Beijing is now muted. Even more worrying is an ongoing internal debate over whether Canada’s long purported Indo-Pacific policy reset is stagnating.”
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats who control both chambers of the Virginia legislature are hoping to make good on promises made on the campaign trail, including becoming the first Southern state to expand constitutional protections for abortion access.
The House Privileges and Elections Committee advanced three proposed constitutional amendments Wednesday, including a measure to protect reproductive rights. Its members also discussed measures to repeal a now-defunct state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and ways to revise Virginia’s process to restore voting rights for people who served time for felony crimes.
“This meeting was an important next step considering the moment in history we find ourselves in,” Democratic Del. Cia Price, the committee chair, said during a news conference. “We have urgent threats to our freedoms that could impact constituents in all of the districts we serve.”
The at-times raucous meeting will pave the way for the House and Senate to take up the resolutions early next year after lawmakers tabled the measures last January. Democrats previously said the move was standard practice, given that amendments are typically introduced in odd-numbered years. But Republican Minority Leader Todd Gilbert said Wednesday the committee should not have delved into the amendments before next year’s legislative session. He said the resolutions, particularly the abortion amendment, need further vetting.
“No one who is still serving remembers it being done in this way ever,” Gilbert said after the meeting. “Certainly not for something this important. This is as big and weighty an issue as it gets.”
The Democrats’ legislative lineup comes after Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, to the dismay of voting-rights advocates, rolled back a process to restore people’s civil rights after they completed sentences for felonies. Virginia is the only state that permanently bans anyone convicted of a felony from voting unless a governor restores their rights.
“This amendment creates a process that is bounded by transparent rules and criteria that will apply to everybody — it’s not left to the discretion of a single individual,” Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, the patron of the voting rights resolution, which passed along party lines, said at the news conference.
Though Democrats have sparred with the governor over their legislative agenda, constitutional amendments put forth by lawmakers do not require his signature, allowing the Democrat-led House and Senate to bypass Youngkin’s blessing.
Instead, the General Assembly must pass proposed amendments twice in at least two years, with a legislative election sandwiched between each statehouse session. After that, the public can vote by referendum on the issues. The cumbersome process will likely hinge upon the success of all three amendments on Democrats’ ability to preserve their edge in the House and Senate, where they hold razor-thin majorities.
It’s not the first time lawmakers have attempted to champion the three amendments. Republicans in a House subcommittee killed a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights in 2022, a year after the measure passed in a Democrat-led House. The same subcommittee also struck down legislation supporting a constitutional amendment to repeal an amendment from 2006 banning marriage equality.
On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers voted 16-5 in favor of legislation protecting same-sex marriage, with four Republicans supporting the resolution.
“To say the least, voters enacted this (amendment) in 2006, and we have had 100,000 voters a year become of voting age since then,” said Del. Mark Sickles, who sponsored the amendment as one of the first openly gay men serving in the General Assembly. “Many people have changed their opinions of this as the years have passed.”
A constitutional amendment protecting abortion previously passed the Senate in 2023 but died in a Republican-led House. On Wednesday, the amendment passed on party lines.
If successful, the resolution proposed by House Majority Leader Charniele Herring would be part of a growing trend of reproductive rights-related ballot questions given to voters. Since 2022, 18 questions have gone before voters across the U.S., and they have sided with abortion rights advocates 14 times.
The voters have approved constitutional amendments ensuring the right to abortion until fetal viability in nine states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Vermont. Voters also passed a right-to-abortion measure in Nevada in 2024, but it must be passed again in 2026 to be added to the state constitution.
As lawmakers debated the measure, roughly 18 members spoke. Mercedes Perkins, at 38 weeks pregnant, described the importance of women making decisions about their own bodies. Rhea Simon, another Virginia resident, anecdotally described how reproductive health care shaped her life.
Then all at once, more than 50 people lined up to speak against the abortion amendment.
“Let’s do the compassionate thing and care for mothers and all unborn children,” resident Sheila Furey said.
The audience gave a collective “Amen,” followed by a round of applause.
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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.
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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.
NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting him in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid.
“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social site announcing the appointment. Kennedy, he said, would “Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran as an independent in this year’s presidential race, abandoned his bid after striking a deal to give Trump his endorsement with a promise to have a role in health policy in the administration.
He and Trump have since become good friends, with Kennedy frequently receiving loud applause at Trump’s rallies.
The expected appointment was first reported by Politico Thursday.
A longtime vaccine skeptic, Kennedy is an attorney who has built a loyal following over several decades of people who admire his lawsuits against major pesticide and pharmaceutical companies. He has pushed for tighter regulations around the ingredients in foods.
