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Issue No : 159
Email: editor@canadianparvasi.com Contact Number : 905-673-0600 October 05, 2020 | Toronto | Pages 12
12 WEEKS OF CHRISTMAS
retailers speed up holiday
plans in a daunting year
The Canadian Press
Green Party of Canada
chooses Toronto
lawyer Annamie Paul
as new leader
The Canadian Press
Green Party of Canada
members have chosen
Toronto lawyer
Annamie Paul as
their new leader.
Paul won a
bare majority of
votes in the eighth
round, defeating
Dimitri Lascaris.
She says the race
showed the depth of talent
the Greens can attract and
pledged to give her all to
the party’s success.
Paul succeeds Elizabeth
May, who stepped
down last fall after leading
the party for 13 years.
Nearly 35,000 people
were eligible to vote, almost
10 times the turnout
in the last leadership
election in
2006, and nearly
24,000 ballots were
cast, according to
the party. The race
suffered several
hiccups, including
the disqualification of one
candidate, the disqualification
and reinstatement of a
second, and a bookkeeping
error that the party says
kept thousands of dollars
in donations out of the
hands of a third.
Prepare to buy your boughs
of holly early this year — or
just have them delivered — as
store owners adjust to a holiday
season that may prove far from
jolly.
Retailers are ramping up
plans for a transformed Christmas
shopping season in response
to the COVID-19 pandemic,
with strategies to draw
buyers early, step up their e-
commerce game and convince
consumers to buy gifts for farflung
friends and family.
Indigo Books & Music Inc.
is already rolling out cards and
advent calendars. Mountain
Equipment Co-op has seen a
sales surge for winter products
such as snowsuits, which it
aims to load onto shelves ahead
of schedule alongside snowshoes
and skis to spread out the
holiday rush.
Hudson’s Bay Co. will
launch its yuletide collection
of clothing and decor six weeks
early at the start of October,
while some Canadian Tire
stores are already aglow with
Christmas lights and baubles.
For Indigo CEO Heather
Reisman, flexibility and health
awareness are top of mind.
In the wake of 15 store closures
since March, the chain
has revamped its customer experience
with private shopping
hours “for people who may feel
particularly compromised,” she
said. Loyalty program members
can visit outside of normal operating
hours — typically before
10 a.m. and after 9 p.m.
— to browse at will, free from
crowds.
Continued on page 02
Canadians can get $500 a week if they
have COVID-19 or care for those who have it
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA : Canadians forced
to miss work because of CO-
VID-19 can start applying for
financial support from the federal
government today.
The new benefits come
amid concerns about new
lockdowns and job losses as
governments try to get a handle
on the growing number of
new cases and prevent healthcare
systems from being overwhelmed.
They also follow a bitter
political fight in Ottawa that
saw all parties support the
multibillion-dollar suite of
new benefits despite misgivings
about how it was rushed
through Parliament by the
Liberal government.
Continued on page 03
For advertimesment in

The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
02
12 weeks of Christmas
retailers speed up holiday
plans in a daunting year
Continued from page 01
The 12 weeks leading up
to New Year’s Day usually
account for about one-third
of annual sales, she said.
“It’s not possible to fully
make up for almost three
months of almost 200 physical
stores closed (earlier
this year)… so our goal is
to get as close to last year’s
sales as possible, recognizing
that it will depend on
customers spreading out
their time.”
Shipping and logistics
continue to be upended
as the pandemic’s second
wave begins to break.
Fashion retailer Simons is
investing millions in temporary
shipping and packing
stations to meet the
expected spike in demand
for online orders. However,
CEO Peter Simons doubts
the 180-year-old department
store can reach previous
revenue peaks for the season,
which typically make
up 40 per cent of sales for
the year.
E-commerce poses a
“huge logistical challenge,”
he said, with online sales
already tripling. “The complete
infrastructure will be
very taxed.
The pandemic prompted
Simons to postpone the
opening of a $215-million
automated distribution
centre in the Montreal area.
As a result, it will have to
spend millions more on a
hiring surge, already underway,
to pack and sort
online purchases through
December, he said.
While some companies
are relying on online deals
and curbside pickup, London
Drugs is bulking up its
physical presence. It plans
to construct queue shelters
at more than half of its 82
stores by mid-October, including
metal-roofed structures
bolted to buildings to
shield Prairie customers
from wind and snow.
Real estate company
Cadillac Fairview hopes to
shorten indoor lineups by
registering retailers on its
appointment-booking app.
The platform, launched recently
as a pilot with jewelry
chain Pandora at Toronto’s
Eaton Centre, lets
customers schedule a time
to swing by the store without
having to worry about
long queues or crowded
aisles. Companies like Apple
Inc. have relied on fluid
customer appointment systems
for years, but Cadillac
Fairview hopes to bring
less tech-savvy bricks-andmortar
vendors on board
across its 19 shopping centres
before Christmas.
Michael LeBlanc, a senior
adviser at the Retail
Council of Canada, says
consumers may have more
spending money on hand
after shelling out less on
vacations, commutes and
lunchtime cappuccinos.
“Our message to
Canadians for the
holidays is: shop
early and shop often.
This is not the year
to wait. And retailers
are telling me they’re
seeing signs of gift
buying already,”
LeBlanc said.
But a holiday
season that features
fewer store visits and
gatherings of friends
and family may see
a corresponding decrease
in impulse
buys and lavish gift
giving, with the unemployment
rate
lingering above 10
per cent and rent and
loan payment deferrals
set to expire.
More e-commerce
means fewer
whimsical purchases
in the aisles. But online
browsing offers
plenty of impulse
options as well, with
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retailers able to suggest
products based on previous
searches and purchases.
That’s not as smooth
online as we’d like… But
that’s where you’ll have to
fight this game, online,”
LeBlanc said. I can’t think
of a more important season
for all of us, and then maybe
that’s reflected in sending
people gifts online. Merchants
are hoping that will
be the case… but we just
don’t really know.
Reitmans Canada Ltd.,
which is restructuring after
the insolvent women’s apparel
retailer was granted
creditor protection in May,
hopes to claw back customers
with online style sessions
by appointment
for those hunting for
personalized tips.
More casual winter
wear will be among the
threads on offer as telecommuting
remains
the norm. “We definitely
have increased our
cozy assortment,” said
Reitmans president
Jackie Tardif.
Seasonal outfits
and items will hit the
shelves early at various
retailers across the
country as COVID-19
upends the annual
shopping surges on
Black Friday and Boxing
Day. But unless
the pandemic returns
with a vengeance — a real
possibility — in-person purchases
will not disappear
entirely.
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The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
03
Canadians can get $500 a
week if they have COVID-19
or care for those who have it
Continued from page 01
“It is vital that Canadians
have access to income
support that reflects the
impacts the pandemic has
on their employment,” National
Revenue Minister
Diane Lebouthillier said
in a statement on Sunday.
The new caregiver benefit
responds to numerous
calls since the pandemic
started for more support
for parents and others who
are forced to miss work to
care for a dependent due to
COVID-19.
Women in particular
have seen a disproportionate
impact on their careers
and earnings because of
the pandemic, with many
shouldering much of the
burden in terms of child
care and home schooling.
Canadian households
will be able to apply for
$500 per week for up to 26
weeks when one person
misses more than half a
week of work because they
have to care for a child because
of the illness.
That includes children
whose schools or daycares
are closed due to COV-
ID-19, and children who
are forced to miss school
or daycare because they
have contracted the virus
or may have been exposed.
The benefit, which
Canadians can apply for
through the Canada Revenue
Agency, also applies to
people forced to miss work
to care for family members
whose specialized care is
unavailable due to CO-
VID-19.
The federal government
anticipates 700,000
Canadians will apply for
the caregiver benefit.
