"Boy,
your greatest achievement is to have ruined the friendly relations
between China and Canada, and have turned Canada into a running dog of
the U.S."
"Spendthrift!!!"
Consul General Li Yang, Chinese Diplomatic Mission, Brazil
"This is a very unfortunate and unnecessary tweet. Insulting leaders of other countries is not a thing a diplomat should do"
"It is not only undiplomatic, but also against China's own culture of being polite and respectful."
Zhiqun Zhu professor of international relations, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania
"Those
are fighting words, and lack specificity. They're not explaining what
it is that Mr.Trudeau has done to ruin the friendly relations."
";Greatest achievement' could be some kind of dig at him."
"China is shooting itself in the foot by encouraging such a confrontational style of diplomacy."
"When China's image suffers, one knows that this type of diplomacy is problematic."
Charles Burton, former Canadian diplomat in Beijing
Chinese Wolf-Warriors Diplomats' Abusive War on Twitter TechStream
"A little more than a year ago, China had almost no diplomatic presence
on Twitter. A handful of accounts, many representing far-flung
diplomatic outposts, operated without apparent coordination or direction
from Beijing. Today, the work of Chinese diplomats on Twitter looks
very different: More than 170 of them bicker with Western powers,
promote conspiracies about the coronavirus, and troll Americans on
issues of race. The quadrupling in the past year and a half of China’s
diplomatic presence on a site blocked within China suggests that turning
to Western platforms to influence the information environment beyond
China’s borders is no longer an afterthought but a priority."
Jessica Brandt and Bret Schafer, TechStream
China
goes out of its way to make friends in countries that become dependent
on its largesse, opening up trade opportunities for developing nations;
giving out generous credit to countries who cannot afford to pay back
the debt and thus become involuntarily indebted; helping to build
critical infrastructure in countries of the world that need a leg-up and
don't look past the gift horse to view its long-term agenda that might
not in future years, be too advantageous to themselves while binding
them within China's orbit as unquestioning satellite-vassal states.
To
those obliging, appreciative countries whose need overrides caution,
China turns its smiling Janus face. The scowling face is reserved for
those countries which are advanced in their experience of China, whose
technologies Beijing is accustomed to siphoning off through surveillance
and espionage, who take steps to cut off access to their industrial and
military trade formulae, and who take the occasion to condemn the
Chinese Communist Party for its stealth infiltration into their
countries as well as Beijing's human rights abuses.
Of
all people to accuse of China-baiting and hostility to Beijing,
Canada's prime minister would be the very least to point accusatory
fingers at. Justin Trudeau has gone out of his way on countless
occasions to ingratiate himself into the favour of Beijing, anxious to
achieve a free trade agreement with the hope of integrating Canada's
financial future with that of the second largest economy in the world.
Prepared in the process to overlook human rights abuses perpetrated by
the CCP, and willing to trade Canada's scientific and technology
successes for the opportunity to dine at China's economic table.
A
confluence of circumstances beyond Mr. Trudeau's control, however, made
it increasingly difficult to placate an irate Chinese establishment
when Beijing's demands could no longer be accommodated and the world
looked on at Canada's under-performance in protecting its own
Chinese-Canadian citizenry from persecution by shadowy CCP-affiliated
figures. Subsequent events have created hostility from the
fire-breathing dragon that is Beijing in its insulting, vituperative
lashing out at Canada, which balks at 'learning from its mistakes' as
Beijing demands.
Justin
Trudeau's father Pierre as then-prime minister of Canada, initiated a
trek by Western governments to Beijing in expressions of forgiveness for
the mass slaughter during the Cultural Revolution and the later
crackdown on student rebellion crying out for democracy which came to a
shuddering halt in Tiananmen Square settling once and for all China's
communist bona fides. Democracy in Hong Kong has had its death knell,
and only Taiwan awaits its forced unification back to the Chinese fold.
Beijing's
diplomatic action came into renewed view on Monday as fighter jets and
surveillance planes of the Chinese military entered Taiwan's air defence
zone just as Palau's president was visiting Taipei accompanied by
Washington's ambassador to Taiwan, forcing Taiwan's air force to
scramble in interception of the ten Chinese aircraft, following an
earlier 20 Chinese jets overflying the country's exclusive air zone on
Friday
Several
weeks ago Canada finally publicly supported the European Union and the
United States in denouncing Chinese repression of its Turkic Muslim
minorities in Xinjiang province. Canadian Conservative Member of
Parliament Michael Chong who instigated a House of Commons motion to
declare the treatment of China's Uyghurs a genocide was hit by Chinese
sanctions.
Last
week the French government called in China's ambassador to Paris for
discussions relating to tweets attacking French lawmakers while
labelling a think tank analyst critical of Beijing a "small-time
hoodlum" and "crazed hyena", fully abandoning all pretense at civilized
diplomacy in its all-out war against its human-rights critics. Its
uncivil bullying goes hand-in-glove with its rapacious claims of new
Chinese territory at the expense of its neighbours.
Beijing
is using its size and influence on the world stage to consolidate its
holdings and stretch further and further to acquire more, including
land, sea and air. Its odyssey for world dominance in manufacturing and
trade, in technology and above all communications, leaves no stone
unturned be it the acquisition of precious earth minerals or fossil
fuels. It is a conscienceless behemoth intent on swallowing the world to
fill its greedy belly.
"We have until now redirected 15 vessels where we deemed the delay of sailing around the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa equal to the current delay of sailing to Suez and queuing."
Danish shipping giant Maersk (March 28)
"This is a big ship and a big problem, but it is not like we have not seen this coming."
Lloyd's List editor Richard Meade
"We pulled it off!"
"I am
excited to announce that our team of experts, working in close
collaboration with the Suez Canal Authority, successfully refloated the
Ever Given, thereby making free passage through the Suez Canal possible
again."
