Monthly Archives: September 2021

MONTREAL, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, struggling ahead of a Sept. 20 election, came under concerted fire at a debate on Thursday from opponents who said he had no business calling an election during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trudeau and the leaders of three other parties took part in a sometimes heated two-hour French language debate, often speaking over each other. But unlike previous encounters, none of the four appeared to land a knock-out blow.

Trudeau triggered the vote last month just two years into a four-year mandate, saying Canadians needed to decide whether the Liberal government was right to spend billions of dollars to protect people and businesses from the pandemic.

Trudeau's ruling Liberals had a minority government, which left him dependent on other parties to govern. Surveys show that the Liberals' early big lead has vanished, leaving them neck and neck with the Conservatives of Erin O'Toole.

"We can work to do big things during a pandemic but we need a clear mandate ... to understand what Canadians want for the next years," Trudeau said.

"This is not the time for an election, during a pandemic," O'Toole retorted. Yves-Francois Blanchet, leader of the separatist Bloc Quebecois, then told Trudeau that the Parliament could easily have lasted four years.

A few minutes later Trudeau said that if he only obtained another minority there could be another election in 18 months' time, which would make it the eighth federal vote in 19 years.

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-leaning New Democrats, said after the debate that Trudeau's remark showed he did not want to work with other parties. The Liberals often relied on the New Democrats for support in the last two years.

Canada's Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attends the "Face-a-Face2021" French language election debate at TVA studios in Montreal September 2, 2021. Martin Chevalier/Le Journal de Montreal/POOL via REUTERS

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The debate - the first of three - took part in Montreal, the largest city in the influential and predominantly French-speaking province of Quebec.

Liberal insiders say public unhappiness with the election, which is taking place two years early, is partly responsible for the party's slow start.

They also cite voter fatigue with Trudeau, who took power in late 2015 and retained office with a minority in 2019.

Quebec accounts for 78 of the 338 seats in the House of Commons and is crucial for any party seeking office.

The four leaders spent considerable time discussing Quebec matters, including a 2019 law on secularism which bans public employees from wearing religious symbols such as hijabs and turbans on the job.

Polls show the law - currently being challenged in the Quebec courts - is popular. But critics denounce it as racist and Trudeau said he would if necessary be prepared to challenge it federally, which could cost him political support.

O'Toole made clear that as prime minister he would not act.

The debates can be decisive. During the 2019 TVA debate, Trudeau and other leaders accused then-Conservative leader Andrew Scheer of plotting curbs on abortion. Scheer became flustered and his campaign never recovered.

Next week the Canadian Broadcasting Corp will host an English and a French debate.

Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Cooney and Michael Perry

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Canada's Trudeau on defensive over election call, few big blows landed at first debate - Reuters

Also: Idol star David Archuleta reveals why he came out as LGBTQ.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaks to faculty at Brigham Young University on Aug. 23, 2021.

| Sep. 2, 2021, 2:18 p.m.

| Updated: Sep. 3, 2021, 4:39 a.m.

These are excerpts from our free Mormon Land newsletter, a weekly highlight reel of developments in and about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Want the full newsletter in your inbox? Subscribe here. You also can support Mormon Land with a donation at Patreon.com/mormonland, where you can access, among other exclusive gifts and content, transcripts of our Mormon Land podcasts.

More than a week after its delivery, apostle Jeffrey Hollands talk at Brigham Young University continues to generate buzz online and offline, in public and in private.

To help you better understand the push-and-pull dynamics on campus that may have played a role in the church leaders remarks, here is a primer with links to some past Salt Lake Tribune stories:

Mere weeks after BYU quietly removes a section on homosexual behavior from its Honor Code, the church does an about-face and loudly proclaims that dating, holding hands with or kissing people of the same sex remains stricly forbidden at the school.

In a major exemption from its Honor Code, BYU allows same-sex couples to dance together for a national ballroom dance competition on the Provo campus.

A grassroots campaign seeks to rename the Abraham O. Smoot Administration Building, noting that the schools 19th-century benefactor owned slaves, and other campus landmarks that bear the moniker of church leaders with racist views.

Apostle Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the governing First Presidency, delivers a major address at BYU, declaring Black lives matter is an eternal truth all reasonable people should support.