Canadians will also be
able to access a new sickleave
benefit that pays up
to $1,000 over two weeks
for those unable to work
because they have contracted
COVID-19 or are
forced to self-isolate because
of the virus.
Ottawa expects 4.4 million
Canadians to apply for
sick leave.
The federal NDP had
made the creation of a sickleave
benefit for workers a
condition for it to support
the Liberals’ effort to fasttrack
billions of dollars
in new COVID-19 relief
through Parliament last
week.
The package included
the two new programs
and a third replacing the
$500-per-week Canada
Emergency Response Benefit,
the main support program
for those unable to
work due to COVID-19.
Canadians can start applying
for the new Canada
Response Benefit, which
will also pay $500 per week
for up to 26 weeks, starting
Oct. 12.
Canadian Labour Congress
president Hassan
Yussuff on Sunday welcomed
the new caregiver
and sick-leave benefits as
long overdue for Canadian
workers whose employers
don’t offer such support.
They are also timely
given the rising number
of cases in different parts
of the country, he said.
More than 1,600 new
cases of COVID-19 were
reported on Sunday, even
though some provinces did
not provide updated numbers.
The figures have
prompted fears of looming
lockdowns in some areas.
“It’s really a blessing
for a lot of people who are
going to need them,” Yussuff
said of the new benefits.
“People are going to
have the security of having
an income if they have
to take time off, and
not have to worry about
not being able to pay their
rent or buy groceries or
whatever their needs
might be.”
Yet even as he welcomed
the new benefits,
Yussuff noted they are
only temporary and that
COVID-19 has underlined
the need for permanent
caregiver and sick-leave
support even after the pandemic.
“While these benefits
are temporary in nature,
they also speak to the fact
that millions go to work
every day without having
sick leave or access to
family-care leave,” he said.
Canadian Federation
of Independent Business
president Dan Kelly described
the new caregiver
and sick-leave benefits as
“entirely reasonable” given
the unprecedented nature
of the pandemic.
Yet he expressed concern
about any move
making the measures permanent,
suggesting businesses
will be forced to
shoulder much of the financial
burden in the form
of increased EI premiums
or taxes.
“Any of those changes
will have to come from the
pockets of employers that
are already empty,” Kelly
said, adding that the vast
majority of small businesses
have yet to return
to pre-pandemic levels.
Quebec coroner’s office to launch public
inquest into Joyce Echaquan’s death
The Canadian Press
A public inquest into the death of an
Indigenous woman who filmed herself being
insulted by Quebec hospital staff hours
before she died will be launched as soon
as possible, the province’s chief coroner
announced. Pascale Descary said the late-
Saturday decision came as the result of
a formal request filed hours earlier from
Quebec’s Public Security Minister Genevieve
Guilbault.
Descary’s office pledged to launch the
inquiry soon, but offered no specific dates.
Joyce Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw
mother of seven, died shortly after
she filmed herself from her hospital bed in
Joliette, Que., about 70km north of Montreal,
last Monday while she was in clear
distress and pleading for help.
Hospital staff can be heard in the video
making disparaging comments about
Echaquan, including calling her stupid and
saying she’d be better off dead.
The video created widespread indignation,
touched off several inquiries and
prompted Echaquan’s family to launch
a lawsuit against the hospital where she
died. Echaquan’s relatives and members of
the Atikamekw community of Manawan,
Que., about 200km north of Joliette, welcomed
the pending coroner’s inquest.
“Every day in Quebec and Canada,
Indigenous men, women and children
are victims of contempt and racism in the
health care system,” family and community
members said in a statement released
hours after Descary’s announcement.
“Joyce Echaquan’s case at Joliette Hospital
is certainly not unique, but rather the tip
of the iceberg.” “The public inquest must
provide answers that will initiate change
in how health care services are delivered
to Indigenous people.”
Similar calls for reform rang through
the streets of Montreal on Saturday as
crowds of protesters held a rally to both
express support for Echaquan’s family and
voice concerns about systemic racism in
the health-care system.
The coroner’s office said the public inquest
will seek to examine the cause and
circumstances surrounding her death, and
make recommendations to prevent similar
incidents in the future.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault referenced
Echaquan’s death in a Sunday
statement marking the annual day commemorating
missing and murdered Indigenous
women in Canada.
“It falls only a few days after an event
that profoundly shocked us all: the death
of Joyce Echaquan and the racism that she
was subjected to,” Legault wrote in a post
on Facebook. “We have asked the coroner
for a public inquest to shed light on this
tragedy.” Legault has been criticised for
failing to acknowledge the existence of systemic
racism in the province.

The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
04
Joyce Echaquan’s death
highlights systemic racism
in health care, experts say
The Canadian Press
denounced Echaquan’s
treatment as “unacceptable,”
and on Saturday,
deputy premier Genevieve
Guilbault announced
that she has asked the
coroner’s office to order
a public inquest into the
death. The two healthcare
workers heard in the
video have been fired. But
Legault has consistently
maintained there is no
systemic racism in the
province.
Echaquan’s death took
place almost a year to the
day after a public inquiry
released 142 recommendations
aimed at improving
Indigenous people’s access
to government services
in Quebec. Though
Quebec’s minister responsible
for Indigenous
affairs said this week
that dozens of those recommendations
have been
implemented, both Boyer
and Nakuset question her
claim.
After all the inquests
and recommendations,
both women feel that little
real change has occurred.
How are you ever supposed
to fix (systemic racism)
if people believe it
doesn’t exist?” Boyer said
in reference to Legault.
She said there needs to
be a “national response”
that sets clear standards
for hospitals and clear
consequences for those
who violate them.
Nakuset, who organized
a protest in downtown
Montreal on Saturday,
is hopeful that what
happened to Echaquan
could be a turning point
for Canada, the way the
death of George Floyd
during an arrest by police
in Minnesota galvanized
the Black Lives Matter
movement in the United
States.
She believes there’s
still hope for change, but
only if Canadians from all
backgrounds demand it.
The only way that we
can make changes as a
society is to show up, because
actions speak louder
than words,” she said.
The fate of Joyce
Echaquan, an Indigenous
woman who died in a Quebec
hospital after filming
staff insulting her, is a
tragic example of the systemic
racism many Indigenous
people face when
accessing health services
in Canada, advocates and
patients say.
The Atikamekw mother
of seven died soon after
she filmed herself from
her hospital bed last Monday
while she was in clear
distress and pleading
for help. Toward the end
of the video, which was
streamed live, two female
hospital staff enter her
room and are heard making
degrading comments,
including calling her stupid
and saying she’d be
better off dead.
The video has created
widespread indignation,
several inquiries
and a lawsuit
from Echaquan’s family
against the hospital
where she died in Joliette,
Que. But Yvonne
Boyer, a Metis Canadian
senator, lawyer, and former
nurse, says what happened
to Echaquan was in
no way a surprise.
“For every Joyce
Echaquan that comes forward,
there’s a hundred
that have not been heard,”
she said in a phone interview.
Echaquan’s partner,
Carol Dube, says he
believes she died as a result
of the racism she and
many other Indigenous
people face.
“I’m convinced that
my partner is dead because
systemic racism
contaminated the Joliette
hospital. It killed my partner,”
he told a news conference
Friday at which
his lawyer announced a
lawsuit and a criminal
complaint against the hospital.
Frederick Edwards, a
Cree man from Manitoba,
said he has faced racism
and stereotypes throughout
his life while trying to
access health care.
He remembers being
in unbearable pain before
going to an emergency
room in Winnipeg about
seven years ago, after having
already seeing multiple
doctors who couldn’t
provide a diagnosis. He
says he was shocked when
the triage nurse immediately
told him to shut
up and sit down — treatment
that made him feel
“worthless.”
After being made to
wait, then seeing a doctor
who dismissed his symptoms,
his phone rang as
he waited in the ER: a doctor
he had seen previously
had results of a blood test
showing that his health
was at serious risk. He
was rushed to surgery at
another hospital because
his gallbladder had ruptured.