Peter Berdowski, CEO, Boskalis
salvage firm
The situation on the Suez Canal strained supply chains and
forced some ships to take a longer route around the Cape of Good Hope at
Africa's southern tip. (Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters)
"We've gone to this fragile, just-in-time shipping that we saw
absolutely break down in the beginning of COVID."
"We used to have big, fat warehouses in all the countries where the
factories pulled supplies — Now these floating ships are the warehouse."
Capt. John
Konrad, founder and CEO, shipping news website gcaptain.com
"Aside from the delays directly caused by the closure, there is
inevitable bunching of vessels that occurs as they call at their next
ports and as we work through these clashes, we will feel the ripple
effects of this closure for some weeks to come."
Ahmed Bashir, Maersk’s
head of Global Execution Centres (March 29)
Egypt's Lt.Gen.Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority was prepared to unload the 18,000 containers from the massive container ship Ever Given, boxed into the Suez Canal for almost a week. Authorization came from Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi to procure specialized unloading devices, equipment not already in the Authority's inventory. That equipment was to be acquired at the very time that dredging continued in an effort to free the ship blocking transit through the Canal.
"His excellency has ordered that we should not wait for the failure of the first and second scenarios to start thinking about implementing the third one", Lt.Gen.Rabie said, referring to unloading the gigantic ship. But then, the intersection of a full moon and high tide along with the aid of more powerful tugs managed to free the 200,000-ton ship from the trap it was in lodged firmly into the eastern bank of the canal, one that was racking up billions of dollars in global trade each day the canal remained blocked. \
Shipping giant Maersk was preparing to reroute more vessels following further analysis and the failure of flotation efforts. And then two larger and heavier tug boats, the Netherlands-registered ALP Guard and the Italian-registered Carlo Magno arrived on Sunday. Rumours of a U.S. Navy team of dredging experts expected to arrive for an inspection was never verified. "Significant progress" according to Bernhard Schulte Shipmenagement overseeing the ship's crew and maintenance was made on Saturday.
However, despite 11 tugs pulling and a rising tide, by midnight it was obvious that more dredging to remove thousands of tons of sediment around the port side of the vessel's bow would have to proceed. Industry experts weighed the thought that the wedged ship leading to the canal's plight was preventable. Warnings had been issued for years of a mismatch between ever-growing vessels using a waterway that risk assessments claimed would have to be enlarged, wider and deeper to accommodate the goliaths passing through.
Shipping companies now face higher insurance costs, with only one in every ten ships waiting for the stranded Ever Given to move, having adequate insurance to cover mounting disruption costs. Concerns over the financial effect of the standstill highlight that businesses would be affected in a myriad of instances. Those floating warehouses are paying the "just-in-time" cost of relieving giant corporations and manufacturers of maintaining warehouses.
Once the freed Ever Given makes anchor in the Great Bitter Lake, the 422 ships awaiting transit will be enabled to gradually clear the backlog to restart their journeys."As
soon as the ship reaches the waiting place in the Bitter Lakes…the 43
ships waiting in the Bitter Lakes will begin to move south towards the
Gulf of Suez", explained a Canal authority of the ships traveling in convoys north- and southbound of the Suez Canal while the Ever Given stands by for inspection.
Under normal circumstances it takes ten to twelve hours to cross the canal. The channel, which is planned to remain in operation for 24 hours will see two convoys daily successfully pass through. Before the blockage an average of between 80 to 90 ships would pass through the canal. Now that over 400 vessels carrying billions of dollars in freight, are waiting to clear the passage the Authority is committed to work 24 hours to facilitate their passage.
Tug boats working on the Ever Given on Saturday night AFP
Temporary Risk of Product Scarcity and Elevated Costs: Suez Canal vs Horn of Africa
"The market is betting that the issue might go on for a while."
"If
you detour to the Cape of Good Hope, it will probably take at least one
more week to reach the Netherlands from Shanghai ... if you have to
detour, it should raise current freight rates further."
Kim Young-ho, analyst, Samsung Securities
"We see that the pirates are acting with greater impunity."
"They are spending more periods of time on board vessels. In one case,
they were on board a vessel for more than 24 hours, totally
unchallenged."
International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Director Michael Howlett
"There is a risk there, and it's probably another reason why the ocean
carriers will think twice before they actually go around the Horn (of
Africa)."
Genevieve Giuliano, University of Southern
California's Sol Price School of Public Policy
While piracy in Somalia has fallen in recent years, crime is thriving off the shores of West Africa.
Farah Abdi Warsameh / AP
Stuck
on the horns of a dilemma, shipping has been inadvertently put on hold
through the Suez Canal. Now, an alternative to waiting possibly several
weeks for the mammoth vessel Ever Given to be freed, is to consider
rounding the Horn of Africa. The accidental ramming of the side of the
canal by a ship so long that the width of the canal holds it captive at
either side of the canal until it is freed, while other cargo-carrying
ships await their opportunity at either end to continue their journeys
delivering cargo has created a maritime backlog of unprecedented
proportions.
The
fear of rerouting vessels through to Africa rather than wait for weeks
for the Suez Canal to finally be cleared of the massive obstruction, is
that of falling prey to pirates operating off both the West and East
coasts of Africa. In their concern, shipping companies have appealed to
the U.S. Navy in fear of the elevated threat of piracy should ships be
rerouted, given the choice of anchoring with billions of dollars of
cargo tied up at sea or deciding to embark on a lengthy and potentially
risky route around Africa.
"Africa has the risk of piracy, especially in East Africa",
said Zhao Qing-feng, office manager of the China Shipowners'
Association from Shanghai, even as serious consideration is being given
to the potential alternative. There was "nothing we can do"
about cargo stuck on vessels outside the Suez Canal awaiting entrance,
warned Rolf Habben Jensen, chief executive of Hapag-Lloyd, the world's
fifth-largest container carrier. The focus is to have ships arrive at
their intended destinations as soon as possible.