A whos who of conservative Latter-day Saint thinkers sign a Radical Orthodoxy Manifesto, seeking middle ground on orthodoxy while remaining true to the faiths core teachings, including those outlined in the so-called family proclamation.

Making a rainbow connection, students shine a light on LGBTQ issues at BYU by lighting up the mountainside Y above the Provo campus in rainbow colors.

The school shifts its hiring practices for religious education, putting more emphasis on faith-building and less on academic scholarship.

BYU issues an in-depth report from its Committee on Race, Equity and Belonging, revealing widespread and significant concerns about the mistreatment of minority students at the churchs flagship university.

Discussions, debates and disputes intensify among students and alumni, donors and detractors, faculty and administrators, conservatives and progressives about whether BYU is becoming too liberal, especially on race, religious and political issues.

DezNat foot soldiers the loosely aligned, self-appointed Twitter troops taking upon themselves the duty to defend church teachings target their social media barrages at progressive BYU faculty and LGBTQ students.

This much is certain: All eyes and ears will be on Holland next month when he steps to the podium at General Conference.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) David Archuleta performs at the inauguration of Gov. Spencer Cox at Tuacahn Center for the Arts in Ivins on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. In a recent "Today" interview, the singer talks about why he came out as LGBTQ.

When American Idol alum David Archuleta came out publicly in June about his LGBTQ orientation, he says, he did so with Gods blessing.

Just before the Latter-day Saint pop singer hit send on his revealing Instagram post, which has more than 178,000 likes, he prayed.

When I had that prayer, God just said, David, you know I trust you, right? I want you to post about what youre going through right now. And it was just so clear what I needed to say, Archuleta told Today. I knew exactly what I needed to say, but I feel uncomfortable saying it because I like to keep to myself, especially with this kind of stuff. But I just knew I had to.

Maybe you want to know what others are saying about Hollands address, or how the star of a 1940 Hollywood movie about Brigham Young later converted to Mormonism. If so, click here to receive this and more newsletter items free in your email each week.

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Latest from Mormon Land: The conflicting forces at BYU that may have led to Jeffrey Holland's talk - Salt Lake Tribune

But as with many other Democratic priorities, from voting rights to LGBTQ equality, the best hope for passing a bill codifying the right to an abortion would be eliminating the filibuster and allowing legislation to pass with a simple majority. But this is also an unlikely scenario, given the public opposition by Manchin and Senator Kyrsten Sinema to ending the practice, as well as private concerns by several other Democratic senators. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer promised in a tweet on Tuesday that Democrats will fight against [the Texas law] and for Roe v. Wade but declined to offer specifics about how that battle would be waged.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin announced on Friday that the committee would hold a hearing to examine not just the constitutional impact of allowing the Texas law to take effect, but also the conservative Courts abuse of the shadow docketbut holding a hearing does not amount to taking legislative action.

Progressives in Congress and outside advocacy groups have put pressure on moderate Democrats to eliminate the filibuster. Jayapal, DeGette, and Lee said in their statement that they urge the Senate to do whatever is necessary to send it to the Presidents desk. Chu wrote on Twitter that step one to protecting the right to an abortion is ending the filibuster. The Progressive Caucus said in a tweet that its the filibuster or reproductive freedom.

The fact is Dems CAN act now to protect our democracy, voting rights, integrity of our courts, and end minority rule. The Dem Senators in the way need to get on board. The stakes are too high. We must end the filibuster, expand the court, stop dark money & protect voting rights, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Tuesday.

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The Filibuster Is Blocking Roe v. Wade From Becoming the Law of the Land - The New Republic

Nova Scotia's new minister of natural resources and renewables said Thursday he wants to know more about the process the former Liberal government used to remove the pending protection status from a piece of Crown land so it could be considered for sale to a private developer.

"We don't agree with how things rolled out with the previous government," Tory Rushton told reporters following a cabinet meeting.

Still, Rushton stopped short of saying the new Progressive Conservative government would cancel the potential sale of what's known as Owls Head provincial park to an American couple.

The couple, Beckwith and Kitty Gilbert, want to develop the 285 hectares, along with adjacent property they own in the Little Harbour area, to build up to three golf courses, housing and tourist accommodations.

