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The article discusses the shortage of nurses in Ontario. There is a gap in the nurses needed at 22,000. For a long time now there has been so much bureaucracy and red tape keeping about many IEN from helping the healthcare system. Some of which are just waiting for their immigration status for year while the RN are forced to do 16 hour shift or be overloaded with patients.

Why you choose to share it?
I chose this article because it's important to be informed about nursing shortage that our province is facing. This problem is affecting everyone in Ontario.

What did you learn from it?
It was disheartening to learn that Ontario is short more than 22,000 nurses. In the province, the articles states that there are 15,000 International Educated Nurses that could help in filling that gap but because of bureaucracy

Did you feel there was a bias?
There was bit of biased because the author is an ICU/ER nurse. Its written from the perspective of a nurse.

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?
I agree with this article and everyone can after seeing how burnt out nurses were during the pandemic. Nurses shouldn't have to be overworked to keep the healthcare system going.

Is the source legitimate?
This article is rated as least biased. The author is Birgit Umaigba, and ICU/ER nurse and Clinical Practice Instructor in Toronto.

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Lately, it's impossible to pick up a newspaper, look at social media or turn on the news without hearing about the crisis in health care staffing - burnt-out workers, understaffed ICUs, nurses doing double shifts.

As an ICU/ER nurse who also teaches nursing, I feel the impact of the nursing shortage every day. As a nurse, I feel furious that a big part of the solution is staring us squarely in the face.

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Nursing shortage? There's a solution right in front of us

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I'm furious that in the midst of this crisis, Ontario has thousands of internationally educated nurses working as nannies, clerks and factory workers.

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A brief summary

The article talks about how different countries far right have risen and have come to be normal in the everyday life. It starts talking about how Donald Trump’s presence in politics have shifted into being a normal thing in the political world and that seems to be happening a lot in other democratic countries. So, when it comes to the far right, a lot has been happening in European politics, with far-right parties in different countries either coming in on top on opinion polls or within top 3 in an actually voting process.

Why you choose to share it

Interesting to see Europe’s situation in politics as it’s something I don’t really follow. Seemed like a good read considering everything that’s going on in the world and a lot of it seemed to be “normal” by people.

What did you learn from it?

A lot of far-right parties are getting close to being on top in polls and votes. Learned about the different parties in Europe that favour in the far right.

Did you feel there was a bias?

Maybe only with Trump being used as the example as “this being normal now”.

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?

I agree that I can see far right parties are on the rise, there is too much going on in the world and not everyone can be pleased and these are people that are trying to make extreme changes, which is something I don’t agree with it.

Is the source legitimate?

"mediabiasfactcheck” rates The Guardian as “mixed” in factual reporting and have the tendency to publish false information. A published I don’t really read often and I would probably do a bit more research.

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ormalisation is the process by which something unusual or extreme becomes part of the everyday. What once provoked horror and outrage soon barely registers. The way the presence of Donald Trump became a mere fact of political life is perhaps the most familiar example. But the normalisation of the far right is happening across the democratic world.

Once Trump became "normal", events that seemed even more extreme did too. A 2022 survey found that two in five Americans thought civil war was "at least somewhat likely" in the next decade. One political scientist speaks of the possibility of rightwing dictatorship in the US by 2030.

The same creep of normalisation is happening in European politics. At the turn of the millennium, when Austria's far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) - led by Jörg Haider, who had made comments suggesting he was sympathetic to the Nazi regime - entered a coalition with the conservative People's party, mass protests not only erupted in Vienna but across Europe and in the US. The EU even imposed diplomatic sanctions on Austria. It was understood that an important red line had been crossed; that given Europe's blood-soaked history, the far right had to be kept firmly outside the tent.

No longer. When the FPÖ formed a new coalition in 2017, the protests were relatively small. Today, the party picks up victories in local elections and leads Austria's opinion polls. Now the country's main political force, it has every chance of leading the next government. Meanwhile, under pressure from its right flank, the People's party has adopted ever harsher anti-migrant policies.

Then there's Spain. For years after the financial crash, the country appeared to buck the trend of many European nations because of its lack of a rising far-right party. Leading lights in the leftwing Podemos party had an explanation: the mass indignados protests against austerity, which erupted in 2011, seemed to ensure that discontent was directed at powerful interests, rather than vulnerable groups such as migrants. But in the 2019 general election, the far-right Vox party - defined by its hostility to migrants and opposition to regional autonomy in Spain - came third, and in last weekend's local elections exceeded expectations. A snap general election has been called for July, and Vox could soon be in government, the first time the Spanish far right would be in corridors of power since the fall of Franco.

The pattern is strikingly clear. In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is surging: one recent poll forecast it would come second in a general election, ahead of the ruling Social Democrats. While other parties claim they will refuse to work with the AfD at the national level, such relationships already exist at the local level, leading Foreign Policy magazine to recently declare that "Germany's far-right 'firewall' is starting to crack".

This is, after all, what happened in Sweden, where other parties refused to work with the Sweden Democrats party, which has neo-Nazi roots. In 2016, Anna Kinberg Batra, the leader of the conservative Moderate party, denounced it as racist. But in the last election, it came second, and negotiated a deal to prop up a rightwing government.

In France, Marine Le Pen and her National Rally party scored their best ever results in presidential and parliamentary elections last year. Italy's prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, is of the far-right Brothers of Italy party. In eastern Europe, we have Hungary, ruled by a de facto far-right autocracy, with an even more extreme party - Our Homeland Movement - surging in the polls. Similarly, note Poland, ruled by a hard-right government which is now manipulating the Ukraine crisis to set up a commission to supposedly investigate Russian influence in the country: in practice, just a bogus excuse to harass the opposition.

How did we descend so far into the mire? There's no question that growing economic insecurities and inequalities provided ample material for far-right parties that offered scapegoating as an answer. If leftwing movements had proved more successful at redirecting that anger at the right targets - like politicians slashing social provision, bosses offering low-paid jobs and a financial system that plunged the world into crisis - then perhaps the far right would have enjoyed less appeal.

But they also wouldn't be where they are without the complicity of mainstream parties. Trump is clearly the monster created by the very US Republican establishment - with its anti-Obama crankery, Islamophobia and hallucinated anti-communism - that now seems to abhor him. Across the western world, mainstream parties tend not to vigorously oppose the far right and offer an alternative vision of the future, but imitate their rhetoric and policies. All they've achieved is legitimising the zealots and allowing them to set the terms of debate.

We thought we had learned from our darkest moments in history. But unless the far right is once again treated as beyond the political pale, new horrors await.

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Across Europe, the far right is rising. That it seems normal is all the more terrifying | Owen Jones

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Austria, France, Germany, Sweden and now Spain - the firewall between the mainstream and the far right is crumbling, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones

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The article highlights how the increase in gun violence in the US is impacting American lives. The fear of mass shootings is creating conversations about gun safety among families, and some individuals are making the decision to move to safer areas. The demand for protective measures like bulletproof backpacks is rising, while school staff are doing firearms training in response to such incidents. There's a growing trend of avoiding certain public spaces due to the fear of shootings. This fear is felt by those directly affected by gun violence as well as those worried about its frequency. The article underscores how this issue is reshaping behaviors and decisions across the country, with some individuals channeling their concerns into advocacy and action.

I chose to share this as the article highlights the impact gun violence has in America. Although many are advocating for stricter gun laws, there is no change taking place and citizens are living in constant fear.

I learned that gun violence in America is at an all time high, and it continues to rise every year.

There was a slight bias as the narrative is about the impact of gun violence, but overall it uses statistics and interviews of those living in America.

I do agree with the content because it is scary to have so many mass shootings every year, and this issue can be resolved through government intervention.

BBC is a neutral/right-wing news source

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As gun violence increases and shootings seem to make headlines every few days, the fear of getting caught up in one is changing the lives of millions of Americans.

A shopping mall. A classroom. A teenager's house party.

All have suffered the scourge of a US mass shooting in recent weeks.

To many Americans, it feels like it could happen anywhere.

As the US observes National Gun Violence Awareness Day on Friday, how is this issue affecting the way people go about their lives?

Tough conversations

Around 60% of adults say they have talked to their kids or other relatives about gun safety, according to a survey by KFF, a non-profit organisation focused on health policy.

Some of these conversations are sparked by lockdown drills in US classrooms. In some cases, students as young as five are taught when to barricade doors and when to run for their lives if a gunman is prowling the corridors.

Recently, Morgan Hook's nine-year-old daughter Elise came home from school and took her family by surprise when she said the drills would not be much use if the gunman just shot down the door.

Mr Hook tried to reassure his daughter that wouldn't happen, but he thought back to a recent shooting at a private school in Nashville when the suspect did exactly that.

"Sometimes when you try to comfort your kids, that means you're lying to them," says Mr Hook, who lives in Saratoga County, New York.

It's useful for parents to have conversations with their children about gun violence, provided they do so calmly, says Vaile Wright, the senior director of health care innovation with the American Psychological Association.

Moving home

Gun violence in the US has at times caused some to uproot their lives. About 15% say they've moved to a different neighbourhood or city because of it, according to KFF.

Last year, 40-year-old Travis Wilson and his wife moved to a new neighbourhood in Louisville, Kentucky, after moving from Old Louisville where they counted the number of gunshots at night.

A bullet once went through his neighbour's window. Another time someone pulled a gun on him in front of his house. After his daughter was born in 2021, he and his wife started re-evaluating.

"I couldn't imagine how any child could grow up in an area where they hear frequent shots and not be dramatically affected," he said.

But last month, the violence followed him to his new neighbourhood when a gunman killed five former co-workers at a local bank.

Mr Wilson said he sometimes feels irresponsible raising a child in America, where nowhere feels perfectly safe.

"I'll never forgive myself if [my daughter] is a victim of a shooting and I just waited around for her turn."

Bulletproof backpacks

On Valentine's day five years ago, Lori Alhadeff sent her three children to school as she did every other morning, but by the day's end, only two made it home.

A teenage gunman shot and killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, including Ms Alhadeff's 14-year-old daughter Alyssa.

After the shooting, she ordered bulletproof backpacks for her two sons, determined to do everything she could not to lose another child.

"Unfortunately, it's not if another school shooting is going to happen, but when," she says. "This is the world that we live in."

As US gun violence has worsened, there has been a surge in demand for the backpacks, especially after mass shootings, says Yasir Sheikh, the owner of a self-defence item manufacturing company, Guard Dog Security.

"It's important that parents have some sort of feeling of empowerment that they can do something to make themselves and their kids safe."

Firearms training for school staff

As shootings have increased in frequency, Kate, a superintendent in Ohio, has been building up a safety plan for her school district.

It includes locking outside doors, providing medical training for staff and labelling classroom doors so first responders can more easily locate students.

But after the 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida, she and other staff wanted to do more.

So they participated in a three-day training with FASTER Saves Lives, which teaches school staff how to use firearms to respond to gun violence.

Like Kate, around 41% of those surveyed by KFF have attended a gun safety class to protect themselves and others from shootings.

"I just want to take every action that I can," she says.

Kate acknowledges that not all staff members want to arm themselves and some resent the fact that they feel they have to.

But ultimately, in the event of a shooting, she wants to be able to say the district did all it could to prevent deaths.

Avoiding public spaces

Rose Lewis still remembers the day in 2015 when a gunman opened fire at a movie theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, killing two people who were watching one of her favourite films, Trainwreck.

The 25-year-old has started avoiding movie theatres and other dark, enclosed spaces, fearful they might not allow for a quick escape.

"The risk of getting shot is probably pretty low, but just the anxiety of worrying about it for me is not worth going," she says.

Carla Smith, 62, also tries to avoid certain spaces. She only goes to the grocery store in the mornings, fearful of large crowds she believes heighten the risk for a shooting. "It has me on my toes."

About a third of Americans are taking similar actions, steering clear of certain public places, the KFF survey found.

Though mass shootings in public make up a small fraction of shootings, experts say such efforts give people a sense of control.

"We often take measures to increase our sense of safety when we are threatened or our sense of stability and security is disrupted," says Daniel Mosley, a psychologist who has examined the impact of mass shootings.

But avoidance can become an unhealthy coping mechanism if it significantly disrupts everyday life, he adds.

Living in fear

Whenever Pam Bosley's 28-year-old son leaves their house at midnight to go to work as a truck driver, Ms Bosley watches each of his steps to the vehicle from her window, praying nothing bad happens to him.

It's been 17 years since Ms Bosley lost her oldest son Terrell when the 18-year-old was shot in front of a church in Chicago.

She still feels haunted by anxieties about gun violence.

"I can't sleep sometimes because I have this fear - not just for my sons, but for my husband, my parents," she said. "I'm living in a state of fear."

It is not just those like Ms Bosley who have a direct experience with gun violence who are anxious about it.

Ms Wright, of the American Psychological Association, has been studying Americans' top stressors over the past two decades. Mass shootings rose to the top of the list in 2019.

Ms Bosley found advocacy and campaigning a way she could channel her grief.

"Even though I hurt," she said, "I work hard so my other two sons, my nephews and my nieces ... so that we all can live. That's my purpose, that's my push every day."

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How gun violence is reshaping American lives

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Avoiding public places, moving home... how the threat of random gunfire is changing the way people live.

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The article talks about a recently opened restaurant that serves indigenous cuisine in Renfrew that has received some backlash from Kitigan Zibi members about its menu and decoration of the restaurant. The members are saying that it's making a mockery of First Nations cultures after some members are saying that the chef and owner claims to be from Kitigan Zibi, but they have no clue who she is or who her relatives are. The owner later explains that she grew up there and is registered there, but the chief of Kitigan Zibi said that she is not registered with their band. She also explains that her grandmother was from the Golden Lake First nation but wasn’t registered and then claims herself to be Metis.

Why you choose to share it

I thought it was an interesting to know about a restaurant opening that serves indigenous cuisine. It was also interesting to see what the “mockery” was about.

What did you learn from it?

The one section within the article that I learned about was that if one of your parents was half indigenous and the other parents wasn’t, then you wouldn’t qualify as a status member.

Did you feel there was a bias?

Yeah, a little from my perspective, especially since it was an indigenous author who wrote the article and shared it on social media (which is how I was able to look up the article through CBC as only a screenshot of the title was shared).

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?

I agree that these need to be shared and published so we can create awareness on the issue, what I didn’t agree is that we don’t know if the claims from members are true and if she isn't a registered first nations individual. As for the restaurant, the names/description on the menu weren’t something I agreed with as it had it something like “The poutine is just as sacred as the white buffalo”.

Is the source legitimate?

"mediabiasfactcheck” rates CBC as “high” in factual reporting but may need to conduct further investigation which is what I thought the article needed.

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A restaurant near Ottawa is stirring up concerns over its menu and decor, which some say is a "mishmash" that is "making a mockery" of First Nations cultures from across North America.

Suzette Foucault is the chef and owner of Manitou Bistro in Renfrew, Ont., about 90 kilometres west of Ottawa. The restaurant, which opened on National Indigenous Peoples Day in June and was highlighted by local media, offers what she calls "Indigenous fusion cuisine."

The 30-person restaurant displays a totem pole and what appear to be teepees in the logo. The menu features dishes like White Buffalo poutine - "This poutine is as sacred as the white buffalo," according to the website - along with Sasquatch wild rice nachos and Geronimo's cinnamon sugar bannock.

In June, the Renfrew Mercury reported Foucault identified as Indigenous and French. In July, the Eganville Leader said she was Métis.

The Eganville Leader's article said she was born and raised in Kitigan Zibi, an Algonquin Anishinabe community in Quebec, though the reporter who wrote the article said that was a misquote and that the paper would be printing a correction.

"After my grandparents died, we really didn't go there anymore," Foucault told CBC Indigenous.

She said she didn't know if anyone alive in the community today knows who she is and speculated she may have just one aunt living in Kitigan Zibi today.

Jay Odjick, who is Algonquin from Kitigan Zibi, came across the article in the Eganville Leader and said none of his relatives in his territory knows Foucault.

"There's a lot of people who are frankly offended," said Odjick.

He said there's something "morally reprehensible" about "making up terms and selling it as, in her own words, medicine ... and marketing those things."

He said a menu item called the Before Sun Dance platemonetizes Sun Dance, a sacred ceremony in some First Nations communities.

"You're taking people's beliefs and not only profiting from them, but making a mockery of them."

'I am Métis'

In Foucault's media interviews and on her social media, her Indigenous identification varies.

On her Instagram, Foucault's profile says she is "Indigenous/French Canadian."

In a post from Sept. 16, 2021, she wrote, "proud halfbreed, Algonquin, Iroquois, and Native Canadian."

On Sept. 17, 2022, in another Instagram post she identified as "Algonquin from Maniwaki, QC, Algonquin Ojibwe and Native American."

Foucault was born and raised in Sudbury, Ont., according to the correction printed in the Eganville Leader.

In July in an interview at her restaurant in Renfrew, Foucault showed CBC Indigenous her Métis identification that was distributed through the now-defunct Canadian Métis Council.

"My family is from KZ. I don't know what else to say," Foucault said.

"I am part of that community. It's where I spent my childhood and it's where I will be hopefully in the next few months, registered through there."

Kitigan Zibi Chief Dylan Whiteduck said Foucault is not a registered band member. Her mother is a member of Kitigan Zibi, whose membership was reinstated in 2002 and is under category 6(2).

Foucault's maternal grandfather enfranchised, under a pre-1985 clause in the Indian Act, relinquishing his Indian status and that of his children.

"Foucault's grandfather tried to remove himself from being Indian because back in those days you didn't want to be Indian, right?" said Whiteduck, adding that status Indians were not allowed to leave the reserve without consent, get a job, earn a pension, or hire lawyers as dictated by the Indian Act until it was amended in 1951.

The Bill C-31 amendment to the Indian Act in 1985 abolished enfranchisement and created the 6(2) category for people who had only one parent who was eligible for Indian status. Under the Indian Act, individuals who have one parent with 6(2) status and the other parent non-status are not eligible for status. Foucault would not be eligible for status.

Foucault's mother declined to comment for this story.

Foucault said her maternal grandmother was from Golden Lake but that her grandmother was "not registered."

CBC Indigenous spoke with the membership department of Pikwakanagan First Nation, formerly known as Golden Lake First Nation, but they would not comment on Foucault's grandmother's potential membership status for this story.

"Ojibway is the language that I speak," Foucault said.

"I really don't identify myself as Ojibway .... I am Métis. Our bloodline is Algonquin Iroquois and I don't know what else to say."

It's generally recognized that being Métis is more than having mixed First Nations and European heritage. Métis are a distinct Indigenous people with a shared culture, traditions and language.

The Canadian Métis Council's website is not operative and it last posted on Facebook in 2021, apologizing for a delay in processing applications due to COVID-19.

The federal government recognizes the Métis Nation of Ontario as representing Métis communities in that province. It is a member of the Métis National Council.

In a recent case at the Quebec Superior Court, where Kitigan Zibi acted as intervenors, it was ruled there is no historic or contemporary Métis community in the Maniwaki region of Quebec, which was originally part of the reserve.

'Really problematic'

"She's hurting us," said Claudette Commanda, an Algonquin Anishinabe elder from Kitigan Zibi, of Foucault's claim to her community.

"It's about protecting our people, protecting our spirit, protecting our rights, protecting what legitimately is ours," she said.

"If we let this slip, what's going to be there for our children and our grandchildren?"

Commanda said she was upset by the media coverage she saw about the restaurant.

"They're just giving so much credibility to this person and her business," she said.

"Meanwhile you have so many legitimate First Nation businesses that they're not even promoting at all."

Kahente Horn Miller, vice-president of Indigenous teaching and learning at Carleton University in Ottawa, pays attention to the news because she says what's happening in the media is important to Indigenous students she teaches.

She said she read an article about the restaurant, prompting her to look up the restaurant's website. She said she found it painful reading menu items.

Horn Miller, who is Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Kahnawà:ke, south of Montreal, said Foucault's menu is an example of appropriation of Indigenous concepts, words, ceremonies, images and identity.

"When you live in community, you understand the hardship. You know, our families are grappling with the intergenerational traumas and that's an everyday thing." Horn Miller said.

"You cannot just take the best of what we are, in our images and our dances and our songs, and draw from that."

The "sacred tobacco grazing board," a charcuterie board, is just one of the items Horn Miller found troublesome.

"It was just like this mishmash of terms that come out of our own memes and public social media terminology that we use to bring humour to situations or to characterize situations or even that we talk about ceremonially - like sacred tobacco," she said.

"It's really problematic."

The mission statement on Manitou Bistro's website says, "We are one nation."

Odjick disagreed.

"No we are not," said Odjick.

"Indigenous people are made up of different First Nations with our own unique cultures, backgrounds, histories, traditions. To do what she's doing is frankly homogenizing us all."

When asked what the "we are one nation" in the mission statement means, Foucault said she believes the entire world is one nation and "we need to live together and not tear each other down."

"Let's try and work together with respect and create something beautiful and the world, and stop pushing ourselves away," she said.

Odjick also took exception to menu items like "Windigo poutine."

"I think there's some gravy happening here but I think it's a woman jumping on the gravy train, because Windigo is a term throughout many nations that in some places is not even spoken out loud."

CBC Indigenous presented Foucault with concerns people raised about her menu items and decor in her restaurant.

"Let them be concerned," Foucault said.

"I would say it's your choice to be concerned. This is my restaurant. This is what I choose to call it. That's all I can say."

She said at times the criticism the restaurant saw on social media turned into direct attacks toward herself and her family, which she called very inappropriate.

Foucault told CBC Indigenous that she's seen criticism on social media about her menu including the poutines.

"My grandfather used to talk about the Windigo all the time and the White Buffalo. Those are my memories," she said.

"If they have any issues where they don't want to partake in the Windigo or the White Buffalo, then don't come, but let it go at that."

'This is my dream'

Horn Miller said it's important for people who claim Indigenous roots to be accountable to the community they claim. She said that means getting to know your family and being in service to your community.

"I mean there are lots of people who claim identity and ancestry going way back and they work really hard to go back to community, find their ancestors, find their relatives and get to know them," she said.

"They're not opening restaurants."

CBC Indigenous asked Foucault about the community's urging to educate herself about her roots.

"I think in their eyes, they don't think I'm from [Kitigan Zibi], but we are from there. It's where we're from," she said.

"I'm entitled to do whatever the hell I want. If I want to open a restaurant, I'm going to open a restaurant. I don't need anybody's approval. I don't even need my dad's and mom's approval. This is my money; this is my dream; this is my story."

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Menu and decor at Manitou Bistro 'reprehensible,' some Kitigan Zibi members say | CBC News

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Some members from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg and other communities are raising concerns that a restaurant in Renfrew, Ont., is "making a mockery" of First Nations cultures from across North America.

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I choose to share this because it's about a subject I care about and I find that a lot of times extreme politics take over things that generally shouldn't be used for such purposes.

I learned that right-wing partisans are willing to sacrifice women's choices and safety for their own stupid idealism and ego.
Yes, there is always a bias in those types of stories.
I generally don't agree with their constant effort to end abortion rights.

The source isn't fully legitimate

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ANTI-ABORTION FORCES REGROUP POST-OHIO - After a staggering loss in Ohio's special election this week, anti-abortion activists are grappling with how to forge ahead, POLITICO's Alice Ollstein reports.

What happened in Ohio? The word "abortion" didn't appear on Tuesday's ballot, which asked voters whether the state constitution should be made more difficult to amend. But the race also served as a proxy war because of its implications for a November ballot initiative that would codify protections for abortion into the state constitution.

Has this been a trend? Despite achieving their decadeslong goal of overturning Roe more than a year ago, anti-abortion advocates have continued to clash over the past year as their side lost abortion referendums in six other states and was blamed for a disappointing showing in the 2022 midterms. Far from turning the corner this year, they suffered defeat in a pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court race and came up short again in Ohio.

How are anti-abortion leaders responding? Some point the finger at stingy donors and disengaged GOP leaders for the anti-abortion side getting massively outspent. Others say anti-abortion advocates need to soften their hardline positions and move away from near-total bans without exemptions to stave off electoral disaster.

And still others argue the results are a rebuke for the leave-abortion-to-the-states argument many conservatives make and a demonstration of why federal restrictions are needed.

While some anti-abortion activists urge a full-scale revamp of their messaging, policies or both, many anti-abortion leaders say they want to stay the course going into November. They insist an up-or-down vote on putting abortion protections in the state constitution would be easier to message than the wonky, structural ballot measure before voters this week.

On one hand: Some anti-abortion activists urge Republicans to embrace a more moderate stance than the near-total bans without exemptions in many states, such as a 15-week law that allows some exceptions.

On the other hand: Not everyone agrees, including Students for Life, which plans to tour dozens of Ohio colleges leading up to the fall vote and is among groups arguing that a 15-week ban would still allow more than 90 percent of abortions to take place and advocating for at least a six-week ban on the procedure.

WELCOME TO THURSDAY PULSE. It's Chelsea and I'm excited to formally introduce myself as a co-author of Morning Pulse and HHS reporter! Before POLITICO, I authored Axios' D.C. newsletter and reported on health care policy for Inside Health Policy and U.S. News & World Report. I'm also a cat mom to Cloud, a video game aficionado and a Swiftie.

Help me get acclimated to my new job by sending your tips, scoops and feedback to [email protected] and [email protected] and follow along @_BenLeonard and @ChelseaCirruzzo.

TODAY ON OUR PULSE CHECK PODCAST, host Katherine Ellen Foley talks with Olivia Olander, who reports on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's proposed rules for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act - which would require employer accommodations for pregnant workers, including those with abortion-related issues - and the ensuing Republican backlash.

Medicine doesn't work 5 times better when you take it in a hospital. So why do hospitals charge 5 times what they paid for medicines? These costs leave patients and the rest of the health care system paying more. See the new data.

ABORTION ACTIVISTS EYE ARIZONA - A top progressive group wants to build on the huge success Democrats are having with abortion-related ballot initiatives - this time in Arizona, POLITICO's Zach Montellaro reports.

Fresh off their 14-point victory in Ohio on Tuesday, progressive groups are eyeing the Southwest battleground state as the next place to ensure abortion rights after the fall of Roe v. Wade. Arizona bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

A memo from the progressive organizing group Indivisible to its donors argues that Democrats should continue riding the backlash to the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Dobbs into 2024 in key competitive states nationwide. The group hopes an abortion ballot initiative in Arizona would increase the likelihood that abortion-rights voters turn up in a state that could help decide the next presidential election.

What happened last time: Arizonans already tried and failed to get an initiative codifying abortion rights on the ballot after Roe was overturned. But organizers ran out of time ahead of a July deadline to qualify, collecting only about half of the needed signatures.

What's next: Earlier this week, a coalition of groups - including the state chapters of the ACLU, Planned Parenthood and pro-choice group NARAL - announced it would support a new political committee, Arizona for Abortion Access, to sponsor a ballot initiative campaign for 2024. On Tuesday, activists in Arizona released their proposed constitutional amendment language, which could appear on the November 2024 ballot.

TRIALS SPIKE FOR GENE THERAPIES - Clinical trials for cell and gene therapies are surging, according to the latest data from the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, Ben reports.

About 1,000 trials were conducted in 2018, but this year, there are more than 1,600, the organization said, reflecting growing investment in the sector. The FDA could approve up to nine such therapies this year, which would be an all-time high.

View from Congress: The growth comes as Congress weighs allowing the expansion of value-based purchasing agreements between states and drugmakers through the MVP Act, which the industry has backed. Critics have charged it could become a loophole for pharma to pay lower rebates to states.

The legislation's path forward is unclear, with Democrats divided over the bill. Just three Democrats supported it in a House Energy and Commerce Committee markup in May.

HHS OFFICIALS APPEAL SOCIAL MEDIA STAY - Oral arguments are scheduled today in an unusual social media censorship case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

The Biden administration is appealing a paused July 4 federal order barring federal officials, including high-profile health officials, from having any contact with social media firms.

The suit: The appeal concerns a suit filed by the attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana, who allege the Biden administration pressured social media companies to censor posts that contained disinformation on Covid-19 and elections. Among the officials named in the suit were Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

On July 4, a federal Louisiana judge wrote in his order that the administration had likely violated the First Amendment, calling their efforts "Orwellian." A federal appeals court has temporarily put that order on hold.

The White House's take: The Justice Department has said officials didn't threaten or coerce companies to de-platform certain speech but simply encouraged them to police their platforms in light of health disinformation, which includes anti-masking and anti-vaccines, POLITICO's Matt Berg and Josh Gerstein previously reported.

MA PLANS GET BONUSES - Federal spending on Medicare Advantage bonus payments has skyrocketed since 2015, per a new KFF report, as enrollment in these plans continues to grow.

The bonuses are based on the star rating system, a system that the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommended overhauling in 2020, arguing that the system doesn't adequately measure plan quality.

Medical Advantage bonus payments are on track to reach at least $12.8 billion this year, a 30 percent increase from 2022 and more than quadrupled since 2015, KFF says. Meanwhile, 26 million, or 85 percent, of Medicare Advantage enrollees in 2023 were in plans that received bonuses.

CDC SAYS COVID SHOTS LIKELY COMING IN THE FALL - CDC Director Mandy Cohen says updated Covid-19 shots against XBB.1.5, a subvariant of Omicron, are likely to become available by mid-September once manufacturers receive FDA authorization. The CDC will also issue its own recommendations.

"We are likely to see this be - and again, I don't want to get ahead of the scientists that are going to do their work in the next few weeks - but we are likely to see this as a recommendation as an annual Covid shot, just like we have an annual flu shot," Cohen told Andy Slavitt, President Joe Biden's former senior adviser for the Covid response, Wednesday on his podcast "In the Bubble with Andy Slavitt."

What to watch: Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax have all filed their updated shots to the FDA for authorization after the agency recommended in June that they tailor their shots against the XBB.1.5 strain.

And while another Omicron subvariant, EG.5, or "Eris," has gained traction in recent months, experts tell POLITICO's Andrew Zhang that currently available vaccines are still likely to be effective.

Dr. Steven Barnard has been named chief technology officer of biotech company Illumina.

Dr. José Romero, head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases for the past 14 months, is leaving the CDC. He will be replaced by Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who was deputy director of the White House's mpox response team, STAT reports.

POLITICO's Ashleigh Furlong reports on calls from the World Health Organization for mosquito nets to combat mosquito-borne illnesses in Europe.

Muck Rock reports on criticisms that the NIH's long Covid initiative has failed to test meaningful treatments in more than two years.

Five times more. That's how much more a hospital can charge you for a medicine compared to what they paid for it. And this massive markup winds up creating a significant financial burden for patients and the health care system in general. Learn more.

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Anti-abortion activists rethink state approach

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After a staggering loss in Ohio's special election this week, anti-abortion activists are grappling with how to forge ahead, POLITICO's Alice Ollstein reports.

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CW: Suicide numbers

Summary: This article lays out the amount of gun violence in the United-States. The numbers are pretty staggering. As of August first there have been at least 25,198 deaths from gun violence. It also lists the amount of those that are teens and children. The vast majority of gun related violence is death by suicide. There have been more that 14,000 already this year. That's an average of 66 deaths a day. The amount of mass shootings in the US already this year is staggering. To be considered a mass shooting it has to be an incident where four or more individuals are shot or killed. There have already been 420 mass shootings in the US this year. Already 20 K-12 school shootings. This section really surprised me though:

"The U.S. has surpassed 39,000 deaths from gun violence per year since 2014, according to data from Gun Violence Archive. Still, gun deaths are down from 2016, 2017 and 2018, when the total number of deaths each year surpassed 50,000. There were 44,310 such deaths in 2022."

I really would have thought this would have been a significant year but it's still down from past years.
Why post: I am not tapped into the US news very much and the statistics in this one really caught me off guard.
What did I learn: The staggering amount of gun violence in the US. I obviously knew it was really bad, but seeing the numbers is a whole other thing.
Agree?: There's nothing to agree or disagree with in this one. It's stating reported gun violence numbers.
Bias: No bias as it's mainly stating numbers.
Fact checker: They have a left centre bias. High factual reporting.

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More than 40,000 people killed in gun violence so far in 2023

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Gun violence in the U.S. has taken an average of roughly 118 lives each day in 2023, according to data from Gun Violence Archive.

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This article is about the number of deaths caused by gun violence in just 2023 alone. This year, over 11,500 people have already been killed due to gun violence.
I chose to share this article because I think it's important to share the shocking statistics like this so that there's more awareness. I also learned that there has been over 420 mass shootings since the beginning of this year.
Something I did not know is that President Biden a gun safety package into law last year.
This article did not have a bias. It was a factual article.
The source is ABCnews.go.com and upon checking the mediabiasfactcheck, it seems it's left-centred.

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More than 40,000 people killed in gun violence so far in 2023

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Gun violence in the U.S. has taken an average of roughly 118 lives each day in 2023, according to data from Gun Violence Archive.

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Brief Summary: This article talks about a mass shooting that happened in Washington D.C. last night.

Why I shared: I shared this article because mass shootings happen in the U.S. every day, and this is the second time this has happened in D.C. in the last month.

What I learned: Besides the facts of the shooting, I didn't really learn anything new. It did, however, highlight that the state and federal governments still completely disregard the safety of its citizens in the name of an amendment that was implemented in a time when America was in active war with Britain.

Bias: No, I do not think there was a bias. The facts were reported plainly without any influence from the author.

Do I agree with the content: The article doesn't take a specific stance, so I agree with the reported facts.

Source legitimacy: NPR is a very reliable news organization, there isn't any bias or false information.

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WASHINGTON - A shooting on a street in the nation's capital left three people dead and two others hospitalized Saturday night, police said.

Officers responded to the sounds of gunshots around 8 p.m. in the 1600 block of Good Hope Road Southeast and found five victims who had been shot.

Two men and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene and two men were transported to area hospitals, Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department Acting Chief Pamela Smith said during a news conference at the scene.

The conditions of the hospitalized victims were not immediately known.

"This kind of gun violence is not acceptable in the District of Columbia. This is not a war zone. We want our residents to feel safe," Smith said.

Smith asked for help from the public in collecting information about what she called a disturbing fatal shooting.

"We realize that there may be others who may have been injured tonight. We are asking you to come forward," Smith said, adding that the community needs to be involved in stopping the city's violence. "It can't rest upon the metropolitan police department to determine what works and what doesn't work."

Washington experienced another mass shooting last month when nine people were wounded while celebrating Independence Day in a neighborhood about a 20-minute drive east of the White House.

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Shooting kills 2 men and a woman and wounds 2 others in Washington D.C.

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A shooting on a street in the nation's capital left three people dead and two others hospitalized Saturday night, police said.

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A brief summary

The article talks about how recent data indicates that the national murder rate in the U.S. is down this year, about 11%, but that doesn’t mean mass shootings have decreased, in fact it might exceed the 2021 mass shootings which is the highest the U.S. has seen. “At this point in 2022, there were 4,262 murders recorded in the U.S., but in 2023 there have only been 3,791, Asher’s data shows.”  They talk about how mass shootings and murders are measured differently, where mass shootings involve multiple people where they are shot and at times not killed but heavily injured. From the Friday to Wednesday 4th of July weekend, there have been 18 murders and 102 injured in mass shootings.

Why you choose to share it

Headline looked appealing and I had to check for myself on how murders have decreased but mass shootings have been increasing.

What did you learn from it?

Even with the high amount of mass shootings, murder has decreased compared to around this time last year. Some major cities have seen a decrease in murders, but others have seen an increase.

Did you feel there was a bias?

Not really, especially the part in the article that mentions mass shootings account for a small percentage of murder per year, however it is back up by studies, but this is only in certain cities.

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?

Not really, especially the part in the article that mentions mass shootings account for a small percentage of murder per year, however it is back up by studies, but this is only in certain cities. Because the article is trying to explain that mass shootings are not the major cause to murders but in fact this year has been the most mass shootings we’ve seen, and I think is a major factor in murders

Is the source legitimate?

"mediabiasfactcheck” rates Forbes as MOSTLY factual.

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Topline

As the U.S. reels from a long holiday weekend with at least 17 mass shootings that took the lives of 18 people, data from AH Datalytics shows the nationwide murder rate is down so far this year, signaling a reprieve from a pandemic-induced surge that could lead 2023 to be the year murder rates finally decrease.

Murder rates are down about 11% across more than 90 U.S. cities so far this year.
Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty

Key Facts

What We Don't Know

It's unclear what exactly is causing this decrease. Asher noted in The Atlantic piece that "national explanations will be more convincing than local anecdotes" when it comes to comparing the murder rate of 2023 to 2022 at the end of the year.

Key Background

Data released by the FBI two years ago showed a startling 30% spike in murders from 2019 to 2020. Many say this record-breaking increase was induced by the pandemic and the unrest following the murder of George Floyd. Murder rates before the pandemic were incrementally increasing-for example, the percentage of murders jumped 0.3% from 2018 to 2019-but still remained well below the early 1990s. After the big jump in 2020, murder rates returned to their incremental increase. Murder rates rose 4.3% in 2021 relative to 2020, according to the FBI.

Contra

Murders and mass shootings are measured differently, and mass shootings account for a small percentage of the number of murders each year. So while incidents where multiple people are shot-but not necessarily killed-are rising and continue to hit record levels, the overall number of murders in the U.S. is falling this year, according to Asher's data. Murder is defined as a willful killing, while mass shootings are defined by the FBI and Gun Violence Archive as an incident with at least four injuries or deaths, not including the shooter.

Tangent

On top of the 18 people who were killed this holiday weekend-from Friday to early Wednesday morning-in mass shootings, at least another 102 people were injured, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The rate of mass shootings tends to increase over holiday weekends and July 4 weekend follows that trend. Last year, over July 4 weekend, 6 people were killed and 31 injured during a Fourth of July parade in the Chicago suburbs. In fact, there are more mass shootings in the U.S. on July 4 than any other day of the year, as an analysis from a criminologist at Northeastern University published in USA Today found. There have been more than 50 mass shootings on the Fourth of July over the past decade. This follows a series of headline-making shootings that led the U.S. to reach a record number of mass shootings halfway through 2023. So far, 2023 has outpaced the past five years in mass shootings. At the midway mark (June 28) mass shootings reached 332 this year, 293 in 2022, 309 in 2021, 240 in 2020, 190 in 2019 and 151 in 2018.

Big Number

21,924. That's how many people have died so far this year from all gun-related events in the U.S., including homicides, unintentional fire and suicides, according to the GVA. Another 18,948 people have been injured in gun-related events this year.

Further Reading

U.S. Sees Record Number Of Mass Shootings Halfway Through 2023 ( Forbes)

Biden Responds As Dozens Shot In July 4 Mass Shootings ( Forbes)

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U.S. Murder Rate Finally Dropping-Even As Mass Shootings Reach Record Levels

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Murder rates are down about 11% across more than 90 U.S. cities so far this year.

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Summary:

The news article from ABC news states that more than 25,000 have lost their lives because of gun violence in the US. The states with the highest gun violence incidents are Texas, California, Florida and North Carolina. The article talks about various incidents like school shootings and accidental ones. It also talks about need for tougher measures.

Reason for sharing:

This article is very important because it's raising awareness about the large number of incidents that have been taking place all across the United States. It provides the data of alarming rate of gun violence.

What I learned:

The article provides the information as well as data, the insights into current state of gun violence. It also talks about the devastating impact on individuals and communities. This also states that it's a significant problem which demands urgent attention and action.

Bias:

The article doesn't really have any bias. It basically focuses on providing statics as well as data related to gun violence so it doesn't really have any bias.

Agreement with content:

The content is true and highlights serious problem of gun violence and need for continued efforts. I agree with the content written in this article. It's very important to highlight this major issue.

Source Legitimacy:

It is a reputable news organisation which is very well known. The source is true and is legit. It is considered as a legitimate and reliable source of news information.

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More than 40,000 people killed in gun violence so far in 2023

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Gun violence in the U.S. has taken an average of roughly 118 lives each day in 2023, according to data from Gun Violence Archive.

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1. A brief summary

There have been more than 200 mass shootings across the US this year. In the last 3 years, there have been more than 600 mass shootings, averaging almost 2 in a day. Back in 2021, there have been 48,830 people who died from gun-related injuries. Most of these deaths were mass shootings or homicides but half the 48,830 peoples who died were by suicide. According to Centres for Disease Control (CDC) in 2021, more than 20,000 of the deaths were homicides and more than 50 people are killed regularly in the US. A survey was conducted to find an estimate of how many Americans own a gun. They estimated that there were 390 million guns in circulation back in 2018. A study by the Annals of Internal Medicine in February found that 7.5 million American adults become new gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021. There is around 11 million American who have firearms in their home, including 5 million children.

