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Privy Council to continue anti-racism efforts, clerk says after report release

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OTTAWA – The head of the federal public service says he is personally committed to “continuous action” to address racism and discrimination in the workplace, following the public release of an internal report that details employees’ troubling experiences on the job.

Privy Council clerk John Hannaford says the department has put a number of initiatives in place, including an office led by a chief diversity officer, which is developing an anti-racism and equity plan.

His comments come after the Coalition Against Workplace Discrimination publicly released a report Monday that details discrimination and and racism faced by employees in the Privy Council Office.

The coalition obtained the report through the Access to Information Act.

The report shows Black and racialized employees described being passed over for opportunities given to white colleagues, and cites the example of Black employees who said they had to intervene with managers who used the N-word in their presence.

Hannaford says in a statement the report was part of an anti-racism and equity effort launched in 2021 and was shared internally last year.

The coalition has called for Deputy Clerk Nathalie Drouin, who it said has been in charge of the discrimination file since 2021, and Matthew Shea, assistant secretary to the cabinet, ministerial services and corporate affairs, to resign.

“We are particularly concerned about the lack of accountability measures against leaders who were at the helm while widespread discrimination was a regular occurrence,” Nicholas Marcus Thompson, president of the Black Class Action Secretariat, which leads the coalition, said at a press conference Monday.

Hannaford said the government won’t be asking them to step down.

He has “full confidence” in Drouin and Shea, he said in a statement Tuesday.

“The entire management team and I are committed to taking continuous action to identify and address any barriers that may exist in the federal public service,” he said.

The office has instituted an ombudsman “to help foster trust and psychological safety,” anti-bias training, support for employee-led networks and professional growth programs for Black, Indigenous and racialized employees, he said.

The government has improved representation in the department, he said including boosting the number of racialized employees in its executive ranks from 10.1 per cent to 27.3 per cent since 2020.

But Thompson said Monday many key recommendations from the report still haven’t been addressed, and pointed to equitable hiring practices, such as name-blind screening and third-party hiring, as one example.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Importers brace for launch of new portal to collect duties

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MONTREAL – Importers say a new online portal for collecting taxes on goods shipped into Canada is creating headaches ahead of its rollout this week, with potential implications for consumers.

On Monday, the federal government’s digital platform for paying duties is set to come online in an effort to streamline the old, paper-based process that customs officials relied on for decades.

Many of the complaints revolve around registration, while others relate to navigating the platform itself, which will be used to collect some $40 billion in annual revenue.

Lisa McEwan, co-owner of customs brokerage firm Hemisphere Freight, says she’s had to hire new staff to handle the “onboarding” process and help clients make payments amid confusion over issues ranging from business numbers to customs bonds.

She and others also say federal employees seemed overwhelmed and sometimes took weeks to respond to queries in the lead-up to the launch of what’s known as the Canada Border Services Agency Assessment Revenue Management project, or CARM.

The CBSA says the portal will simplify the import process by offering tens of thousands of shippers a modern platform for submitting documents and direct access to their information while shoring up compliance with trade rules.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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Israeli strikes on northern Gaza leave at least 87 dead or missing, Palestinian officials say

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DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes on homes in the northern Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday left at least 87 people dead or missing, the territory’s Health Ministry said, as a large-scale operation continued against Hamas militants said to be regrouping.

The ministry said another 40 people were wounded in the strikes on the town of Beit Lahiya, which was among the first targets of Israel’s ground invasion nearly a year ago. The Israeli military said it carried out a strike on a Hamas target.

Palestinian officials say hundreds of people have been killed in Israel’s two-week operation in northern Gaza, and that the health sector there is close to collapse.

The United States, meanwhile, was investigating an unauthorized release of classified documents indicating that Israel was moving military assets into place for a military strike in response to Iran’s ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1., according to three U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Iran supports both Hamas and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

The U.S. is urging Israel to press for a cease-fire in Gaza following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar last week. But neither Israel nor Hamas has shown interest in such a deal after months of negotiations sputtered to a halt in August.

Lebanese army says 3 soldiers killed in Israeli strike

A year of escalating tensions between Israel and Hezbollah boiled over into all-out war last month. Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon early this month.

The Lebanese army said three soldiers were killed in an Israeli strike Sunday on their vehicle in southern Lebanon. There was no immediate comment on that from the Israeli military, which said it struck more than 100 Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon in the past day and continued ground operations there.

