Policy and Rights

British Columbia Premier David Eby speaks with reporters in Vancouver about the current wildfire situation in the province. He is joined by Bowinn Ma, British Columbia’s minister of emergency management and climate readiness, Bruce Ralston, British Columbia’s minister of forests, and Cliff Chapman, the director of wildfire operations at the BC Wildfire Service Become a supporter of this podcast: h...

With growing labour and skills shortages across the country, many Canadian employers are struggling to fill jobs that are essential to their operations. The Government of Canada recognizes these challenges and wants to help employers hire the workers they need, while also reducing the administrative burden of such a task and ensuring temporary foreign workers are protected from abuse. Today, the H...

UNICEF’s Deputy Executive Director for Humanitarian Action and Supply Operations, Ted Chaiban, today (4 August) said despite children in Sudan “have consistently borne the brunt of recurring violence, upheaval, and displacement, the situation that they're facing today is unprecedented,” and “however difficult things have been in the past, it's never been this difficult.” Briefing reporters in New...

Warm summer temperatures combined with drought conditions throughout the province are increasing the potential for wildfires. People should follow all fire bans and restrictions and be prepared for wildfires by having an emergency plan and staying informed as conditions change. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/policy-and-rights--3339563/support .

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is joining its partners to warn about the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Burkina Faso’s central and northern regions where each day the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilian are being disrupted by insecurity and violence. Some 486,000 have been forced to flee within the country, 267,000 of whom in the past 3 months alone. A further 16,000 are refugees in neighb...

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh holds a news conference in St. John’s as he continues his tour of the Atlantic provinces. He takes aim at the cost of food in Newfoundland and Labrador and outlines his party’s plan to lower grocery bills across the country. Singh is joined by Mary Shortall, the NDP candidate for St. John’s East. Coming off a tour of the country, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre holds...

Press briefing by Achim Steiner, Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), and David Gressly, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen, on the FSO Safer tanker. The United Nations has started pumping oil off the decaying vessel FSO Safer, moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast, averting a potential spill and environmental disaster, Steiner and Gressly informed. Briefing journalists...

“Global food systems are broken - and billions of people are paying the price.” According to UN estimates, over 780 million people experience hunger, almost one-third of all food produced globally is lost or wasted and nearly three billion people cannot afford healthy diets. Developing countries face additional challenges, as limited resources and debt burdens prevent them from investing fully in...

Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday rebuked the Florida Board of Education’s new standards for how Black history will be taught in schools, calling it an effort by extremist leaders to spread propaganda. Speaking in Jacksonville, Harris said the recently approved curriculum, which suggests some slaves reaped benefits from the skills they acquired during forced labor, was based on a policy inten...

Media Stakeout by Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, on the Black Sea Grain Initiative. Speaking to journalists outside the General Assembly, Ukraine’s Minister for Foreign Affairs said, “Yesterday, when I had a meeting with the Secretary-General, ahead of his phone conversation with President Zelenskyy, we literally discussed all possible options with him.” He continued, “And...

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivers remarks about the rising cost of living and takes questions from reporters in Vancouver. He responds to questions about the end of the province's port strike, the death of a B.C. wildfire fighter, the impact of the federal carbon-pricing plan on inflation, and the ongoing negotiations between federal parties for a public inquiry into foreign interferen...

A school is a place of learning and discovery. As a child, I remember running home and resetting what I learned that day in the classroom. A school is a place of excitement, showing how the universe works and how beautiful life is. A school is a place of learning, and this should stimulate the mind and show diversity to educate show should open minds and doors. To educate should mean to open doors...

In this UN Security Council briefing, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, Rosemary DiCarlo, emphasizes the crucial role of diplomacy in effectively resolving the Iranian nuclear issue. She calls upon all parties to renew dialogue and highlights the need for the United States to lift or waive its sanctions as outlined in the plan, extending waivers for trade in oil with...

William O'Neill, the UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Haiti. In this informative video, O'Neill provides a comprehensive analysis of the challenges faced by Haiti and presents key recommendations to alleviate the crisis. O'Neill begins by acknowledging the instability that Haiti endures, including violence, misery, fear, and suffering. However, he firmly asserts that hope...

What if a law was created in Ottawa that blocks our ability to get information? What if it worked subtly and was put into terms that we may not understand until the law or act takes effect? What if I then told you it is happening while you are sitting there reading this blog post? If you read the news you may have seen headlines about how Google and Facebook are going to block Canadian News Media...

Provincial and territorial leaders speak with reporters at the conclusion of the annual conference of western premiers. British Columbia Premier David Eby hosted this year’s conference in Whistler. He is joined by Danielle Smith (Alberta), Scott Moe (Saskatchewan), Heather Stefanson (Manitoba), Ranj Pillai (Yukon), Caroline Cochrane (Northwest Territories), and P.J. Akeeagok (Nunavut). Key issues...

Children should not be a part of War and in the United Nations report on children affected by armed conflict, these same children they've had their childhoods stolen because of what they've seen or been through. They've experienced shootings they experienced bombings. Here in North America, we get all upset over mass shootings and their effect on children. Let's look at other armed conflicts aroun...

Bill C-18, the Online News Act, is less than 48 hours old, but the more you examine the bill, the worse it gets. My previous posts unpacked why the general policy is bad for press independence and competition as well as why the bill features a misguided attempt to require payments for links. Yet the bill requires an even deeper look since it goes far beyond “compensating journalists when they use...

Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, Berlin, 19 June 2023. 🗣 | NATO Secretary General: Chancellor Scholz, dear Olaf, Thank you so much for hosting me here in Berlin, and also thank you so much for your leadership and for your personal commitment to NATO, to the transatlantic Alliance. We face the most challenging security environm...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford announces a $2.7-million investment into a free skills upgrade program for electricians. The program will be led by Ottawa-based company KE Electrical. The premier is joined at the news conference in Kanata by Monte McNaughton (provincial labour minister), Goldie Ghamari (MPP for Carleton), Jesse Lowe (CFO for KE Electrical) and Mark Sutcliffe (mayor of Ottawa). Become a...

States around the world have been devoting increased resources to the critical task of managing violent extremist prisoners (VEPs) to preventing further radicalisation to violence while also supporting disengagement, rehabilitation and reintegration. As an emerging field of practice, there is a need for policymakers, practitioners, as well as experts in civil society, academia and others, to share...

‘Catastrophe’ looms He said limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius is still possible but will require a 45 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. However, current policies will lead to a 2.8°C temperature rise by the end of the century, which “spells catastrophe”. He called for immediate global action toward net-zero emissions, which “must start with the polluted heart of...

The Secretary-General warned that hatred is a catalyst for polarization and radicalization and a conduit for atrocity crimes. Around the world, he said, we are witnessing a groundswell of xenophobia, racism and intolerance, violent misogyny, anti-Muslim hatred, virulent antisemitism, and attacks on minority Christian communities. Mr. [Antônio] Guterres said that we must rein in the hate and that i...

Ukraine, where the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam has caused widespread devastation and human suffering, leading to severe flooding, displacement of communities and significant infrastructure and environmental damage. The impact on the region’s water supply, sanitation systems and public health services cannot be underestimated. WHO has rushed in to support the authorities and health care workers...

The war in Ukraine has become more dangerous than ever. Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station was damaged in an attack. Kyiv and Moscow are trading blames and the people in the region are sitting in the middle of a disaster that may change their lives forever. Kakhovka dam and hydroelectric power station is a critical civilian site that supplies power to farmland and supplies cool water to...