“I don’t like hospitals
because of so many bad
experiences,” Edwards, a
communications professional,
said in an interview.
“This is just one of
them.”
Boyer said discrimination
in the health-care
system is “pervasive,”
spanning every province
and territory.
As an example, she
cited legal actions being
mounted in Alberta, Saskatchewan
and British
Columbia by Indigenous
women who allege they
were forced or coerced
into undergoing sterilization
procedures.
Accounts from Indigenous
women in 2015
about forced sterilizations
in Saskatchewan led
to hundreds more coming
forward with similar
stories from across the
country. A report into the
Saskatchewan tubal ligations
found the women
felt profiled and powerless
and concluded racism exists
within the health-care
system.
Boyer said she received
another email from
a Canadian Indigenous
woman alleging a coerced
procedure on Thursday,
suggesting such practices
are not just a relic of the
past. The issue of healthcare
discrimination was
also raised in the case of
Brian Sinclair, a 45-yearold
Indigenous man who
died of sepsis in 2008 after
sitting in a Winnipeg hospital
in his wheelchair for
34 hours.
Later it was discovered
that staff assumed
he was homeless or intoxicated.
By the time
his body was discovered,
rigor mortis had set in.
An inquest into the death
made recommendations
about structural changes
to how hospitals conduct
triage, but family members
have said it didn’t
address the real issue –
racism in the health-care
system.
Mary Jane Logan Mc-
Callum, a member of the
Munsee Delaware Nation
in Ontario and co-author
of a book about Sinclair’s
death, said racism continues
to be a significant barrier
to proper health care
for Indigenous people.
They fear facing stereotypes,
having their symptoms
ignored or being left
to die without treatment.
This is not a one-off for
Indigenous people,” Mc-
Callum said in reference
to the deaths of Sinclair
and Echaquan. “This is
absolutely part of the way
that many Indigenous people
prepare themselves to
go to the hospital.”
In Montreal, Nakuset,
the executive director of
the Native Women’s Shelter,
said situations like
Echaquan’s are “heartbreakingly
normal.”
Over the last 20 years
of directing the shelter,
she says she’s seen and
heard of countless instances
of racism, including
a Cree patient being
told to go to a Mohawk
reserve for treatment and
an Inuk woman leaving
a health-care facility in
tears after being rebuffed
while seeking treatment
for an addiction.
It’s so bad, she said,
that the shelter has taken
to sending support workers
with patients to the
hospital, partly to witness
and document racist incidents.
Quebec Premier
Francois Legault has

The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
05
Experts, national parents
group, call for specialized
proton therapy clinic in Canada
The Canadian Press
An advocacy group for
children’s cancer research
says it’s time Canada
makes an advanced form
of radiotherapy, called proton
beam therapy, more
widely available.
Canada is the only G7
country without a clinical
proton facility — a situation
that forces families to
travel to the United States
to seek a treatment that
has been around for about
a decade.
Canadians should have
access to the advanced level
of care that comes from
proton beam therapy, said
Chris Collins, chair of Advocacy
for Canadian Childhood
Oncology Research
Network, or Ac2orn.
This is an important
and proven technology
and medical treatment,”
Collins said in a recent interview.
Proton radiotherapy
uses a beam of protons to
irradiate cancerous tissue
in children and adults. In
comparison to conventional
radiation therapy,
proton therapy delivers a
higher concentration of radiation
without affecting
nearby organs.
Collins is a former
speaker of the New Brunswick
legislature who lost
his 13-year-old son Sean
to cancer in 2007. He said
the COVID-19 pandemic
is making it more difficult
for families to travel to
the United States for treatment.He
said the pandemic
is exposing an inequity
in the health-care system
that would be largely addressed
if there were a Canadian
option.
“Proportionally, it
would be good to have a
centre in Vancouver, Montreal
and Toronto, and to
fund families who are travelling
to these places,” he
said. Kimberley Berger,
of Vancouver, knows how
difficult it can be to access
the treatment her 12-yearold
son Jonah received at
a private clinic in Seattle,
Wash., last February.
While the B.C. health
system funded the treatment,
the family was on
its own to pay their accommodations
during the six
weeks her son received
proton therapy and chemotherapy
following surgery
for a brain tumour.
“My immediate
thought when this happened
was, ‘how are we
going to do this?’” Berger
said. “I have another son
and my husband is working,
we have to rent a home
in another city and that is
expensive.”
She said dealing with a
foreign health system was
an added stress.
“You don’t know how
the system works and then
throw a pandemic on top
of it,” she said in a recent
interview. “The pandemic
drives it home that we
need to be sustainable in
Canada when something
like this does happen.”
Dr. Jim Whitlock, division
head of haematology
and oncology at SickKids
hospital in Toronto, said
proton therapy is a particularly
effective option for
children who have brain
tumours or other types of
cancer. Proton therapy, he
said, is preferable for patients
who have tumours
at the base of the skull: “A
tricky area to try to radiate
and not cause damage.”
Whitlock said the upfront
capital costs — estimated
between $75 million
and $250 million — are the
main hurdle to building a
proton centre in Canada.
He said there should be
at least one national facility,
adding that any province
that decides to build
one will need the help of
the federal government.
The vision of building
centres of excellent for expensive
and uncommon
therapies is one “Canada
needs to embrace as a nation,”
Whitlock said. “I
hope the federal government
will consider taking
a more active role in helping
address these national
needs because some of
these problems need to be
solved at a national level.”
According to Health
Canada, proton beam
therapy systems are rated
as Class III devices under
federal regulations, meaning
they must be licenced
prior to importation or
sale in the country.
“While Health Canada
is responsible for assessing
the safety, effectiveness
and quality of medical
devices, the availability,
its use, and the funding of
proton therapy in Canada
fall under the responsibility
of the provinces and territories,”
the department
said in an email.
Dr. Rob Rutledge, a radiation
oncologist at the
Nova Scotia Cancer Centre
in Halifax, agrees that
money is the issue.
Currently, the handful
of patients in the Maritimes
who qualify for the
proton treatment are sent
to the United States. But
Nova Scotia, which funds
the treatment, is looking at
referring some patients to
the Netherlands, a country
Rutledge said has “excellent
technology at a fraction
of the cost.”
Proton treatment, however,
needs to be offered to
some children with brain
tumours in Canada, Rutledge
said, adding that the
non-availability of the procedure
exposes a gap in the
health system.
Pandemic aside, we
need this treatment.
Military base housing Canadian troops
attacked as U.S.-Iraq tensions escalate
The Canadian Press
Canadian troops involved in the sixyear-old
war against ISIL risk being
caught in the middle of escalating tensions
between the U.S. and Iraq.
The dispute between Washington
and Baghdad revolves around the rising
threat posed by Iranian-backed militia
groups in Iraq, which have stepped up
their attacks against U.S. targets in recent
weeks.
That includes several rocket attacks
against the U.S. embassy in Baghdad
and a strike on Wednesday targeting an
American military base that is also home
to dozens of Canadian soldiers.
U.S. military officials say the rockets
did not hit the base located near the city
of Irbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, and
the Department of National Defence said
all Canadian troops at the base were safe.
Canada has around 170 military members
in Iraq, including an undisclosed
number of special forces soldiers working
out of Irbil and another group participating
in a NATO-led training mission in the
south.
Canada’s ambassador to Iraq joined
other allies in expressing concern about
attacks against diplomatic missions
in Baghdad after a meeting with Iraq’s
Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi on
Wednesday.