Supply
chains concerns are of the utmost importance to manufacturers'
dependence on container shipping. East Africa has long had a reputation
for piracy, while a surge in kidnappings at sea and other maritime
crimes have surged in recent months in West Africa, as well. Chief
commercial officer Dimitris Maniatis of Seagull Maritime Security which
provides ship guards explained that private security doesn't come cheap;
between $5,000 to $10,000 each vessel should those waiting at the
southern entrance of the Suez Canal need to turn and sail through the
Gulf of Aden.
Bypassing
the Suez Canal to travel around South Africa's Cape of Good Horn would
effect the opportunity to steer clear of areas known to be dangerous off
the coast of West Africa. While companies express their concerns that
should the blockage continue their vessels could face piracy risks, the
U.S. Navy observed that no impact on naval operations in the region has
yet been noted. The decision of whether to reroute represented a "roll of the dice", in the words of the head of liner operations at Maersk Asia Pacific, James Wroe.
The Ever Given is stuck across the Suez Canal (Photo by Suez Canal Authority/Handout/AFP via Getty Images)
According
to Rolf Jansen, three vessels in its alliance with other shipping
companies had been diverted, as has the Ever Green, sister-ship to the
Ever Given, the very vessel crammed widthwise in the Suez Canal. In
Singapore and Tokyo similar rerouting decisions were "imminent",
affecting a number of oil tankers and other vessels. Travelling from
Singapore to Rotterdam via the Cape of Good Hope vessels would face
added costs of $400,000 each vessel for the entire voyage.
Close
to two hundred vessels were stranded either side of the Suez Canal,
representing the choke point through which approximately twelve percent
of global trade flows; a route critical for oil, gas and high-demand
food commodities like coffee. Asian carmakers rely on the route to
transport parts meant for European factories. Their delay raises the
potential of plant stoppages across the U.K. and Europe should the
blockage be extended.
Nissan is "assessing the impact on our operations",
of which the Suez Canal is part of, shipping to Europe from Asia, while
Honda is monitoring the situation. Carmakers maintain very little
stock, relying on "just in time" delivery of components. Delivery delays
at sea forces carmakers to turn to expensive air freighting of parts as
an emergency measure. Rerouting cargo around southern Africa would add
at least seven days and potentially force cancellation of other
scheduled routes.
Dutch
and Japanese salvage specialists have a variety of theories on how best
to proceed intending to free the Ever Given, presenting a formidable
technical challenge complicated by inclement weather conditions.
According to Hapag-Lloyd's Jansen it would "at least take a few weeks" for congestion at the Suez Canal to ease, even after the gigantic container ship is refloated.
"We commend and stand with companies that adhere to the U.S. laws and
ensure products we're consuming are not made with forced labour."
"We continue to support and
encourage businesses to respect human rights in line with the U.N.
guiding principles on business and human rights in the OECD guidelines
for multinational enterprises."
Deputy U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter
"I wasn't aware of the backlash. I came here to buy a coat for spring
because H&M is reasonably priced and fashionable."
"I'll still buy something since I'm already here, but if this backlash
lasts for a really long time, I will buy less from this brand."
Wang Yuying, 52-year-old retiree, H&M Shanghai outlet
Chinese state media called for a boycott of H&M, which said it would stop buying Xinjiang cotton
Chinese social media has launched a government-incited campaign against popular Western brands in China in response to comments fashion brands have made citing labour conditions in Xinjiang. Now Nike Inc. and Adidas AG have experienced attacks for their part in the campaign, involving a diplomatic spat between China and the West; where China is accused of using Uyghurs for forced labour in cotton fields.
The Chinese government has called upon its loyal public to help put a stop to foreign brands labelling China as a persecutor-oppressor against its Muslim Uyghur minority in Xinjiang province. Beijing's denials hasn't stopped a number of Western governments from labelling the persecution of the Uyghurs as 'genocide', infuriating the Chinese Communist Party which refers to the 're-education camps' it operates as learning centres.
State media in China singled out H&M, the Swedish fashion retailer. over a comment where it stated it had deep concerns over reports of forced labour in Xinjiang, adding it did not source products from that region of China. As a result, shares of Anta Sports Products Ltd. and Li Ning Co. surged, while shares of Nike fell as did Adidas, and H&M slipped sales as well.
The brands had been enjoying a rapid growth spurt, evidenced by their popularity with consumers in China; all have stated they don't source products or yarn from the Xinjiang region. China continues to strenuously deny accusations of human rights abuses by its officials in the region, home to Muslim Uyghurs, following sanctions imposed on the officials by the European Union, United States, Britain and Canada.
Beijing returned the compliment, sanctioning European lawmakers, scholars andinstitutions.Meanwhile, Chinese internet users have stated their intention to stop buying Nike and will instead support local brands; others instructed Adidas to leave China: "If you boycott Xinjiang cotton, we'll boycott you. Either Adidas quits BCI, or get out of China", wrote one internet user.
Chloe Cranston of Anti-Slavery International, a member of the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uighur Region, stated that "Brands must not rescind on their human rights responsibilities in the face of this pressure", speaking to the dilemma created for Western companies attempting to balance their wish to expand business in China and still support the public views of consumers in their home markets.
Global Times, a state tabloid, published a story that Zara owned by Spain's Inditex had "quietly removed" their Xinjiang comment of its concern about reports describing social and labour malpractice in supply chains among ethnic Uyghurs. It was on public view March 24, but is currently not on view. Chinese internet users targeted the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a group promoting sustainable cotton production which suspended its approval of cotton sourced from Xinjiang in October, citing human rights concerns.
Nike, Adidas, H&M and Japan's Fast Retailing are all members of BCI. On Thursday, the BCI website also stopped working. On Wednesday H&M stated it respected Chinese consumers, it was committed to long-term investment and development in China. Despite which, the next day H&M was absent on some Chinese store locator maps and searches for H&M stores on Baidu Maps yielded no results. Its official store on Alibaba Tmall, a platform for e-commerce, had disappeared.
