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Trudeau en route to Southeast Asia for summits aimed at deeper Indo-Pacific ties

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OKYO — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is en route to Southeast Asia for a series of meetings aimed at deepening Canada’s presence in the Indo-Pacific.

The Prime Minister’s Office says his main focuses include the economy, such as inflation and supply-chain issues, support for Ukraine and the environment.

Trudeau’s first stop will be the leaders’ summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh. He is scheduled to arrive shortly after midnight on Saturday, Ottawa time.

On Saturday, Trudeau will take part in an hour-long commemoration of Canada’s 45 years of ties with the ASEAN bloc, including heads of government and state.

The 10-country bloc has some of the fastest economic growth on the planet, and started formal trade talks with Canada last year.

Wayne Farmer, head of the Canada-ASEAN Business Council, said that gives Ottawa an edge when many countries are jockeying for deeper ties in the region.

“That they selected Canada, given their limited bandwidth to negotiate … they must see something of interest in Canada to pursue,” he said, noting the booming economies are hungry for the commodities and infrastructure acumen that Canada can offer.

“They’re all having this bounce that you’re not seeing in the developed, Western world necessarily. So we need to be there, trading with them, supplying and buying from them — and also learning from them,” Farmer said.

“The fact that we’re showing up is good and important, and it does send a signal that we’re interested in the region.”

It hasn’t always been that way. After a speech this week unveiling part of her upcoming Indo-Pacific strategy, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly admitted that diplomats have told her about “the issue of Canada not always being a reliable partner” in the region.

“Sometimes we show up, and then we leave, and then we go back. That can’t be it,” Joly said during a question-and-answer session on Wednesday.

At the ASEAN summit, Trudeau is slated to attend a discussion on women in peace and security. He will likely visit the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, at what was a prison during the Khmer Rouge regime.

On Monday, the prime minister is scheduled to head to Indonesia for the G20 summit in Bali, a meeting of the world’s largest economies.

He is among the leaders of rich countries who are pressing their developing-country peers to further isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine.

“It is clear that his barbaric war is jeopardizing our pandemic economic recovery, has amplified the global inflation crisis, and has worsened the world’s food and energy crisis. Its indirect impacts are making people hungrier, colder and poorer,” Trudeau wrote in a publication for the G20 Research Group at the University of Toronto.

“I am going to the Bali Summit with the objectives of holding Russia to account for its illegal war, demonstrating Canada’s unshakable belief in multilateral co-operation, and advancing global economic growth.”

Other G20 countries such as India, China, Cambodia and Thailand have abstained in UN General Assembly resolutions condemning Russia.

This year’s summit host, Indonesia, has stressed the importance of focusing on consensus instead of division. It has asked leaders to focus on shoring up health systems, and boosting food and energy security.

John Kirton, who leads the G20 Research Group, said it’s hard to separate those issues from the strain the Russian invasion is putting on global systems.

“This war is hurting the very emerging and developing countries whose support (Putin) needs to win,” said Kirton, who is anticipating efforts at the G20 to broaden a deal with Russia that has helped get Ukrainian grain to developing countries.

With the West pushing to isolate Russia and developing countries seeking help to recover from the pandemic, he said this summit faces severe challenges.

“The unprecedented divide will be bridged, so that the summit can get on to doing its regular work,” Kirton said.

Putin will not be attending the Bali summit, but it will include the first meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping as heads of state.

Following the G20, Trudeau will make a brief stop in Bangkok, Thailand, to meet with leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group.

The summit is focused on the removal of trade barriers on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, as well as climate change.

Kirton warned that this might mean other countries pressure the U.S. to expand recent policies that offer tax credits for buying electric vehicles made in North America, a deal that benefits Canada but not Japan or South Korea.

Trudeau then heads to Tunisia for the Francophonie summit, a meeting of French-speaking countries that includes large swaths of Africa.

The prime minister will partake in roundtables on digital connectivity as well as the role of women and youth.

Yet politics may overshadow the agenda, with Canada having raised concerns about anti-democratic moves by the Tunisian government.

Just weeks ago, Trudeau said he wasn’t sure whether he’d attend the summit, and didn’t deny reports that Canada pushed to have it moved to another country.

Each summit will involve bilateral meetings between Trudeau and world leaders. His office has publicly confirmed a meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, and an intent to meet for the first time in-person with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the G20.

The trip is not likely to involve major defence announcements, in part because of Canada’s limited military presence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Canadian Forces are taking part in a UN mission to monitor various sanctions on North Korea, to prevent goods and fuel from being trafficked between boats. And Canada recently announced talks to share intelligence with Japan.

Yet last year, Canada was excluded from a security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States known as AUKUS.

Canada is also not part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, often dubbed “the Quad,” which Japan started in 2004 to meet with the U.S., Australia and India. The group has had increasingly frequent meetings as China asserts itself in the region.

Trade Minister Mary Ng is accompanying Trudeau for the Southeast Asia portion of the 10-day trip, while Joly will skip the APEC meeting in Thailand to lay the ground for Trudeau’s visit to the Francophonie summit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 11, 2022.

