Ian Profiri is JURIST’s Staff Correspondent for Canada. He files this dispatch from Calgary. Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart released a statement Friday evening clarifying his and his city’s position on the copycat “Freedom Convoy” protests that materialized in major cities across Canada this past weekend in the wake of ongoing protests in Ottawa. “As the [...]
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency in Canada’s capital Sunday, more than a week after a trucker-led protest against pandemic-related restrictions virtually shut down the city centre. In a press release in November, the federal government announced certain adjustments to the country’s pandemic-related border measures. Among other things, the government said that [...]
The Canadian Armed Forces on Thursday discharged 58 individuals and issued “Notice of Intent” to discharge to 246 others for their refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Additionally, 66 other unvaccinated individuals have left voluntarily, exacerbating the increasing shortage of personnel amidst a growing list of requests for domestic assistance and international instability. This development [...]
The Federal Council of Austria approved a bill Thursday that requires all adults in Austria to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, bringing the mandate one step closure to taking effect. The bill was passed by a vote of 47 to 12. Austria’s bill is the first sweeping vaccine mandate in the European Union. The mandate [...]
Ian Profiri is JURIST’s Staff Correspondent for Canada. He files this dispatch from Calgary. Trucker protests against vaccine mandates in Ottawa continue. The “Freedom Convoy” has now spent nearly a week occupying the streets surrounding Parliament Hill, and it is believed they intend to extend their stay for as long as possible. Frustration and discontent [...]
UN agencies warned Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic could reverse decades of global progress in stamping out female genital mutilation. The warning comes just days before the International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation on February 6. The World Health Organization has defined female genital mutilation as involving the partial or total removal [...]
The US Army, per a department memorandum Wednesday, said it will begin to immediately discharge soldiers who refuse to comply with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. This move follows similar discharge orders for vaccine refusers among the Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. Approximately 3,300 active-duty service members are eligible for removal if they fail to [...]
ACLU filed a lawsuit Monday requesting access to COVID-19 booster shots for seven individuals (“the plaintiffs”) detained by immigration authorities. The lawsuit is aimed at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to the Complaint, the seven plaintiffs have been denied the booster shot, despite multiple requests. The plaintiffs [...]
Ian Profiri is JURIST’s Staff Correspondent for Canada. He files this dispatch from Calgary. Today marks the second official day of the “Freedom Convoy” protests in Ottawa. The protestors, initially self-identifying as long-haul truckers opposed to vaccine-related cross-border mandates imposed by Parliament, now appear to have devolved into a cacophony of individuals making complaints about [...]
JURIST is launching a new series of dispatches from major US states written by JURIST correspondents “on the ground” in those jurisdictions. JURIST Operations Director Ram Eachambadi files this report from Los Angeles. Earlier this month, Los Angeles County filed a petition in California Superior Court to hold Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva in [...]