2. Why you choose to share it

I chose to share it because I find it insane that on a daily average around 50 people die due to a mass shooting. It also includes statistics about; US gun deaths break down, how many guns are there in the US, who supports gun control and who opposes gun control.

3. What did you learn from it?

I learned that there are too many guns being circulated in America and that it seems too “easy” to get one. It seems like people from every State has a gun or is a gun owner. I also learned that around 11 million Americans have firearms in their home and 5 million of them have children inside the house.

4. Did you feel there was bias?

Yes, there is a bias as the article contains some statistics about gun violence, which lead to readers agreeing that gun shouldn’t exist. It makes me think that the states should have stricter gun rules and have strong protocols to become a gun owner.

5. Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?

I personally think owning a gun should be illegal or a hard process to get. It shouldn’t be easily accessible and there should be stricter laws applied about being a gun owner. I also believe that there should be a psychiatric evaluation before being a gun owner to lower the risks of suicide. I believe that you should renew your gun ownership every year and have a psychiatric evaluation every year as well.

6. Is the source legitimate? (use mediabiasfactcheck.com) If it's a tweet thread or op-ed, find out what you can about the author.

According to mediabiasfactcheck.com, BBC News is left-centre biased and has a high ranking for factual reporting to proper sourcing of information

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Data shows gun ownership in the US has grown over the last several years

Gun violence is a fixture in American life - but the issue is a highly political one, pitting gun control advocates against people who are fiercely protective of their right to bear arms.

We've looked into some of the numbers behind firearms in the US.

Mass shootings on the rise

There have been more than 560 mass shootings across the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed. Their figures include shootings that happen in homes and in public places.

For each of the last three years there have been more than 600 mass shootings - almost two a day on average.

The deadliest such attack, in Las Vegas in 2017, killed more than 50 people and left 500 wounded. The vast majority of mass shootings, however, leave fewer than 10 people dead.

How do US gun deaths break down?

48,830 people died from gun-related injuries in the US during 2021, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

That's nearly an 8% increase from 2020, which was a record-breaking year for firearm deaths.

While mass shootings and gun murders (homicides) generally garner much media attention, more than half of the total in 2021 were suicides.

That year, more than 20,000 of the deaths were homicides, according to the CDC.

Data shows more than 50 people are killed each day by a firearm in the US.

That's a significantly larger proportion of homicides than is the case in Canada, Australia, England and Wales, and many other countries.

How many guns are there in the US?

While calculating the number of guns in private hands around the world is difficult, the latest figures from the Small Arms Survey - a Swiss-based research project - estimated that there were 390 million guns in circulation in the US in 2018.

The US ratio of 120.5 firearms per 100 residents, up from 88 per 100 in 2011, far surpasses that of other countries around the world.

More recent data out of the US suggests that gun ownership grew significantly over the last few years. A study, published by the Annals of Internal Medicine in February, found that 7.5 million US adults became new gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021.

This, in turn, exposed 11 million people to firearms in their homes, including 5 million children. About half of new gun owners in that time period were women, while 40% were either black or Hispanic.

Who supports gun control?

A majority of Americans are in favour of gun control.

57% of Americans surveyed said they wanted stricter gun laws - although this fell last year - according to polling by Gallup.

32% said the laws should remain the same, while 10% of people surveyed said they should be "made less strict".

The issue is extremely divisive, falling largely along party lines.

"Democrats are nearly unanimous in their support for stricter gun laws," another Gallup study noted, with nearly 91% in favour of stricter gun laws.

Only 24% Republicans, on the other hand, agreed with the same statement, along with 45% of Independent voters.

Some states have taken steps to ban or strictly regulate ownership of assault weapons. Laws vary by state but California, for example, has banned ownership of assault weapons with limited exceptions.

Some controls are widely supported by people across the political divide - such as restrictions governing the sale of guns to people who are mentally ill or on "watch" lists.

Who opposes gun control?

Despite years of financial woes and internal strife, the National Rifle Association (NRA) remains the most powerful gun lobby in the United States, with a substantial budget to influence members of Congress on gun policy.

Over the last several election cycles, it, and other organisations, have consistently spent more on pro-gun rights messaging than their rivals in the gun control lobby.

A number of states have also gone as far as to largely eliminate restrictions on who can carry a gun. In June 2021, for example, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a "permitless carry bill" that allows the state's residents to carry handguns without a licence or training.

Similarly, in April last year Georgia became the 25th in the nation to eliminate the need for a permit to conceal or openly carry a firearm. The law means any citizen of that state has the right to carry a firearm without a licence or a permit.

The law was backed by the NRA, and leaders within the organisation called the move "a monumental moment for the Second Amendment".

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How many US mass shootings have there been in 2023?

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Explaining some of the key statistics behind gun ownership and attacks linked to guns in the US.

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A brief summary:
Gun violence deaths are highlighted in America with shocking stats such as more than 15,000 Americans dying from shooting in 2023. There is a correlation between states with strict gun laws having less gun violence and the same if another state is lax on their gun laws but surrounded by states that are not. The number of Americans killed by gun-related violence is 120 every day.

Why you choose to share it?
I chose this article because The Washington Post is a more credible new organization to speak on gun violence. This story gave me a different and real perspective on the crisis that is happening with gun-related violence.

What did you learn from it?
I learned that 120 Americans are killed by guns every day, which is a very sad reality. The states also don't seem to care enough about changing mass and school shootings.

Did you feel there was a bias?
This article definitely has a liberal feel to it. On mediabiasfactcheck.com

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?
I agree with the content and I appreciated how it was presented. It showed facts and stats, informing the reader not fear-mongering like some writers do. Gun violence needs to be taken more seriously in the states and not like this a normal occurrence.

Is the source legitimate? (use mediabiasfactcheck.com)
This factual source has very few biased meanings that use a few loaded words.

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Guns for sale are seen at a pawn shop in Ash Flat, Ark., in April 2020. (Terra Fondriest for The Washington Post)

The tragic mass shooting last weekend in a Dallas suburb took place as I was leaving the country to visit Britain. I might as well have taken one of Elon Musk's rockets and landed on a different planet. The Allen, Tex., massacre means that, so far in 2023, more than 15,000 Americans have died from gun violence. In 2021, the last year for which we have complete data, there were 48,830 gun-related deaths, of which 20,958 were gun homicides. In England and Wales, there were 31 gun homicides. Even accounting for its larger population, calculating deaths per 100,000 people, the United States in 2019 had roughly 100 times as many gun homicides as the United Kingdom.

A comparison of suicides is equally depressing. In 2021, 26,328 Americans took their own lives using guns. About half of the people who kill themselves in the United States use guns to do it. In the U.K. in 2019, that number was 117, and of all suicides, death by firearm is one of the rarest methods. With 4 percent of the world's population, the United States has about 44 percent of the world's gun suicides.

Britain is actually a useful point of comparison. In cultural terms, it is this country's closest relative, the mother ship that created the colonies from which the United States of America sprang. It has strong traditions of individualism, rights and liberty that prefigure America's. Even the more violent strains of American culture - the Scots-Irish tradition in parts of the South - owe their origins to the British Isles.

Editorial Board: These people did not have to die

And yet, with regard to contemporary gun violence, Britain looks like most other advanced industrial countries. The United States, meanwhile, might as well be on another planet.

Perhaps because it draws on the same history of liberties and rights as America, Britain was not always exempt from the problems of gun violence and mass shootings. In fact, British gun laws changed substantially after two mass shootings: in 1987 in Hungerford and then another in 1996 in Dunblane. In the latter case, a man entered a primary school in Scotland armed with four handguns and 743 rounds of ammunition. He went into a gym full of children and opened fire. In just a few minutes, he caused the deaths of 17 people and then turned the gun on himself.

Follow this author Fareed Zakaria's opinions

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After those two massacres, it was Conservative governments that passed gun control laws, significantly restricting the use of firearms. When Tony Blair swept into power in a landslide in 1997, his Labour government expanded on those laws, and today there's an almost total ban on handguns, as well as automatic and semiautomatic weaponry, in most of the U.K. Britons were given a few months to hand in their weapons in a government buyback program. These laws remain in place today, and gun violence of all kinds has declined markedly over the past 25 years across Britain. A similar gun ban and buyback took place in Australia after a gruesome massacre there in 1996. (It was also enacted by a Conservative government.) Since then, gun homicides and suicides have declined in that country, as well.

One study by the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety suggests that U.S. states that have strong gun control laws are much safer from gun violence. For example, the gun-death rate in New York state, which has some of the strongest gun control laws, is only a fraction of the national average. Overall, the states with the most permissive gun laws have almost triple the gun-death rates of those with the most stringent. According to the Nationhood Lab, living in the Northeast means you have a much lower likelihood of gun-related homicides or suicides than in the Deep South.

It's true that some states with strong gun laws, such as Illinois, don't reap the full benefits of these laws because of neighboring states that are more lax. But you also see the equivalent phenomenon in reverse. States such as New Hampshire, with weak gun laws, have low gun deaths, helped by the fact that their neighboring states have enacted tougher measures.

Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, true to form, pulled out an old cliche in his response to the mass shooting in Allen. "People want a quick solution," he said. "The long-term solution here is to address the mental health issue." Abbott has it almost exactly backward. The quick nonsolution is always to talk about mental health. But do people in the United States have 100 times as many mental health problems as they do in the U.K.? The United States has a rate of gun violence 18 times higher than the average rich country. Does that mean it has 18 times the rate of mental disorders? Texas has almost triple the rate of gun deaths as the state of New York - yet Texas doesn't have three times as many mentally ill people as New York.

All these statistics can have the effect of deadening our sensibilities to what is going on in the United States. But let me try one last set to try to jolt us all into awareness. Every day in America, more than 200 people are wounded by guns; 120 are killed by them. Of these 120, 11 are children and teens. The leading cause of mortality among children in America is now death by a gun. The same number of deaths - 120 - will happen tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, every day, until we come to our senses and do something about it.
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Opinion | There's no mystery about why the U.S. has so many gun deaths

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Other developed countries aren't even close to the U.S. on gun violence. So what makes us special?

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A brief summary : The article reports that a shooting in a Houston park, which left a pregnant woman dead and four others injured, marked the 400th mass shooting in the United States in 2023. The article provides details on other mass shootings that occurred over in different cities, highlighting the seriousness of the ongoing gun violence issue in the US. July has been particularly violent, with 65 mass shootings, resulting in 81 deaths and 300 injuries.

Why you choose to share it : Because I think that it is very sad that there are more shootings already this year than they have been days.

What did you learn from it? : That the number of mass shootings in 2023 has increased by 9% compared to the same time in 2022

Did you feel there was a bias? I don’t feel there was a bias, more like they were sharing information.

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?: I agree that the US needs more gun laws and that this is horrible.

Is the source legitimate? (use mediabiasfactcheck.com) If it's a tweet thread or op-ed, find out what you can about the author.

This source is known to not be biased.

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US surpasses 400 mass shootings so far in 2023: National gun violence website

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A shooting that erupted in a Houston park and left a pregnant woman dead and four other people injured, marked the 400th mass shooting in the United States in 2023.

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A brief summary : The article discusses a documentary called "For the Animals," produced by two Jain Monk filmmakers and animal advocates, Tena and Tama. The documentary aims to raise awareness about the issue of animals living on the streets in Houston, a problem often overlooked and kept hidden. The filmmakers emphasize the responsibility humans have towards these animals, as they were domesticated from wolves to become our friends.

Why you choose to share it : Because I think that a lot of times when we talk about overpopulation we forget to understand that it also impacts Animals.

What did you learn from it? : I learned that this problem affects a lot more than humans. I did more research on the topic and found out that one of the biggest reasons why pets get euthanized is because of a lack of proper space.

Did you feel there was a bias? I don’t feel there was a bias. I

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?: I do agree with the importance of raising awareness for such an issue. Although this is a systematic problem there are things that we individuals can do to help the situation.

Is the source legitimate? (use mediabiasfactcheck.com) If it's a tweet thread or op-ed, find out what you can about the author.

This source is known as one of the least bias websites in America

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Houston animal overpopulation: New documentary shed light on city’s dirty little secret

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Two long-time animal advocates partnered with two Jain Monk filmmakers to create a documentary showing ‘Houston’s dirty little secret.’

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A brief summary : The article highlights the overlooked healthcare issues faced by older people and those in nursing homes. The current funding structure places financial burden on Medicaid, limiting viable alternatives for older adults. It talks about how Minority populations have unequal access to preferred care options, while the lack of digitization leads to high turnover rates and unreliable ratings in long-term care facilities. Leveraging technology, such as AI, can enhance communication, manage overall well-being, and improve care for older individuals.

Why you choose to share it : Because I think it is very interesting to see how AI impacts different jobs and I think everyone should at least be aware of how far AI can reach.

What did you learn from it? : I learned that artificial intelligence can be used as a tool for humans and not a replacement. This article spoke about how ai can make humans more efficient too and I was unaware of that.

Did you feel there was a bias? I don’t feel there was a bias. If there was one it was leaving on AI’s side.

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?: I do agree with some parts of this article that explains just how unfair the healthcare system is to old people and certain minorities.

Is the source legitimate? (use mediabiasfactcheck.com) If it's a tweet thread or op-ed, find out what you can about the author.

This source is known to lean to the left.

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Transforming health care for older adults | Brookings

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Artificial intelligence (AI) can be leveraged to improve communication between medical teams, patients, and their families, and caregivers.

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Summary: The article discusses the escalating gun violence in the United States, particularly focusing on mass shootings. The year 2023 is projected to be the deadliest for mass shootings, and gun-related homicides and suicides have also risen to record stats. The article presents charts showing the number of mass shooting deaths, gun-related homicides and suicides, state-level data comparisons, and international comparisons of gun violence. It highlights the significant number of gun deaths in the U.S. compared to other advanced countries.

Why I choose to share it: I choose to share this article because gun violence is a pressing issue that affects many lives in the United States. It’s just sad to know that a lot of people feel unsafe when they leave their homes in the morning, as they are not sure if they will be safe due to random gun shooting that may occur on the streets, I believe that a solution is needed to solve this problem.

What I learned from it: From the article, I learned that gun violence in the United States, including mass shootings, homicides, and suicides involving firearms, is a significant public health concern. I also learnt that the number of people who die due to gun violence in the U.S is considerably higher than any other democratic and advanced nations.

Bias: The article includes various sources, such as the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Gun Violence Archive, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. It's clear that the article provides facts and statistics and doesn’t seem to be biased.

Agreement with content: I agree with the content, and I believe it’s just sad and unfortunate that the results of survey research on gun violence in the U.S keep getting worse, every year and continually show a drastic increase of victims of gun violence. I believe that the issue of gun-violence and mass shooting in the US should be given a priority attention to avoid further awful incidents.

Source legitimacy: The article is published by CBC News, which is a very known Canadian news organization, and the author, Graeme Bruce, is a producer for CBC News. According to mediabiasfactcheck.com, CBC News is considered to have a "left-center bias" but is also rated as "high" in terms of factual reporting.

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Charting gun violence in the United States | CBC News

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The United States is on pace to have its deadliest year for mass shootings, while cases of homicide and suicide in which a gun is used have also increased to record highs in recent years.

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Summary

This article addresses an interesting point of view about the housing shortage in Canada. It tries to explain what the different levels of government are responsible for with this raising issue. According to the article, the Federal government has the largest budget, and most fiscal powers to take action to control the crisis. However, the Canadian Constitution mentions nothing about housing, which is interpreted in legal terms as the federal government is not the main responsible for this matter, but allocates the responsibility to provincial governments.

Why did I choose to share it?

It seems that there is a lot of confusion around this matter, which makes it even more difficult for the government in general to improve the current situation of the country. This article gives a picture and different angles to obtain a better idea of what the government is doing, and what level is in charge of what. However, after reading it, the scenario does not seem so great, as the law does not really provide responsibilities to the federal government.

What did I learn?

It is Ironic to think that a country like Canada is experiencing overpopulation issues. It is clear that the government has a lot of room for improvement in this field since is not about space, but development and infrastructure.

The Federal government is not providing as much support as it could and should, the reasons for these actions are somehow justified, but it is still a very poor argument to justify the crisis your country is experiencing.

Do I agree with the content?

This article leaves me with a lot of questions, this crisis is 100 percent avoidable, and the resources are there to take action. The content is an analysis to point out a responsible, but not many solutions, were delivered. I am not sure if i consider this article as facts, or ideas.

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Amid rising housing prices and a shortage of housing supply, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said responsibility on the matter lays mostly with the provinces and territories, but experts say the federal government is playing a larger role in shaping housing policy in Canada.

At a housing announcement in Hamilton on Monday, Trudeau said the issue is mostly provincial jurisdiction.

"I'll be blunt as well - housing isn't a primary federal responsibility. It's not something that we have direct carriage of," he said.

"But it is something that we can and must help with."

Housing has become a major political issue as prices continue to rise. The Canadian Real Estate Association reported earlier this year that the average price of a home in Canada is $716,000.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre attacked Trudeau and his government Tuesday over the increasing cost of housing, saying the federal government is responsible for many policies and institutions that affect housing.

Poilievre has pledged to withhold federal infrastructure funding to municipalities that block housing developments.

| 3 levels of government trade barbs over who should fix housing crisis

Trudeau said he'd like to see more of an effort from the Ontario government.

"I'd love to be able to share this stage right now, not just with the mayor of Hamilton, but with the province," Trudeau said.

"They need to be stepping up as well, particularly on affordable housing. That is something that the federal government is taking very seriously, but we need all of us to be working together on [it], and that's what we're here to continue to do."

But experts told CBC News that while Trudeau's remarks are technically accurate, they simplify a complex issue on which Ottawa could be doing a better job.

Ottawa moving into housing file: experts

The Constitution or legislation sometimes explicitly states which level of government is responsible for a particular issue, but this is not the case with housing.

"If you read the Constitution, the word housing doesn't appear in there," said Steve Pomeroy, an industry professor and executive advisor at the Canadian Housing Evidence Collaborative at McMaster University.

"However, jurisprudence has generally interpreted the Constitution that matters of local things are seen as being provincial jurisdiction. So the legal interpretation of the Constitution in a very strict review would allocate responsibility for housing to the provinces."

But the federal government controls many institutions and areas of policy which affect the price and availability of housing in Canada, Pomeroy said, such as federal fiscal policy and bank regulation.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which is responsible for implementing Canada's National Housing Act, is a federal crown corporation. CMHC says it "exists for a single reason: to make housing affordable for everyone in Canada," according to its website. The organization provides mortgage insurance, sets rules for who can qualify for mortgage insurance, collects data about housing in Canada, and more.

There's also a federal housing minister. Sean Fraser, the former minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, took over the portfolio in the recent cabinet shuffle.

Ottawa's desire to be involved in the housing sector has fluctuated over the decades, Pomeroy said, adding that the Trudeau government has wanted to play a bigger role.

The government developed a National Housing Strategy, which includes a plan to build up to 160,000 new homes and cut chronic homelessness in half. It's also campaigned on a number of housing policies, such as a fund for municipalities that are looking to boost housing supply, as well as a first-time home buyers savings account and a new tax for foreign buyers.

"The pendulum has swung all the way back to a very proactive federal role, notwithstanding the fact that the Constitution doesn't actually give them the responsibility to be there," Pomeroy said.

But Lydia Miljan, a political science professor at the University of Windsor, said federal parties and governments campaigning outside their jurisdiction is far from unprecedented. She added that money is a factor as well, as the federal government has the largest budget.

"The federal government has the power of the purse," she said.

"And so historically they have done things to make housing more affordable, either by providing housing for low income Canadians through rent subsidies or through social housing."

Pomeroy agreed.

"To some extent people do look toward the federal government mainly because it's the level of government with the greatest fiscal powers," he said.

"The challenge for cities is that they simply don't have the revenue capacity. Building affordable housing or social housing is a very expensive proposition."

The government values the National Housing Strategy at more than $82 billion, though some of that money is loans rather than new spending.

But Pomeroy said the federal government needs to be held responsible for flaws in its approach to housing.

"To be perfectly frank, I think they haven't done a very good job, even though they've started spending a lot of money," he said.

"The way they've designed initiatives, they've been very cumbersome."

Pomeroy said a better approach would have been to leave responsibility for housing programs with the provinces while boosting federal funding and slowly increasing the federal role over time.

Immigration vs. housing supply

Immigration, an area of federal jurisdiction, has also been a contentious issue when it comes to housing. Canada welcomed 437,180 newcomers in 2022, and the record number of immigrants is a factor pushing up demand for housing.

"You can't just dump a bunch of newcomers in Canada when we have a housing shortage, and expect the provinces to sort of pick up the slack," Miljan said.

Following his appointment as housing minister, Fraser said closing the door on immigrants is not a solution to Canada's housing issues.

Pomeroy said he'd like to see better collaboration between the federal government and the provinces, but added he thinks Ottawa has already gone too far into provincial jurisdiction when it comes to housing.

"I think to some extent the federal government is its own worst enemy on this one," he said.

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Trudeau says feds aren't primarily responsible for housing, but how responsible are they? | CBC News

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Experts say Ottawa is playing more of a role in housing, which is mostly a provincial and territorial responsibility, but federal involvement hasn't brought much relief amid rising home prices.

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1. A brief summary:
The global population reached eight billion in 2022, a significant increase in human history. It is expected to peak around 2050, with 80 million new people added annually. However, discussing population growth is difficult due to strong reactions and dishonesty among intelligent people. Rising carbon emissions and climate treaties fail to meet targets, and the issue is linked to global warming. The exploitation of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, has made civilizations no longer rely on limited energy sources.

2. Why did you choose to share it?
Because is more general, it talks about global overpopulation, and this news is focused on the relationship between overpopulation and the environment.

3. What did you learn from it?
I did not know that "50 percent of carbon emissions come from 10 percent of the wealthiest global population, while the poorest half are responsible for only 12 percent of emissions. Africa has 17 percent of the world's population and 1.4 billion people — yet produces only 3.8 percent of the world's global emissions."

4. Did you feel there was a bias?
Not really. it is giving facts and data about
how overpopulation affects the environment and diversity.

5. Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?
100% yes! We talk about overpopulation and the environmental crisis as different issues, but they are related.

6. Is the source legitimate?
CBC Radio often publishes factual information, with a slight to moderate liberal bias.

7. About the author:
Bruce Livesey is an award-winning journalist and investigative reporter. His writing has appeared in major newspapers and magazines, including The Globe and Mail, Report on Business Magazine, The Guardian, National Post, Toronto Star, Christian Science Monitor, The Gazette, The Walrus, Canadian Business, Canadian Lawyer, Buzzfeed and The Financial Post.

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Bruce Livesey · Posted: Jun 12, 2023 4:35 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 12

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Is overpopulation killing the planet? | CBC Radio

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In the fall of 2022, the United Nations announced that the world’s population has reached eight billion people. Journalist Bruce Livesey explores the complex issues around population growth — from its connection to energy sources, to the often racist reactions to the subject.

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This article tells the reader that this year will pass the number of mass shootings set in 2021. It also mentions why this is important, how this data doesn't fully encapsulate who is affected by the epidemic, and additional facts and figures. I choose to share this due to the problem of guns in America and how little regulations for firearms have led to an epidemic of mass shootings, averaging two mass shootings every day. It is important to also mention that this data considers a mass shooting is when four or more people are injured or killed by guns but not including the shooter. I learned that mass shootings are still common in the US and action is mandatory to prevent this from growing out of control. I do feel there was a bias, one of anti-gun/pro-gun control. I do agree with this as mass shootings should be 0 no matter where in the world and the fact the US has hundreds is disgusting and needs to be reduced to 0. Axios has a left-centre bias so it is a reliable source. Jacob Knutson was the writer of this article and covers political and environmental stories around the world, but mainly focused on the US. Overall, he is a reliable and mostly a neutral writer.

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The U.S. is currently on pace to meet or surpass the previous record for the most mass shootings in a year, which was set in 2021 with a total of 690, according to Gun Violence Archive (GVA) data.

Why it matters: So far this year, the U.S. has seen an average of two mass shootings every day, for a running total of 419.

At this point in 2021, 401 mass shootings had occurred, and that year over all had a daily average of 1.9 mass shootings.

Details: GVA defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people are shot and either killed or injured, not including the shooter.

Already, over 25,000 people have died from gun violence this year, and there are still 153 days left in 2023.

That's an average of 118 deaths per day, and among those daily deaths were nearly one child between the ages of zero and 11 and over four teens between 12 to 17 years old.

More than 22,000 people have also been injured by gunshots this year, including over 400 children and 2,400 teens.

Yes, but: Those figures do not capture the full scope of the U.S.' gun violence epidemic.

They hint at but do not include the thousands of parents who lost their child, or the thousands of families forever diminished.

The figures also can't sufficiently reflect the thousands of life-altering injures caused by gunshot wounds or the hundreds of thousands of dollars that gun violence victims rack up in hospital bills.

The trauma from being threatened with a gun or witnessing a shooting isn't accounted for in the data, either.

What they're saying: "Gun violence takes an enormous toll on this country, and it is a toll that we all share," Kelly Drane, the research director for the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, told Axios.

"The reality is, we know that gun violence is entirely preventable," Drane said. "There are a number of things we can do reduce the frequency and lethality of gun violence in this country."

"I think there are some people who have been elected to public office that are beholden to the gun lobby and other special interest groups that have a vested interest in preventing these policies from getting passed," she added.

The big picture: Recent polling has shown that a majority of voters favor additional control measures to prevent gun violence.
Go deeper: Gun control advocates say culture, not just laws, must change

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U.S. averaging 2 mass shootings per day so far this year

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Over 25,000 people have died from gun violence so far in 2023.

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Summary: Statistics Canada released projections indicating that Ontario's population could grow by six million over the next two decades, reaching approximately 19 million by 2043. This growth is expected to be driven primarily by immigration, which will also result in an aging population, placing additional pressure on infrastructure and public services. The projected population increase has both economic opportunities and challenges, including the need for long-term planning and investment in infrastructure, considering that there is already a housing crisis in the province.

Why I chose to share it: I chose to share this article because it addresses a significant demographic trend in Ontario, Canada. The potential population growth will affect various sectors such as housing, transportation, healthcare, and infrastructure, and all these calls the need for proactive planning and decision-making by the government.

What I learned from it: From this article, I learned about the projected population growth in Ontario and the factors contributing to it, such as immigration. I also learnt the challenges Ontario may face, including housing affordability, healthcare demands, and lack of infrastructures.

Bias: The content seems to present information and perspectives from different experts, including the positive economic impact of population growth, the challenges that may occur, and the need for strategic planning to address these issues.  I wouldn’t say that this article is biased

Agreement with the content: I agree with the content and believe that the government should start making proactive decisions, and implement policies to build more infrastructures, such building more housing, and collaborate with landowners and investors to build more infrastructures.

Source legitimacy: The source of this article, CP24.com, is a Canadian news website associated with the television station CP24. According to mediabiasfactcheck.com, CP24 has a Least Biased rating. Overall, it is considered a legitimate and reliable source of news information.

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Ontario's population could grow by more than six million over the next two decade

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Ontario's population could increase by as much as six million over the next two decades and some experts are warning that governments need to start "playing catch up" on building out the necessary infrastructure to accommodate that sort of influx before it is too late.

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This article shows a study looked at mass shootings in the U.S. from 2014 to 2022. It found that more than half of all mass shootings in the country have happened in the last two decades. During this nine-year period, there were around 4,000 mass shootings, resulting in about 21,000 deaths or injuries. Louisiana had the highest rate of mass shootings followed by Washington, D.C. Hawaii and North Dakota didn't have any mass shootings during this time.

The most common type of mass shootings occurred at places like bars, clubs, and house parties, making up about 27% of incidents. Crime-related shootings accounted for 16%, while domestic violence-related incidents made up 11%, but these may be underreported.

I chose to share this because it shows how much of a problem gun violence is in America, it’s so sad to see this happening when it can be so easily fixed by stricter gun laws. I did not feel there was bias and the source is slightly liberal bias.

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More than half of all mass shootings in the U.S. since 1966have taken place in the last 20 years.

From 2014 to 2022, the U.S. saw around 4,000 mass shootings, resulting in around 21,000 deaths or injuries, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The study analyzed data from the Gun Violence Archive, a research database that tracks gun violence incidents based on reports from media outlets, local or state police departments and other government agencies. It defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people, not including the shooter, are shot or killed.

Louisiana had the highest rate of mass shootings per capita of any state, the study found: around 4.3 shootings for every 100,000 people. The rate in Washington, D.C., was even higher - 10.4 shootings for every 100,000 people - though it is a city, not a state.

Hawaii and North Dakota were the only two states that did not see any mass shootings over the nine years studied.

Leslie Barnard, the study's author and a doctoral student at the Colorado School of Public Health, said her research team initially suspected that Colorado would rank higher on the list.

"It was right after the Club Q shooting and someone asked, 'Why is Colorado so much higher in mass shootings than other states?'" Barnard said, referring to the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs last November that killed five people and injured 17 others. But as it turned out, she added, Colorado's rate of mass shootings is "right in the middle" nationally.

Overall, mass shooting rates were highest in Southeastern states such as Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Barnard's research found that social-related mass shootings - those that occurred at a bar, club or house party - were the most common category, making up around 27% of mass shootings from 2014 to 2022. Another 16% were crime-related, meaning they involved gangs, drugs, armed robbery, carjacking, murder, suicide or home invasion.

Domestic violence, including kidnapping, made up 11%, and around 1% were related to school or work. But Barnard said the domestic violence shooting numbers are likely undercounts because many such incidents aren't reported to the police. A 2021 study found that 59% of fatal mass shootings from 2014 to 2019 were related to domestic violence.

On the whole, mass shootings aren't easy to define or categorize, said Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, an epidemiology professor at the University of Washington who studies violence prevention.

"The border between these categories may be more porous than it may appear," Rowhani-Rahbar said. "For example, a shooting in a bar or in a club that you may consider social may have some relationship with a domestic violence dispute."

But certain interventions can reduce the prevalence of mass shootings, no matter the category, he said. Rowhani-Rahbar pointed to red flag laws as one example, which allow a state court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person who poses a danger to themselves or others.

In regards to policies associated with more mass shootings, he said, "there is no doubt that looser gun laws have been shown over and over, time and time and time again, to be associated with higher rates of different forms of gun violence."

That may partly explain why mass shootings are concentrated in the Southeast, he said, and why Hawaii - a state with one of the lowest rates of household gun ownership - recorded no mass shootings.

As for North Dakota, Rowhani-Rahbar said, "the population there is not very large." (The state's population is about 780,000, according to the U.S. Census.)

Overall, the U.S. saw 14.6 gun deaths - including accidents, murders and suicides - per 100,000 people in 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among all types of gun violence, Barnard said, mass shootings are still relatively uncommon, so it's not surprising that some states would see very few.

Media coverage of mass shootings "creates this idea that these are very, very common," she said, but "compared to any other type of shooting event, like suicide, homicide, it is extraordinarily rare."

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How rates of mass shootings vary by state, mapped

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A map compares the rates of mass shootings per capita in each state, based on a new study of gun violence data. Louisiana and Washington, D.C., had the highest.

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This article goes into depth on analyzing the most current statistics involving guns in America. It starts off by talking about 2023 on its way to becoming the deadliest year for mass shootings. The first section is about how many victims there were of mass shootings. In January alone, the numbers were doubled compared to the year before. The next section is on homicides and suicides. It talks about how these categories represent the majority of gun related violence in the States. The article ends by comparing how these statistics differ between states, and then between countries.

I chose to share this article because the news around gun violence in America is devastating. Given that they are our closest neighbours, this issue hits very close to home. The more guns in America, the more likely the chance that they are going to make it over the border.

Honestly, I didn’t learn anything that shocked me in this article. I am well aware of how bad gun issues are in the States. The double numbers in January alone were new to me, but again not shocking unfortunately.

I didn’t feel like there was a bias in the article. The majority was just discussing the numbers of each category and how that compared in the grand scheme of things.

I agree with the content, it’s hard not to. The statistics are devasting and there is a desperate need for big changes.

CBC was rated left-centre biased. However, they were rated with high credibiility and high factual reporting.

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Charting gun violence in the United States | CBC News

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The United States is on pace to have its deadliest year for mass shootings, while cases of homicide and suicide in which a gun is used have also increased to record highs in recent years.

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1. A brief summary:

A study found that over half of US mass shootings since 1966 occurred in the last 20 years, with Louisiana having the highest rate per capita. Social-related mass shootings accounted for 27% of incidents, while crime-related incidents included gangs, drugs, armed robbery, carjacking, murder, suicide, and home invasion. Domestic violence incidents were 11%, and 1% were related to school or work. Interventions like red flag laws can reduce mass shootings, but looser gun laws may increase gun violence rates.

2. Why did you choose to share it?

We are always listening and reading about shoots in the USA, but I prefer this kind of research or study that shows the data and the alarming numbers about this issue.

3. What did you learn from it?
It is crazy that the crime-related percentage is the largest. And see how the violence is increasing and due to the immediacy of the media we are normalizing that.

4. Did you feel there was a bias?
No, I don't feel there was a bias, it is showing a study about shootings in the USA.

5. Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?
Yes, I agree with the content, sometimes people don't understand the magnitude of this issue.

6. Is the source legitimate?
NBC News often publishes factual information, with a slight to moderate liberal bias.

7. About the author:
Aria Bendix is the breaking health reporter for NBC News Digital.

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More than half of all mass shootings in the U.S. since 1966have taken place in the last 20 years.

From 2014 to 2022, the U.S. saw around 4,000 mass shootings, resulting in around 21,000 deaths or injuries, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Network Open.

The study analyzed data from the Gun Violence Archive, a research database that tracks gun violence incidents based on reports from media outlets, local or state police departments and other government agencies. It defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people, not including the shooter, are shot or killed.

Louisiana had the highest rate of mass shootings per capita of any state, the study found: around 4.3 shootings for every 100,000 people. The rate in Washington, D.C., was even higher - 10.4 shootings for every 100,000 people - though it is a city, not a state.

Hawaii and North Dakota were the only two states that did not see any mass shootings over the nine years studied.

Leslie Barnard, the study's author and a doctoral student at the Colorado School of Public Health, said her research team initially suspected that Colorado would rank higher on the list.

"It was right after the Club Q shooting and someone asked, 'Why is Colorado so much higher in mass shootings than other states?'" Barnard said, referring to the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs last November that killed five people and injured 17 others. But as it turned out, she added, Colorado's rate of mass shootings is "right in the middle" nationally.

Overall, mass shooting rates were highest in Southeastern states such as Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee.

Barnard's research found that social-related mass shootings - those that occurred at a bar, club or house party - were the most common category, making up around 27% of mass shootings from 2014 to 2022. Another 16% were crime-related, meaning they involved gangs, drugs, armed robbery, carjacking, murder, suicide or home invasion.

Domestic violence, including kidnapping, made up 11%, and around 1% were related to school or work. But Barnard said the domestic violence shooting numbers are likely undercounts because many such incidents aren't reported to the police. A 2021 study found that 59% of fatal mass shootings from 2014 to 2019 were related to domestic violence.

On the whole, mass shootings aren't easy to define or categorize, said Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, an epidemiology professor at the University of Washington who studies violence prevention.

"The border between these categories may be more porous than it may appear," Rowhani-Rahbar said. "For example, a shooting in a bar or in a club that you may consider social may have some relationship with a domestic violence dispute."

But certain interventions can reduce the prevalence of mass shootings, no matter the category, he said. Rowhani-Rahbar pointed to red flag laws as one example, which allow a state court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person who poses a danger to themselves or others.

In regards to policies associated with more mass shootings, he said, "there is no doubt that looser gun laws have been shown over and over, time and time and time again, to be associated with higher rates of different forms of gun violence."

That may partly explain why mass shootings are concentrated in the Southeast, he said, and why Hawaii - a state with one of the lowest rates of household gun ownership - recorded no mass shootings.

As for North Dakota, Rowhani-Rahbar said, "the population there is not very large." (The state's population is about 780,000, according to the U.S. Census.)

Overall, the U.S. saw 14.6 gun deaths - including accidents, murders and suicides - per 100,000 people in 2021, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among all types of gun violence, Barnard said, mass shootings are still relatively uncommon, so it's not surprising that some states would see very few.

Media coverage of mass shootings "creates this idea that these are very, very common," she said, but "compared to any other type of shooting event, like suicide, homicide, it is extraordinarily rare."

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How rates of mass shootings vary by state, mapped

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A map compares the rates of mass shootings per capita in each state, based on a new study of gun violence data. Louisiana and Washington, D.C., had the highest.

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This article begins by talking about the influx of people moving to British Columbia. The population of the province has sky-rocketed with a 13.5 per cent increase in Kelowna alone. These changes are forcing cities to re-evaluate their infrastructure in order to accommodate the population. With an increase in houses and living quarters, there will also be a need for increased transportation. The article continues to talk about how the market can’t keep up, but many places are attempting to have plans for growth in the future.

I chose to share this article because as a college student, I can relate to how difficult it can be to find housing. The prices are through the roof and the options are scarce. I can’t even imagine how much harder it would be to find an acceptable house that can accommodate a family.

I always knew there was an ongoing issue with housing and that the Canadian population is growing, but I didn’t realize just how fast and by how much it was rising. A 13.5 per cent increase in Kelowna alone it crazy! I would be interested in seeing the statistics for the rest of Canada.

I didn’t feel there was a bias. The article was concise in its method of sharing the point. The housing market is indefinity a crisis and I think it would be hard to deny that based on the facts.

I agree with the content. As I mentioned earlier, I have firsthand dealt with the troubles of the housing market. There is need for more infrastructure, but on the opposing side, it is sad to see the mass development of Canadian farmlands.

CBC was rated left-centre biased. However, they were rated with high credibiility and high factual reporting.

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Mark Kidd has always wanted to live on B.C.'s West Coast, so last year he and his family of four moved to Nanaimo, B.C., from their home in Regina, Sask.

"I love it here," he told B.C. Today guest host Bal Brach. "I've always wanted to be here, my folks are here, they're in their 80s."

Kidd is one of thousands of people who moved to the Vancouver Island city in the past five years. The Nanaimo metropolitan census area, which includes nearby communities Qualicum and Parksville, saw a population increase of 10 per cent - more than 9,000 people - according to the latest census data from Statistics Canada.

The population has also skyrocketed in other mid-sized cities: in Kelowna, for example, the population is up by 13.5 per cent.

The Kamloops metropolitan area also expanded by 8.4, while nearby ski resort town Sun Peaks doubled its population to 1,400.

The changes are forcing many of these cities to rethink their infrastructure as they accommodate a growing population.

"It's obvious that there is dramatic growth on Vancouver Island, in Nanaimo in particular, and the expectation is it will continue," Nanaimo mayor Leonard Krog said.

The city is already working on a plan to accommodate future growth, which includes creating more housing, parks, and transportation options.

"The challenges are around meeting the demand and ensuring that neighbourhoods welcome the changes," he said.

Increasing transportation

Transportation is top of mind in Victoria suburb Langford, where a third of the population is new to the city.

Susan Brice, chair of the Victoria Regional Transit Commission, says they've been working on plans to accommodate increased transportation into downtown Victoria from Langford since 2019.

She says they plan to implement a rapid bus service, which would include priority bus lanes and more frequent bus services between the cities. She says it will likely launch in the next year.

Langford mayor Stu Young says public transit use has increased significantly over the past 10 years, and that he continues to push for a defunct that runs between Victoria and Langford to be revitalized and put to use.

He adds that the city is building new facilities every year for residents, including recreational facilities, new schools and updated sewer systems.

Keeping up with housing supply

Kelowna is facing a housing crunch, as is much of the province, due to increased demand for growing populations.

"Seeing a lot of rapid population growth ... means usually that it takes a bit more time for the housing market and housing system to compensate," said James Moore, long-range planning manager at the City of Kelowna.

He says the market can't keep up with supply, and when supply can't keep up with demand, prices increase.

The city does have a plan in place for growth over the next 20 years that aims to address infrastructure challenges, he adds.

"The pace of change will have to be something we look at to see whether we need to re-adjust our projections and think about whether Kelowna is going to grow even faster than we thought it would, and think about where those people might might live and what those implications are on our housing system, on our transportation network, on our parks and public spaces," Moore said.

"There are lots of implications there."

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Rapid population growth forces smaller cities to rethink infrastructure | CBC News

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Some cities in B.C. are being forced to rethink their infrastructure to accommodate their growing population. According to the latest census, some cities have grown in population by as much as 10 per cent in the last five years.

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I chose to share it because I feel it really shows the points of this topic. In Montreal a man was found shot dead in a car around 1 am and no suspect in the case. How often this has been happening lately is scary.
I learned that the problem of gun violence is gravely increasing in many different areas like Montreal and Toronto.
I do not feel this story has a bias, it was factual and there weren't really sides to take since there has just information being shared.
Yes the source is mostly legitimate.

