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Members Of A Canadian First Nation To Bring Home Indigenous Totem Pole From Scotland 

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Members of a Canadian First Nation recently held a spiritual ceremony this week at the National Museum of Scotland to signify the beginning of an Indigenous totem pole that was stolen almost a full century ago. 

The 36-foot totem pole is currently being restored to the Nisga’a Nation in the northern part of British Columbia. This marks one of the first times a British museum has returned artifacts to any of North America’s Indigenous populations. 

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The museum initially agreed to return the totem pole last year, which until that point had been on display in the museum since 1930. Researchers in the Nisga’a Nation state that the artifact was taken without consent in 1929 by an anthropologist who then sold it to the museum. 

According to the Associated Press, Chief Earl Stephens, who’s Nisga’a cultural name is Sim’oogit Ni’isjoohl, said that “in Nisga’a culture, we believe that this pole is alive with the spirit of our ancestors.”

“After nearly 100 years, we are finally able to bring our dear relative home to rest on Nisga’a lands.”

The totem pole was carved from red cedar in the 1860s, and includes many family crests, as well as animal and human figures to commemorate the Nisga’a warrior Ts’aawit, who’s family kept the pole outside of their home for 70 years before being taken while the villagers were away during hunting season. 

The ceremony on Monday was attended by Nisga’a delegates, as well as individuals from the museum, the Scottish government, and the Canadian government.

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Before it’s sent back to Canada, workers will delicately erect scaffolding around the pole to keep it protected on its flight home. 

The pole is set to be sent back on a Canadian air force plane to British Colombia next month, and is set to be displayed in the Nisga’a Museum in the Nass Valley along with other artifacts that have been returned to the Nation from other museums. 

“[This is] a very historic moment for our nation and for Scotland,” said Amy Parent, a Nisga’a Nation member and associate professor of education at Simon Fraser University.

“Teams had been working for months on the complex task of carefully lowering and transporting the pole,”said Museum director Chris Breward. 

“We are pleased to have reached the point where that work is now underway, and we are delighted to have welcomed the Nisga’a delegation to the museum before we bid the pole farewell,” he said.

Multiple museums in the UK have been facing multiple callouts to return the items that they’ve taken from multiple populations around the world to display in their museums, as a means of bringing these cultural artifacts that shaped so many groups’ history, home.

fire

More Than 29,000 People Evacuate Alberta Region Of Canada Due To Wildfires 

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Officials are stating the Alberta region of Canada is enduring an “unprecedented situation” as more than 29,000 individuals were forced to flee their homes due to the spreading of more than 100 wildfires. 

Within the past 24 hours, 16 new fires have started in Alberta, according to Wildfire Information Unit Lead Christie Tucker. 

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Firefighters around the province are currently battling 108 active wildfires, according to Tucker, 31 of those wildfires were burning “out of control.”

This wildfire activity is quite uncommon for this early summer season, and firefighters aren’t used to seeing such a large mass of land burned. Bone-dry environmental conditions and abnormally hot weather, combined with high winds are said to be the biggest contributor to the “really extreme wildfire activity.” 

This year, so far, wildfires in Alberta have burned a total of 375,000 hectares of land, about 926,000 acres; a majority of which has occurred within the last few days.

Tucker also stated that additional firefighters and resources are currently heading to Alberta from across the country to assist the battle against the wildfires. Scattered showers on Sunday helped calm some of the blazes and tame some of the fires that were in difficult to reach places. 

Firefighters are now hoping that the cooler temperature and higher humidity brought on by the rain will help them as they fight the fires.

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“Up north, it’s still very dry. We’re still seeing winds and we are expecting a continuation of those kinds of conditions that can lead to extreme wildfire behavior,” Tucker said at a news conference. 

“Communities in Alberta have seen some extremely hot temperatures in the past week, with the capital city of Edmonton hitting 31 degrees Celsius, about 88 degrees Fahrenheit, on Wednesday and Thursday – more than 10 degrees above average,” according to the Canada Centre for Climate Services.

“The region has also seen a lack of precipitation which may have contributed to the extreme fire conditions in Alberta, drying out land and making fires more difficult to contain,” CNN Meteorologist Robert Shackelford said.

“So far, about 5,000 people have sought refuge at evacuation centers, “Alberta Emergency Management chief Colin Blair said.