 

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

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Climate protesters arrested outside Pierre Poilievre’s official residence in Ottawa

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OTTAWA – Ottawa police say two people were arrested this morning after an “unlawful” demonstration outside Stornoway, the official residence the Opposition leader.

Greenpeace Canada says its activists blocked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s house and two of them locked themselves to a replica oil pumpjack placed in the driveway.

The non-profit has been critical of Poilievre’s climate change voting record and his advocacy for the oil and gas sector.

Ottawa police say in a statement that about 12 people gathered outside Stornoway shortly after 7 a.m., blocking access to the residence with a “structure” and “not allowing the family to pass.”

Police say two of the demonstrators refused to comply with “repeated” orders to remove themselves from the structure and were arrested. 

They say charges are pending against the two men who were due to appear in court today. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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N.S. Liberals say if elected next week they would move fast to cut taxes, build homes

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HALIFAX – If Nova Scotia’s Liberal Party is elected to govern on Tuesday, leader Zach Churchill says that within the first 100 days he would call for a meeting of the Atlantic premiers to discuss replacing the federal carbon tax.

Speaking at a news conference Thursday at Liberal campaign headquarters in Halifax, Churchill said he would try to sell the other premiers on his plan to use a regional cap-and-trade system to reduce carbon emissions. 

Churchill has said newly elected New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt is interested in the idea, though she has yet to commit to such a plan. He said there’s an opportunity persuade Prince Edward Island Premier Dennis King and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Mark Furey.

“We know it isn’t the right policy for pollution pricing in Atlantic Canada,” said Churchill, who has distanced himself from Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government introduced the carbon price.

“We’ve got four governments that do not want the carbon tax, and we have an alternative that can lower prices at the pump while doing our part to reduce emissions.”

He acknowledged that if the federal Liberals lose the election slated for next year, the carbon tax will likely be eliminated, negating the need for a cap-and-trade system.

Churchill said that within 100 days of taking office, a provincial Liberal government would also alert Ottawa to its plan to reduce the harmonized sales tax to 13 per cent from 15 per cent; appoint a minister of women’s health; and recall the legislature to table a budget with income tax cuts and plans to build 80,000 new homes.

Meanwhile, Nova Scotia’s three main political leaders were scheduled Thursday to take part in a “roundtable discussion” organized by CTV News in Halifax. Churchill was expected to be joined by Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston, who is seeking a second term in office, and NDP Leader Claudia Chender.

The 90-minute exchange, moderated by CTV News anchor Todd Battis, is to be televised at 6:30 p.m. local time. 

Last Thursday, the leaders appeared together on CBC TV, and they also sparred during an event hosted earlier this week by the Halifax Chamber of Commerce.

At dissolution, the Progressive Conservatives held 34 seats in the 55-seat legislature and the Liberals held 14 seats, while the NDP had six and there was one Independent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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What to know about Transgender Day of Remembrance and violence against trans people

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Wednesday is Transgender Day of Remembrance, which focuses on trans people who have lost their lives because of violence. Here is what to know.

What is Transgender Day of Remembrance?

Transgender Day of Remembrance is marked every Nov. 20 and began in 1999 to honor Rita Hester, a trans woman who was killed in Massachusetts.

The day marks the end of Transgender Awareness Week, which is used to raise public knowledge about transgender people and the issues they face.

The Williams Institute at UCLA Law estimates that 1.6 million people in the U.S. ages 13 and older identify as transgender. And it says transgender people are over four times more likely than cisgender people to be victims of violence, including rape and assault.

Candlelight vigils, memorials and other events are held to mark the day. The Human Rights Campaign also released its annual report on deaths of transgender people in conjunction with the day.

International Transgender Day of Visibility, which is designed to bring attention to transgender people, is commemorated in March.

How many transgender people have lost their lives to violence?

At least 36 transgender people have died from violence in the 12 months since the last Day of Remembrance, the Human Rights Campaign said in its annual report. Since 2013, the organization has recorded the deaths from violence of 372 victims who were transgender and gender-expansive — which refers to someone with a more flexible range of gender identity or expression than typically associated with the binary gender system.

The number of victims is likely higher because many deaths often aren’t reported or are misreported, or misgendering of the victims leads to delays in their identification.

The Human Rights Campaign said there was a slight increase from the previous year, when it identified at least 33 transgender victims of violence.

A large number of the victims tracked over the past year were young or people of color, with Black transgender women making up half of the 36 identified. The youngest victim identified was 14-year-old Pauly Likens of Pennsylvania.

Two-thirds of the fatalities involved a firearm, the organization said. Nearly a third of the victims with a known killer were killed by an intimate partner, a friend or a family member.

What is at stake politically?

This year’s remembrance follows an election where advocates say victories by President-elect Donald Trump and other Republican candidates who focused on issues like transgender athletes dealt a setback to trans people’s rights.

It also follows a wave of measures enacted in Republican states this year restricting the rights of transgender people, especially youth.

Half the states have banned gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next month in a lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s ban.

Advocates say the legislation and rhetoric is creating fewer safe spaces for transgender people, and they worry it could spur more violence against trans people.

___

Associated Press writer Jeff McMillan in northeastern Pennsylvania contributed to this report.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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