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Man found shot dead in vehicle in Montreal North: police - Montreal | Globalnews.ca

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Montreal police say they located a victim in a parked car at 1:45 a.m. with at least one gunshot wound to his upper body.

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This article speaks about the growing population in Ontario and the issues that arise from this.
I learned that the population is predicted to grow to 19 million by 2043. I also learned that housing cannot keep up.
I didn't detect any bias. CTV generally keeps their stories fact based.
It spoke about the pros and cons that come with overpopulation. I agree that it is a big problem but I don't agree that it's good for the economy.

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Ontario's population could grow by more than six million over the next two decade

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Ontario's population could increase by as much as six million over the next two decades and some experts are warning that governments need to start "playing catch up" on building out the necessary infrastructure to accommodate that sort of influx before it is too late.

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I'm approaching this issue from a different angle. Populations are growing at an exponential rate and most cities are facing an affordable housing crisis. As populations grow, the number of low-income people living in cities also dramatically increases, but cities are doing little to establish affordable housing. This leaves us in a crisis where large metropolitan areas suddenly find themselves with large groups of people who are unable to afford housing, despite the overwhelming number of condos and skyscrapers being built. It seems like governments have forgotten that a minimum wage is supposed to be the minimum amount of money someone needs to earn to support themselves and their families.

This article is from CBC so there isn't an obvious inherent bias. I do agree with the reported facts. It is abhorrent that people are unable to afford housing and their other expenses.

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Toronto resident Sylvana Orellana, who earns minimum wage, says paying for her and her two-year-old son's expenses often means sacrificing some bills in order to pay others.

That's because her rent - just over $1,700 per month - takes up a significant amount of her income, and she says she routinely relies on family and friends to help.

"It's sad to say, but at this point I don't even look at the numbers or how much they're paying me because ... it's not going to cover my bills," said Orellana, 23. "I almost ended up in the hospital because of all of this stress."

A new report released Tuesday by Ottawa think-tank Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives suggests Orellana isn't alone.

Economists David Macdonald and Ricardo Tranjan, the report's authors, found that while minimum wages rose compared to the 2018 data in the centre's last report, they aren't rising as fast as rental rates.

Macdonald says this means many workers are spending too much on rent, while Tranjan says the high cost of rent can ultimately mean that people making minimum wage are at risk of becoming homeless.

"Minimum wages are supposed to improve the conditions of folks that are or near the poverty line," said Macdonald. "But in fact those improvements in minimum wage have largely gone to paying landlords higher rent."

"I'm concerned about minimum wage workers and the kinds of very risky situations they must be putting themselves through," said Tranjan.

Their analysis, which covered 776 neighbourhoods in more than three dozen of the country's largest cities, calculated how much people have to make in a 40-hour work week in order to pay no more than 30 per cent of their income on housing, something they call the "rental wage."

Paying any more than that makes housing "unaffordable" according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

The researchers attributed the gap between minimum wage and what's needed to afford rentals to three main factors: wage suppression policies, such as using temporary foreign workers as a way to fill vacancies instead of raising wages to attract domestic workers; a low supply of rent-controlled housing; and poor regulation of the housing market that prioritizes "profit-making over housing security."

Macdonald says things are rapidly getting worse due to rising interest rates and the high cost of construction, while Tranjan pointed to provincial legislation exacerbating market conditions, including Ontario's move to remove rent control for new units and Quebec's attempt to end lease transfers.

Rent outstripping minimum wages across Canada

The co-authors say a lack of affordable housing isn't just a problem in huge urban centres. Using provincial and federal data from 2022, they found the rental wage for a one-bedroom unit is higher than the minimum wage in most major cities across the country.

Using the rental calculation, the report also found that minimum wage workers could only afford one-bedroom units in three cities, all in Quebec. And even there, where rents are comparatively more affordable than in other parts of the country, researchers say the trend is "worrisome" as workers still need to earn more than minimum wage to be able to rent an affordable unit.

Meanwhile, in Toronto and Vancouver, the report suggests that even two full-time minimum wage workers can't afford a one-bedroom unit without spending more than 30 per cent of their income, let alone a two-bedroom unit. In B.C., the rental wage for a two-bedroom unit is more than twice as much as the minimum wage, with Ontario's just under double the minimum wage.

The report did not look extensively at those on social assistance and disability supports, but those subsidies were found to be even less than provincial minimum wages. Tranjan says if they had taken a closer look, the results would have been even more bleak.

"We don't have enough social housing in the country for all the folks who are presently receiving social assistance, and a large and increasing share of social assistance recipients rely on the private rental market for housing," he said.

"They're competing with minimum wage workers and with everyone else."

WATCH | Average price in Canada up by 10 per cent since last year:

Raising wages

Historically, minimum wages were set by governments to protect non-unionized workers, reduce the number of low-paying jobs and alleviate poverty, among a host of other potential benefits, according to the federal government.

But today, an important part of what determines wages is the market, said Roslyn Kunin, the president of an economic consulting firm in Vancouver, B.C. She says wages are primarily determined by the productivity and skills of workers, while rents are based on supply and demand of housing units.

"There has to be someone willing to work at that wage and there has to be someone who can afford to pay that wage for that kind of work," said Kunin.

Tranjan and Macdonald, cross-referencing federal and provincial data from 2021, estimate about 828,000 people across the country were earning a minimum wage salary or less. Meanwhile, about 1.1 million Canadians belonged to households where two or more people earned the equivalent of two full-time minimum wage jobs or less.

According to Kunin, raising wages to match rental rates would not only cause the cost of common goods to increase, but it would likely lead to the disappearance of many jobs and businesses altogether.

"All of us would suffer from the loss of available goods and services."

Short and long-term solutions

"For individuals, the best thing to do is to get as much education, experience, training as possible so you can work for a wage that's higher," said Kunin, adding that obtaining additional education is "easier than it has been" due to the rise of online learning.

But Brenda Spotton Visano, a public policy and economics professor at York University in Toronto, says these workers are often stuck in a "catch-22" situation, since many don't have the time or money to upgrade their skills that might be required for higher-paying jobs.

She says it may be worthwhile to explore more creative ways of setting the minimum wage, such as tying how much the lowest-paid workers get paid to how much profit a company makes or how much its CEO gets paid, or indexing the minimum wage to the cost of living calculated for a given community.

"But in the short-term, increasing the minimum wage is going to have to be our short-term solution to address the people who are now suffering," said Visano.

WATCH | Airbnb landlords and long-term renters discuss the housing crisis:

The researchers say governments should focus on financing, building and acquiring purpose-built and non-market housing, regulating the rental market with rent controls and banishing the use of above-guideline rent increases.

"It's not to say we shouldn't be pushing for higher minimum wages, but the real problem here is a lack of rental, affordable housing," said Macdonald.

"This is not a situation that's going to improve. It's actually going to get much worse unless there's a big intervention."

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Minimum wage couldn't land you a 1-bedroom unit years ago. Now, it's even worse. Here's why | CBC News

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A new report released Tuesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that while minimum wages have risen since 2018, they haven't increased as fast as rental rates. Researchers say this not only leaves workers spending too much on rent, but ultimately puts minimum wage workers at risk of becoming homeless.

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A brief summary

A report published by the Canadian Press but read on The Globe and Mail talks about the economic benefit of the high immigration Canadian received last year but also the housing crisis it may create. With the aging population of Canadians, Canada will need to welcome more immigrants to be able to counterbalance its population

Why you choose to share it

Thought it was interesting to see an article take a difference approach and see the broader picture instead of the assumption that immigrants cause a housing crisis.

What did you learn from it?

I learned that a lot of immigrants that are accepted into Canada have a meaningful impact to the workforce and majority of them fill in a skill that Canada may be lacking

Is the source legitimate?

The Canadian Press and Globe and Mail generally hold a high factual reporting and in my opinion are a legitimate source

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New report shows economic case for high immigration, but warns of housing trade-offs - The Globe and Mail

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A Desjardins report released Monday found that the working-age population in Canada would have to grow by 2.2% per year through 2040 to maintain the same ratio that existed in 2022

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Summary:

The article discusses how rapid population growth in smaller cities in British Columbia is causing infrastructure challenges. Many cities have witnessed significant increases in population which results in needing more houses, transportation facilities and parks. Local officials are trying to provide accommodation and addressed serious concerns in these areas.

Reason for sharing:

Overpopulation is very serious it's something that everyone should be concerned about. It's very important to highlight the issue of rapid population growth in smaller cities and how it impacts infrastructure planning and development.

What I learnt:

From this whole article it's vivid that British Columbia is facing challenges due to rapid population growth. This results in increasing demands for housing, transportation and other facilities. It's very essential to get everything in control and address these challenges for betterment of the cities.

Bias:

There is no bias in this whole article. As per talking about CBC news it's a reputable trustworthy Canadian news organisation known for its legitimate and true news.

Agreeing with the content:

Yes I agree with the content as it is really a cause of concern because growing population effects everyone whether it be people accommodation less jobs as well as it somehow result is financial implications as well.

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Mark Kidd has always wanted to live on B.C.'s West Coast, so last year he and his family of four moved to Nanaimo, B.C., from their home in Regina, Sask.

"I love it here," he told B.C. Today guest host Bal Brach. "I've always wanted to be here, my folks are here, they're in their 80s."

Kidd is one of thousands of people who moved to the Vancouver Island city in the past five years. The Nanaimo metropolitan census area, which includes nearby communities Qualicum and Parksville, saw a population increase of 10 per cent - more than 9,000 people - according to the latest census data from Statistics Canada.

The population has also skyrocketed in other mid-sized cities: in Kelowna, for example, the population is up by 13.5 per cent.

The Kamloops metropolitan area also expanded by 8.4, while nearby ski resort town Sun Peaks doubled its population to 1,400.

The changes are forcing many of these cities to rethink their infrastructure as they accommodate a growing population.

"It's obvious that there is dramatic growth on Vancouver Island, in Nanaimo in particular, and the expectation is it will continue," Nanaimo mayor Leonard Krog said.

The city is already working on a plan to accommodate future growth, which includes creating more housing, parks, and transportation options.

"The challenges are around meeting the demand and ensuring that neighbourhoods welcome the changes," he said.

Increasing transportation

Transportation is top of mind in Victoria suburb Langford, where a third of the population is new to the city.

Susan Brice, chair of the Victoria Regional Transit Commission, says they've been working on plans to accommodate increased transportation into downtown Victoria from Langford since 2019.

She says they plan to implement a rapid bus service, which would include priority bus lanes and more frequent bus services between the cities. She says it will likely launch in the next year.

Langford mayor Stu Young says public transit use has increased significantly over the past 10 years, and that he continues to push for a defunct that runs between Victoria and Langford to be revitalized and put to use.

He adds that the city is building new facilities every year for residents, including recreational facilities, new schools and updated sewer systems.

Keeping up with housing supply

Kelowna is facing a housing crunch, as is much of the province, due to increased demand for growing populations.

"Seeing a lot of rapid population growth ... means usually that it takes a bit more time for the housing market and housing system to compensate," said James Moore, long-range planning manager at the City of Kelowna.

He says the market can't keep up with supply, and when supply can't keep up with demand, prices increase.

The city does have a plan in place for growth over the next 20 years that aims to address infrastructure challenges, he adds.

"The pace of change will have to be something we look at to see whether we need to re-adjust our projections and think about whether Kelowna is going to grow even faster than we thought it would, and think about where those people might might live and what those implications are on our housing system, on our transportation network, on our parks and public spaces," Moore said.

"There are lots of implications there."

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Rapid population growth forces smaller cities to rethink infrastructure | CBC News

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Some cities in B.C. are being forced to rethink their infrastructure to accommodate their growing population. According to the latest census, some cities have grown in population by as much as 10 per cent in the last five years.

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Summary: This article speaks about people blaming parts of the housing crisis on immigration is misguided and instead we should look to the government setting up massive immigration targets while not ensuring that the infrastructure can handle that many new people. Immigrants are so important to economic development and it's not their fault their in the situation they're in. Blaming them is wrong and unfair.

Why share: I think this one is important to share as it just reinforces that this isn't an immigrant problem, but an infrastructure problem.

What did I learn: Honestly, a lot of this information I had learned when doing lots of research on immigration. The fact that they make up pretty much all of the work force growth is really interesting.

Bias: This article is certainly pro-immigrant. It's putting the blame on the government and saying it not on the immigrants but the government. It's not insanely negative though as it mainly speaks in facts.

Agree: I do agree with the content. Given all the research I've seen I agree that the government hasn't properly boosted Canadian infrastructure enough and it's not immigrants fault.

BIAS CHECKER: CBC is listed as Center-Left and has a HIGH factual reporting rating.

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It's an argument that comes up time after time whenever there is a discussion about the housing crisis that plagues Metro Vancouver or anywhere else in Canada.

If Canada can't house the people who already live here, we should stop letting more people into the country.

On Friday, the country's population hit 40 million, with nearly all of last year's growth due to immigration. The federal government has signed on to allow up to 500,000 newcomers into Canada annually by 2025.

By many standards, the influx of immigrants is a boon, especially given Canada's aging demographic and labour force shortages. Many economists agree the economy would not be able to sustain much growth if it weren't for the influx of newcomers. Culturally, immigrants provide innovation and vitality to Canadian society.

But that growth comes at a time when most municipalities have little housing available, and most of it is already too expensive.

Immigration advocates and housing experts say criticism of newcomers as the cause of the housing crunch is misguided. They say immigrants are too often the scapegoats for societal and governmental failures.

Instead, they point at the federal government for setting large targets while failing to ensure the infrastructure needed to support population growth.

'It is disheartening'

Calls to keep immigrants out because of the cost of housing are frustrating for Meheret Bisrat, the senior manager of community development with DiverseCity Community Resource Society based in Surrey, B.C.

Bisrat says immigrants are some of the people who suffer the most from the effects of the housing crisis.

"It is disheartening to hear those kinds of comments because I feel like it lacks a bit of compassion and understanding of ... the realities of new immigrants," said Bisrat, who oversees newcomer settlement and integration at DiverseCity.

Bisrat says newcomers often face obstacles that those already living here do not. For instance, they are likely to lack references and may not have a credit history to draw on.

"They don't fully know their rights, and they're taken advantage of," Bisrat said.

'We need them'

Newcomers often face discrimination as they search for a home because of their religion, the size or composition of their families or their reliance on social assistance if they are refugees, she says.

The difficulty or inability of new immigrants to find a home makes it extremely difficult for them to settle into their new country and become fully integrated into their surroundings.

"They are new members of our community. And we need them, actually, to be here," she said.

That was the argument the federal government made in November 2022 when it announced its target of 500,000 new immigrants per year.

Ottawa said newcomers were one of the main reasons Canada's economy was able to recover from the pandemic and are an integral part of the country's continued prosperity.

In a written statement, the feds said immigration accounts for nearly 100 per cent of Canada's labour force growth and is expected to account for 100 per cent of the country's population growth by 2032.

By then, the ratio of workers to retirees is expected to shift from seven to one 50 years ago to two to one.

The Canadian dream vs the Canadian nightmare

Andy Yan, the director of Simon Fraser University's City Program, agrees that immigrants are an essential element of Canadian society.

Yan also sees a gap in government policies.

"The federal government hasn't necessarily connected the role of immigration with the need to fund infrastructure in this country," he said.

"While we make the promise of the Canadian dream, we seem to be very willing to expose new immigrants to the Canadian housing nightmare."

Reluctance to allow more newcomers into the country goes beyond housing concerns, Yan says. It also exposes latent racism in Canadian society.

In Metro Vancouver, Yan says, that has often taken the form of a fear of cultural inundation from various groups of immigrants.

"That racism avoids the deeper problems we have in terms of how we produce housing and for whom."

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Blaming immigration for the country's housing crisis disguises the real problem, analysts say | CBC News

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Newcomers, their supporters and housing experts say blaming immigration for the housing crisis is misguided, exposes deep-rooted racism and doesn't properly address the need for more homes.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/gun-violence-charts-us-1.6847911

The article discusses the state of gun violence in the United States, focusing on mass shootings, homicides, and suicides. It presents four charts that highlight the increasing number of mass shooting deaths, the prevalence of homicides and suicides involving firearms, state-level comparisons of firearm-related deaths, and international comparisons of gun violence rates.

I chose to share this article because it provides data-driven insights into the alarming trend of gun violence in the United States. It highlights the severity of the issue by presenting statistics and comparing them with international figures.

The article is a factual presentation of data and statistics. There doesn't seem to be any evident bias in the content. It objectively presents the numbers without explicitly taking a stance on gun control or any other related topic.

The source, CBC News, is considered to have a left-center bias by mediabiasfactcheck.com. It has been evaluated as having a high factual reporting rating and is generally reliable.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/united-nations-population-fund-reproductive-rights-1.6814331

The article discusses a report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on the potential negative impacts of population policies on reproductive and human rights. The report emphasizes the need for governments to focus on improving quality of life, rather than implementing population control measures. It highlights cases where population targets set by governments have led to coercive reproductive choices, such as sterilization and access restrictions to abortion. The UNFPA argues that these policies do not work in the long term.

I chose to share this article because it raises important points about the ethical implications of population management and the need to prioritize individual choice and reproductive rights. The article also provides insights into public opinion surrounding population concerns and the influence of media exposure on those opinions.

I found that the article is informative and balanced. While the article does not delve into the potential benefits of population policies, it presents arguments from the UNFPA and experts in the field. Overall, I think the content is worth considering and it provides valuable insights into the issue of population management.

As for the source, CBC News is generally considered to have a left-center bias according to mediabiasfactcheck.com.

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Brief summary:
There are huge impacts on our population. When we start to get overpopulated, there are many challenges to overcome such as housing, food security, education and pollution. It details how overpopulation makes sustainability untenable and how third-world countries suffer the most. The article also provides solutions to those problems, the biggest suggestion being general education to thoroughly understand overpopulation.

Why you choose to share it:
This is an essential article to read because this is something that everyone is feeling the effects of and should be educated about. A problem this large requires effort on everyone's part to solve.

What did you learn from it:
I knew that overpopulation isn't an unsolvable obstacle.

Did you feel there was a bias?
There is a very pro-science bias but this article is focusing heavily on sustainability so it's not surprising.

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?
I agree with this story however I would prefer the author to go into more detail about the different points with more examples.

Is the source legitimate?
This is a legitimate source, even after checking the article through mediabiasfactcheck.com.

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The world's population has been growing exponentially over the past decades, from around 2 billion in 1900 to more than 8 billion now, and is expected to continue growing in the coming decades. While the increase in the number of people can be seen as a positive development, it also poses a significant challenge to sustainability. In this article, we try to answer the following questions: How does overpopulation affect sustainability and what challenges does this trend pose? What are the potential solutions to address these challenges and create a more sustainable future for all?
How Does Overpopulation Affect Sustainability?

By educating people about family planning, contraception, population growth factors and trends, and other relevant topics, we can empower individuals to make informed decisions about their reproductive health. The world's increasing population is directly impacting sustainability, as more people require resources to survive. Below, we examine the various issues that arise from overpopulation and their effects on sustainability.

Increasing population levels lead to increased consumption of resources, resulting in greater greenhouse gas emissions. This contributes to climate change and can have a devastating effect on the environment.

More people require more food, water, energy, and other resources for their own survival. As these become increasingly scarce due to overpopulation, it becomes harder for us to sustain our current way of life.

Environmental Degradation

As more people consume resources, they create waste and pollution that can degrade the environment. This can lead to soil erosion, water pollution, and other forms of damage that can have severe consequences.

Overpopulation leads to an increased demand for housing, food, and resources, which can lead, among other things, to deforestation. We lose approximately 10 million hectares a year . This results in the loss of animal habitats and exacerbates climate change by reducing the amount of carbon dioxide that can be absorbed by plants.
You might also like: The Remarkable Benefits of Biodiversity
Overpopulation can lead to overcrowding, poverty, food insecurity, and other social issues. This can create tension between communities and countries as resources become increasingly scarce.

In 2020, WWF reported that over the last 50 years, we have seen an average 68% decrease in the populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. As habitats are destroyed to make way for human habitation, the diversity of wildlife decreases. This has a negative impact on the food chain and can threaten entire species with extinction.

Challenges Posed by Overpopulation on Sustainability

The challenges posed by overpopulation on sustainability are complex and require urgent attention. Here, we outline some of the most pressing issues.

As the population continues to grow, there will be an increased demand for food. This can lead to shortages and higher prices in some countries, making it difficult for people to access nutritious meals.

Overpopulation can lead to overcrowding and a lack of resources, which makes it difficult for people to find adequate housing. This problem is particularly acute in developing countries where there is a lack of infrastructure and resources.

Overpopulation can also create difficulties for students as there is limited access to schools and teachers. This hampers their ability to gain an education and limits their opportunities in the future.

According to World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), almost half of the world's population lacks access to essential care services. As more people require medical care, existing healthcare systems become overburdened and unable to provide adequate services. This can lead to a lack of access to essential medical care in some areas.

With more people comes more waste and pollution, which can lead to water contamination, air pollution, and other environmental issues. This has a detrimental effect on the planet's ecosystems as well as human health. WHO estimates that pollution can be associated with 7 million premature deaths each year.

Solutions to Overpopulation and Sustainability Challenges

There are a number of solutions that can help to address the challenges posed by overpopulation on sustainability. These include:

Education is one of the most important tools for addressing overpopulation and its related challenges.

By educating people about family planning, contraception, population growth trends, and other relevant topics, we can empower individuals to make informed decisions about their reproductive health.

Moreover, education around sustainable development initiatives, such as conservation and renewable energy sources, can help create more environmentally conscious communities. This can lead to more efficient use of resources and less pollution.

Lastly, providing educational opportunities for disadvantaged people, such as those living in rural areas or refugee camps, can help to reduce poverty levels by creating job opportunities and improving access to healthcare.

Family planning is a critical tool for addressing overpopulation.

Through programmes promoting access to contraception, reproductive health education, gender equality and women's rights, we can empower individuals to make informed decisions about their lives and fertility.

As of 2023, the United Nations Population Fund reports that 257 million women are using ineffective or even potentially dangerous family planning methods, which impacts them, their families, and whole communities.

Family planning initiatives can lead to lower poverty levels as they help couples plan for the size of their families and ensure that resources are more evenly distributed among children. This can provide increased economic stability for entire communities.

A recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggests that the power sector is set for a "tipping point" on its carbon dioxide emissions in 2025, as renewables and other cleaner sources, including nuclear energy, are on track to cover most of the new global electricity demand.

That's great news, considered that renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and hydropower can help minimise our reliance on fossil fuels and create a more sustainable future. By investing in renewable energy initiatives, we can reduce our carbon footprint and protect the environment from further degradation. This way, the air quality and water supply can be improved, creating a healthier environment for everyone.

In addition, renewable energy can create job opportunities and improve access to electricity in some of the most remote areas in the world. This can have a positive effect on people's overall quality of life.
Read more here: How Climate Smart Agriculture Can Help Us Tackle Global Food Insecurity
Sustainable agriculture is a critical component of creating an environmentally conscious society.

By encouraging the use of organic farming practices and minimising chemical inputs, we can reduce soil erosion, water contamination, and other forms of environmental degradation. This will help to maintain the health of our ecosystems while also increasing crop yields in some areas.

Moreover, sustainable agriculture initiatives can create job opportunities for rural communities and provide access to nutritious food for everyone. This way, we can ensure that resources are shared more equitably among people around the world.

Conservation efforts are essential for preserving the environment and protecting biodiversity.

Through initiatives such as creating protected areas, reforestation projects, and responsible hunting, we can create a safe space for wildlife to thrive while also reducing the pressure on ecosystems. This will help to maintain the balance of nature and ensure that there is enough food available for all species in an area.

In addition, conservation efforts can lead to increased tourism revenue which can be used to fund sustainable development initiatives in local communities.

Green technology is a key part of creating a more sustainable society. It refers to the use of renewable energy sources, efficient production processes, and other initiatives that reduce our reliance on natural resources.

By investing in green technology, we can create jobs while also reducing pollution levels. This will help to improve air quality and water supply while also providing economic stability for communities around the world.

In addition, green technology can lead to increased efficiency in manufacturing processes, which could result in reduced costs for consumers and lower prices for goods.

Finally, it is crucial to raise awareness and advocate for solutions to the challenges posed by overpopulation on sustainability.

This can be achieved through campaigns aimed at educating people about the impacts of population growth, as well as lobbying governments and decision-makers to invest in sustainable initiatives. It is also important to maintain a dialogue with the public and engage them in conversations about how we can work together to create a better world.

By creating an informed and engaged citizenry, we can create solutions to overpopulation and its related challenges.

The challenges posed by overpopulation on sustainability are daunting, but they are not insurmountable. By taking the right steps, we can ensure that our planet remains a safe and healthy home for generations to come. This can help to make essential products more accessible for everyone.
You might also like: World Population Hits 8 Billion: What Now?
Conclusion

The impact of overpopulation on sustainability is a critical issue that must be addressed. Unsustainable consumption and environmental degradation due to population growth can have disastrous consequences for the planet and all its inhabitants.

Fortunately, there are solutions that we can pursue to address these challenges, from improved education to sustainable agriculture practices.

With concerted effort, it is possible for us to create a more sustainable future - one in which our planet's resources are managed responsibly and used in ways that benefit everyone. As the world continues to grow more crowded, it is essential that we take decisive action now so that future generations will not suffer from the impacts of overpopulation on sustainability.

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How Does Overpopulation Affect Sustainability? Challenges and Solutions | Earth.Org

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While the rapidly growing world's population can be seen as a positive development, it also poses a significant challenge to sustainability. How does overpopulation affect sustainability and what challenges does this trend pose? What are the potential solutions to address these challenges and create a more sustainable future for all?

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The article argues that blaming immigration for Canada's housing crisis is misplaced. Analysts and settlement workers say newcomers are unfairly scapegoated, and the real problem lies in the lack of adequate housing policy and infrastructure development. They emphasize the importance of welcoming immigrants, as they contribute to the economy and society. Addressing housing issues should focus on structural solutions rather than blaming newcomers.

I chose to share this article because of the fact that Canada NEEDS immigrants but often times people get frustrated over the lack of housing and misplace their anger on immigrants which this article discusses.

I learned that newcomers face obstacles in finding housing due to references, credit history, and discrimination. Welcoming immigrants is crucial as they contribute to the country. The government needs to address housing issues with structural solutions.

I do not feel there is a bias because the article is simply relaying facts.

I do agree with the content. I know that immigration is important and Canada is working on it, but at the same time there is lack of housing which affects EVERYONE. Unfortunately due to this combo, immigrants are used as a scapegoat, which I have unfortunately witnessed first hand.

The source (CBC) is legitimate.

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It's an argument that comes up time after time whenever there is a discussion about the housing crisis that plagues Metro Vancouver or anywhere else in Canada.

If Canada can't house the people who already live here, we should stop letting more people into the country.

On Friday, the country's population hit 40 million, with nearly all of last year's growth due to immigration. The federal government has signed on to allow up to 500,000 newcomers into Canada annually by 2025.

By many standards, the influx of immigrants is a boon, especially given Canada's aging demographic and labour force shortages. Many economists agree the economy would not be able to sustain much growth if it weren't for the influx of newcomers. Culturally, immigrants provide innovation and vitality to Canadian society.

But that growth comes at a time when most municipalities have little housing available, and most of it is already too expensive.

Immigration advocates and housing experts say criticism of newcomers as the cause of the housing crunch is misguided. They say immigrants are too often the scapegoats for societal and governmental failures.

Instead, they point at the federal government for setting large targets while failing to ensure the infrastructure needed to support population growth.

'It is disheartening'

Calls to keep immigrants out because of the cost of housing are frustrating for Meheret Bisrat, the senior manager of community development with DiverseCity Community Resource Society based in Surrey, B.C.

Bisrat says immigrants are some of the people who suffer the most from the effects of the housing crisis.

"It is disheartening to hear those kinds of comments because I feel like it lacks a bit of compassion and understanding of ... the realities of new immigrants," said Bisrat, who oversees newcomer settlement and integration at DiverseCity.

Bisrat says newcomers often face obstacles that those already living here do not. For instance, they are likely to lack references and may not have a credit history to draw on.

"They don't fully know their rights, and they're taken advantage of," Bisrat said.

'We need them'

Newcomers often face discrimination as they search for a home because of their religion, the size or composition of their families or their reliance on social assistance if they are refugees, she says.

The difficulty or inability of new immigrants to find a home makes it extremely difficult for them to settle into their new country and become fully integrated into their surroundings.

"They are new members of our community. And we need them, actually, to be here," she said.

That was the argument the federal government made in November 2022 when it announced its target of 500,000 new immigrants per year.

Ottawa said newcomers were one of the main reasons Canada's economy was able to recover from the pandemic and are an integral part of the country's continued prosperity.

In a written statement, the feds said immigration accounts for nearly 100 per cent of Canada's labour force growth and is expected to account for 100 per cent of the country's population growth by 2032.

By then, the ratio of workers to retirees is expected to shift from seven to one 50 years ago to two to one.

The Canadian dream vs the Canadian nightmare

Andy Yan, the director of Simon Fraser University's City Program, agrees that immigrants are an essential element of Canadian society.

Yan also sees a gap in government policies.

"The federal government hasn't necessarily connected the role of immigration with the need to fund infrastructure in this country," he said.

"While we make the promise of the Canadian dream, we seem to be very willing to expose new immigrants to the Canadian housing nightmare."

Reluctance to allow more newcomers into the country goes beyond housing concerns, Yan says. It also exposes latent racism in Canadian society.

In Metro Vancouver, Yan says, that has often taken the form of a fear of cultural inundation from various groups of immigrants.

"That racism avoids the deeper problems we have in terms of how we produce housing and for whom."

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Blaming immigration for the country's housing crisis disguises the real problem, analysts say | CBC News

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Newcomers, their supporters and housing experts say blaming immigration for the housing crisis is misguided, exposes deep-rooted racism and doesn't properly address the need for more homes.

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For the first time last year, Canada’s population grew by over a million people. According to Statistics Canada, the country's population has increased from 38,516,138 to 39,566,248 people. This marked Canada’s highest annual population growth rate of 2.7% since 1957. Canada depends on migration to support an ageing problem. According to Statistics Canada the number of permanent and temporary immigrants could “also represent additional challenges for some regions of the country related to housing, infrastructure, transportation, and service delivery to the population”.

I chose to share it as it contains statistics from Statistics Canada. I learned that if Canada maintains a 2.7% increase each year, the population will double in 26 years. I also learned that the population increased by over a million in just a year. I didn’t feel there was a bias as the content of the article contained more statistics regarding our population.

According to mediabiasfactcheck.com, BBC News is left-center biased and have a high ranking for factual reporting to proper sourcing of information.

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Canada's population grew by over a million people for the first time ever last year, the government has said.

The country's population increased from 38,516,138 to 39,566,248 people, Statistics Canada said.

It also marked Canada's highest annual population growth rate - 2.7% - since 1957.

The increase was in part fuelled by government efforts to recruit migrants to the country to ease labour shortages, Statistics Canada said.

The country also depends on migration to support an ageing population.

But Statistics Canada said the surge in the number of permanent and temporary immigrants could "also represent additional challenges for some regions of the country related to housing, infrastructure and transportation, and service delivery to the population".

International migration accounted for nearly 96% of the population growth, according to the news release.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made efforts to attract more immigrants to the country since gaining power in 2015. Last year, the government announced a plan to welcome half a million immigrants a year by 2025.

The Canadian government has also been accepting people affected by conflicts like the Ukraine war, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the 2023 earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

On Wednesday, it announced an extension - until July - of a programme that offers to temporarily resettle Ukrainians and their family members.

So far, more than 600,000 applications have been approved of the nearly-one-million that have been received - and more than 130,000 people have arrived in Canada under the initiative.

Debate around immigration tends to be more positive in "settler" countries than in Western Europe - and most of all in Canada, said Prof Randall Hansen from the University of Toronto.

"Canadians would love to have the world believe they're more open, liberal and accommodating - but this is all nonsense," Prof Hansen, a Canada research chair in global migration, commented.

He told the BBC that Canada had shaped its "national identity" around the idea of multiculturalism in part to differentiate itself from attitudes in its southern neighbour, the US.

Its positivity towards migration was also down to a firm control of borders, an ability to select the "best and brightest" migrants from around the world, and relatively few spatial constraints around major cities, he added.

Canada's previous highest population increase, in 1957, came within the context of the post-World War Two baby boom and the movement of refugees following the Hungarian Revolution.

The country welcomed 437,000 immigrants in 2022, while the number of non-permanent residents in the country increased by 607,782, accounting for a "record-breaking year for the processing of immigration applications", according to the government's news release.

The population increase also means Canada would rank first among the 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development for 2022 population growth, while it was also the fastest-growing G7 country, according to Statistics Canada.

If Canada maintained the 2.7% increase each year, its population would double in 26 years, the government added.

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Immigration fuels Canada's largest population growth of over 1 million

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The unprecedented surge in numbers is largely due to immigration, the government says.

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The article speaks of the growth in population that Ontario seems to be experiencing and the strains on the infrastructure it brings with it. The Ford government vowed to build 1.5 million homes by 2031 but a recent study showed that it was unlikely it would be possible.

I picked this article because it discusses different points of view on the matter in fact it points out every angle of the matter.  I like how it outlined the positives and negatives.

I learned that while population growth is beneficial for the economic aspect, it is fatal to our infrastructure because of the lack of preparation when it comes to having to provide for all these people.
I don't think there was a bias since all aspects of the matter were discussed and there was a fair view of pros and cons.

Yes, I completely agree because one of our live examples is our housing problem resulting in a growth in homelessness.

Yes, the source is legitimate.

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Ontario's population could grow by more than six million over the next two decade

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Ontario's population could increase by as much as six million over the next two decades and some experts are warning that governments need to start "playing catch up" on building out the necessary infrastructure to accommodate that sort of influx before it is too late.

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In the past five years, mid-sized cities in British Columbia, like Nanaimo, Kelowna, Kamloops, and Sun Peaks, have seen a significant increase in population. This growth is causing these cities to rethink their infrastructure to accommodate the rising number of residents. Nanaimo is already planning for future growth by focusing on housing, parks, and transportation. In Langford, transportation is a priority, and they plan to introduce a rapid bus service to connect with downtown Victoria. Kelowna is facing a housing shortage due to high demand, and the city is working on a growth plan to address infrastructure challenges.

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Mark Kidd has always wanted to live on B.C.'s West Coast, so last year he and his family of four moved to Nanaimo, B.C., from their home in Regina, Sask.

"I love it here," he told B.C. Today guest host Bal Brach. "I've always wanted to be here, my folks are here, they're in their 80s."

Kidd is one of thousands of people who moved to the Vancouver Island city in the past five years. The Nanaimo metropolitan census area, which includes nearby communities Qualicum and Parksville, saw a population increase of 10 per cent - more than 9,000 people - according to the latest census data from Statistics Canada.

The population has also skyrocketed in other mid-sized cities: in Kelowna, for example, the population is up by 13.5 per cent.

The Kamloops metropolitan area also expanded by 8.4, while nearby ski resort town Sun Peaks doubled its population to 1,400.

The changes are forcing many of these cities to rethink their infrastructure as they accommodate a growing population.

"It's obvious that there is dramatic growth on Vancouver Island, in Nanaimo in particular, and the expectation is it will continue," Nanaimo mayor Leonard Krog said.

The city is already working on a plan to accommodate future growth, which includes creating more housing, parks, and transportation options.

"The challenges are around meeting the demand and ensuring that neighbourhoods welcome the changes," he said.

Increasing transportation

Transportation is top of mind in Victoria suburb Langford, where a third of the population is new to the city.

Susan Brice, chair of the Victoria Regional Transit Commission, says they've been working on plans to accommodate increased transportation into downtown Victoria from Langford since 2019.

She says they plan to implement a rapid bus service, which would include priority bus lanes and more frequent bus services between the cities. She says it will likely launch in the next year.

Langford mayor Stu Young says public transit use has increased significantly over the past 10 years, and that he continues to push for a defunct that runs between Victoria and Langford to be revitalized and put to use.

He adds that the city is building new facilities every year for residents, including recreational facilities, new schools and updated sewer systems.

Keeping up with housing supply

Kelowna is facing a housing crunch, as is much of the province, due to increased demand for growing populations.

"Seeing a lot of rapid population growth ... means usually that it takes a bit more time for the housing market and housing system to compensate," said James Moore, long-range planning manager at the City of Kelowna.

He says the market can't keep up with supply, and when supply can't keep up with demand, prices increase.

The city does have a plan in place for growth over the next 20 years that aims to address infrastructure challenges, he adds.

"The pace of change will have to be something we look at to see whether we need to re-adjust our projections and think about whether Kelowna is going to grow even faster than we thought it would, and think about where those people might might live and what those implications are on our housing system, on our transportation network, on our parks and public spaces," Moore said.

"There are lots of implications there."

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Rapid population growth forces smaller cities to rethink infrastructure | CBC News

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Some cities in B.C. are being forced to rethink their infrastructure to accommodate their growing population. According to the latest census, some cities have grown in population by as much as 10 per cent in the last five years.

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In the article they discussed the growing trend in gun violence and deaths which mimics an epidemic. The number of deaths and injuries from guns in the United States has been increasing year after year and that would be considered a sudden increase consistent with an epidemic. “Whenever you have a large number of people dying from preventable reasons that constitutes a public health crisis.”  Six months in 2023 and there are more than 21,000 deaths due to gun-related injuries in the US. Gun violence is a leading cause of death for large sections of the population, including young people. These fatalities affect mental health and well-being of the population even those not directly impacted by the incidents.

The approach of calling gun violence an epidemic, health officials believe can expand the view on the topic on not only prosecuting gun crimes but to focus on prevention and harm reduction. Insight can also be sought from the data to detect the causes and possible ways to curb and prevent future incidents.

Though this all sounds excellent, I do agree with where the article ends by saying “I think it is an important label. But I don't think it's sufficient to address the problem.” This is a systematic issue that needs to be addressed with radical decisions so we can save lives. Too many children, men and women have died to gun violence. When will it finally be enough for something to be done about it. US leaders are too busy playing politics to care about the lives being lost every day.

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Six months into the year, more than 21,000 people have died because of gun-related injuries in the United States.

Doctors and public health officials have a word to describe the rising number of people killed or hurt by guns in recent years: epidemic.

"I would certainly consider the problem of firearm injuries and firearm violence as an epidemic in the United States," said Patrick Carter, director of the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, whose research is partly funded by the National Institutes of Health.

"When we think about what the term epidemic means, it means a sudden increase in the numbers, or incidents, of an event over what would be considered a baseline level," Carter told Morning Edition.

Since the mid-2000s, the United States has seen year-after-year increases in the number of deaths and injuries from guns "that would mirror what we would consider to be a sudden increase consistent with an epidemic," Carter said.

The "epidemic" label and what it means

For those charged with protecting public health in the United States, like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an epidemic is defined as a sudden outbreak or an unexpected spike in an illness in a single country or area. Because COVID-19 spread around the world, it was considered a pandemic.

The label - which has been applied to infectious diseases as well as things like opioid addiction - creates a sense of emergency or crisis.

The top public health official in the country, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, has long called the deaths and injuries from firearms an "epidemic."

"Whenever you have a large number of people dying from preventable reasons that constitutes a public health crisis," he told NPR's Here and Now in January. "And that has been the case for gun violence, sadly, in our country for a long time."

President Biden has also referred to the increase in gun violence in the United States as a "gun violence epidemic" several times, including on National Gun Violence Awareness Day.

So have doctors and health researchers.

The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research held a symposium in February titled "Addressing Gun Violence as a Public Health Epidemic."

Experts at the symposium took an approach reminiscent of how health officials approach epidemics of disease. They discussed "expanding our lens beyond prosecuting gun crime to prevention, harm reduction and even culture-shifting."

Gun deaths increased by 23 percent, from 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic, to 2021, according to Pew Research Center.

The number of gun deaths in 2021, 48,830, was the largest on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The level of violence "most definitely is a public health emergency," said Daniel Webster, an American health professor and director of the Center for Gun Violence Prevention and Policy at Johns Hopkins.

"It is a leading cause of death for large segments of the population, including young people," he said. "And it also has enormous impacts beyond fatalities that really affect mental health and well-being, even for those who are not directly shot."

Numbers still high in 2023

Gun violence appeared to slightly ebb last year as the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. The final number of gun-related deaths in 2022 is still being tallied as places like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pull together numbers on suicides. There were an estimated 20,138 firearm deaths, excluding suicides, according to The Trace.

