Lax Canadian Port Inspection Invites Trafficker Exploitation

"British Columbia’s Pacific ports are economic lifelines for Western Canada, moving exports and keeping supply chains running. They are also under-secured."

"Traffickers treat inspection risk as negligible and build their business model around the odds."

"Canada needs a standing Pacific port security task force, not another temporary working group." 

"Canada can have a Pacific trade strategy, or it can have a thin-security Pacific gateway. It cannot credibly have both."

Scott McGregor senior adviser, Council for Countering Hybrid Warfare 

New report says weak inspections, fragmented oversight and outdated security leave Canada’s western trade gateway exposed

 

A new report focuses on the lack of inspection of shipping containers at the Port of Vancouver, which traffickers use to their advantage to ship tons'-weight of methamphetamine to Australia. Released by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, the report centres on Vancouver and Prince Rupert which move huge volumes of cargo, very little of which is checked, while there is no single agency responsible for overseeing inspections.

 

Shipping containers are fractionally imaged, with fewer than one percent physically searched in Metro Vancouver, according to a City of Delta report written by former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German, which the municipality had commissioned back in 2023. An audit by an internal Canada Border Services Agency of marine-mode targeting from 2020 to 2022 similarly concluded that the agency failed to target exports, outbound vessels or crew, leaving cargo exiting Canada with less scrutiny than on arrival.

 

The Canada Border Services Agency announced in June of 2023 that over 6,330 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in jugs labelled as canola oil bound for Australia -- one of the four Metro Vancouver busts -- with a seizure of close to 3,000 kilograms representing the largest methamphetamine seizure in the agency's history, serves as an example of the scale of trafficking. 

 

Canada, points out senior adviser with the Frontier Centre, is used as a launch point as the drugs' value is considerably increased overseas. While not a major destination, Canada has become one of the world's leading source countries to achieve  higher margins abroad. Yet a Public Safety Canada briefing note claims little to no evidence exists from Canadian or U.S. law enforcement that fentanyl produced in Canada is a growing threat to the United States.  

Port of Vancouver freight container shipping dock. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /10109967A

 

The RCMP dismantled, it said, the largest, most sophisticated drug superlab in Canadian history at Falkland, British Columbia in October of 2024. The fentanyl and precursor chemicals seized would have produced over 95 million potentially lethal doses. One individual was arrested in that raid. The problem, the report points out, is that no government body is in charge, with port security responsibility split among port authorities, the CBSA, RCMP and Transport Canada; no single body accountable for the system.

 

The Ports Canada Police dedicated ports force in Canada was disbanded in 1997 by the federal government, while funding for an RCMP-led waterfront enforcement unit was ended by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority in 2015. The country, pointed out McGregor, author of the report, requires intelligence-led port security, not paperwork-led security where large busts are announced as a public-reassurance method, which has no impact on how traffickers operate.

 

The same gaps allowing traffickers to operate could be exploited by hostile states for sanctions evasion and foreign interference, points out Mr. McGregor, speaking from the perspective of his work on hybrid warfare...framing a warning risked by lax inspection leaving the country vulnerable on many counts. Should Canada not secure its ports representing Canada's economic trade engine, they will be used by malign players; equating national security with economic security. 

 

And nor is the West Coast ports the sole shipping-security vulnerability in Canada. In the east, the Port of Montreal is just as lax. And there police have been alerted to an epidemic plague of stolen vehicles being shipped abroad; the lack of inspection taken full advantage of by criminal gangs. Those gangs hire young thugs to steal vehicles throughout cities like Toronto, and the profits realized from shipping and selling them abroad fuel their purchase and smuggling of illegal weapons, primarily from the U.S. into Canada.

 

Shipping containers in the Port of Montreal are photographed in Montreal on Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

 

 Fewer than two per cent of inbound containers at Metro Vancouver receive imaging and fewer than one per cent are physically searched.

Canada lacks a systematic program for targeting outbound cargo, vessels and crews despite major export drug seizures.

Responsibility for port security is divided among multiple federal agencies and port authorities, leaving no single organization accountable.

Organized crime exploits insider access, limited inspections and fragmented governance to move illicit goods through Canada’s Pacific gateway.

Hostile foreign states can exploit many of the same vulnerabilities for espionage, sanctions evasion and supply-chain disruption.

Inland logistics hubs and foreign trade zones require stronger oversight as part of Canada’s port security system.

The report recommends 10 reforms, including a permanent joint task force, expanded inspections, stronger cyber security and improved accountability.

