Afghan aid, Greens move to pull funding for Paul’s campaign : In The News for July 13

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 July 13 …

What we are watching in Canada …

Green party executives have moved to withhold funding from leader Annamie Paul’s campaign to win a downtown Toronto seat in a likely election later this year.

Four party sources, who were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal matters, say a motion was tabled at a federal council meeting on June 29 to hold back $250,000 previously earmarked for Paul’s campaign in Toronto Centre.

The motion has yet to pass and Douglas Tingey, president of the Green Party of Canada Fund, says the party remains committed to supporting Toronto Centre to the best of his understanding. He says specific details are confidential.

Paul, who does not have a seat in the House of Commons, came in second to Liberal Marci Ien in a byelection to replace former finance minister Bill Morneau in Toronto Centre last fall.

Passing the motion would mean fewer dollars to put toward advertising, research and staff resources.

The move to halt cash flow follows layoffs last week of about half of the Greens’ employees amid party infighting and divides that bubbled into public view when New Brunswick MP Jenica Atwin defected to the Liberals last month.

The party, its president and interim executive director did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

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Also this …

International Development Minister Karina Gould says Ottawa will keep sending humanitarian and development aid to Afghanistan after the United States completes its troop withdrawal from the country next month.

Last week, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the American military operation in Afghanistan will end Aug. 31, nearly 20 years after the United States and its allies took down the Taliban government in Kabul.

Gould says in an interview that Canada is constantly monitoring and evaluating the situation through dialogue with its partners including non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies.

She says Ottawa is providing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, as 50 per cent of Afghans rely on such help for basic necessities.

On Friday, the Taliban claimed it now controls 85 per cent of Afghanistan’s territory amid a surge in wins on the ground as American troops continue their pullout from the country.

Gould says she is concerned about the rise in attacks on humanitarian workers and the civilian population recently, but it’s unlikely the Taliban controls as much of the country as it claims.

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And this …

An Ontario court will continue to hear testimony today at the trial of Linda O’Leary, charged in a boat crash that killed two people.

O’Leary, who is the wife of celebrity businessman Kevin O’Leary, has pleaded not guilty to one charge of careless operation of a vessel under the Canada Shipping Act.

Court has heard she was at the helm when the O’Leary boat struck another vessel on Lake Joseph, north of Toronto, the night of Aug. 24, 2019.

Court heard yesterday from a provincial police officer who said Linda O’Leary registered an “alert range” blood alcohol level in a breath test shortly after the incident.

The officer testified O’Leary said she consumed one drink after the crash, not before.

The defence has suggested the other boat did not have its lights on when it was hit.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

WASHINGTON — Facing rising fears of summer violence, U.S. President Joe Biden has embarked on a precarious political high-wire act, trying to balance supporting law enforcement to curb the rise in crime while also backing the police reform movement championed by many of his supporters.

Biden met with Democratic urban leaders — including Eric Adams, the heavy favourite to be the next mayor of New York City — at the White House on Monday about shootings as Democrats warily watch the violence across the nation. Though limited to what could be done at the federal level, Biden promised to support efforts on the ground to combat crime.

“We know when we utilize trusted community members and encourage more community policing, we can intervene before the violence erupts,” the president said.

The meeting was the second in just three weeks, underscoring the political concern crime has become for Democrats as they look to protect their thin margins in Congress. Big city mayors and lawmakers have sounded the alarm on the rise in crime, believed partly fuelled by destabilizing forces of the pandemic, and polls suggest it is an increasing matter of concern for many Americans.

White House aides believe that Biden, with his long legislative record on crime as a former senator, is not easy to paint as soft on the issue. And the president has been clear that he is opposed to the “defund the police” movement, which has been effectively used against some Democrats to paint them as anti-law enforcement.

The president promoted the money for policing in his COVID-19 relief bill and, reflecting on his nearly four decades in the Senate, declared that “Most of my career has been on this issue.”

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered all French health care workers to get virus vaccines by Sept. 15 and urged all of his compatriots to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

In a televised address on Monday, Macron also mandated special COVID-19 passes for anyone who wants to go to a restaurant, shopping mall or several other public places.