But gun violence continues to shake American life this year, especially during holidays when people are in large gatherings. There have been more than 300 mass shootings this year. And half of gun-related deaths this year were suicides.

Chicago was struck by gun violence over the Juneteenth and Memorial Day weekends, which both turned out to be some of the deadliest spans the city has seen in years, Sophie Sherry, Chicago Sun Times reporter, told Morning Edition.

Over the Juneteenth weekend 75 people were shot in the city and 13 people died.

"What the count is right now would be the most people shot in a single week," Sherry said on the Tuesday after Juneteenth. "Memorial Day weekend was also one of the most violent since 2016 with 61 people shot here in the city. But unfortunately, obviously, this past weekend, we saw far more shootings than that."

Over the same weekend, four people were shot in an apartment complex behind a church in Kellogg, Idaho; they all died from gunshot wounds. There were also mass shootings in California, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Washington state and Wisconsin.

The United States has been here, or close to it, before.

There were 14.6 gun deaths per 100,000 people in 2021, which is the highest rate since the early 1990s, and just below the historic peak of 16.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 1974, according to Pew Research.

In the 1990s, the rise of gun deaths were also referred to as an epidemic by the National Institutes of Health.

In 1993, gun manufacturers increased the production of guns priced at $100 or less, while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms slacked off, according to " The Role of Supply in 1980s and 1990s Youth Violence." That year murders, with weapons such as guns, arson and poison, reached its highest point on record at the time.

The next year, the federal government doubled ATF law enforcement funding from $2 million to $4 million, which reinforced the Brady Background Check and reduced gun purchases, according to The Trace. As the 1990s unfolded, cheap gun manufacturers went out of business because of liability lawsuits, and gun suicide and murder rates decreased.

Taking the public health approach

"It is a public health issue. It mirrors every other public health issue that we've had in this country," Carter said. "Like any other public health problem, it is possible to solve with data-driven solutions."

Surgeon General Murthy said that viewing gun violence as a public health emergency will lead to more insight and data on the causes of violence and possible ways to curb it. Still, he's resisting a push from the California Medical Association to publish a Surgeon General's report on the hazards of gun violence similar to the major 1964 report on the dangers of smoking.

After declaring gun violence a "public health crisis" in 2016, the American Medical Association has regularly put forward ways to help bring down the number of deaths and injuries.

Most recently, in early June, it officially called for strengthening background checks and limiting the sale of multiple firearms. This allows more doctors to petition courts for protective orders for patients at risk of gun violence, and pushes social media companies to remove posts "glorifying firearm violence."

Meanwhile, Webster says establishing purchaser licensing requirements reduces gun-related homicides, suicides and mass shootings.

He also suggests community violence intervention programs in low-income communities. These programs put individuals with "street credibility" in positions to promote non-violent alternatives to conflict.

Carter says identifying gun violence as an epidemic is just a step in the right direction to addressing the fatal problem in America, because it leads to thinking about how to use scientific and public health resources "toward addressing all facets of the problem."

"I think it is an important label. But I don't think it's sufficient to address the problem," Carter said.
Lisa Lambert edited this digital story.

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Is gun violence an epidemic in the U.S.? Experts and history say it is

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Deaths and injuries from guns in the U.S. have increased for years, mirroring the 1990s - the last time gun violence was considered an epidemic.

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Summary: this is a really interesting one about how event people who might not be deep right wing or extremist can be used to cover up the more hateful and destructive parts of said groups. The people there who don't think they're racist or extremist, give cover to those who are. Polling data showed that 25% of Canadians support the anti-vax views spread by Convoy organizers. I find that number shocking. Even 10% of Canadians view the Government as illegitimate.

Why share: I wanted to share this one to show how normalized this type of behaviour has become and how entrenched it's been in media. I think it's crazy that such a massive amount of Canadians can hold these views. It's not a small thing, it's more common than I thought.

Bias: I feel like there isn't much bias in this one. It does lean more anti-hate which isn't surprising as it's quoting a lot of experts. They don't use loaded language.

Agree: The content isn't really one you agree or disagree with. It's presenting a lot of facts about radicalism and hate in Canada. However I do want to state that I am against all the far-right views.

Bias fact checker: CTV news is listed as CENTER alignment. With a high factual rating!

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Anti-hate experts urge action against right-wing extremism in Canada

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Anti-hate experts are urging policy makers to take action against what they describe as growing right-wing extremism in Canada.

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Summary:   Two men have been arrested in Canada for their involvement with a terrorist group linked to neo-Nazi ideology. One of the arrested individuals, Patrick Gordon Macdonald, allegedly produced propaganda for the group, including terrorist propaganda videos. This is the first time an individual in Canada has been charged with both terrorism and hate propaganda for advocating a violent far-right ideology.

Reason for sharing:   I chose to share this article because it highlights the arrest of individuals involved in a terrorist group with neo-Nazi ideology. It sheds light on the presence of such extremist groups in Canada and their efforts to promote violence and hate.

What I learned:  From this article, I learned about the Atomwaffen Division, an accelerationist neo-Nazi group that aims to bring about the collapse of society through extreme measures. It also mentioned Macdonald's role as a neo-Nazi propagandist and his efforts to recruit members for the group.

Bias:    The article does not exhibit any obvious bias. It reports on the arrest and charges against individuals involved in a neo-Nazi terrorist group without taking a side.

Agreement:  I believe that promoting violence, hate, and extremist ideologies is harmful to society and goes against principles of tolerance, respect, and equality.

Source legitimacy:  Al Jazeera, the source of this article, is generally considered a legitimate news organization. According to mediabiasfactcheck.com, Al Jazeera has a left-center bias, but it is known for its professional journalism and factual reporting.

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Prominent neo-Nazi propagandist arrested in Canada: Police

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Canada says first time individual charged with ‘both terrorism and hate propaganda’ for advocating violent ideology.

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I chose this article because I like the point that they made and the connection they made with some previous events.
I learned that certain people with a certain type of ideology usually are developing a pull towards right-wing idealism.
I do think there might be bias because this is not all just based on facts, but there are some elements of assumptions like connecting being hesitant to wear a mask to fraternize with white supremacists or just plain racist people.

Yes, the source is legitimate.

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Anti-hate experts urge action against right-wing extremism in Canada

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Anti-hate experts are urging policy makers to take action against what they describe as growing right-wing extremism in Canada.

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This article discusses the issue that British Columbia ferries face: overpopulation, how the vessels can carry only so many people, and how it is affecting the transportation infrastructure. I chose this because I think it tackles a topic that isn't discussed much when discussing overpopulation, that of transportation and not meeting the demand. What I learned is more and more transportation is not meeting the demand of the growing population, such as airplanes and how strict they are/can be. I feel there was no bias, as it just pointed out a common pattern that the ferries in British Columbia face. I do agree with this article, As I also have faced the issues of transportation and overpopulation specifically with buses, and how inconvenient they have become. According to media bias/fact check, it has a left-center bias. The author is Black Press Media, which is part of the website and self-published.

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The Spirit of Vancouver Island makes its way between Vancouver and and Vancouver Island on July 26, 2013. (Howard Sandler - Shutterstock.com)

For all the criticism it receives, there's one big factor beyond B.C. Ferries' control. Overpopulation.

Too many people tax our transportation infrastructure, and that's particularly true with ferries.

There's only so much capacity, and we've reached it based on continuing logjams at ferry terminals on the Island and the Lower Mainland. Short of putting a massive cruise ship size vessel on the routes capable of handling thousands of people simultaneously, the situation isn't changing anytime soon.

With the current vessels in service, B.C. Ferries can only take so many vehicles on each trip. And what will happen if more people continue to show up and push the limits? No one is going anywhere fast.

Sure, extra sailings are usually added to handle some overload and keep everyone moving as quickly as possible.

But knowing it will be a hectic time and the potential is for long waits at the ferry terminal, why do people travel on long weekends? If there's an option for another time mid-week and later in the evenings on weekends that doesn't include a holiday, why not take it?

Because people are naive, knowing this information fully ahead of time and take their chances, only to complain bitterly when it all doesn't work out. We're at the point where, again, due to the massive population growths of this region plus tourist traffic, you can count on it being busy all the time and ferries departing with plenty of vehicles left behind.

It's a fact of life now, just like in B.C. Parks where there are too many people vying for the same finite space for recreational activities.

There is no real solution other than patience, and if you test the limits and it doesn't work out, you only have yourself to blame.

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EDITORIAL: B.C. Ferries strained by overpopulation

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Overcrowded ferries struggle to keep up with demand

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Summary

After the government of Canada enacted a new law called C-18 Bill ( the Online News Act) Meta decided to block news in Canada.
As a response from the Canadian government the Heritage Minister, Pablo Rodriguez announced that the federal government will suspend all of its advertising on Meta platforms.

Why did I choose to share it?

There has been a lot of controversy because of this new Bill since it will have a tremendous impact on the social media content Canadians will have access to, and also because news sources and the journalism industry could either benefit or complicate even more their current situation.

Both parties, conservatives, and liberals are also divided when it comes to the implementation of this new law. Whereas Liberals are supporting the new bill, as "it will improve the journalism industry in the country." On the other hand, the conservatives are concerned about freedom in the social media content Canadians will be entitled to.

It doesn't stop there, as now the government has to deal with huge companies (social medial platforms) to work together in the implementation of the new law in the country. For financial reasons, and probably other reasons, legal, political reasons, etc. These companies have not agreed with the content of the new bill, leading to a situation like such. Where the biggest social media organization, Meta is now blocking Canadian news on their platforms, and the government has stopped publishing their ads on those platforms, affecting not just them but the whole country.

What did I learn?

This matter will take for sure months if not years to come to a conclusion, I wonder if the federal government now, that has stopped its campaigns on Meta, what would be their new channels to keep the country informed and updated. Will new companies emerge?

Do you agree with the content?

The C-18 Bill is yet to be analyzed in a deeper context by me, it seems to have an interesting logic behind it. It is true that journalism is not the same and it is suffering because of the transition to the online world.

As the Heritage Minister said, I do consider it very irresponsible for a company like Meta, knowing the impact it has worldwide, to block news in Canada. I am sure some people only know about their surroundings because of social media, now these folks will be even more misinformed than before. This makes me think about what their real intentions are ($$$$$).

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Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says the federal government has suspended all of its advertising on Facebook and Instagram as it continues its battle over the Online News Act with tech giants Google and Meta.

"Facebook has decided to be unreasonable, irresponsible and started blocking news," Rodriguez said Wednesday at a joint press conference with the NDP's Peter Julian and the Bloc Québécois' Martin Champoux. "This is why today we are announcing the Government of Canada will be suspending advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

"Google, on the other hand, has been open to finding a solution."

The federal government's Online News Act, C-18, became law on June 22. It compels companies like Google and Meta, Facebook and Instagram's parent company, to pay money to news organizations each time a user accesses a web story through a link on one of their products.

The bill has been pitched as a way to keep news outlets solvent after advertising moved en masse to digital platforms, virtually wiping out a major revenue stream for journalism.

"Meta's decision to block news content in Canada is disappointing. It is disappointing and irresponsible," Champoux said Wednesday. "Google's threat to do the same is concerning."

Champoux said that, instead of viewing C-18 as an obstacle to profit, tech giants should see it as an opportunity to show that they care about democracy by backing a free, objective press and combating misinformation.

"The companies that do business here must respect our values and comply with our laws," Champoux said. "C-18 is a necessary tool."

Julian said that as local media outlets continue to close, and as larger ones lay off staff, the Online News Act is needed to preserve democracy in Canada.

"We are telling Meta and Google that they must respect Canadian laws and Canadian democracy," he said.

"Today we have parliamentarians representing two-thirds of the House of Commons saying very clearly that the web giants ... have profited enormously from Canada and now its time to give back some of those funds."

Google remains in talks: Rodriguez

Rodriguez said he is still having conversations with Google and is confident that a deal can be struck.

"What's clear on our side is that solutions can only come around the table," he said. "It's also clear that Google's concerns can be met by what we plan to do in the regulations.

"Meta, on the other side, is not talking to us unless they called this morning ... so they took a different approach. I don't think it's good for anyone. Not for them, not the government, not for Canadians, for anyone."

A Meta spokesperson said in a media statement Wednesday that the Online News Act is "flawed legislation" that ignores the realities of how the company's platforms work.

"Unfortunately, the regulatory process is not equipped to make changes to the fundamental features of the legislation that have always been problematic, and so we plan to comply by ending news availability in Canada in the coming weeks," she said.

Rodriguez said the Online News Act is only asking companies to pay a "fair" price for links to content.
Watch: Heritage minister calls on Meta, Google to 'stay at the table' in C-18 talks:

Telecom and media firm Quebecor said Wednesday it will pull its ads from Facebook and Instagram in response to Meta's decision to block access to news in Canada on its social media platforms. CBC/Radio-Canada also announced Wednesday it would be pulling its advertising from Meta.

"We join other Canadian media organizations that are calling for Canadians' access to news - all news, from all outlets, both public and private - to be protected," a statement from CBC/Radio-Canada said.

News Media Canada, which advocates for the print and digital media industry in Canada, welcomed the decision by the federal government and Quebecor and told CBC News.

"We encourage all municipal and provincial governments across Canada to do the same," the group said in a statement.

"Large corporate advertisers, like the banks, telcos, retailers and auto companies, should make a similarly strong statement to Meta. It's time for those who value a free press to stand up and be counted."

Liberal, NDP parties will continue Meta ads

While the federal government is suspending ads on Meta platforms, the Liberal Party of Canada and the NDP have confirmed they will continue to advertise there.

The Bloc told CBC News that it stopped advertising on Meta platforms on June 29.

On Wednesday, Quebec Premier François Legault announced on Twitter that the Quebec government also would stop advertising with Meta.

"No business is above the law," Legault said.

Speaking in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que. later in the day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he expects more governments and companies will stop advertising with Meta in the coming days.
WATCH | Trudeau says government 'will not flinch' in dispute with tech giants:

"We are not backing down on this. This goes to the core of a free and informed society that is able to make decisions in a democracy," he said.

"Canada and allies around the world are going to stand strong and demonstrate that we will not flinch in our defence of fundamental, foundational principles of democracy like a free, quality, informed press."

During the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the federal government spent $140.76 million on advertising. Social media companies such Meta, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok LinkedIn and Pinterest got $21,205,519 of that. Meta's share was $11,423,728.

Over the same time period, the federal government spent $8,757,234 advertising through Google and another $1,147,062 on Bing ads.

C-18 amounts to censorship: Conservatives

The Conservatives voted against C-18 and party leader Pierre Poilievre vowed in a tweet to "repeal [Prime Minister Justin] Trudeau's censorship laws."

Conservative Heritage critic Rachael Thomas issued a statement Wednesday calling C-18 a censorship law that limits what Canadians can see online.

"Common sense Conservatives submitted changes to fix flaws in Bill C-18 but the NDP-Liberal coalition blocked them. A Poilievre government will replace Bill C-18 and bring home freedom and choice for Canadians," she said.

Google and Meta also did not offer comment for this story. In the past, both companies have called the legislation unworkable.

Google has compared the exposure it provides through its search engine to a free newsstand service for media outlets. Meta has said it sees no room for negotiation with the government, given the way the law was written.

Google has said it looks forward to taking part in the regulatory process.

As a news organization, the CBC could see a financial benefit under C-18, which requires the CBC to provide an annual report on any compensation for news it receives from digital operators.

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Federal government has suspended its advertising on Facebook, Instagram, says heritage minister | CBC News

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Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez says the federal government has suspended all of its advertising on Facebook and Instagram as it continues its battle over the Online News Act with tech giants Google and Meta.

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A brief summary:
Alexey Navalny has been Putin's most significant opposition for years. The Russian government charged Navalny with new extremism charges that could earn him 30 years behind bars. These charges have been deemed baseless by the West and their allies. Navalny has also been previously poisoned and recovered in German. The Russian government also denied claims they were not responsible for that attack. (Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, which was first produced in Russia and commonly used by Putin.)

Why you choose to share it:
This is important to show how much the Russian government is willing to crush any opposition and mark them as a threat.

What did you learn from it?
I learned that Navalny was facing new charges and that he recovered from his poisoning.

Did you feel there was a bias?
A bit, nobody likes Russia right now.

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?
I agree with the content because it stated facts and didn't attack the government, turning it into an opinion piece.

Is the source legitimate?:
Al Jazeera is rated as having left-center bias and credibility but fails some fact checks in certain articles. This piece is legitimate.

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Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny, his lawyers Olga Mikhailova and Vadim Kobzev and other participants are seen on a screen via a video link in a new criminal case [Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters]

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has appeared at a court in Russia to defend himself over new extremism charges, which could see his prison sentence extended by several more years.

Monday's court hearing took place at the IK-6 penal colony in Melekhovo, where Navalny is being imprisoned, about 235km (145 miles) east of Moscow.

He looked thin, had cropped hair and was dressed in a black prison uniform, according to journalists in Russia, who were allowed to cover the court proceedings virtually.

In an effort to contest the court's charges, Navalny said: "Taking into account the current circumstances, and criminal law, you should withdraw."

The critic of Russia's President Vladimir Putin is already serving an 11.5-year prison sentence over fraud and other charges, accusations he says are trumped up.

He says the new charges of "terrorism" issued against him in April are an "absurd" attempt to further silence him.

Navalny's team members fear the new charges could keep him in prison for up to 30 years and claim he has not been notified of the specifics, because he was in solitary confinement where he was allowed only a mug and one book.

Court papers last month showed the new charges relate to six different articles of the criminal code, including inciting and financing extremist activity and creating an extremist organisation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian government was "not following this trial".

Last week Navalny's aide Lilia Chanysheva was also sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for "creating an extremist organisation", a court ruling Navalny's supporters have said was "politically motivated".

But it is not yet clear which events these extremism charges relate to.

According to Reuters, one relates to "rehabilitation of Nazism" - a possible reference to Navalny's declarations of support for Ukraine.

Ukraine and its Western allies dismiss that charge as baseless.

In April, Russian investigators linked Navalny to the death of the popular military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who was killed by a bomb in a St Petersburg cafe. Navalny's allies have denied any connection.

Navalny, a former lawyer, rose to prominence more than 10 years ago by alleging large-scale corruption in his country.

He returned to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he was treated for what tests showed was an attempt to poison him with a nerve agent in Siberia.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied trying to kill him and often declines to comment on the imprisonment of Navalny and his supporters.

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Russia's Navalny defends himself over 'extremism charges'

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The charges against the Putin critic could extend his prison sentence by decades.

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Brief summary: A week after a professor and two students were stabbed in a gender studies course at the University of Waterloo, the class has resumed. The Waterloo Police said this was a targeted attack related to gender identity and expression. The president of the university has also stated he believed the 2SLGBTQ+ community was the primary target.

Why I chose to share: I chose to share this article because it is a scary reminder that right-wing extremism is motivating violence in Canada as much as it is in the US. A lot of Canadians like to point fingers and say that we're not as bad, but that's a convenient way to turn a blind eye to the violence against marginalized communities in our backyards.

What I learned: I learned that the university is consulting directly with the students concerning safety measures because they are concerned that the swift implementation of more severe security protocols could inadvertently target marginalized students, putting them in danger more than it would protect them. I think this is a thoughtful, considerate approach as long as they're not using this as an excuse to not implement any new safety measures.

Do you agree: I am concerned for the safety of the class now that it has resumed, but I agree with the university's response and the police response to the situation. It seems like this attack is being taken seriously and hopefully more steps are taken to prevent attacks like this from happening in the future.

Bias: There is no apparent bias in this article. Facts are plainly reported and no opinions are pushed in the story.

Source legitimacy: The source is CBC, a very reliable source.

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A University of Waterloo gender studies course that was the target of what police described as a crime motivated by hate resumed on Wednesday, a week after a professor and two students were stabbed.

The professor and two students suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the attack on June 28. A former student at the university has been charged.

University president Vivek Goel told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's The Morning Edition that students in the course were expected to discuss the safety measures they'd like to see "to move forward in a comfortable manner" when they met Wednesday.

Goel said students have the option to continue with the course or may be accommodated if they decide not to.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) said the class was targeted because of the subject matter being taught.

"We believe this was a targeted specific attack related to gender expression and gender identity," Chief Mark Crowell said at a press conference Thursday.

Crowell said he believed the 2SLGBTQ+ community "was targeted broadly and at large here."

"We don't believe that the individuals themselves were targeted for that purpose but we believe that the class subject was of interest to the suspect.," he said.

Campus-wide change

Campus-wide changes are anticipated, too, Goel said. There will be consultations with the students across the university about possible safety measures they'd like to see, he said.

"There are security measures that are being suggested that we can undertake," he said. "But we also have to consider what the consequences of those are, particularly in light of our mission, which is free expression, open, inclusion - many values that we hold very dear."

He said that in establishing new measures, there's the danger of creating situations where some marginalized groups could be victimized in different ways.

"If we create an environment that has locked buildings, locked doors, security cameras everywhere, it's going to create an environment that will not be what we desire to be and will potentially have adverse consequences for many of the members of the community that might feel most vulnerable as well," Goel said.

"In order to do some of the things, like locked doors, we'll have to have security badges and someone will need to check those security badges and there's the potential for people to be discriminated based on who gets asked to show their badge."

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University of Waterloo gender studies course continues a week after stabbing | CBC News

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The University of Waterloo gender studies course resumed Wednesday a week after a professor and two students were stabbed.

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1. A brief summary:  German President Frankalter Steinmeier expressed concern about the rising popularity of the far-right AfD party in recent polls. He warned against protest voting and the reinforcement of a party that contributes to the degradation of political discourse, emphasizing the need for problem-solving rather than fear-mongering.

2. Why did you choose to share it: I chose to share it because it reminded me of a similar problem the US has where people will vote for unrealistic candidates instead of actual candidates. Example : Us presidential election 2016, thousands of people voted for Harambe

3.What did you learn from it: I learned that no matter what country you are from there will always be that one person who ruins things for everyone.

4. Did you feel there was a bias: I do not think so but I am not fully sure.

5. Do you agree with the content: I agree that “protest voting” should be a practice that is heavily discouraged.

6.Why: Because it makes a mockery of the voting system. Voting is not the easiest thing to do. A lot of countries don’t even hold regular elections, to be able to vote is a privilege that a lot of people don’t have and “protest voting” in my opinion is like laughing in the face of people. You don’t have to vote, it is your right. But writing in something ridiculous wastes your time, the voting institutions time and the taxpayers time.

Is the source legitimate: I was not able to find info on the legitimacy of this website sadly. :(

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Surge in right-wing 'alarming', says German president

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German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has expressed concern about the recent surge in polls for Germany's far-right Alternative for...

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1. A brief summary
This year (2023) has been the worst wildfire season in Canada’s history. To date, there have been 3415 wildfires with 648 still burning and 339 burning out of control. Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair told reporters last month that in May, roughly 2.7 million hectares of forest has been lost to wildfires in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories. Tam, ministers said, “This summer, we are witnessing the effects of climate change first-hand as Canada continues to experience more intense and frequent severe weather events.” He also announced on Thursday that Canada has signed a memorandum of understanding with Portugal to help mitigate wildfires and protect “communities in the face of climate change-driven threats.” This agreement lays out procedures for exchanging firefighting resources between the two countries.

2. Why you choose to share it
I chose to share it because it is crazy that there have been 3415 wildfires to date, and summer isn’t even over yet. Who knows how many more fires there will be? This is a perfect example that climate change is a real thing and is currently happening right in front of our very eyes.

3. What did you learn from it?
I learned that this could only be the beginning of more drastic climate change that is happening to our country. There have been hundreds of international firefighters that are in Canada to help contain the wildfires. We also have volunteers from the United States, Mexico, South Korea, Chile, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Portugal, the European Union, France, South Africa and Spain.

4. Did you feel there was a bias?
I do feel there is a bias when reading this article as you can’t help but feel sympathetic towards the animals who were affected, those who’ve lost their home and everyone who has been affected by this tragedy.

5. Is the source legitimate? (use mediabiasfactcheck.com) If it's a tweet thread or op-ed, find out what you can about the author.
According to mediabiasfactcheck.com CBC is Left-Center Biased based and ranks High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact-check record.

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Canada still faces a high risk of wildfires for the rest of the summer, government warns | CBC News

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With 2023 now officially the worst wildfire season in Canadian history, federal ministers warned Thursday that the fire risk will remain very high across the country for the rest of the summer.

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https://www.foxnews.com/media/target-holds-emergency-meeting-lgbtq-pride-merchandise-stores-avoid-bud-light-situation
Target held an emergency meeting to address customer outrage over LGBTQ Pride merchandise in its stores. The company instructed certain southern stores to relocate Pride sections to the back, removing large signage and displays. Target's internal safety and security teams were present during the meeting and the changes were attributed to "volatile circumstances" and threats impacting employee safety. The affected stores included South Carolina, Arkansas, and Georgia.

I chose to share this article because he article sheds light on how corporations respond to customer feedback and public sentiment regarding LGBTQ Pride merchandise.

Source is questionable according to media fact check

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FIRST ON FOX - Some southern Target stores were forced by the corporation to move LGBTQ Pride merchandise away from the front of their locations after customer "outrage" to avoid a " Bud Light situation."

Many Target locations across the country feature massive June Pride month displays on an annual basis, with items this year ranging from "tuck friendly" bathing suits for transgender people to mugs that say "gender fluid." But the retail juggernaut has been criticized by some conservatives for the displays, with children's items particularly irking many customers.

A Target insider told Fox News Digital that many locations, mostly in rural areas of the South, have relocated Pride sections to avoid the kind of backlash Bud Light has received in recent weeks after using a transgender influencer in a promotional campaign.
CONSUMERS CREEPED OUT BY TARGET'S 'TUCK-FRIENDLY' WOMEN'S SWIMWEAR: 'SHOPPING ELSEWHERE'
A Target insider said there were "emergency" calls on Friday and that some managers and district senior directors were told to tamp down the Pride sections immediately.

"We were given 36 hours, told to take all of our Pride stuff, the entire section, and move it into a section that's a third the size. From the front of the store to the back of the store, you can't have anything on mannequins and no large signage," the Target insider said.

"We call our customers 'guests,' there is outrage on their part. This year, it is just exponentially more than any other year," the Target insider continued. "I think given the current situation with Bud Light, the company is terrified of a Bud Light situation."

The insider, who has worked at the retailer for almost two decades, said Target rarely makes such hasty decisions. They said Friday's call began with roughly 10 minutes on "how to deal with team member safety" because of the amount of backlash the Pride merchandise has generated, noting that Target Asset Protect & Corporate Security teams were present on the call.

"The call was super quick, it was 15 minutes. The first 10 minutes was about how to keep your team safe and not having to advocate for Target. The last five was, 'Move this to the back, take down the mannequins and remove the signage,'" the insider said, noting that bathing suits have replaced Pride merchandise in front-of-store displays despite Pride month not even starting until June 1.

"It's all under the guise of trying to increase swim sales," the insider said. "Everyone was like, 'Thank God,' because we're all on the front lines dealing with it."

A Target spokesperson said the changes were made due to "volatile circumstances."

"For more than a decade, Target has offered an assortment of products aimed at celebrating Pride Month," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "Since introducing this year's collection, we've experienced threats impacting our team members' sense of safety and wellbeing while at work. Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior. Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year."
BUD LIGHT IN 'SERIOUS TROUBLE' OF LOSING STATUS AS TOP-SELLING BEER IN US, INDUSTRY EXPERT WARNS
Fox News Digital has confirmed rural Target stores in South Carolina, Arkansas and Georgia are among the locations to move the Pride sections. Most rank-and-file employees were left in the dark, with many not knowing the Pride sections would be moved until they noticed it themselves.

Pride merchandise remains prominently displayed at other locations and on the Target website.

Target Pride merchandise includes female-style swimsuits that can be used to "tuck" male genitalia. Some products are also labeled as "Thoughtfully fit on multiple body types and gender expressions."

Pride merchandise also includes onesies and rompers for newborn babies, a variety of adult clothing with slogans such as "Super Queer," party supplies, home decor, multiple books and a "Grow At Your Own Pace" saucer planter.
INFLUENTIAL TRANS CARE DOCTOR ONCE WARNED PUBERTY BLOCKERS COULD CAUSE PERMANENT SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION
Bud Light sales have plummeted since backlash to the partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney has continued to haunt the company more than a month since it came to light. The issue began when Mulvaney publicized that the beer company sent packs of Bud Light featuring the influencer's face as a way to celebrate a full year of "girlhood." Mulvaney is one of many social media influencers Bud Light has tapped to promote the brand.

Mulvaney said the cans were her "most prized possession" on Instagram with a post that featured "#budlightpartner." A video then featured Mulvaney in a bathtub drinking a Bud Light beer as part of the campaign. Some consumers mistakenly thought the cans with Mulvaney's face were being sold to the public.

"Bud Light learned an important lesson about wading into the culture wars recently. But partnering with Dylan Mulvaney is nothing compared to what Target is doing," conservative pundit and author Bethany Mandel tweeted.
Fox News' Hanna Panreck contributed to this report. This article was updated with a comment from Target.

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Target holds 'emergency' meeting over LGBTQ merchandise in some stores to avoid 'Bud Light situation'

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Some southern Target stores were forced to move LGBTQ Pride merchandise away from the front of the store after customer outrage, Fox News Digital has learned.

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Summary:
The CSIS brief by Seth G. Jones discusses the growing threat of far-right Extremism in the United States. It throws light on the increase in number of terror attacks by right-wing extremists. It also addresses the challenges posed by right wing extremists.

Why I chose to share it: I selected this because it provides valuable insights into the rise of far right extremism in the United States. it also examines the factors that contribute to the rise of far right extremism.

What I learned from it: it indicates that the number of terrorist attacks by far-right extremists in the United States has been increasing, it also highlights the use of firearms in attacks and targeted religious figures, private citizens, and government targets.

Bias:
CSIS is generally regarded as a reputable and trustworthy think tank known for its research and analysis on global security issues. It is challenging to assess any potential bias.

Agreement with the content:
It is important to address and counteract any form of extremism, regardless of its ideological basis. It is the need of hour to prevent violence and protect individuals from threats.

Source Legitimacy:
CSIS is generally regarded as one of the most trustworthy expertise in security and foreign policy analysis. It is considered a reputable source in the field.

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The Rise of Far-Right Extremism in the United States

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The terrorist attack in New Zealand is part of a global pattern of far-right extremism. Read this November 2018 report on the rise of far-right extremism in the United States and Europe.

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Summary:
Despite facing backlash, companies like Target and Bud Light are still sponsoring Pride events. Target is a platinum sponsor of NYC Pride, while Bud Light sponsors Pride celebrations in various cities. Negative social media posts are criticizing companies for being "woke" and sexualizing children. However, the LGBTQ+ community's buying power and increased sponsorship dollars show its significance. Some companies are cautious due to the transgender rights debate. Bud Light's sales have dropped, and Target's shares have fallen. Pride organizations fear companies may withdraw support due to boycott threats. Some organizations continue to work with sponsors, while others have distanced themselves.

Why:
I chose to share this article as it showcases a divide evident in North America between EXTREME right wing views versus other (neutral, left wing). Currently both political figures and citizens feel very strongly about being anti LGBTQ and thus there has been a lot of backlash and even boycotting of popular brands such as Target and Bud Light. This is taking place primarily in the US but has been causing a divide in Canada as well.

This article reiterates what I have been seeing in Canada, and that is extremism in right wing opinion. It is almost as if due to the backlash in the US, people in Canada feel more comfortable to be open about their extreme views.

I did not feel bias in this article. Source is legit.

I believe the article, but it is very sad to see and thus I do not agree with the content (right wing views/opinions). On the contrary it is empowering to know that Target and Bud Light are staying strong with the LGBTQ community unlike some brands (*cough cough* Starbucks).

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Are you debating whether you should pay your taxes off with a credit card? Paying your taxes off with a credit card could work to your benefit. However, there are also some considerable drawbacks to take into account, says contributor Christopher Liew.

Is there ever a good time to discuss your salary? Personal finance contributor Christopher Liew outlines some basic salary disclosure etiquette and goes over the pros and cons of discussing your salary with coworkers.

Personal finance contributor Christopher Liew explains how First Home Savings Accounts work, who's eligible for the program, and outlines the contribution rules.

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Pride becomes a minefield for big U.S. companies, but many continue their support

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Many big companies, including Target and Bud Light's parent, are still backing Pride events in June despite the minefield that the monthlong celebration has become for some of them.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/pandemic-far-right-extremist-groups-1.6448332

The article discusses the increase in Canadian online searches for far-right material and conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 pandemic. The expert interviewed, Vidhya Ramalingam, co-founder of Moonshot, stated that searches for far-right content increased during lockdown measures, particularly after Ontario declared a state of emergency. Ramalingam also mentioned that there has been a rise in far-right attacks globally and called for increased efforts to prevent Canadians from engaging in violent extremism online. The article also touched on the importance of addressing terrorist activities on smaller platforms and the role of regulations in dealing with the problem.

Based on this summary, I learned about the concerning increase in the online engagement with extremist content and conspiracy theories in Canada during the pandemic. It highlights the need for effective measures to address online radicalization and prevent the spread of extremist ideologies. .

It is crucial to combat extremist ideologies and promote online safety and security.

CBC News is considered a legitimate source with a left-center bias according to mediabiasfactcheck.com.

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The article was written by Canadians for a Sustainable Society, which is a group of activists. They outline the negative impacts of the rapid population growth in Canada. They highlight the social and environmental impacts such as housing inflation and unaffordable housing, farmland loss, congestion, increase in emissions, longer commute times, structural deficits and lower or stagnant wages.

In the article they state that “the addition of 10 million people to Canada’s population through mass immigration over the past 50 years has created a demand for over 3 million housing units.  These were squeezed into densified urban areas and also spread out over prime farmland and forest area.  Not only does this kind of population growth have a direct impact on the environment, but this demand is the principal reason for housing inflation and unaffordability in Canada.”

So while we acknowledge that Canada needs people, it needs to be done in a more sustainable way. Certain factors need to be considered for an increase in population such as infrastructure, where are these people going to live, work, drive?  We have to think long term and for our future generations.

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Cause and Effect: the Environmental and Social Impacts of Population Growth

The Cause: Population Growth and Its Effects

Population growth in Canada is now largely driven by immigration. Had immigration levels been set at balanced levels, meaning that as many people leave the country enter annually, Canada's population would have been stabilizing at around the 28 million level between now and 2030.

However, given the mass immigration levels of the past 50 years, designed to expand the commercial economy, Canada's population is currently 38 million and growing rapidly. The effects of this rapid growth in population are unfolding rapidly, with many negative repercussions. The additional 10 million people has meant the equivalent of another 3 City of Toronto's with over 3 million additional housing units dropped on the Canadian landscape. Among the negative effects of population growth are the attendant direct environmental damage, displacement and elevated consumption and GHG emission levels.

This kind of unmanageable population growth has a drastic impact on the environment. There can't be a cessation of environmental decline in Canada, much less any substantial recovery until our population stops growing.

Population and Pollution: The Impact of Increased Consumption

In order to become sustainable, not only must we stabilize our numbers, we must learn to live with slightly less and use vastly less energy and resources in the process. Population and pollution are directly correlated. We have to shrink our footprint and put behind us the aspiration for vain-glorious consumption. As much as electric vehicles will help us reduce GHG emissions, electric Hummers will not save the planet. The fact remains that unsustainable population growth has a lasting impact on the environment.

When it comes to managing the impact of population and pollution, driving less, walking and cycling more and using much more efficient vehicles are a stepping stone to sustainability. We need fewer and much longer lived, higher quality products, not disposable goods which are essentially outdated or fall apart shortly after they are purchased.

Reckless Resource Exploitation

In many ways, Canada is beginning to see the relationship between population and the environment, and the necessity of nurturing our resources rather than exploiting them through slash-and-burn type exploitation. Our forest fishery and agricultural land policies are much more advanced than they were 40 years ago but development is still the priority, particularly real estate development which completely destroys the natural resource base and the habitat it displaces. Population growth and its effects are having a direct impact on the environment.

There are many black spots on Canada's environmental record and problems related to pollution, but most of these are in the past, like the Giant Mine which will take hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up. There are thousands of similar sites across the country which will require billions of tax dollars to clean up since the owners left with their profits years ago.

In terms of severity and scale though, nothing approaches the oil sands. Not only does the polluted area cover thousands of square kilometres, but the taxpayer liability is also between $60 billion and $260 billion and operations are being expanded. Against these costs, the Alberta government holds under $2 billion in oil company security deposits.

Rather than creating short term profits and dumping cleanup costs on future generations, we need full life-cycle accounting to determine when a project is profitable for the society as a whole. With scores of billions of dollars in pollution liabilities and Alberta deficits in the 10s of billions, it is difficult to see how the oil sands can be considered socially beneficial - especially for an ever-growing population.

And then there are the millions of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions to consider.

The Alberta Oil Sands: Misleading Metrics

commodity. It could, and did, generate scores of billions of dollars in sales revenue. But if the full costs aren't taken into consideration, something that looks good on paper for those companies producing the oil can turn into a fiscal and environmental disaster for the nation as a whole.

Rather than measure the impact of population growth in a way that represents the outcomes narrow interests want, we need to illuminate national and environmental interests with real-world metrics including biophysical economics and well-being indices.

Biophysical economics measures real physical resources in real physical units, not dollars, making it a realistic tool for dealing with the negative effects of population growth. Human and social metrics can span job quality, equality, housing affordability and a host of other fiscal balance and quality of life proxies. GDP size and growth rate illuminate none of these.

Causes and Effects of Overpopulation

The Consequences of Pursuing Growth at Any Cost

The knock-on impacts of any policy have to be understood. Below are two examples.

Most people understand that burning more oil produces more greenhouse gases which drives global warming. So adding more consumers to a high energy demand country is a structural change driving the relationship between population and pollution. It cannot be completely mitigated even by a very sophisticated suite of policy initiatives.

How population growth affects the economy is a similar story. Increasing the number of cheap labour jobs in a country increases the demand for social services as low wage earners require more support services. In Canada, the annual income level required to produce the taxes necessary to fund the services required by one individual is in the range of $45,000. Jobs at lower levels, particularly if they are seasonal or part-time, are not only tax negative but they also have higher tax expenditure demand for social support programs.

Cheap labour drives structural deficits which can be seen at all levels of Canadian government. Despite extremely high growth rates of population and GDP growth, Canada is piling up an increasing mountain of debt. In effect, once all the accounting is done, we are going broke on growth. The economic impact of unsustainable population growth is equally destructive to its environmental impact.

Similarly, the addition of 10 million people to Canada's population through mass immigration over the past 50 years has created a demand for over 3 million housing units. These were squeezed into densified urban areas and also spread out over prime farmland and forest area. Not only does this kind of population growth have a direct impact on the environment, but this demand is the principal reason for housing inflation and unaffordability in Canada.

The impact of a large inflow of cheap labour drove wages down or caused them to stagnate and it also inflated housing costs. In this sense, it's incredibly clear how population growth affects the economy. Combined, these two factors bear a large part of the responsibility for Canada's plummeting equality levels which have fallen from the second-best in the world in the early 1960s to a rank in the mid-20s currently.

Some of the enduring and cascading social and environmental impacts of population growth are linked below to their real-world consequences.

Negative Effects of Population Growth

How does population growth affect the environment? Some of the consequences of adding 10 million people over the past 40 years to Canada's natural level of the population are as follows:

Without a sustainable solution, population growth leads to:

Environmental Decline

Urban Sprawl leads to

A 10 million person increase = over 3 million additional housing units

Farmland Loss

Congestion

Longer Commute times

Reduced Covid-19 security

Lower access to nature

A GHG emissions increase leads to

Climate change

Droughts

Species shift and extinction

Forest fires

Floods

Food cost increases

Social Decline leads to

Lower or stagnant wages

Housing inflation

Increased inequality

Structural deficits

A weakened social safety net

Population and Pollution: Increased Consumption Leads To:

Depletion of non-renewable resources and a higher cost per unit of resources mined

Increased GHG emissions

Increased waste

Larger environmental footprint

Reckless Resource Exploitation Leads To:

Oil Sands Expansion, Giant Mine

High GHG emissions

High legacy costs

Taxpayer subsidies

Boom and bust economic cycles

Globalism Leads To:

Cheap labour

Low to no environmental standards

Plastic in oceans

High GHG emissions from transportation

Worldwide stress on resources

Narrow based economies

Low resilience

A race to the bottom

How population growth affects the economy: Money Metrics - Using GDP as the Central Indicator of Economic and Social Health Leads To:

Structural deficits

Growing inequality

Higher debt

Incoherent national policies

No clear goals or real-world metrics

Biophysical economics measures real physical resources in real physical units, not dollars.

