Lobby Wrap: Agriculture and entertainment sector seeking federal assistance ipolitics.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ipolitics.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
iPolitics By Janet E Silver. Published on Jan 25, 2021 9:39am Committees set for virtual, in-person meetings on Parliament Hill (Jolson Lim/iPolitics)
Montreal-based scent-detection-technology company Stratuscent Inc. is seeking assistance from Technofinance Inc.’s Denis Dumas to help it access an Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada program to improve the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the agriculture sector. According to its website, Stratuscent Inc. is a digital nose that “can detect individual chemicals, chemical mixtures, and everyday odours with incredible accuracy.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. Grains Council wants to engage the government on reducing transportation-sector emissions, as well as the development of Clean Fuel Standard regulations, and has hired Kate Mah of PAA Public Affairs Advisors Inc. to help.
In Canada, the IHRA definition has begun to stifle pro-Palestinian voices
It is no coincidence that the IHRA definition of antisemitism is being advanced in Canada amidst an increasingly hostile environment toward critics of Israel.
Protest in solidarity with Gaza in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, July 15, 2012. (Heri Rakotomalala/Flickr)
In 2019, under the guise of combating racism and bigotry, Canada adopted the highly problematic definition of antisemitism promulgated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which conflates political criticism of the state of Israel with anti-Jewish bigotry.
Under this working definition, legitimate critiques of Israel and its policies, such as “claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor,” may be condemned as antisemitic. Many critics have rightly warned that these provisions threaten the free speech rights of Canadians and will likely be used to silence criticism of Israel.