Latest news with #Macdonald
Ottawa Citizen
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Robson: Ottawa's neo-Nazi trial shows legal gaps around terrorism in the digital age
On June 25, an Ottawa courtroom heard final arguments in the sentencing of Patrick Gordon Macdonald, a 27-year-old graphic designer and self-proclaimed neo-Nazi propagandist. Article content Convicted in April on three terrorism charges for creating visual content promoting the Atomwaffen Division — a group designated as a terrorist entity in Canada since 2021 — Macdonald and his actions are a wake-up call for Canadian lawmakers. Article content Article content Article content The Crown is seeking a 14-year sentence. While the severity of the charges is clear, the legislative implications remain largely unexplored. Macdonald didn't plant bombs or stockpile weapons. His weapon was digital design: posters, recruitment videos and stylized neo-Nazi visuals shared on encrypted platforms such as Telegram. And yet, these tools proved dangerously effective at spreading extremist ideologies and recruiting violent actors. Article content Canada's legal framework for counterterrorism has yet to catch up with this new terrain. Unlike the United States — where under 18 U.S. Code 2339B, 'material support' for terrorism explicitly includes 'services,' 'personnel' and 'expert advice or assistance' (even in the form of media production) — Canada's laws lack specificity in this domain. Article content The Macdonald case shows why that must change. Article content We need to expand the Canadian definition of 'material support for terrorism' to clearly encompass digital content creation, visual propaganda and recruitment media. In an era when extremist ideologies are packaged as sleek visuals and distributed through decentralized networks, it's no longer sufficient to target only those who commit physical acts of violence. Article content Article content Visual radicalization is real, and it's accelerating. According to testimony during the hearing, Macdonald's work for Atomwaffen and the Sonnenkrieg Division — another designated terrorist group — was used in active recruitment efforts. His propaganda lives on, recirculated across forums and messaging apps beyond his control. Article content Policymakers must also consider the creation of a dedicated unit within CSIS and the RCMP to counter visual digital extremism. Such a unit would specialize in detecting, interpreting, and dismantling visual propaganda — treating videos and imagery not just as free expression, but as operational tools of radicalization and violence. Article content Patrick Macdonald's trial is more than a legal milestone; it's a policy test. And so far, we are failing it. The courts did their part. Now it's time for Parliament to do the same. Article content
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Union activist sues claiming gender critical discrimination
She has hired the leading employment lawyer Margaret Gribbon, who is representing nurse Sandie Peggie in her tribunal against NHS Fife, to act for her. Ms Macdonald, who has held several leadership positions within the PCS, including its Scottish Government group, says she was subjected to a sustained campaign of hostility for defending women's single-sex spaces. When it was announced she was to be given the accolade of the union's coveted distinguished service award three years ago at its annual conference in Brighton, Ms Macdonald says trans activists organised an unprecedented vote from the floor in a bid to prevent the award being handed over to her. She was given no warning that this was to happen. Read more: She said: 'I'm suing them because of my belief system. I believe in a materialist and collectivist approach to politics and this runs contrary to my beliefs. Someone needs to burst this bubble in the unions and I'm now prepared to do it. 'I'd contacted a lawyer before for advice but then dropped it. Who wants to take action against their own union? 'Then recently, a friend of mine died and it prompted me to change my mind. She had also been an active trade unionist, but had found herself hounded and humiliated for her beliefs. 'The Supreme Court ruling [on single sex spaces] aligned with my perspective and yet my union issued a statement rejecting it. When I saw what was happening to Sandie Peggie, it made up my mind.' Nurse Sandie Peggie was suspended over the changing room row. (Image: PA) Ms McDonald added that 'a climate of fear' now exists inside the PCS. 'A lot of women were terrified and we were meeting in secret, in people's kitchens and by Zoom. They were losing their jobs and their positions in the union. They were being hounded.' Ms Macdonald's solicitor, Margaret Gribbon of McGrade Employment Solicitors in Glasgow, said: 'Trade unions, like employers, must comply with their duties under the Equality Act. That means they must not discriminate against members who hold gender critical or sex realists beliefs. 'Trade unions who are actively and publicly disassociating themselves with this lawful protected belief by, for instance, openly criticising the Supreme Court's decision in FWS may find it more difficult to defend litigations raised by members claiming they have been harassed or refused union assistance for holding and/or manifesting sex realist beliefs." Ms Macdonald's action against the CPS Union comes after it was revealed that Sandie Peggie is raising a similar action against her own Union, the Royal College of Nursing. Two other members of the RCN told The Herald they have also faced intimidation and discrimination for their sex-realist beliefs. A spokesperson for the PCS said: 'PCS notes that this matter may be the subject of litigation. Accordingly, we will not be offering any comment at this time.'