In contrast, biophysical economics measures real physical resources in real physical units, rather than dollars.

A Solution For Population Growth: Clear Goals and Real Metrics

To find a lasting solution for population growth, we need to establish clear national goals focused on the interests of our citizens and the health of our environment. We need to differentiate between costs and benefits, bigger or better and productive vs unproductive activities. We need to truly understand the environmental, social and economic impact of unsustainable population growth.

We need to view public policy through the real world lens of sustainability and progress rather than the money metrics of growth.

The impact of population explosion on Canadians' personal health is serious and lasting. Human well-being and environmental health should be the basis for public policy, not the size of the commercial economy. Curing the symptoms created by fundamental root causes requires structural changes, not more band-aids or photo-op policy initiatives.

Learn More:

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This article discusses how right wing extremism in Canada has been on the rise. It talks about how some Canadians have been drawn to this extreme political side after the pandemic and the Freedom Convoy. Some statistics showed that predominantly men over 50 view the current government as illegitimate and are supporters of Pierre Poilievre, who stands with the conservative party. Potential solutions were discussed with one being social media companies clamping down on accounts sharing misinformation, another is community-based groups looking to share postive information and fight back against hateful messages.

I chose to share this article because as someone who grew up in the capital, the Freedom Convoy hit very close to home. It was disturbing to me that people were sharing hateful messages in my backyard. I think it is very important to take action against prejudice and speak up.

It was nice to learn that there are community groups that are trying to take action against hateful groups. Unfortunately, it wasn’t surprising that the demographic of individuals joining these groups was white men over 50. I also learned that the rise in individuals with these opinions grew during the pandemic. This made sense because of all the controversies around the vaccine mandates.

I did feel there was a bit of a bias in the article. It was clearly written by someone who sides with the liberal political side which can be assumed by the way they talk about the opposition. For the most part the article highlighted the issues at hand and was mostly neutral.

I do agree with the content. As I mentioned earlier, the Freedom Convoy happened in my hometown, so I had firsthand experience of how that negatively affected the city. I think it is very important that we take action against hateful messages and speak up where necessary.

According to media bias factcheck, this source heavily favours the left side. They are known to use strong leading words and sometimes publish misleading reports.

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Anti-hate experts urge action against right-wing extremism in Canada

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Anti-hate experts are urging policy makers to take action against what they describe as growing right-wing extremism in Canada.

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This article summarizes the recent ban on Twitter of the terms "cis" and "cisgender" by the owner, Elon Musk after a user labelled him as such. I chose to share this due to show it doesn't matter how rich you are, you can still be an idiot as well as our campaign's use of Twitter. I learned that rich people are uninformed, and have the power to spread it to their audience as Elon Musk does not understand what the term means and treats it like a slur, which it is not. I do believe this article does not have a bias towards being against Elon Musk and his decision as it does try to understand why this could be a positive choice. I agree with the content as Elon Musk is very misinformed and very opinionated which leads to him making poor decisions, this is a recent example but it does point out how cisgender can be problematic as it makes gender a binary. The website Forbes has a right-centre bias which did not seem explicate in this article to me. I do believe the source is legitimate as the author, Kim Elesser, has experience with gender ideology, having written a book called Sex and the office.

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Elon Musk says the term 'cis' is a Twitter slur. (Photo by Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images)
Getty Images

Elon Musk has deemed the words "cis" and "cisgender" slurs on Twitter and warned that anyone who harasses others on Twitter will receive at least temporary suspension. The warning came after a Twitter user complained others had labeled him "cis ." Here's what the word means and why it has become so polarizing.

The term "cis" is short for cisgender, meaning someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth. In other words, it's the opposite of transgender. Elon Musk was male at birth and still identifies as a man, so he is legitimately cisgender.

The prefixes 'cis' and 'trans' have wide usage beyond gender. " Cis" is defined as "on this side, and " trans" means "on or to the other side," according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. A flight from Pittsburgh to Paris is transatlantic because it crosses over to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. A flight from Chicago to Philadelphia is cisatlantic because it remains on the same side of the Atlantic Ocean. And in chemistry, molecules with atoms on opposite sides are called "trans," and those with atoms on the same side are "cis."

Retired researcher and physician educator Dana Defosse says she coined the term cisgender in graduate school in 1994 to describe people who were not transgender. The word has grown in popularity and was added to the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster Dictionary in the middle of the last decade. So why the Twitter pushback on the use of the widely accepted word?

Some don't like the term because "it challenges the false narrative that gender identity depends on biological sex," Defosse wrote in response to Musk's comments in an op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle. In other words, for those who don't believe that gender identity can differ from the sex assigned at birth, there's no need for additional terminology.

Using this argument, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling supported Musk's comments on "cis." " 'Cis' is ideological language, signifying belief in the unfalsifiable concept of gender identity. You have a perfect right to believe in unprovable essences that may or may not match the sexed body, but the rest of us have a right to disagree and to refuse to adopt your jargon," she tweeted. She reasons that accepting the label "cis" involves agreeing that someone's gender identity may not match their biological sex. It seems Rowling does not agree with this premise.

Rowling and Musk's arguments suggest that cis peoples' gender identities are more legitimate than trans people's. In other words, cisgender individuals are presumed to be the norm, and transgender are deemed abnormal by comparison. "I'm not 'cis,' I'm normal," the argument goes. Author and activist Julia Serano labels this attitude " cissexism."

Not everyone who dislikes the term is cisgender. Some in the LGBTQ+ community have argued that the word perpetuates the notion that gender is binary. University of Southern California gender studies professor Chris Freeman told The Advocate that the term "creates, or re-creates, a gender binary, which is exactly what many scholars and activists have been fighting against for decades." Not everyone identifies with their birth sex or the opposite sex. Those who identify as gender fluid or nonbinary are neither transgender nor cisgender. It's unlikely that Musk labeled the term a slur because he was concerned about nonbinary individuals feeling left out.

Describing Elon Musk and J.K. Rowling as cisgender is accurate. Banning the use of the term on Twitter only serves to alienate the trans community and invalidate their gender identities.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.

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Elon Musk Deems 'Cis' A Twitter Slur-Here's Why It's Is So Polarizing

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Elon Musk has deemed the words "cis" and "cisgender" slurs on Twitter. Here's what the words mean, and why they have become so polarizing.

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This article talks about extremism becoming more apparent in Canada. I chose to share it because I think its important that we know what's happening and can try to stop it somehow.
It is being fuelled by mainly misinformation as the article states.
I learned that the violent extremism got worse since the pandemic started, and although it has ended, it has continued.
I think this article was actually pretty non biased, which CBC does quite well. It focuses on the facts and doesn't appear to include any author opinions.

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The threat of violent extremism has increased in Canada during the pandemic - fuelled by misinformation and resulting in threats to politicians and public servants - top security and policing officials told members of Parliament on Thursday.

But while police and intelligence agencies are taking steps to detect extremists and prevent them from carrying out attacks, the government must also work proactively to counter the extremism in the first place, they added.

Testifying before the public safety and national security committee, Cherie Henderson, assistant director, requirements for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) described the rise of ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE) over the past two years.

"Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, IMVE activity has been fuelled by an increase in extreme anti-authority and anti-government rhetoric, often rooted in the weaponization of conspiracy theories," Henderson told the committee.

"CSIS has noted a marked increase in violent threats addressed at elected officials and public servants."

Henderson said CSIS has moved more resources to monitor IMVE.

The hearing came only a couple of days after an ugly altercation in Peterborough, Ont., where protesters shouted profanities at NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh after a provincial election campaign event.

That incident appeared to weigh on the minds of some committee members Thursday as they wrapped up their hearings on IMVE.

"This has been a very sombre time for the NDP caucus," said New Democrat MP Alistair MacGregor.

"Our leader Jagmeet Singh had to wade through a group of people who were calling him a traitor. They were hurling expletives at him, saying they hoped that he would die," he said.

"This is the exact same kind of behaviour that we saw littered throughout the occupation of Ottawa and it's time for us to wake up to the fact that this kind of behaviour has real, physical manifestations and real threats."

Liberal MP Pam Damoff said she and other MPs have received threats but that they don't necessarily lead to criminal charges.

"It feels like it's a matter of time before this rhetoric and this kind of aggressive anger turn into something more violent," she said.

RCMP Deputy Commander Michael Duheme said the Mounties have also seen a rise in IMVE incidents, most by people "who are not clearly affiliated with a group and who are motivated by very individualized ideologies."

Duheme said the RCMP has identified gaps in how it has dealt with IMVE and has developed a strategy to address them over the next three years and to work with local police forces and other groups.

By "improving information sharing and building up our own intelligence capacities," specifically online, the RCMP will "be in a better position to identify individuals and groups who pose a threat before they are motivated to violence," he said.

Lesley Soper, director general of national security policy for the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, described IMVE as "a serious threat" to Canada.

While some people on the right of the political spectrum are drawn to IMVE, such extremists come from a wide range of political perspectives, she said.

"It may be aligned to what we might traditionally call right-wing extremism. It may be motivated by other factors; anti-mandate. It could be motivated by other societal factors," Soper said.

Earlier, Conservative MP Dane Lloyd challenged Soper and CSIS officials to tell him what they were doing to investigate 30 churches that were set on fire in 2021. Both responded that those were police matters.

Richard Fadden, a former national security adviser and director of CSIS, said IMVE has been around for a while but it is now more intense, organized and co-ordinated.

Fadden said if Canada wants to counter IMVE, it must get to the roots of the dissatisfaction felt by those attracted to it, and their feeling that their views aren't being heard.

Fadden called for more dialogue with those being attracted to IMVE, saying countering it needs to go beyond the federal government to provinces, municipalities and schools.

However, he also acknowledged it can be difficult these days to talk openly about some things.

"I really do think that political correctness has reached the point today where it's almost impossible to have a conversation about a whole raft of issues and if you're frustrated with government and with society to begin with, this is not helpful," he said.

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Threat of violent extremism rising in Canada, MPs told | CBC News

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The threat of violent extremism has increased in Canada during the pandemic - fuelled by misinformation and resulting in threats to politicians and public servants - top security and policing officials told members of Parliament on Thursday.

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1. A brief summary:
The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has ordered the closure of beauty salons, marking the latest shrinking of Afghan women's access to public spaces. The morality ministry announced the deadline for the closure, citing growing restrictions on women since the Taliban's return to power in 2021. This includes closing most girls' secondary schools, barring women from university, and preventing female Afghan aid staff from working. Many public places, including bathhouses, gyms, and parks, have been closed to women. Western governments and international organizations have criticized these restrictions, arguing that they hinder progress toward international recognition for the Taliban administration.

2. Why did you choose to share it?
As a woman and feminist, I am always concerned about our freedom and rights around the world. It is devastating to see how women are losing their rights, WE are losing our right to inhabit the world as human beings.

3. What did you learn from it?
I already knew that, but it is important to remember that beauty and fashion are political, and no one should decide on our bodies or decisions, no one should decide if we can study, have a job, or get married, how we dress or not.

“To be a woman is to be warbound, knowing all the odds are stacked against you
- And, despite everything, never giving up."
- Amanda Lovelace.

4. Did you feel there was a bias?
I do not think this news is biased, it is giving information about a huge issue. However, these media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias.

5. Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?
With the content? Impossible! I can not agree with men believing they can decide over women.

6. Is the source legitimate?
These media have a medium credibility with mixed factual reporting.

7. About the author
The news has no author.

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The Taliban administration in Afghanistan has ordered beauty salons to close within a month, the morality ministry said, in the latest shrinking of access to public places for Afghan women.

"The deadline for the closing of beauty parlours for women is one month," Mohammad Sadiq Akif, a spokesperson for the Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue, said on Tuesday, referring to a ministry notice.

Foreign governments and UN officials have condemned growing restrictions on women since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 after defeating a US-backed government as foreign forces withdrew.

Last year, authorities closed most girls' secondary schools, barred women from university and stopped many female Afghan aid staff from working. Many public places including bathhouses, gyms and parks have been closed to women.

Beauty salons sprang up in Kabul and other Afghan cities in the months after the Taliban were driven from power in late 2001, weeks after the September 11 attacks on the US.

Many remained open after the Taliban returned to power two years ago, providing some women with jobs and their customers with their services. The salons are usually female-only and have their windows covered so that customers cannot be seen from outside.

Sahar, a Kabul resident who visited a salon every few weeks to get her hair and nails done, said she felt that a final avenue for socialising safely outside had now been cut off.

"Parks are not allowed for women so it was a good place for us to meet our friends ... it was a good reason to see each other, to meet other women, other girls to talk about issues," she said, asking that her full name not be published for security reasons.

"Now I don't know how to meet them, how to see them, how to talk to each other ... I think it will be very impactful for us and women around Afghanistan," she said.

Western governments and international organisations have signalled that restrictions on women are hampering any possible progress to international recognition for the Taliban administration.

The administration says it respects women's rights in accordance with its interpretation of Islamic law and Afghan customs.

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Taliban order closure of beauty salons in Afghanistan

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Morality ministry decrees another reduction of Afghan women's access to public spaces

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Brief Summary:

The article shares what a political science professor form UCalgary, Jean-Christophe Boucher, believes is causing the rise in extremism. It is noted that extremism is not new as there has always been division around politics, religion, first nation issues but these things are becoming a bigger part of a person’s identity. Social media being such a critical part of our lives now has also impacted this as it has become easier for like-minded people to find each other and connect and it creates visibility for these beliefs. Boucher believes that we must educate citizens on how we conduct ourselves online and in political debates as this is crucial for a healthy democracy. He feels that universities are a great place to start this education.

Why I chose to share it:

I had always wondered why these extreme views have been more prominent now than ever before and I did suspect social media. The article raises good points about the state of our society with how we debate and share things online. It mentions “At the societal level, we don’t have the norms to underpin these online environments. It contributes to rising extremism as misinformation, intolerance, and toxicity starts to spread.” So the answer to this problem is not the government, yes they do play a part, but as a society we need to take action. We need to cultivate the norms and values that will help us develop rules of online behaviour that we find collectively acceptable. Norms and values that will define how we behave online and share information. We have lost respect for each other as human beings. It is almost as though we don’t see each other as human beings anymore.

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A deputy prime minister verbally attacked for the sake of social media views. A self-proclaimed monarch known as the " Queen of Canada" rapidly gaining followers. A major city and international border shut down by angry truckers during the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests.

Once the headline news of other countries far from this mild and gentle nation, it seems extremism in politics has finally taken root in Canada. But what exactly is extremism and why is it on the rise?

Extremism can be defined as "holding extreme political or religious views," and UCalgary's Dr. Jean-Christophe Boucher, PhD, says human history is filled with examples of fanatical zeal, including nation-changing outbursts like the French Revolution.

"Extremism has always been part of our political environment, but this isn't a good argument to diminish or feel reassured about what's going on today," says Boucher, associate professor at the School of Public Policy and in the Department of Political Science.

"Right now, a lot of extremism literature comes from the U.S., and in Canada, we used to think that we were inoculated from this craziness."

Expressive views come in varying forms

Specifically in the U.S., Boucher says the current political polarization we're witnessing is a shift from political conversations as a civil debate over policies and ideas, to political views becoming part of people's identities.

"This shift, from a political debate as part of a democratic process to one structured around political affiliation as an identity marker, explains why extremism, violence and incivil discourse are on the rise. More and more Canadians feel that, in some respects, their association to a party forms their identity."

In this respect, partisanship creates in-group or out-group dynamics. A person's group, or those with a similar political view, are seen as good, aligned, and trustworthy, while everyone outside is considered evil.

"When you have this in-and-out group perspective, extremism starts to unravel democratic discourses and debates around good government that take the form of a zero-sum game," says Boucher. "Toxicity and public discourse start to rise. This is when the narrative changes from debating policy choices to 'How can I demonize the other side and win.'"

When this happens, people start to dehumanize others and behave in ways that don't associate to civic norms, he says.

"With the Deputy Prime Minister Freeland situation in Grand Prairie, instead of a debate on policy choices, toxicity and disengaged debates have increased. People don't want to argue with toxic people, and fringes on both sides don't talk to each other because the conversations don't go anywhere. There is a rise of intolerance in people's political views, which will damage our democratic cohesion as a society."

Extremism isn't new, but it's rising thanks to social media

In Canada, extremism isn't new, but it should be taken seriously. While there have always been divisions around settlers and First Nations, Inuit and in Canada, or around linguistic communities, political views are now becoming a bigger part of a person's identity - similar to what we may see in other countries around the world.

"People are now unwilling to have interactions or conversations with people from other parties or political views," says Boucher.

Another reason that extremism is rising is because of social media and how deeply it's integrated into our lives, he says.

"Our information space has changed because of the digital revolution. How we debate and share things in society is changing so fast that we don't have the regulations and laws in place to deal with online extremism.

"At the societal level, we don't have the norms to underpin these online environments. It contributes to rising extremism as misinformation, intolerance, and toxicity starts to spread.

"It used to be difficult to find like-minded people with extreme views. Now, social media creates visibility and brings people together easily - you can easily find your own people and show your identity with one click. It allows you to create networks, from the local, to the national and international levels."

He says a great example of this is the Freedom Convoy which grew out of Canada and created pockets of movement all over the world.

"Things that we would typically only see in the U.S. and Europe are spilling into Canada because of social media," says Boucher.

Right now, democracies around the world are trying to adjudicate the need for free space while balancing the rise of intolerance, hate speech and disinformation - and Boucher says there is no easy answer to keeping extremism at bay.

"We're trying to find a silver bullet to make this problem go away, but we will need a lot of different things," he explains.

"For example, we need laws to regulate online conversation - both for content creators and platforms. In addition, as a society, we need to grow the norms and values that will help us develop rules of online behaviour that we find collectively acceptable.

"A lot of new technologies, such as TikTok, are changing our environment very fast, and we haven't found a way to determine what is and isn't acceptable."

Boucher says we usually have standards in society to regulate what toxic or acceptable behaviour is, but we currently don't have this on social media - and unfortunately, it will take years to form.

"A lot of our younger generations aren't politically literate and end up in fringe groups. People must be able to debate things without falling into identity politics. We need to find a way to organize this conversation."

Boucher feels that better civic education may be part of the answer.

"We have emphasized STEM, data literacy and all sorts of other things in our education system, but less people are becoming involved in civic and social studies," he says.

"We need people who are well-rounded, and we must educate our citizens. How we conduct ourselves online and in political debates are crucial skills for a healthy democracy. We can't erode these things without severe consequences."

Boucher feels that universities are a great place to start this education.

"As a university, we need to put this civic education in place. We need to continue to push for respectful debate and have our professors talk to the media. It's a very important part of what universities can do.

"The more we share knowledge, the more we can get in on the debate and counter extremism."

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No quick fix for extreme view and angry politics in Canada

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UCalgary political science prof explains why extremism is on the rise and what we can do about it

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Nicole Mann is a test pilot and colonel in the United States Marine Corps and also the first indigenous woman to go to space last October. She describes her experience as one of the best things she's ever done since she was doing different activities while on board. She was doing a lot of fantastic science and maintenance upgrades, but most importantly she enjoyed floating around in space.
When asked what it felt like to be the first woman in space. She replied that at first, she didn't want to be the first marine or astronaut, she just wanted to be an engineer and an astronaut, but looking at a bigger perspective, she thought it was important to tell her story so that other indigenous people can be inspired and do greater things.

I chose this article because it is inspirational not just to indigenous people, but to every other minority. It is hard most of the time for a minority to achieve big goals.

I learned that it is important to know more about indigenous and minorities stories that are inspirational as it helps shape people's perspective in a different way.

I don't think the article was bias, because it is based on facts.

I agree with the content because it is a story that can change the way people view a certain group of people.

Yes this source is legitimate.

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Nicole Mann, a U.S. Marine colonel and test pilot, became the first Indigenous woman in space, when she rocketed into orbit last October with SpaceX.

She is a member of the Wailacki of the Round Valley Indian Tribes and spent 157 days aboard the International Space Station as commander of SpaceX Crew-5.

She conducted two space walks and also connected with schools around the United States while in orbit to speak with students about the wonders of space.

Rosanna Deerchild, host of Unreserved, spoke with Mann about her mission to the International Space Station, what life was like on board and what she hopes for the future of our planet.
So take us to your floating laboratory. You spent five months there. What was that like?
It was just incredible living and working on board the International Space Station. Not only are we doing some incredible science on board and maintenance upgrades to the space station, but it is so much fun just floating around in space.

If you've ever had a dream when you were a kid that you were flying or floating, It feels just like that. It really does.
I can't even imagine. Can you walk us through a couple of the kinds of experiments you did?
Absolutely. A couple of my favourites are the BioFabrication Facility or BFF. And this is where we are literally 3D printing human cells in space. It sounds like a Star Trek type situation, right? But this is the reality now.

It's because we're in microgravity, this laboratory. We can print the cells and they will grow and their structure will be more accurate than they would if you were printing them on Earth. Because of the gradient of gravity, you don't have any of this in space. And so right now they're printing 3D human cells and they've printed a human meniscus for the knee.

The concept is, in the future perhaps we can print a patch for your heart. So if you had a heart attack, you know that muscle will not heal completely and so you could patch the heart or we could at some point maybe print 3D organs and fly those back to earth where they could be transplanted. So there's that side of it.

And we got to grow plants on board too. We grow dwarf tomatoes. It was incredible to smell the soil and to smell the plants because the smell on the station is a very sterile environment. It smells very metallic, like a hospital with some cleaning solutions that we use. So It was really amazing to smell plant life and see these beautiful little red tomatoes.

How does doing those kinds of experiments in space help us to prepare for future exploration?
We're trying to develop ways that we can sustain humans deeper into space, so perhaps when we have a sustained presence on the lunar surface or this journey to Mars, we could grow tomatoes. We also grew yogurt and fermented and grew yeast to try to develop ways we could be self-sufficient in our food and nutrients.

So if we can grow some of our food on these long missions that will provide nutrients for our body, but there's also the psychological aspect of growing plants and kind of still being connected with your home planet while you're on a deep space exploration.

Did you have time for fun things? For example, I heard you did some space selfies.
I did take some space selfies on the second space walk. On the first one it was just so new. I was so focused on just getting everything done, I didn't really take a moment to just reflect and just pause. So I was really intentional about that [second space walk]. I wanted to take photos and I wanted to pause for 30 seconds and just look around.

I'm literally climbing outside the space station holding on with one hand floating over the planet. And I wanted to just live in that moment and just reflect on the incredible things that we've done, just all the training and the thousands of people on planet Earth that were supporting us in this mission.
How did it feel knowing you're the first Native American woman in space?
When I became a marine, I didn't want to be a female marine. I just wanted to be a marine. I didn't want to be a Native American engineer or astronaut. I just wanted to be an engineer and an astronaut.

But as you actually take time to widen your perspective and think about the importance of us celebrating the firsts, it's important that we reach out to the communities that maybe have never been exposed to space flight before.

I realized on board how important that is. I had some chances to talk to some kids on reservations, some kids that didn't realize we have an International Space Station and astronauts are living on board and one of them happens to be a Native American.

Maybe that will inspire a young child to think maybe that's something they can do. I see that as a really important responsibility.

You brought a dreamcatcher with you to the International Space Station that your mom had given you when you were young. Why was it so important for you to bring along?

That was really important for me because it was a piece of home and a piece of my childhood.

When I was young, I had a lot of nightmares and bad dreams and I remember my mom giving me a dreamcatcher. She explained that the dreams will come in and the bad dreams will be caught into the web, but that the good dreams will come down to the feathers and go into your brain.

That was a type of visualization that really helped me when I was a child, and I still think it helps me to this day. It floated in my crew quarters and in my little room, a constant reminder of my family back on planet Earth and all the people, all the love and all the support.

What sort of things did you think about when you were looking at earth from the ISS?
As you look from the blackness of space down to the planet Earth, you could start to pick up these colours and they're so dramatic and they're changing so quickly. You can see this thin line that goes around our planet and that's our atmosphere.

It's incredible to think how that's the only thing that is keeping all humans on planet Earth alive and safe from the vacuum of space. And so you see this incredible planet and all its beauty and its majesty, but then you also have this incredible feeling of fragility.

It's so important that we realize this and take care of our planet, it's the only one we have. Seeing Earth from space gives you this amazing perspective and appreciation for what we have.

That first glimpse of the planet from space was so powerful. As you look down, you don't see any borders or boundaries, you don't see divisions of countries or states, you see humankind all coming together.

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'Just the beginning': Nicole Mann is the first Indigenous woman astronaut in space | CBC Radio

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Nicole Mann spent 157 days on the International Space Station as the mission commander where she and her crew conducted research and experiments to prepare for explorations to the moon and Mars.

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The provincial government has just announced new funding for indigenous communities facing mental health issues.

I shared it because I think this is an important issue.
I also learned that mental health issues are increasing within these communities because of a lack of care and support.
I didn't feel there was a bias. This story seemed to stick to the facts.

Do you agree with the content?
Yes. I think its important for the government to focus on the mental health issues facing everyone, especially indigenous communities.

Is the Source legitimate?
CTV is minimally biased.

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Ontario invests $33M in mental health and addiction support for Indigenous communities

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On Thursday, the provincial government announced $1 million in funding to address mental health and addiction issues towards First Nations. This funding will allow for the development of two buildings in the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation that will offer mental health and addiction services.

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This article really bothers me. I've never lived in the United States, I've never experienced a culture of guns. (Yes I know Canada has guns too, but not even close to the same extent.) The idea of parents telling their kids about the risk of guns at school, having to actually sit them down and warn them about a school shooting or whatever else makes me sick to my stomach.

I have a friend who lives in Seattle, after finding this article sent her a Discord message asking how often she thinks about gun violence when she's out in public, her answer? Literally every day. She said she thinks about it at the mall, at the university, and everywhere else.

I literally can't imagine that. When I'm out in public, I almost never think "someone here could have a gun". When I'm at school I feel safe, I don't worry about someone coming in and shooting someone.

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As gun violence increases and shootings seem to make headlines every few days, the fear of getting caught up in one is changing the lives of millions of Americans.

A shopping mall. A classroom. A teenager's house party.

All have suffered the scourge of a US mass shooting in recent weeks.

To many Americans, it feels like it could happen anywhere.

As the US observes National Gun Violence Awareness Day on Friday, how is this issue affecting the way people go about their lives?

Tough conversations

Around 60% of adults say they have talked to their kids or other relatives about gun safety, according to a survey by KFF, a non-profit organisation focused on health policy.

Some of these conversations are sparked by lockdown drills in US classrooms. In some cases, students as young as five are taught when to barricade doors and when to run for their lives if a gunman is prowling the corridors.

Recently, Morgan Hook's nine-year-old daughter Elise came home from school and took her family by surprise when she said the drills would not be much use if the gunman just shot down the door.

Mr Hook tried to reassure his daughter that wouldn't happen, but he thought back to a recent shooting at a private school in Nashville when the suspect did exactly that.

"Sometimes when you try to comfort your kids, that means you're lying to them," says Mr Hook, who lives in Saratoga County, New York.

It's useful for parents to have conversations with their children about gun violence, provided they do so calmly, says Vaile Wright, the senior director of health care innovation with the American Psychological Association.

Moving home

Gun violence in the US has at times caused some to uproot their lives. About 15% say they've moved to a different neighbourhood or city because of it, according to KFF.

Last year, 40-year-old Travis Wilson and his wife moved to a new neighbourhood in Louisville, Kentucky, after moving from Old Louisville where they counted the number of gunshots at night.

A bullet once went through his neighbour's window. Another time someone pulled a gun on him in front of his house. After his daughter was born in 2021, he and his wife started re-evaluating.

"I couldn't imagine how any child could grow up in an area where they hear frequent shots and not be dramatically affected," he said.

But last month, the violence followed him to his new neighbourhood when a gunman killed five former co-workers at a local bank.

Mr Wilson said he sometimes feels irresponsible raising a child in America, where nowhere feels perfectly safe.

"I'll never forgive myself if [my daughter] is a victim of a shooting and I just waited around for her turn."

Bulletproof backpacks

On Valentine's day five years ago, Lori Alhadeff sent her three children to school as she did every other morning, but by the day's end, only two made it home.

A teenage gunman shot and killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, including Ms Alhadeff's 14-year-old daughter Alyssa.

After the shooting, she ordered bulletproof backpacks for her two sons, determined to do everything she could not to lose another child.

"Unfortunately, it's not if another school shooting is going to happen, but when," she says. "This is the world that we live in."

As US gun violence has worsened, there has been a surge in demand for the backpacks, especially after mass shootings, says Yasir Sheikh, the owner of a self-defence item manufacturing company, Guard Dog Security.

"It's important that parents have some sort of feeling of empowerment that they can do something to make themselves and their kids safe."

Firearms training for school staff

As shootings have increased in frequency, Kate, a superintendent in Ohio, has been building up a safety plan for her school district.

It includes locking outside doors, providing medical training for staff and labelling classroom doors so first responders can more easily locate students.

But after the 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida, she and other staff wanted to do more.

So they participated in a three-day training with FASTER Saves Lives, which teaches school staff how to use firearms to respond to gun violence.

Like Kate, around 41% of those surveyed by KFF have attended a gun safety class to protect themselves and others from shootings.

"I just want to take every action that I can," she says.

Kate acknowledges that not all staff members want to arm themselves and some resent the fact that they feel they have to.

But ultimately, in the event of a shooting, she wants to be able to say the district did all it could to prevent deaths.

Avoiding public spaces

Rose Lewis still remembers the day in 2015 when a gunman opened fire at a movie theatre in Lafayette, Louisiana, killing two people who were watching one of her favourite films, Trainwreck.

The 25-year-old has started avoiding movie theatres and other dark, enclosed spaces, fearful they might not allow for a quick escape.

"The risk of getting shot is probably pretty low, but just the anxiety of worrying about it for me is not worth going," she says.

Carla Smith, 62, also tries to avoid certain spaces. She only goes to the grocery store in the mornings, fearful of large crowds she believes heighten the risk for a shooting. "It has me on my toes."

About a third of Americans are taking similar actions, steering clear of certain public places, the KFF survey found.

Though mass shootings in public make up a small fraction of shootings, experts say such efforts give people a sense of control.

"We often take measures to increase our sense of safety when we are threatened or our sense of stability and security is disrupted," says Daniel Mosley, a psychologist who has examined the impact of mass shootings.

But avoidance can become an unhealthy coping mechanism if it significantly disrupts everyday life, he adds.

Living in fear

Whenever Pam Bosley's 28-year-old son leaves their house at midnight to go to work as a truck driver, Ms Bosley watches each of his steps to the vehicle from her window, praying nothing bad happens to him.

It's been 17 years since Ms Bosley lost her oldest son Terrell when the 18-year-old was shot in front of a church in Chicago.

She still feels haunted by anxieties about gun violence.

"I can't sleep sometimes because I have this fear - not just for my sons, but for my husband, my parents," she said. "I'm living in a state of fear."

It is not just those like Ms Bosley who have a direct experience with gun violence who are anxious about it.

Ms Wright, of the American Psychological Association, has been studying Americans' top stressors over the past two decades. Mass shootings rose to the top of the list in 2019.

Ms Bosley found advocacy and campaigning a way she could channel her grief.

"Even though I hurt," she said, "I work hard so my other two sons, my nephews and my nieces ... so that we all can live. That's my purpose, that's my push every day."

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How gun violence is reshaping American lives

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Avoiding public places, moving home... how the threat of random gunfire is changing the way people live.

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Okay yes, first things first, I went with a fairly obvious choice for a news story here but stick with me. StatsCan announced that the Canadian population has surpassed 40 Million. That's pretty much all there is to the article, but I wanted to use it as a jumping off point to talk about this topic.

As the population rises, we need to increase infrastructure projects with regards to housing. Low income and affordable housing has gone from being rare to nearly extinct. My lovely (sarcasm) hometown of Fredericton, New Brunswick actually had an interesting way to deal with this. The municipal government developed a large older plot of land and built a large amount of affordable micro homes.

These are the kind of infrastructure projects we needs. Look, I know, people love their condos and skyscrapers, sure. But they are not the pressing issue. Our populations is growing, the world population is growing. These people will need places live.

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Canada's Population Hits 40 Million, Fueled By Immigration

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Canada's population has surged past 40 million, fueled by immigration, the latest Statistics Canada figures reveal. "This is an exciting milestone for Canada," said Anil Arora, Statistics Canada's chief statistician. "It is a strong signal that Canada remains a dynamic and welcoming country, full of potential.

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When I think of political extremism in Canada, one of the first names that comes to mind is Maxime Bernier. For those who don't know (God your lucky) Maxime Bernier is a former member of the Conservative Party of Canada who is now known primarily for three things.

1. Starting the People's Party of Canada, a minor and consistently unsuccessful party.
2. Extreme views on vaccines (he was a major player in the Convoy, speaking at the same event during that nonsense as Pat King) and immigration.
3. Losing all the time!

Yes, I mostly posted this because Canada's second most popular extremist (Jordan Peterson probably number one?) losing is overwhelmingly funny to me. The guys entire career since effectively going crazy post-Scheer loss has been running in by-elections, and losing.

So while extremism is a problem, please enjoy this article of at least one extremist making a fool of himself. For the forth time.

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The leader of the People's Party of Canada (PPC) says despite receiving a decisive rebuke and defeat in rural Manitoba on Monday, he still believes there is a future for the PPC as a legitimate federal party, and said when the next federal election is called he plans to once again run in Portage-Lisgar.

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Voters in Portage-Lisgar went to the polls in a byelection to fill a seat left vacant after former Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) MP Candice Bergen stepped down back in February, and one of the candidates running was Quebec-based PPC leader Maxime Bernier, who announced back in May that he would be seeking the seat in the riding.

During his campaign, Bernier made a number of promises seemingly to appeal to far right voters in the riding, including promises to "reopen the abortion debate," and to allow for greater freedoms for residents to use violent and in some cases deadly force without fear of prosecution when they feel threatened on the streets, or in their own homes.

During his campaign, he also spoke out about what he said was the current "climate hysteria" in Canada.

But the message Bernier was selling did not resonate widely with Portage-Lisgar voters, as according to Elections Canada he received 5,349 votes totaling 17% of the total vote, while CPC candidate Branden Leslie received 20,215 votes and approximately 65% of the vote, and will now serve as a federal MP for the first time.

Bernier spoke to the Winnipeg Sun on Tuesday, and seemed surprisingly upbeat about his campaign, and claimed he hopes to run again in Portage-Lisgar in the next federal election.

"I believe we had a very good campaign speaking about the issues that matter to the people here and across the country," Bernier said in defence of his losing campaign. "And next time we will run the same campaign and seek the same important changes that we must see in this country."

Bernier claimed he is already planning for his future run.

"At the next federal election, I will run in Portage-Lisgar for sure, and I will be back to build a team," he said.

Leslie, a Portage la Prairie-based farmer and former Parliament Hill staffer, said as he now prepares to represent his constituents in Ottawa, he believes part of the reason he secured far more votes than Bernier is because he has roots in the area and Bernier does not.

"It certainly is disappointing to see an opportunist from Quebec parachute in here and think he can represent this riding," Leslie said.

"But throughout this campaign I focused my efforts on where I believe they should have been focused, and that is on the Prime Minister, and I can tell you from knocking on thousands and thousands of doors that there is a strong desire here to fire Justin Trudeau."

Leslie said that in Ottawa, he will now be focused on representing the wants and needs and the "values" of Portage-Lisgar residents, because he said he understands and holds those same values.

"The issues here are similar issues to communities in Western Canada and across the county that are rural based, and often those sets of values in those communities are different, and there is a different reality in which we live in," he said.

"There is lack of understanding from the government in Ottawa of how we live our lives, and it is a way of life that I will loudly and proudly stand up for when I get to Ottawa."

Also running in Monday's byelection were Liberal candidate Kerry Smith who received 2,660 votes and 8.5% of the total vote, NDP candidate Lisa Tessier-Burch who received 2,204 votes and 7% of the vote, and Green Party candidate Nicolas Geddert who received 699 votes and just more than 2% of the total vote.

- Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.

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Bernier vows to run again despite byelection defeat in Portage-Lisgar

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People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier plans to once again run in Portage-Lisgar despite defeat in Monday's byelection. Read on.

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A brief summary:
The Saskatchewan educator is looking to boost graduation rate from 45% to 62% within five years. They have already seen results.

Why did you choose to share it?

I chose this story because this is important to the indigenous community. It shows that this province cares about their indigenous youth with actionable change.

What did you learn from it?
I learned that the percentage of natives graduating is lower than I had expected and that they're some forms of government that care about this ignored population.

Did you feel there was a bias?
There was no bias in this, just people wanting to improve.

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?
This is an excellent story for anyone to read. It's crucial that they are investing in the future of these students.

Is the source legitimate?
This is marked as least biased and it's difficult to get any information about the author because it says written by "The Staff".

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Educators in Saskatchewan say they plan to work on boosting graduation rates among Indigenous students after a report found little change.

A recent auditor report says only 45 per cent of Indigenous students in Saskatchewan graduated within three years after starting grade 10, and 62 per cent within five-years.

The auditor says the government did not meet its targets, but administrators in Regina and northern Saskatchewan say they have made some progress.

They say poverty, homelessness, food insecurity and intergenerational trauma have made it difficult for Indigenous students to succeed.

The administrators say classes involving language and culture have helped students stay in class and more of these initiatives should improve graduation rates.

The auditor recommends the government do assessments earlier so teachers can address issues before it's too late, and action plans should be implemented if targets aren't being met.

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Educators in Saskatchewan plan to work on boosting graduation rates among Indigenous students | Globalnews.ca

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A recent auditor report says only 45 per cent of Indigenous students in Saskatchewan graduated within three years after starting grade 10.

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-A brief summary

This article discusses the impact of green development projects on Indigenous communities, particularly focusing on the experiences of the Sámi people in Europe and drawing comparisons to Indigenous communities in Taiwan. It highlights the importance of Indigenous peoples' participation in achieving sustainable futures and preserving biodiversity.

-Why you choose to share it

Because we often talk about the positive side of green developments but never really discuss the negative impact it could have

-What did you learn from it?
I learned that we need to do more research or work harder to hear the point of view of these communities. It’s a lot easier to find info on green projects than the impact they have. I also learned about the concept of “green colonization.”

-Did you feel there was a bias?
I do not feel like there was a bias in this story

-Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?

I fully agree with this content, I think there needs to be more articles like this that explain the full cost of certain actions we take and that in our quest to make the world greener, we can still make sure that green projects respect indigenous rights.

-Is the source legitimate? (use mediabiasfactcheck.com) If it's a tweet thread or op-ed, find out what you can about the author.
This news organization is not recognized on mediabiasfactcheck.

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Image credit by the author.
Is going green hurting Indigenous communities? Not necessarily. However, exclusionary conservation measures create a lose-lose outcome for non-Indigenous and Indigenous communities. Indeed, Indigenous peoples' full and substantial participation is a prerequisite to achieving a sustainable future and halting the rapid loss of global biodiversity. This is true for the Indigenous communities in Taiwan, such as in the case of the solar panel controversy on the Katratripulr Pinuyumayan (Beinan in Mandarin Chinese) people's traditional territory. Drawing from the experience of the Sámi, my recent participation in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) may shed light on this issue.

I am a Tayal researcher based in Finland. I started to attend the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues when I finished my Master's and kicked start my doctoral research at the University of Helsinki. The experience of being part of the delegation of Indigenous peoples from Taiwan at the UN has been invaluable and gratifying, as it helped me to contextualise Indigenous issues on a global scale. It allowed me to collaborate with other researchers committed to a just sustainable transition. Together, we delve into how to strengthen health and well-being through Indigenous-led conservation and sustainable relationships with biodiversity. In this piece, I will share what going green means to the Sámi based on my participation in the UN and firsthand observations, such as through the SAMICARE project funded by the Norwegian Research Council that brings Taiwan and Norway together through the quality of life for ageing Indigenous people. By focusing on the tension between the Sámi and the renewable energy development project, I hope to provide a point of comparison for the Indigenous communities in Taiwan.
Who are the Sámi?
The Sámi are the only Indigenous people in the European Union. Sápmi, their traditional territory, was divided by the current national borders of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. There are between 80,000 to 100,000 Sámi people, with most of them living on the Norwegian side and approximately 8000 to 10,000 Sámi residing in Finland. The imposed national borders relocated the Sámi families and weakened local Sámi communities, making the impact steaming from forced relocation the topic of genuine truth and reconciliation.

