Read this news report on Canada from Dakotah J.

In-the-News: Canada

Dakotah J.

2/11/2022

A map of Canada showing its 10 provinces and 3 territories as well as their capitals and borders (1).

Canada sits directly north of the contiguous United States and is bordered by the state of Alaska in the northwest, the Atlantic Ocean in the east, the Pacific ocean in the west, and the Arctic Ocean in the north. With a total area of 9,984,670 square kilometers, Canada is the second largest country in the world, beaten only by Russia (2). It has a total population of about 38 million people that are spread across 10 provinces and 3 territories. The official languages of Canada are English and French, though a variety of other languages are spoken by smaller portions of the population (2). 

Ontario declares state of emergency in response to convoy protests

In Ontario, truckers have been organizing "freedom convoys" to protest the government's measures to curb the spread of Covid, which include vaccines mandates. These convoys have been disrupting traffic in and around Ottawa, the province's capital, preventing the transport of goods as well as impeding the deployment of emergency services (3). Now, with a third weekend of protests set to begin, Doug Ford, the head of the province, has declared a state of emergency (3). This state of emergency was called with the goal of ensuring that emergency services, border crossings, transport of goods, and civilian travel would be protected. He is also focused on punishing those who fail to stand down from the protest with a "maximum penalty of $100,000 and up to a year imprisonment" as well as considering the revocation of driver's licenses (3). 

Nigerian entrepreneur 'changing lives' with personal finance app for racialized communities

A Nigerian man named Akeem Adebisi created an app called "AjoPro" in 2019, which both helps people save towards goals and allows them to borrow money from others in their community with no interest fees (4). The idea for this app came from Adebisi's personal experience as a member of the Black Canadian community in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He saw firsthand how his peers were forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet and were taken advantage of by costly payday loans (4). This app was built with the intention of helping marginalized communities manage their finances without the risk of taking out loans with high interest rates, and it would seem to be doing just that. In 2021 alone, AjoPro saw $2 million dollars in transactions, a feat which Adebisi views as a major success, saying that he feels as though he is changing lives and "making people feel like they belong" (4). 

'No winning' for N.S. goalie who was target of racial slurs on P.E.I.

Mark Connors, a black hockey player from Nova Scotia, was targeted by racial slurs during a hockey tournament in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island last November. Since then, a disciplinary committee representing Prince Edward Island's hockey association has suspended the 5 players responsible for the verbal attacks, saying that such language is an "attack on the very core of what it means to be recognized as a person" (5). The suspension will last for 25 games and will require the suspended players to partake in a training program in which the players need to be fully engaged, a choice that was welcomed by Connors. Despite this, Connors believes that Canada's hockey association can, and should, do more to prevent racism in the sport (5). 

References:

(1) Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, February 9). Provinces and territories of Canada. Wikipedia. Retrieved February 12, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provinces_and_territories_of_Canada (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site.

(2) Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.). Canada. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved February 12, 2022, from https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/canada/  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site.

(3) Carter, A. (2022, February 11). Ontario declares state of emergency in response to convoy protests. CBCnews. Retrieved February 12, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ford-announcement-ontario-protests-1.6347810  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site.

(4) Lach-Aidelbaum, M. (2022, February 11). Nigerian entrepreneur 'changing lives' with personal finance app for racialized communities. CBCnews. Retrieved February 12, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/beingblackincanada/akeem-adebisi-nigerian-entrepreneur-ajopro-app-1.6346931  (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. 

(5) Clow, J. (2022, February 11). 'no winning' for N.S. goalie who was target of racial slurs on P.E.I. CBCnews. Retrieved February 12, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-connors-racist-incident-decision-1.6347931 (Links to an external site.) Links to an external site. 

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