Trudeau meets with NATO, reconciling faith with identity: In The News for March 24

NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance is set to green light sending more troops to the eastern part of Europe as part of talks to reset the alliance’s long-term deterrence and defence posture.

Canada and its allies are expected to unveil later today a new round of economic sanctions against allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also scheduled to address NATO leaders after having spoken directly earlier this week with Trudeau.

Trudeau toured Europe two weeks ago, where he held meetings in London, Berlin, Warsaw and Poland, and visited Canadian troops leading a NATO multinational battlegroup in Latvia.

Trudeau will face pressure to boost Canada’s defence budget, which according to NATO estimates stands at 1.39 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2021.

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Also this …

Cristino Bouvette’s mind often goes to his grandmother when he thinks about reconciliation: her strength and empathy.

He is a Roman Catholic priest in Calgary, and his kokum was a residential school survivor.

He said his grandmother was supportive of his decisions to enter the priesthood and showed him what real forgiveness looked like.

She died in 2019, one month short of her 100th birthday.

Survivor Geraldine Shingoose in Winnipeg said she doesn’t support an upcoming Indigenous delegation’s trip to the Vatican to meet Pope Francis.

She said it feels like it’s a colonial tactic.

Bouvette said he understands that some survivors are not ready to forgive, and the delegation is only part of the work that the Catholic Church must do to move closer to reconciliation.

The group is to arrive in Rome on Sunday.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

WASHINGTON _ Legal experts and interest groups will weigh in on Ketanji Brown Jackson as the Senate Judiciary Committee wraps up four days of hearings on her historic nomination to become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

Jackson faced down a barrage of Republican questioning over two days about her sentencing of criminal defendants, her bid to join the Supreme Court veering from lofty constitutional questions to attacks on her motivations on the bench.

On Thursday, the last day of hearings, interest groups including the American Bar Association and civil rights organizations will testify about Jackson’s suitability for the court. Witnesses chosen by Republican senators will also speak.

The American Bar Association, which evaluates judicial nominees, last week gave Jackson its highest rating, unanimously “well qualified.”

On Wednesday, her final day of Senate questioning, Jackson declared she would rule “without any agendas” as the high court’s first Black female justice and rejected Republican efforts to paint her as soft on crime in her decade on the federal bench.

The GOP criticism at her confirmation hearing was punctuated with effusive praise from Democrats, and by reflections on the historic nature of her nomination _ none more riveting in the room than from New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who used his time not to ask questions but to tearfully speak and draw tears from Jackson as well.

Booker, who is Black, said that he sees “my ancestors and yours” when he looks at her. “I know what it’s taken for you to sit here in this seat,” he said. “You have earned this spot.”

Jackson was silent as Booker talked, but tears rolled down her face, her family sitting behind her.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

KYIV, Ukraine _ Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on people worldwide to gather in public Thursday to show support for his embattled country as he prepared to address NATO leaders gathered in Brussels on the one-month anniversary of the Russian invasion.

“Come to your squares, your streets. Make yourselves visible and heard,” Zelenskyy said in English during an emotional video address late Wednesday that was recorded in the dark near the presidential offices in Kyiv. “Say that people matter. Freedom matters. Peace matters. Ukraine matters.”

Zelenskyy said he would ask in a video conference with NATO members that the alliance provide “effective and unrestricted” support to Ukraine, including any weapons the country needs to fend off the Russian onslaught.

When Russia unleashed its invasion Feb. 24 in Europe’s biggest offensive since the Second World War, a swift toppling of Ukraine’s government seemed likely. But with Wednesday marking four full weeks of fighting, Moscow is bogged down in a grinding military campaign.

NATO estimated that 7,000 to 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in four weeks of war in Ukraine, where fierce resistance has denied Moscow the lightning victory it sought.

By way of comparison, Russia lost about 15,000 troops over 10 years in Afghanistan.

A senior NATO military official said the alliance’s estimate was based on information from Ukrainian authorities, what Russia has released _ intentionally or not _ and intelligence gathered from open sources. The official spoke on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by NATO.

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On this day in 1975 …

The beaver became Canada’s official symbol.

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In entertainment …

TORONTO – The Toronto International Film Festival and Hot Docs are offering free perks to welcome young cinephiles back to the movie theatre.

Both organizations say they’ve teamed up to launch benefit programs for moviegoers in their early 20s.

TIFF’s pass for film buffs under age 25 grants access to a ticket pre-sale for this spring’s Next Wave Film Festival, a youth-centric lineup of programming.

The pass, which is valid until the end of next January, also includes hundreds of free screenings, 25 per cent off year-round tickets at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and discounts on concessions.

The Hot Docs Bronze Membership, typically priced at $59 a year, is available free to documentary lovers aged 25 and under.

Members get discounts on Hot Docs Festival tickets, packages and passes and free premium access to its streaming platform.

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OTTAWA _ Members of the Canadian Armed Forces have been banned from joining the thousands of foreigners who have flocked to Ukraine in recent weeks to help fight Russia’s invasion.

Vice-chief of the defence staff Lt.-Gen. Frances Allen told the House of Commons defence committee on Wednesday that the order came from Gen. Wayne Eyre, chief of the defence staff and it applies to both full-time service members and part-time reservists.

“So for current CAF members, they are not permitted to be in the area, even if they were to be on leave,” Allen told the committee as she appeared alongside Defence Minister Anita Anand.

The only exception is if their presence in Ukraine is specifically approved by Eyre, Allen added. She did not indicate whether any Canadian troops are currently in Ukraine.

Canada currently had 250 military trainers in Ukraine, but the federal government said they were withdrawn to neighbouring Poland shortly before Russian forces invaded the country.

The government said those troops were re-tasked with providing humanitarian support, but Anand did not give the committee an update, citing operational security.

Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for the creation of an “international brigade” to help fend off a Russian invasion that began Feb. 24.

Thousands of foreigners have since answered that call to arms, including many Canadians, despite warnings from the federal government against all travel to the country.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2022.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Trudeau meets with NATO, reconciling faith with identity: In The News for March 24

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