Like the Indigenous peoples in Taiwan, the Sámi used to be stigmatised and silenced due to the assimilatory policies. Rampant hate speech against the Sámi communities has severely impacted their health and well-being. Fortunately, there has been a resurgence of Sámi identity, language, culture, and sovereignty in recent decades. In the realm of research, the Sámi has changed from the object of traditional disciplines to a more active role in knowledge production. Today, three Sámi parliaments in Norway, Sweden and Finland, together with the Sámi Council, are actively involved in a range of issues relating to the Sámi, including land, natural resource, and energy transition.
Indigenous Peoples, Sustainable Renewable Energy and the United Nations
Sustainable ecosystems, green transition, and renewable energy are critical worldwide topics. Indigenous peoples' voices in such issues are getting increasingly crucial, both at the European Union level and the level of the United Nations. This year's UNPFII is no exception. When discussing the agenda item on Convention on Biological Diversity, a representative from Denmark spoke on behalf of the Nordic states that Indigenous peoples should be treated better. She also emphasised that climate change has disproportionately impacted Indigenous ways of carrying on their traditional way of life and culture, so climate policies should allow Indigenous peoples' fuller participation.

A few moments later, the representative from the Sámi Youth Association delivered a statement that gave a nuanced picture of what was happening. The representative pointed out that the Nordic states were avid proponents of sustainability but achieved it at the expense of Sámi Indigenous rights. The youth representative further stated that large-scale renewable energy development projects in Sámi territories completely disregard Sámi rights, emphasising that, ultimately, Nordic colonialism continues.

During the same week, the Sámi people from Finland, Sweden, and Norway united at parallel meetings to share their perspectives on how the Nordic Supreme Court responds to Sámi land and environmental rights. They specifically highlighted the landmark cases, e.g., Girja case in Sweden and the Fosen case in Norway, demonstrating how Indigenous peoples utilise legal mechanisms to negotiate with the state and assert renewable energy development in their terms.

Concerns over " green colonisation" have long troubled the Sámi people in the Nordic region. In this context, green colonisation refers to the Nordic governments using sustainable green governance as a pretext for encroaching upon and depriving Indigenous lands, primarily through wind power projects and mining projects for electric vehicle production and hydropower plant developments. The most well-known recent case is the Fosen, as mentioned above. It is located in the Fosen Peninsula in central Norway and hosts Europe's largest onshore wind farm. Although completed in 2020, the Norwegian Supreme Court ruled it illegal the following year, citing the wind farm's infringement on Sámi Indigenous rights, making it an unprecedented progressive judgement.

Despite the ruling, Norway's Ministry of Petroleum and Energy insists on finding a compromise to achieve a win-win solution, rather than dismantling the wind turbines. This has further sparked protests and discontent among the Sámi people. "This is a major land-grab done in the name of the green shift [transition]," said Áslak Holmberg, Chairman of the Sámi Council. "Where are we to turn to, when even when we win in court, we still lose? The state of Norway must be reminded to act immediately on this ruling, and stop overlooking its own judiciary and the Sámi people's rights." Similar accusations also exist in Sweden, where some Sámi reindeer herders boldly state that under the pretext of green sustainability, the Swedish government is essentially mortgaging future generations.
What Can Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan Learn from This?
The evidence above indicates that going green hurts the Sámi people; does this phenomenon apply to Taiwan? In Taiwan, Indigenous communities are encountering more and more green development projects. As green developments are emergent, it is hard to tell whether going green hurts Indigenous peoples in Taiwan at this stage. One interesting point can be drawn from comparing the Sámi case and the Katratripulr Pinuyumayan people.

When the Pinuyumayan people opposed the case, they scrutinised the flaws in the procedures for exercising the right to consultation and consent. However, when the Sámi people faced green colonisation, it seemed they opted to leverage decisions from their country's highest court and international human rights mechanisms. Of course, they are aware of the principles of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Still, international law is dispensable when it comes to negotiations with the state.

As Øyvind Ravna, a Sámi legal professor and the principal investigator of the "Governance of Land and Natural Resources in Sápmi - a legal approach" (GoSápmi) study, shared with me after the side event that in the past, large-scale development projects entered Sámi communities without proper consultation or consent. Therefore, the collaboration between university researchers, the representatives from the Sámi Parliament, and civil society organisations on an international level is crucial. This may also explain why the Sámi people have effectively participated and organised within international human rights mechanisms.

Taiwan is transforming towards a green, digital, and resilient economy. The piece shows that the infringement of Indigenous rights to land and natural resources under the guise of green transformation may become increasingly common. Therefore, Taiwan needs to recognise the responsibility of transitional justice and thoroughly comply with its consultation procedure in line with the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law. Indigenous peoples' knowledge and cosmology can offer alternative perspectives on a green and just transition amid the drastic changes climate change brings.
Wasiq Silan (as published under her name in Mandarin I-An Gao) is a Core Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies. She is a Tayal woman from the Mstaranan known as the Nanshi River valley in the northern region of Taiwan.

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Is Going Green Hurting Indigenous Communities? Reflection from Participating in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

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Written by Wasiq Silan. Is going green hurting Indigenous communities? Not necessarily. However, exclusionary conservation measures create a lose-lose outcome for non-Indigenous and Indigenous communities. Indeed, Indigenous peoples' full and substantial participation is a prerequisite to achieving a sustainable future and halting the rapid loss of global biodiversity.

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Summary: The interim report from the independent special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites associated with Indian residential schools was released, detailing 48 findings concerning the challenges of searches for unmarked graves. These findings stemmed from 12 common concerns, including access to and destruction of records, lack of sufficient long-term funding, and increase in the violence of denialism.

Why I chose to share: Residential schools are a horrifying part of Canada's colonial history. Until recently, this history was not taught in schools, leaving many Canadians unaware of their existence. The legacy of residential schools has had a devastating impact on Indigenous people and has contributed to the cultural genocide carried out by Canada. In 2021, residential schools made headlines again because unmarked graves were uncovered at several sites of the former residential schools. This report is important for us, especially those of us who are not Indigenous, to learn about because it shows the progress Canada is making to continue searching for unmarked grave sites.

What I learned: I knew that many of the records have been lost or destroyed, but I didn't know there was a bit of a deadline for record gathering. The Supreme Court ordered the destruction of the confidential records of survivor's applications and testimonies, slated for Sept. 19, 2027.

Do you agree? Yes, I agree with the content of this article. Canada must make every effort to continue searching the sites of former residential schools so that survivors and their families can get justice for the atrocities committed there.

Bias: There doesn't seem to be a bias. The facts were reported without the author's opinion or feelings.

Source legitimacy: This article is from CBC, which is a highly trusted news source.

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Warning: This story contains distressing content.
Issues around access and preservation of residential school records and former sites, Indigenous data sovereignty and denialism are among 48 findings detailed in a new report from Canada's independent special interlocutor about the search for unmarked graves over the past year.

The report also makes recommendations for a new federal legal framework to protect unmarked burial sites.

"We must protect the truth," said Kimberly Murray, the independent special interlocutor.

Murray was appointed to the role last year. Part of her two-year mandate includes speaking with survivors, families, Indigenous governments, organizations and communities to identify barriers and concerns about unmarked graves and burial sites, and liaise with the appropriate powers to address those challenges.

On Friday, Murray's office released the interim report, which provided an update on her progress.

Murray publicly presented the report Friday morning at Cowessess First Nation, located 150 kilometres east of Regina. In 2021, the First Nation announced it had found 751 potential unmarked graves at the site of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.

The 179-page report identifies 12 common concerns raised by residential school survivors, Indigenous families and communities as they search for unmarked graves and missing children:

Access to and destruction of records.

Access to and protection of sites.

Complexity and timeline of ground searches.

Shortcomings of existing investigation processes.

Affirming Indigenous data sovereignty.

Challenges of responding to media and public disclosures.

Increase in the violence of denialism.

Lack of sufficient long-term funding.

The need for Indigenous health and wellness supports.

Repatriation of the children.

Repatriation of cemeteries and burial sites.

Accountability and justice.

The 48 findings stem from these concerns.

One pressing issue is the access to and upcoming destruction of residential school records.

Accessing records held by the various levels of government and different churches - including institutions overseas - is a challenge due to a lack of transparency on how to gain access to them, freedom of information policies and processes, delays and cost, among other issues, the report says.

Many records are incomplete, in part because the federal government systemically purged residential school records from its files from 1936 to 1954, the report adds.

There is also a deadline for some record gathering, the report says. The Supreme Court of Canada had ordered the destruction of the confidential records of survivor's applications and testimonies from the Independent Assessment Process (IAP) - an out-of-court process to resolve claims of abuse at residential schools through the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.

Those records are slated to be destroyed on Sept. 19, 2027, unless survivors opt to preserve them for historical, educational or research purposes, the report says.

"I am very concerned about the important truths that will be lost when the IAP records and testimonies of survivors are destroyed," Murray said.

She called for an independent, external review of the records for names of children that died while at residential schools, and for any information about their deaths and burials.

Denialism strictly a non-Indigenous problem: report

A faction of Canadians denies that the atrocities at residential schools ever happened, particularly since announcements of potential unmarked graves started being made in 2021.

The report, citing international experts, calls denialism the last step in genocide.

"Denialism is violence. Denialism is calculated. Denialism is harmful. Denialism is hate," Murray said.

"Denialism is a non-Indigenous problem and therefore it's for non-Indigenous people to address it."

The report calls for a broad public support campaign, the foundation of which should be public education about the history and ongoing legacy of the residential school system.

It also calls for the "urgent consideration" for legal mechanisms to address denialism in both civil and criminal law.

Section 319 of the Criminal Code of Canada, for example, states someone is wilfully promoting antisemitism if they publicly condone, deny or downplay the Holocaust. If convicted, they are either guilty of an indictable offence and liable to up to two years in prison, or of an offence punishable on summary conviction, the law says.

Murray accentuated that the Canada government and churches must be leaders in those efforts.

"They must stop being bystanders to the hate and they must counter these attacks," she said.

"Canada has the truth. They have the evidence.... It is on their shoulders."

Federal Justice Minister David Lametti, who attended the event virtually from Ottawa, told reporters he's "open to all possibilities" when it comes to addressing denialism.

"I just simply can't imagine the devastating impact that it would have on a survivor, or on a family, or a community that has seen this directly," Lametti said. "I pledge to do my best here."

Comprehensive Indigenous-led legal framework needed: report

Another part of Murray's mandate is to research promising practices, gaps and barriers in Canada's legal framework to find ways to improve protections under Canadian law, and create a new legal framework to protect unmarked burial sites and support the recovery of missing children.

The new framework should be governed by Indigenous laws and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), among other relevant legal instruments.

The interim report detailed eight limitations in Canada's legal framework, such as complex privacy and access to information laws that impede access to records, no legal protections for sites until remains are found and gaps in legal protections for Indigenous burial sites - even if unmarked graves are found.

The current system is also "ill-equipped to provide accountability and justice the missing children, Survivors, and their families," the report says.

Only amending current legislation would be too narrow and "utterly inadequate" for a new legal framework, the report says.

A more comprehensive approach, which builds on work done by the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission and examines the question of reparations, is required, the report says. A new legal framework would also have to affirm and uphold Indigenous legal jurisdiction and sovereignty.
Read the full report: A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line is available to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour service at 1-866-925-4419. Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat.

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Independent report details 48 findings about challenges of searches for unmarked graves | CBC News

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Issues around access and preservation of residential school records and former sites, Indigenous data sovereignty and denialism are among 48 findings from Canada's independent special interlocutor about the search for unmarked graves over the past year.

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Summary: Sherry Pocknett, has become the first Indigenous woman to win a James Beard Award for Best Chef. She runs the restaurant Sly Fox Den Too in Rhode Island, she does local Indigenous cuisine using traditional hunting, fishing, and farming techniques. This win highlights the importance of representation and diverse culinary stories in the food industry.

I chose to share this article because it celebrates a significant achievement by Sherry Pocknett as the first Indigenous woman to win a James Beard Award. It shows her commitment to Indigenous cuisine.

What I learned from this article, is Sherry Pocknett's background, her passion for cooking, and her dedication to preserving Indigenous cooking traditions. It also taught to recognize diverse culinary talents and the impact of indigenous chefs on their communities. Food plays a significant role in our cultures.

Bias: There doesn't seem to be a bias in this article. It presents the accomplishment of Sherry Pocknett and includes quotes from various individuals. The focus is on celebrating diversity and recognizing the achievements of Indigenous chefs.

I agree with the article's content. It is crucial to celebrate and bring attention to achievements like Sherry Pocknett's win, as they promote diversity. This article resonated with me because it relates to my current project, "Nourish the Community," which aims to raise awareness about food insecurity. I also liked the idea that Pocknett is working on a cookbook, which aligns with the concept my campaign is developing.

Source Legitimacy: The article is from CBC, a prominent and trusted news source in Canada. The author being an Indigenous journalist adds credibility and commitment to covering this story.

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Wampanoag chef 1st Indigenous woman to win a James Beard Award | CBC News

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Mashpee Wampanoag Chef Sherry Pocknett’s restaurant Sly Fox Den Too in Charlestown, R.I., specializes in local Indigenous cuisine, sustainably sourced using traditional hunting, fishing and farming techniques.

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Summary:
the article reports the results of a land vote held by the Muskowekwan First Nation in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Muskowekwan First Nation held a vote to seek approval from its members for the conversion of a specific area of reserve land into individual ownership. However, it did not reach majority, falling short by a narrow margin. The article focuses on the consequences of this outcome and discusses how it may affect the community's potential for economic development opportunities.

Why I chose to share it:
I chose this article because focuses on a concerning incident regarding the Muskowekwan First Nation and their land vote. The outcome of the vote has potential impacts on the community and their economic future.

What I learned from it:
From this article, I learned that the vote that the community could not secure, the required majority, creating uncertainty regarding future economic development opportunities for the community.

Bias:
Based on the information presented, there doesn't seem to be a significant bias. The article primarily presents factual information regarding the outcome of the land vote and its potential implications for the community, without showing any ideological bias.

Agreement with the Content:
I agree with the content as the whole article seems informative and provides all the details. It gives an objective account of the events related to the land vote outcome.

Source Legitimacy:
Global news is considered a reputable Canadian news organization. They don't really have any bias and it's generally considered as reliable for news coverage. It is legitimate source for gathering information.

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A Saskatchewan First Nation community says they failed to meet their voting threshold - putting their land claim settlement agreement in limbo.

Muscowpetung Saulteaux First Nation held a vote on Saturday to decide whether members were in favour of the settlement agreement with the federal government.

According to a news release issued by First Nation, 48 per cent of eligible members came out to vote. This falls slightly below the 50 per cent of eligible voters that needed to be met.

Chief Melissa Tavita said she's disappointed in the turnout, considering she believes her community members are all on the same page.

"This is something that we were waiting for decades," she told Global News.

For Chief Tavita, this was a personal mission as her mother was on council before her.

"She talked about this 1909 claim in the government that showed us the government was going to owe us a lot of money for what they'd done in 1909. And so throughout this process of being chief and working on this claim, I thought of my mother in the back of my mind," she explained.

Out of the 48 per cent of votes, 99.7% voted in favour of the agreement.

As part of the agreement, if less than half of the eligible population voted, but most votes fell in favour, the First Nation has an opportunity for a re-vote.

Part of the settlement includes a payment of $150 million and allowing the First Nation to purchase around 18 thousand acres of land that can be converted to reserves.

Band member Keith Pratt said this money could be used to rebuild the reserve.

"We can get buildings, we can build our store or our different things for our elders and community places that can be developed where people can meet," he explained.

Other band councillors are encouraging their community to come out.

"It's important for our people after decades of fighting for this claim. We've had past leadership. A lot of them were gone and they fought for this claim for many, many years, decades. We want to hit home to our people that this is important," Band member Rhonda Rosebluff said.

Muscowpetung Saulteaux First Nation is planning to host its second chance vote for June 3.

Only 25 per cent of eligible voters are needed for this vote, but the First Nation wants to use this opportunity to recognize the importance of voting.

" It's sitting on our doorstep and all we do, all we need is our people to come out and vote," band councillor Perance Cappo emphasized.

"We want to make sure that everybody comes out and votes and that nobody's depending on other people to push this through. Nobody's depending on other people to vote and say 'Yes,'" Chief Tavita explained.

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Sask. First Nation land claim settlement vote falls short due to low vote turnout | Globalnews.ca

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Part of the settlement includes a payment of $150 million and allowing the First Nation to purchase around 18 thousand acres of land that can be converted to reserves.

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Footage from a Quebec prison shows correctional officers kicking and piling on an Indigenous inmate in distress. Nick Dinardo was subjected to violence while experiencing a mental health crisis. The incident resulted in a fractured arm. Correctional Service Canada admitted to the disproportionate use of force and took corrective measures, but employment status of the officers involved is unknown. Dinardo has filed lawsuits and human rights complaints against CSC.

I chose to share this because it is a very recent occurrence with video evidence showcasing police brutality against an Indigenous person. I am shocked that this is still happening in Canada, and how normal it appears based on the way the prison guards gang up on Dinardo. I am shocked that the prison guards did not receive any discipline and it took so long for Dinardo to receive medical attention.

I trust the source and the content of the article as it is backed up by video evidence, I do not feel a bias but hearing the event from the other side (the prison guards) could have made this article stronger.

I would like to see justice and improvement in the legal system regarding the way that Indigenous are treated, therefor I agree with the content.

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Denio Lourenco Digital Content Editor Follow | Contact

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Newly-released footage shows guards’ excessive force against Indigenous prisoner

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Surveillance footage provided to CTV News shows a group of correctional officers kicking and piling on top of an Indigenous person in prison. A spokesperson for Correctional Service Canada told CTV News it concluded that the use of force was ‘disproportionate.’

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1.    A brief summary: *Note – The name Cindy is not her real name — CBC is using a pseudonym because attempts to contact her for this story have been unsuccessful*
In early March of this year, there a picture was posted on Facebook about a 37-year-old mother name Cindy. She was reported missing and last seen in downtown Winnipeg.

Vivian Ketchum is a family acquaintance of Cindy. She decided to search for her across Winnipeg’s downtown, Main Street and North End. Vivian spoke to security guards and the police to get informations about Cindy’s disappearance but received no clear answers

A relative of Cindy, Gina Mandamin urged her family to report the missing of Cindy to the police just for the police to say “We just need more phone calls, and then [they’ll] make a report.” Vivian had also tipped the police by saying there a rumour that Cindy was at a hotel on Main Street being held against her will. The police didn’t take any action.

Days after reporting Cindy missing, Gina’s family got a call from the police saying that Cindy was at a shelter, no additional information was provide. A week later the police called to say “‘We found her at the Health Sciences Centre [in Winnipeg]. She’s sick with double pneumonia and … [a] kidney infection,’” said Mandamin.

When the family was reunited with Cindy, they had learned that she was indeed held against her will at the hotel on Main Street. This could of all been avoided if the police would have taken these claims seriously from the begging instead of doing nothing.

2.    Why you chose to share it?
I chose to share it because this article also included three other examples about missing Indigenous women and girls that have been ignored by police.

Example one: Claudette Osborne-Tyo went missing in Winnipeg in July 2008 and her case wasn’t taken seriously by police as they labelled her a sex trade worker.

Example two: Amber Guiboche was last seen in Winnipeg in November 2010. The police told her family that she was probably out partying. Her body was never found.

Example three: Jennifer Catcheway was last heard from in June 2008, on her 18th birthday. She had called her parents to say she was on her way home, and they never heard from her again.

3.    What did you learn from it?

I learned that the police do not take Indigenous Woman claims seriously and instead make excuses instead of handling the situation. This has been an ongoing issue when it shouldn’t. Everyone deserves the same treatment and respect when calling the police.

4.    Did you feel there was a bias?

I do feel there is a bias as the article persuades the reader to side with missing Indigenous women to get the justice they deserve. The article provides quotes from Vivian and Gina’s experiences about how the police went about this situation. You can’t help but side with them due to the injustice from the police.

5. Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?
I don’t agree with how the police treat missing Indigenous Women because they are Indigenous. If it was a white woman, the police would do everything they can to find her and bring her home.

6. Is the source legitimate? (use mediabiasfactcheck.com) If it's a tweet thread or op-ed, find out what you can about the author.
According to mediabiasfactcheck.com, CBC and author Stephanie Cram are left-centre biased and have trustworthy sources for information.

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The family of a missing Indigenous woman says when police left them in the dark, community stepped in to search

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The article highlights that while some residential school survivors appreciate the efforts made by the Catholic Church to acknowledge and compensate for the harm caused, others express skepticism and frustration. Some survivors argue that the compensation is not enough and falls short of addressing the long-lasting impacts of the trauma they experienced.
I learned  that the Catholic Church in Canada has established a reconciliation fund to compensate residential school survivors. However, Some survivors feel that the compensation isn't enough  to address the lasting trauma they endured. Calls for the Church to release relevant records and engage in a more transparent reconciliation process have also been made.
I think that this article really captured the survivors sentiment towards the reconciliation and their expectations.
CBC News is generally considered a credible source in Canada. It is a national public broadcaster and one of the largest news organizations in the country. CBC has a reputation for providing accurate and reliable news coverage

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A national Catholic Church reconciliation fund is one-third of the way to its $30-million target.

One church-appointed survivor overseeing the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund said it's a good start, but other survivors said the church doesn't appear to be making a serious effort.

" 'We'll get there when we get there,' they might as well say," survivor Barb Badger said. "If you keep quiet and don't pursue it, then they're going to take their time."

In 2021, CBC News published a series of stories that raised questions about the church's claim it honoured the $79-million agreement to compensate survivors.

Following the stories, Canada's bishops issued an apology. They also created the reconciliation fund and appointed a group of prominent Indigenous Catholics to oversee grant applications.

The goal was to raise $30 million over five years. That fund currently sits at just over $10,051,590.

Board chair Rosella Kinoshameg, herself a survivor, is hopeful they'll raise the full amount.

"I think we're doing very good. We're very pleased with the amount that's been put into the fund," said Kinoshameg, a registered nurse with governance experience.

To access the money, groups are encouraged to apply for grants. She said nearly two dozen have been given out so far, and hopes others will apply.

The four grant categories are the following: healing and reconciliation for communities and families; culture and language revitalization; education and community building; and dialogues for promoting Indigenous spirituality and culture.

When asked which diocese or region had contributed the most, or whether the donations were largely small individual contributions or larger corporate ones, Kinoshameg said that's unclear. She said another church accountant handles those details.

No one from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops was available for comment, saying all questions about the fund should go through the fund's board.

WATCH| Some residential school survivors say the Catholic Church needs to do more to honour its promises:

Barb Badger and her husband, Frank, say the Canadian Catholic Church and the Vatican are worth billions. They say the church should pay the full amount immediately, given the immense damage they caused.

"From my first day of residential school, all I heard was negative stuff about Native people - how the Indians scalp the white settlers, how they killed the women and children. They would hit me with a logging chain," Frank Badger said.

"There's what, 150,000 students that went to residential schools and their children and their children and their children. This isn't nearly enough."

The Badgers, who counsel young offenders and others struggling with addiction or loss of culture, said they don't want any of the money, and neither do any other elderly survivors they know. They say there's an urgent need for youth programs, and the Catholic Church must do more to stop this "bleeding" that they caused.

They note a reported $70 million was spent on Pope Francis' recent visit to Canada, including more than $18 million from Canadian Catholic churches alone.

In parts of the U.S., abuse compensation amounts are far higher. One diocese in Minnesota was forced to pay 450 clergy abuse victims a total of $210 million.
Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools or by the latest reports. A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for survivors and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419. Mental health counselling and crisis support is also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Hope for Wellness hotline at 1-855-242-3310 or by online chat at www.hopeforwellness.ca.

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Catholic Church's reconciliation fund draws mixed reaction from residential school survivors | CBC News

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A national Catholic Church reconciliation fund is one-third of the way to its $30-million target. One church-appointed survivor overseeing the Indigenous Reconciliation Fund says it's a good start, but other survivors say the church doesn't appear to be making a serious effort.

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A brief summary

The article is about a young indigenous woman who went missing in 2010 and whose lifeless body was discovered near a lake. Her homicide remains unsolved. Her family went to the media pleading for any information they could get.

Why did you choose to share it?

I chose to share it because I found that this is one of the most prominent issues among the Indigenous. A lot of women have gone missing and been found dead. There are never explanations or thorough investigations to bring justice to the victims or their families.

What did you learn from it?

I learned that there is a general lack of interest or care from Canadians to help stop all these disappearances or even help solve the mystery behind the current ones. As Canadians, we should be more aware and offer our unconditioned assistance.

Did you feel there was bias?

I do feel there was a general amount of bias just because the article seemed to lack some details, although that could have been a result of low resources of information

Do you agree with the content why or why not?

There shouldn't even be an opinion here, This problem has lasted much too long and its time we step up to the plate and keep alert and protect all the indigenous women from these heinous people hurting them or trying to.
Is this source legitimate?
Yes, it is a legitimate source.

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Thirteen years after an Indigenous woman went missing and was later found dead near Edmonton, her family held a news conference Thursday in an effort to revitalize efforts to find those responsible.

"Please come forward, I beg you," said Tootsie Tuccaro, mother of homicide victim Amber Tuccaro.

Amber disappeared when she was 20 years old in August 2010. She had flown from her home in Fort McMurray, Alta., to Edmonton International Airport and booked a hotel room with her 14-month-old son and a female friend.

The next day, police said, she caught a ride into Edmonton with an unknown man and was never seen alive again.

Amber's remains were found near Leduc in 2012.

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Tootsie Tuccaro said since her daughter's disappearance, every day has been a struggle.

"I wish I was not here speaking right now. I wish my daughter was here. I wish Amber was with (her son) Jacob," she said, adding Jacob will be turning 14 soon and asks about his mom often.

The family referenced a 161-page report into Amber's case, to be released next month, but couldn't speak to more details.

"When you read it, people are going to be shocked at the way we were treated," said Amber's brother, Paul.

Both the RCMP and Amber's family agree that police fumbled the case from the beginning.

"Amber's case was mishandled right from the very, very start," said Tootsie Tuccaro.

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Nine years after her disappearance, the commanding officer of the RCMP in Alberta apologized to Tuccaro's family for subpar police work in the early days of the investigation.

"Our Leduc detachment's initial missing persons investigation was not our best work," Deputy Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said at a news conference in July 2019.

"The early days of our investigation ... required a better sense of urgency and care," he said.

Tuccaro's family didn't accept the apology at the time.

Tootsie Tuccaro said racism played a part in the lack of urgency in the investigation, as Indigenous people are stereotyped as party animals.

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"They just know us as a drunk, stupid Indian or whatever, but you know what? We're caring, we're loving, we're a community," she said.

"You feel it as an Indigenous person, we're so stereotyped," Paul agreed.

Amber's family wants to see changes to how missing persons cases are handled by the RCMP.

"Basically what happens is you report your child missing to be told, 'Oh they'll come home, they'll be home when they're done partying,'" said Tootsie.

"That seems to be the norm, which is bull-t."

"Our dream is that when you go report somebody missing ... the person on the other side of the table says what they're going to do and you leave there with a piece of paper saying they took down all your information," said Paul.

Paul said the family works with the RCMP now but still wants the system to be improved.

"We can't forget about what happened at that time, because right now a lot of families are at that time," he said.

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Assistant commissioner Trevor Daroux said the RCMP will not stop investigating until charges are laid.

"The RCMP is committed to continuing this investigation and moving it forward," he said. "The resolve that that family has is equal to the resolve of the RCMP."

Daroux said it's important that anyone who has information about the case come forward.

"No matter how old they think that information is."

Anyone with information is asked to contact Alberta RCMP at 1-855-377-7267.

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13 years after her disappearance, Amber Tuccaro's family begs those with information to come forward - Edmonton | Globalnews.ca

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Amber Tuccaro's family and the RCMP said at a press conference Thursday that no matter how old the information is, it could help in solving the case.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/northern-sask-students-displaced-wildfires-replant-1.6873074

A brief summary

The article discusses how 21 students from the Clearwater River Dene School in Saskatchewan helped plant 9,000 tree seedlings as part of a community-driven project to restore forests damaged by wildfires. The project is funded by Environment and Climate Change Canada, and it aims to establish Indigenous communities as equal treaty partners in Canada's transition to a low-carbon, sustainable and decolonial society. The students worked with soil scientists and terrestrial ecologists and integrated community members, including elders and those struggling with addictions, to plant trees and promote healing in the community.

Did you learn from it?
This article shows the positive impact of community-driven projects and promotes environmental sustainability.

Did you feel there was a bias?
Regarding bias, the article does not present any significant biases but instead provides informative insights on the topic.

Is the source legitimate?

The source of the article, The Canadian Press, is a reputable and legitimate news wire service.

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Summary:
Chevez Ezaneh, a First Nations man, built a specialized Dene language computer keyboard. He wants to build keyboards for all the Indigenous languages in Saskatchewan in hopes of revitalizing these languages and teaching the younger generation. The article noted that all Indigenous languages are at risk of being extinct. So his aim is to use technology to help save these languages and pass them on to the next generation.

Why I chose to share it
I found this article interesting and informative especially as a newcomer. I know the importance of culture and ensuring our culture gets passed on and I also am aware of what technology and advancements in civilization has done to dilute our culture. I think in the midst of everything that our Indigenous people are facing and have faced, they cannot afford to lose their culture, identity and what makes them who they are. Language is such a vital part of who we are.

What did I learn from it?
I learnt that the Indigenous community is losing aspects of its culture and that is very sad but also with some innovation a solution can be found. The article mentions “Indigenous people have knowledge systems that can really help the world, especially with climate change, pollution, resource management, water management and all that stuff’ and this made me think that if we would just work together and hone in on each others strengths, skills and knowledge we would solve a lot of our problems.

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A man from a northern Saskatchewan First Nation has built what he believes is the world's first specialized Dene language computer keyboard, in hopes of making the Indigenous language more accessible.

"There was no keyboard for me to use to type my language," said Chevez Ezaneh, who is from English River First Nation.

"It initially started off as a hobby - I just wanted a keyboard to make the language more accessible. After I made the first keyboard prototype, I realized this is something that other people want as well," he told CBC Radio's The Morning Edition host Stefani Langenegger.

While there are apps and software keyboards that allow people to type in Indigenous languages, Ezaneh believes his physical Dene keyboard is a first.

The Dene keyboards are now being used in the Common Weal Community Arts project to inspire more youth at the St. Louis School in Patuanak - about 425 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon - to learn the language.

Ezaneh says so far, it seems to be working.

"I was amazed at how quickly they got the hang of it. Within, like, 10 minutes they had kind of figured it out."

His mother, Michèle Mackasey, features Dene engravings through her work as the lead artist for the Common Weal Community Arts project.

Mackasey says the project aims to combine art and technology to help Dene language revitalization efforts.

"It's a fun way to get kids to participate," Mackasey said. "I think the whole idea of the project was really trying to get kids interested in using it and learning how to write their language."

Mackasey added that the kids are also learning the language through handwriting and engaging with elders.

Technology important in language revitalization

Statistics Canada 2021 census data says the number of people who could speak Dene in Saskatchewan dropped nearly eight per cent since 2016.

All Indigenous languages spoken in Canada are considered at risk, according to the UNESCO Atlas of World Language.

Randy Morin, who focuses on Indigenous language revitalization and reclamation through his work as an assistant professor in the University of Saskatchewan's department of Indigenous studies, says technology plays an important role revitalizing Indigenous languages.

The decline in fluency for Indigenous language is steepest among younger people, he says.

"Indigenous languages are oral languages - that's just how we did things, we never really wrote things down, " Morin said.

"But in today's day and age, because of our elders passing away, we need to preserve their stories, teachings, songs, wisdom, and we have to do that now using technology."

Morin says having keyboards in Indigenous languages can help people learn them. He would like to see them implemented in cellphones and tablets.

"We're trying to standardize our languages because a lot of people still speak the languages, but they don't know how to read or write it," Morin said.

"Having a keyboard is really good because it has special characters that can help them type out their language and help them learn."

Morin says he is optimistic about Indigenous language revitalization as the number of people that can speak them as a second language is on the rise in Canada, but there needs to be more support from governments and schools.

"We need to reawaken the languages, we need to revitalize them and reclaim them as our own, but the danger there is we lose a unique perspective on the world when we lose the language," Morin said.

"Indigenous people have knowledge systems that can really help the world, especially with climate change, pollution, resource management, water management and all that stuff."

Morin added that he would like to see Indigenous languages designated as official languages of Canada.

Plans to build more keyboards

Ezaneh has created a Plains Cree keyboard in addition to his Dene keyboard. And he doesn't want to stop there.

"My hope is to continue developing this work locally to get the rest of the Indigenous languages in Saskatchewan up to date, with having access to their language through technology, " Ezaneh said.

"The next would be Dakota, Nakota and Lakota. That looks like it is going to be one keyboard all in one."
LISTEN | Technology meets art to inspire reclamation of Dene language:
Ezaneh would like to receive funding to build the keyboards because he currently works on the projects in his spare time.

"If I had funding for it, I could develop it full time and hopefully get keyboards for all the Indigenous languages in Canada."

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Sask. First Nation man builds Dene computer keyboard to help others to learn the language | CBC News

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A man from a northern Saskatchewan First Nation has built what he believes is the world's first specialized Dene language computer keyboard, in hopes of making the Indigenous language more accessible. "There was no keyboard for me to use to type my language," said Chevez Ezaneh, who is from English River First Nation.

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1. A brief summary:

Canada needs to find a way to continue cross-polar collaboration while holding Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent Mary Simon to Helsinki to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Finland. Simon noted that the Far North has historically avoided geopolitical conflicts, but is facing increasing attention as a venue for resource extraction and shipping routes. She also noted Finland's moves towards truth and reconciliation with the Sámi people, as well as lessons for Canada on engaging Indigenous youth. Simon also wants to maintain frank discussion with Canadians, a few weeks after Rideau Hall closed down the comment section of all social media accounts.

2. Why you choose to share it?

I like this is being evaluated as an intersectionality issue, "We're not trying to block anything here, but I think it's important to realize that we also can't let abuse, harassment and misogyny, that is harmful in our space, continue," said Simon, and I agree with these pitch.

3. What did you learn from it?

There are issues that do not be paused just because a war as climate crisis and indigenous issues, and those two issues are linked.

4. Did you feel there was a bias?

I do not think so, the news is informing what happened during Mary Simon's visit to Helsinki to mark the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Finland.

5. Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?

I agree with the content. it is urgent to work together to stop the climate crisis and include indigenous in the discussion.

6. Is the source legitimate?

These source have a slight to moderate liberal bias with high factual reporting, and high credibility.

7. About the author:

Dylan Robertson is a reporter with The Canadian Press.

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Climate change, Indigenous issues transcend boundaries with Russia, Governor General says

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Gov. Gen. Mary Simon says Canada needs to find a way to continue cross-polar collaboration while holding Russia accountable for its invasion of Ukraine.

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Laura Phypers, an indigenous woman suffered a concussion and broken nose after taking seven hits to the face and chest by a RCMP officer. The RCMP however says Laura Phypers and her friend were the aggressors, stating they were intoxicated. I chose this story because I think it shows the ongoing struggles indigenous people still face to this day, especially from the RCMP. I learned that the RCMP doesn't have any evidence besides their word at the moment. I feel that in this article there was no bias in portraying both sides' views. I agree that this is content as these issues should be talked about and brought to light more. I believe this as indigenous issues are often ignored or downplayed by Canadian news sources. The source is CBC and Media Bias/ Fact Check says it is slightly left-leaning but factual.

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Indigenous lawyer injured during Alberta arrest alleges RCMP used ‘extreme force’ | CBC News

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Red Deer defence lawyer says she and her friend were beaten by an RCMP officer this past weekend after they were pulled over in Innisfail for allegedly running a stop sign.

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The article highlights the challenges Indigenous veterans face in accessing care due to contract disputes in the Métis National Council and Manitoba Métis Federation Veterans Program. The program provides services like home care, transportation, and medical supplies, but these disputes have led to delays and cancellations, affecting their health and well-being. The article emphasizes the need for stable funding and improved support for Indigenous veterans.

I learned the challenges that Indigenous veterans have, the impact of legal disputes on their care, the need for stable funding, and the ongoing efforts to address these issues. I chose this article because it gives a better understanding of the struggles faced by this specific group and may inspire individuals to advocate for improved support to healthcare services for Indigenous veterans.

I don’t feel there is bias.

I do agree with the content because the article highlights the disruptions in services that have left Indigenous veterans without the care they require.

According to media fact check these media sources have a slight to moderate liberal bias.

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The Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) gave contracts to parties affiliated with it and employed its president's wife while managing a disputed multimillion-dollar veterans program for the Métis National Council (MNC), affidavits obtained by CBC News reveal.

Made public in February, the MNC's latest court filings include MMF contracts with a company chaired by MNC ex-president Clem Chartier - who oversaw the initial, now-disputed transfer of the veterans program to the MMF - and an MMF-affiliated education authority, the Louis Riel Institute.

MMF President David Chartrand also recommended his spouse, Glorian Chartrand, work on the program in early 2020, the documents show. She is listed in some files as senior assistant in her husband's then-MNC veterans affairs office, as program director in others.

The documents were produced by the MNC's external accountant, Benoit Groulx of Baker Tilly in Ottawa, who believed there were questions raised by the MMF's books, his Ontario Superior Court affidavit says.

The MNC is seeking to regain control of $8.65 million tied to the program until a lawsuit filed last year goes to trial. Among other things, the MNC alleges Chartier and Chartrand improperly orchestrated the program transfer to harm the MNC and benefit the MMF.

The wider claim seeks $15 million in damages against Chartier, Chartrand, the MMF and several others. Chartier and Chartrand deny the allegation of impropriety, saying the program was outsourced to the MMF because the MNC is not a service provider.

None of the allegations have been proven in court.

The legal war over the Métis veterans fund traces back to a $30-million contribution agreement between Veterans Affairs Canada and MNC from 2019, when Chartier and Chartrand were president and vice-president of the MNC. Under the deal, Canada agreed to give MNC $30 million to spend on $20,000 individual recognition payments to Métis Second World War veterans or their family members, or commemorative initiatives in their honour.

MNC outsourced the veterans program to MMF via a service delivery agreement in September 2020.

At the time, a schism was deepening among the MNC's five provincial members over the Métis Nation of Ontario's citizenship practices. In September 2021, before a court-ordered MNC election, the MMF broke from the MNC. Chartier retired after 18 years as MNC president and was appointed an MMF ambassador shortly after.

The February motion says the MNC believes Chartrand and the MMF have since misused the money for ineligible expenses, submitting as evidence bank statements, contracts, cheques, cheque requisition forms, charts and internal financial statements, which CBC News obtained and reviewed.

These include a $1.4-million contract with the Louis Riel Institute to produce a four-book memorial series, and a grant worth up to $190,000 to the Métis Legal Research and Education Foundation, where Chartier is chairperson, to produce a virtual legacy library for Métis Second World War veterans.

In an interview, Chartrand said the MNC failed to mention that the contracts were awarded fairly by an arm's-length program commission, and that his wife's hiring was handled transparently. He branded the claim a smoke-and-mirrors show fuelled by a personal vendetta, not hard evidence.

"It's bogus," he said.

"This is a political fishing expedition."

Chartier had no role in securing grant: lawyer

Chartrand said it was understood from the outset that the MMF would administer the program for the MNC.

On Sept. 29, 2021, the date when the MMF's secession from the MNC kicked in, the MMF and Chartrand signed the book deal with Louis Riel Institute.

The veterans program's commission approved the grant for the legal foundation's project on Nov. 17, 2021, according to the final contribution agreement, which Chartier and Chartrand signed the following spring.

In an email to CBC News, Chartier's lawyer James Renihan said the ex-MNC president had no influence or involvement in the commission's decision to bankroll the proposed virtual library.

The foundation has been filming events and gathering documents for more than 20 years, and its application proceeded just as any other, he said, adding that the commission's decision was based solely on merit.

"There was thus no conflict of interest of any sort," Renihan wrote, calling the litigation unfortunate and misguided.

"No funds have been misused. Rather, they are being used to recognize and honour the contributions of Métis veterans, just as intended."

Chartrand said the Louis Riel Institute is one of only two Métis-owned educational institutions and has Pemmican Publications linked to it, making it a qualified candidate to enshrine the veterans' legacy in print.

Chartrand defends wife's hiring

The MNC's statement of claim accuses the former MNC regime of paying Glorian Chartrand excessive or inappropriate sums topping, at times, $13,500 per month, through contribution agreements with her or "Ryley James."

