Canada

Canada’s proposed Bill S-209, which addresses online age verification, is currently making its way through the Senate, and its passage would be yet another mistake in tech policy.

The bill is intended to restrict young peoples’ access to online pornography and to hold providers to account for making it available to anyone under 18. It may be well-intentioned, but the manner of its proposed enforcement – mandating age verification or what is being called “age-estimation technologies” – is troubling.

Globally, age-verification tools are a popular business, and many companies are in favour of S-209, particularly because it requires that websites and organizations rely on third parties for these tools. However, they bring up long-standing concerns over privacy, especially when you consider potential leaks or hacks of this information, which in some cases include biometrics that can identify us by our faces or fingerprints. [...]

True Canadian class

The latest efforts to strengthen state secularism, dubbed "secularism 2.0", are part of a new bill introduced by the governing Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ) on Thursday, expanding on a 2019 religious symbols law that has fuelled fierce debate throughout the country.

The original law prevents judges, police officers, teachers and public servants from wearing symbols such as the kippah, turban or hijab while at work. The measures proposed in Bill 9 would:

• extend the ban on wearing religious symbols to staff in subsidised daycares
• bar "collective religious practices" like prayer in public spaces, such as parks, without prior authorisation from municipalities
• prevent students and staff from wearing face coverings in daycare all the way through to post-secondary education

Roberge said the limits on public prayer were in reaction to recent protests in the province, where there has been debate over groups praying at pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Archived link

Canada’s federal police are scaling back the use of Chinese-made drones over security concerns, creating an opening for Taiwan’s firms to supply key systems and components.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) operates 1,230 drones, of which 973 — about 80% of the fleet — are made in China. They are now classed as high-risk devices restricted to non-sensitive tasks such as missing-person searches and community policing, rather than border security or joint work with US agencies.

...

RCMP documents suggest Chinese drones were originally chosen because they were cheaper, with non-Chinese models costing roughly twice as much at about NT$790,000 (CA$35,000) each. A Canadian academic quoted in the filings warned that any connected device can expose users to security vulnerabilities.

...

The same documents note that the police force’s non-Chinese drones currently come from France, the US, and Belgium, and that Canada has no domestic drone maker to fill the gap. A security scholar at the Centre for International Governance Innovation urged federal agencies to look beyond price and give priority to “Made in Canada” platforms when possible.

Vancouver Taiwan Trade Center Director Chiu Shih-min (邱仕敏) said other Canadian departments are likely to move away from Chinese drones and seek trusted suppliers. He argued Taiwan is well placed, citing its strengths in airframe design, control stations, and communications. Chiu floated a model in which Taiwanese-made systems are shipped to Canada for final assembly to qualify as locally made.

...

The Edmonton Police Service announced Tuesday it will become the first police force in the world to use an artificial intelligence (AI) product from Axon Enterprise to trial facial-recognition-enabled bodycams.

“I want to make it clear that this facial-recognition technology will not replace the human component of investigative work,” acting Supt. Kurt Martin with EPS’ information and analytics division said during a news conference.

“In fact, the resemblances that are identified by this software will be human-verified by officers trained in facial recognition.”

Martin said the police force’s goal is to test another tool in its operations toolbox that can help further ensure public and officer safety while also respecting privacy considerations.

Axon Enterprise, an Arizona-based company, develops weapons and technology products for military, law enforcement and civilians in jurisdictions where legal.

As the number of birds culled in an avian flu outbreak on turkey farms near Strathroy, Ont., approaches 100,000, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says it won't let its staff do media interviews for fear they will be subject to harassment or even death threats.

One expert calls it "problematic," saying the public is missing vital information during an outbreak.

The CFIA also isn't providing a spokesperson for media interviews. The agency said that since it culled just over 300 ostriches after an avian flu outbreak at a farm in B.C. last month, staff have been harassed and sent death threats.

"In the current climate, any CFIA employee who is publicly identified in relation to our avian influenza response (regardless if they are in B.C. or Ontario) immediately becomes the target of harassment, including death threats, from individuals opposed to the CFIA's eradication policy in British Columbia at the Universal Ostrich Farm," the agency said in a statement to CBC News.

Disclaimer: This post is not an argument for nor against the separation of Quebec from Canada ^[1]^, nor the upholding of bilingualism in Canada ^[2]^.

For context, approximately 88% of French speaking Canadians are located in Quebec ^[3]^. Of the approximately 12% of French speaking Canadians who are not located in Quebec ^[6]^, 85% of them are bilingual ^[4.2]^. Approximately 1.8% of French speaking Canadians outside of Quebec don't also speak English ^[7]^.

Eh … now you don’t know what to think huh? 🤔🤪😆

Roughly 350 people will be out of work as forestry company Domtar announces the permanent closure of its mill in Crofton, B.C.

This weekend’s actions drew attention to Amazon’s negative impact on workers the world over.

(From Dog of Death, s03e19)

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/42897886

Web archive link

Canada has joined a major European Union defense fund, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office said Monday, as the country looks to diversify its military spending away from the United States.

The plan allows Canadian defense companies access to a 150 billion euro ($170 billion) EU loan program, known as Security Action for Europe, or SAFE. That would allow Canadians firms to secure cheap, EU-backed loans to procure military equipment.

“Canada’s participation in SAFE will fill key capability gaps, expand markets for Canadian suppliers, and attract European defense investment into Canada,” Carney said in a statement.

Canada is the first non-EU country to gain access.

Carney has said he intends to diversify Canada’s procurement and enhance the country’s relationship with the EU. He has previously said that no more will over 70 cents of every dollar of Canadian military capital spending go to the U.S.

...

An Ontario woman says she was detained for 24 hours and refused entry to Costa Rica because her passport was damaged.

Hello, i was wondering if anyone in montcon area knows where i can find artisan cheese that is lactose free . Willing to drive max of 3 hours from Moncton . In Quebec I usually have perron or st guilliume or riveria so bonus points if you know where to get that in NB . Thanks

Some early NDP leadership polling.