Multiple hospitals have been fully evacuated and many roads in north and central Alberta, where a hefty amount of the fires are currently, have been closed.

“We have so many fires, so spread out and it’s because we’ve seen unprecedented conditions this spring. … It’s been an unusual year,” Tucker said.

police

One Suspect in Canadian Mass Stabbing Found Dead, Another Still At Large

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A suspect behind a mass stabbing in Saskatchewan, Canada that left 10 people dead and 18 others wounded is still at large.

The spree attack on Sunday spanned through 13 crime scenes in the Indigenous community James Smith Cree Nation and Weldon, a nearby village.

The incident is one of the country’s worst mass killings.

The police have identified two brothers, Damien Sanderson, 31 and Myles Sanderson, 30, as the suspected assailants. Damien was found dead on Monday, lying in a grassy area near a house that was being examined. His body was found not far from where the attacks were carried out.

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Saskatchewan’s RCMP commanding officer, Rhonda Blackmore, stated that Damien’s injuries are not believed to be self-inflicted at this time. The two brothers’ motives have yet to be determined.

“It appears that some of the victims may have been targeted, and some may be random. So to speak to a motive would be extremely difficult at this point in time.”

An extensive search is underway for Myles Sanderson, who has a lengthy criminal record. Myles was already wanted before Sunday’s stabbings for breaching his parole conditions. He is now formally charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, and breaking and entering.

The brothers were believed to be last seen together in a black Nissan Rogue SUV in Regina, roughly 200 miles away from the location of the attacks. The discovery of the body is causing police to question their initial findings.

Myles may be wounded and there is a possibility that he may seek medical attention.

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Justin Trudeau addressed the nation on his Twitter page and called the attacks “horrific and heartbreaking.”

“Today and tomorrow, the flag on the Peace Tower will be flown at half-mast – in memory of those who lost their lives during yesterday’s attacks in Saskatchewan and in solidarity with everyone affected by this violence. All Canadians are there for you.”

The James Smith Cree Nation declared a state of emergency in the wake of the attack.

On Monday evening, Regina Police Chief Evan Bray acknowledged that a significant amount of time had passed since the alleged sightings. Bray told Regina residents that the “information that put him in our community is now well over a day old, and we have not had any new information to determine that it is no longer factual.”

Bray stated that law enforcement would continue to operate under the assumption that Myles is still in Regina until informed otherwise.

The police have notified the public that Myles is believed to be still armed and dangerous. Citizens are advised to stay in a secure location and to use caution while allowing others into their residences.

Canadians Warned To Avoid Nonessential International Travel Amid Omicron

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Canada issues a travel advisory this week, asking its citizens to avoid all nonessential international travel as the Omicron variant continues to spread around the world. 

“We see the situation abroad, and we’re afraid and concerned with what could happen to Canadians who would choose to go abroad in the next few weeks.”

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“The situation abroad is already dire in many places, and it’s going to get worse very quickly. So we are afraid for what could happen to them if they chose to travel. And once they have left Canada, there is very little we can do to help them,” said Jean-Yves Duclos, Canada’s health minister.

Canadian government officials also warned that other restrictions will likely be announced in the coming days/weeks to better protect their citizens from infection. 

The US-Canada border is still open, and those who are travelling by land between the two nations don’t need to provide a negative Covid-19 test as long as their trip is less than 72 hours and they’re vaccinated. 

Canada is also allowing foreigners to enter the country for business and leisure, as long as they’re vaccinated and provide a negative Covid-19 test upon entry. 

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The current travel advisory is set to last for at least four weeks, and Canadian officials said that imposing stricter measures in the coming days is still a likely option.

“We are constantly reassessing so when we feel we need to change our policies, we will announce it as quickly as possible, but for now, we are monitoring it and assessing it,” said Transport Minister Omar Alghabra during the news conference.

Despite high levels of vaccination in Canada, public health officials are still worried as Canadians remain vulnerable to the Omicron variant, and are preparing for an increase in cases within the coming weeks. 

“I know the rising threat Omicron poses is not something any of us want to be dealing with, especially now just before the holidays. I know we are all tired, we are all tired of Covid. But I think we all also understand that after 21 months of fighting this virus and doing a pretty good job as a country, that making hard decisions quickly and behaving carefully pays off,” said Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland when announcing the travel advisory.