Ryley James Financial Inc. was Glorian Chartrand's consulting firm. It was dissolved on March 17, 2023, according to Manitoba corporate records. The firm's registered address was a Winnipeg residence owned by David Chartrand, property records show

Chartrand told CBC News he anticipated someone might try to use this issue as a political weapon, so he recommended Glorian work on the program at a public meeting attended by veterans and members of the MNC's provincial associations.

The minutes for the meeting held at Winnipeg's Fort Garry Hotel on Feb. 6, 2020, say Chartrand invited participants to express any concerns or objections over her appointment there or to him in writing.

"There was not one objection," Chartrand said.

He said Glorian knew the file in and out, having lent more than 15 years to the cause as a volunteer. She received a contract to set up the program's organizational structure then leave it to whomever would run it, he said.

"It goes back again to the premise: What's this lawsuit all about?" he said.

"They take a personal attack on my wife, trying to damage my reputation, trying to damage the MMF, because there's not a penny missing."

CBC News also requested an interview with MNC President Cassidy Caron but the MNC, citing the sensitive nature of the case and the need to let the court process play out, declined to make her available.

CBC News then provided the MNC a list of written questions, which included the chance to respond to Chartrand's statements. The MNC declined to answer these as well.

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Manitoba Métis Federation gave contracts to affiliates, employed president's wife on disputed program | CBC News

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The Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) gave contracts to parties affiliated with it and employed its president's wife while managing a disputed multimillion-dollar veterans program for the Métis National Council (MNC), affidavits obtained by CBC News reveal.

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Summary
140 kilometres west of Ottawa where an Algonquin Community has not been able to drink tap water for decades, the construction of a treatment facility will begin very soon, improving the community's life quality.

Before the construction of the treatment facility starts, archeological field school Anishinàbe Odjìbikan is working with the community to uncover traces of their ancestors by conducting and performing digs in the construction area and its surroundings.

So far at the dig, it has been found evidence of two Algonquin cabins from between the 1830s and 1970s, and several pieces of quartz artifacts, which demonstrates the cultural value of this place in Canadian History.

Why did you choose to share it?
Most people from outside Canada, have a picture of this country, as a place where everyone has access to natural resources without any difficulties. However, sadly and surprisingly, that is not the reality. There are a lot of indigenous communities without essential services, such as clean water nowadays.

With this news report, we can not only learn about the lifestyle of these indigenous communities nowadays, but we also have the opportunity to participate actively in the recovery of their past and support the new changes that aim for a better life quality for the people.

What did you learn?
Other than the surprise that some communities, indigenous communities struggle to obtain basic resources such as water in the XXI century, in a well-developed country. I did learn about the efforts of the community to preserve and recover their heritage. It would not surprise me if Canadian history is set to new changes or updates in the near future.

Do you agree with the content?
Embracing and promoting these activities, where professionals and experts are involving the community in not just learning, but helping them discover and understand their past is inspiring to me, not just because they were and still are a marginalized demographic in the country, but because they had (the government) the decency of recognizing the importance of doing these digs before building the treatment facility.

In other words, I do agree with the content, I am sure this project will improve many lives, and it will enable us to understand a little bit more about the true history of Canada.

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An Indigenous archaeological field school is conducting community digs at the site of a future water treatment plant in Pikwàkanagàn.

Construction of the treatment facility is expected to soon start in the Algonquin community around 140 kilometres west of Ottawa where many people have not been able to drink their tap water for decades.

Before that can start, archaeological field school Anishinàbe Odjìbikan is holding several community digs on the site inviting people to help uncover traces of the past.

Archaeological assessments there in 2021 found evidence of two Algonquin cabins from between the 1830s and 1970s, said Jenna Lanigan, a member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation and a supervisor with Anishinàbe Odjìbikan.

The assessment also found several pre-contact artifacts, including "lots of quartz."

"It was telling us that the site's probably between 8,000 to 10,000 years old," Lanigan said.

"Over time they used easier materials to work with. So when we find quartz it's really indicative of a very certain period."

About 10,000 years ago, the Champlain Sea was receding from the Ottawa area.

By the time Samuel de Champlain sailed the Kichi Sibi (or Ottawa River) in the 1610s, Algonquins were using land around the Great Lakes, as far north as Hudson's Bay and as far east as present-day Trois-Rivières, Que. Pikwàkanagàn's cultural centre calls the Kichi Sibi the Algonquin heartland.

Canada established the Golden Lake reserve in Pikwàkanagàn for the Algonquins in 1873.

A chance to learn about history, culture

Lanigan said it's important for the community to take part in these digs to learn more about their history and their ancestors.

"We're trying to regain the knowledge, the information and the confidence because we were a smart people and a lot of the things we find really prove that," she said.

Seeing the amount of detail, care and talent it took to create the tools and artifacts found on the site shows that, she added.

"It's just really motivating. And I think it's important for especially the youth to see, so they grow up with some of that confidence and pride in the culture."

So far at the dig, Derrick Amikons from Pikwàkanagàn has found a spearhead and several pieces of quartz artifacts.

Amikons said he's always loved archaeology.

"[It] feels good to touch the past, be in touch with my elders, in a way. And yeah, it gives you a sense of purpose."

Eight-year-old Kael Leroux from nearby Golden Lake also found a few different items.

"We have, like, I'm pretty sure an old teacup in here. We have a few pieces of animal bones ... lots of porcelain," he said.

Leroux said his family has a well and are lucky to have clean water. "But many people don't. So this is kind of helpful for the people that don't," he said of the future treatment plant on the dig site.

Emma Logan, an indigenous liaison with Anishinàbe Odjìbikan, grew up in Pikwàkanagàn and says her family still doesn't have clean drinking water.

She said she's excited for the treatment plant, which has been needed for so many years.

"I'm really happy we got the chance to dig before it was built," Logan said. "Because if we didn't then they would have built over, maybe, possible artifacts that could tell histories we don't even know yet."

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Archaeological digs in Pikwàkanagàn uncovering history at future water treatment plant | CBC News

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An Indigenous archaeological field school is conducting community digs at the site of a future water treatment plant in Pikwàkanagàn. Construction of the treatment facility is expected to soon start in the Algonquin community around 140 kilometres west of Ottawa where many people have not been able to drink their tap water for decades.

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A brief summary

Conservative Leader, Pierre Poilievre compared Kelowna, BC to a “third-world country” after he tweeted a video from TikTok, in which a user recorded a homeless encampment in the city. Mr. Poilievre shared the video and stated “These images are not from a faraway third-world country. This is Kelowna. After eight years of Trudeau & the NDP.”

The City of Kelowna responded with disappointment and stated it was unfair as all cities across Canada are dealing with a high level of homelessness due to the rising cost of living, post-pandemic and other issues that are high for Canadians.

Why you choose to share it

Thought it would be an interesting article to read as it revolves around a political leader sharing his thoughts on a city in Canada. I wanted to see if he shared his thoughts on it or see his opinion on solutions to the problem.

What did you learn from it?

The issue of homelessness has affected all Canadians.

The City of Kelowna’s top priorities is affordable housing and homelessness, which Pierre Poilievre was missing before tweeting out his thoughts. The community safety director described Kelowna as a “World-class city, with its beaches, wineries events, and recreational activities all that more than two people come to our region to experience every year.”

There has been a lot of finger-pointing and bashing of one another with the political parties when they should be coming to the table to address issues and solutions.

The Kelowna Gospel Mission, which is a charity for the homeless, has seen an increase in users as they served 90 people last year and over 200 this year. We can see the increase in how people require these services and that’s something challenging for all cities in Canada.

Did you feel there was a bias?

Not necessarily bias, but after reviewing Media Bias/Fact Check, Global News tends to report on liberal causes, and I could see it when reading the article.

Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?

The article starts off with a sort of like catchy way to attract readers “Poilievre says this and that” kind of message but within the article, they talk about the issues all Canadians face and Kelowna is no different. They give the Kelowna city representatives to respond to the comments made by Pierre Poilievre but couldn’t get feedback from him or his office.

Is the source legitimate? (use mediabiasfactcheck.com) If it's a tweet thread or op-ed, find out what you can about the author.

Based on mediabiasfactcheck.com it has Global News listed as “high” in factual reporting. There are listed as Left-Center Biased and have a slight to moderate liberal bias.

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Sunshine, lakes, golf and wine.

Ask any Western Canadian what the Okanagan is best known for, and most answers will be those four topics.

However, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre sent out a tweet on Tuesday morning that compared part of the region's largest city, and its homeless problem, to a third-world country.

"These images are not from a faraway third-world country," said Poilievre. "This is Kelowna.

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"After eight years of Trudeau and the NDP."

These images are not from a faraway third-world country.

This is Kelowna.

After eight years of Trudeau & the NDP. pic.twitter.com/Oj9M2WtujO

- Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) May 30, 2023

The tweet included a 57-second video, taken along the Okanagan Rail Trail in Kelowna's north end, featuring scores of homeless people living in tents.

Poilievre didn't record the video; rather, it came from a TikTok account that has just 11 videos, all of homeless people presumably in Kelowna.

Of the account's first 10 videos, they had views ranging from 972 to 5,700. The last video, though, had 167,000 views on Tuesday afternoon.

Poilievre's tweet was published on Tuesday morning. By 3 p.m., it had been retweeted nearly 2,500 times and had 8,100 likes. It also had scores upon scores of wildly ranging comments.

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In an email from the Opposition Leader's Office, Global News was told that "Mr. Poilievre and Canada's common-sense Conservatives have championed bringing home our loved ones drug-free and ending the out-of-control crime wave after eight years of catch and release bail reforms under Justin Trudeau."

The City of Kelowna called the social-media post disappointing and unfair.

"This is an issue that cities across Canada are experiencing and it fails to show the incredible work that's being done behind the scenes," said Darren Caul, community safety director at the City of Kelowna.

The post has sparked conversation online about the current state of homelessness in the city. However, one community advocate has mixed feelings about how Poilievre's platform was used.

"I don't like vulnerable people being used as props and that's what it was," said Heather Friesen.

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"All levels of government need to stop just pointing fingers and bashing each other. And come to the table and start having true conversations about how we can address some of the real issues."

Many organizations across the city have increased their support for the unhoused population. However, the number continues to rise. Kelowna's Gospel Mission says at this time last year it served 90 people, this year it's jumped to over 200.

"We can look at things like housing unaffordability is a huge cause, especially in this region. We can look at the rise of just people experiencing huge barriers to their mental well-being and then the supports that go along with that are not keeping up with that demand," said director of emergency services Amber Webster.

City staff say affordable housing and homelessness are two main priorities and tweets like this take away not only from the work being done, but the beauty of the city.

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"As a world-class city, with its beaches, wineries events, and recreational activities all that more than two million people come to our region to experience every year," said Caul.

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Poilievre compares Kelowna homeless encampment to 'third-world country' - Okanagan | Globalnews.ca

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Sunshine, lakes, golf and wine. Ask any Western Canadian what the Okanagan is best known for, and most answers will be those four topics. However, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre sent out a tweet on Tuesday morning that compared part of the region's largest city, and its homeless problem, to a third-world country.

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The City of Ottawa initially was promised more than $24 million in provincial funding for an Ottawa Community Housing project that will help address the housing shortage and tackle homelessness. Later the city learned it would only receive 0.4 per cent of the funding initially allocated due to what the government said was meant to balance out a previous overpayment. After much push back the city was able to secure approximately $48 million annually for a three-year period. This allocation will help greatly with providing affordable housing and will ease the overcrowded shelter system. It is important to note; this does not solve the issue but it does help out greatly.

The article highlighted the complex housing needs that we have in Ontario and how much of a crisis this is. The article stated “Ottawa's shelters are over-capacity and under particular strain, staff said, and the inadequate provincial funding would add to the pressure. A quarter of those in shelter are newcomers to Canada. 11,065 households were waiting on the city's centralized list for subsidized housing at the end of 2022, which had only seen 1,230 households find a home over the course of the year.”

This article made me feel both hopeful and hopeless at the same time. I didn’t even know that was possible. I am hopeful that the funds will be used to help those in need but it is such a big problem that it makes me wonder if it will really be enough.

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The City of Ottawa has learned it will receive more than $24 million in provincial funding for an Ottawa Community Housing project, helping staff fill a surprise shortfall in its budget for tackling homelessness.

The mayor and city council expressed dismay last month after learning Ottawa would receive only $845,100 of the $190.5 million in new money for homelessness under the Homelessness Prevention Program - a paltry 0.4 per cent increase that's far below money given to other municipalities, especially in northeastern Ontario.

It was also far less than city staff had expected.

More than a month later, after the mayor had several talks with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and other provincial officials, a solution: a contribution for an Ottawa Community Housing project at Wateridge Village that the City of Ottawa had pledged to spend millions on.

"Normally we would get somewhere in the range of $16 to 18 million and this is more than that, so I think it shows commitment on the part of the province," Sutcliffe told CBC.

"We're grateful for the fact that they found a solution and that we have some more resources now that we can put to good use in addressing homelessness in our community."

Housing minister, mayor herald cooperation

The new funding will go toward a three-building complex that's currently being constructed on the site of the former CFB Rockcliffe lot and will help to underwrite the cost of up to 138 affordable housing units, the province said at a Wednesday news conference.

The City of Ottawa will then divert its previously committed funding to other projects under the homelessness and housing umbrella.

Sutcliffe said the announcement came as a result of "productive and healthy dialogue" between the city and the province. Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark likewise described "good conversations" and quipped that he's now spoken more with Sutcliffe than any other mayor but his own.

"It's an important step in our ongoing discussion about fair and appropriate funding for homelessness prevention," Sutcliffe said.

The funding will only make up for the current shortfall, meaning there will need to be further discussions about how to ensure Ottawa doesn't face the same issue in the future.

"I don't think he's going to stop calling me," Clark joked. "I'm a realist. I think we're going to continue this."

Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster said this sort of funding is a "big deal" that could help the city address a critical and overwhelming need.

But, she added, it raises a "frustrating" funding issue that routinely forces Ottawa to go "cap-in-hand" to the province.

Ontario defended decision

The announcement does not change Ottawa's original allocation under the Homelessness Prevention Program, which will see the city get a total of $48,464,600 annually for a three-year period starting April 1, 2023.

When Ottawa raised concerns about the initial funding shortfall, the Ontario government said it was meant to balance out a previous overpayment.

Sutcliffe and city staff then began a public campaign, which led Clark to send a letter explaining the province's decision and pointing to concerns raised by the province's auditor general.

He wrote that a 2021 audit had revealed previous funding allocations had been outdated and sometimes lacked the data to justify decisions on spending.

"The revised funding model ensures that all Ontario residents will have equal access to the province's substantially increased homelessness prevention funding, rather than advantaging any one community at the expense of the others," Clark wrote on April 28.

Complex housing needs

Running Ontario's second most populous city, municipal staff were unconvinced and said the money was needed to tackle the increasingly complex housing crisis.

Ottawa's shelters are over-capacity and under particular strain, staff said, and the inadequate provincial funding would add to the pressure. A quarter of those in shelter are newcomers to Canada, staff said.

Homeless families are a particular concern. The City of Ottawa has three times more families in need of shelter than the units it has available, and 300 families are currently in overflow spaces in motels, as well as post-secondary buildings.

That includes 21 homeless families deemed large, with seven or more people, and require larger units that are hard to find.

Meanwhile, 11,065 households were waiting on the city's centralized list for subsidized housing at the end of 2022, which had only seen 1,230 households find a home over the course of the year.

Just hours before the mayor learned the city would receive more funding, the city's director of housing services Paul Lavigne had outlined the need to get people out of shelters and in homes during a meeting of the community services committee.

"If people are housed, we want to do everything we can to keep them housed. Because this is not a friendly housing market," said Lavigne.

Councillors approved the city's investment plan on Wednesday and gave Lavigne discretion on how to spend any additional provincial funding.

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New funding lets City of Ottawa shore up homelessness shortfall | CBC News

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The City of Ottawa has learned it will receive more than $24 million in provincial funding for an Ottawa Community Housing project, helping staff fill a surprise shortfall in its budget for tackling homelessness.

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Canadians Fed up with homelessness and governments making it Worse: exclusive poll

This article talks about the current problem of homelessness, the consequences it has been dragging along and how the primarily concerned have been living. It also speaks about the resulting violence that has been occurring with the increase of homelessness across all of Canada and how Canadians feel at this stage.

I chose this article and shared it because I believe that we hear the problem from only one side and it should be seen through the views of the residents of different parts of Canada. Homelessness is a very polyvalent issue at the moment and Canadians are quite upset about it. I shared this so we could hear them out.

I learned that while we think that homelessness is just not having a home and having to live on the streets there are far worse things that are involved. For instance the noticeable lack of safety being in this situation and the increase in violence. Not only that but the fact that it happens in many local parks where the itinerant tent encampment is usually situated hurt the citizens as well. They now have to fear for their safety. I also learned that most Canadians do not trust the Canadian government in fact they believe that the government is either making this problem worst or doing nothing at all.

I think there might have been a bit of a bias considering this was an article highlighting the public views and feelings about the situation. While there were many facts in the article many of the citations on the government of Canada were reactions to things that were witnessed by Canadians.

I agree with the Canadian’s frustrations on the matter. This problem has caused a few issues here and there. These issues may have led many people to feel uncomfortable and even unsafe in their own houses or territories. Watching a problem going from bad to worst does make you wonder if anyone’s intervening

This article talks about the current problem of homelessness, the consequences it has been dragging along and how the primarily concerned have been living. It also speaks about the resulting violence that has been occurring with the increase of homelessness across all of Canada and how Canadians feel at this stage.

I chose this article and shared it because I believe that we hear the problem from only one side and it should be seen through the views of the residents of different parts of Canada. Homelessness is a very polyvalent issue at the moment and Canadians are quite upset about it. I shared this so we could hear them out.

I learned that while we think that homelessness is just not having a home and having to live on the streets there are far worse things that are involved. For instance the noticeable lack of safety being in this situation and the increase in violence. Not only that but the fact that it happens in many local parks where the itinerant tent encampment is usually situated hurt the citizens as well. They now have to fear for their safety. I also learned that most Canadians do not trust the Canadian government in fact they believe that the government is either making this problem worst or doing nothing at all.

I think there might have been a bit of a bias considering this was an article highlighting the public views and feelings about the situation. While there were many facts in the article many of the citations on the government of Canada were reactions to things that were witnessed by Canadians.

I agree with the Canadian’s frustrations on the matter. This problem has caused a few issues here and there. These issues may have led many people to feel uncomfortable and even unsafe in their own houses or territories. Watching a problem going from bad to worst does make you wonder if anyone’s intervening

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Rural Canada's 'visible homelessness' problem driven by pandemic, high cost of housing | CBC News

This article is about the visible growth in homelessness. How more and more people are incapable of affording a house. It also talks about the housing market rise and the rent stock decrease.

I chose to share this because it raises awareness of our major housing problem and how it isn’t just in Canada and big cities but also taking over rural areas. There are more and more people living in tents and the renting prices are so high that there are some people in unsuitable conditions because it’s all they can afford.

I learned that our homelessness problem is more prominent than we thought it was in fact it’s sprawled out in different areas. Not only that the housing crisis is getting worst which means that the level of income needed to support oneself might go high obliging people in having more than one job which can lead to other issues such as mental health issues and sicknesses.

I don’t feel that there is a bias. It is a very straightforward article. It explains issues in our society and spreads awareness. This article was well explained and was very informative.

I agree with this article because homelessness has been prominent these last few months and the rising cost of housing maybe one of its biggest factors. A lot of social organizations have had to address homelessness by creating suitable and affordable projects for the clients they have. Having suitable and safe that is also affordable lifts a huge weight and makes things much easier for anyone in a precarious situation.

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Summary: Even in the Nations Capital, we face very severe homelessness issues. This article talk about new challenges with temporary shelters for homeless people in Ottawa. The city was previously using hotels as accommodation, but that's not feasible long-term. Currently there are temporary shelters setup in places like hockey arenas seen in the thumbnail. There's an obvious need for a more long-term, permanent solution. The city of Ottawa is working towards offering stable and secure housing to it's vulnerable populations. They are engaging in collaborations with diverse stakeholders, such as non-profit organizations, to explore potential solutions. The pandemic emphasized the importance of providing adequate housing for the homeless. The city aims to tackle the root causes of homelessness and enhance the overall situation for individuals in need.

Why share it?: I thought the concept of how they were using temporary shelters was interesting. It's honestly not something I've ever thought about in the past.

What did I learn?: No that I didn't know it was bad, but this just reinforces how dire the homelessness situation is in Ottawa. Especially after the summer is over and things get colder and colder, it's key the city starts to take step to properly work this out.

Bias?: I don't think there's a bias either way, the only place I think you could argue is the quotes where they are very much selective on the cities POV of the situation and less the people in these situations.

MediaFactChecker: they are high factual rating and lean left-center.

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With pandemic-era temporary shelters still operating in Ottawa community centres, the city is looking to transition away from their use and find more permanent housing for vulnerable people.

But amid an increase in homelessness and sparse availability of affordable housing, some councillors are concerned about what could happen when the additional shelter space closes.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the city created "physical distancing centres" at several community centres to help limit overcrowding in Ottawa's homeless shelters.

Though they were only meant to operate for six months, three are still open, with one expected to close at the end of March.

Councillors passed a motion Wednesday that seeks to set a timeline for transitioning away from the system, with a goal to stop using the community centres by August.

Donna Gray, the city's general manager of community and social services, told the council that 200 people have been transitioned from the centres into permanent housing so far.

She told reporters on Wednesday that the city is aware of a population of another 200 people who are in a continual state of homelessness.

But only 86 affordable housing units are currently being built, and the timeline for people to move in is up in the air because they are still under construction.

"We are seeing in every large city an increase of individuals falling into homelessness," said Gray.

"We have a housing crisis where we do not have the supply of affordable housing and the affordability for people to be able to find housing."

Temporary shelters at Jim Durrell Recreation Centre and Dempsey Community Centre are remaining open until further notice, while another at the Saintlo Ottawa Jail Hostel is expected to close at the end of March.

Some city councillors say they worry about what would happen if the community centre-based shelters close, and how vulnerable people such as youth could be affected.

Coun. Marty Carr says the city needs to invest in more supportive housing so that community centres don't need to carry the burden of homelessness.

The cost of their operation is currently coming out of the broader community services budget, and is eating into the revenue from community programs.

Carr said she has toured some of the centres, which contain separate rooms and provide six to eight beds. The diverse population accessing the space includes students who are unable to afford housing and people who are unemployed, she said.

"What it's given us is a model where people can access these centers at any time of day, where there's a wraparound support," she said.

"City staff completely pivoted to a new model of care, and they had to hire staff to basically deliver social services 24/7."

Funding is stretched thin, with Mayor Mark Sutcliffe calling this year's budget a "tight" one.

City staff say they're partnering with local organizations and looking to upper levels of government for financial support, including through the federal government's Rapid Housing Initiative.

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Ottawa turns to temporary shelters as city searches for permanent housing solutions - Ottawa | Globalnews.ca

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With pandemic-era temporary shelters still operating in Ottawa community centres, the city is looking to transition away from their use and find more permanent housing for vulnerable people. But amid an increase in homelessness and sparse availability of affordable housing, some councillors are concerned about what could happen when the additional shelter space closes.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/homelessness-solutions-need-input-from-people-experiencing-it-expert-says-1.6832295

Summary: In an interview with CBC News, Western University professor Cheryl Forchuk emphasized the importance of consulting homeless people when creating potential solutions to homelessness. Forchuk, who recently conducted interviews with more than 400 homeless people across Canada, found that the homeless population is incredibly diverse and larger than ever, including young adults, elderly people with dementia, and Indigenous people. Forchuk suggested that peer support can be beneficial, but specific help should be tailored to the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness. Brian Howell, a delegate who works for a Prince Albert affordable home provider, emphasized the need for more research on homelessness in rural, remote, and Indigenous communities.

I choose to share this article: as homelessness is a serious concern. Policymakers and governments need to consult homeless people to ensure they provide appropriate services and possible solutions to homelessness require tailored help.

Regarding bias, the article does not present any significant biases but instead provides informative insights on the topic.

The source of the article, The Canadian Press, is a reputable and legitimate news wire service.

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This article talks about more resources being needed for the homelessnesss crisis in Ottawa. I chose to share it because It highlights the crisis in Ottawa pretty well and shows proof of needing more support.
I learnt that homelessness is worse than ever and a lot of statistics in the article proved this.
The article is biased with the author being the CEO of the Ottawa Mission.
The source is legitimate coming from the Ottawa Citizen.
I agree with the content because I agree that there needs to be more funding in this area and more support needs to be given to the people who are struggling most.

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Our emergency shelters have steadily added beds over the years. These shelters exist due to service gaps caused by stagnant government funding.

On March 1, Ottawa council will confirm the city's 2023 budget.

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In 2020, council unanimously declared a housing and homelessness emergency. We appreciate support in the 2023 budget for housing, including operating and repairing social housing, rent supplements, housing allowances and homelessness programs. However, the $15 million allocated for new affordable housing has not increased since it was introduced in 2019.

The Ottawa Mission is concerned because in Ottawa:

* For every one unit of affordable rent built, seven are lost;

* Average rents increased more than 14 per cent in 2022, with one-bedroom apartments now costing about $2,000. Many people are using food banks and meal programs so they can pay their rent.

* According to the city, 10 per cent of those in emergency shelters are employed and cannot afford these staggering rents.

* We appreciate the city's support of Ottawa Community Housing, with whom we partner to secure affordable housing for our clients, and also through stops at OCH buildings for our food-truck program. However, there are 12,000 individuals on the Social Housing Registry of Ottawa's waitlist, many whom wait for years;

* By the city's estimate, there are more than 200 individuals sleeping outside - a public health emergency.

The city adjudicates community needs and requires support from the provincial and federal governments for housing. However, the value of the $15 million for new affordable housing within the city's 10-year housing plan has declined over time due to inflation and the increasing numbers of people needing services.

The budget has increased since 2019 and now tops $5.5 billion. We urge council to increase funds for new affordable housing from $15 million to at least $20 million given the need for affordable housing.

We also appreciate the $4.55 million for community safety, well-being and social investments. However, given the impact of the pandemic, the homelessness and opioid emergencies, and inflation, we urge council to increase this figure to reflect the true need for support.

Questions have arisen regarding the role of emergency shelters in addressing homelessness. Supposedly shelters are "warehouses" with no programming beyond emergency services to help clients. In addition to emergency shelter, The Ottawa Mission provides meals to shelter guests and community clients through our food trucks. Last year, we served 938,218 meals across Ottawa, given the shocking increases in hunger.

We also provide mental health and addiction programs, primary, hospice and dental care, housing, employment and educational support, job training, spiritual care, and clothing to thousands. We're a housing-focused shelter committed to housing as a human right. In addition to working with OCH to place people in housing, we own apartment buildings to provide homes to former clients.

Our shelter has grown from 12 beds in 1907 to 238 emergency shelter and live-in treatment beds. We also lay down mats on our chapel floor each night so that no one is turned away.

It's frustrating to see clients who graduate from our programs end up back in our shelter because they have nowhere to go.

Shelters exist because of service gaps resulting from stagnant funding by governments. Shelters are a symptom, not the cause, of a wider problem over decades. Unless all governments build and maintain affordable and supportive housing with wrap-around programs, this will get worse.

For those seeking to close shelters: Where would the 7,000 people who live in these places go?

Another complaint is that shelters cost too much public money for too little benefit. In fact, city funds per person for shelters have not risen in years, with an increasing percentage of our funding coming from private donations.

A 2022 opinion poll found that 83 per cent of respondents said ending homelessness in Ottawa should be an urgent goal, and 90 per cent support or somewhat support new affordable housing. In 2019, respondents to another poll said that housing and homelessness should be the number one priority of city council.

Budgets are about priorities. We urge Council to reflect community priorities and increase funds for new affordable and supportive housing in its 2023 budget.
Peter Tilley is CEO of The Ottawa Mission. Correction: The original version of this article contained incorrect information about the waitlist for Ottawa Community Housing. It has been updated.

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Tilley: Ottawa budget - we need more resources to tackle homelessness

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Our emergency shelters have steadily added beds over the years. These shelters exist due to service gaps caused by stagnant government funding. On March 1, Ottawa council will confirm the city's 2023 budget. Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

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1. The article basically talks about the 36 hour challenge in Saskatoon, the 2023 Sanctum challenge where Mayor Charlie Clark and almost 9 community leaders participated in activities related to challenges of homelessness. It was done to understand the struggle as well as create awareness about the struggles faced by homeless. Participants didn't have or had very limited access to shelter.

2. Basically it gives a peek into what challenges are faced by vulnerable and homeless Population. It encourages and creates awareness about them. It also suggests how further action can be taken as well as how homeless can be supported.

3.  I learned that it's very important to understand the problems faced by vulnerable and homeless people. This challenge turned out to be eye opening as the participants acknowledge the needs of homeless and how hard it is to live like that.

4. The whole article doesn't really have any bias as its main focus is related to the challenges as well as experiences faced by them. So there is not really any bias.

5. This article is clear and concise and actually grabs the attention of readers towards the challenges faced by homeless Community and how efforts can be made to improve that condition. I believe it's very important to understand their condition and I completely agree with the content.

6. The article is published by Global news which is a reputable and trustworthy organisation. It is well known for its professionalism. It is a very legitimate news source.

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The last day of the 2023 Sanctum Survivor 36-Hour Challenge in Saskatoon is coming to a close.

Mayor Charlie Clark and nine other community leaders experienced challenges related to homelessness and chronic disease as part of the event.

Each participant was given tasks to complete that demonstrate challenges that many people in society might be unaware of but could be an everyday reality for the homeless population.

Sanctum Care Group puts on the event, noting participants won't know if they have access to shelter overnight, or if they will be sleeping outside.

The only personal item participants have access to is their cellphone, which is meant to update the public on their journey.

"We acknowledge that the 36-hour homelessness challenge by no means accurately depicts the numerous barriers and complex issues faced by people who survive the daily hardships of living in homelessness. This event attempts to shed light on these issues by drawing awareness through the voices of those participating in the 36-hour challenge," says executive director of Sanctum Care Group Katelyn Roberts.

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"The carefully thought-out challenges are designed in consultation with individuals who have lived experience and front-line workers in an attempt to demonstrate the immense struggles experienced by this population. The challenge creates awareness of the dozens of community-based organizations who support our city's most vulnerable populations."

Chris Guerette with the Saskatchewan Realtors Association is taking part in the event and said the whole thing has been an eye-opening learning experience.

"I have a lot to learn, that I knew. But I think it was just profoundly obvious I have so much more to learn than I thought," Guerette said.

She said it was her first year taking part in this experience.

Guerette said the community is so warm and welcoming.

"That's been a very heartwarming lesson for me."

She recognized that she needed to do more as well. Being in the housing industry, she said she can help play a role.

"I think I have a responsibility to see what barriers I can remove. I can't solve everything, but I can certainly, one piece at a time, play a role."

She said her learning journey has just begun.

"We've done a tremendous amount of listening over the last 24 hours."

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Clark said this experience has made him look at the city in a new way.

One of the tasks given to Clark involved collecting bottles.

"It helps in a small way appreciate what people who are living on the streets, the perspective they have on the city," Clark said.

He said every person has a story, but said it's easy to ignore others.

Clark said he learned that the barriers for people struggling with homelessness and addictions to getting assistance and finding housing are huge.

"And they don't have to be as huge, so we really need to fix the way, and streamline the process that people have to get ID."

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He said there are portions of the community where housing is not enough, saying these people need a community of support.

"So you have to create housing with the right supports in place in order to start a different path."

Clark said no person on their own can rebuild their life without having a community of support that can be with them on that journey.

Saskatoon Riversdale MLA Marv Friesen also took part, saying he was fortunate to have housing Thursday night, but noted that wasn't the case for everyone.

"What happens if there is no facility that night?"

Friesen said it doesn't stop there, noting the struggle to get services begins the very next day.

One of the tasks given to him was to do laundry. He said they had to panhandle and recycle bottles just for that.

"We want to take information that we've learned here, have some discussions, and learn how we can improve on some things."

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Saskatoon community leaders learn about homelessness and addictions | Globalnews.ca

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The last day of the 2023 Sanctum Survivor 36-Hour Challenge in Saskatoon is coming to a close. Mayor Charlie Clark and nine other community leaders experienced challenges related to homelessness and chronic disease as part of the event.

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This article talks about how homelessness and petty crimes are heightening racial tensions in Val d’Or. With half the homeless population there being indigenous, they are having to face more than just homelessness and end up being victims of racial attacks or racist comments. One person in the article even reported not being able to buy medicine at a pharmacy and being denied service because of their native status.
I chose to share the story because I think it is important for us to be able to look at the bigger picture when it comes to homelessness issues. There is a huge bias on how these homeless people are being treated , a lot of them have reported racial discrimination and feeling judged for not only being homeless but for their racial identity.
I understand and agree with the point this article is trying to make .
When it comes to  credibility I do feel that CBC is a credible source.

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WARNING: This story contains vulgar language.
Most municipal council meetings go unnoticed. Not so for one recently in Val d'Or, Que., when fear, anger and racism bubbled to the surface and a shouting match erupted with hate on full display.

"There's an Indian pissing outside!" cried one man, a resident.

"It is always the Indigenous," a business owner said, outraged.

The city of about 33,000 is grappling with resentment from residents over homelessness and petty crime, a situation that appears to be pitting leaders against each other and reopening painful old wounds.

"I was utterly shocked and in disbelief that in 2023, the population has no more filter in terms of the racism and the racial remarks," said Johanne Lacasse, who works for the Native Friendship Centre in town.

Val d'Or, which means valley of gold, is a small city 530 kilometres north of Montreal. It owes its existence to the precious metal, with mines scattered over the area.

But long before that, the region was home to First Nations communities: Anishinaabe, Cree and Algonquin among others.

The relationship between the mining community and those nations has been sometimes collaborative but often fraught.

"Val d'Or is a hub for the north and it's also a service network for the Indigenous, Anishinaabe communities surrounding it," said Édith Cloutier, the executive director of the Native Friendship Centre.

"Since Val d'Or was Val d'Or, there has always been that interaction of Indigenous people in the city."

Some, though, arrive in the city only to find that housing is unavailable or too expensive for their budget, Cloutier said.

Some end up on the street.

In recent weeks, residents have complained about feeling unsafe. They have protested what they say is an increase in petty crime and demanded that police and elected officials do something about the homeless population.

Mayor Céline Brindamour says there has been an increase in crimes such as theft, public intoxication and harassment. Provincial police did not respond to requests for statistics.

Brindamour has called on the provincial government for help with resources.

But others say that talk of crime has allowed for open discrimination against the Indigenous population. Around half of the city's homeless population are Indigenous people.

Victor Thursky says he's experienced that racism first-hand.

"I don't want to be a racially discriminative person. I treat everybody equally. But as a person living on the streets, I experienced that, which is not too good at all," he said, sitting in a living room in La Piaule, one of Val d'Or's homeless shelters.

"People misjudge me. I know what it's like to be misjudged and I feel like I was belittled, you know?"

Thursky is originally from the Algonquin reserve of Rapid Lake. Around his neck, he wears a medicine pouch attached to a necklace, for luck, he says.

For decades, he's been battling alcoholism and, as a result, he found himself without a roof over his head living in Val d'Or.

Recently, he went to get medication at the pharmacy downtown but instead, he got kicked out.

"'Get out of here,' he says. 'I don't give an eff about you native.' That's what he told me,"Thursky said

"I can't even go to 3rd avenue there."

The street Thursky is referring to is lined with businesses and has become the eye of the storm.

Opening old wounds

Residents say they want the police to do more to rein in crime.

"On top of homelessness, there was delinquency and this is what kind of took people by surprise," said Brindamour, who's been mayor for the past year and a half.

"That had people saying 'hey, I don't feel comfortable walking around in my downtown area.'"

It's what led Brindamour to reach out to the Quebec government. Except, something unexpected happened. Rather than offering to help, the local MNA, who was attending the council meeting, snapped that it was time the city did something to take care of the troublemakers.

"Serious measures have to be taken," Pierre Dufour told the mayor.

"It's not the government that has to come solve the issue."

Then, for many, he twisted the knife deeper and placed the blame for some of the division and unease on the city administration's reaction to an 2015 investigative report by Radio-Canada that thrust Val d'Or under a harsh spotlight.

The investigation by Enquête detailed allegations of abuse, including sexual assault of Indigenous women by provincial police officers in Val d'Or.

Eight officers were immediately suspended. Two were quickly cleared. The six others were off work for a year but were eventually cleared as well. No charges were laid and a group of 41 police officers sued Radio-Canada for just over $2 million. The case is due to be heard next year.

"It was a show full of lies which attacked very honest police," Dufour said at the meeting.

It was, nevertheless, a moment of reckoning and led the province to launch the Viens Commission, to investigate how Indigenous people are treated in Quebec.

The commission concluded they face widespread systemic discrimination, including being racially profiled by the provincial police who patrol Val d'Or.

Dufour says the city should have pushed back and defended its officers, saying that cops who don't feel backed will do the "strict minimum" when it comes to enforcing the law.

While many residents applauded Dufour's statements at city hall, others were disgusted.

Cloutier, of the Native Friendship Centre, described the CAQ MNA's comments as "unacceptable and disgraceful."

"We feel that we were let down. And I say 'we' because we are Indigenous people in this friendship centre," she said.

"We walk side-by-side with those who are left out in society, be it homeless people, be it Indigenous women."

Dufour apologized amid calls for his resignation, but the impact of his comments still stings for many.

Working toward solutions

Cloutier says things have improved in Val d'Or since the Viens Commission, despite what it may seem.

"It's small steps but a combination of many steps by many actors," she said.

"It created a direct, bilateral relationship with the Quebec government."

Cloutier describes the struggles in the city as a societal problem with the Native Friendship Centre at the heart of change.

Construction will soon begin on a building that will offer transitional housing to Indigenous people hoping to get off the street.

It will provide 20 units, along with access to public services as well as cultural teachings and events.

The centre itself, set to celebrate 50 years next year, will also be expanded.

"We feel like we are contributing to the social transformation of Val d'Or and we have," Cloutier said.

For others at the centre though, this latest controversy is a step backward.

"There's a lot of healing that will need to happen," said Johanne Lacasse.

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Vitriol in Quebec's Val d'Or: How homelessness and petty crime have reignited racial tensions | CBC News

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Many of the residents of Val d'Or, Que., say they feel unsafe in the small city and blame the homeless population. For those who work with First Nations people in the area, the language used is unacceptable and will do nothing to help the community heal.

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1.The article reports that two local organizations, the Guelph Community Foundation and the United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin, have exceeded the $1.5 million mark in their Home for Good campaign, thanks to the City of Guelph's commitment to match donations. The campaign aims to raise $5 million for the construction of 72 permanent supportive housing units in Guelph, which is expected to reduce homelessness..

2. I chose to share this article because it highlights a positive initiative in the community of Guelph, Ontario, where local organizations and the city are working together to address homelessness. It showcases the impact of donation and I felt this speaks to me as a student as it’s related to fundraising project, we are organizing for this semester with ACPR

3. I learned about the Home for Good campaign in Guelph, which aims to construct 72 permanent supportive housing units to combat homelessness. The article also emphasizes the success of the fundraising efforts and the positive impact of the City of Guelph's commitment to matching donations.

The article does not appear to have a bias. It focuses on reporting the progress of the Home for Good campaign. There is no apparent bias in terms of political or ideological ideas.

4.I agree with the content of the article, as it highlights the collaboration between local organizations and the city to address homelessness and it showcases the positive impact of donation  and the community's commitment to finding solutions.

5.Source Legitimacy: The article was published on the website of CJOY, a radio station based in Guelph, Ontario. CJOY is a legitimate source as many residents in the community rely on this radio station for news and information.

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A pair of local organizations are praising the City of Guelph's commitment for matching donations in an effort to help raise money for a capital fundraising campaign in the southwestern Ontario community.

The Guelph Community Foundation and the United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin announced on Tuesday that they have surpassed the $1.5 million mark in their Home for Good campaign. The City pledged back in July 2022 to match each donation up to $500,000.

"We did have a lot of people that came forward to donate who were inspired by that opportunity to double their impact," said Glenna Banda, executive director of UWGWD. "The City of Guelph match really helped but there is still a lot of fundraising to do."

The overall fundraising goal of Home for Good is $5 million. Banda said they have so far raised close to $2 million.

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Chris Willard, executive director of The Guelph Community Foundation, said in a statement, "The early awareness resulted in several donations of all shapes and sizes, reinforced the urgency of the homelessness crisis and the Guelph Wellington community's commitment to funding solutions."

The funds raised will go towards the construction of 72 permanent supportive housing units in Guelph. There are three projects currently underway: the Bellevue Project by Wyndham House that will accommodate eight youths; 10 Shelldale Cres. by Skyline Properties which will see 32 units built; and Grace Gardens on the former Parkview Motel property that will see another 32 individuals be housed.

Banda said this is expected to cut chronic homelessness by half.

"It is such an important and emerging issue in our community," said Banda. "We felt it was a really strong statement to have the two largest charitable funders in our community work together to solve the issue."

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Anyone wishing to donate can do so on the Home for Good website.

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Supportive housing group in Guelph credits city donation match for fundraising boost - Guelph | Globalnews.ca

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A pair of local organizations are praising the City of Guelph's commitment for matching donations in an effort to help raise money for a capital fundraising campaign in the southwestern Ontario community. The Guelph Community Foundation and the United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin announced on Tuesday that they have surpassed the $1.5 million mark in their Home for Good campaign.

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Alberta and the Lethbridge Housing Authority have come to a conclusion to sign a fund of $10.2 million deal to create more affordable housing in the city.  The LHA is hoping to build a 42 bed unit for those experiencing homelessness, the new facility will also provide a commercial kitchen and a 24/7 support system they need.

I chose this article because it shows the willingness of the government to try and stop this ongoing issue of homelessness. allocating 10.2 million in funding is a first step towards creating positive change.

Since I moved to Canada, I did not know one of the challenges Canadians deal with is homelessness, but by reading various articles I think Canada also provides fare support system regarding homelessness.
I agree with this article as it provides the truth about homelessness, but also providing solutions to the problem.

Yes, the source is legitimate.

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LHA signs provincial funding agreement for $10.2M towards affordable housing

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Lethbridge could be getting more affordable housing in the coming month.

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I apologize for how angry I got writing this, but I mean, read the article and you will be too.

Ezekial Daniel Bigknife is an indigenous man who was minding his own business shopping at Canadian Tire, when out of nowhere he was followed and assaulted by the store's employees (a security guard)​. Thankfully it was all caught on camera, but either way.

No one should be treated like this. In my own little bubble, I admit when I walk into a store, I never worry about something like this happening. I’m a white man, I’m well aware I don’t experience this type of thing (I'm openly gay and look it, so I've been called the F slur before, but that's really not the same), meanwhile, this man has experienced this TWICE in five years. That’s, excuse my language, fucking gross. This type of thing should not still be happening (it should have never been happening to begin with, but I digress). The way Canadians can be treated by other Canadians disgusts me, and this article just made me mad more than anything. (It’s also why I shared it, please join me in my seething rage.)

As for bias, well, with CBC you could argue (especially if you’re Pierre Poilievre) that CBC maintains a light left-leaning bias, but I didn’t see any of that. The article is in favour of Bigknife sure, but I mean, the guy was literally racially profiled. Both-sidisim (please pretend that’s a word) has a time and place (I can’t think of one admittedly, but I mean…), clearly, this is not it.

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Warning: this story contains distressing content.
Five years ago, Ezekial Bigknife was racially profiled while shopping at a store in Regina. Now he says it has happened to him again, and that this time he was assaulted while confronting his alleged antagonists.

Bigknife - displaying bruises on his neck, a black eye and cuts on his face - told CBC News he is frustrated.

"It's shocking, because I didn't think it would happen to me twice in my lifetime," Bigknife said.

In November 2017, Bigknife was followed by a loss prevention officer at a Giant Tiger. He published a video online documenting the incident. After it attracted national attention, he received an apology from the company and the employee was fired.

Bigknife now says it happened to him again this month - this time at the Canadian Tire in the 600 block of Albert Street in Regina.

He told CBC that on May 20, he went to the Canadian Tire and was accused of stealing a socket set that he had just purchased, but was left alone after showing a receipt.

Then on May 23, Bigknife returned to the store with his brother to purchase parts to repair a truck. He said he was followed around by two loss prevention employees, and used his phone to document it and post the video online.

The video shows the 24-year-old confronting the employees, then eventually going to a till and making his purchase.

Bigknife said he realized shortly after that he had bought the wrong part and went back inside the store. He and the loss prevention officers exchanged words, but Bigknife eventually left the store.

Bigknife then decided to confront the loss prevention person on video, and returned inside with his phone out. That's when things got violent, he said.

The alleged assault

The second video shows three employees, including a security guard, attempting to force Bigknife out of the store.

During the video, Bigknife's phone is knocked out of his hand onto the ground. He said the security guard then started assaulting him.

"The minute you hear him grunt, that's when he started throwing punches," Bigknife said.

Watch the portion of the video where Bigknife says the alleged assault happened:

The incident occurs off-screen, but yelling can be heard, including calls to stop and for someone not to swing.

Bigknife said he didn't fight back and eventually left the store. He's been to the doctor and has medication, but he has been left bruised.

"I'm a carpenter. I need my hands. I need my shoulder, and I can't even lift my tool bag with my shoulder. I can't lift this hand because it has a hairline fracture and it's definitely painful," he said.

Bigknife said that police were initially going to charge him, but after he showed officers the videos, they told him they had charged the security guard with assault.

The Regina Police Service confirmed they have charged a 20-year-old with assault. He is scheduled to make his first appearance in court in July.

A spokesperson for Canadian Tire said they are aware of the altercation.

In a statement, the company said the security guard is an employee with a third-party agency and after a review of the incident, the security guard will not be returning to the store.

"Stores have strict protocols and training programs in place with third-party representatives to ensure clear understandings of expectations on how to conduct business and treat customers with respect," reads the statement.

Bigknife said their response is not good enough.

He said the company is evading accountability by blaming a third-party security guard and not examining how their loss prevention program - and the racial profiling he experienced - contributed to the violence.

"That's what's bothering me about the whole ordeal. Not once did they reach out," Bigknife said.

He wants the company to change its policies so racial profiling doesn't happen.

Bigknife said he has been in contact with lawyers. He is also considering filing a human rights complaint.

Tough conversations

When the incident at Giant Tiger occurred five years ago, Bigknife's son was one year old. Now, five years later, Bigknife also has a young daughter.

The father of two said he's had difficult conversations with his children.

"'Dad, why did you get beat up? Dad? How come you're beat up like that? Dad, are you going to jail?' ... I had to have that conversation with him," Bigknife said.

He said he is upset that his son now knows about systemic racism through his father's experience.

On a personal level, Bigknife said he will once again begin looking over his shoulder every time he steps into a store, a practice he thought he had finally gotten over.

"Am I going to have to get assaulted every time I go shopping? You know what I mean? Like, it's definitely no good," he said.

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First Nations man says racial profiling led to assault by security guard at Regina Canadian Tire | CBC News

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Warning: this story contains distressing content. Five years ago, Ezekial Bigknife was racially profiled while shopping at a store in Regina. Now he says it has happened to him again, and that this time he was assaulted while confronting his alleged antagonists.

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1. Summary:
Ecologists are trying to succeed in the Amazon engaging local people and scientists in preserving the world's largest tropical forest.
The Juruá Institute purchased a 13 km (8 miles) rainforest property along the Juruá River, to prevent river people from moving to Amazon cities. Their goal is to show that it is possible to achieve conservation and benefit local communities at the same time, by putting more power in their hands.

2. Why did you choose to share it?
I believe it is important to see what is happening around the world because poverty is a reality everywhere. And the most important thing is to see people who care about it and are taking action.

3. What did you learn from it?
I learned, kind of it because I already knew it but I saw it is possible, that science and local people can work together to solve not just poverty, but also the climate crisis.

4. Did you feel there was a bias?
Not really, the news is informative and brings the visibility that those projects need.

5. Do you agree with the content? Why or why not?
I agree and I am excited to know that such a project exists.

6. Is the source legitimate?
The source is legitimate but has a slight to moderate liberal bias.

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In the Amazon, Brazilian ecologists try new approach against deforestation and poverty

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The goal is ambitious — counter the forces that have destroyed 10% of the forest in less than four decades and create something that can be replicated in other parts of the Amazon.

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Summary: I found this disturbing article that explains that a recent survey found that 1 out of 3 Canadians were okay with MAID (Medically assistance in dying) for those in poverty.

What I learned: I learned that Canadians who don't struggle or had had struggles view those in poverty can't be brought out of it. It makes me think what those I don't know will also think about this.

Why I shared: I think it's important to show that Canada isn't perfect and has flaws, one being its treatment of those in poverty. Additionally, since we are tackling food insecurity and that also affects the homeless, it is something to keep an eye out for.

Is there a bias: I believe there is of which that homeless people don't deserve to be assisted in killing themselves which is a shame 1 out of 3 Canadians don't also think.

Do you agree with the content: If it's asking me if homeless people deserve to be medically assisted in dying, then fucking no.

Is the source legitimate: What I find interesting is Media Bias/ Fact Check found the page that published the article was described as a conspiracy pseudoscience.
It shows that attention-grabbing headlines can get anyone via clickbait.

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Homeless in Canada? 1 in 3 Canadians Say You Should Be Allowed Assisted Suicide

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Nearly 1 in 3 Canadians hope the government will allow those experiencing poverty or homelessness to end their life with the assistance of a doctor.

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/shepherds-of-good-hope-supportive-housing-merivale-1.6858143

Summary
This article addresses a positive new development for the city of Ottawa. Shepherds of Good Hope is presenting a new supportive housing residence for those who have experienced "chronic homelessness." This new building will accommodate 57 individuals. Furthermore, according to the Shepherds of Good Hope news release, the residents of this new building will receive "around-the-clock wraparound supports," ongoing care, and medical support from Ottawa Inner City Health, as well as harm reduction services for those in need. The residents will also have access to recreational activities, life skills training, and community building opportunities.

Why did you choose to share it?
While in Ottawa, I've had the experience of working downtown, where homelessness is impossible to ignore. During this time, this scenario became my day-to-day environment, leading my mind to a less than ideal state. Reading and seeing that some improvements and real action are being taken to address this crisis comforts me. This situation may spiral out of control in the future if government bodies, institutions, big organizations, etc., don't work together to combat homelessness not just in Ottawa but across the entire country.

What did you learn?
According to the Shepherds of Good Hope, they have a total of 291 supportive housing units across the city, while its shelter provides emergency temporary shelter for up to 254 people. These numbers show, that now more people are staying at supportive housing units, rather than shelters, where things tend to be somehow complicated, but better than a life on the streets for sure.

Do you agree with the content?
Since this is not an opinion or controversial article, and because most of the information presented consists of facts provided by the Shepherds of Good Hope, I agree and embrace the efforts of this organization. They advocate for brighter futures on the streets of Ottawa.

Is it legitimate?
CBC News is a reliable news source in Canada. It is considered a "Left-Centered" bias, a slight to moderate liberal bias, according to biasfactchecker.

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Five days ago, Michael Paré rolled his wheelchair into the yellow brick building at 1095 Merivale Rd. that's now become his new home.

The 55-year-old said he became homeless a few years ago after his apartment building in Vanier was condemned, and a foot infection resulted in a 15 weeks-long stay at the hospital. He said he then spent 18 months in a shelter before moving to the streets.

Paré said he now finally feels safe at Shepherds of Good Hope's newest supportive housing residence.

"The safe environment here has been a real turnaround for me," said Paré, "This provides ... all the things I need to get healthier."

Paré said he has been allocated a studio apartment complete with an en-suite washroom and a balcony.

"It's a beautiful place here," he said. "It doesn't feel like a shelter or hospital."

The Shepherds of Good Hope will provide housing to 57 people including Paré who were experiencing chronic homelessness at its sixth supportive housing residence, according to president and CEO Deirdre Freiheit.

The building features studio apartments and rooms, along with a community kitchen and access to extensive outdoor greenspace, according to a news release issued by the organization.

"This location has actually helped us tip the scales," said Freiheit, "We have more people in supportive housing now than we do in our shelters."

Harm reduction services also offered

The Shepherds of Good Hope said it has a total of 291 supportive housing units across the city, while its shelter provides emergency temporary shelter for up to 254 people.

Its news release states residents of the new facility will receive "around-the-clock wrap-around supports," ongoing care and medical support from Ottawa Inner City Health and harm reduction services for those in need. Residents also have "recreational activities, life skills and community building opportunities" available to them.

"A lot of people who have spent a lot of time on the streets, their life expectancy is lower, their health is very compromised," said Freiheit.

"When we can wrap those supports around them, then they can often start to improve in those areas and then they can start to work on other things."

Freiheit emphasized housing is the way to end chronic homelessness.

"They can be here for as long as they want. This is their permanent home for as long as they want it," she said. "They are welcome here for life."

Freiheit said another new building is currently in the works for 216 Murray St., down the street from its shelter.

'Finally, I got a home'

"If you've ever lived in a shelter, you don't want to live there," said Ken Tracey, who will now live at the new supportive housing residence.

Tracey, who uses a wheelchair, said the building is easy for him to navigate - even his washroom is wheelchair-accessible - and the staff ensures he is well taken care of.

"This is one big family here," said Tracey. "They're going to help me get a new leg, my eyes fixed, my teeth fixed. ... No one else was willing to help me."

Above all, Tracey said he feels hopeful.

"Finally, I got a home, a place to rest my head. ... I feel at home."

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Shepherds of Good Hope unveils newest supportive housing residence | CBC News

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Five days ago, Michael Paré rolled his wheelchair into the yellow brick building at 1095 Merivale Rd. that's now become his new home. The 55-year-old said he became homeless a few years ago after his apartment building in Vanier was condemned, and a foot infection resulted in a 15 weeks-long stay at the hospital.

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https://ottawasun.com/news/local-news/toronto-declares-homelessness-an-emergency-urges-provincial-federal-funding

1. Councillors in Toronto have voted that homelessness is an emergency in the city and are urging higher levels of the government to help regarding this situation. The city council have voted to urge the provincial and federal government to add $20 million to the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit. It would help 1,600 people from the shelter system into rental market housing. They need support from higher up government in order to help out the homelessness crisis and addressing the situation instead of ignoring it.

2. I shared this article, as the councillors from the city of Toronto have some strategies to help out the homeless and are calling out the government to help, in order to help the situation instead of ignoring it.

3. I learned that the city won’t be able to operate warming centres starting from Jan.1, 2024 without any additional funds and that council approved a recommendation to request $5 million from the federal and provincial governments.

4. I find there is a bit of a bias as Toronto isn’t the only city that is suffering from homelessness, it is happening everywhere in Canada.

5. I do agree that the government needs to step up and address this situation as they can’t keep ignoring it. Ignoring the issues isn’t solving anything, they need to come up with a plan to help homelessness in Canada. Anyone can be affected by this and deserves some shelter for these hot and cold days we endure.

6. According to mediabiasfactcheck.com, Ottawa Sun is right-centre bias, the sources are generally trustworthy for informations.

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TORONTO - Councillors in Toronto have voted to declare homelessness an emergency in the city and are urging higher levels of government to help them respond to the situation.

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The city notes that the declaration - which is similar to ones made by Hamilton and Fort Erie - does not trigger any immediate additional funds or resources from other levels of government.

The move comes as Toronto's shelter system has come under significant pressure.

City councillors have also voted to lower the threshold for when warming centres will be opened for those seeking shelter.

This past winter, warming centres opened when temperatures dipped to -15 C, or -20 C in Toronto - that would change to -5 C next winter or when freezing rain, snow or storm warnings are issued.

But the city says it won't be able to operate warming centres from Jan. 1, 2024 onwards without additional funding, and council has approved a recommendation to request $5 million from the federal and provincial governments.

Toronto Public Health supported a city staff recommendation earlier this year to lower the threshold to open warming centres, and advocates have long criticized the current temperature criteria as cruel and arbitrary.

City council also voted to urge the provincial and federal governments to add $20 million to the Canada-Ontario Housing Benefit. The rent supplement pays the difference between 30 per cent of the recipient's household income and the average market rent in the area.

A city staff report had estimated an extra $20 million could help transition upwards of 1,600 people from the shelter system into rental market housing.

Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie said the city needs help from other levels of government to address homelessness.

"We are doing everything we can as a City government to help people experiencing homelessness," she wrote in a statement.

"I thank our partners in other orders of government for previous commitments that have been honoured, but more needs to be done together."

Toronto has repeatedly asked the other levels of government for help covering a nearly $1-billion shortfall in the city's 2023 fiscal plan, in part tied to increases in pandemic-related shelter costs, but no bailout was included in the recent provincial or federal budgets.

1. MCCAUGHEY: Making homelessness a valid lifestyle choice is wrong

2. LILLEY: Saunders calls Toronto's push to decriminalize all drugs wrong

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Toronto declares homelessness an emergency, urges provincial, federal funding

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TORONTO - Councillors in Toronto have voted to declare homelessness an emergency in the city and are urging higher levels of government to help them respond to the situation. Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

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Data shows gun ownership in the US has grown over the last several years

Gun violence is a fixture in American life - but the issue is a highly political one, pitting gun control advocates against people who are fiercely protective of their right to bear arms.

We've looked into some of the numbers behind firearms in the US.

Mass shootings on the rise

There have been more than 560 mass shootings across the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed. Their figures include shootings that happen in homes and in public places.

For each of the last three years there have been more than 600 mass shootings - almost two a day on average.

The deadliest such attack, in Las Vegas in 2017, killed more than 50 people and left 500 wounded. The vast majority of mass shootings, however, leave fewer than 10 people dead.

How do US gun deaths break down?

48,830 people died from gun-related injuries in the US during 2021, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

That's nearly an 8% increase from 2020, which was a record-breaking year for firearm deaths.

While mass shootings and gun murders (homicides) generally garner much media attention, more than half of the total in 2021 were suicides.

That year, more than 20,000 of the deaths were homicides, according to the CDC.

Data shows more than 50 people are killed each day by a firearm in the US.

That's a significantly larger proportion of homicides than is the case in Canada, Australia, England and Wales, and many other countries.

How many guns are there in the US?

While calculating the number of guns in private hands around the world is difficult, the latest figures from the Small Arms Survey - a Swiss-based research project - estimated that there were 390 million guns in circulation in the US in 2018.

The US ratio of 120.5 firearms per 100 residents, up from 88 per 100 in 2011, far surpasses that of other countries around the world.

More recent data out of the US suggests that gun ownership grew significantly over the last few years. A study, published by the Annals of Internal Medicine in February, found that 7.5 million US adults became new gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021.

This, in turn, exposed 11 million people to firearms in their homes, including 5 million children. About half of new gun owners in that time period were women, while 40% were either black or Hispanic.

Who supports gun control?

A majority of Americans are in favour of gun control.

57% of Americans surveyed said they wanted stricter gun laws - although this fell last year - according to polling by Gallup.

32% said the laws should remain the same, while 10% of people surveyed said they should be "made less strict".

The issue is extremely divisive, falling largely along party lines.

"Democrats are nearly unanimous in their support for stricter gun laws," another Gallup study noted, with nearly 91% in favour of stricter gun laws.

Only 24% Republicans, on the other hand, agreed with the same statement, along with 45% of Independent voters.

Some states have taken steps to ban or strictly regulate ownership of assault weapons. Laws vary by state but California, for example, has banned ownership of assault weapons with limited exceptions.

Some controls are widely supported by people across the political divide - such as restrictions governing the sale of guns to people who are mentally ill or on "watch" lists.

Who opposes gun control?

Despite years of financial woes and internal strife, the National Rifle Association (NRA) remains the most powerful gun lobby in the United States, with a substantial budget to influence members of Congress on gun policy.

Over the last several election cycles, it, and other organisations, have consistently spent more on pro-gun rights messaging than their rivals in the gun control lobby.

A number of states have also gone as far as to largely eliminate restrictions on who can carry a gun. In June 2021, for example, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a "permitless carry bill" that allows the state's residents to carry handguns without a licence or training.

Similarly, in April last year Georgia became the 25th in the nation to eliminate the need for a permit to conceal or openly carry a firearm. The law means any citizen of that state has the right to carry a firearm without a licence or a permit.

The law was backed by the NRA, and leaders within the organisation called the move "a monumental moment for the Second Amendment".

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How many US mass shootings have there been in 2023?

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Explaining some of the key statistics behind gun ownership and attacks linked to guns in the US.

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The federal government's 2023 budget unveiled investments in infrastructure, with a narrative highlighting resilient and sustainable communities, and pointing to Ottawa's progress and investments to date.

The budget is focused on building communities through infrastructure, housing, transit and connectivity. Much of this emphasizes investments made since 2015, including $33.5 billion to the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, and $35 billion to the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

Funding critical infrastructure

The budget's investments include funding advanced research in infrastructure innovation, and continuing to invest in Canada's Infrastructure Bank and Infrastructure Program.

The bank will play a leading role in electrification as part of the government's push for clean power. This will likely position the bank as the government's primary financing tool for major electrification projects.

Budget 2023 also commits to engaging with provinces and territories to revise procurement policies to ensure they benefit Canadian workers and build resilient supply chains. There are also investments in port, air and other critical transportation infrastructure.

We know that Canada's infrastructure is at risk. Federal infrastructure investments can help to take financial pressure off municipalities that are faced with massive funding shortfalls in addressing their infrastructure concerns. With the population expected to grow, infrastructure will continue to be stressed and will struggle to keep up without proper funding.

Budget 2023 provides no new major funds for what is considered essential community infrastructure: roads, water, wastewater and other infrastructure assets. Unlike electrification and connectivity - many aspects of Canada's infrastructure gap remain relegated to low-priority status.

More investment is needed to address critical infrastructure gaps, but these are investments that Canadians may not be ready to make. Previous budgets have focused on short-term infrastructure investments as an economic stimulus, which doesn't support the long-term view infrastructure requires.

Canada's infrastructure gap

A 2013 report on Canada's infrastructure gap highlighted the chronic issues in infrastructure investments, including the notion that infrastructure remains a political hot potato.

Between the late 1950s and mid 2000s, public investment in infrastructure decreased from around three per cent of GDP to 1.5 per cent, though it began to rise again in 2010.

During this same period, there was a significant shift in terms of who carries the burden of investing in infrastructure from the federal government, with a large revenue base, to municipalities who have the smallest revenue base.

Canada's infrastructure deficit is at minimum estimated at $150 billion.

Local governments bear much of the additional infrastructure costs related to extreme events, climate change mitigation and adaptation.

In 2013, floods caused around $3 billion in damage in southern Alberta and Toronto. The cost of rebuilding in British Columbia after 2021 flooding has reached nearly $9 billion. The annual cost of natural disasters in Canada could be up to $139 billion by 2050.

Internationally, governments are struggling with the same issues. From U.S. President Joe Biden's $1 trillion infrastructure bill to China's infrastructure investments, infrastructure demand remains a constant across international communities from large to small.

But the question remains, where and how should we invest? And more importantly, what do you do when too few people seem to pay attention? North Americans have an imbalanced relationship with infrastructure, and our understanding of priority and need. We care less about infrastructure investments when we can't see the direct benefits.

What we see in the 2023 budget is a careful dance. The government needs to show it's making investments in infrastructure without further stretching public finances or making the tough choices that our dilapidated infrastructure requires.

No political party is protected from the curse of the infrastructure deficit - and there are no winners in the game of infrastructure funding. What it does require, is that we all collectively take responsibility. This means dealing with public spending deficits, even if that means paying more taxes. And strengthening our relationship with infrastructure and our collective understanding of the role that it plays in our daily lives.

Governments will need to take on additional costs, and individuals will need to learn to accept that improving our communities costs money. We all need to learn that the connection between infrastructure and our well-being is closer than we think.

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Federal budget 2023: Long-term investments are needed to fix Canada's infrastructure gap

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The federal government's 2023 budget unveiled investments in infrastructure, with a narrative highlighting resilient and sustainable communities, and pointing to Ottawa's progress and investments to date. The budget is focused on building communities through infrastructure, housing, transit and connectivity.

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As the trial for members of the group, the Proud Boys, charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues, new research shows the number of right-wing groups has increased threefold in Canada since 2015.

It comes nearly two years after the Proud Boys was named a terrorist entity in Canada.

David Hoffman, associate professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick, tells CityNews he'll be watching the trial closely.

"The far-right climate here in Canada is very much tied to the American context and the results of what happens with the American judicial system, with the Proud Boys, is likely going to have ramifications here in Canada. What those ramifications are, I'm not sure, but myself and my colleagues always keep an ear out to this type of chatter."

Prosecutors have alleged that members of the Proud Boys carried out a coordinated attack on the Capitol in a desperate attempt to keep Trump in power.

It is expected to be one of the most consequential cases to emerge from the U.S. Justice Department's sprawling Jan. 6 investigation.

The Proud Boys was started in the U.S. by co-founder of Vice News and Canadian Gavin McInnis in 2016. The group gained even more notoriety following the "Unite the Right" riot in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.

"They are a dimension of alt-right agitators who embrace toxic masculinity, white supremacist, and far right extremists' views," explained Hoffman.

The group became known in Canada after a number of self-identified Proud Boys, who were also members of the Royal Canadian Navy, disrupted an Indigenous Protest in Halifax in 2017.

"The Canadian connection is fairly amorphous and loose in the sense that they're ideologically inspired by the Proud Boys, they like to think they're connected ... Like many far-right movements, they liked what they heard in the United States or began to mimic what they saw in the United States," said Hoffman.

Hoffman has been studying the actions of far-right groups in Canada for the last three years as a part of a project for Public Safety Canada.

Since the Proud Boy's terrorist designation in 2021, Hoffman said they technically don't exist on paper in Canada, having officially dissolved in May of the same year. The designation made it illegal to support a terrorist group materially or financially and gives the government power to freeze and seize assets.

"What essentially means is it hobbles their ability to raise funds and their ability to connect with others that may believe the same thing as they do," Hoffman explained.

He said those who were "hard-core members" of the group have splintered off and joined some of the smaller alt-right groups.

According to Hoffman's findings, the number of right-wing groups in Canada have increased from between 80 and 100 groups in 2015 to 313 unique terrorist groups in 2021.

They also identified roughly 700 incidents over that five-year period associated with right-wing extremist activities, including a threefold increase between 2016 and 2017 alone.

"What we're seeing here in Canada is a function of what's happening globally with a remarkable increase in a right-wing extremist energy in organization and overall activity. And again, in Canada, we're just not immune to it. It's quite alarming," added Hoffman.

While not all 300 groups would meet the same "terrorism threshold" as the Proud Boys, according to Hoffman, these are groups that have a "highly committed adherence to right wing ideologies, who espouse white supremacist, ethnonationalist, racist, and xenophobic points of view that are counter to Canadian values."

The terrorism threshold, according to Hoffman, is the difference between individuals and groups who are truly a threat to Canadian society and to public safety from those people who "talk the talk and don't walk the walk."

"That doesn't mean they aren't dangerous in this because they still are, think of it as kind of the petri dish from which violent extremism emerges," added Hoffman. "So, they're dangerous in the sense that they are incubators for this type of violence."

The million-dollar question, Hoffman said, is still how these groups are continuing to gain momentum.

"The way the winds are going in terms of academic consensus is that the climate has become more permissive, particularly post-2016, but this has been a slow creep over decades .... these types of fringe voices have become more mainstream."

Hearing former President Donald Trump referring to white supremacists in the aftermath of the Charlottesville incident as "good people," sent an "absolute wave of far-right energy," through Canada, according to Hoffman.

"When you have the leader of the free world saying, to white supremacists 'I'm on your side' or that's how they interpreted, it makes people feel less inhibited about sharing their reprehensible points of view."

Hoffman's research is expected to be submitted to Public Safety Canada soon at which point it will be made public.

If the accused are convicted in the U.S. trial, the Proud Boys members will be looking at significant time behind bars. A seditious conspiracy charge alone comes with a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

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Two years after Proud Boys terrorist designation, over 300 right-wing groups identified in Canada | CityNews Ottawa

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As the trial for members of the group, the Proud Boys, charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues, new research shows the number of right-wing groups has increased threefold in Canada since 2015. It comes nearly two years after the Proud Boys was named a terrorist entity in Canada.

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Canada has failed to address several human rights concerns regarding safe drinking water on First Nation reserves and violence against Indigenous women, according to the Human Rights Watch.

In its 2023 World Report released Wednesday, the organization said widespread abuses against Indigenous Peoples "persist" across Canada caused by "decades of structural and systemic discrimination."

The report outlines the lack of access to clean, safe drinking water in Indigenous communities in one of the world's "most water-rich nations" that has continued to "pose a major public health concern" despite the Canadian government's promise to end all drinking water advisories on First Nations reserves by 2021.

As of Jan. 5, there are 33 long-term drinking water advisories - warnings issued to caution people against drinking water that may be unsafe or is known to not be safe based on water quality test results - in effect across 29 communities, according to Indigenous Services Canada.

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Drinking water advisories that last for more than one year are deemed as long-term, which include three types of drinking water advisories: boil water advisories, "do not consume advisories" and "do not use" advisories.

In April 2022, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said she hopes Canada will be able to lift its remaining long-term drinking water advisories by 2025.

An $8 billion settlement agreement between the federal government and certain First Nations includes approximately $1.5 billion in compensation for individuals deprived of clean drinking water; $6 billion to support reliable access to safe drinking water on reserves; and the creation of a $400-million First Nation Economic and Cultural Restoration Fund.

The settlement agreement also include commitments such as support for First Nations to develop their own safe drinking water bylaws and initiatives, and the modernization of Canada's First Nations drinking water legislation.

The Human Rights Watch report also says that Indigenous women and gender-diverse people have been facing discrimination and violence in Canada.

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Citing a Statistics Canada report released last year, the organization said 81 per cent of Indigenous women who were under foster care, group home under child protection, or under any child welfare services had been physically or sexually assaulted in their lifetime.

The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), which was held from Sept. 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019, examined the systemic causes of all forms of violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada.

In response to the MMIWG report's findings, the federal government promised a series of "transformative changes" in June 2021 and released another National Action Plan in 2022.

However, a 2022 assessment by the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC) deemed the government's performance a "failure."

In it report card, the NWAC said although the federal government directed $2.2 billion over five years to address the issue, "the commitments outlined in the plan were not separately costed." NAWC added there is "little information about how those funds are being distributed and what concrete action is being achieved."

"The National Action Plan, as it was drafted, was actually a recipe for inaction, and the people represented by our organization are paying the price," said Lynne Groulx, NWAC's CEO in the assessment.

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Besides Indigenous rights, Canada has also violated the rights of other marginalized groups including detained migrants, people with disabilities and older people, according to Human Rights Watch.

In addition, the report also accuses Canada of ignoring abuses by Canadian mining communities.

"The government of Prime Minister Trudeau has not taken adequate steps to ensure that Canadian authorities exercise meaningful oversight of Canadian extractive companies operating abroad," it said.

In April 2019, the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) was set up to review complaints about possible human rights abuses by Canadian companies working in overseas garment, mining, and oil and gas sectors.

According to the report, the CORE still "does not have the authority or independence required to effectively investigate claims of wrongdoing or compel documents and witness testimony."

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- with files from The Canadian Press

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Violence against Indigenous Peoples persists across Canada: Human Rights Watch - National | Globalnews.ca

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The report states that the lack of access to clean, safe drinking water in Indigenous communities has continued to "pose a major public health concern."

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Roughly the same number told a poll they were fine with approving MAID for someone whose only affliction was poverty

One third of Canadians are apparently fine with prescribing assisting suicide for no other reason than the fact that the patient is poor or homeless.

The results were contained in a recent Research Co. poll probing just how comfortable Canadians were with the current state of the country's MAID (medical assistance in dying) regime.

Starting in March 2021, Canada became one of only a handful of countries to legalize assisted suicide even in instances where a patient does not have a terminal illness. Ever since, a Canadian can be approved for MAID simply for having a "grievous and irremediable medical condition."

Research Co. found that 73 per cent of poll respondents favoured the current regime, and only 16 per cent opposed it.

Pollsters also found not-insignificant numbers of Canadians who favoured assisted suicide in cases where no medical condition of any kind was present.

This Canadian woman wanted assisted suicide for depression. Then ketamine saved her
If a Canadian's only affliction was "poverty," 27 per cent said they would be fine with legalizing that person's access to MAID. Another 28 per cent pegged "homelessness" as an appropriate bar to qualify for MAID.

And 20 per cent of respondents were fine with MAID being handed out to anybody for any reason. In other words, one fifth of respondents agreed with the sentiment "medical assistance in dying should always be allowed, regardless of who requests it."

Notably, these most absolutist supporters of assisted suicide were pretty evenly distributed among age groups, regions and even political demographics: 20 per cent Conservatives, 20 per cent of NDPers and 22 per cent of Liberals were in the "always be allowed" camp.

One of the more controversial aspects of MAID has been a number of high-profile cases in which Canadians with serious illnesses opted for death only after years of failing to obtain proper medical care. The Research Co. poll found a slim majority of respondents who were fine with this, too; 51 per cent endorsed "inability to receive medical treatment" as sufficient reason for an assisted death.

It's not the first time that a poll has found significant numbers of Canadians willing to expand MAID well beyond its original purpose as a form of euthanasia for the terminally ill.

In February, an Angus Reid Institute poll similarly found 61 per cent of Canadians favouring the country's current MAID regime.

Canadian comfort with MAID may explain why it so quickly has become more widespread and liberalized than in almost any other jurisdiction offering legalized assisted suicide.

Canada is notable for its relative lack of checks on the procedure: MAID can be approved and administered by nurse practitioners whereas most countries require the approval of a physician. Canada is also experiencing a skyrocketing rate of MAID deaths well beyond anything experienced abroad.

While only 2,838 Canadians opted for assisted suicide in the first full year of legalized MAID after it became legal in June 2016, as of last count in 2021 that had risen to 10,064 - an increase of 32.4 per cent over just the year before.

The practice of referring or recommending assisted suicide has also spread well beyond the traditional boundaries of the health-care system. Notably, MAID is routinely practised within the Canadian prison system, despite similar measures proving deeply controversial in Belgium, a pioneer in assisted suicide legalization.

Nevertheless, a majority of respondents to both polls did show hesitancy when it came to Canada's eventual plan to extend assisted suicide to citizens whose only underlying condition is mental illness.

Just 31 per cent of Angus Red Institute respondents thought it was a good idea. Among Research Co. respondents, 43 per cent backed MAID for the mentally ill against 45 per cent who did not.

MAID for the mentally ill was supposed to become legal in March, but in one of the only instances of Canada pulling back on its rapid expansion of assisted suicide, that date was ultimately pushed forward into 2024 in order to "prepare for the safe and consistent assessment and provision of MAID in all cases."

The Research Co. poll surveyed 1,000 adults online between April 22 and 24. The data was statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures and Research Co. says the margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

1. Canada shouldn't deny assisted suicide if social conditions made life intolerable: bioethicists

2. 'My mind is completely shot': Why this transgender woman is seeking assisted suicide

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One third of Canadians fine with prescribing assisted suicide for homelessness

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Roughly the same number told a poll they were fine with approving MAID for someone whose only affliction was poverty One third of Canadians are apparently fine with prescribing assisting suicide for no other reason than the fact that the patient is poor or homeless. The results were contained in a recent Research Co.

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Ford’s plan to expand private clinics in Ontario will cost patients dearly, risk lives and significantly worsen staffing shortages, health care unions say

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Five major Ontario health care unions are calling on the Ford government to not move forward with its plan to siphon provincial funding from public hospital care and hand it to private, for-profit surgical clinics, a risky venture that will cost Ontarians dearly and damage access to public care.

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Summary: Ottawa will receive $24 million from the provincial government for an Ottawa Community Housing project. This funding was welcome after the city learned last month it would only receive $845,100 of the $190.5 million the Ontario government's Homelessness Prevention Program. The new funding will go toward a three-building complex that the City of Ottawa has already pledged millions to, and the original funding will be diverted to other houselessness and housing projects.

Why I shared: I shared this article because it is good news following the announcement last month about the funding Ottawa was to receive for our houselessness initiatives.

What I learned: I learned that the city had to lobby the government to receive this additional funding, and while I am happy that the government complied and gave us more funding, I am disappointed by their original assessment for our funding. As the second most-populated city in Ontario, with deeply-strained housing services and resources, I believe that we should have received more than 0.4% of the funding available for the province. I hope that the funding increase helps relieve some stress, but as others in the article noted, there is more funding needed.

Is there a bias?: I can see a slight bias since the article focuses on Ottawa and not other cities who may have been similarly shortchanged by the government funding, but I don't see a major bias in terms of the journalist pushing a particular opinion or worldview.

Do you agree with the content?: Yes, I agree with what the article discussed. I sort of answered this in the "What I learned" section already (oops), but the gist is that I agree with the government's decision to give Ottawa more funding but I also agree that it is not enough.

Is the source legitimate?: Yes it is, CBC is a very trustworthy source.

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The City of Ottawa has learned it will receive more than $24 million in provincial funding for an Ottawa Community Housing project, helping staff fill a surprise shortfall in its budget for tackling homelessness.

The mayor and city council expressed dismay last month after learning Ottawa would receive only $845,100 of the $190.5 million in new money for homelessness under the Homelessness Prevention Program - a paltry 0.4 per cent increase that's far below money given to other municipalities, especially in northeastern Ontario.

It was also far less than city staff had expected.

More than a month later, after the mayor had several talks with Ontario Premier Doug Ford and other provincial officials, a solution: a contribution for an Ottawa Community Housing project at Wateridge Village that the City of Ottawa had pledged to spend millions on.

"Normally we would get somewhere in the range of $16 to 18 million and this is more than that, so I think it shows commitment on the part of the province," Sutcliffe told CBC.

"We're grateful for the fact that they found a solution and that we have some more resources now that we can put to good use in addressing homelessness in our community."

Housing minister, mayor herald cooperation

The new funding will go toward a three-building complex that's currently being constructed on the site of the former CFB Rockcliffe lot and will help to underwrite the cost of up to 138 affordable housing units, the province said at a Wednesday news conference.

The City of Ottawa will then divert its previously committed funding to other projects under the homelessness and housing umbrella.

Sutcliffe said the announcement came as a result of "productive and healthy dialogue" between the city and the province. Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Steve Clark likewise described "good conversations" and quipped that he's now spoken more with Sutcliffe than any other mayor but his own.

"It's an important step in our ongoing discussion about fair and appropriate funding for homelessness prevention," Sutcliffe said.

The funding will only make up for the current shortfall, meaning there will need to be further discussions about how to ensure Ottawa doesn't face the same issue in the future.

"I don't think he's going to stop calling me," Clark joked. "I'm a realist. I think we're going to continue this."

Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster said this sort of funding is a "big deal" that could help the city address a critical and overwhelming need.

But, she added, it raises a "frustrating" funding issue that routinely forces Ottawa to go "cap-in-hand" to the province.

Ontario defended decision

The announcement does not change Ottawa's original allocation under the Homelessness Prevention Program, which will see the city get a total of $48,464,600 annually for a three-year period starting April 1, 2023.

When Ottawa raised concerns about the initial funding shortfall, the Ontario government said it was meant to balance out a previous overpayment.

Sutcliffe and city staff then began a public campaign, which led Clark to send a letter explaining the province's decision and pointing to concerns raised by the province's auditor general.

He wrote that a 2021 audit had revealed previous funding allocations had been outdated and sometimes lacked the data to justify decisions on spending.

"The revised funding model ensures that all Ontario residents will have equal access to the province's substantially increased homelessness prevention funding, rather than advantaging any one community at the expense of the others," Clark wrote on April 28.

Complex housing needs

Running Ontario's second most populous city, municipal staff were unconvinced and said the money was needed to tackle the increasingly complex housing crisis.

Ottawa's shelters are over-capacity and under particular strain, staff said, and the inadequate provincial funding would add to the pressure. A quarter of those in shelter are newcomers to Canada, staff said.

Homeless families are a particular concern. The City of Ottawa has three times more families in need of shelter than the units it has available, and 300 families are currently in overflow spaces in motels, as well as post-secondary buildings.

That includes 21 homeless families deemed large, with seven or more people, and require larger units that are hard to find.

Meanwhile, 11,065 households were waiting on the city's centralized list for subsidized housing at the end of 2022, which had only seen 1,230 households find a home over the course of the year.

Just hours before the mayor learned the city would receive more funding, the city's director of housing services Paul Lavigne had outlined the need to get people out of shelters and in homes during a meeting of the community services committee.

"If people are housed, we want to do everything we can to keep them housed. Because this is not a friendly housing market," said Lavigne.

Councillors approved the city's investment plan on Wednesday and gave Lavigne discretion on how to spend any additional provincial funding.

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New funding lets City of Ottawa shore up homelessness shortfall | CBC News

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The City of Ottawa has learned it will receive more than $24 million in provincial funding for an Ottawa Community Housing project, helping staff fill a surprise shortfall in its budget for tackling homelessness.