The delta variant is driving France’s virus infections back up again, just as the country kicked off summer vacation season after a long-awaited reopening process. Some 40 per cent of France’s population is fully vaccinated but there are pockets of vaccine skepticism.

“The country is facing a strong resumption of the epidemic touching all our territory,” Macron said, speaking against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower.

But he stopped short of any new lockdown measures, saying “We have to learn to live with the virus.”

Macron said the government would declare a medical state of emergency again starting Tuesday, which allows authorities more freedom to impose virus restrictions.

Most European governments have shied away from mandating vaccinations.

Greece announced Monday that health care workers will be suspended if they refuse to get vaccinated. Italy made the coronavirus vaccination obligatory for health care workers and pharmacists, and those who opt out risk suspension from their jobs or a salary cut.

In Denmark, restaurants and public events require a digital pass showing you’ve been fully vaccinated or have a recent negative test. Some German states require the same for restaurants, though suggestions of making vaccines obligatory have prompted widespread unease.

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On this day in 1982 …

Major league baseball’s All-Star Game was played outside the United States for the first time — at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium. Toronto hosted the game in 1991.

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In entertainment …

TORONTO — Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is on Zoom from her family home in Mississauga, Ont., talking about plans to visit a billboard for her Netflix series that evening.

The downtown Toronto trip by the star of “Never Have I Ever” later posted on Instagram marked a milestone moment for the 19-year-old Tamil-Canadian, who previously hadn’t seen a billboard of herself in person during the pandemic lockdown.

“Last season, I saw all the billboards just via social media,” she says in an interview ahead of Thursday’s premiere of the second season.

“I always joke: my face has been in Times Square but I’ve never been to Times Square. I’ve never, in person, seen a billboard of me, a photo of me, that big. I can’t fathom my face being that big.”

In some ways, she hasn’t fully been able to fathom how big her career is, either.

“Never Have I Ever” premiered as COVID-19 spread globally in April 2020 and Ramakrishnan couldn’t be out and about to see the full impact of her character, Devi Vishwakumar, a first-generation Indian-American dealing with high-school drama and the death of her father.

Ramakrishnan, a virtual unknown before beating out 15,000 actors for the role, says she’s proud of glowing reviews for the show and her performance but has also found pandemic-era stardom to be “a weird experience, because everything, for the most part, has been in online digital spaces.”

“When it came to the actual show releasing, that was a little difficult for me, because my friends here in Canada, they’ve never done such a thing before. They’re not in the public eye. So they didn’t know what all of this newfound attention felt like,” says Ramakrishnan, who was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in January and made Time magazine’s 100 Next list in March.

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ICYMI …

OTTAWA — A federal judge says the results of Google searches are covered by the law governing how companies handle personal information, a victory for people seeking a digital “right to be forgotten.”

Privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien referred the matter to the Federal Court after a man alleged Google was breaching Canada’s privacy law by prominently displaying links about him when his name is searched.

He said the articles were inaccurate and disclosed sensitive information about his sexual orientation and a serious medical condition, causing him direct harm including assault, lost job opportunities and social stigma.

The man asked Google to remove the articles in question from the results for searches of his name, but the company declined, suggesting instead that he contact the publishers of the news items.

In her newly issued ruling, Federal Court Associate Chief Justice Jocelyne Gagné said federal privacy law applies when Google indexes web pages and presents search results in response to searches of a person’s name.

Gagné cautioned that her ruling does not determine the outcome of the complaint that sparked the reference or the power of the commissioner to recommend de-indexing — removing a link from search results.

The commissioner’s investigation of the case, as well as probes of several other complaints related to search results, were put on hold pending the outcome of the court reference.

The issue of a right to de-indexing inaccurate or out-of-date information — the right to be forgotten — will be examined once Therrien resumes investigating, said Tobi Cohen, a spokeswoman for the commissioner.

“Due to the ongoing investigation, we are not in a position to offer further comments at this time.”

Molly Morgan, a spokeswoman for Google Canada, said the company was reviewing the decision.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 13, 2021.

The Canadian Press