Canada gives Ukraine $4 million for 'Gender-inclusive demining' meant to empower women as part of billions in new aid



Canada's latest $3 billion funding package to Ukraine includes many mentions of gender, specifically including a demining effort that is meant to be inclusive and empowering to women.

Justin Trudeau reaffirmed his ongoing support for Ukraine — a sentiment that was echoed by Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre — with Ottawa supplying another aid package to the European country with billions more in support.

Some portions of the foreign aid package, however, have raised eyebrows.

Particularly, the package included $4 million for "Gender-inclusive demining for sustainable futures in Ukraine."

An unfamiliar phrase to many, the project is indeed an effort to dispose of land mines and other explosive ordinances in Ukraine. It aimed to "safeguard the lives and livelihoods of Ukrainians, including women and internally displaced persons, by addressing the threat of explosive ordnance present across vast areas of the country."

It also includes conducting surveying and manual clearance in targeted communities, but also seeks to establish a "gender and diversity working group to promote gender-transformative mine action in Ukraine," the government's press release stated.

The operation is to be taken on by the Halo Trust, a charity founded in the late 1980s with the stated goal of clearing land mines across the world. According to the organization, clearing dangerous explosives is "empowering" for women, and it is helping the "mainstreaming of gender and diversity provisions" in the profession of explosive ordinance disposal.

Among the $3B programs announced by Trudeau in Kyiv today is one whose goal is to establish\u00a0\u201ca gender and diversity working group to promote gender-transformative mine action in Ukraine.\u201d\n\nNo joke! \n\nYOU\u2019RE ALL PAYING TO PROMOTE GENDER-INCLUSIVE DEMINING IN UKRAINE!
— (@)

A spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada boasted to the National Post that women were recently approved to take part in the demining projects.

"Since [2017] HALO has trained hundreds of women in demining, team leadership, intermediate care provision and explosive ordnance recognition and disposal," spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod said. "As of January 2024, 29 per cent of HALO’s 1,127 staff in Ukraine are women ... its strategic goal is to increase the proportion of female staff, especially in senior roles," she added.

Of course, Canada's latest grant to the war-torn nation is not meant for just military assistance; it also contains many other questionable allotments.

Nearly $1 million has been allocated for "strengthening truth, transparency, and democracy to counter disinformation." This money is meant to help the country "enhance the literacy and fact-checking capabilities of Ukraine's media in order to better count disinformation in the country."

This initiative also includes addressing "gender disparity issues" in Ukraine's media.

Another $15 million is provided to complete a museum in Ukraine in honor of those who were starved by the Soviet Union in the 1930s.

In total, gender is mentioned seven times in the aid package, including the mentions of "gender responsiveness" in funding for resilient food systems and being "gender-responsive" in reconstruction efforts.

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Dr. Phil’s Audience Go Silent as 5th Grade Teacher Debunks Gender Nonsense | DM CLIPS | Rubin Report

Dr. Phil’s Audience Go Silent as 5th Grade Teacher Debunks Gender Nonsense | DM CLIPS | Rubin Report

Transgender HS science teacher tells US Education Dept. senior adviser: Students should be taught that 'not all egg producers are women'



A transgender high school science teacher — during a video conference that included a U.S. Department of Education senior adviser — declared that students should be taught that "not all egg producers are women" along with other gender-inclusive principles.

What are the details?

In a Twitter video posted by Libs of TikTok, the teacher in question — Sam Long — tells other conference participants — including Christian Rhodes, senior adviser to the secretary at the Department of Education — that it's necessary to be a "stickler for inclusive language" in the classroom.

Rhodes — who previously served as chief of staff for the DOE's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education — is seen nodding as Long speaks about inclusivity.

Long adds that "I mostly taught biology," which is about "life and living things" — and that "we need to be clear that we're including all living things, including all people ..."

Long then says when teaching about "cell division or reproduction, a lot of textbooks, a lot of existing teaching will say, 'Women produce eggs; males are more likely to be colorblind; the mother carries the fetus for this many months.'" Long then says "some ways we can show our support for trans and non-binary students is to clean up that language ... we can be more accurate and be more inclusive."

