From Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visiting Ukraine, to observing National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, here is what we saw in the news this week.
Trudeau makes surprise visit to Ukraine in show of support, reopens Canadian Embassy
As the Russian military continues to breach its western borders, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Mariinskyi Palace last weekend.
According to Global News, the visit to Ukraine was supposed to be kept secret but was discovered on Sunday by media and local officials.
There, Trudeau visited Irpin and Bucha, two towns that have been affected by Russian shelling and brutality, and reopened the Canadian embassy in Kyiv which closed on Feb. 12 due to the invasion.
He also held a press conference where he made several commitments to support Ukraine as it pushes back against Russian forces. Namely, Canada will provide $50 million in military assistance and will also sanction an additional 40 Russian individuals including oligarchs and associates to the Russian regime and defence sector.
$25 million has also been pledged to the World Food Programme for food security in Ukraine, and all trade tariffs for Ukrainian imports coming into Canada will be removed as of next year. Funding is also expected for women’s organizations, human rights defenders, and civil society groups.
Additionally, Trudeau has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of committing war crimes. A CBC report described horrific examples of civilian execution and brutality, though Russia’s foreign ministry claims that the evidence is “stage-managed anti-Russian provocation.”
“[I] witnessed first-hand the brutality of Russia’s illegal war. I also witnessed the resilience of Ukrainians as people rebuild, as people stood even outnumbered eight to one to defend not just their homes but the entire city behind them of Kyiv.” said Trudeau during the conference.
“[Putin] miscalculated deeply the courage, the resolve, the strength of the Ukrainian people and of the Ukrainian leader. And secondly he vastly underestimated the determination and the ability of countries around the world to stand against his actions and stand in support of our Ukrainian friends.”
The city of Guelph outlines priorities for MPP candidates to address
In preparation for the provincial election this June 2, the city of Guelph has released an outline of five priorities it wants addressed by local candidates.
According to cjoy.com, candidates for the Guelph riding include Mike Schreiner for the Green Party of Ontario, Peter McSherry for the Progressive Conservatives Party, Raechelle Devereaux for the Liberal Party, and James Parr for the New Democratic Party.
Guelph mayor Cam Guthrie is calling on each candidate to support and advance the priorities listed in the outline should they be elected, and he says he will meet with them to offer more details.
The outline urges the Ontario government to renew the municipal and provincial infrastructure funding framework to address funding gaps in Guelph’s current plan, deliver on interregional transportation, ensure housing affordability and attainability while respecting local decision-making, improve access to mental health and addiction supports, and address brownfield remediation for affordable housing and commercial opportunities.
More information on these priorities can be found on the city of Guelph’s website.
“These five priorities are crucial to ensure Guelph is future-ready and they can’t be achieved without provincial support and partnership,” said Guthrie on cjoy.com.
“I hope voters will ask candidates about these priorities and keep them in mind when they go to the polls on June 2.”
Kim Anderson: U of G leader and Indigenous women’s advocate
On May 5, the University of Guelph observed the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by featuring Métis Writer and U of G Professor Dr. Kim Anderson.
Also known as Red Dress Day, the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls seeks to raise awareness of and honour missing and murdered Indigenous individuals. According to the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations, Indigenous women are 5.5 times more likely to be killed than non-Indigenous women, and such violence has only increased since the pandemic.
Anderson is one of three editors for Keetsahnak: Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters, a 2018 essay collection examining violence against Indigenous women, its causes, and ways to create an anti-violence model.
“We wanted to do a complementary text that focused on the roots of gender-based violence from an Indigenous perspective,” said Anderson in a U of G news release.
She is also the author of several other Indigenous-focused works, including A Recognition of Being: Reconstructing Native Womanhood and Mothers of the Nations: Indigenous Mothering as Global Resistance, Reclaiming and Recovery.
At the university, Anderson is the co-leader of the Indigenous Task Force “which provides opportunities for a new, mindful understanding of people’s connections to the space they occupy on campus.”
Going forward, she hopes to incorporate more Indigenous ways of knowing into teaching and research at U of G.