Travel Ban

US Lifts Pandemic Travel Ban For International Visitors 

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This Monday the US lifted restrictions on travel from a long list of countries which will allow tourists to make long-delayed trips and reconnect with their family members living in the states, more than a year and a half since the pandemic began. Some of the countries included on the list are Mexico, Canada, and most of Europe. 

The US is now accepting fully vaccinated travelers at airports and land borders, fully removing all Covid-19 restrictions initially imposed during the last presidential administration. 

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The new guidelines allow air travel from previously restricted countries as long as the individual has proof of vaccination in addition to a negative Covid test. If an individual is traveling into the US by land, from Mexico or Canada, they’ll just need proof of vaccination, but no negative test. 

Airlines in general are preparing for an influx of travelers from Europe specifically as well. Data from Cirium, a travel and analytics firm, shows that airlines are increasing flights between the United Kingdom and the US by 21% this month. 

The new guidelines will also likely impact the Mexico-US and Canada-US borders tremendously, as traveling back and forth between all three countries was a normalized means of travel pre-pandemic. 

These new guidelines will also ideally help improve local and state economies on the border. Malls, restaurants, and retail establishments in general have been devastated economically by the lack of visitors from Mexico and Canada. 

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There’s also a lot of personal motivation from Americans that have motivated officials to reopen the borders. So many families in the US were forced to stay away from their families due to pandemic restrictions and how far away they live.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “the U.S. will accept travelers who have been fully vaccinated with any of the vaccines approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, not just those in use in the U.S. That means that the AstraZeneca vaccine, widely used in Canada, will be accepted.”

Airlines will require air travelers to verify their vaccine records and match them against their ID, and if they don’t, they could face up to nearly $35,000 in fines for every violation. Airlines will also be collecting information about passengers for contact tracing purposes.

CDC workers will be spot-checking travelers for compliance in the US as well. At land borders, Customs and Border Protection agents will be checking proof of vaccines, to ensure everyone’s information is legitimate. 

U.S. Opens Mexican, Canadian Land Borders To Fully Vaccinated People

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After over a year and five months of heavily restricted travel, the United States will begin easing bans by allowing fully vaccinated, nonessential travelers to cross into the country over the Mexican and Canadian land borders.

Details of the new policy were previewed to a number of reporters by senior administration officials, who chose to remain anonymous. The officials gave comments on the opening, saying that the vaccination requirements will ensure safety during travels.

“This is an important step that will further enhance the safety of international travel and the safety of Americans at home. These new vaccination requirements deploy the best tool we have in our arsenal to keep people safe and prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

Officials explained that the easing of nonessential traveling across borders will begin in early November, although a date was not specified. Unvaccinated persons can only enter if they have essential purposes.

The second phase of the rules will begin in early January 2022, which will see all travelers, whether essential or nonessential, require vaccinations in order to enter the country.

According to officials, the period between November and January should “provide ample time for essential travelers such as truckers and others to get vaccinated, enabling a smooth transition to this new system.”

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While the current travel restrictions end on Oct. 21 as USA Today points out, there will be a new restriction placed leading up until the day in November that phase one begins.

While it isn’t know what vaccines will be permitted at the border crossings, USA Today gave a list of vaccines that are either U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or World Health Organization (WHO) approved, which include Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Sinovac, and Sinopharm.

These new travel rules also only apply to legal travelers. Illegal travelers who attempt to enter into the country will still be in violation of Title 42, which allows the U.S. to expel immigrants without allowing them a chance for asylum.

While the Trump Administration came under scrutiny for their use of Title 42, the Biden Administration has also enforced the law as recently as late September when thousands of Haitians congregated at the Texas border.

Officials explained that travelers via vehicle, rail, and boat will be asked by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for their vaccination status, along with other typically needed admission documents. Officials also stated that COVID-19 testing will not be required for vehicle, sea, or rail assuming the passengers have their vaccination.

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The timing of these new protocols were likely influenced by the surrounding countries’ vaccine statuses. One official explained that both Mexico and Canada have high vaccination rates, as well as vaccine availability. Additionally, the official discussed about having both air and land travel approaches be “consistent.”

Right now, 38% of the total population in Mexico is vaccinated, while 52% have had at least one dose. Meanwhile, 72% of Canada’s population have reached full vaccination, while 77% have received at least one dose.

As CNN notes, the U.S. had been extending the restrictions on Canadian and Mexican border travel on a monthly basis since the pandemic accelerated back in March of 2020. Canada had previously announced that vaccinated U.S. citizens would be able to enter the country in early August. However, the U.S. remained noncommittal about border restrictions at that time.