The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
06
The
w w w . canadianparv asi. c o m
Publisher & CEO
Associate Editor
Editor (India)
Online
Graphic Designer
Official Photographer
Contact
Editorial
Sales
Rajinder Saini
Meenakshi Saini
Gursheesh
Kshitiz Dalal
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Bashir Nasir
editor@canadianparvasi.com
sales@canadianparvasi.com
ATAL TUNNEL OPENS
Start of a new chapter
beyond Rohtang
The inauguration of the strategically
important, all-weather Atal Tunnel in Himachal
Pradesh marks the realisation of a
decades-long project, once considered too
difficult to be implemented. The highestaltitude
tunnel in the world and one of the
longest in the country, it is nothing short
of an engineering marvel of which the Border
Roads Organisation, other agencies,
contractors and the expert workforce can
be justifiably proud. The feasibility study
was first done in 1990, 10 years before the
decision to construct the 9.02-km doublelane
tunnel below the Rohtang Pass was
taken when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the
Prime Minister.
It would take 15 minutes on an average
to travel from the south portal of the
horseshoe-shaped tunnel, located 25 km
from Manali, to the north portal in Sissu,
Lahaul valley. Designed for daily traffic
density of 3,000 cars and 1,500 trucks, it reduces
the road distance by 46 km between
Manali and Leh and the travel time by
four to five hours. The tunnel is a defining
moment for the intensive Central push towards
better border connectivity. Though
it has the potential to link Ladakh to the
rest of the country all 12 months of the
year, as it would bypass Rohtang Pass that
is snowbound during the winter, passes
like Thanglang La and Baralacha La can
still cut off road access to Leh in extreme
weather conditions.
The immediate change would be felt in
Lahaul and also Spiti valley, as the tunnel
promises to transform the winter cut-off
existence patterns. For the locals, however,
the significance of the tunnel opening
is also riddled with apprehensions of hectic
trade and business activity threatening
the traditional ways of life in the serene
and remote mountain areas. While exploring
the tunnel as a huge business opportunity
for the travel industry, the Himachal
government would face a challenging time
regulating and educating tourists. Going
by the reckless expansionist experience
in Manali, maintaining an ecological balance
and cultural sensitisation should remain
the top priority. The Tribune
HIGH STAKES IN PAKISTAN
Imran Khan will now have to deal with the
collective might of the Opposition
Tilak Devasher
The political temperature
in Pakistan has gone
up several notches with
the coming together of 11
disparate Opposition parties
in an all parties conference
(APC) on September
20. The meeting was
notable for Nawaz Sharif’s
aggressive speech from
London, as also the formation
of the Pakistan Democratic
Movement (PDM)
with an agenda to unseat
the ‘selected’ government
of Imran Khan. Nawaz
Sharif has posed the question
and set the narrative
that will dominate Pakistan
politics in the immediate
future: should the
elected representatives
rule the country or the establishment.
The Opposition had
been struggling for the
last two years to forge a
strategy against the Pakistan
Tehreek-i-Insaf government
of Imran Khan.
The example of Jamait-i-
Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana
Fazlur Rehman being
left alone when he staged
a dharna in Islamabad
in 2019 was one example
of divisions within it. A
major factor that brought
the Opposition together
was Imran’s intolerance
towards them, in fact, towards
any form of dissent
as well as his arrogance.
As a result, a large number
of Opposition leaders
have been in and out of
jails or have faced trials
in one-sided accountability
cases. Another critical
factor was that the Opposition
would lose its majority
in the Senate in March,
foreclosing any chance of
checking the government
in parliament and further
narrowing the space for it
to operate.
In his speech to the
APC, Nawaz stated boldly
that there was ‘a state
above the state in the
country’, and that the Opposition’s
struggle was
against a ‘parallel state’
that had imposed an incapable
person on the
country through a rigged
election process. The APC
demanded Imran’s immediate
resignation, failing
which the PDM would
launch a three-phased programme
of protests and
rallies, culminating in a
long march to Islamabad
in January 2021. The first
protest is slated for October
11 in Quetta. Unlike
the past two years, where
the individual Opposition
parties attacked the government,
now the Opposition’s
struggle would be
directly against the establishment
in which the protests
against Imran would
be a façade.
Nawaz had been silent
for the past two years during
which the Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz
(PMLN) had veered towards
the accommodating
politics of Shahbaz Sharif,
which did not achieve
anything in terms of letup
in the persecution of
the party. Nawaz’s hardline
articulation signalled
the end to the policies of
accommodation. Henceforth,
his daughter Maryam
would call the shots
in the party in Pakistan
and he himself will set
the agenda from London.
The APC’s 26-point resolution
that called for ‘end of
establishment’s interference
in politics’ vindicated
his position.
The Opposition has
passed the first test — of
coming together. The real
test of staying together
and choosing a leader of
the PDM comes next, especially
since most of the
parties have a history of
bad blood and mutual rivalries
and have, in the
past, fallen prey to the
establishment’s machinations.
The other big
test would be to translate
the APC rhetoric and action
plan into an effective
movement within and outside
parliament. Maulana
Fazlur Rehman and his
madrasa-based students
and religious cadres will
play a crucial role in such
mobilisation. Failure to
establish and sustain a
strong physical presence
on the streets would make
the speeches and action
plan meaningless.
Imran’s government
stands on a weak wicket
largely because of his
failure on practically every
front, including providing
good governance.
The economy, which was
already on a slippery
slope, has been battered
by the impact of Covid-19.
Growth has slipped into
the negative territory.
Thus, even though it has
underplayed Opposition
unity, a lot of the government’s
attention henceforth
would get diverted
to their protests, further
adversely impacting governance.
Government statements
both before and
after the APC, calling it
anti-Pakistan, betrayed a
sense of panic. Imran held
that speeches against the
government and state institutions
were an attempt
to appease the Indian lobby
and that the Opposition
wanted to create a rift between
the government and
the armed forces.
Since the government
was unable to contain
the fallout of the APC,
the army jumped into the
fray with a series of media
leaks and statements in
order to create rifts in the
political alliance. These
included disclosures made
by DG ISPR on a private
TV channel about two
meetings held by PMLN
leader Mohd Zubair with
the army chief, thus trying
to discredit the party.
However, leaks about the
meetings, instead of diluting
the impact of Nawaz’s
speech or of the APC, only
strengthened their validity.
The combined government/establishment
strategy would be to create
obstacles to ensure
the Opposition is unable
to conduct successful and
well-attended rallies. Measures
would include arrest
of key Opposition leaders,
denying permission for
rallies and venues, engineering
splits in parties
and between parties, etc.
However, they would have
to contend with the combined
political and cadre
strength of a three-time
PM with a strong base in
Punjab and the street power
of the Maulana in the
other provinces.
Ultimately, the fallout
of the APC will be less a
test for the Opposition
as for Pakistan. What is
at stake is the future of a
functioning democracy.
If the Opposition falters
or breaks ranks, the establishment
would have
won and Pakistan can bid
farewell to a functioning
democracy for the foreseeable
future. If the Opposition
stays the course, it
would still find it difficult
to prise the establishment
away from political interference
but at least a functioning
democracy would
have a fighting chance.
The die has been cast
and the stakes for Pakistan
are high. In this, Imran
finds himself on the
wrong side of the equation.!
Source Credit: This article
was first published in The Tribune.
The writer is Member,
National Security Advisory
Board.
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The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
07
Tam urges Thanksgiving
caution amid recent rise
in cases of COVID-19
The Canadian Press
Plan ahead to make sure
this year’s Thanksgiving
holiday is safe during the
COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s
top public health officer
urged on Sunday as case
counts continued to soar in
several parts of the country.
Dr. Theresa Tam said
indoor holiday gatherings
of family or friends should
be kept small, especially in
provinces such as Quebec
Ontario where infection
rates are highest.
“We’ve got some serious
planning to do,” Tam said in
a statement released nearly
a week before the national
holiday on Oct. 12.