Frontier Centre for Public Policy 

Most border enforcement focuses on imports, yet major drug seizures continue to involve exports destined for overseas markets.

  

Exactly Whose Cognitive Imbalance?

"Five years in a penitentiary is a tough sentence in any circumstances, and even more so for a first time offender. When a developmental disability is added to that mix, in my view it becomes cruel and unusual."

"Although the counts on the indictment date from when D.C. was already 18 and his sister was therefore 14, it is an agreed fact that they began when she was only 12 and it is relevant to take that into account on sentencing."

"These assaults included penetrative intercourse. Sometimes he would use a condom. Other times when he did not wear a condom, he would go to the bathroom to ejaculate."

"[The girl sometimes protested having sex with her brother. She] felt pain and did not enjoy it. He proceeded anyway. At other times, she did not protest, but she never subjectively consented."

"Sometimes, he would reward her for sex by giving her money or candy. [She] surreptitiously audio-recorded [one sexual assault that was used as evidence against her brother.] On the recording the complainant can be heard telling D.C. she was in pain and also telling him to stop." 

Justice Anne Molloy, Ontario Superior Court of Justice sentencing decision

Women asking that their human rights be upheld wait in vain in Canada; 'Justice' favours the abusers

 

"[Its] extremely rare [ for judges to bypass mandatory minimums. The gap between a five-year minimum and house arrest is so large that that's kind of striking."

"I think there is a big problem here because mostly the public is going to say that giving a house arrest as a penalty for something as serious as a sexual assault of a person under 16 and also incest really sends the wrong message to the public as to how serious we take that offence."

"I realize she's balancing the disability and those appropriate considerations on the other side, but by having such a big gap, I think most people would find that problematic."

Wayne MacKay, professor emeritus, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University  

A man said to be developmentally intellectually incapacitated to the point that his judgement is impaired, impressing a judge presiding at his trial for statutory rape, incest and four years of raping his sister, somehow knew enough not to make her pregnant through his constant rapes. Wearing a condom, but taking steps when a condom wasn't available to ejaculate outside the vagina he was penetrating. That takes some fairly sophisticated thought.

 

That he graduated from high school and went on to find a responsible job driving a forklift, certainly means he is capable of functioning at a fairly medium level. Society is full of people whose cognitive ability and workplace capability is far below the threshhold that this man has reached. His sister is credited as well as her rapist with intellectual disabilities. At age 16, after four years of tolerating the intolerable, she decided to inform her high school guidance counsellor "that her brother had been sexually assaulting her for years".

 

That set in motion an investigation when the counsellor contacted police and investigators finally charged the brother, named only D.C. during trial proceedings to protect the identity of his sister and family. The judge's decision in the trial mentioned that the perpetrator had watched pornography for titillation then  emulated what he saw on his sister, the while informing her that she "needed to know how these things felt as preparation for when she had a husband and wanted to get pregnant".

 

Despite acknowledging the heinous nature of these constant physical, painful and unwanted predations on his sister, the judge still felt it appropriate to sentence the man to house arrest ruling out the mandatory minimum five-year sentence for incest with someone under 16, feeling it to be "grossly disproportionate" for offenders suffering from intellectual disabilities. A 'defence expert' had testified that D.C. has an intellectual disability that gives him a cognitive age equivalency of nine to 12 years of age.

 

Nine to twelve-year old boys aren't expected to graduate high school. Nor are they given the opportunity to earn a driver's licence. Yet the judge saw fit while convicting D.C. on two counts of incest and one count of sexual assault to give him a conditional sentence of two years less a day, and three years of probation. That is quite a forgiveness message to send the young man and his victim, much less broader society, that claiming a mental handicap excuses serious criminality.

 

There are many people of low intelligence throughout society, most of whom are law-abiding, cognizant of the social contract that forbids such criminal behaviour and not given to begin with, to succumb to such despicable actions. The law exists for the very purpose of apprehending, sending to trial and meting out punishments appropriate to the crime committed, all those who practice assaults on others as their just due. Generally speaking, anyone charged and convicted of a serious crime expresses remorse, just as children do because their actions have been deemed injurious and unacceptable, and apologizing lifts the load of censure.

 

D.C. appears to have been privileged above many others of low intelligence by having completed high school, received a driver's licence, and found employment in a warehouse. He is not eligible for, nor does he need government assistance. Yet according to the judge: "Because of his disability he falls squarely within the concept of 'diminished moral blameworthiness", even while recognizing that "incest is one of the most heinous of sex crimes, with profound and typically long-lasting effects". 

