On climate action, our mission in the European Union is to become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050.
The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow later this year will certainly be pivotal in this regard. Alongside Canada, we will capitalize on growing momentum to push for a swift implementation of the Paris Agreement and urge our international partners to adopt similarly ambitious policies and significantly increase their emissions reduction targets. Brussels and Ottawa are currently mulling over how best to prevent carbon leakage, while preserving the competitiveness of their industries. We are keen to coordinate our respective approaches to a possible carbon border adjustment mechanism, writes Christian Burgsmüller. Image courtesy of COP26
This year—marking the 45th anniversary of the European Union diplomatic mission in Canada—will be a defining time in transatlantic relations.
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Justice Canada has more recently been using ‘they’ as a singular gender-neutral pronoun on a piecemeal basis, but the gendered nature of the French language requires study, with a review currently underway.
Public Services and Procurement Canada hasn’t gone ‘far enough’ in protecting interpreters with measures set down in the new contract for freelancers, says the AIIC’s Nicole Gagnon.
The Liberals have offered a feminist budget, say observers, with measures that help women struggling amid COVID-19 in the short term, like rent and wage subsidy extensions.
In its first budget in more than two years, Ottawa is also allocating $11-million to help tackle anti-Asian racism in the wake of a pandemic year that has seen a ‘disturbing trend’ of reported incidents.
Vaccine clinics have been cancelled due to supply shortages, already overburdened intensive care units are beyond capacity, and new cases of COVID-19 have hit all-time highs in Ontario.
Ottawa says it’s ‘accelerating’ a national action plan that’s almost a year behind schedule as it nears the two-year anniversary of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry.