Cyclist issued fine for striking four-year-old girl crossing the street
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke virtually to an in-person audience at the University of Toronto Wednesday, explaining Ukraine’s need for financial support, humanitarian aid and sanctions on Russia, with students from numerous Canadian universities in attendance virtually.
Questions from Canadian students covered topics as wide-ranged as Zelenskyy’s cultural role models, how the internet shapes public perception of war, and what he believes the future holds for Ukraine.
Nearly four months after Russia's invasion of his country began, Zelenskyy’s talk, hosted by University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, offered his perspective on democratic freedoms, security of citizens during warfare, and if NATO could be reformed to prevent future international crises.
Here are some highlights of the Zelenskyy’s Q&A, with questions coming from students enrolled at University of Saskatchewan, University of Calgary and University of Toronto:
Quotes have been fixed for grammar and formatting
Over the past four months you have been compared to so many cultural icons, ranging from Winston Churchill to Harry Potter. Who are your historical or literary role models that you look up to for strength and inspiration?
Zelenskyy: First of all, thank you for these kind of comparisons. Harry Potter is better than Voldemort. We know who Voldemort is in this war, and we know who Harry Potter is, so we know how the war will end.
To be honest, I will be very trivial in my response… I think that such role models are the people of Ukraine, and there are very many of them… An ordinary Ukrainian farmer who will take his tractor and close off the road to Russian tanks during invasion. An ordinary woman in our village who went out and stopped the armoured vehicles with her hands. Our beautiful children who sat in their apartments when the enemy missiles hit their house, and unfortunately they rest in peace.
These are Ukrainian people who have stayed in Ukraine and who have not given away our freedom.
Right now many Ukrainian students have left the country to study at foreign universities. How can the Ukrainian government ensure that the smartest of this generation can come back to Ukraine and have a bright future?
Zelenskyy: There are several stages that we need to pass with the government and the people. We need to make sure our security aspects are protected. We have to stand strong for our land, for our universities and cities, and use the capacity of our country.
By standing up for our country, ensuring our strong security aspects, we lay the foundation for the country that will become different out of full-fledged aggression. The security situation must become the best in the world. This is a task for the government, for the law enforcement, for the army. And this is what will happen… We don’t have time for bureaucratic hurdles because we are a country in war.
With the availability of social media, much of the war has been publically accessible, unlike wars before. How do you believe the internet has shaped the way the world perceives the war in Ukraine?
Zelenskyy: Social media is a space that means opportunities. We can cut distances between our country and other countries. Between the government and society. It gives an opportunity, by using this instrument, to share the truth.
In our case, it’s almost like a weapon, showing the world what’s going on in Ukraine. It means freedom. It means freedom of press, freedom of speech, freedom of thought. Some think that in Russia and other countries where internet resources are blocked, where there is no opportunity to talk freely, this is the challenge of the dictatorship. Because people don’t have the ability to analyze and decide what is the truth and the lie and don’t have the means to compare the facts and the arguments.
For us, the internet is a kind of weapon. By means of it, we can show what’s going on in Ukraine.
As a young person, I’m greatly concerned by self-centred nationalism and the failing commitment to promote democracy around the world that I’m seeing here in North America. How do we convince others that the ideal democracy is worth fighting and sacrificing for?
When we say we are fighting for common values, this is absolutely true. The war has no distance. We are fighting for the same values that any country would want to live with… This is about the right of choice… We are protecting this.
As I said, in the contemporary world, the war has no distance. If we allow it to happen here, it could happen anywhere… All countries should respond to the aggressor as if this war was waged within your own country.
Since the war began in February, martial law has been instilled in Ukraine and we’re curious how you and the government have managed to balance democratic freedoms with and the safety of Ukrainians and the security of the nation, and how the application for EU membership has affected the government’s decision in these actions?
Unfortunately, I have to acknowledge that we have not had a martial law before this. Never. Therefore, we had to respond very quickly. Sometimes very rigidly. Because when you are protecting democracy, there may not be questions in having only democratic means to doing so.
Democracy allows the dialect of choice, but when the war is going on, there is no time for dialect. There is no time because you are not counting seconds or minutes, but human lives. The number that have survived and the number that are dead… I have to state that in order to protect democracy you need to move fast and non-democratic.
But when this ends, when the war ends, I think this will bear good fruit. In terms of fair entry into the European Union, and the candidate status for our country, I do believe that Ukraine will get the candidate status for the (EU). We have been moving towards this for many years. Some people on my team feel that this is going into the light from the darkness. I do believe that all 27 of the European countries will support our candidate status. In terms of our army and our society, this is a big motivator for the unity and for the victory of the Ukrainian people.
A cyclist turned herself in and received a fine after striking a four-year-old girl who was crossing the street to catch a school bus.
For decades, North Bay, Ontario's water supply has harboured chemicals associated with liver and developmental issues, cancer and complications with pregnancy. It's far from the only city with that problem.
The rolling hills leading to the hamlet of Rosebud are dotted with sprawling farms and cattle pastures -- and a sign sporting a simple message: No Race Track.
Irresponsibly using a credit card can land you in financial trouble, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew says when used properly, it can be a powerful wealth-building tool that can help grow your credit profile and create new opportunities.
Police say a woman in her 60s is in life-threatening condition after being struck by a vehicle at a bus shelter in Toronto's Bridle Path neighbourhood on Friday.
The Netherlands' contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest was dramatically expelled from competition hours before Saturday's final of the pan-continental pop competition, which has been rattled by protests over the participation of Israel.
A man has been transported to hospital after police say he was stabbed in a random attack carried out by a group of teens in Toronto on Friday night.
From London, to Mildmay, Collingwood and St. Thomas, here are some highlights of Friday night and Saturday morning's northern lights display.
When you're picking something up from the floor or bending over to tie your shoe laces, you're performing "the hinge move," according to movement trainers.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.
The stakes have been set for a bet between Vancouver and Edmonton's mayors on who will win Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
A grieving mother is hosting a helmet drive in the hopes of protecting children on Manitoba First Nations from a similar tragedy that killed her daughter.