"I haven't been fully briefed on this whole file yet," said Rushton. "That's something that is ongoing with other ministers and the premier, as well,right now."

Rushton said the process to gather that information started Wednesday and will continue.

The former Liberal government quietly delisted the land in 2019 so it could enter into an agreement to potentially sell the land to a company called Lighthouse Links, which is owned by the Gilberts.

Opponents to the move have condemned what they see asthe secretive approach the former Liberal government used, and that the kind of development the Gilberts are proposing would destroy a sensitive andglobally rare ecosystem.

Supporters of the project, meanwhile, say it would create much-needed economic development and jobs.

Before the provincial cabinet can ultimately make a decision on whether to sell the land, the Gilberts must engage in public consultation using a plan the government must first approve, as well as satisfy all requirements under provincial environmental regulations.

NDP Leader Gary Burrill said the Tories should simply cancel the potential sale.

"I think the government needs to send a signal in this moment of the twin emergencies of biodiversity and climate change, that it understands that this is at the top of the order paper, that conservation is not some peripheral matter, a sidebar," he said.

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Provincial government reviewing process used to delist Owls Head provincial park - CBC.ca

Mayoral hopeful Andrea Campbell painted herself as the only candidate without ties to the citys influential development industry, while also calling on Acting Mayor Kim Janey to enact an eviction moratorium.

Im the only candidate that actually does not have any ties whatsoever to anyone in the development community, Campbell said at a press conference Monday.

She was likely referring to her mayoral rival Annissa Essaibi-George, whose husband is a real estate developer in Boston.

Other candidates, including Janey, John Barros and Essaibi-Georges husband, are landlords, and Michelle Wus husband works in the commercial real estate industry. Campbell later clarified that she has no personal ties to development, including through family.

A Boston Herald analysis conducted in July found that Janey raked in about $100,000 from developers since March, while Essaibi-George raised over $80,000 from developers in that same time period. Rounding out the group was Barros, who took in the next-highest chunk relative to his total earnings, at over $34,000. Campbell raised about $32,000 out of $588,000 from developers, while Wu raised $19,000 out of $606,000.

On Tuesday, Campbell also called on Janey to enact an eviction moratorium in Boston, as neighboring cities like Cambridge, Somerville and Malden have done.

Last week, the Supreme Court struck down the existing federal moratorium put in place by the Centers for Disease Control, saying that it was an overreach by the CDC and that Congress must specifically authorize it themselves.

The state-level eviction moratorium in Massachusetts was not renewed by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Campbell also called for a faster disbursement of rental assistance. A release by her office stated that out of over $50 million in rental assistance available to Boston renters, only $16 million has been distributed to over 3,000 families in the city as of earlier this month.

She added that as mayor, she wants to provide better resources to the Office of Housing Stability, permanently fund the citys Rental Relief Fund and create a workforce housing voucher program to cut down on the Housing Authoritys waiting lists, among other programs.

The latest poll of the mayoral candidates shows Wu leading with 24% of the vote, Essaibi-George in second with 18%, Janey at 16%, Campbell at 14% and Barros with 2%. A quarter of likely voters are still up for grabs.

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Andrea Campbell touts independence from developer influence, advocates for Boston eviction moratorium - Boston Herald

TORONTO -- As affordability becomes a key topic during the federal election campaign for all major parties, the news that the Canadian economy contracted in the second quarter is bad for both the Liberals and the Conservatives, according to pollster Nik Nanos.

On Tuesday, Statistics Canada reported that the economy contracted at an annualized rate of 1.1 per cent between April and June the first quarterly contraction since the first COVID-19 wave lockdowns in 2020. To make matters worse, the agency also estimated another drop in real gross domestic product in July.

The news yesterday that the economy had shrank would not be good for any incumbent government, Nanos said on Wednesdays edition of CTV's Trend Line podcast. The last thing that you want is for the numbers to come out and to suggest that the economy is shrinking.

Nanos said the Liberals called the election when they did because they were hoping to capitalize on good will from the Canadian public for their handling of the pandemic and the supply of COVID-19 vaccines they procured while getting ahead of future concerns about the economy related to the pandemic.

This GDP number is bad for the Liberals, he said. It undermines one of the key pillars that they were hoping would be in place.

