We, the undersigned members of the Freedom Online Coalition, are deeply alarmed by and strongly condemn the measures undertaken by Iran to restrict access to the Internet following the nationwide protests over the tragic killing of Mahsa Amini. In furtherance of what has become a longstanding pattern of censorship, the Iranian government has to a large scale shut down the Internet yet again for most of its 84 million citizens nationwide by cutting off mobile data; disrupting popular social media platforms; throttling Internet service; and blocking individual users, encrypted DNS services, text messages, and access entirely.
The Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, today issued the following statement: “Climate change, COVID-19, conflict and economic downturns have escalated the stress on global food systems in the last few years. And in February 2022, Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine shocked global food and energy systems.
The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin today issued the following statement on Haiti: “Today, Canadian and U.S. military aircraft arrived in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to transfer vital Haitian government-purchased security equipment, including tactical and armoured vehicles, and supplies to the Director General of the Haitian National Police (HNP). The delivery of the equipment was part of a joint operation involving Royal Canadian Air Force and U.S. Air Force aircraft.
“Canada is proud to be joining in celebrations taking place around the world on the 10th anniversary of International Day of the Girl. The theme this year, Our Time Is Now—Our Rights, Our Future, puts girls front and centre."
“Capital punishment is an affront to human rights and dignity, an ineffective deterrent to crime, and it often compounds injustice by intersecting with other forms of discrimination. No system of justice is free from error, and the use of the death penalty can lead to irreversible injustice when those who are not guilty or who have been falsely accused are executed..."
Yesterday, 19 countries of the Organization of American States met under the co-chairmanship of Canada, United States and Haiti to discuss how the international community can help respond to the crisis in Haiti.
Canada commends the Government of Chad for its commitment to make progress on its political transition, including through the recent signature of the Peace Agreement in Doha and the establishment of the Inclusive and Sovereign National Dialogue (DNIS), which started on August 20, 2022.
“Canada once again joins the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and the international community in strongly condemning the fighting in Burkina Faso between different military factions fighting for power with no regard for the civilian population.”