Ironically, despite the United States’ reservations regarding opening Canadian borders to nonessentials, America currently has a lower overall fully vaccinated rate (57%).

Travelers from Mexico and Canada won’t be the only foreigners impacted by new protocols. Yahoo! Finance reported that starting in November, all international travelers must be fully vaccinated and provide a negative COVID-19 test three days before a U.S.-bound flight. Additionally, unvaccinated Americans flying abroad will face stricter requirements.

Doctor with Covid-19 Vaccine

AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine Being Reviewed For Approval In Canada And Europe 

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U.K.-based drugmaker AstraZeneca has long been leading the race in developing a vaccine to fight off Covid-19. The company partnered with the University of Oxford in the beginning of the pandemic to begin preliminary research on ways to treat and destroy the virus. However, within the last four weeks the team has fallen behind on their trial operations.

AstraZeneca made the announcement in September that they would be temporarily pausing its late-stage clinical studies for the Covid-19 vaccine in the US, Europe and Canada due to participants getting infected with the virus itself. Now, the company has since resumed its trials in multiple countries and is already being reviewed for potential regulatory approvals in Canada and Europe. 

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However, trial operations within the US have slowed tremendously, leaving the nation way behind in its development. Initially, the trial’s were paused after a participant in the U.K. developed an unexplained illness after receiving the experimental vaccine. This pause in trial is rather routine, as most vaccine and drug trials need to do a full investigation when unexplained results appear; like the illness the participant in the U.K. experiences. 

AstraZeneca was obviously transparent in the beginning of this trial that unexpected illnesses and other side effects were to be expected in any sort of medical trial, and luckily the incident with the participant in the U.K. ended up being as routine as any other side effect to appear during a trial; hence the restarting of trials in Europe and Canada. 

Regulators in Brazil, India, South Africa, and Japan have reviewed the findings from AstraZeneca’s trial, and have allowed late-stages clinical trials to resume. This is also occurring in Canada and Europe, however, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still hasn’t allowed the company to resume their clinical trial.

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AstraZeneca recently claimed that they were working closely with the FDA to provide all the information needed in order for the administration to resume the trial. The FDA has since widened their investigation and are now looking at data from clinical trials regarding similar vaccines developed by the same scientists working on the Covid-19 treatment. 

This process is to determine if similar side effects that occured to the patient in the U.K occured in other vaccine trials developed by the same individuals; it is still unknown how long this data analysis will actually take. However, the agency is under immense pressure from the government to resume the trial process as the election gets closer and closer. 

Back in May the U.S. government agreed to pay over $1.2 billion for AstraZeneca to supply 300 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to the nation. The company won’t be able to send those doses, however, until the FDA gives emergency use authorization, which won’t happen until the trials are able to fully resume. 

For now, residents of the U.S. will have to wait to see how long it takes for the FDA to complete their investigation and restart the trial process to get a vaccine on the streets as soon as possible.

Astronaut

Famous Canadian Astronaut Chris Hadfield Offers Self-Isolation Tips During Coronavirus Pandemic

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Chris Hadfield is a Canadian astronaut who’s always had an extreme passion for sharing his extensive knowledge with the public on all things STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).

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T-Rex

The Reapers Of Death: New T-Rex Species Discovered in Canada

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The fossil remains of a Tyrannosaurus Rex (T. Rex) “cousin species” have been uncovered in Alberta, Canada. Scientists are classifying the meat-eating dinosaur as Thanatotheristes degrootorum, and since they concluded that the remains are over 80 million years old, the T. Rex cousin is being deemed as the oldest known Tyrannosaur on record in North America; “Tyrannosaur” is the general term that covers all subspecies of the T. Rex. 

Scientists are also nicknaming the species the “reapers of death” based on the fact that their fossils show evidence of a “monstrous face”, vicious looking serrated teeth that were likely as sharp as steak knives and 3 inches long, and legs that were 8 feet in length from foot to hip. The fossil evidence also allowed scientists to estimate that the reapers measured in at 26 feet long from snout to tail. 