“Not the carefree planning
we had last Thanksgiving
but rather some ingenious
Canadian COVID-19
’holiday-hacks’ that will
ensure there are no viruses
invited or passed around at
our gatherings.” Tam said
people celebrating outdoors
should follow physical distancing
guidelines and encouraged
people to avoid
sharing food and other objects
during their meals.
She also suggested that
Canadians opt for virtual
Thanksgiving dinners instead
of in-person gatherings.
Her advice comes as
new COVID-19 case numbers
continued their upward
trajectory in several
parts of the country, most
notably in central Canada,
where tighter restrictions
have been put in place in
recent days to try to prevent
the spread of the virus.
Quebec reported more
than 1,000 new diagnoses
for the third straight day
on Sunday, while Ontario
has recorded more than 500
cases every day for the past
week. The Quebec government
announced plans to
move three towns in the
Gaspesie region to its highest
COVID-19 alert level on
Monday, and urged residents
to minimize their contacts
with people outside
their homes.
In Ontario, stricter limits
on restaurants, bars and
fitness facilities took effect
in three main hot spots —
Toronto, Peel Region, and
Ottawa — this weekend in a
bid to halt the surging case
numbers in those regions.
The province also has
announced other measures
aimed at addressing a testing
backlog, all of which
take effect this week.
Manitoba said Sunday
that multiple people tested
positive for COVID-19 in
Little Grand Rapids First
Nation, after it said they
attended events at a recreation
centre late last month.
The province said the
chief and council of the eastern
Manitoba community
have ordered residents to
stay home and only go out
for medical appointments
and testing. If essential supplies
are needed, only one
person should venture out
to collect them.
Manitoba also reported
one new death attributed
to the virus, a man in his
50s in the Winnipeg region,
who became the 23rd person
to die from COVID-19 in the
province.
Health officials in
Prince Edward Island identified
two more cases in
that province, attributing
both to unspecified travel
outside the region. Chief
Medical Officer Dr. Heather
Morrison said the patients,
both men, have been selfisolating
since arriving on
the Island.
Meanwhile, Canadians
struggling with the fallout
of the COVID-19 pandemic
will be able to start applying
on Monday for two new benefits
available from the federal
government after legislation
creating them was
rushed through the House
of Commons last week.
The first is a caregiver
benefit targeting Canadians
with young children forced
out of school or day-care
settings due to the virus. It
provides $500 per week for
up to 26 weeks to those with
children under 12 who can’t
work more than half-time
due to pandemic-related
caregiving responsibilities.
The benefit, which is
only payable to one worker
in a household, is also available
to those who can’t work
because their children or a
family member is sick, has
to quarantine or is at high
risk of COVID-19.
The second benefit is a
two-week paid sick leave
worth up to $1,000 for workers
who can’t work more
than half the week because
they have contracted COV-
ID-19 or have an underlying
condition that puts them
more at risk of the illness.
Starting on Oct. 12, Canadians
will also be able to
start applying for a third
program which replaces
the $500-per-week Canada
Emergency Response Benefit
that has formed the
main support for Canadians
unable to work due to CO-
VID-19.
Pandemic concerns: Teachers worried
about their health, quality of education
The Canadian Press
Kelly Main says she has never
felt as exhausted and stressed during
her 27 years of teaching high
school as she has since returning
to the classroom this fall during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
As someone who teaches
Grades 10 and 12 in Waterloo, Ont.,
she is facing the challenge of delivering
material to students in class
and online at the same time.
Waterloo Region School Board,
like many others across the country,
has adopted a hybrid system to
have a smaller number of students
in class at one time in a bid to avoid
COVID-19 outbreaks.
We’re expected to deliver the
material every day to both cohorts,”
she said of the 15 students she has in
class with her and the other 15 who
are studying remotely from home.
The two groups switch places every
five days. “You’re never going to be
on the same page because it’s obviously
harder to be working online.”
Rachel Collishaw, president of
the Ontario History and Social Science
Teachers’ Association, says
teachers are putting their students’
well-being above their own mental
health, which she thinks will end
up causing long-term problems
with stress.
Teachers are feeling stressed
about becoming sick, but also being
unable to adapt to the new hybrid
teaching system, Collishaw said.
It’s basically doubling the workload
on top of the COVID stress.”
A recent survey of high school
teachers from the Association for
Canadian Studies found 78 per cent
of respondents were afraid of getting
COVID-19. Only 40 per cent
said they were confident upholding
safety protocols within their own
classrooms.
The online survey of 250 high
school teachers, mostly from Ontario
and Alberta, was conducted from
Sept. 4 to 14. It cannot be assigned a
margin of error because internetbased
polls are not considered random
samples.
A lot of these teachers, I would
argue, also are on the front line,”
said Jack Jedwab, president of the
Association for Canadian Studies.
And while about three-quarters
of high school teachers who responded
to the online survey said
they understand the measures
needed to support the well-being of
students during the pandemic, Jedwab
said it is concerning the rest
did not. Teachers need more support
in terms of addressing the challenges
that they’re facing with respect
to the effects of the pandemic,”
he said. On top of wearing a mask,
goggles and using hand sanitizer
dozens of times a day, Main says
making sure that students follow
those measures too is now also part
of her workload.
It’s a lot more time,” she said.
“It’s exhausting because of
course we’re shouting through
our masks and through our facial
shields or goggles to be heard.”
Even all those measures do not
necessarily make her feel safe.
She said one of her students
emailed her that she had a sore
throat and a headache, which made
Main concerned about her health.
Main, 53, has also stayed up until
after midnight in recent weeks
marking assignments and recording
videos for her students.
The day never ends,” she said.
“It never ends.”
She also noted that some teachers
are in an even tougher position,
such as those who are newer to the
profession or have younger children
in the classroom.

The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
08
New faces bring renewal, political
opportunity after B.C.’s Oct. 24 election
The Canadian Press
It’s still a long way
from election day in British
Columbia, but one
thing is certain after the
Oct. 24 vote, there will be
at least 15 new faces in the
legislature.
The number of people
not seeking re-election for
the New Democrats, Liberals
and Greens leaves the
door wide open for political
opportunity and party
renewal, say political experts.
Among those not seeking
re-election in the 87-
seat legislature are seven
New Democrat cabinet
ministers and seven Liberals,
two of whom were first
elected in the 1990s.
Former Green party
leader Andrew Weaver,
who left earlier this year
to sit as an Independent,
won’t be running after
serving two terms in the
Oak Bay-Gordon Head riding.
Prof. Gerald Baier, a
Canadian politics expert at
the University of B.C., said
he considered it strange
the number of incumbent
New Democrats who decided
not to run this fall, especially
with the party ahead
in the polls.
Usually, that attracts a
lot of people who want to
stick around,” he said in an
interview. “I was actually
surprised by the number
of the people who had been
in opposition and now that
they are in government
and they are tired of it that
quickly.”
Among the NDP cabinet
ministers not running
are Judy Darcy, Doug
Donaldson, Scott Fraser,
Michelle Mungall, Shane
Simpson and Claire Trevena.
The portfolios they
held included: forests, energy,
mental health and
addictions, poverty reduction,
transportation and
Indigenous relations.
Finance Minister Carole
James announced last
March she would not be
running in the 2020 election
for health reasons.
The departure of seven
Liberal MLA’s, including
veterans Rich Coleman,
Linda Reid and Ralph Sultan,
gives Liberal Leader
Andrew Wilkinson the
opportunity to put a new
face on his party, said Prof.
Kimberly Speers, a Canadian
politics expert at University
of Victoria.
Certainly, those who
have served a political
party as an elected member
for a long time, sometimes
they can also be seen
as the old guard,” she said.
“If they’ve been affiliated
with a previous leader or
thinking within a party,
sometimes a new leader or
new members might think
it’s time to get rid of the old
guard.”
Baier said the NDP
turnover gives party Leader
John Horgan the chance
at renewal for his group
while offering opportunities
for his members.
