Extremists turn to virtual currencies, NATO in space : In The News for June 15

In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of June 15 …

What we are watching in Canada …

The federal financial intelligence centre is warning violent extremists driven by causes including racial hatred are increasingly turning to virtual currencies for fundraising.

In a newly published special bulletin, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada says the move comes as social media and crowdfunding platforms crack down on extremist efforts to promote their ideas and raise money.

The centre, known as Fintrac, tries to pinpoint cash linked to terrorism and money laundering by sifting through millions of pieces of information annually from banks, insurance companies, securities dealers, money service businesses, real estate brokers, casinos and others.

The bulletin notes that targets of ideologically driven violence such as arson, assault and homicide include people of the Islamic and Jewish faiths, people of colour, women, Indigenous Peoples and members of LGBTQ2 communities.

Individuals and groups use the internet to perpetuate racist and misogynistic tropes on social media that feed into broader narratives associated with conspiracy theories and anti-government movements, it adds.

In recent years, online crowdfunding platforms and social media sites have started to curb fundraising and promotional activities tied to ideologically motivated extremists, prompting them to seek alternative outlets.

These tend to be smaller platforms than the mainstream ones, and they do not always have the resources to monitor and shut down activities, the bulletin warns.

In response to increased restrictions on online platforms, extremists have encouraged followers to send them money via mail, cheque or money order. They have also begun relying on virtual currencies for fundraising.

The centre’s analysis of suspicious financial transactions related to ideologically motivated extremism indicated most were concentrated in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. 

The money is used to recruit new members, engage in day-to-day activities and carry out promotional efforts such as making videos, the bulletin says. 

In addition, the funds go toward organizing marches and events, maintaining websites, paying the legal fees of individuals arrested for their involvement in the movement, acquiring weapons and establishing safe houses, the centre says.

The bulletin identifies broad characteristics found in the suspicious transaction reports, cautioning they might not necessarily indicate extremist financing.

As a result, reporting entities such as banks must examine them in conjunction with “additional risk indicators” such as transactions with links to groups the government has listed as terrorist entities.

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Also this …

A case involving Indigenous children taken into foster care by what all parties call Canada’s “broken child-welfare system” will begin its second day of hearings at Federal Court today.

A federal lawyer argued Monday the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal overstepped its authority and erred in law when it awarded individual damages to all First Nations kids placed in foster care.

The tribunal’s 2019 ruling said Ottawa “wilfully and recklessly” discriminated against Indigenous children living on-reserve by not properly funding child and family services and awarded each child, and their parents or grandparents, $40,000 in compensation.

Sarah Clarke, representing the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, began her arguments Monday by saying Canada harmed Indigenous children taken into care, but is “shamefully” trying to avoid paying damages.

Clarke, who will continue her arguments today, said the tribunal had highlighted problems with the child-welfare system that ended up incentivizing the removal of children from their homes.

She said the discrimination First Nations children experienced from an underfunded and poorly designed system warrants the damages awarded by the tribunal.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

BRUSSELS — Joe Biden has used his first appearance at the NATO summit as U.S. president to call on Russian President Vladimir Putin to step back from provocative actions targeting the U.S. and allies. 

NATO allies, meanwhile, joined the United States on Monday in formally scolding Beijing as a “constant security challenge.” 

Biden said he had extensive talks with NATO leaders about his plans to meet with Putin on Wednesday. He said all expressed support or gratitude for his plan to tell Putin directly to stop Russian-originated cyber attacks against the West, end the violent stifling of political dissidents, and cease Russian election interference outside its borders.

Biden’s sharp words for Russia and his friendly interactions with NATO allies marked a sharp shift in tone from the past four years and highlighted the renewed U.S. commitment to the 30-country alliance that was frequently maligned by predecessor Donald Trump.

Biden said that in his extensive talks with NATO leaders about his planned meeting with Putin on Wednesday, all were supportive of his plans to press the Russian leader to halt Russian-originated cyber attacks against the West, end the violent stifling of political dissidents and stop interfering in elections outside its borders.

