June is Pride Month in Canada. It is a time when we celebrate diversity and LGBTQ+ communities, acknowledge their history, the hardships they have endured, and the progress that has been made. (CBC News)
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World Food Safety Day (WFSD) celebrated on 7 June 2021 aims to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development. This year’s theme, ‘Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow’, stresses that production and consumption of safe food has immediate and long-term benefits for people, the planet and the economy. (WHO)
Preliminary findings from a survey of the grounds at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School have uncovered the remains of 215 children buried at the site in British Columbia. In a statement, the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation explained they hired a specialist in ground-penetrating radar to carry out the work, and that their language and culture department oversaw the project to ensure it was done in a culturally appropriate and respectful way.
Western powers prepared to pile sanctions on Belarus and cut off its aviation links after it scrambled a warplane to intercept a Ryanair aircraft and arrest a dissident journalist’. In a video posted online, the detained blogger, Roman Protasevich, 26, said he was in good health, being held in a pretrial detention facility in Minsk, and acknowledged having played a role in organizing mass disturbances in the capital last year. The comments were immediately dismissed by his allies, including his father, as having been made under duress.
As the global community is called to re-examine our relationship to the natural world, one thing is certain: despite all our technological advances, humans are completely dependent on healthy and vibrant ecosystems for water, food, medicines, clothes, fuel, shelter, and energy, just to name a few. The 2021 theme, “We’re part of the solution”, was chosen to be a continuation of the momentum generated last year under the over-arching theme, “Our solutions are in nature”, which served as a reminder that biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges.
The long-awaited bill clad with extensive measures to strengthen and protect the role of the French language in Quebec has been unveiled after months of discussions. Bill 96 aims to “reinforce” French as the “common language” in the Quebec nation and seeks to change the Canadian Constitution to ensure that French is recognized as the only official language of the province. (Global News)
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Israel hit three multi-storey towers as it hammered the Gaza Strip with airstrikes, and militants in the territory fired barrages of rockets at Israel, in the most severe outbreak of violence since the 2014 Gaza war, with no resolution in sight. The fighting has taken on many hallmarks of that devastating 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas, but with a startling new factor: large, heated protests by Israeli Arabs in support of those living in the territories as well as counter-violence by Jewish Israelis.
The Scottish National Party is promising to hold a second independence referendum after election results announced Saturday saw pro-independence candidates gain a majority in the Scottish parliament. In her victory speech, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said her party, which wants to break away from the United Kingdom, had delivered a "historic and extraordinary" win after finishing with 64 seats in the Scottish parliament, one short of a majority. (CNN)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump won't return to Facebook – at least not yet. Four months after Facebook suspended Trump's accounts for inciting violence that led to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the company's quasi-independent oversight board upheld the bans. But it told Facebook to specify how long they would last, saying that its "indefinite" ban on the former president was unreasonable. The ruling, which gives Facebook six months to comply, effectively postpones any possible Trump reinstatement and puts the onus for that decision squarely back on the company.
Quebec is being called on to turn "anger into action" in a landmark report into the province's youth protection services, two years after the death of a seven-year-old girl in Granby shocked the public and raised questions about the system. The report, released on May 3, calls for a wide range of changes, including increased funding for preventive programs aimed at helping children in distress, an independent commissioner to oversee the youth projection system and a charter of children's rights.
Premier François Legault says he recognizes there is a shortage of affordable housing in Quebec but says his comments that a person can rent an apartment in Montreal for between $500-$600 a month have been misinterpreted. A survey published by La Presse last weekend revealed the average price of a Montreal apartment is about $907 a month and often these units are in terrible shape. (Montreal Gazette)
Apple rolled out a software update for its mobile devices that gives users the option of stopping apps from tracking their location and sharing other identifying information with third parties. Services such as Facebook and others currently have the ability to track users on mobile devices in order to learn more about them to target advertisements and other location-based services to them. In some instances, the tracking is in place even if the user is not actively using the app in question.
The World Intellectual Property Day shines a light on the critical role of small and medium-sized enterprises in the economy and how they can use intellectual property (IP) rights to build stronger, more competitive, and resilient businesses. (World International Property Organization)
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A former Minneapolis police officer was convicted Tuesday of murder and manslaughter for pinning George Floyd to the pavement with his knee on the Black man's neck in a case that triggered worldwide protests, violence and a furious reexamination of racism and policing in the U.S. (CTV News)
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Quebec’s secularism law is largely legal, a Superior Court judge ruled on Tuesday, April 20, even as he acknowledged it violates the rights of Muslim women and has cruel and dehumanizing consequences for those who wear religious symbols. Justice Marc-André Blanchard upheld the bulk of the religious symbols law, while striking down clauses pertaining to English-language school boards and a ban on members of the provincial legislature wearing face coverings. (Global News)
