Hate crimes

Violent country does violence

syd mcwilliams

news writer

There is a disturbing trend in Canada that goes against everything people typically associate with Canadians. According to a recent report from Statistics Canada, police-reported hate crimes have been on the rise, and in the first year of the pandemic, they went up by 37 per cent. The main offence has been an increase in race-related hate crimes which rose by 80 per cent from 2019 to 2020. According to the report, crimes against East

“There has been a long history of systemic racism within Canada, and there’s lots of different examples of it that have not been addressed for years. And what that does is then give an opportunity for people who want to protect their privilege to continue down that path, but do it in more extreme ways.

– Gord Barnes

and Southeast Asian people went up 301 per cent, crimes against Black people went up 92 per cent, crimes against Indigenous people went up 152 per cent, and crimes against South Asian people went up 47 per cent. The report says the highest increases in police-reported hate crimes were seen in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Ontario.

“There has been a long history of systemic racism within Canada, and there’s lots of different examples of it that have not been addressed for years. And what that does is then give an opportunity for people who want to protect their privilege to continue down that path, but do it in more extreme ways. And the results of that might be more serious hate crimes against people based on their gender, or gender orientation, or ethnicity, or country of origin, or color,” said Gord Barnes, a field officer for Amnesty International Saskatchewan, which is an organization that promotes human rights for all.

After the release of the report, Canada organized a cross-country police task force aimed at targeting hate crimes in Canada. The task force was started by the

Canadian Race Relations Foundation and the Chiefs of Police national roundtable, and will be co-chaired by the CRRF and the RCMP. The announcement was made at a national conference in Toronto. According to the press release for the announcement, the task force will focus on raising awareness of what constitutes a hate crime and the impact these crimes have on communities. The released statement also acknowledges that a lot of communities have little confidence in reporting hate crimes to police, and the hope is that this task force can help change that attitude.

People of Asian descent have been particularly targeted since the beginning of the pandemic. Anti-Asian rhetoric and misinformation spread about COVID-19 have compounded the problem of hate crimes against Asian people as some racists began to blame Chinese people for the virus. The abuse hasn’t been specifically targeted towards Chinese people as there is a tendency for people in the West to lump Asian people together into one group, and people were targeted if they had East Asian characteristics.

March 16, 2022 was the oneyear anniversary of the Atlanta

spa shootings where a gunman killed eight innocent people, six of which were Asian. The shooting came at a heightened time of violence where major cities were reporting hate crimes towards Asian people at six to seven hundred percent higher than the previous year. The sudden increase in violence towards people of Asian descent in the Americas may come as a surprise to some, but Canada and the United States have a long history of racism towards Asian people that is rooted in government policies and legislation. Prime examples would be the exploitation of Chinese labourers during the construction of the railroad and the Chinse head tax of 1923.

Barnes continued “I think it is really important to create safe places for people to have frank and honest discussions about our history, and include issues around systemic racism in Canada. Many people have grown up not being aware of the history of residential schools in Canada and the consequences of the abuse that happened, and people are becoming more aware of that. It is important to have frank and honest discussions about the history and what it means, and another

example would be the Chinese people who came to Canada to build their railway and how they were treated and, and then issues around the head tax. When we look at it now and see the extent hate crimes that are happening against Asian people it’s really a concern. So we need to have these conversations about that history and have safe places for it to happen.”

While race and ethnicity are the worst-case numbers for hate crimes, there is also a high number of hate crimes related to religion, gender, and sexual identity. Jewish and Muslim people are still the most targeted people when it comes to crimes against people due to their religion. Crimes against Jewish people are one of the top reported hate crimes in the country, and anti-Semitism also spiked during pandemic months with anti-vaxxers co-opting the Star of David as their own political symbol. The incidents of reported hate crimes against sexual orientation actually dropped two per cent according to the latest report, but it was still the second-highest number since this data became available in 2009.

The staggering increase in hate crimes is shameful for a

country that claims to pride itself on inclusion and diversity. Even more shocking is that these numbers are probably much higher, since hate crimes often go unreported due to a lack of faith in the police, lack of faith charges will actually place, and because some hate crimes get reported as misdemeanors because they are easier to charge. In order to reach a state in a society where crimes like this are no longer an issue, it will require a lot of work on the part of governments, police services, organizations, and everyday people standing up for a just and equal world.

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Ukraine suspends 11 opposition parties

Platform for Life holds 45 seats

syd mcwilliams

news writer

On Sunday, March 20, Ukrainian President Voldomyr Zelenskyy released a video statement suspending 11 of Ukraine’s opposition parties. The majority of the suspended parties are quite small, but on the list was the opposition Platform for Life, who came in second in the last election and currently holds 45 of the 450 seats in the Ukrainian parliament. The rest of the parties include the Shariy Party, Nashi, Opposition Bloc, Left Opposition, Union of Left Forces, State, Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialist Party of Ukraine, Socialists Party, and Volodymyr Saldo Bloc. The reason given for suspending these parties was due to the fact that they are known for being “Pro-Russian.” In a video address last Sunday, Zelenskyy said “Given the full-scale war waged by the Russian Federation and the ties of some political structures with this state, any activity of a number of political parties during the martial law is suspended.”

The goal of Ukraine’s national security and defense council in suspending the operation of parties was to prevent them from creating division within the Ukraine or colluding against the Ukrainian government.

“It is not a ban on parties. These political action groups are tied to oligarchic ‘dark money,’ oligarchs who are trying to politically leverage local opinion by organizing so-called political parties to oppose the government as a way to secure influence. The only real political party that appears to be targeted is Medvedchuk’s opposition Platform for Life,” said Bohdan Kordan, a professor of political science whose research involves Ukrainian politics.

