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Ottawa joined the chorus of countries scrambling to evacuate diplomats and citizens from Sudan on Sunday, announcing they had evacuated a handful of Canadian embassy staff from Khartoum as part of a dramatic airlift of international diplomats by helicopter, airplane and ship.
Six Canadian diplomats were among a group evacuated from Khartoum by U.S. Special Forces on Sunday morning, according to a New York Times report. However, more than 1,590 Canadians remain stranded in Sudan as heavy fighting persists.
Meanwhile, Ottawa has temporarily suspended consular services in Sudan, according to a statement released by Global Affairs Canada. The statement added that Canadian diplomats will work “from a safe location outside the country” but did not elaborate on where these diplomats are now located.
Smoke is seen in Khartoum, Sudan, April 22, 2023.Marwan Ali/The Associated Press
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PSAC threatens to escalate strike action to ports across the country
The union that represents more than 100,000 striking federal public servants says it may begin escalating strike action across the country starting Monday by moving picket lines to strategic locations such as ports, with both sides accusing the other of resorting to delaying tactics at the negotiating table.
Central to the now six-day long dispute is a disagreement over wages and remote work. The Public Service Alliance of Canada is demanding a 13.5-per-cent wage hike over three years for 120,000 of its members, while the Union of Taxation Employees, an arm of PSAC that is bargaining on behalf of 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency workers currently on strike, is asking for a wage hike of 22.5 per cent over three years. The government’s current offer for both bargaining units is 9 per cent.
PSAC is also demanding that remote work language be entrenched in any future collective agreements, so that unionized workers have the ability to grieve a forced return to the office that they deem unfair. The government has mandated that all federal public employees be in the office at least twice or three times a week.
Picketers line the sidewalks as more than 155,000 public sector union workers with the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) remain on strike, in Gatineau, Quebec, April 20, 2023.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters
Dawn Walker, Saskatoon woman accused of fleeing to U.S. with child, to argue she did so to escape alleged abuse
An award-winning First Nations author and former political candidate accused of faking her death and fleeing to the United States with her child will argue at her criminal trial that she did so out of necessity to protect her child from alleged abuse when the authorities would not.
In her first public interview since her arrest, Ms. Walker told The Globe and Mail that she did what she did out of desperation after her attempts to seek help from the authorities were dismissed. Ms. Walker’s ex-partner has denied the allegations of abuse, and has not faced any charges. Ms. Walker’s trial, which will be heard by a judge alone, is scheduled to begin in November.
Dawn Walker leaves her bail hearing at Saskatoon Provincial Court on Sept. 2, 2022.Liam Richards/The Canadian Press
University of Waterloo advises researchers they aren’t obligated to talk to CSIS agents
The University of Waterloo is advising its academics that they don’t have to talk to Canadian Security Intelligence Service agents if approached to discuss research projects with Chinese defence and state security institutions.
CSIS began taking on a greater role in scrutinizing scientific and high-tech projects that receive federal money after The Globe and Mail uncovered extensive collaboration between Canadian universities and Chinese military scientists.
Waterloo was at the top of a recent list compiled by U.S. strategic intelligence company Strider Technologies Inc. that showed researchers at 50 Canadian universities had conducted joint research projects since 2005 with China’s National University of Defence Technologies, the main research arm of the People’s Liberation Army. Some of these NUDT researchers are experts in missile performance and guidance systems, mobile robotics and automated surveillance.
The University of Waterloo's Stratford campus.
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Also on our radar
Analysis: A frenzied three-week period leaves consequential questions over the U.S. presidential campaign: Seldom has such a short period 18 months before a presidential election had so many significant events crowded into it.
Canadian companies cover new ground with Earth-observation technology: With growing support from Ottawa and private investors, Canadian companies are claiming part of the market, developing technologies that capture and analyze space-based data across a number of commercial uses.
Former Haiti PM says Canada sending mixed signals with its sanctions: Fritz Alphonse Jean, a former governor of Haiti’s central bank who also served briefly as prime minister, says Canada is sending mixed signals by imposing sanctions on some of his country’s elites while avoiding direct criticism of the Caribbean nation’s government.
OpenAI co-founder defends messy rollout of powerful technologies: The messy rollout of artificial-intelligence chat programs has not necessarily been a bad thing, said a leader of one of the companies leading the way with the new technology.
Activists advancing: Why boardroom battles are accelerating across Canada: Market volatility and economic uncertainty are pushing investors globally to adopt a more aggressively activist mindset, experts say, with Canadian companies positioned as especially attractive targets.
Morning markets
World shares slip: Global shares eased on Monday with investors awaiting earnings from some of tech’s biggest names later in the week. Around 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.11 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 lost 0.09 per cent and 0.21 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei added 0.10 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.58 per cent. New York futures were lower. The Canadian dollar was fairly steady at 73.93 US cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Dillon Brooks called LeBron James old. No one will be able to forget it, James least of all
“LeBron James is not old – he’s 38. But I suppose that depends on who you’re asking. In sports today, 40 isn’t just the new 30. We’re waiting for someone to make 50 the new 35. Everyone wants to believe that the next-gen Tom Bradys and Serena Williamses are not just inevitable, but improvable.” – Cathal Kelly
We cannot just conjure more Black leaders – they must be cultivated over time
“How can kids in traditionally marginalized communities, who may not be exposed to the many possibilities of the business world, develop a career vision for themselves if those opportunities are not discussed in their community, not modelled by family members or neighbours, or extensively promoted by educators, counsellors or businesses?” – Stephen Dorsey
Today’s editorial cartoon
Illustration by David Parkins
Living better
A to Z spring fashion and beauty shopping guide
The latest list of It fashion colours, key beauty ingredients and must-have accessories can seem endless. Caitlin Agnew and Odessa Paloma Parker edit it down to a shoppable lexicon of the season’s best buys.
Moment in time: June 22, 2005
Tattoos become acceptable in the workplace
Cheryl Koss and Ryan Hanrahan, seen in a 2005 file photo, show off their tattoos.Ruth Bonneville/The Globe and Mail
For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of news photography. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. This month, we’re looking at tattoos in Canada.
Because of their Western affiliation with outlaws, criminals and gang members, for much of the 20th century – and the centuries preceding them – tattoos had been largely taboo in polite society, leading those with visible ones to find difficulty in attaining employment. But near the end of the century, the tattoo’s increasing popularity, as well as its proliferation as an art form and means of personal expression, led to softened attitudes toward visible tattoos in white-collar workplaces. In 2023, this is likely self-apparent, but in 2005 – when Ruth Bonneville photographed tattooed Manitoba Provincial Justice Ministry employees Cheryl Koss and Ryan Hanrahan – having visible tattoos in the workplace was still an emerging trend. Recruiters told The Globe at the time that employers ought to accept it, or risk losing out on talented staff. And in an interview at the time, Ms. Koss asserted that her tattoos had no impact on her effectiveness in the workplace. “This is who I am,” she said. “Accept it.” Rebecca Tucker.
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