Author: Campbell MacDiarmid

The Ottawa Police Service’s hate and bias crime unit is investigating after the National Holocaust Monument was defaced with red paint.The concrete memorial on the Kichi Zibi Mikan near Lebreton Flats was found splashed with red paint on Monday morning, including the words “feed me” painted in capital letters. Cleaning crews from the National Capital Commission, which manages the monument, were removing the paint with pressure washers.Iddo Moed, Israel’s ambassador to Canada, decried the vandalism as antisemitic. “This is pure hate against Jews,” he said Monday in an interview with CBC. Workers from a cleanup crew spread a tarp to cover red paint spelling the words ‘feed me’ on the National Holocaust Monument in Ottawa on Monday.

Christian Kodia is accustomed to visiting the United States on a weekly basis, but with a new travel ban coming into effect on Monday, he’s not sure if that will continue.Kodia is a dual national with citizenship from both Canada and the Republic of Congo, one of 12 states whose citizens U.S. President Donald Trump has now banned from entering that country.”I travel to the United States of America, I would say, every weekend. I go to visit my family, I go for business, I go for friends,” said Kodia, president of the Congolese-Brazzaville Community of Ottawa-Gatineau.Even though Kodia has a Canadian passport, he’s unsure of what kind of welcome to expect from U.S. customs. “It’s going to be difficult,” he told Radio-Canada, predicting that the ban would have a “huge, negative impact” for many people.Citing national security, Trump said Thursday his administration would block entry for citizens of Afghanistan, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. Trump also announced restrictions to limit the entry of nationals of seven other countries: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.In the case of the Republic of Congo, Trump cited high rates of overstaying among citizens visiting the United States: 29.6 per cent of those on temporary business or tourism visas, and 35 per cent of students and exchange visitors.The United States has banned citizens of Afghanistan, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen from entering the country.