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National Post
14 minutes ago
- National Post
Court ruling declaring removal of bike lanes unconstitutional is 'ridiculous': Doug Ford
THORNHILL — Ontario Premier Doug Ford teed off Wednesday on a court decision declaring his law to remove three Toronto bike lanes unconstitutional, calling it the 'most ridiculous' ruling he has ever seen. Article content Ford has already said his government plans to appeal, even as it works on a compromise with the city to both keep the bike lanes and add extra lanes for vehicle traffic. Article content Article content He said he has faith that the Court of Appeal will overturn the lower-court ruling, but in the event it does not, he did not rule out using the notwithstanding clause to save the law. Article content Article content 'Let's see what happens at the Court of Appeals, and then we'll go from there, but I have confidence in the courts,' Ford said at an unrelated transit announcement. Article content Ontario Superior Court Justice Paul Schabas ruled the lane removals would put people at an 'increased risk of harm and death' and violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Article content He noted that the government had received advice from experts, reports from Toronto officials and evidence from the city and elsewhere that removing bike lanes 'will not achieve the asserted goal' of the law, to reduce traffic. Article content Ford made the removal of bike lanes on Bloor Street, Yonge Street and University Avenue a campaign issue during the snap election he called and won in February, and he says the judge's ruling tramples on people's democratic rights. Article content Article content 'This is the most ridiculous decision I've ever seen,' he said. Article content Article content 'I've never seen a decision like this, that a judge overrules the people of Ontario because of ideology — not because of law — ideology, but we knew when they picked this judge where it was going anyway, so it's not a big surprise.' Article content It's not the first time Ford has called judges' integrity into question. In April he blasted judges he perceives as being soft on crime, and floated ideas such as electing judges and offering them payouts to retire early. Article content
CBC
15 minutes ago
- CBC
Anti-Palestinian racism report calls for more oversight of education, policing and politics
Social Sharing A new report from the Islamophobia Research Hub at York University calls on governments across Canada to increase oversight on how universities, schools, police forces and Parliament deal with the recent spike in instances of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism. The report also calls on all levels of government in Canada to officially recognize May 15 as Nakba Day. Palestinians mark the day after Israel declared independence in 1948 as the beginning of the destruction of their homeland. "Provincial governments should develop curriculum, train staff and educate students on Palestinian culture, identity and history, including the history of the Nakba," the report published Wednesday said. It also wants all levels of government to "recognize and adopt" a definition of anti-Palestinian racism (APR) "as a distinct and detrimental form of racism that operates at multiple levels of state and society." The director of the research hub, Nadia Hasan, an assistant professor in the School of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies at York University, said recognizing both Nakba Day and an official definition for APR would set Canada apart from other countries. "These are important things for Canada to take very seriously," Hasan said. "I think it would be a first and an important step for Canada to lead on." The report examines the increase in Islamophobic verbal and physical attacks directed at Arab and Palestinian Canadians since the beginning of the conflict between Hamas and Israel. The war was triggered when Hamas-led militants attacked Israeli communities and military bases near Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, including more than 700 civilians, and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's military response has devastated the tiny, crowded enclave, killing more than 61,000 people — mostly civilians — according to Palestinian health authorities. The report says its findings are based on interviews conducted virtually with 16 Canadian community-based organizations that focus on addressing Islamophobia, APR and anti-Arab racism. Media reports were also used. The report does not include any first-hand accounts from victims or injured parties. Recommendations and calling out the CBC The report calls for greater oversight of post-secondary institutions by striking "advisory tables" made up of students and faculty to develop strategies for colleges and universities to use in combatting discrimination on campus. The authors of the report also call for those institutions to undergo third-party reviews of how they responded to incidents of Islamophobia and campus protests against the war in Gaza. They say school boards across Canada should also face province-wide reviews to determine how schools have dealt with incidents of anti-Palestinian racism and examine "cases that were insufficiently or never investigated." Aside from the increased scrutiny on universities, colleges and school boards across the county, the report wants to establish provincial and territorial "hate crime accountability units." The units would allow people alleging they have been the victims of discrimination to "report directly about law enforcement agencies' mishandling of hate-motivated crime cases." The report also calls for Canada's public broadcaster to be "reviewed to ensure fair and balanced coverage of Palestinian perspectives." This external review, the report says, should probe the possibility that CBC is disproportionately "rejecting Palestinian guest commentators" leading to biased media coverage. The report provides two reasons for its focus on CBC. The first is a report by a former employee who alleged she faced backlash for pitching "stories that would bring a balanced perspective" to the war in Gaza. The second reason is a letter sent to CBC signed by more than 500 members of the Racial Equity Media Collective asking the public broadcaster to "address an apparent pattern of anti-Palestinian bias, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism within the corporation's news and documentary culture." CBC's head of public affairs, Chuck Thompson, said an external review is not necessary because CBC is already accountable to the independent CBC Ombudsman, Maxime Bertrand, who regularly reviews complaints about the corporation's journalism. "CBC News has amplified countless Palestinian voices in our ongoing coverage of the conflict in Gaza," he said. "There are now thousands of stories we've published and broadcast about Israel and Gaza since 2023, all archived here … we think the work speaks for itself." The York University report references CBC News journalism covering dozens of instances of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism. A policy for MPs The report is also calling on Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein, who administers the Conflict of Interest Act and the code of conduct for MPs, to be given increased responsibilities. The commissioner, the report says, "should develop a clear and enforceable policy on how parliamentarians are to be held accountable when they disseminate disinformation, especially … when such acts target marginalized communities." It provides only one example of an MP allegedly spreading disinformation, a post on X by Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman. The post includes the line: "Stickers with ❤️s glorifying terror on campus popped up today at UBC." The report notes the stickers were falsely associated with the UBC Social Justice Centre. CBC News has reached out to the Official Opposition for reaction to the allegation but has yet to receive a response. The 15 recommendations contained in the report also call on the federal government to address issues with the temporary resident visa program for refugees fleeing Gaza and probe alleged Israeli foreign interference in Canada. A Senate report released November 2023 found Islamophobia remains a persistent problem in Canada and concrete action is required to reverse the growing tide of hate across the country. The report, the first of its kind in Canada, took a year and involved 21 public meetings and 138 witnesses. It said incidents of Islamophobia are a daily reality for many Muslims and that one in four Canadians do not trust Muslims. Police and advocacy organizations have also reported increases in antisemitic incidents. In the spring, B'nai Brith Canada reported that in 2024 the total number of reported cases of acts of hatred targeting Jews had reached a record high of 6,219 incidents.