The current NDP vacancies
allow Horgan, if
the NDP is re-elected, to
promote from his backbench
or reward newly
elected members of the legislature,
said Baier, adding
members Sheila Malcolmson
and Bowinn Ma are
possible new ministers.
The candidacy of three
former federal New Democrat
members of Parliament:
Fin Donnelly, Murray
Rankin and Nathan
Cullen, also provides Horgan
with the possibility of
having three experienced
politicians who could be
potential cabinet ministers,
Baier said.
But the possible arrival
of new NDP faces may also
force Horgan to change his
political style of leaving
ministers on their own to
handle their duties as he
has done with James and
Health Minister Adrian
Dix during the COVID-19
pandemic.
It might mean he may
be a little more hands-on,
because certainly the feeling
was with James and
Dix he could just leave
them in those jobs,” Baier
said. “He’s had utter confidence
in them because he’s
known them since they
were puppies.”
With the Liberals, the
departures of Donna Barnett,
Linda Larson, John
Yap, Steve Thomson and
Sultan, Reid and Coleman,
gives Wilkinson the
chance to renew the party,
but he may not have much
time, said Baier.
The question is, is
Wilkinson making the party
in his own image? I don’t
know,” Baier said. “I think
people still don’t have a
good grip on who he is.”
Speers said the COV-
ID-19 pandemic may have
played a part in decisions
made by the politicians not
to run again.
I think it’s given everybody
a time to reflect and
perhaps revamp their priorities
in terms of what is
really important,” she said.
Chance to prevent COVID resurgence
‘narrows with each passing day,’ Tam says
The Canadian Press
Canada is running out of
time to prevent a major resurgence
of COVID-19, the country’s
chief public health officer said
Saturday as its two most populous
provinces continued to report
some of their highest daily
case counts in months.
The country’s chance to
avert a COVID comeback “narrows
with each passing day,”
Dr. Theresa Tam said in a statement.
“It is clear that without all
of us making hard choices now
to reduce our in-person contacts
and maintain layers of personal
protections at all times, it won’t
be enough to prevent a large resurgence,”
Tam said.
Her comments came as Quebec
and Ontario continued moving
toward harsher restrictions
in coronavirus hot spots amid
surging daily case counts.
Quebec reported 1,107 new
cases of COVID-19 on Saturday
— the largest daily increase
since the pandemic began, and
the second straight day the province
reported more than 1,000
cases.
Ontario reported 653 new
cases — down slightly from Friday’s
record high of 732, and
partially inflated by an ongoing
“data cleaning initiative” at Toronto
Public Health.
Tam cautioned that the epidemic
growth is already stretching
local public health and laboratory
resources — a warning
borne out by a number of developments
in Ontario, where a
backlog of tests considered “under
investigation” has grown to
more than 91,000.
Public health officials in Toronto,
meanwhile, announced
that their case and contact management
team is making a “strategic
shift” to focus only on the
highest-risk scenarios.
That move came as case
counts continued to climb in the
city, which is one of three Ontario
COVID-19 hot spots where
new public health restrictions
kicked in on Saturday.
The provincial government
announced Friday that Ottawa,
Toronto and Peel Region would
face tighter regulations. Restaurants,
bars, banquet halls and
gyms in those areas will all face
restrictions on their operations.
More restrictions could soon
be imposed in hot spots of neighbouring
Quebec as well, with the
province planning to announce
new rules for sporting activities
and gyms on Monday.
Authorities already consider
greater Montreal, Quebec City
and a region south of the provincial
capital to be in red alert —
the highest pandemic alert level
— and have placed those regions
under a partial lockdown for 28
days.
“If there was anyone who
still needed proof that the situation
is critical, we have it day
after day,” Premier Francois Legault
said Friday.
Elsewhere in the country on
Saturday, an outbreak of CO-
VID-19 among almost two dozen
staff at a British Columbia food
distribution warehouse forced
its closure.
The Fraser Health authority
said in a statement that 23 employees
at Valhalla Distribution
in Delta have tested positive for
coronavirus.
Public health officials in
Manitoba said a woman in her
80s at a personal care home in
Winnipeg has died, the third
death associated with that outbreak.
The death of a man in his
70s connected with the outbreak
was announced Friday, and a
woman in her 90s died late last
month.
And in New Brunswick, public
health officials announced a
new case in a person in their 20s
in the Saint John region.
The case — only New Brunswick’s
201st — is related to travel
from outside the so-called Atlantic
bubble, and officials say the
person is self-isolating.
Newfoundland and Labrador,
meanwhile, reported a new
death linked to the virus — only
its fourth. The government said
the man in his 60s had travelled
from Central Africa, via Toronto,
and died while self-isolating
in Deer Lake, N.L.

The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
09
'Prisoners are treated
better' Residents describe
emotional devastation in LTC
The Canadian Press
One by one, residents
of Ontario’s long-term care
homes described the emotional
devastation caused
by the COVID-19 lockdown
to an independent inquiry
— and implored the governments
to address isolation
before the second
wave of COVID-19 crashes
down.
Lonely, depressed,
muzzled and trapped are
some of the words the
residents used to describe
the pandemic to the Long-
Term Care COVID-19 Commission
by video conference.
“Now when I see these
dog cages on TV for stray
animals, I see myself as one
of these neglected, filthy,
and starving-for-love-andaffection
little critters,”
said Virginia Parraga, who
lives in a long-term care
home in Toronto.
“I now weep for our human
race and mankind.”
The novel coronavirus
ripped through the
province’s long-term care
homes overwhelming the
system and killing more
than 1,900 residents, as
of Thursday. Severe staff
shortages, crumbling infrastructure
and lack of
The Canadian Press
The RCMP has eased restrictions
that sidelined bearded officers,
including some Sikh and
Muslim members, from frontline
policing during the COV-
ID-19 pandemic.
Difficulties with properly
fitting a mask over religiously
mandated facial hair meant some
Mounties have been assigned to
desk duty in recent months.
That prompted the World
Sikh Organization of Canada to
press the government to come up
with a solution.
Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau and Public Safety Minister
Bill Blair also stressed the
need to accommodate members.
oversight were some of the
factors that contributed
to the mass COVID-19 outbreaks
in those facilities.
The commission, led
by former Superior Court
judge Frank Marrocco, will
investigate how COVID-19
spread in the long-term
care system and come up
with recommendations.
Barry Hickling, one
of the residents who testified
last week, spoke of the
long-lasting effect of the
lockdown.
“I hope that this will
The RCMP says affected
members across the country may
return to operational duties, with
a mask, under certain circumstances.
Bearded members will be
sent out to calls only if the risk
of exposure is low or multiple responding
officers will be present.
The RCMP says at no time
will officers or the public be
placed at undue risk.
In addition, the return to operational
duties will always rest
with the affected members, said
a statement Thursday from Gail
Johnson, the RCMP’s chief human
resources officer.
“Should they prefer to be assigned
to other policing duties as
be a tremendous learning
experience for all of us, but
the pain will not go away. It
will stay,” he said.
“It will torment us because
of the potential for
another wave or potential
of someone bringing something
into a long-term care
home.”
Hickling, who has lived
in a long-term care home in
Windsor, Ont., for the past
10 years, said the government
should take immediate
action to fix the problems.
“We are isolated, alone,
without family or friends
to visit with us,” he said.
“I don’t want to go through
this ever in my life again.
And I pray and hope that,
by gosh, if there is another
wave, let’s deal with it adequately,
appropriately, efficiently,
and directly.”
The province eased visitation
restrictions several
months into the pandemic,
but many homes continued
with the lockdown, the inquiry
heard.
The province recently
a safety precaution, we will continue
to make that accommodation,”
she said.
“Each case will be assessed
on an individual basis and in
cases where we find accommodations
were not appropriate, we
will address them through internal
processes.”