Lebanon’s army has largely kept to the sidelines in the war. The military is a respected institution in Lebanon but is not powerful enough to impose its will on Hezbollah or defend the country from an Israeli invasion.

Israel’s military said Hezbollah fired more than 170 rockets into the country on Sunday. Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said three people were lightly injured from a fire sparked by a rocket attack on the northern city of Safed.

Israel has increased strikes on southern neighborhoods of Beirut known as the Dahiyeh, a crowded residential area where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It is also home to many civilians unaffiliated with the militant group.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has called civilian casualties in Lebanon “far too high” in the Israel-Hezbollah war and urged Israel to scale back some strikes, especially in and around Beirut.

Medics warn of a catastrophic situation in Gaza

Among the dead from the strikes in Beit Lahiya were parents and eight children, according to Raheem Kheder, a medic. He said the strike flattened a multi-story building and at least four neighboring houses.

The Israeli military said it used precise munitions against a Hamas target. It said the area is an active war zone and it is trying to avoid harming civilians.

Mounir al-Bursh, director general of the Health Ministry, said the flood of wounded from the strikes compounded “an already catastrophic situation for the health care system” in northern Gaza, in a post on X.

Doctors Without Borders, the international charity known by its French acronym MSF, called on Israeli forces to immediately stop their attacks on hospitals in northern Gaza after the Health Ministry said Israeli troops had fired on two hospitals over the weekend.

“The ever-worsening escalation of violence and non-stop Israeli military operations that we have been witnessing over the past two weeks in northern Gaza have horrifying consequences,” said Anna Halford, an emergency coordinator for MSF.

Israel’s military said it was operating near one of the hospitals but had not fired directly at it, and that it was looking into the other incident.

Internet connectivity went down in northern Gaza late Saturday and had not been restored by midday Sunday, making it difficult to gather information about the strikes and complicating rescue efforts.

Israeli operation in northern Gaza enters third week

Israeli forces have repeatedly returned to Jabaliya in northern Gaza, a densely populated urban refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

The north has already suffered the heaviest destruction of the war, and has been encircled by Israeli forces since late last year.

Israel ordered the entire population of the northern third of Gaza, including Gaza City, to evacuate to the south in the war’s opening weeks and reiterated those instructions this month. Most of the population fled last year, but around 400,000 people are believed to have remained.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel’s security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Around 100 captives are still being held in Gaza, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed over 42,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish combatants from civilians. The war has destroyed large areas of Gaza and displaced about 90% of its population of 2.3 million people.

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Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut and Zeke Miller, Mike Balsamo, Eric Tucker and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.

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Hurricane Oscar makes landfall in the Bahamas and heads toward Cuba

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MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Oscar made landfall early Sunday in the southeastern Bahamas and was heading toward Cuba, an island recently beleaguered by a massive power outage.

The National Hurricane Center in Miami said the storm’s center arrived on Great Inagua island. It is expected to produce a dangerous storm surge that could translate into significant coastal flooding there and in other areas of the southeastern Bahamas. Two to four inches of rainfall are expected, with isolated areas seeing up to six inches.

Forecasters said five to 10 inches of rain are expected across eastern Cuba through Tuesday, with some isolated locations getting up to 15 inches.

Oscar formed Saturday off the coast of the Bahamas and brushed past the Turks and Caicos islands to the south.

The National Hurricane Center earlier characterized the storm as “tiny,” but hurricane warnings were in place Sunday for southeastern Bahamas and portions of Cuba.

The storm’s maximum sustained winds were clocked at 80 mph (130 kph) with higher gusts. Its center was located about 150 miles (240 kilometers) east-northeast of Guantanamo, Cuba. The storm was heading west at 12 mph (19 kph) and was expected to reach Guantanamo or Holguin, Cuba, on Sunday afternoon at hurricane strength.

The hurricane’s approach comes as Cuba tries to recover from its worst blackout in at least two years, which left millions without power for two days last week. Some electrical service was restored Saturday.

Philippe Papin of the National Hurricane Center said it was somewhat unexpected that Oscar became a hurricane Saturday.

“Unfortunately the system kind of snuck up a little bit on us,” Papin said.

Hours earlier Tropical Storm Nadine formed off Mexico’s southern Caribbean coast. It degenerated into a tropical depression as it moved over land.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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