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“Like other tyrannosaurs, the ‘reaper of death’ had strange bumps on its skull that gave it a monstrous appearance. But it also had a one-of-a-kind feature, a distinct set of vertical ridges that ran from its eyes along its upper snout. These ridges are not like anything we’ve ever seen before in other tyrannosaur species. Exactly what the ridges do, we’re not quite sure,” said study lead researcher Jared Voris, a doctoral student of paleontology at the University of Calgary in Alberta.

Voris and his team also concluded that the reapers of death walked the Earth during the Cretaceous period, which was the final period of the dinosaur age on Earth before they all were wiped out. This also means that these creatures were likely alive 145 million years ago (when the Cretaceous period began). 

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The initial remains that were discovered were found by a Canadian couple on the shore of the Bow River in southern Alberta. That was back in 2010, and at the time it was believed that the only dinosaurs who lived in the Alberta area, hundreds of millions of years ago, were plant eaters. So 10 years ago it was believed that the mysterious skull remains that the couple found were just another Triceratops relative of sorts; even though the skull remains were abnormally three feet in length.

Once Voris began his own personal research regarding new dinosaur species he was able to determine that those decade old remains were actually the reapers of death, and not just another herbivore. In fact, based on their new conclusions they’ve determined that the reapers likely ate a majority of the herbivores that did live in Alberta. 

“The new discovery shows that Daspletosaurus-like tyrannosaurs were diversifying in the northern part of western North America about 80 million years ago. But these long- and deep-snouted tyrannosaurs appeared to stay in their neck of the woods. This seems to be a bigger theme: There were different subgroups of tyrannosaurs characteristic of certain times and places, and they did not all mix together,” said Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. 

While the reapers of death weren’t as large as their more well known younger T. Rex cousins, their remains give scientists a great insight into the vastly diverse world of dinosaurs. Paleontologists and scientists alike can never be fully satisfied with their “conclusive” data regarding dinosaurs because they lived millions of years ago, making it close to impossible to know about every detail and subspecies that pertained to their time on Earth. However, discoveries such as this open dozens of doors in terms of possibilities for what other kinds of dinosaurs were roaming the Earth and where.

Gun Violence Sign

Gun Violence is On the Rise in Toronto

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Canada is well-known for having much lower rates of gun violence than the United States, thanks to tighter gun control laws among other factors. However, in the past several years, the city of Toronto has seen more gun violence than ever before, according to Toronto police. Last year, 760 people were shot in the city, and 44 of these people died from their wounds, which is triple the number of shooting victims in 2014. Understandably, city officials are concerned by these statistics, and are scrambling to determine what caused the massive spike in gun violence and how best to address it. 

Multiple theories have been proposed to explain the recent surge. Canada does not have the equivalent of the American second amendment in its constitution, making it much easier for the government to enact laws restricting access to firearms. Between 2006 and 2015, the country’s Conservative Party controlled the government, and during that time the government dismantled a national gun registry, which until 2012 required gun owners to sign a list indicating that they owned a firearm. After the dismantling of this registry, the country underwent a spike in imports of firearms from the U.S., letting nearly 2 million guns into the country. The Conservative government made it much easier to import restricted weapons, like semi-automatic rifles and handguns, meaning that there are not only many more guns in the country but that they are more dangerous as well.

According to Wendy Cukier, the head of the Toronto-based Coalition for Gun Control, when gun control laws were strengthened in Canada a reduction of incidents of gun violence—particularly suicide—occurred, and when the Conservative government dismantled these restrictions, gun violence rose again. The removal of the national gun registry coincided with a 40% increase in rates of gun violence throughout the country, according to Canada’s government statistics agency.

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Others blame rising economic inequality for the recent violence. Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders has blamed the gun violence on gang activity, which he thinks is on the rise due to the city’s growing numbers of poor people, who are most likely to be involved in the illegal drug trade. While Toronto is currently a very economically successful city, much of the city’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of very few, leaving much of the city’s population without the opportunities afforded to middle- and upper-class citizens of the country. People with fewer life opportunities are more likely to resort to drugs or gang activity, creating a drain on the society at large.

While the liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was recently re-elected, the Trudeau government has failed to institute gun control measures for fear of alienating rural citizens who are more likely to be gun owners. However, given the severity of the increase in gun violence across the nation, this is likely to change soon. In fact, the Trudeau government plans to introduce legislation next year for a ban on military-style assault rifles and a plan to buy assault rifles back from cooperating gun owners. As a parliament containing a majority of liberal members was recently elected, such a law is likely to pass fairly quickly.