China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a daily media briefing responded when asked about H&M by holding up a photograph of Black Americans picking cotton: "This was in the U.S. when Black slaves were forced to pick cotton in the fields". She then held up a second photograph of cotton fields in Xinjiang: "More than 40 percent of the cotton in Xinjiang is harvested by machinery, so the alleged forced labour is non-existent."
Which, needless to say, leaves 60 percent unaccounted for...?
China's Xinjiang region: cotton production under slave labor conditions?
"We sincerely apologize for causing a great deal of concern to the vessels scheduled to sail and their related parties while navigating the Suez Canal due to the accident of this vessel."
Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd.
"Masters are held solely responsible for all damage or accidents of whatever kind resulting from the navigation or handling of their vessels directly or indirectly by day or night."
"[Because the canal pilot] cannot know the defects or difficulties of manoeuverability for every vessel, [the final responsibility rests with the top officer on the ship]."
Suez Canal Authority document
"There are many challenges."
"The increasing size of ships is one example. Wide-ranging weather conditions include sandstorms that can limit visibility severely, thus making the pilotage of large vessels extremely challenging."
"Emergency situations such as blackouts and rudder jam onboard vessels transiting the canal can be critical in the channel."
Sabry Nasr, head, Suez training centre
It is estimated that the 193-kilometre Suez Canal sees roughly 12 percent of all world trade passing through. Some 30 percent of all maritime trade travel ships through the Suez Canal. Should the delay in passage linger as a result of the giant container ship stuck in the canal, there might result a domino effect on world prices of goods.The diagonal position of the Ever Given resulting from a steering problem during a windy sandstorm several days ago has brought billions of dollars in trade goods to a screeching halt.
Operated by the Taiwan-based Evergreen Marine, owned by the Japanese company Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. the vessel's 400 metre-long size made it a difficult ship to steer during a violent storm. Weighing over 220,000 tonnes, it is no simple matter to ease it away from the bank it has stuck itself on, securely gouged into the dirt on the canal's side. To the present, all methods of attempting to free the giant ship have failed.
Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement, responsible as a marine management firm for the Ever Given, explained that "strong winds" had been faulted for grounding the ship. According to the ship owners "stormy weather" had been encountered during its passage through the historical canal where "gusting winds of 30 knots caused the container ship to deviate from its course, suspectedly leading to the grounding."
The Ever Given ship, viewed from satellite, remains stuck in the Suez Canal Maxar Technologies
The Associated Presswas informed by Bernhard Schulte Shipmenagement that "initial investigations rule out any mechanical or engine failure as a cause of the grounding". Container ships can find passage particularly perilous through the canal in the face of wind since such ships in tight spaces face navigational difficulties. The tens of thousands of sea-cans aboard meant to provide a wall for wind to blow against can produce tricky navigation.
The bank effect is another complicating issue where water between the canal bank and the ship's hull can impact steering as water flows from high pressure areas, meaning that ships are required to have a canal pilot on board who knows the canal and can pilot the ship through to safety. Two canal pilots had been aboard from the Suez Canal Authority when the ship ran aground. Canal pilots receive training through training simulators operated by the Suez Canal Authority's Maritime Training and Simulation Centre where via simulator training mimicking the challenegs and conditions of the canal take place.
How long the process will be to free the ship is difficult to estimate; anywhere from a day to weeks. A Dutch salvage firm has been working to free the ship: "It is, in a manner of speaking, a very heavy whale on on the beach", Peter Berdowski, chairman of Boskalis explained. Brought in to help, SMIT Salvage, one of the companies that lifted the Russian Kurk submarine from the bed of the Barents Sea in 2000 is also on hand. As well, Nippon Salvage Co. has been conracted as well. Boskalis is busy dredging the side of the canal hoping to free the ship.
Possibly a following step might be to remove the cargo, fuel and ballast from the ship to make it lighter and more readily floatable. A fleet of tug boats has been employed, pushing and pulling in hopes of refloating the giant ship by pulling it away from the banks -- with, to the present. no sign of success in the offing.
This photo released by the Suez Canal Authority on Thursday, March 25,
2021, shows two tugboats next to the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo
ship, after it become wedged across the Suez Canal and blocking traffic
in the vital waterway from another vessel. An operation is underway to
try to work free the ship, which further imperiled global shipping
Thursday as at least 150 other vessels needing to pass through the
crucial waterway idled waiting for the obstruction to clear. (Suez Canal
Authority via AP)
"Contrary
to almost all of the many people I have acted for, [Sidhu's] remorse
and empathy for the victims was foremost, and his concern for his
personal consequences was secondary."
"As a criminal barrister for 40 years, I can tell you that this type of selflessness is unusual."
"Throughout
the proceedings, his instructions were to attempt to minimize the
collateral grief to the families that necessarily flowed from the
criminal proceedings."
Mark Brayford, Sidhu defence lawyer
A
young male immigrant from India, starting to make a new life for
himself in Canada, hired by a cartage company to drive semi-trailers for
which he received inadequate training. A week of instruction sufficed
to earn him a legal license to drive a large rig on Canadian highways;
in the instance at hand a tractor-trailer with an added pup trailer. He
had two weeks' experience driving the rig solo. His attention fully
turned to driving when he realized the tarp on the pup trailer was
flapping. Distracted, he missed a stop sign at a poorly designed
intersection.
That
intersection was known locally as a dangerous spot, to the extent that
six people had died there in previous motor vehicle accidents. Jaskirat
Sidhu had been on the job for a month when the assignment to drive a
delivery with the rig came up. Because of that momentary distraction,
the driver who was not using his cellphone, was not on drugs, hadn't
used alcohol, was fully aware, drove past the flashing stop sign at the
rural Saskatchewan intersection and collided with a bus carrying the
junior hockey team from Humboldt, Saskatchewan.