“I’m going to make clear to President Putin that there are areas where we can co-operate, if he chooses,” Biden told reporters as he ended his day at NATO headquarters. “And if he chooses not to co-operate and acts in a way that he has in the past relative to cybersecurity and other activities, then we will respond, we will respond in kind.”

Biden is on an eight-day visit to Europe in which he is seeking to rally allies to speak with a single voice on countering Russia and China.

To that end, NATO leaders on Monday declared China a constant security challenge and said the Chinese are working to undermine global order, a message in sync with Biden’s pleas to confront Beijing on China’s trade, military and human rights practices.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau underlined the need to present a united front against Russia, China and the general threat of authoritarianism at the summit.

He said NATO allies need to demonstrate there is an alternative to what he called the “strong arm” tactics that countries like China are taking.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

BRUSSELS — NATO is expanding the use of its all for one, one for all, collective defence clause to include attacks in space. 

Article 5 of NATO’s treaty states that an attack on any one of the 30 allies will be considered an attack on them all. So far, it’s only applied to traditional military attacks on land, sea, or in the air, and more recently in cyberspace. 

In a summit statement Monday, NATO leaders say that any attack to, from or within space “could lead to the invocation of Article 5.” 

The mutual defence clause has only been activated once, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Around 2,000 satellites orbit the earth, over half operated by NATO countries, ensuring everything from mobile phone and banking services to weather forecasts. Military commanders rely on some of them to navigate, communicate, share intelligence and detect missile launches.

In December 2019, NATO leaders declared space to be the alliance’s “fifth domain” of operations, after land, sea, air and cyberspace. Many member countries are concerned about what they say is increasingly aggressive behaviour in space by China and Russia.

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On this day in 1944 …

The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation won a sweeping majority in a Saskatchewan provincial election. Tommy Douglas led Canada’s first socialist government, which launched groundbreaking health and other social policies. Douglas served as premier until 1961, when he became leader of the renamed federal New Democratic Party. The Saskatchewan NDP stayed in power until 1964.

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In entertainment …

TORONTO — The fourth season of “Corner Gas Animated” is going to be its last as Brent Butt says CTV “has chosen not to pick it up” for the future.

The creator and star of the show says in a YouTube video that he has “nothing but great things to say” about the network, noting “they’ve been amazing champions and partners” from the beginning.

The latest offshoot in the small-town Saskatchewan “Corner Gas” franchise airs on CTV Comedy Channel and has won six Canadian Screen Awards.

The network says the fourth season starts July 5 and has “a series finale featuring a soon-to-be-revealed Hollywood A-lister.”

The lineup of revealed guest stars includes musician Steven Page and actors Tantoo Cardinal, Kim Coates, Simu Liu, Mark McKinney and Rick Mercer.

The “Corner Gas” franchise stars Butt as the proprietor of a gas station in the fictional community of Dog River, Sask. The live-action series, which ran on CTV for six seasons and ended in 2009, was the No. 1 sitcom in Canada during its entire run.

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ICYMI …

OTTAWA — Health Minister Patty Hajdu says documents related to the firing of two scientists from a high-security laboratory in Winnipeg, and the transfer of viruses to a research facility in Wuhan are too sensitive to hand over to a special committee on Canada-China relations.

The Conservatives have been pushing the Liberal government — and the Public Health Agency of Canada — to shed more light on why two scientists, Xiangguo Qiu and her biologist husband, Kending Cheng, were escorted out of the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg in 2019. They were officially fired in January.

But Hajdu said Monday the information that has been asked for cannot be released because of “privacy and national security implications.”

Qiu had earlier been responsible for a shipment of Ebola and Henipah viruses to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology, Hajdu said Monday those events are unrelated.

“There is no connection between the transfer of viruses cited in the order and the subsequent departure of these employees,” Hajdu said.

She added: “There is no link to COVID-19.”

Two weeks ago, a majority of MPs passed a motion in the House of Commons demanding the Trudeau government release unredacted documents related to what happened at the National Microbiology Laboratory to the special committee.

The Liberal government instead handed over the documents to the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians and Hajdu appeared before the special committee on Canada-China relations Monday night to explain that decision.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2021

The Canadian Press