Airdropping aid to Gaza is a ‘man-made' last resort: Food crisis expert
Mercy Corps CEO Tjada D'Oyen Mckenna discusses the effectiveness of Canada's airdropped aid to Gaza and the ongoing hunger crisis.
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Globe and Mail
6 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Report on anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab racism will inform recommendations to government, special representative says
Canada's special representative on combatting Islamophobia says a new report that tracks anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab racism in this country since Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel will help shape her recommendations to the government on the issue. Amira Elghawaby was referring to a report from York University's Islamophobia Research Hub that looks at cases of harassment from 2023 and 2024 and was released in Ottawa Wednesday. 'This report will help inform the advice that I provide to the federal government,' Ms. Elghawaby told a news conference, adding that she will be reviewing the 15 recommendations in the document. 'We will be looking at where they are related directly to my mandate and then we will be having discussions with decision makers on these.' The report says there has been a rise in anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia, anti-Arab racism and antisemitism since the militant group Hamas launched a series of attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. The Hamas attacks killed 1,200 people in Israel, which responded with a military offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 60,000 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. What does Canada's recognition of a Palestinian state mean in practice? Researchers say the incidents include the targeting of young people in schools and postsecondary institutions and hate-motivated crimes. The report also refers to what it calls the 'Palestinian exception,' referring to incidents of censorship, discipline and punishment for those speaking out against violence by the Israeli state and for Palestinian human rights. The report's 15 recommendations include adopting a definition of anti-Palestinian racism at all levels of government, as well as related curriculum development, training and education. There's also a call for political and institutional leaders to speak out against such racism, provincewide reviews of how schools and school boards have handled reports of anti-Palestinian racism in schools, and creating a fund to support victims of hate-motivated crimes. 'Our hope is that this report contributes to efforts to combat the Palestine exception and strengthen democratic rights and freedoms for all,' said Nadia Hasan, director of the Islamophobia Research Hub. Carney's policy shift on Palestinian statehood met with cautious hope, criticism by Canadians 'If you go through the report, the incidents that we document here, they portray a picture of something very wrong. There is a problem that needs to be addressed, and it needs to be solved through a good-faith engagement with impacted communities.' She predicted difficult conversations on these issues, and questions on how to best proceed. 'But I think it can be done if the right processes are in place in how we consult, how we engage communities, and how we address the problem in a grounded way.' Nihad Jasser, a representative of the Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians, said the report documents how anti-Palestinian racism is real and happening in classrooms and workplaces. 'Students have been shamed for speaking about Palestine. These students are being denied the ability to mourn the death of their family members just because they are Palestinian,' she said. Ms. Elghawaby was appointed as Canada's first special representative on combatting Islamophobia in January, 2023. She said the report demonstrates that civil liberties in Canada have been threatened since 2023 with limits on freedom of expression around Palestine and the protection of Palestinian, Muslim and Arab Canadians. 'We know anti-Palestinian racism is a form of discrimination that can intersect with Islamophobia,' she said.
CTV News
26 minutes ago
- CTV News
‘We have to do something': Indigenous advocacy group opposes irrigation project
A group from Cumberland House and Star Blanket Cree Nation held a demonstration in Saskatoon on Aug. 6, 2025. They're sounding the alarm over the downstream effects of dams on the river delta. (Hallee Mandryk / CTV News) A group of Indigenous women from Cumberland House and Star Blanket Cree Nation are sharing their concerns over water security in their communities. 'The Campbell Dam, which we're just below from, that lake used to be 30 miles long and it used to be 30 to 40 feet deep. Today, it's barely two miles across, two feet of water and the rest of the sludgy sandbar and mud,' Denise McKenzie, a Saskatchewan River Delta advocate said. McKenzie is part of the Indigenous Saskatchewan Women's Environmental Water Advocacy Keepers. The group recently hosted an event in Saskatoon's Rotary Park to share their concerns and teach the public about the Saskatchewan River Delta. 'We have to do something, you know … before it completely dies on us. And we need that water, our environment needs that water. Our wildlife needs that water, and we as human beings, we need that water,' Veronica Favel, an advocate for the Saskatchewan River Delta said. The event specifically highlighted concerns about the Lake Diefenbaker Irrigation project. The $4 billion project is intended to utilize water from southern Saskatchewan's largest body of water to help agricultural production. In June, Cumberland House Cree Nation filed a lawsuit against the province for failing to protect the river delta, warning that industrial and agricultural activity upstream was causing an 'ecological crisis.' The lawsuit alleged the province was promoting further development without a credible plan to manage the environmental impacts. At the time, the First Nation said animal and fish populations in the delta have plummeted, and the water was no longer safe to drink. 'It's going really fast. I can see the next decade, if we continue this way, it's going to go on. And with the irrigation project that's going to totally wipe us out sooner,' McKenzie said on Wednesday. 'It's going really fast. I can see the next decade, if we continue this way, it's going to go on. And with the irrigation project that's going to totally wipe us out sooner,' McKenzie said. In a statement to CTV News, the Saskatchewan Water Security Agency (WSA) said it was planning a consultation process with stakeholders in the near future. 'WSA has proactively declared this project for a provincial environmental assessment and is committed to collecting feedback with rights holders and stakeholders through various engagements over the next several months,' the water regulator said. 'Gardiner Dam and Lake Diefenbaker were built for one million acres of modern irrigation. Currently there are 166,000 acres of irrigation developed in the reservoir. This means there is significant opportunity for development while still balancing the needs of other water users in the system.' But those in Rotary Park on Wednesday afternoon shared that it is about more than one irrigation project. 'It's really important because we're losing a lot of our traditional ways of life. We see it with the fires, we're seeing it with the loss of our water, that it's not just us that's being affected. It's not just the humans. It's the animals, it's all of our ways of life,' Jocelyn Ormero, the president of Gabriel Dumont Local 11 said. Ormero said that while not all Saskatchewan municipalities have bodies of water running through, there is a responsibility of those in the province to protect natural resources for the next generation to see. 'It's important that the next generation coming up in those places have some place to grow up. Because living in a city isn't everything for all of us. It's important to have those ways of life continue on in that tradition,' Ormero said. The group will be heading to Regina on Thursday to share their message in front of the Saskatchewan legislature. 'Without protecting the water, without our traditional ecological knowledge, things aren't okay, and we're seeing that in the world right now. Everything's on fire. And had [we] listened to Indigenous ways of knowing, that might not be the case,' Ormero said. -With files from Rory MacLean
CTV News
36 minutes ago
- CTV News
Alberta calls new Edmonton bike lanes problematic
Devin Dreeshen, Alberta's transportation minister, says he plans to meet with Edmonton's mayor about "problematic" new bike lanes. CTV News Edmonton's Jeremy Thompson has the latest.
