By August 31, Canadian passport holders will be no longer be required to identify strictly between male and female and will have the choice of selecting “X” as an “unspecified” gender designation.

“All Canadians should feel safe to be themselves, live according to their gender identity and express their gender as they choose,” said the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship “By introducing an ‘X’ gender designation in our government-issued documents, we are taking an important step towards advancing equality for all Canadians regardless of gender identity or expression.”

The third designation will be available on any federal document issued by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Gender is used to describe the characteristics of women and men that are socially constructed, while sex refers to those that are biologically determined. People are born female or male, but learn to be girls and boys who grow into women and men. This learned behavior makes up gender identity and determines gender roles.”

It is the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) that mandates travel documents must include a field for sex identification, but in 2012 the New Zealand Passport Office authored a paper, “Displaying the holder’s gender on travel documents: Is it still appropriate in the age of e-travel documents?”

In response, the ICAO ruled, “The costs of the removing the requirement to display the holder’s gender on travel documents outweigh the benefits at this stage. The costs of the change would be more significant given the adverse effects on the operations of border authorities and the potential inconvenience for passengers. However, the tangible benefits of not requiring travel documents to display the holder’s gender mean there is still a significant opportunity for ICAO in changing the mandatory requirement in the future.

In the same document, ICAO also warned, “The risk of inconsistencies may increase if more countries follow Australia and New Zealand’s lead and allow travel documents with the gender displayed as X.”

ICAO does allow for an X determination to mean “unspecified” when choosing a gender assignment. However, it also allows for each country to determine who may use the “X” option.

Which means Canadians identifying as Gender X could face problems when traveling to some international destinations.

“I’m really worried that in countries like Uganda and Jamaica, where being LGBT is illegal and there are laws on the books that prosecute people for identifying as trans, that this could leave people open to arbitrary detention, it could leave them open to scrutiny at airports, degrading treatment,” said Adrienne Smith, an immigration lawyer based out of Toronto in an interview with GlobalNews.ca. “There’s a whole host of actions that foreign law enforcement could take, I think if you have an X on your passport.”

The IRCC has said that starting August 31, it will introduce “interim measures” that allow travelers to “add an observation to their passport stating their sex should be identified as ‘X,’” until it is able to print official documents reflecting the change.

Canada has taken numerous steps to ensure and enhance the rights of LGBT travelers.

In May of this year, the Honorable Bardish Chagger, the minister of small business and tourism announced that the Government of Canada would partners with Travel Gay Canada and allocate $100,000 (CDN) over two years for Canada to market itself as a gay-friendly travel destination.

“Canada is already one of the most welcoming countries in the world for LGBTQ2 travel and we want to build on that reputation,” said Minister Chagger, during the press event. “I am proud to work with Travel Gay Canada and businesses like OWL Rafting, who are breaking barriers and helping to create memorable experiences and visits for everyone.”

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Source: Travel Pulse

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They say lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders are not treated well in the country.

They are therefore on a campaign in Canada to ask that country’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, to demand that Ghana protects the rights of LGBT people.

The eight, say their activities are mainly to raise awareness of the plight of people for their sexuality in Ghana.

They are also collecting signatures for a petition addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking Canada take a larger role in advocating for LGBT people in Ghana.

Canada’s CBC reports that more than 5,000 people have signed the petition.

The activists include Sulemana Abdulai, a middle-aged Ghanaian, said he was forced to leave Ghana to the US because he was gay.

Earlier this year, he walked to Manitoba in Canada from the U.S. to avoid being turned back by border guards at the official port of entry.

While some legislators including the Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye have said Ghana will not be forced to accept homosexuality, the group says it is not be deterred to embarking on its campaign.

“We are fighting for our rights. No one can ever stop us. We will continue doing what we are doing,” said Sulemana Abdulai. “They cannot scare me,” Sulemana Abdulai said.

“In Ghana you are not safe…”They don’t accept the LGBTQ at all. They are treating them like animals,” he added.

He said their advocacy work in Winnipeg, Canada has been successful but some Ghanaians in Winnipeg have harassed him and others for defending gay rights.

He, however, said they feel safer in Canada than in Ghana where some have even threatened their life.

The group’s plan is to meet with various groups to discuss ways of pressurizing the Ghanaian government to decriminalize same-sex relationships and grant equal rights to LGBT people.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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This timely intervention is expected to support the reintroduced ‘Planting for food and jobs’ program.

Canada’s Minister for International Development and La Francophonie, Marie Claude-Bibeau announced the package at the launch of a program codenamed, “Modernizing agriculture in Ghana,” held at Nyankpala in the Tolon district of the Northern Region.