The young hockey players and the team's staff were being taken to a playoff game on April 6, 2018.
Sixteen
members of the junior hockey team and staff died in the collision and
13 were injured, some with life-changing injuries.
At
the scene, the shattered truck driver fully cooperated with police
investigators. Throughout the investigation to follow, his arrest and
trial, he abnegated any opportunity to help his case, even when evidence
came to light that the intersection and the stop sign were inadequate
to their purpose, the cause of previous deadly accidents; he was driving
into the sun; and mature trees were growing beside the highway
partially obscuring views, including that of the stop sign.
Aerial photographs of the scene showed the scale of the collision with heavy damage to the coach (right) Canadian Press, Rex/Shutterstock
His
purpose was to take full responsibility for the outcome of a momentary
distraction that had resulted in a horrific ending. His purpose was to
spare the families involved any additional suffering after their
dreadful losses. Jaskirat Sidhu has the official status of a landed
immigrant. He is not yet a citizen of Canada, although he aspired to
citizenship. He was newly married to another immigrant and together they
planned to make a life for themselves in Canada.
He
was sentenced to eight years in prison, representing the stiffest such
penalty for accidents of this kind. Vehicular homicides are not all that
uncommon in Canada, mostly caused by people driving under the influence
of alcohol, drugs, speeding, talking on their cellphones or instances
of sheer carelessness. Jaskirat Sidhu had pleaded guilty to 29 charges
of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm. He made no effort to
defend himself. Overwhelmed with remorse he instructed his lawyers to
plead guilty on his behalf to all charges brought against him.
The
case management team at Prince Albert Penitentiary where he was
incarcerated citing his exemplary behaviour while in prison along with
his "significant level of remorse and victim empathy",
recommended his transfer to a minimum-security facility. That
recommendation was turned down by the prison warden. Uppermost in the
warden's mind would be the reaction from family members whose children
were killed or maimed by the accident that shocked the entire country
when news exploded nationally of the Humbold team's dreadful loss.
Under
Canadian law, anyone who is not a citizen of Canada, someone with the
status of a landed immigrant for example, who is found guilty of a major
criminal act can be extradited to their country of origin. Despite the
ghost of the tragedy following the young immigrant couple, their hope is
to be allowed to remain in Canada, become Canadian citizens, make their
lives here, raising a family. An official with the Canada Border
Services agency is to decide whether to allow Jaskirat Sidhu to remain
in Canada, or to deport him when he becomes eligible for parole this
coming November.
"Deportation of Mr. Sidhu back to India only serves to cause more suffering to him, his wife and his family."
"We
have exchanged several emails with Mr. Sidhu and his wife, Tanvir, and
it is clear to us that Jaskirat is indeed a broken and suffering soul."
"There has been enough suffering for everyone involved in this tragedy. We do not need any more."
Scott and Laurie Thomas, parents of 18-year-old Evan Thomas who died in the crash.
Evan Thomas between his two parents Photo: Scott Thomas
"I
believe it would be extremely unfortunate to now not allow a man who
made a mistake and owned up to it and accepted his consequences the
opportunity to continue his life here in Canada."
"I spent every day of the trial watching a man cry and be utterly devastated by the results of a mistake he made ..."
"I
believe in second chances. A man who took the harshest sentence for a
crime of this nature without appealing or defending himself in an
attempt to ease even a small amount of pain for those he hurt is someone
I believe deserves a second chance."
Christina Haugan, widow, Broncos' head coach Darcy Haugan who died in the crash
"By
contrast [to the Humboldt Broncos' case], a Saskatchewan driver who had
previously dodged charges of drunk driving and fleeing the scene of a
crash, drove through a stop sign in 1997, killing a 39-year-old woman
and injuring her young son before fleeing the scene without rendering
assistance."
"He was not charged with leaving the scene, but received a ticket for driving without due care and paid a small fine."
"That driver, Scott Moe, is now premier of Saskatchewan."
"The Chinese side urges the EU side to reflect on itself, face squarely the severity of its mistake and redress it."
"It must stop lecturing others on human rights and interfering in their internal affairs. It must end the hypocritical practise of double standards and stop going further down the wrong path."
"Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions."
"[The EU's sanctions against four Chinese officials for Uyghur human rights abuses were based on] nothing but lies and disinformation [interfering with China's internal affairs]."
"[The Canadian side had assembled a group of diplomats to] point fingers [and is] wantonly interfering in China's judicial sovereignty."
Hua Chunying, Spokesman, Chinese Foreign Ministry
"We are deeply troubled by the total lack of transparency surrounding these hearings [two Canadians charged with espionage] and we continue to work towards an immediate end to their arbitrary detention."
"The eyes of the world are on these cases."
Canadian Foreign Minister Marc Garneau
"Michael [Kovrig] and Michael Spavor are innocent Canadians caught up in a bigger geopolitical dispute."
"Their detention is profoundly unjust and our focus must remain on securing their freedom."
Vina Nadjibulla, Michael Kovrig's wife
Outside a courthouse in Beijing diplomats from the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Czech Republic and others stood in solidarity with Jim Nickel, Canadian charge d'affaires of the Canadian embassy in China. He spoke to reporters telling them that the Canadian mission had "requested access to Michael Kovrig's hearing repeatedly but that access is being denied [ostensibly for national security reasons]. Now we see that the court process itself is not transparent. We're very troubled by this."
The two Michaels, one a former diplomat, the other a China-based entrepreneur, had been arrested just days following the arrest by the RCMP in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, CFO of Huawei Technologies, based on a U.S. warrant. They have been incarcerated virtually incommunicado for over two years. Their 'trials', held in camera, were each held within a week of each other. Chinese authorities would not permit Canadian diplomats consular access to either the two Canadians or their trials.
On Monday, members of the diplomatic corps of other countries stood symbolically with the Canadian representative outside the courthouse where all were denied entry as observers to court proceedings. It was well known and acknowledged that these court proceedings without exception deliver guilty verdicts in 99.9 percent of such cases. In this case, the detention of the two Canadians has been universally recognized as 'hostage diplomacy'.