Globe and Mail
44 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
The Democrats won't be in the dumps for long
It's not news that Canada needs. Our party in the United States, the Democratic Party, which we've always favoured over the less progressive Republicans, appears to be in dire straits. Typical of its troubles is a Wall Street Journal poll saying the party has reached a 35-year-low in public esteem, with 63 per cent of voters holding a negative view. The Democrats are despondent and divided from their election defeat. Their credibility has taken a hit on account of their apparent cover-up of Joe Biden's cognitive decline. They are being steamrollered in Congress by the Republicans. They lack a coherent message, a strong leader. It is all happening when, more than ever, a strong Democratic Party is needed to restrain the authoritarian impulses of Donald Trump, who is going so far as to have Barack Obama investigated. But the party's condition isn't as dire as it is being made out to be. Much of what we're seeing is not unusual for a party in the months after losing a presidential election. Since first being based in Washington in 1978, I've seen the same pattern repeatedly. Initially it's all doom and gloom for the defeated party. Then the midterm elections come and that party invariably makes big gains and all the griping and crying and bad media stops. Andrew Coyne: The final obstacle to Trump's dictatorship may be the people he needs to borrow from Trump says Vance 'most likely' to lead as Republican nominee in 2028 It's only natural that in the wake of the Trump defeat, there is dissent and finger pointing and division among the Democrats. It's standard fare to be trailing well behind the honeymooning victors in the polls. It's hardly surprising to appear rudderless given that in the American system, there is no opposition party leader as such. And it's to be expected that with the Republicans in control of the House, the Senate and the White House, they are having their way. But despite their follies, the Democrats currently lead the Republicans in generic polls for Congressional control. The Trump victory has not translated in a boost in support for Republicans. In three polls released Wednesday, he was an average of negative-seven in favourability ratings. Only 38 per cent of Americans say the country is on the right track. What is being overlooked by those attacking the Democrats is their talent pool. The party is stacked with talent. There's California Governor Gavin Newsom, there's former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Representative Ro Khanna, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. That doesn't include firebrand representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who political analyst Nate Silver and others are already touting as the favourite to win the party's 2028 nomination. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez's prominence, however, is one of the reasons the party is said to be doing so poorly. She's dragging the party to the far left. She is therefore deemed to be a gift to Republicans. That could well be the case. It could also be old-think, another example of an out-of-touch establishment mentality, discounting how American politics has changed and is changing. Polls by Gallup and AtlasIntel show AOC scoring a higher positive impression than Mr. Trump. An Emerson College poll shows her neck-and-neck with Vice-President J.D. Vance. AOC has passion and star power. She is inheriting Bernie Sanders's base of support. As a Latina, that base potentially extends to Hispanic America. At the age of just 35, her base extends to the youth of the country. She represents generational change in spades. Clobbering all comers in fundraising, she brought in almost US$10-million in the first quarter of this year. The party needs a fighter who connects with working people; AOC is that too. An anti-establishment rising star like her is hardly an example of a party in decline. On the Republican side, Mr. Trump has been scoring foreign policy wins, but they aren't vote-getters. The party just received rotten economic numbers, leading Mr. Trump to idiotically blame it on his statistics chief and, in banana-republic style, fire her. Most every economist is of the view that the Trump trade war will spark high inflation, handing the Democrats the affordability issue. His recently passed 'big beautiful bill' is getting a big ugly reception for cutting into social security and catering to the rich. The Epstein controversy is fracturing unity in the party's base. This is all going to help Democratic Party disarray go away. In keeping with precedent, we can expect the party to vigorously reassert itself by the midterms, just like it did in the midterms in 2018. We recall how down in the dumps the Democrats were after losing to Mr. Trump two years earlier. It didn't last.