 

Clearly, for the victim, not the perpetrator. 

 

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto. Photo by Dave Thomas / Postmedia

 

"It seems to me that D.C. now has insight into what he did, and the pain he caused. I found him to be genuinely remorseful for his actions."

"He is obviously capable of learning and he is a person who likes to please others. He will benefit greatly from counselling about issues of sexuality and consent, as well as family parameters."

"I doubt very much that he will learn these things within the confines of a federal penitentiary, where other inmates are simply not like him, and where courses would not be geared to his cognitive age."

"I see great potential for rehabilitation with D.C. and I fear that s ending him to prison would endanger, rather than enhance, his prospects for the future."

Justice Anne Molly 

The Gulf Nations in Iran-War Fallout Disarray

"[The U.S.-Iran agreement] rehabilitates Tehran's regime as a regional power."

"[The financial benefits that it could confer] will make Iran a greater monster than it was before."

Abdulrahman al-Rashed, Saudi journalist 

 

"It's left a big wound. It's going to take a long, long time to recover."

"We are terrified that this is going to be an ongoing war."

"[It feels like the Trump administration is looking at the Gulf] as an A.T.M. [and that] bothers a lot of people." 

Khalid Al-Jaber, head, Middle East Council on Global Affairs, Qatar research institute

A smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire near Dubai International Airport in Dubai on March 16, 2026. (AFP)

 

Interesting that this commentator writing out of Qatar fields a singular perspective without considering that Qatar itself has invested millions upon millions upon millions in the United States, as though its treasury was unlimited, in indebting U.S. colleges and universities, to the Middle East country for its generosity. And to believe that this is done simply for a love of America by an oil-rich Gulf state is to be naive beyond redemption. Qatar, in seeking influence for its 'philanthropy' in America does in fact, resemble an A.T.M. 

"Why has a country of just 330,000 citizens that is half the size of New Jersey and a leading patron of the Muslim Brotherhood plowed $400 billion dollars into the United States? This amounts to approximately $1.2 million per Qatari citizen — an enormous sum."

"Some Americans may welcome the generosity of the Qatari regime. After all, one could argue that a great many of these investments — spanning energy, defense, biotech and other important sectors — serve to benefit the U.S. economy and U.S. citizens. One could also argue that Qatar, like Japan, Canada, or other countries that sink billions in the United States, simply seeks return on investment."

"But Qatar is different. There are more than a few reasons to question the largesse of the Qatari government. At the end of the day, Qatar is ruled by an Islamist, autocratic regime; Freedom House consistently ranks the country as “Not Free” in its annual Freedom in the World survey. And Doha’s failure to guarantee the rights of its citizens is not the biggest problem."

"Rather, it is the country’s tendency to support jihadi causes in the Middle East that raises significantly more concern. The country’s horrific track record in this regard distinguishes Qatar from other Gulf states that spread their wealth in America."

Jonathan Schantzer, Foundation for Defense of Democracies  

That little quibble dispensed with, one can indeed feel a level of sympathy for the newly-occurring plight of wealthy Gulf Arab nations, witnessing and experiencing a regional war too close to home for comfort.

Few countries in the Middle East view the Islamic Republic of Iran through a lens of tender brotherhood. Those that do stand out from say, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Qatar and Oman, on the other hand, have a pronounced soft spot for the truculent totalitarian Islamist government that the entire Middle East views as a threat to peace and stability. 

 

A building damaged in a reported Iranian drone strike, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Seef, Manama, Bahrain, March 10, 2026. (Reuters)

 

In the region most exposed to Iran's firepower, suddenly normality has been upended. The violence of Iran's chastising its near neighbours for accepting American bases on their soil, expressed by Iran's disruptive drone and missile attacks has disabused its neighbours of the attitude that this is Israel's and the United States' conflict with Iran, nothing to do with them, even  while they have been hoping that the Iranian regime would fall and relieve the regional tension and threats emanating from Iran with a changeover to a new, non-threatening regime.

 

And to further compound matters, the economic hits courtesy of Iran's closing of the Strait of Hormuz, the main international waterway for exporting oil, fertilizer, LNG and other products globally has been deliberately constrained creating an economic dilemma of no mean proportions. American bases on Kuwaiti soil, UAE and Saudi Arabian soil and elsewhere made them surprised sitting ducks for Iranian blowback. Suddenly the Gulf countries realize that despite their enormous oil wealth their defense capabilities are minimal, necessitating an upsurge on spending for military hardware and defense.