This latest news also wont help to restore Canadians faith in the economy, according to Nanos, who said the population is already feeling grumpy about it. He said the latest weekly Bloomberg-Nanos tracking on consumer confidence shows that.

According to the data, 37 per cent of Canadians believe the economy will get stronger (down seven percentage points from four weeks earlier), while 30 per cent believe the economy will get weaker, and about 20 per cent believe there will be no change.

The trend in terms of consumer confidence has been dropping over the last couple of weeks and couple that with a drop or shrinking of the economy and the GDP, it is basically a one-two punch in terms of creating negativity, anxiety and concern among Canadians when it comes to the economy, Nanos said.

And while the shrinking economy spells trouble for the Liberals, Nanos said the Conservatives wont fare much better thanks to their dependence on economic growth in their platform. According to the plan, the Conservatives would be able to balance the budget without any cuts within 10 years.

However, the plan hinges on the assumption that there will be an annual GDP growth of roughly three per cent, which some economists believe is unrealistic, Nanos said.

These GDP numbers dont help [Conservative Leader] Erin OToole because if the economy is shrinking, and your fiscal plan is based on the economy growing, its hard to reconcile those two things, at least for average voters, Nanos said.

OToole will need to defend his platform in order to maintain the mini advantage he has over Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in Nanos Researchs latest nightly tracking conducted for CTV News and the Globe and Mail, which was released on Wednesday morning.

According to the data, the Conservatives are leading with 33.7 per cent support, followed by the Liberals with 31 per cent, and the NDP with 20.3 per cent. The other parties trail significantly behind with the Bloc Quebecois at 6.8 per cent, the Peoples Party of Canada at 4.1 per cent, and the Greens at 3.5 per cent.

In terms of who Canadians prefer for their next prime minister, Trudeau has a slight lead with 29.2 per cent support, followed by OToole with 28.4 per cent, and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh at 19.2 per cent. PPC Leader Maxime Bernier has 4.9 per cent support, just ahead of BQ Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, and Green Leader Annamie Paul.

The economy, and more specifically housing affordability, is also a main topic of concern for Canadians living in the vote-rich Greater Toronto Area, Nanos said.

According to polling data commissioned by CTV News and CP24 that was released on Tuesday, housing is the number one priority for voters living in Toronto and the surrounding area and one that all parties will have to address if they want to win votes there.

More than four out of every 10 residents in the GTA unprompted, which means when they could say whatever they wanted, identify housing as their as their top concern, Nanos said.

What was it that one American strategist said, It's the economy, stupid? Nanos said. That's probably what GTA residents want to say to any politician from any stripe, It's housing, stupid.

And although Toronto and the GTA are traditionally a Liberal stronghold, Nanos said it was interesting that when residents were asked who best understands the issues in their area, it was a three-way tie between Trudeau, OToole, and Singh.

That means that there's also opportunity not just for Erin O'Toole, but for Jagmeet Singh. He's got a good brand. His brand is exceptionally strong among under 35s in the in the GTA and if he can get young people to get out and vote, it can be a bit of a game changer for him, he said.

A national random telephone survey (land- and cellular-line sample using live agents) of 1,200 Canadians is conducted by Nanos Research throughout the campaign over a three-day period. Each evening a new group of 400 eligible voters are interviewed. The daily tracking figures are based on a three-day rolling sample comprising 1,200 interviews. To update the tracking a new day of interviewing Is added and the oldest day dropped. The margin of error for a survey of 1,200 respondents is 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The respondent sample is stratified geographically and by gender. The data may be weighted by age according to data from the 2016 Canadian Census administered by Statistics Canada. Percentages reported may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

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Shrinking economy bad news for both Liberals and Conservatives: Nanos - CTV News

The "good Muslim, bad Muslim" debate is back, not surprisingly, yet again with Naseeruddin Shah's recent viral video on the Taliban's re-emergence to power, and condemnation of a certain section of Indian Muslims who seem to be in a celebratory mood after the Taliban's victory in Afghanistan for the second time.

It is widely known that every culture has a tangible essence, and that does not exclude politics.

In America, the churning and 'othering' largely started in the post 9/11 world.

In India, the minorities have lived with this 'othering' since Independence and the Partition of 1947.