Both men will be found guilty. Former Canadian ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques explained that the two men have "no chance, because it's all preordained by the Communist party". Despite that Beijing insists there is no connection between Spavor and Kovrig's detention with the arrest of Meng, despite that in June Chinese government spokesman Zhao Lijian stated that should Canada take steps to halt Meng's extradition proceedings it "could open up space for resolution to the situation of the two Canadians".
Meng remains for the time being in Vancouver on bail, living for the past two years in one of her two Vancouver mansions, free to live a normal life and to attend the occasional extradition hearing in her case where her lawyers are arguing the unlawfulness of her detention. Knowledgeable observers note that as long as the Meng case remains unresolved there are no hopes that the two Michaels will be released from custody. Now that their 'trials' went to process, the next step is their eventual penalty for being Canadians in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Their sentences will be more lenient than the death penalty even though the penalty in China for espionage ranges from ten years in prison to as permanent as life imprisonment. Four other Canadians are also in custody, on drug charges. Their drug offences had netted them jail time, but coincidentally to the two Michaels being charged with espionage, the other Canadians' penalties were upgraded to death sentences for narcotics offences.
Diplomats, including representatives from Canada and the U.S., stand
outside the Beijing court where Michael Kovrig's trial is taking place. (Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters)
"She was not a street person. She was missing, and she was murdered."
"It was horrific and I try not to dwell on it. Its like trying to get out of a dark pit."
"[Muchieiwanape is] evil [and] sadistic [he] should be locked up permanently."
"While
incarcerated, he has received his education and job skills. How nice.
What supports were put in place for my sister and her family after he
washed my sister's blood from his hands?"
"I'm filled with anger. They should be held accountable for being lenient with these
dangerous inmates. What now? Who's to blame if he harms another innocent
person?"
Darlene Clarke, left, is pictured with her sister Kimberley
Clarke, right, in an undated family photo. The woman in the middle is
their late mother, Sarah Clarke. (Submitted by Courtney Bear)
"When
a person is sentenced in federal custody, a big part of that sentence
is supposed to be tied to the severity of the crime, and some kind of
deterrent or punishment factor. But once that person starts their
sentence, another big part of what becomes part of the decision process
is what is that person's needs for rehabilitation?"
"Often
first-degree murderers may end up in the maximum type of prison
environment, but over time ... they're continually evaluated. In some
cases, that means taking down steps in their security levels at their
institutions."
"...But
for the majority of people that are serving federal sentences, there is
a lot of value in the rehabilitation activities they do."
Mary Campbell, director, Centre for Criminal Justice Studies, University of New Brunswick
The
issue in Canada of 'missing and murdered Indigenous women' is a sad and
sorry statement of malfunction and dysfunction; malfunction on the part
of government penal agencies and dysfunction out of the larger
Aboriginal population. Indigenous, First Nations women and children have
a higher degree of violence committed against them than their
counterparts in the general population. The same can be said for First
Nations men; who also suffer violence disproportionately.
More
First Nations children are taken into protective custody than are
non-Aboriginal children in the general population. Substantially greater
numbers of First Nations men are incarcerated for all manner of crimes,
and again hugely disproportionate to their numbers in society. Many
First Nations people live in remote, isolated communities, but those who
have left their ancestral tribal communities to live in urban centres
are prone to the same behavioral frailties as their tribal cousins
living on reserves.
Addiction
to drugs and alcohol run rampant through their communities, much of it
driven by bio- and cultural-inheritance. Colonialism takes its fair
share of responsibility for the plight and neglect of First Nations
people. Tribal leaders have great influence over the course of events of
their people, exerting that influence persuasively in issues such as
non-integration into non-Aboriginal social streams and allegiance to
their heritage and lands. Which keeps them isolated, living in remote
communities where health care and social services are less accessible.
Kimberley Clarke, 36, was murdered under Winnipeg's Redwood Bridge in 1998. She had three children. (Submitted by Jade Frost)
The
issue of violence in native communities is an ongoing failure of both
First Nations and government agencies tasked to give aid, to solve.
Criminal behaviour is too common but much worse is the violence enacted
against one another, and most particularly toward girls and women.
Missing and murdered Aboriginal women has its start right there, with
the responsibility that should be laid directly at the feet of those
leaders who fail to address it but point a finger of blame at 'white
colonists' and issues such as residential schools whose purpose was to
give Indigenous children a contemporary education to enable them to meld
into the greater society.
Many
Aboriginals have done just that, with and without the aid of
residential schools, propelling themselves into respected positions in
the professions of law, medicine, journalism, government, social
services and more. Just as some tribes have succeeded in pioneering for
themselves positions as leaders in commercial ventures that have been
hugely successful and remunerative, while others are dismal failures,
led by reserve councils that are corrupt and unaccountable.
Through
all of this, the federal government and provincial governments tread a
fine line between honouring Aboriginal traditions and culture and
imposing the laws of the land. Unevenly, as it happens, with heavy
consideration to treating First Nations law-breakers more leniently than
non-First-Nations criminals. In the case of Canadian murderer Roderick
Muchikekwanape, 42, freedoms of a nature ill-deserved by his murderous
past. He bludgeoned an Aboriginal woman to death and sexually assaulted
her.
The
two met at a party in Winnipeg in 1998. They were seen walking
together, when security at a nearby business called police after hearing
screams and seeing someone running from the source of the tumult. When
police arrived they discovered a trail of blood which led to the river.
Kimberley Clarke's body was discovered after two days; she had been
beaten to death. Roderick Muchikekwanape was found guilty at trial and
sentenced to life imprisonment. Months ago, he walked away from a
minimum-security Mission Institution in British Columbia.