 

Iran has attacked Gulf states in retaliation for Israeli and US bombing on its country AFP via Getty Images

 

No other course of action is feasible with Dubai and Doha having suffered immense missile hits leaving their luxury towers smoldering. Incoming missile alerts have introduced a new, unwelcome reality to Iran's neighbours, suddenly vulnerable to unexpected attack. The Emirates were forced to close their schools for weeks, while foreign residents fled. Interception of most of the thousands of missiles and drones out of Iran succeeded in keeping damage and lives lost to a relative minimum, but no country and no population appreciates living with this level of uncertainty.

 

Each of the targeted countries went their own way, there was no unified reaction. Qatar as usual presented itself as a key mediator between the United States and Iran, alongside Pakistan for the same purpose...supporting Iran and convincing the U.S. that a ceasefire is infinitely preferential to ongoing kinetic hostilities, punishing to the Gulf States and placing U.S. servicemen in ongoing danger. 

 

Negotiations amidst the uncertainty and tension have led the Emirates to strengthen alliances with both the United Sates and Israel. A pre-conflict rift between the UAE and Saudi Arabia has seen the Saudis keeping options open; maintaining channels with Iran, while attempting to influence American decision-making. Attesting to the medieval-era relational strains, Saudi Arabia and Iran are at loggerheads over Mecca, and the threat posed by Iran toward Saudi Arabia historically seems to have petered out for the present.

 

Gulf nations are now busy planning how best to proceed with uninterrupted passage of oil, food and other goods shipped out of the Middle East to global destinations. A new strategy of "zero Hormuz dependency" has persuaded the Emiratis to expand its ports outside the critical Strait susceptible to further closures by Iran, and to build oil pipelines and railways. Oman with its ports on the Arabian Sea far from the Strait is now seen as a crucial logistics hub trucking goods overland for its neighbours. 

 

Qatar has become one of the biggest exporters of natural gas  AFP via Getty Images

 

Astronomy's Headache: Night-Sky Illumination

"When a satellite crosses what we observe, it makes a bright streak on our image, zapping whatever is behind it."

"For the past few years, this has been happening -- but it is still manageable."

"But if we go from 14,000 to 1.7 million [orbiting satellites], we are really going to have problems."

"[Whether in France, the Sahara Desert or Chile, the sky] would no longer be clear, resembling instead the sky seen in the suburbs of a city."

"[And in light-polluted cities the satellites] would be the only 'stars' visible in the night sky." 

Olivier Hainaut, European Southern Observatory 

 

"Astronomy generates huge value for humankind, including scientific, technical, economical, and educational, and helps us understand our place in the Universe."

"The large number of planned satellites in low-Earth orbit challenges that capacity, underscoring the need to limit future satellite launches and for astronomers, engineers, satellite operators and other stakeholders to work together to adopt strict mitigation measures."

ESO Director General Xavier Barcons 

One hour of satellites over the northern Atacama Desert in Chile (October 2025) (Credit: F. Kamphues, ESO/M. Kornmesser)

 

 

Astronomers have known for many years that such a catastrophic event for viewing the night sky was imminent as more and more satellites were sent into orbit year after year, and plans to increase those numbers dramatically would be in the works, blocking their access to viewing the night sky, New research has once again warned of "devastating consequences for astronomy" in view of, and taking account of Earth's orbit in coming years drowning in swarms of huge, extremely bright satellites that represent an "existential threat" to telescopes viewing the universe.

 

The latest research, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics through the European Southern Observatory (ESO) warns that the loss of the observable night sky would represent a dreadful loss to humankind. The team of researchers from ESO who produced the study urge for a re-consideration, that no greater number than 100,000 satellites should be launched, to preserve the capacity for astronomy to continue making findings explaining more about the universe and our place in it. 

 

This is the first study to calculate how the visual disturbance of large, particularly bright satellites in released constellations would impact astronomical observations through producing a night sky that is no longer the dark heaven that nature intended, but one bright enough to critically interfere with the observable universe that ever more powerful telescopes make possible. Currently, there is an estimated 14,000 satellites orbiting Earth, many of which have been launched by Space X's Starlink internet constellation. 

 

Falcon 9 launches 24 @StarLink from California, Space X

 

 Plans to launch over a million satellites by 2028 to serve as data centres powering the boom in artificial intelligence has been announced by Space X. Additionally, projects such as the 'Cinnamon' plans of start-up E-Space and Chinese constellations CTC-1 and CTC-2 would add other hundreds of thousands more satellites. Reflect Orbital, another U.S. startup, plans to launch 50,000 huge satellites using giant mirrors to reflect sunlight back down to Earth with the intention of providing light over a night-darkened Earth.