Back in college, a roommate of mine had asked me this question: Saira, when there's an India-Pakistan match, whom do you cheer for? Taking it as a deep affront, as if my father, who was then serving in the Indian Army and everything that my family or I could ever stand for, stood decimated, the shadow of being from the 'minority' community always hung on the head like the sword of Damocles.

The quest of belonging and being orphaned in your own country is a paradox every Muslim in the country is grappling with today, 75 years after Independence, the question of identity being the moot question.

ALSO READ | Taliban claim they have 'right' to speak for Muslims in Kashmir

The innate desire to 'belong' is so deep-rooted that many a time, progressive and educated Muslims wear a veneer of being holier than the Pope and think that belittling their own community might earn them some brownie points with the Hindu-right.

They are everywhere -- some are TV anchors, some are spokespersons of a political party, some are prominent influencers. Their 'redeeming' comes from their bash a Muslim a day chore.

A liberal Muslim is not an isolated animal. Islam is far from being monolithic, though it's often presented and implied as homogenous. The Islamic faith today can be subjected to various interpretations by multiple believers who practise the faith according to multiple interpretations. Perhaps we can seek some uncomfortable truths by studying the divergence amongst variants of Islam, but labelling a religion as one that harbours or promotes extremism or intolerance is plain and simple libel and slander to achieve a political end.

One's equation with the maker is deeply personal. How many rozas one keeps is no one's business. It's between the individual and God.

Does that make one a lesser Muslim?

ALSO READ | Dateline Afghanistan: Meet the warlords even the Taliban fear

Many can identify with a religion's culture but choose not to participate in its rituals at all.

Others can denounce the religion they were born in or choose to adopt a completely different faith.

I have always believed that true spirituality transcends ritual mores of a faith.

A Hindustani Muslim means imbibing the good of both Hinduism and Islam, and discarding all that one deems regressive and parochial.

Is one being selective and elitist here? Maybe, but then that's one of the reasons our forefathers chose to stay back in India -- to cherish these same values. If they fancied the 'shariat', they would have migrated to Pakistan or any other Islamic nation a long time ago.

I have often been asked this question-how Muslim am I? Oh! So you don't drink alcohol or eat pork? That means you are still not that 'liberal' as you claim to be. As if consuming alcohol and 'pork' are the only two denominators to progress and liberty.

ALSO READ | How I predicted Kabuls fall two months before Ghani escaped

Contrary to what people believe, Islam is NOT a monolithic faith. Over 1,400 years in the various lands where Islam was practiced, these perspectives and practises differ because of the diversity within the Muslim community depending on the geography, ethnicity, culture and age.

The Muslim is a great many things depending on your perspective. Compassion and mercy-the core values of being a Muslim. A Muslim is anyone who calls himself/herself a Muslim that includes the secular liberal Muslims also.

One who can surrender to a force greater than himself/herself is the essence of Islam.

So, where do Muslims who bash radical forces from both sides of the fence go?

The moment a prominent Muslim takes a stand on the lynching of minorities in the country, the way Naseeruddin Shah did three years ago, the ramifications of his public stand and the troll army that was unleashed upon him is not stuff recommended for the faint-hearted.

Twitter can be a toxic place for 'cancel culture'. People wrote nasty things about him. Many trolls packed him off to Pakistan, one person even buying a one-way ticket to the neighbouring country.

Let's accept this. Muslims today are wary about expressing an opinion. Everyone today is technically a tweet away from detention.

What might offend whom, and the subsequent FIRs is anyway too much headache for an ordinary Muslim whose only priority and aspiration in life is to earn a decent livelihood, lead a normal middle-class life and get a good night's sleep.

But what happens if your own poster boy calls out people from his community? Do we have the maturity and the depth to fathom what he addressed or are we going to inflict the same cancel-culture that the Hindu right in India is engaging in?

Last night, I was on a prominent news channel debate in its prime-time. A prominent panellist who calls himself a scientist insisted: Arrey bhai, Naseer Bhai is not a good Muslim; that is why he is calling out the Taliban. To be a good Muslim, one needs to be 'Shariat Compliant', the way the Taliban is. The Taliban is only doing what the Shariat ordains you to do.