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Herald Scotland
Union campaigner: I was cancelled by trans rights activists
In the end, though, a series of events made her believe she had a duty to take action. 'I'd contacted a lawyer before for advice but then dropped it. Then recently, a friend of mine died and it prompted me to change my mind. She had also been an active trade unionist who had found herself hounded and humiliated for her beliefs. The Supreme Court ruling aligned with my perspective and yet my union issued a statement rejecting it. When I saw what was happening to Sandie Peggie, it made up my mind. 'I'm suing them because of my belief system. I believe in a materialist and collectivist approach to politics and this ran contrary to my beliefs. Someone needs to burst this bubble in the unions and I'm now prepared to do this.' Ms Macdonald is a retired member of the PCS, the UK's biggest civil servants' union. In a period spanning more than 20 years, she rose to become one of its leading activists and, for several years, a full-time lay official. She was vice-chair of the Scotland Committee, a co-ordinating body for all branches and groups across the civil service. And she became the first (and so far only) female chair of the National Standing Orders Committee. She was a regular speaker at TUC and STUC conferences and sat on the national appeals committee, addressing members' disputes and conduct issues. Read more: However, three years ago, an extraordinary series of events sickened her surrounding her distinguished life membership award. 'The DLM award was for my contribution to the union, including having been the only female chair of the National Standing Orders committee, as well as all my contributions at branch level and on the National Women's Forum. Some people, though, considered me to be a transphobe and had written to the general secretary to say they didn't think I should receive it because of this. 'These honours are awarded after you retire and I knew nothing of a campaign to have my nomination rejected. I was told that someone had gone to the NEC claiming falsely to have evidence from Twitter and Facebook that I was a transphobe. 'The NEC said they needed to examine this evidence. And so my nomination was put back to another meeting. I was completely oblivious to all of this. 'I was also nominated for a DLM in my Scottish Government group. A lot of them thought the same, though, and so I didn't get it because of my alleged transphobia. It didn't even get to a vote as the president felt the strength of feeling against me was so bad. 'Someone was despatched to tell me why I wouldn't be getting the DLM award. It had all been done and dusted behind my back. I had no opportunity to respond. They'd also heard that my national award was under review. The knowledge of this apparently helped swing others in the room. 'One member phoned to tell me that she was in tears at what was being said about me: they hinted I was racist and homophobic as well as transphobic. I'd devoted over 20 years of life to the union, only to discover that I was regarded as a nothing purely because of my advocacy for women's protected rights.' Ms Mackenzie believes that trans activism has become the de facto policy of her union and that it directly threatens women's rights. 'I'd begun to notice a change in the nature of the motions in the equality section occurring around 2016,' she recalls. 'When you're on the National Standing Orders committee, you get a wide oversight of the state of the union. You're seeing every motion from every branch and you have to determine if they're competent and within the rules. I was the only female on it and there are no women on it now. 'Among those being put forward, there were suddenly many concerning trans rights. I began to fear some of the demands within these motions might be in breach of the Equality Act 2010 and carried the potential to bring the union into disrepute. 'Whenever I started to talk about issues from a woman's perspective someone in meetings would always say 'and transwomen'. But these were biological men. I assumed that more people would speak up. But as time passed I felt I needed to try to understand this ideology more.' She says as the campaign by trans activists to cancel her award proceeded, it was accompanied by moves to humiliate her in public. 'A few days before I was due in Brighton to pick up my award, I broke my ankle badly. So, they said I could accept my award by video link. I said I couldn't do this as I was in a lot of pain. I'd had two plates inserted and was housebound for months. 'So, they said I could be invited to come back to get the award at another time. Then, they suggested making the presentation at the president's reception at that year's STUC conference. However I heard nothing. 