These
are open grounds, with few security features, where those
institutionalized are on an 'honour' system to remain within the
grounds. Accommodation is casual, there is no resemblance to the usual
penal institutions where hardened criminals and murderers are kept in
federal prisons. And these minimum-security alternatives are meant
exclusively for the Aboriginal criminal class. It is thought that these
places are more in keeping with First Nations cultures and systems of
justice for malefactors. Several months ago Roderick Muchikekwanape
walked out of Mission Institution and he is still at large.
The minimum-security Mission Institution in B.C.
where Roderick Muchikekwanape was serving his life sentence has a long
history of inmate escapes.Photo by Francis Georgian/Postmedia/File
A video capture last saw him in Washington State where U.S. Marshalls feel he is likely to "claim to belong to a tribe in the U.S." Royal Canadian Mounted Police, at the time of his escape, said he has "a history of significant violence".
Correctional Service of Canada issued a news release that he was
unaccounted for at an evening count, leading to a warrant being issued
for his arrest. His has not been the only high-profile escape from the
Mission Institution which houses hundreds of medium- and
minimum-security Indigenous prisoners.
Barb Van Vugt, the then-warden in 2017 described no physical barrier preventing inmates from leaving the prison. "We believe a gradual release into society is safest and best for everyone",
she stated following Robert Dezwaan, serving a sentence for the sexual
assault of 16-year-old Cherish Billy Oppenheim whom he had beaten to
death and buried under rocks, had also decided to leave the prison.
Convicted of a 2004 fire-bombing in Calgary where two young children
were killed, Michael Sheets was another escapee. And there are more.
As
for Muchikekwanape, the Pacific North-west Violent Offender Task Force
is looking for him. Just over six feet in height, black hair, brown
eyes, he has a number of aliases. He was last seen, according to the
U.S. marshals, boarding a bus to Mount Vernon, another bus to Everett,
on his way to Sumas, Washington -- on the Canada-U.S.border.
Israeli Palestinian Cities Strangled by Palestinian-on-Palestinian Violence
"Many Arab Israelis blame the violence on organized crime, and accuse
police of devoting too few resources to root it out in Arab cities,
towns and neighborhoods. Experts, policymakers and activists argue that
even as Israeli police have cracked down on crime among Israeli Jews,
not enough has been done to combat endemic violence in the Arab
community, which has long suffered from official neglect."
"Over the past few years, Arab criminal groups have proliferated and
taken over spaces vacated by state institutions and police. A new
reality has been created in Arab towns and cities, one in which powerful
protection rackets have access to an enormous quantity of weapons, lend
money and collect payments at the barrel of a gun, and open fire at
Arab mayors and their family members."
"The metastasizing phenomenon has also fueled gang wars between
different groups jockeying for turf and clientele, turning towns into
battlefields and sometimes catching innocent bystanders in the
crossfire. 'It is the Arab crime organizations who rule Israel today when it
comes to the criminal underworld. They are strong, determined, forceful
and they don’t screw around. They have enough weapons for an entire
army', an anonymous senior cop told Channel 12 in 2018."
"The underworld violence is mostly confined to Arab areas of the country,
as seen in the disproportionate number of killings among the Arab
community compared to Jewish areas of the country. Even though Arab
Israelis constitute roughly 21% of the population, they accounted for
71% of the 125 homicides in Israel in 2019."
Aaron Boxerman, The Times of Israel, 31 December 2020
Police at the scene of a fatal shooting in the northern town of Bi’ina, October 4, 2020 (Israel Police)
What
is it about Palestinian history and culture that might be responsible
for a seeming proclivity to violence and gangsterism? The Palestinian
Authority ostensibly has no influence on Palestinians living in Israel
as part of the Israeli population with full citizenship. It does, on the
other hand, exercise influence on all Palestinians when Mahmoud Abbas
exhorts Palestinians to 'resist' the 'occupation', when he sees to it
that Palestinian children under his autonomous rule are taught from
Israel-hating curricula where Jews are portrayed as killers of
Palestinians and children are urged to join the 'resistance' and plan
their future as martyrs.
Arab residents of Jerusalem throw rocks at Israeli police near the Lions
Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City on October 6, 2000, at the outset of the
second Palestinian intifada, or uprising (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
Palestinian
citizens of Israel are known to succumb to the invitation extended to
them by the PA to vent their anger against Israelis and they do this
with regularity through knifings, vehicular attacks and other means by
which they hope to exact maximum damage through killing Israeli Jews and
being glorified by the PA as martyrs to the cause, receiving generous
monthly stipends if they're incarcerated, and if they die while
committing atrocities those monthly payments for 'heroism' go to their
families. It cannot help but have an effect on those within Palestinian
society vulnerable to suggestive hatred.
Palestinian
citizens living in Israel have called increasingly upon Israeli police
to solve the problem of Palestinian-on-Palestinian crime. The response
of the Israeli Police has been less than impressive to those calling for
an end to the fear and violence they live with. There is that age-old
conundrum of a society failing to influence its members for the better,
that when an institutional force of another society enters the picture
to try to bring order and security to bear, invariably criticism will
surface to the effect that the 'intruding' society has been overbearing
in its response.
Israel,
sensitive to the never-ending criticism coming at its governance from
outside sources such as states within the European Union, always highly
critical of Israeli action as it applies to Palestinians, are quick to
pounce declaring that Israel has trod on Palestinians' human rights.
There will always be many within the Israeli-Palestinian community who
plead for police action to clean up the crime the community is forced to
live with, while others from within the community await the opportunity
to claim undue force brought to bear by an 'apartheid' government.
The
poisonous clamour from the international community over any hints that
Israel's police force might exact stern measures to persuade the
Palestinian criminal class that their days of free reign to sow terror
among their own is over, goes a long way in dissuading the government of
Israel from taking such action. To be sure, Israeli police respond to
the violence, but in the same token even while they are aware of what is
occurring, the reality is that information and evidence from the
community itself to aid the police in their work is hard to come by.