 

The prospect for the near future is that over 1.7 million satellites could conceivably light the night sky and in the process obscure or blot out views of ground-based telescopes. Essentially the Reflect Orbital satellites alone pose a particularly significant threat to the dark night skies. The light they scatter will make each one as bright as Venus, even when their mirrors are not pointed at the observer. 

 

The ESO observers concluded that images captured by the largest camera ever to have been built, part of the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, would be rendered invalid. Moreover, concerns over making space a junkyard of revolving satellites, many of which might collide, along with parts and pieces that fall to Earth, represents a potential dilemma of immense proportions. 

 

A Soyuz rocket lifts off from a launch site in Vostochny, 5 November, 2024 AP Photo

 

"Sending thousands of satellites has implications: economical, ecological, and astronomical."

"[Light pollution from very bright satellite constellations can impact the health and functioning of life on Earth, by disrupting biological clocks and ecosystems. Large constellations also have direct impacts on air quality from the numerous launches required to send and maintain thousands of satellites, as well as from the atmospheric pollution caused as they burn up on re-entry at the end of life]."

"My job is astronomy, so I quantify the effects on astronomy. I hope others will evaluate the other impacts in their field of expertise."

"Low Earth orbit is a celestial seashore that provides immense value to modern life, from global connectivity to our clear access to the Universe. However, we must manage the footprint of mega-constellations — from the light pollution affecting astronomy to the atmospheric effects of satellite re-entry — to ensure this resource remains pristine and accessible for future generations."

Olivier Hainaut, ESO study lead author  

Planned 1.7 million satellites 'devastating' for astronomy by making night sky brighter AP Photo

 

 

 

The Abandonment of Palestinians in Gaza

"For the past several days, our reporters and several of Gaza’s most prominent anti-Hamas activists have been subjected to an intense campaign of surveillance and intimidation by Hamas." 

"And we’re hearing about many activists who have been effectively placed under house arrest by Hamas. They’ve made it clear their number one goal is to prevent any anti-Hamas demonstrations from taking place in Gaza."

"What the world doesn't really know, is that there is a strong opposition movement inside Gaza today that's developing against Hamas."

"A lot of people are fed up from the war, fed up from Hamas's wrong choices, and they want to protest [demanding that Hamas disarm, and leave the Strip] in order to stop the war, to stop the Israeli attacks, and to rebuild Gaza."

"[At least half of Gazans want Hamas out], so they  can get a better future, a better life. [The same number were in retrospect] unhappy with the October 7 attacks." 

Hadeel Oueiss, editor-in-chief, Jusoor News 

 

"Hamas was much better prepared than we were [they were tipped off]."

"[Hamas has] the weapons, the force and the means to intimidate people. They threatened families and reportedly paid money to influential clan leaders to publicly announce that they would disown any family member who participated in t he demonstration."

"[The opposition movement wants Hamas to disarm] so that reconstruction can begin ... [and] living conditions can improve."

Mohammad Hussein Lafi, protest organizer 

Members of Hamas cracking down on Gazans. Photo: Screenshot from X account of Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib

 

"The situation in Gaza is very difficult. They are kidnapping people and threatening people. The level of terror is high."

"There are fatwas calling for killing and fatwas declaring people infidels in the mosques, and calls saying the protest movement has been postponed."

"Things are very difficult. Since the morning, they’ve been arresting people and kidnapping people from the streets. Things are very bad."

Name withheld by request 

 

"[Hospitals across Gaza had been turned into] makeshift police stations, interrogation sites, and torture centers."

"Families are being threatened, people placed under house arrest, and Hamas’s al-Qassam brigades [the forces responsible for October 7] have been fully mobilized to reinforce police and intelligence units with explicit shoot-to-kill order."

"[The mainstream media has failed to report on the campaign] apparently because Israel is not involved – so no Jews, no news."

"This is what the abandonment of Palestinians in Gaza looks like. Shame on all who stay silent in the face of jihadi, ISIS-like violence against the very people they claim to champion."

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, humanitarian activist originally from Gaza, now living in the U.S.

 

"The fact that organizers announced the protest weeks in advance made it easier for Hamas to prepare, intimidate people, pressure families, and silence the movement before it reached the streets."

"In Gaza, protest movements have often been more successful when they were organized quietly and appeared suddenly."

"This time, the early announcement gave Hamas the time and pretext to suppress it."