'At the conference when my nomination went forward, I was told, for the first time ever, a ballot had been organised to ratify it from the floor. 'So they decided to put it to a vote and ballot papers were actually produced. From my perspective this was the worst kind of discrimination. Fiona Macdonald had wanted to hear Mark Serwotka speak. (Image: PA)"It was Mark Serwotka's last conference (past general secretary) and I wanted to hear him speak so I was viewing this at home. I knew nothing about the vote. I could see people saying I shouldn't receive this award. And although the president was dismissing them it was a shock to hear all this when you didn't even know beforehand that it would take place. "I was sitting at home following a big operation. The disappointment and hurt at hearing all this stuff being said was extreme. 'This was further discrimination on the basis of my beliefs. It's why I'm suing them. I asked them a year later what had happened about my award, but didn't get a reply. I couldn't believe that people I'd been friendly with vanished when I looked to them for support. I just broke down. I called a friend and said I couldn't believe this was happening and that no-one had thought to tell me.' 'He said he didn't realise how bad it had all got. So many of them were involved in other aspects of union work.' Ms Macdonald wrote to the general secretary, Fran Heathcote, to ask what had happened to her award two years after she was meant to receive it, only to be told by Ms Heathcote that she didn't know she hadn't received it. 'She suggested that I could choose a local meeting where I could receive it. I responded that I'd feel uncomfortable about going to a local meeting where I'd been intimidated by some of their members. That's when they said they would send it in the post. I found that deeply offensive. It seemed designed to humiliate me further." This final insult, she says, was the culmination of almost a decade of serial abuse Ms Macdonald says she suffered within the PCS for rejecting trans ideology. When she began to fear that some of this would hurt women she began to get involved in Facebook discussions with other union members. Read more Kevin McKenna: 'I remember chatting to some people who were saying that 'transwomen are women'. I said to them: 'If I think I'm a cat, who's to say I'm not if you're only going on the evidence of people's feelings'. You need to be more scientifically sound about this. This is when I realised I'd made a target for my back. 'The first in-person meeting I went to was organised by Women's Place UK on Leith Walk in a venue called Out of the Blue. I was trying to say that this issue will be bad news for unions because it looks like we'd be in breach of the Equality Act and expose us to action further down the line. I was also calling on women to become involved in the debate to defend themselves. 'When I got there, a group called 'Sisters Uncut' were waiting outside banging pots and pans. 'One of the speakers was a de-transitioner, Gill Campbell. There was also a woman who'd been threatened with having her child taken from her because she wouldn't affirm that child in her desired gender. These women's testimonies were really painful to listen to, shocking actually. 'The wrath that the de-transitioning woman faced and the family who had been destroyed because a school and the social workers were targeting her for not affirming her child's new identity was very distressing. This is when I realised what no debate actually means. There were politicians and trans activists outside literally trying to drown them out.' By then though, she felt that the genie was out of the bottle and couldn't be put back in. She now began receiving casual threats on Facebook, including 'Pride is watching you' from, she says, the LGBT cohort inside the PCS. She'd noticed others were getting the same treatment. 'It was quite menacing,' she says. 'A climate of fear had been created inside the union. We were meeting in secret in people's kitchens and by Zoom. A lot of women were terrified. They were right to be: they were losing their jobs and their positions in the union. They were being hounded.' Fiona Macdonald now believes that if it hadn't been for the intervention of Mark Serwotka and his successor as general secretary, Fran Heathcote, that her Distinguished Life Membership award would have been cancelled completely. 'Leadership sometimes means though, that you have to stand up and say unpopular things,' she says. 'History will record who stood against oppression and many trade union leaders will be remembered for staying silent or joining with the discrimination. A spokesperson for the PCS said: 'PCS notes that this matter may be the subject of litigation. Accordingly, we will not be offering any comment at this time.'