The teacher then declares, "I would say, 'No, it's not women that produce eggs; it's ovaries that produce eggs.' That's accurate. That's precise. We're acknowledging that not all women produce eggs, and not all egg producers are women, for example. And we're teaching students that language matters."

Long — the only individual heard speaking in the video — is in the bottom-left square in the following screenshot; Rhodes is in the bottom-right square:

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @libsoftiktok

The date and purpose of the video conference aren't clear, although Libs of TikTok said in the text accompanying the video that the Department of Education "held a training for teachers to learn how to be inclusive" toward "tran[s] and non-binary K-12 students." Libs of TikTok also said the USDE is "promoting" the ideas the teacher espoused in the clip:

The Dept of Education held a training for teachers to learn how to be inclusive of tran and non-binary K-12 students. \n\nThis trans teacher says he teaches inclusive language like not everyone who produces eggs is a woman. \n\nThe official U.S. Dept of Ed is promoting these ideas.pic.twitter.com/V7aEYIlirz
— Libs of TikTok (@Libs of TikTok) 1651028870

The Department of Education on Wednesday didn't immediately reply to TheBlaze's request for comment regarding its position on gender-inclusive language — such as "not all egg producers are women" — or the video conference's purpose.

Anything else?

In the video, Long mentions a website — Gender-Inclusive Biology — that Long founded with "two other trans-identified high school teachers" as well as the site's "language guide" that helped inform Long's inclusive-language push stated in the clip.

Long wrote last month in a National Education Association member spotlight that "when students learn biology, they are entitled to see their lives reflected in this so-called study of life. I grew up learning that a baby is made when a sperm cell from the dad meets the [egg cell] from the mom and that's not good enough. For today, that language doesn't represent our diverse genders, sexualities, and families in our schools. So, I created genderinclusivebiology.com, a growing collection of resources and training on how to teach accurate inclusive and future-ready biology, and I look forward to continuing the work of creating classrooms where every student belongs." The essay's bio states, "Sam Long is a Science Teacher in Denver, Colorado."

Is classic 'Frosty the Snowman' song now 'offensive' in our woke, gender-inclusive world? College students weigh in



It seems that with each succeeding Christmas season for the last decade or so, hostility toward the holiday and questioning of traditions have hit the headlines in one way or another, so Campus Reform correspondent Logan Dubil got proactive and asked students at the University of Pittsburgh recently if the classic song "Frosty the Snowman" is "offensive" in today's woke landscape.

Image source: YouTube screenshot

And what could possibly be the issue with Frosty?

Well, the song's main character is male, for starters — and "fails to be gender inclusive," Dubil told students. No hint that Frosty's creators took the time to consider if their character might favor non-traditional pronouns or identify as female or non-binary or gender non-conforming, he added.

What did students have to say?

Dubil presented the issue to students to see if they agreed Frosty is offensive, and some of them did just that.

"I hadn’t thought of that, but I definitely do agree,” one student told Dubil.

Others added that landing on a specific gender for Frosty is problematic because it "can definitely exclude people" and "doesn't leave the option open" for other gender expressions.

But a few students saw silliness in the issue.

One replied, "I don't know. When you go outside in winter, you don't build snow-women. It's just, it's tradition; a snowman, so I feel like, just keeping with tradition."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Although another student in the same Q&A said presenting Frosty as exclusively male is "kind of messed up now that I think about it."

And both students agreed that Frosty was "absolutely not gender inclusive."

In a different interview, a student didn't seem concerned about Frosty's potential offensiveness because "it's like, it's a snowman; it doesn't have any type of genitalia at all."

Others saw wisdom in the laid-back approach, with one saying "I'm just enjoying the song for what it is."

Image source: YouTube screenshot

Another noted that the seasonal TV special featuring the classic song is "just a fun kids' show, and it should stay that way."

But a different student said he "can see how people might be offended by a snowman not being too inclusive, but personally it's not a very big issue in my mind."

One of the best answers? "You'd have to ask Frosty."

Asking Students If 'Frosty The Snowman' Is Inclusive Enoughyoutu.be

And if you need a palate cleanser, here's the "Frosty the Snowman" song taken from the beloved Christmas cartoon of the same name:

Frosty The Snowman Song | Christmas Songs for Kidsyoutu.be