Ahed al-Hendi, senior fellow, Center for Peace Communications  

To all Western media, including pro-Palestine outlets: right now, thousands of Palestinian civilians are taking part in massive anti-Hamas protests across the Gaza Strip. Stand with them. Carry their voices. Don't abandon them. Ihab Hassan 

 

Hadeel Oueis, a U.S.-Syrian-based journalist, editor of Arabic-language Jusoor News reporting on Middle East news, has been informed by many dissidents in Gaza through phone interviews that the mass protest dubbed "Day of Rage" scheduled to take place on June 26, with the demand that Hamas disarm and step down, had their plans crushed before they even took to the streets. Although smaller protests elsewhere proceeded in some areas, organizers were warned by the terror group that anyone among the would-be demonstrators attempting to join would be subject to violent reprisals. 

 

One of the protest group's organizers, Mohammad Hussein Lafi described his arrival at a designated gathering point in central Gaza: it was already filled with Hamas security forces openly displaying their weapons. He was informed that cellphones had been confiscated from anyone suspected of being part of the protest movement; some among them physically assaulted and detained. A year earlier Lafi, a graduate of the Faculty of Physical Education at Gaza's Aqsa University, was arrested by Hamas accused of speaking out against the October 7 attacks among his friends.

 

He was "severely beaten and tortured during detention", which convinced him that an end must come for Hamas's rule in Gaza. With the scheduled protest deferred due to threats, a more discreet 'soft protest' took place on Friday at 10:00 p.m. that saw Gazans banging pots and pans, and whistling for an hour from within displacement camps and tents in response to an online call by organizers. An ad hoc demonstration the following day independent of organized plans took place by others.  

 

A funeral procession nearby planned protest sites took place with mourners carrying signs reading "God willing, Hamas out", "We are not pawns", and chants of "enough with the destruction" also took place. Hamas, according to Mustafa Asfour, a Gaza activist living in the U.K. for four years and one of the June 26 demonstration organizers, "launched a media campaign to discredit the movement, accusing it of betrayal and targeting anyone" participating. 

 

In the days leading up to the planned protest, Hamas pressured prominent families "to hold press conferences denouncing the June 26 movement"'; pro Hamas media then circulated statements presuming to be the names of major clans with the claims they opposed the protests. "Many of these families later issued official statements saying they had never released such declarations and rejecting the statements attributed to them", explained Mustafa Asfour. Threatening phone calls were received by families with warnings not to allow their children to participate, and displaced people were informed anyone who joined the protests would b e expelled from the camps.

 

NGO silence, argued Asfour, has emboldened Hamas. He and others had reached out, he explained, to Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, drawing their attention to the planned protests, warning against repression. Their efforts bore no fruit. Other than for the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, no response was ever received, but the Center's response was four lines to say the "matter raised by you is under follow-up"; a stock, non-committal response. 

 

Ms. Oueis accuses Hamas of making everyday life for Gazans miserable through aid diversion, heavy taxation and a harsh crackdown on dissent. In "The worst days of hunger and lack of food in Gaza", she said, residents were interviewed who alleged that Hamas "Hijacked every truck that came with food to Gaza, stored it in its own storage, stole this aid that's coming from international organizations, and kept it." The aid was handed out selectively "only to their soldiers", and pro-Hamas communities; those lacking a fighter in the family "won't get aid".

 

Hamas "captured and arrested" close to 200 activists and dissidents since the start of the ceasefire last fall, many accused of collaborating with Israel; some tortured to death. One of Jusoor's reporters was arrested, beaten "very badly and left unable to walk. He's paralyzed because he made this coverage, anti-Hamas coverage from Gaza", emphasized Ms. Oueis. Her reporting team interviewed Gazans who were tortured for posting criticism of Hamas on Facebook.  

 

Palestinian Hamas stand guard on the day of the handover of hostages held in Gaza since the deadly October 7 2023 attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 22, 2025. REUTERS/Hatem Khaled/File Photo

  

"Most of the Islamists of Gaza are pro-Hamas. Many deeply religious Muslims [are among those calling for change], a lot of the people who are going to protest and taking initiative in spreading the word against Hamas are religious Muslims [who reject Islamist politics."

"[Some Gazans openly argue that] It's time to stop the wars between Israel and Palestinians, and it's time to have peace with Israel." 

Hadeel Oueiss, Jusoor News

 

"[My motivation for helping with demonstrations is the] belief that civilians in Gaza have the right to express their voices peacefully, and to demand dignity, safety, and a better future."