Edinburgh Reporter
5 days ago
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
Macdonald bolsters East tennis men
East of Scotland tennis men pulled as rabbit out of the hat today going into a GB Summer County Cup clash with Northamptonshire at Eastbourne which could be crucial to their chances of remaining in the top flight, Division One. Linking up with the squad and going straight into action is Alan Macdonald, GB veterans team member and current doubles coach to Jamie Murray. Macdonald is a long established county week regular. Macdonald was initially unavailable but finds himself partnering Sam McNeil after East lost ground in as 3-6 defeat by Warwickshire having won their opening match. East may have gone down yesterday but it was tantalisingly close with both the Scott Duncan/Euan McIntosh and Lance Nisbet/James MacKinlay combinations losing out in deciding tie-breaks. Meanwhile, East women were due to face North Wales in Group Four at Cheltenham having added the scalp of Norfolk (5-4) to an opening day victory over Lincolnshire (8-1). After the first round of matches East led 3-0 and looked to be cruising but it took a comfortable final round win for Sarah McFadyen and Shaylin Holt to get them over the line. Like this: Like Related
National Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- National Post
Raymond J. de Souza: Via Rail's Toronto-to-Vancouver line tells the story of Canada
Article content Having never been north of Lake Superior, the beauty of the vast forest and innumerable lakes was entirely new to me. The reality of that Shield is omnipresent; it seemed that every half-mile or so the train slipped through narrows opened by massive blasting of the rock. Article content The political challenge required a bit of blasting too. Article content 'In the Canada of 1871, 'nationalism' was a strange, new word,' wrote Berton. 'Patriotism was derivative, racial cleavage was deep, culture was regional, provincial animosities savage and the idea of unity ephemeral.' Article content Macdonald and his allies had to promise, persuade, cajole, bully, threaten and fight their way through obstacles as tough as the rock and as high as the mountains. That they did so — and quickly, within a decade — remains improbable at 150 years distance, even though now it is a historical fact. Article content The greatness of the task summoned greatness in the men who would execute it. The cars on The Canadian are named for various heroes of our history, not limited to the CPR. There is General James Wolfe of course, with his plaque including a favourable mention of Louis-Joseph de Montcalm. Joseph Brant. David Thompson (The Canadian follows the Thompson River into the Rockies.) Article content Article content And to my delight, George Munro Grant, the 19th-century principal who made Queen's University what it became, but earlier was a protégé of Sir Sandford Fleming, who was a chief visionary for the CPR project. Sir Sanford, for good measure, developed Canada's first postage stamp and invented Standard Time — a necessity once railways sped up travel across longitudes. Article content Via Rail is bedevilled by delays as it uses the CN track, and CN's freight trains take priority. Pulling over to a siding to await a passing freight is annoying between Toronto and Ottawa. On board The Canadian it was a matter of wonder at the astonishing bounty of Canada's resources — potash, wheat, lumber, coal, oil and shipping containers, sometimes stacked one atop another, of all kinds of goods — would pass in seemingly interminable chains. Continental passenger rail may have seen its day; freight has not. Article content The traditional telling of the Canadian story is peaceable compromise, contrasted with the warmaking American character, which birthed its project in violent revolution and rebirthed it in bloody civil war. Yet when the Canadian Pacific Railway bill finally passed Parliament in 1881, Berton characterized what was to follow in martial terms. A war to liberate a country from the supremacy of the land itself was declared. Article content Article content 'Within one year an army of twelve thousand men would be marshalled to invade the North West,' Berton would write of Macdonald's great political triumph. 'Other armies would follow: ten thousand along the Fraser, twelve thousand attacking the mountain crevices, fifteen thousand blackening the face of the Shield…. The granite shield of Canada has to be cracked open to let the railway through. The mountain barrier must be breasted and broken. But the great adventure was launched.' Article content