While certain risks are being
reduced, all risk cannot be
announced new restrictions
on homes in CO-
VID-19 hot spots, limiting
visitors to staff, essential
visitors and caregivers.
Carolyn Snow, who
lives at a long-term care
facility in Keswick, Ont.,
said the isolation felt like
living behind bars.
“Except that prisoners
are treated better,” said
Snow. She said her sisterin-law,
who was staying
at another long-term care
home, contracted the novel
coronavirus and died.
“It went from not being
too concerned to being devastated,”
Snow said.
The residents also described
a litany of problems
inside the homes.
Residents could not socialize
with their friends,
ate soggy meals alone in
their rooms and watched
endless television, said
Sharron Cooke, the president
of the Ontario Association
of Residents’ Councils
who lives at a facility
in Newmarket, Ont.
She said the lack of activity
and stimulation “left
residents dormant and
sleeping all the time.”
Several residents said
they were left in the dark
with minimal information
or communication from
completely eliminated, Johnson
said. “This is the nature of police
work.”
The national police force
will continue to work on finding
longer-term solutions that fully
accommodate all bearded members,
the statement added.
“We are committed to resolving
this issue as quickly as possible
in order to help us further advance
the important work that is
ongoing in the RCMP to enhance
diversity, equity, accountability
and trust.”
Earlier this week, the RCMP
said it was in a unique position
compared to other police services
because it is subject to the
Canada Labour Code and Canada
the homes.
“Just to be left in a
room and not know what is
past the walls has caused a
lot of emotional concern,”
Cooke said.
The communication
vacuum left vulnerable
residents confused and disoriented.
“The residents didn’t
know what day it was,
what time it was,” Cooke
said. “They were looking
for nighties at noon because
they couldn’t figure
out what time of day it
was.”
Hickling said staff
shortages led to two mixups
with his medication,
which if he hadn’t noticed,
would have left him in a
great deal of pain.
Marrocco asked the
residents for ideas on how
to improve the situation in
the homes.
Hickling said the key
is to take care of staff, who
then in turn can take better
care of the residents.
“If they are not being
cared for, if they are not
taking the swabs and being
tested in any other way,
that is our lives,” Hickling
said. “That is where we
live. They bring it in. They
take it out. Whatever they
are doing was frightening.”
RCMP eases mask policy for bearded members,
allows return to front line in some cases
Occupational Health and Safety
Regulations when it comes to
personal protective equipment,
known as PPE.
Unfortunately, there is presently
no evidence of a safe and
proven alternative to the currently
approved PPE that meets
the unique, uncontrolled setting
in which our front-line members
operate and that adheres to occupational
health and safety regulations,”
the RCMP said.
The World Sikh Organization
of Canada said at the time that if
the problem was indeed regulatory,
the government should step in
and solve the issue, particularly
given that the organization first
raised the issue in early June.

The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
10
O'Toole accuses Liberals of deliberately
introducing divisive anti-conversion bill
at start of his leadership
The Canadian Press
OTTAWA : The federal
Liberals have reintroduced
a bill that would ban
forcing children or adults
to undergo therapy aimed
at altering their sexual orientation
or gender identity.
The government had
previously introduced the
legislation in March, just
before Parliament shut
down due to the COVID-19
pandemic, and then their
decision to prorogue in
August erased the bill
from the House of Commons
agenda.
Diversity Minister
Bardish Chagger said
choosing to reintroduce
an effort to ban so-called
conversion therapy just
days into the new parliamentary
session sends a
strong signal.
She called conversion
therapy destructive,
harmful and deadly
“On this side of the
House we focus on advancing
and protecting LG-
BTQ2 rights,” she told the
House of Commons Thursday.
The NDP had backed
the previous bill. They
suggested Thursday they
would support this one as
well, ensuring its passage
through the House of Commons.
“Attempting to change
a person’s sexual orientation
or gender identity
is impossible and the attempts
themselves do
great harm to those fearing
or already suffering
from rejection by family,
friends and their community,”
NDP MP Randall
Garrison said in the House
of Commons.
Conservative Leader
Erin O’Toole called conversion
therapy wrong
and said it should be
banned.
But he accused Liberals
of deliberately introducing
a potentially
divisive piece of legislation
just as he’s begun his
job as leader of the party.
There are MPs in his caucus
who have been vocally
opposed to the bill in the
past.
The new bill ignores
the “drafting failures” of
the first one, O’Toole said.
“Clarity is one of the
goals of legislative drafting
but the Liberals know
that clarity and sincerity
don’t always make for
good wedge politics in the
age of Twitter,” he said.
“The government
knows if the bill is more
clearly drafted they might
lose their ’gotcha’ effect
that is becoming far too
common in the politics we
see to the south of us.”
The bill would ban
conversation therapy for
minors and also outlaw
forcing an adult to undergo
conversation therapy
against their will. The bill
would also ban removing a
minor from Canada for the
purpose of obtaining conversion
therapy abroad.
The bill also aims to
make it illegal to profit
from providing conversion
therapy and to advertise
an offer to provide
conversion therapy.
The new offences
would not apply to those
who provide support to
individuals questioning
their sexual orientation
or gender identity, such
as parents, friends, teachers,
doctors, mental health
professionals, school or
pastoral counsellors and
faith leaders.
But those who oppose
the bill have suggested it
is too vaguely worded to
assure those protections.
Among them, former
leadership contestant and
MP Derek Sloan, who has
the previous bill amounts
to “effectively putting
into law child abuse” because
it promotes genderreassignment
surgery and
criminalizes conversations
between parents and
their kids.
Justice Minister David
Lametti insisted Thursday
it does not.
He said conversations
youth have with supportive
adults and professionals
are critical to their
development. The bill also
wouldn’t criminalize conversations
where personal
points of view on sexual
orientation or gender
identity are expressed, he
said.
“What this bill targets,
what we are targeting, are
those who actively work
to and provide services
designed to change someone’s
gender identity.”
Lametti said the Liberals
will work in good faith
with the opposition on the
bill and noted the support
O’Toole gave the ban itself.
“If Mr. O’Toole is sincere,
and I think he is, it
will be up to him to bring
his caucus in line.”
Bloc Quebecois Leader
Yves-Francois Blanchet
said his party will also
support the bill.
The sooner (LGBTQ2
people) get all the respect
that they deserve as much
as anybody else, the sooner
it is possible, the sooner
it must happen,” he said.
O’Toole’s office did not
directly answer a question
about whether Conservative
MPs would be told
how to vote on the bill or
allowed to choose. During
the leadership race,
O’Toole had pledged to allow
free votes on matters
of conscience.
He has specifically
mentioned that legislation
on doctor-assisted death is
a conscience issue. Many
Tories are against the law,
and O’Toole himself voted
against it.
But amendments to it
are required to conform
with a court ruling last
year. It struck down a
provision that only allows
those near death to end
their lives with medical
assistance. The Liberals
put forward a bill with the
changes before prorogation,
meaning they now
have to introduce it again.
The court gave the
government until Dec.
18 to change the law, and
Lametti said Thursday
bill will be tabled “in the
coming days.”

The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
11
Here’s what to do as Canada Student
Loan payments resume, starting
The Canadian Press
Before graduating with
a double master’s in information
and museum studies
from the University of
Toronto in June, Elizabeth
Cytko was gearing up to apply
to jobs at libraries and
institutions across the country.
The plan was to launch
her career and start working
down her debts.
My wild daydream was
to have them paid off in
three years,” Cytko said.
I assumed I would have
had full-time work by now,
but that hasn’t quite happened
with COVID-19.”
The graduate is living
at home in Edmonton and
taking a free online course
as she wrestles with how to
handle her federal student
loans.
I’m just living in limbo
at the moment.”