"[The world should know that they demand] accountability, and the right of people to have a voice in decisions affecting their lives."

"I lost my home during the war, like many other families in Gaza. My experience, like many Palestinians here, has been shaped by years of difficult circumstances, but also by a strong sense of community and the desire to build a better future."

Kareem Joudeh, 30, formerly of northern Gaza, displaced to central Gaza, working with World Central Kitchen 

Hamas stand guard on the day of the release of Keith Siegel, a US-Israeli dual national hostage held in Gaza since the deadly October 7, 2023 attack, as part of a ceasefire and a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Gaza City, February 1, 2025. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

 

Canadian Cannabis Consumption

"What followed commercialized legalization was a rise in cannabis addition as well as increases in hospital admissions for psychosis, including cases where psychotic disorders occurred alongside cannabis addiction."

"The emergence of a for-profit cannabis industry can result in commercial interests being prioritized over public health, just as we have seen with the alcohol and tobacco industries."

"Increased availability of cannabis products, greater product strength and active marketing of these products can increase the risk of harm."

Tom Freeman, psychologist, University of Bath

Cannabis-related hospitalizations associated with later mortality  Recovery Research Institute

 

The Liberal government of Canada gifted Canadians with MAID -- Medical Assistance in Dying. A program whose original protocol of accessibility was to ensure that patients' ebbing lifeforce was imminent, to spare them further pain and suffering. That soon changed, with guidelines for approval becoming more openly 'benevolent', where applicants eventually could simply decide life wasn't worth living any longer; poverty and lack of adequate medical care prompted some to end their lives. The latest 'improvement' on the guidelines was to include those suffering solely from mental illness; a decision still in abeyance.

 

Living the good life, courtesy of the Liberal government introduced legalized marijuana, and the licensing of cannabis shops throughout the country where the 'weed' and products flavoured with cannabis, some in shapes appealing to children were available. Leading to children being seen at hospital emergency rooms having consumed those appealing tidbits. Government argued that commercializing pot's easy availability would see the end of the illegal black market through regulation. Things haven't exactly worked out that way, with seasoned users still buying on the street at prices more than rivalling commercial outlets.

 

 NSLC's lone exclusivity cannabis-only outlet is seen on Clyde Street in Halifax on Thursday, July 2, 2026. The NSLC also operates cannabis dispensaries inside its alcohol selling stores across Nova Scotia. Photo by Tim Krochak /The Chronicle Herald

 

Now a global study recently published in the Lancet Journal of Psychiatry points out that the widespread commercialization of cannabis in Canada has seen an explosion of hospital visit for psychosis, psychiatric disorders, and addictive use of the product. Elsewhere globally where legalized cannabis is available, a tighter regulatory regime has been instituted not involving widespread commercial availability and as a result other countries where pot has been legalized don't face the pot-related problems that Canada does.

 

Titled International Cannabis Policies and Their Association with Cannabis Use, Cannabis Use Disorder, and Other Psychiatric Disorders, the study represents a global research survey of the policy of legalization of cannabis. As such studies go, this is the most recent research that raises concerns over health effects resulting from Canada's 2018 cannabis legalization and the commercialization that followed. 

 

Seniors are among the fastest-growing age group for using cannabis in Canada. Meanwhile, the number of seniors ending up in emergency departments with cannabis poisoning has also risen sharply since legalization, new research shows. (Travis Dolynny/CBC)

 

Most troubling, society has seen teens and young adults to be the most affected. This, when science also warned that up to age 21, the human brain is still maturing, and exposure to the chemicals in cannabis is harmful to that development. A 2019 study published in Lancet Psychology, advanced the result of regular use of strong cannabis (20 milligrams per gram or higher), increases the potential of a psychosis by up to 1,000 percent among teens and young adults.

 

Data from Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. indicates as of 2023 that close to half of its sales were of cannabis products. Those products having a THC content of 20-25 mg/b (10 times stronger than the old weed), 30 percent of sales represented with 24-30 mg/g and just over 10 percent reflected a potency of over 30 mg/g. Further, according to the 2022 Canadian Cannabis Survey, youth in Nova Scotia (age 16 to 19) saw the highest use of marijuana in the country.

 

Halifax's wastewater tests contained the highest rate of cannabis metabolites per capita of any city in Canada. The Canadian Wastewater Survey testing for drug metabolites in wastewater, tracks consumption trends throughout the country. 