Obviously
for the simple enough reason that it is seen as a 'betrayal' for
Palestinians to aid Israeli police in cleaning up the gangsters among
them along with the certain knowledge that they and theirs will be
punished by retributive action. Both sectors are between a rock and a
hard place; the police for fear of recriminations by the foreign press
and their government agencies, the Palestinian communities for fear of
their own victimizing them even further through indiscriminate killings.
Arab Israelis protest against violence, organized crime and recent
killings in their communities, in the Arab town of Majd al-Krum in
northern Israel on October 3, 2019. (Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)
Matters
have become so desperate from within the Palestinian towns and cities
cowering in fear from the violence of the gangs among them that huge
protests have been taking place calling on the Israeli government to
protect its Palestinian citizens -- from other Palestinian citizens who
have no regard whatever for the security and human rights of their own
in the greater interests of terroristic glory and the acquisition of
ill-gotten gains.
“I lost my husband and two children. They were shot dead right in front
of us in our home, and yet there have been no arrests so far. In 2012, I
participated in a Knesset hearing. I felt optimistic when the prime
minister turned to me and promised that the case would be handled, and
that they would find the murderers, but nothing actually came of that.
When I saw that no progress was being made, I asked the district police
in Haifa about where the investigation stood. One police investigator
told me, ‘I can tell you who came into your house and shot your husband
and children, but we need evidence.’ I refused to accept his response. I
didn’t want to know who shot them, because I am sure that if I was
Jewish, they would have found the murderer and arrested him in a matter
of 24 hours."
Siham Egbariya from the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm
Arab Israelis protest against violence, organized crime and recent
killings among their communities, in the Arab town of Majd al-Krum,
northern Israel, October 03, 2019. (David Cohen/FLASH90)
“Contrary to the stereotype, these are not ‘crime families.’ In the
families of those involved in organized crime, you’ll often find doctors
and lawyers — and a crime boss, whose foot soldiers are mostly from
outside the family", explained Walid Haddad, formerly a
15-year Israeli law enforcement officer in the Public Security
Ministry, now a criminologist teaching at Western Galilee College
"In general, banks hesitate to provide loans in our Arab towns. This
has led individuals, breadwinners, and business owners in the midst of
the coronavirus pandemic to take loans on the black market. Most of them
are asked to pay absurd amounts."
“How do these groups make people pay? They threaten their lives and
their property. And those people who do manage to pay, in practice, fund
the next series of crimes."
"Homicides are just one parameter in the violence: Attempts to gun down
mayors, threats, extortion, blackmail, domestic violence, use of weapons
in disputes."
Joint List MK Mansour Abbas
Police at the scene of a deadly shooting in the central city of Lod on December 28, 2020. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
"I heard on the news that mothers with their babies and minors could come."
"[My baby's father?] He abandoned us. We have nothing."
Mayra, 17, Guatemalan refugee
"[It's nonsense that more migrants were coming because I am] a nice guy."
"They come because their circumstance is so bad."
U.S.President Joe Biden
A young girl carries a child inside a U.S. Customs and Border Protection holding area in El Paso, Texas.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters
Since
October of 2020, roughly two-thirds of unaccompanied minors taken into
custody at the border of Mexico and the U.S. have travelled from
Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The remainder for the most part are
Mexican children. Currently the number in the custody of a
U.S.Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) refugee office
managing a government shelter system stands at 9,200. Most of these
children are in their teens, but there are hundreds under 12 years of
age.
Among
the unaccompanied children many hope to become reunited with family
members. Many others have left their homes to escape violence and
poverty, a fact well understood by immigration experts. Slumping
economies caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has been the cause of many
more migrants leaving their home countries. Hurricanes have recently
battered Central America.
A young asylum seeker
arrives with her family at a bus station after being released by US
border patrol in Brownsville, Texas, on 25 February. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
Under
the new Biden administration, a recent change in policy permits
unaccompanied children into the United States even while single adults
and families crossing illegally continue to be expelled. Under the
previous Trump and Obama administrations in 2019 and 2014, similar
spikes in migrant crossings from Mexico to the U.S. also occurred.
While
the potentially dangerous trip to the border is undertaken by some
children on their own, or through a smuggler, in alternate instances
children travel with older siblings, grandparents or other relatives and
they can be separated by Customs and Border Protection once caught at
the border.
Upon
being taken into custody the children are meant to be transferred out
of Customs and Border Protection to shelters operated by Health and
Human Services within a 72-hour period. With limited shelter space,
however, border detention centres may see children remaining for longer
periods, and this is what is happening at the present time, due to an
influx of greater numbers.
Children play between tents at a makeshift migrant camp in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, Mexico.Bloomberg
Originally constructed to house adult men for short periods of time, the border stations have the potential to pose COVID-19
health risks to children and staff alike, in overcrowded conditions.
When they gain the shelters, children can be released to parents or
other sponsors or alternately placed in foster care where asylum can be
pursued or alternate ways sought to remain in the U.S. -- other than to
be deported.
Of
the approximately 200,000 unaccompanied children entering the country
from fiscal year 2014 to fiscal year 2019, four percent were removed,
according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data. Several
emergency shelters for children in Texas have been opened by the
administration, along with plans to utilize the Dallas convention centre
for up to three thousand migrant teen boys to be housed.
Looking
to the longer term, the Biden administration is planning to establish
programs permitting Central Americans to apply for refugee status in the
United States from their home countries, while also making an effort to
improve conditions in those countries. Allied with that effort, a
program has been restarted allowing certain Central American children
with parents living lawfully in the U.S. to apply for a refugee
resettlement from their home countries.
A U.S. Border Patrol agent releases a young asylum seeker with her
family at a bus station on February 25 in Brownsville, Texas. (CNN)
This represents a general opinion site for its author. It also offers a space for the author to record her experiences and perceptions,both personal and public. This is rendered obvious by the content contained in the blog, but the space is here inviting me to write. And so I do.