Election campaign moves west, concern for Afghan women: In The News for Aug. 19, 2021

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 Aug. 19, 2021 …

What we are watching in Canada …

The federal election campaign turns its focus to Western Canada today, with two of the three national leaders holding events in the region.

In Victoria, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau will make an announcement on support for seniors, while New Democrat head Jagmeet Singh will speak on health care in Edmonton. 

Singh will also campaign on behalf of local candidates — one of whom, Heather McPherson, was the only non-Conservative to win an Alberta seat in the last federal election. 

Erin O’Toole’s Conservative campaign moves to Central Canada. He’ll be making an announcement in Nepean, Ont., and has scheduled two virtual telephone town halls for voters in New Brunswick and Ontario. 

On Wednesday, Trudeau found himself targeted by his rivals over the cost of living, facing broadsides from Conservatives for the decade-high pace of price growth and the NDP for high housing prices.

The country’s headline inflation barometer clocked in at 3.7 per cent in July, which Statistics Canada said was the highest year-over-year increase since May 2011 as price growth accelerated from June.

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Also this …

Canadians observing the Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan say they’re skeptical of the group’s claims that women’s rights will be respected under Islamic law. 

When the Taliban ruled in the 1990s, girls weren’t permitted to attend school, women were not allowed to work, and many were subject to rape and forced marriages.

A spokeswoman for the not-for-profit Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan — which raises funds to support teachers and for education supplies, among other things — says the organization is very worried about the possibility of gross human rights violations, with women and girls bearing the brunt.

The organization has received reports of Taliban members going to homes in Kabul to collect information on residents while extrajudicial killings have been reported in smaller provinces.

Shahrzad Mojab, a University of Toronto professor who specializes in threats to women’s rights and education, said progress for feminism in Afghanistan has remained limited. 

She added she isn’t convinced by the Taliban’s latest promises of reform for women, arguing there’s no room for women’s rights under Sharia law. 

“Nothing should be framed within the rule of Sharia in the country. And no matter the so-called amnesty the Taliban is promising, this is not going to happen,” she said. “Sharia law, by itself, is authoritarian, dictatorial and exclusionary. And it is a game against the rights and well-being of women.” 

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

WASHINGTON _ President Joe Biden says he’s committed to keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan until every American is evacuated, even if that means maintaining a military presence there beyond his Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal.

In an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Wednesday, Biden said that the U.S. will do “everything in our power” to get Americans and U.S. allies in the nation out before the deadline. Pressed repeatedly on how the administration would help Americans left in the nation after Aug. 31, Biden finally affirmed, “if there’s American citizens left, we’re gonna stay till we get them all out.”

Up to 15,000 Americans remain in Afghanistan after the Taliban took full control of the nation. The Biden administration has received criticism for the scenes of violence and disorder in recent days as thousands attempted to flee while the Taliban advanced.

The turmoil has seen Afghans rush the tarmac at Kabul’s airport. In one instance, some apparently fell to their death while clinging to a departing American C-17 transport plane.

But during the same interview, Biden suggested there wasn’t anything the administration could’ve done to avoid such chaos. “The idea that somehow, there’s a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don’t know how that happens,” he said.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

HONG KONG _ Seven Hong Kong pro-democracy activists pleaded guilty Thursday to organizing and inciting others to take part in an unauthorized assembly held in 2019, local media reported.

The seven activists appearing in court included Raphael Wong, the former chairman of the League of Social Democrats political party, and Figo Chan, who led the Civil Human Rights Front, a now disbanded group that organized protests.

“I was protesting based on the principle of civil disobedience. One of the key elements of civil disobedience is to accept the charges. So that is what we are going to do later, to plead guilty,” Wong said Thursday ahead of the proceedings.

“Another key element is that the people carrying out civil disobedience actions know being jailed is just part of the process,” he said. “We are not worried about being jailed. Instead, we hope we can achieve democracy after this process.”

The activists are the latest to appear in court for charges related to 2019 antigovernment protests that roiled the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. The protests were sparked by concerns that Beijing was infringing on the freedoms promised to the former British colony when it was handed to Chinese control in 1997.

Beijing responded to the protests by imposing a strict new national security law last year that has effectively criminalized much of the opposition to the government and silenced dissent.

Most of the city’s most prominent activists, including Joshua Wong and Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai, are currently behind bars for taking part in unauthorized protests in 2019.

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On this day in 1942 …

Five-thousand Canadian troops, supported by the British, carried out the disastrous raid on the French port of Dieppe. It was termed a dress rehearsal for the eventual invasion of Nazi-occupied France. For Canada, it was the costliest day of the Second World War. More than 3,300 troops were killed, wounded or captured. Despite the losses, many military strategists regarded the raid as a valuable lesson for later seaborne landings. Two Canadians and one British soldier won Victoria Crosses that day.

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In entertainment …

Rock Demers, one of the most influential figures in Quebec children’s cinema, has died at the age of 87.

The producer, who made films under his company Les Productions La Fete, helped shape a generation of Canadian family entertainment with titles dubbed in English as “The Peanut Butter Solution,” “The Dog Who Stopped the War” and the Tommy Tricker adventure film series.

In 1963, Demers was one of the co-founders of a film conservatory now known as La Cinematheque quebecoise.

He also directed Montreal’s International Film Festival for six years starting in 1962, and created the company Faroun Films in 1965, where he stayed until 1978.

But it was Demers’ move to create Les Productions La Fete in 1980 where he found a singular success in family entertainment with films made under the “Tales for All” family film series.

“Bach and Broccoli,” as it was released in English, was a family drama with a young orphan girl as the central character, while “The Clean Machine” told the story of a group of kids who launch a housekeeping service over summer break.

Many of the “Tales for All” films found audiences outside Quebec on Canadian pay TV and cable showings.

“The Dog Who Stopped the War,” released in 1984, won the Golden Reel Award at the Genies for being Canada’s highest-grossing film at the domestic box office.

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ICYMI …

A New Brunswick soldier accused of serving cannabis-laced cupcakes to a group of Canadian Armed Forces members in 2018 has been found guilty.

Bombardier Chelsea Cogswell was convicted Wednesday on eight counts of administering a noxious substance and on one charge of disgraceful conduct. A charge of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline was stayed.

She was accused of serving the cupcakes to eight soldiers from a mobile field canteen she operated on July 21, 2018, on 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown in New Brunswick.

The soldiers were taking part in a major live-fire training exercise and had to stop firing their guns when they became ill and complained of feeling paranoid and anxious.

Military Judge Cmdr. Sandra Sukstorf said she was convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Cogswell baked the cupcakes, added cannabis to them and served them to soldiers during the exercise.

A sentencing hearing will be held in November.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 19, 2021

The Canadian Press