 

As pot becomes more potent and more convenient to purchase, emergency doctors are reporting more cases of cannabis hyperemesis syndrome. Photo by Getty Images

 

Canadian Justice: Ease off on Abusers, Leave the Abused to Fend for Themselves

"The only way to make myself feel safe was to remove myself and get as far away from the threat as possible."

"I feel safer here [Mexico] because the person that attacked me does not live here. That's just basic common sense."

"I feel safer because I'm very far away. ... It could have been Germany, it could have been Peru, it could have been the USA." 

Anne Welyki, The Elevate Report 

 

"All eight charges, five in the provincial and three in the federal were stayed against my ex."

"I can't say his name, because it will forever be known as 'alleged' abuse."

"I can't live in Canada anymore, because it's not safe for me." 

Cait Alexander, now resident in California

The caption for this photo posted to X on June 5 reads: "Thank you Pierre Poilievre for taking the time to chat. I would have loved the opportunity to share in detail why I left Canada and how I believe it can be fixed." (Credit: Lioness0817/X)

 

The infamously intractable issues of violence against Canadian aboriginal women has been a matter of shame, but not much mystery in the matter of 'Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women' in Canada. With government vowing time after time that this tragic civilizational assault against the most basic of human rights for women of Indigenous heritage must stop. This is an issue well enough known, that for the most part injuries and deaths and absences of aboriginal women are the result of a cultural abomination, when they are victimized by none other than their intimate partners, aboriginal men.

 

In Canadian jurisprudence it has become a fait accompli that when judging aboriginal men for crimes they must  be viewed through the prism of colonialist trauma. Prison sentences meted out to aboriginal men who commit crimes and are convicted of those crimes must take into account their aboriginal backgrounds and the assumption that they are victims of racism, poverty and lack of opportunities in the white society that colonized Canada thus victimizing the Indian tribes already settled in the country. In penalizing Indigenous men to a lesser degree than their crimes warrant, Indigenous women are doubly victimized.

Assembly of First Nations

 

But this uneven application of the law has also been extended to include people of colour as well as migrants without status. Indigenous men and Blacks are over-represented in Canadian prisons despite that they represent a minority in Canada. Their penchant for committing crimes against society is higher than other groups in society, including the majority. That their numbers are over-represented in comparison to their minority numbers within the population is viewed as a fault in Canadian society, rather than as a possible reading that these groups tend to gravitate in greater numbers to the commission of crimes.

 

To sentence a migrant, refugee or undocumented person in Canada to a prison term long enough for them to be incarcerated in a federal prison is  to consign them to a removal order by Canadian Border Services, leading judges to opt for lesser sentences through the compassionate lens of 'fairness' to a presumed underdog. Invariably all too frequently those who commit criminal acts tend to take advantage of the situation, where bail is also readily available, enabling them to return to the commission of criminal acts resulting in minimal punishment.

 

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre happened to describe an encounter he had with a woman from Vancouver who left the country for her personal safety under duress. At Vancouver International airport the woman had approached Mr. Poilievre to briefly inform him that she had left Canada to escape from an attacker. "You're my favourite Canadian", she told him. Then she described her reason for leaving Canada.  "I said I'd like to come home, and he said, in return 'We're going to get you home'," she later explained during an interview on the podcast The Elevate Report.

 

For his part, Mr. Poilievre mentioned the encounter with an anonymous woman when he responded to a question during a Vancouver press conference about public safety. "I met a lady at the airport the other day who told me that she moved from Vancouver to Mexico so that she would feel more safe", he stated. Online mockery over the statement was quick to follow. Flavio Volpe, president of the Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association wrote on social media: "Of all the things that did not happen, this one did not happen the most."

 

Doubts over the veracity of Mr. Poilievre's statement was raised again when a reporter, after speaking to World Cup fans in Vancouver relayed to him that they felt "pretty safe"; that "data shows that Mexico is far more unsafe than Vancouver". Mr. Poilievre was not to be shaken; he responded that the encounter at the airport really had occurred, that "there are a lot of women who frankly feel very unsafe in Canada today. And there are cases we've had of women testifying before parliamentary committees that they have left Canada because their partner, their violent partner, has been released from prison despite crime after crime after crime." 

 

End Violence Everywhere

Cait Alexander who had testified to the Status of Women Committee in 2024, founded the group End Violence Everywhere. She had been brutally beaten by an intimate partner who was freed on bail the following day. She lives now full-time in California.  

"I left the country for certain reasons and I'm upset about it. I love my country."

"Do you think this would be my first choice. Or do you think I would rather be at home with my friends and family?"

Anne Welyki