Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Canadian supporters of Dong Guangping, a missing Chinese human-rights defender, are disappointed with what they call a disingenuous response from Vietnamese officials to the United Nations.
There has been no word of Dong's fate since he was arrested Aug. 24 by Vietnamese police.
In mid-December, UN human-rights experts wrote to the Vietnamese government seeking answers about his whereabouts and well-being.
In a recent reply to the UN, the government said it had no information concerning Dong's presence in Vietnam.
Dong's daughter Katherine, who lives in Toronto with her mother, said in November she feared her father had been handed over to Chinese authorities.
Katherine Dong now questions whether the Vietnamese government is accountable to anyone concerning human rights.
"Vietnam ignored our family and ignored the Canadian government, but we were holding onto hope that they would take the United Nations seriously and finally disclose what has happened to my father," she said in a statement jointly released by the Toronto Association for Democracy in China and the Federation for a Democratic China.
"Who do we look to now? What is left?"
The association for democracy says Dong has been accepted for resettlement to Canada as a government-assisted refugee, but Ottawa was not able to persuade Vietnamese officials to allow him to leave Vietnam and travel to Canada.
Dong had been in hiding in Vietnam for 31 months while trying to make it to freedom.
Dong's supporters say he was fired from his job as a police officer in China in 1999 because he signed a public letter related to the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.
He was later imprisoned for three years on charges of "inciting subversion of state power."
Dong fled to Thailand in 2015 with his wife and daughter, who were resettled to Canada as refugees. However, Thailand sent Dong back to China. After another stint in prison, he tried again to leave, finally making it to Vietnam in January 2020.
In their December letter, the UN experts sought assurances from Vietnam that steps be taken to establish Dong's fate and whereabouts and "prevent any irreparable harm to his life and personal integrity, and to halt the alleged violations."
In its March 15 response, the Vietnamese government said there is no arbitrary detention or enforced disappearance in Vietnam, adding only those who violate the law are detained and prosecuted.
Dong's sudden arrest last August came as a crushing disappointment for his family and for human-rights groups who had been supporting him, says the joint statement from the two Canadian groups promoting democracy in China.
"Vietnam's disingenuous response to the United Nations is yet another blow."
Global Affairs Canada said in November that the government was deeply worried about Dong's safety and well-being, and had been raising its concerns at the highest levels.
"Officials are working to ascertain his whereabouts, including through diplomatic engagement with both Vietnam and China," department spokesman Grantly Franklin said at the time.
Sheng Xue, chairperson of the Federation for a Democratic China, said the recent snub from Vietnam "must spur the Canadian government to take further action."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 29, 2023.
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
B.C.’s premier and one of his top lieutenants are pushing back against allegations by the Official Opposition that he covertly commissioned a report into the diversion of safe supply drugs onto the streets.
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart.
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.