As if enjoying the conversation, the lady anchor prods the 'scientist' further, while trying her utmost to let me not complete my sentence as the scientist threw in the verse 4:34 from the Quran and asked whether I, as a progressive Muslim woman, was ok with it.

Quoting verses out of context in today's day and age will prove to be challenging, since many of the words have contested meanings.

There would eventually be a sharp divide between traditional interpretations of the verse and contemporary interpretations, but don't these conflicts remain in other religious faiths as well?

So, does Islam need a Martin Luther? It's proven since time immemorial that militant nationalism is a curse for any nation or society. One needs to blend in, syncretise, adopt the culture of the land one is born in. How long will it take to get us to practise the adage- ''permitteth every man to live according to his conscience."

Let's accept, it takes tremendous courage to take on both sides of the right-wing radical forces - the rewards - you get to please none, added perks include possible detention for speaking your mind, the slurs and threats on social media notwithstanding.

The ones celebrating and applauding Naseeruddin Shah's 'brave' stand against sections of the Muslim community celebrating the 'Taliban Win' in Afghanistan are ironically the same people who trolled him viciously when he addressed issues of lynchings three years ago.

Truth be told, he doesn't need to appease any section. He is known to be opinionated and in your face.

Whenever a prominent voice stands up for only one kind of extremism, its hypocrisy of the worst kind--either one calls out both or none at all.

Let's appreciate people for taking bold stands as we recall how stars like Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and other prominent Muslim voices have been bullied into 'deafening silence'.

While there is always room for a larger debate and discussion on religion, it should not be at the cost of further vilification of minorities. Religion should, at best, remain a personal matter.

Saira Shah Halim is a rights activist and an educator.

(All views expressed are personal.)

WATCH | Afghan woman journalist narrates her harrowing escape

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Where do liberal Muslims, who bash both sides of the fence, go? - India Today

George Lyon: Scottish Greens deal is bad news for productive agriculture Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. Linked In An icon of the Linked In logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. All SectionsGeorge Lyon: Scottish Greens deal is bad news for productive agriculture

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George Lyon: Scottish Greens deal is bad news for productive agriculture - Press and Journal

CBC News published this video item, entitled Liberals, Conservatives spar over tackling gun violence in Canada below is their description.

Ontario Liberal candidate Bill Blair claims Conservative Leader Erin OToole has made significant and compelling promises to the gun lobby.

Got a comment? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, below. Please note comments are moderated before publication.

Canada is a country in the northern part of North America. It extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the worlds second-largest country by total area.

Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi), is the worlds longest bi-national land border. Canadas capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Various Indigenous peoples inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years before European colonization. The Canada Act 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British Parliament. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition, with a monarch and a prime minister who serves as the chair of the Cabinet and head of government.

As a highly developed country, Canada has the seventeenth-highest nominal per-capita income globally as well as the thirteenth-highest ranking in the Human Development Index. Its advanced economy is the tenth-largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks.

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Liberals, Conservatives spar over tackling gun violence in Canada - The Global Herald - The Global Herald

TORONTO -- Canada has now fully vaccinated 76.12 per cent of the country's eligible population. Heres what else you need to know to start your day.

1. Afghanistan evacuations: In the aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, the situation for Afghans hoping to escape the country remains chaotic, with some stranded at land borders and others having made it out to another country, only to get stalled again.

2. Misconduct allegations: Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau is standing by a Kitchener Centre candidate who has been accused of inappropriate behaviour directed at female staffers.

3. Vaccine passport: Proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be required to access non-essential businesses in Ontario, including gyms, indoor restaurants, movie theatres and concert halls, under the province's new vaccine certification program starting Sept. 22.

4. Truth Tracker: As Canada grapples with its fourth wave of the novel coronavirus, a growing number of provinces have begun implementing vaccine mandates. But do these policies violate Canadians' charter rights?

5. Back to school: Its likely that the highly contagious Delta variant of the novel coronavirus will force schools to close this year and it can happen very quickly, according to some officials.

One more thing

'Social throws': Female octopuses have been observed "throwing" objects at males who harass them, including during unwanted mating attempts, according to new research.

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5 things to know on CTVNews.ca for Thursday, September 2, 2021: Liberal candidate allegations, Ontario vaccine passport, vaccine mandates - CTV News