She’s not alone. Thousands
of recent graduates
are facing the end of the
six-month freeze Ottawa
imposed on repayments and
interest for Canada Student
Loans in response to the
coronavirus outbreak. Oct. 1
is the first day monthly payments
resume.
Graduates like Cytko
have a range of options,
from requesting to postpone
payments to tackling them
on a budget.
Those with an income
below $25,000 per year are
eligible for continued deferrals
until they hit that
threshold. They can apply
through the Repayment Assistance
Plan (RAP), which
also allows borrowers to apply
for a reduced payment.
Depending on your income,
you may not be required
to make payments
that exceed your income by
20 per cent, or any payment
at all,” the program website
states.
However, just because
you’re able to kick the debt
can down the road doesn’t
mean you should.
“Attack that debt as best
you can,” said Keith Emery,
co-CEO of Credit Canada, a
not-for-profit credit counselling
service.
“If you’re getting a debt
deferral, as with the RAP,
that’s not a debt writeoff,
that’s just putting it on
pause to a later date… sort of
like a giant don’t-pay-a-cent
event.”
Graduates should steer
away from the vicious cycle
of using borrowed money
— especially if it’s higher interest
— to pay down other
loans, while sticking to their
payment due dates, Emery
said.
“It is important to maintain
those payments because
you don’t want it to impact
your credit score and credit
report, which are important
to build as you’re getting
your financial start,” Emery
noted.
Payment delinquency,
including with the National
Student Loans Service Centre,
will eventually come
across the desks of all three
major credit bureaus, he
added.
Young people have been
among the hardest hit financially
by the pandemic. Employment
of Canadians aged
15 to 24 was 15.3 per cent
below pre-pandemic levels,
by far the largest gap among
age groups, according to Statistics
Canada.
More than one in three
postsecondary students had
a work placement cancelled
or delayed as a result of the
outbreak, according to an
Statistics Canada survey of
more than 100,000 in April.
The time-tested method
of living on a budget can
make for quicker debt repayment.
“If you don’t have a car,
if you’re living at home…
I would say kudos to you.
Don’t let anybody tell you
what you should be doing at
this stage in life financially.
All that matters is what
works for you,” Emery said.
“Maybe you’re not going
out to eat as much…
Anything that allows you to
weather this storm without
taking on debt and while
maintaining your student
loan payments is a positive.”
The federal government
tends to be more flexible
with repayment plans than
most private lenders, said
Doug Hoyes of Hoyes Michalos,
an Ontario-based debtrelief
firm.
A solid sense of your
own financial situation provides
the key to charting a
path out of student debt, he
said.
You want to take stock
of where you’re at. You’re
supposed to be paying $400
a month, say. Can you actually
afford that?”
Hoyes recommends taking
the initiative and giving
the government a call.
You’re allowed to pick
up the phone and call the
lender and make a plan: ‘I
can’t afford to give you $400,
but I can afford to give you
$100 a month for the next six
months.’
You’re the boss. You
want to take charge. You
don’t want to hide from it,”
he said. “If it’s a federal student
loan, they know where
you are. So hiding is not a
good strategy.
Airline unions call on
Trudeau for $7 billion in
loans for ailing industry
The Canadian Press
Labour leaders are calling on Ottawa to provide immediate
financial aid to an airline industry devastated by the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The heads of two pilots’ unions and Unifor have asked
the federal government to offer carriers one per cent loans to
the tune of $7 billion in total.
The labour groups are seeking a combination of loan
guaranties as well as direct financial aid, but say they are
not seeking grants.
Unifor president Jerry Dias pointed to the U.S., Germany,
France and other countries that have offered billions
in sector-specific support in contrast to Canada, which has
instead rolled out financial aid such as wage subsidies available
to many industries.
Travel restrictions and dried-up demand continue to
take a toll on the airline and tourism industries, with more
than 30,000 employees laid off or furloughed at Air Canada
and WestJet Airlines Ltd.
In its throne speech last week, the Liberal government
pledged to “support regional routes,” but has provided no
details.
The unions also called for funding to develop a quarantine
and testing plan that would ramp up rapid viral tests for
passengers as a step toward easing travel restrictions.

The International News Weekly October 05, 2020 | Toronto
12
Active cases hit
first-ever plateau
With 936,089 active cases of Covid-19, as of Sunday night, India appears to have
stemmed the rise in the crucial statistic for the first time as the figure remained
below the million mark for 14 consecutive days. This is the first time since the start
of the pandemic that the total number of active cases in the country has seen a
sustained decline for two weeks. A look at how this change happened, and which
states are driving the trend:
Several crops sell
below MSPs amid farm
legislation debate
NEW DELHI : A range of kharif, or summer-sown,
crops are selling below federally
fixed minimum support prices (MSPs),
or floor rates, as record output dampens
prices at a time when farmers are protesting
against a set of laws enacted recently to
liberalise farm trade in the country.
Crops, such as soyabean, ragi, maize
and cotton, are selling up to 30% below
MSPs, data from Agmarknet, the agriculture
ministry’s portal that tracks prices in
mandis or wholesale markets, show.
Poor returns from crops have been a
lingering problem for farmers, especially
during episodes of gluts, such as now.
MSPs, which are fixed at 50% over cost
for nearly two dozen crops, don’t necessarily
lead to higher farm incomes as the
government’s procurement at MSP rates
is largely restricted to wheat and rice. For
most other crops, farmers are mostly price
takers, meaning they are forced to accept
whatever the markets dictate.
Output of kharif foodgrains this year
is likely to touch a record 144.5 million
tonnes, marginally higher than last year’s
143.4 million tonnes.
The unprofitable sales come despite
the government’s assurances of robust procurement
at MSP rates. For example, the
government last week announced that it
would procure 1.4 million tonnes of pulses
and oilseeds at MSP rates. However, at just
about 15% of the total production, this is
too small a quantity to make a difference in
prices offered by private entities.
For efficient farm markets, the government
recently enacted three laws, allowing
farmers to bypass state-controlled market
yards run by agricultural produce market
committees (APMCs) and enter into
five-year farming contracts with agribusinesses.
The government also freed up several
commonly consumed food items from
strict stocking limits that discouraged private
investment in cold storages.
Farmers’ groups are protesting against
the reforms, including the move to end the
monopoly of APMCs, because they fear
deregulation will leave them vulnerable
to powerful agribusinesses and in an even
weaker negotiating position than before.
They also fear the reforms may weaken
the MSP mechanism. The wholesale price
for soyabean during September 16-23 in 9
states worked out to `3,683.02 per quintal
(100 kg), against the promised MSP of `3,880
per quintal, ministry data shows.
Rahul vows to scrap laws once
Congress forms govt at Centre
MOGA/LUDHIANA :
Sharpening his attack on
the BJP-led NDA government
over the new agriculture
laws, former Congress
president Rahul Gandhi on
Sunday said they will scrap
these contentious legislations
once the Congress returns
to power at the Centre.
Launching the threeday
‘kheti bachao yatra’
along with Punjab chief
minister Capt Amarinder
Singh and a battery of Congress
leaders at Moga district’s
Badhni Kalan village,
the Gandhi scion vowed to
fight till end against the legislations
passed during Parliament’s
monsoon session
and extended his party’s
“firm support” to the agrarian
community. “Some chosen
corporate houses are
dictating the Centre’s policy
decisions. Land of farmers
in the states like Punjab and
Haryana is facing the threat
of acquisition by powerful
business houses,” he said
while addressing the gathering
in Moga.
The Congress’s state
unit tried to put a united
face with sulking Amritsar
(East) MLA Navjot Singh
Sidhu, a bete noire of the
Amarinder, also attending
the march after staying
away from party events
for months. He was invited
over cabinet ministers to
address the gathering. Rahul
also released a `kisanmazdoor
ekta’ (farm labourer
unity) flag.