Senate to probe Liberal silence on Afghanistan aid as terror rules bar humanitarians
Senators are ramping up their push to get Ottawa to stop barring humanitarian workers from responding to devastating crises in Afghanistan.
"We've been waiting for months now for the government to do something, and they're just dragging their feet," said Conservative Sen. Salma Ataullahjan.
"Really, come on -- all our allies have found a way to work around it."
The Ontario senator, chair of the upper chamber's human rights committee, has persuaded her colleagues to hold hearings next month on rules that bar aid groups from working in Afghanistan.
The Taliban took over Kabul in August 2021, and humanitarian groups say Canadian officials told them that they can't pay anyone in Afghanistan or buy goods there, because paying taxes counts as supporting a terrorist group.
Aid groups such as the Canadian Red Cross are set to testify about the issue at a Dec. 5 hearing, while bureaucrats or ministers might appear Dec. 12.
Ataullahjan says a Canadian running an orphanage in Kabul fears landing in prison for 10 years if she does anything to improve the living conditions of children following the pullout of the U.S. and allies from Afghanistan.
"Our young men and women died there," Ataullahjan said. "The least we owe them is that we need to be concerned about the people that they died for. It's not rocket science."
In June, a House of Commons committee called for Ottawa to come up with a remedy, noting that other countries had already amended their laws to clarify that delivering aid will not lead to prosecution. The United Nations has issued a similar rule for its agencies.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers have said they want to resolve the issue, but as of Monday they still lack any timeline or publicly stated plan to resolve the issue, despite having regular talks with the Taliban.
Government departments told the House they "will consider measures, including legislative options, to address the need for exemptions." The Liberals have repeatedly noted that they are funding some aid that UN agencies are delivering on the ground.
"It's not good enough," Ataullahjan said. "It's a lot of non-answers."
The UN says nearly 60 per cent of the Afghan population needs humanitarian aid to help with the collapse of food and health systems due to an economic crisis, natural disasters and armed conflict. Winter temperatures can plunge to --25 C in some parts of the country, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees noted.
"Many displaced and conflict-affected families will be left exposed to the elements," the agency reported on Nov. 11.
"Many displaced families will have no option but to choose between food and warmth as they struggle to heat their shelters, source warm clothing, and cook hot meals."
The International Committee of the Red Cross has reported a rise in poverty and spiking cases of child pneumonia and malnutrition ahead of the typically harsh winter.
Ataullahjan grew up in Pakistan and fondly recalls vacations in Afghanistan, decades before it was ruled by zealots.
She has been distressed to hear friends describe parents drugging their children so that they sleep, because they're subsisting on a meal of soaked bread once every two days.
They send her videos of children hiding under parked cargo trucks before running along and jumping onto the vehicles to help smuggle goods between Afghanistan and Pakistan in return for money.
"I was sent the videos of these little kids, and it just disturbed me so much," Ataullahjan said. "I was horrified when I saw that."
Last week, a United Nations group of experts reported that the Taliban may be committing crimes against humanity in its treatment of women, on top of "violations of their human rights and freedoms that are already the most draconian globally."
Women have been lashed in front of hundreds of spectators in a sports stadium, while the Taliban has banned women from entering parks and gyms, and beaten men for allowing their female relatives to wear bright clothing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2022.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NDP needs to decide whether 4 million Canadians deserve dental care: minister
Procurement Minister and newly appointed Quebec lieutenant Jean-Yves Duclos is warning the NDP that the dental care program it helped put into place will be in jeopardy if it pulls its support from the governing Liberals.
What is the U.S. Electoral College? America's path to the presidency, explained
In less than two months, Americans will go to the polls to choose their next president. But the process that translates those millions of votes into one seat in the Oval Office is much more complicated than a straight tally.
'Imminent catastrophe': Hezbollah hits back with more than 100 rockets across a wider and deeper area of Israel
Hezbollah launched more than 100 rockets early Sunday across a wider and deeper area of northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, as Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon. The sides appeared to be spiraling toward all-out war following months of escalating tensions.
Why an Alaska island is using peanut butter and black lights to find a rat that might not exist
On an island of windswept tundra in the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles from mainland Alaska, a resident sitting outside their home saw — well, did they see it? They were pretty sure they saw it.
Coffee could be more than a morning pick-me-up, according to new research
A morning cup of coffee may do more than just perk you up, according to new research.
Building collapse in Naples leaves 2 siblings dead and mother and another woman trapped
A two-story building collapsed in the southern Italian province of Naples early Sunday, killing two young siblings and leaving their mother and an older woman trapped, firefighters said.
Sunken superyacht believed to contain watertight safes with sensitive intelligence data
Specialist divers surveying the wreckage of the US$40 million superyacht that sank off Sicily in August, killing seven people including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, have asked for heightened security to guard the vessel, over concerns that sensitive data locked in its safes may interest foreign governments, multiple sources told CNN.
Childhood sleep issues may raise suicide risk, study finds
If your child sometimes has trouble sleeping, it may be easy to chalk it up to a phase they will grow out of one day. But a new study suggests possible serious consequences for this line of thought — such as a higher risk for suicidal ideation or attempts when they are older.
Republicans in swing states say they see scant signs of groups door-knocking for Trump
Republican activists in swing states say they have seen little sign of the teams tasked with knocking on doors and turning out infrequent voters on behalf of Donald Trump, raising concerns about the party's presidential nominee relying on outside groups for an important part of his campaign operations.
Local Spotlight
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.