With the Trump campaign, he worked to shore up support among young mothers in particular, with his message of making food healthier in the U.S., promising to model regulations imposed in Europe. In a nod to Trump’s original campaign slogan, he named the effort “Make America Healthy Again.”
It remains unclear how that will square with Trump’s history of deregulation of big industries, including food. Trump pushed for fewer inspections of the meat industry, for example.
Kennedy’s stance on vaccines has also made him a controversial figure among Democrats and some Republicans, raising question about his ability to get confirmed, even in a GOP-controlled Senate. Kennedy has espoused misinformation around the safety of vaccines, including pushing a totally discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism.
He also has said he would recommend removing fluoride from drinking water. The addition of the material has been cited as leading to improved dental health.
HHS has more than 80,000 employees across the country. It houses the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the National Institutes of Health.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — In a Cypriot National Guard camp, Ukrainians are being trained on how to identify, locate and dispose of landmines and other unexploded munitions that litter huge swaths of their country, killing and maiming hundreds of people, including children.
Analysts say Ukraine is among the countries that are the most affected by landmines and discarded explosives, as a result of Russia’s ongoing war.
According to U.N. figures, some 399 people have been killed and 915 wounded from landmines and other munitions since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, equal to the number of casualties reported from 2014-2021. More than 1 in 10 of those casualties have been children.
The economic impact is costing billions to the Ukrainian economy. Landmines and other munitions are preventing the sowing of 5 million hectares, or 10%, of the country’s agricultural land.
Cyprus stepped up to offer its facilities as part of the European Union’s Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine. So far, almost 100 Ukrainian armed forces personnel have taken part in three training cycles over the last two years, said Cyprus Foreign Ministry spokesperson Theodoros Gotsis.
“We are committed to continuing this support for as long as it takes,” Gotsis told the Associated Press, adding that the Cyprus government has covered the 250,000 euro ($262,600) training cost.
Cyprus opted to offer such training owing to its own landmine issues dating back five decades when the island nation was ethnically divided when Turkey invaded following a coup that sought union with Greece. The United Nations has removed some 27,000 landmines from a buffer zone that cuts across the island, but minefields remain on either side. The Cypriot government says it has disposed of all anti-personnel mines in line with its obligations under an international treaty that bans the use of such munitions.
In Cyprus, Ukrainians undergo rigorous theoretical and practical training over a five-week Basic Demining and Clearance course that includes instruction on distinguishing and safely handling landmines and other explosive munitions, such as rockets, 155 mm artillery shells, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells.
Theoretical training uses inert munitions identical to the actual explosives.
Most of the course is comprised of hands-on training focusing on the on-site destruction of unexploded munitions using explosives, the chief training officer told the Associated Press. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to disclose his identity for security reasons.
“They’re trained on ordnance disposal using real explosives,” the officer said. “That will be the trainees’ primary task when they return.”
Cypriot officials said the Ukrainian trainees did not want to be either interviewed or photographed.
Defusing discarded munitions or landmines in areas where explosive charges can’t be used — for instance, near a hospital — is not part of this course because that’s the task of highly trained teams of disposal experts whose training can last as long as eight months, the officer said.
Trainees, divided into groups of eight, are taught how to operate metal detectors and other tools for detecting munitions like prodders — long, thin rods which are used to gently probe beneath the ground’s surface in search of landmines and other explosive ordnance.
Another tool is a feeler, a rod that’s used to detect booby-trapped munitions. There are many ways to booby-trap such munitions, unlike landmines which require direct pressure to detonate.
“Booby-trapped munitions are a widespread phenomenon in Ukraine,” the chief training officer explained.
Training, primarily conducted by experts from other European Union countries, takes place both in forested and urban areas at different army camps and follows strict safety protocols.
The short, intense training period keeps the Ukrainians focused.
“You see the interest they show during instruction: they ask questions, they want to know what mistakes they’ve made and the correct way of doing it,” the officer said.
Humanitarian data and analysis group ACAPS said in a Jan. 2024 report that 174,000 sq. kilometers (67,182 sq. miles) or nearly 29% of Ukraine’s territory needs to be surveyed for landmines and other explosive ordnance.
More than 10 million people are said to live in areas where demining action is needed.
Since 2022, Russian forces have used at least 13 types of anti-personnel mines, which target people. Russia never signed the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning the use of anti-personnel mines, but the use of such mines is nonetheless considered a violation of its obligations under international law.
Russia also uses 13 types of anti-tank mines.
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines said in its 2023 Landmine Monitor report that Ukrainian government forces may have also used antipersonnel landmines in contravention of the Mine Ban Treaty in and around the city of Izium during 2022, when the city was under Russian control.