She anticipated that the program would help bring cutting edge innovation to the nation’s agric sector.

She bemoaned the low number of Ghana’s female agric extension officers representation saying, “There are a few female extension officers and only 2% of female-headed households currently receive extension services. We encourage Ghana to seize the opportunity to engagee equitably in agriculture. This will result in multiple effects on your economy.”

She proposed that women into agriculture should be supported to maximize their income levels.

Marie Claude-Bibeau stated that, “Funds will be provided to all districts and regional departments of agriculture, the sector ministry and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.”

“MAG will help to ensure that Ghanaian Scientists are aware of the tools they need to find innovative solutions. It will ensure that the promising findings move more effectively from the laboratory to the farm,” she stressed.

She emphasized the need to use a chunk of the support for the delivery of agric extension services nationwide.

“This is because of the critical role extension agents play in helping farmers to benefit from research and innovations,” she explained.

A Minister of State at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Dr. Nurah Gyiele admitted the nation’s agric extension services weakness.
He attributed the situation to poor extension officers numerical strength and promised an overturn.

According to him, government recruited 1,200 youth under the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) to shoot up the number of agric extension agents.

“We have put in a request to the National Service Secretariat to assign 2,160 graduates from our universities to do their services in the various district assemblies as extension officers.”

Dr. Gyiele tasked beneficiary institutions of the MAG program to intensify their efforts and work collaboratively to ensure its successful implementation.

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By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the treaty along with the heads of EU institutions, a step that should enable a provisional implementation of the pact early in 2017 with the removal of most import duties.

The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement’s (CETA) passage has not been smooth.

French-speakers in southern Belgium, a minority within their own small country and accounting for less than 1 percent of the 508 million EU consumers likely to be affected by CETA, raised objections that held up the deal until a breakthrough on Thursday, confirmed by regional parliamentary votes on Friday.

“All’s well that end’s well,” said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. “We have 20 ongoing negotiations and today we are fixing the global standards the European Union and the European Commission want others to accept.”

The Canada agreement is seen as a springboard to a larger EU deal with the United States, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Treaty (TTIP), which has been the target of labor unions and environmental and other protest groups.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said TTIP talks were not dead, contrary to what some politicians in Germany and France have said, but would need to wait for the next U.S. president – taking office in January – to resume.

Supporters say CETA will increase Canadian-EU trade by 20 percent and boost the EU economy by 12 billion euros ($13 billion) a year and Canada’s by C$12 billion ($9 billion).

For Canada the deal is important to reduce its reliance on the neighboring United States as an export market.

For the EU, it is a first trade pact with a G7 country and a success plucked from the jaws of defeat at a time when the bloc’s credibility has taken a beating from Britain’s vote in June to leave after 43 years of membership.

“This has been a very long process. A huge majority of people in Europe are in favor of Europe, but there are concerns and we need to engage with them,” Malmstrom said. “The Commission cannot do that alone.”

Some 100 anti-globalization protesters clashed with police outside the venue in Brussels, trying to break down barriers in front of the main entrance and hurling red paint. A Reuters photographer saw police detain some people.

Sunday’s signing will not be the last act.

Assuming the European Parliament gives its assent, CETA could come into force partially early next year. However, full implementation, which would include a contentious investment protection system, will ensue only after clearance by more than three dozen national and regional parliaments.

The Belgian experience shows this outcome is no given.

The main focus of protests against CETA and TTIP remains the system to protect foreign company’s investments. Critics say its provision for arbitration panels to rule on disputes with states can be abused by multinational companies to dictate public policy, such as on environmental standards.

The EU and Canada say their investment protection system guarantees the right of governments to regulate, make use of independent judges and be more transparent.

The deal will eliminate tariffs on almost 99 percent of goods. The beneficiaries would include, for example, carmakers or the EU textile sector, for which Canadian duties of up to 18 percent can be imposed at present.

Service companies could also benefit and EU companies would be able to tender for public contracts at Canadian provincial and municipal level, the first time Canada has offered this.

Canada would be able to send larger quotas of pork, beef and wheat to the EU market, and EU dairy producers would be able to export more than double the current amount of “high quality” cheeses to Canada.

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Source: Reuters

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Students are being taken to safe locations, where their parents will later be able to collect them, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.

Prince Edward Island is Canada’s smallest province, with a population of 146,000.

Universities in Nova Scotia have also been evacuated, reports say.

Two campuses of Nova Scotia Community College – the IT campus in Halifax and Marconi campus in Sydney – have been evacuated due to bomb threats, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reports, citing police.

Cape Breton University has also been evacuated due to an unspecified threat, CBC says.

It is unclear if events are linked.

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Source: BBC

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