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As keen advocates of international law, Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland were elated last year when the International Criminal Court (ICC) tried to prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine. They even sent the RCMP to help with the investigation.

However, that enthusiasm for international law — on the part of both the prime minister and deputy prime minister — was notably lacking last week when the ICC’s top prosecutor Karim Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders.

Trudeau said he was troubled by “the sense of an equivalency between the democratically elected leaders of Israel and the bloodthirsty terrorists that lead up Hamas.”

This is a very disappointing response from Canada to the ICC’s important initiative, which is a major step forward in advancing a key aspect of international law and ensuring that it’s applied equally and universally.

Set up under a global treaty known as the Statute of Rome, the ICC has a mandate to prosecute perpetrators of the gravest international crimes — war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide.

Since it came into force in 2002, the ICC has mostly prosecuted African dictators. It broadened its scope last year with its attempted arrest of Putin. (Russia isn’t a signatory and didn’t co-operate.)

But this is the first ICC attempt to prosecute a leader of a country with strong ties to the West and particularly close ties to the United States (also not a signatory).

The Biden administration responded by vehemently rejecting any prosecution of Israeli leaders. A group of Republican senators went further, issuing a threat to Khan: “Target Israel and we will target you … we will move to end all American support for the ICC, sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States. You have been warned.”

But, in a CNN interview, Khan insisted he won’t be dissuaded by such bullying, noting the court’s job is to thoroughly review all evidence, ignoring the nationality.

“This is not a witch hunt …. It’s a forensic process that is expected of us as international prosecutors, as an independent court … So, it’s not against any people … This court should be the triumph of law over power and brute force,” Khan said.

He maintained there is abundant evidence for prosecuting the two Israeli leaders for “crimes of causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict.”

And he pointed to numerous statements by Israeli leaders, including by Gallant two days after Hamas’ murderous raid into Israel: “We are imposing a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly.”

This policy has led to “pernicious” results, Khan said, as he laid out details of the destruction and deprivation in Gaza. “Every avenue that is so important to human survival has been constrained or suffocated.”

A British lawyer, Khan became ICC chief prosecutor in 2021 after winning the support of 72 nations. It was he who attempted to prosecute Putin last year.

While many ICC members, including France and Belgium, have reacted positively to Khan’s announcement, Canada has followed more in line with the U.S. in expressing disapproval, even while voicing support for the court.

Trudeau’s suggestion that Israeli leaders should be treated differently because they are “democratically elected” makes no sense.

As Khan puts it: “Every baby that is killed, whether it’s a baby that’s cruelly abducted by Hamas and killed or a baby that’s been bombed or … died in [an] incubator because of no electricity or water or food in Gaza, for them, for their families and humanity it’s a tragedy. And this is why we have a court. It’s about the equal application of the law.”

This article originally appeared in the Toronto Star.

The post Trudeau’s actions show lack of respect for international law appeared first on rabble.ca.

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Sharon DeSousa was elected as the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC)’s national president at their convention this week.

DeSousa is the first person of colour  to be elected PSAC national president.

“I am honoured by the support and confidence members have placed in me to lead our union through the challenges ahead,” said DeSousa. “Our solidarity makes us stronger, and we will need to be more united and resilient than ever before as we fight to uphold justice and the rights of workers so that every member, in every corner of the country, is treated with dignity and respect.”

She previously served as national executive vice-president from 2020 to 2024 and as PSAC Ontario’s regional executive vice-president from 2011 to 2020.

DeSousa will be taking over from Chris Alyward, who has been a union member for 40 years and has served as PSAC national president since 2012.

Taking over from DeSousa as national executive vice-president will be Alex Silas.

Silas previously served as regional executive vice-president for the National Capital Region (NCR). He is also the first young person and first person to be a member of a Directly Chartered Local to be elected to PSAC’s executive team.

“It has been a privilege to serve PSAC members in the NCR, and I am humbled that members have now put their faith in me as I take on this new role to represent our diverse membership coast-to-coast-to-coast,” said Silas. “Together, we will organize, fight for workers’ rights, and defend those whose voices need to be heard.”

Remote work, Border Services contract, and healthcare top issues for PSAC

As PSAC’s new executive team prepares to take the lead, there are several issues that the union is currently facing.

Representing over 245,000 workers, PSAC is one of Canada’s largest public sector unions.

Many of their members are federal employees and in recent weeks, remote work or telework has become a topic of contention between the union and federal government.

The Treasury Board headed up by Liberal MP Anita Anand recently announced that in June, federal employees based in Ottawa will now have to work in the office at least three days a week.

Federal employees, like many other office workers, were shifted towards a remote work setup during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many new employees were also hired with the understanding that they would be able to work remotely.

Last year, the Treasury Board required that employees whose jobs were based in Ottawa would be required to come into the office twice a week. Anand announced earlier in the spring that this in-office requirement would be raised to three days a week, something that PSAC says does not make sense for workers and was not done in consultation with the unions representing those workers.

“Every worker’s job and situation are unique, and a cookie cutter approach to telework can’t be applied to Canada’s diverse public service. Overwhelming evidence proves that telework improves work-life balance and increases productivity for workers,” reads a statement from PSAC.

Alyward has also stated that telework helps the economies of the smaller communities where many Ottawa workers now live, and is also better for the environment.

“This flexibility significantly benefits the environment by reducing daily commutes, which lowers greenhouse gas emissions and traffic congestion. Home offices often use less energy than large, outdated office buildings, and urban areas benefit from improved air quality and reduced noise pollution. Additionally, the reduced need for office space can slow urban sprawl, preserving natural habitats,” Alyward wrote in a statement.

Another major issue facing PSAC is a potential summer strike action by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) workers.

In May, CBSA workers who are members of PSAC voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action.

One of the key issues for the union is the implementation of early retirement benefits for their members, something they point out that other law enforcement workers in the RCMP and other organizations already receive.

“The clock is ticking,” said DeSousa. “At every opportunity, Trudeau’s Liberal government has refused to put the needs of workers first, and time is running out to avoid sweeping job action.”

The post DeSousa elected as Public Service Alliance of Canada national president appeared first on rabble.ca.

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