“Medvedchuk is an oligarch and the godfather of Putin’s daughter. Prior to the conflict he was regularly seen in Moscow and understood to be ‘Putin’s man’ in Ukraine. He owned an important TV channel whose broadcasts called for compromise with Russia, which included recognition of the annexation of Crimea and now the DNR/LNR separatist-controlled regions,” said Kordan. “Effectively, he was advocating the dismemberment of Ukraine. He is now under house arrest and the TV channel has been shut down. These current actions of the government are in keeping with the laws of the Ukraine, which prohibits activity affecting the security of the country in the context of war. This is not ‘Zelenskyy,’ which implies that this is personal and politically motivated. Politics in Ukraine was and continues to be a murky business. The war increasingly has exposed the fault lines. The key fault line centres around the survival of Ukraine as a nation-state and those, who for personal economic and political reasons, are inclined to see it suborned to Russia and Russian control.”

The decision has received harsh criticism from Russian officials who believe Zelenskyy is making a mistake, and that it will only continue to divide the country and push Ukraine closer to the West.

“Former Russian President [Dimitri] Medvedev, cynically, has described the Ukrainian government’s sanctioning of pro-Russian political movements in Ukraine as detrimental to Russia-Ukraine relations and Ukraine’s interests. This is not serious. The only political activity that I can see which is detrimental to Russia-Ukraine relations is Russia’s war against Ukraine and attacks on the civilian population,” continued Kordan. “I might add that there are a few of pro-Russian anti-government activists not connected to the oligarchs but are formerly associated with the ‘progressive socialists,’ aka the Communist Party of Ukraine. They are now being recruited by the Russian Intelligence Services (GRU) to establish ‘People’s governments’ in Kherson and Berdnyansk. In addition, some of these political representatives are functionaries from the DNR/LNR, who worked under the watch of the GRU. Meanwhile, former duly elected local officials who have now come under Russian occupation in Melitopol, Kherson, Berdnyask and Mariupol are being hunted, kidnapped and disappearing.”

At the same time this was announced, Zelenskyy also announced that they would be implementing a “unified information policy” which would involve combing all national TV channels into a single information platform of strategic communications called “United News.”

According to some analysts, the suspension of the parties will likely do little in terms of swaying the outcome of the war, but the censorship is a blow to democracy.

Bruno via Unsplash What does democracy look like?

CP Rail and Teamsters agree to binding arbitration

Transportation crisis averted

hammad ali staff writer

It has been an eventful week for employees and stakeholders of the Canadian Pacific Railway, hopefully one that is nearing a mutually-satisfactory resolution over the next few days. On Wednesday, March 16, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) reported the results of a strike vote by Canadian Pacific employees earlier in the month. The report revealed that over 96 per cent of union members voted in favour of a work stoppage, with a potential strike likely at any time with a 72hour notice from TCRC. TCRC and the company began negotiations last September, with the main issues being wages, pensions, and aspects of working conditions.

Customers of Canadian Pacific Railway expressed concerns about the potentially catastrophic consequences of a rail strike, particularly for many farmers, exporters and manufacturers, and to the already existing supply chain crisis. David MacLean with the trade association Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters said that about 15 per cent of Canada’s exports are transported by rail to various ports, carrying large quantities of grain, potash, and coal.

Also on Wednesday, CP Rail shared a statement to TCRC stating that they are planning to lock out almost 3000 employees if the union and the company are unable to come to a negotiated settlement or agree to binding arbitration. The two sides were at odds over more than 20 outstanding issues, including wages, benefits, and pensions.

On Thursday, 45 Canadian industry groups expressed concerns about disruptions to CP Rail operations, and the potential consequences for Canadian economy. Some industry groups called for the government to enact return-towork legislation similar to the one passed during the Canada Post strike of 2018, expressing concern that any work stoppage will hamper trade recovery from COVID restrictions and supply chain problems.

Early Sunday morning on March 20, thousands of CP Rail workers began the long-anticipated strike. The strike involved nearly 3000 engineers, conductors, and other train employees, and took effect 1:00 a.m. EST. TCRC issued a press release just before midnight saying a lockout was being initiated by management, and that TCRC members across the country are on strike with picketing underway at various locations. The office of the Federal Labour Minister issued a statement saying that while work stoppage had begun, both parties were still at the bargaining table with mediators, and are expected to work until an agreement can be reached.

On Monday, March 21, Canada’s oil and natural gas producers said they are closely monitoring the ongoing shutdown, reiterating that prolonging work stoppage could limit Canada’s ability to get more oil to the market. Ben Brunnen, a vice-president with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said that the shortage of available pipeline capacity has meant that rail is an increasingly crucial mode of transportation for crude oil. Also at the House of Commons on Monday, the Labour Minister acknowledged the unfortunate timing of the work stoppage and said that ongoing negotiations are the best option to resolve the dispute. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters that back-towork legislation would undermine the right of workers to use the ability to strike to improve working conditions.

Finally, on Tuesday, March 22, CP Rail and TCRC jointly announced that they will be resuming operations, and have agreed to a final and binding arbitration in the interest of averting more pain to firms battling supply-chain disruptions. The agreement with TCRC ends the work stoppage that began Sunday, March 20. Union spokesperson Dave Fulton said that while a binding arbitration is not the preferred method, they have been able to negotiate terms and conditions that were in the best interests of the union. The Federal Labour Minister, who mediated the talks, said normal operations will continue during the arbitration period. Labour Relations experts have stated that the arbitration process could take several weeks. Meanwhile, business groups continue to advocate that rail be declared an essential service, saying that a permanent solution is needed to avoid future supply chain disruptions.