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After what they say has been months of refused visits with their four children in foster care, Kimberly and Jordan Joseph packed their bags and decided to walk more than 1,500 kilometres from “Prince Rupert, B.C.” to “Victoria.” The couple — both Dakelh (Carrier) — say they’re raising awareness about the lack of support for birth parents resulting in too many kids in the country’s child welfare system. During their 75-day journey, they met dozens of people with lived experience of the child welfare system, visited a number of Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) offices, and earned the encouragement of hundreds of supporters. The Josephs live in Yekooche, a remote community of 87, northwest of “Fort St. James.” They said they weren’t just walking for Indigenous children and Youth — but every young person in foster care. On July 27, the couple set off, sending updates to their growing Facebook community. As the walk — and blisters — progressed, they alternated between walking and travelling by car, sometimes walking together or taking turns making the journey on foot while the other drove. The Josephs said they faced delays when MCFD repeatedly called to arrange visits with their kids, only to cancel after the couple had abandoned their walk to drive north. But they didn’t give up, and kept coming back to try and finish the walking journey. By late November, the Josephs had reached Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish). “It’s terrifying for a child to not understand why they can’t talk to their mom and their dad, or talk to their siblings,” said Kimberly during the stop on Nov. 25. Earlier that morning, the Josephs arrived holding hands, listening carefully to Kimberly’s smartphone. They were attending family court virtually — waiting to hear a judge’s response to their refusal for their children’s foster parents to continue caring for their boys. For Kimberly and Jordan, it was good news: the couple’s case will go to trial, she confirmed with a smile. There are now nearly 2,000 members of a Facebook group, “Walking For All Children in Ministry Care,” where the Josephs have given regular updates on their way. Until June 2023, the boys were in custody of Kimberly’s mother in “Kamloops,” but when she was no longer able to provide the care they needed, MCFD asked Kimberly if she would take them back. Though eager to be reunited with the children — of whom Jordan is a stepfather to three and biological father to one — it was not an easy process. The couple said they struggled with MCFD and Carrier Sekani Family Services (CSFS) for almost a year. While caring for their children, Kimberly said CSFS had received money through Jordan’s Principle — a legal rule ensuring First Nations children can access services and support in a timely manner — to deliver the couple diapers and baby formula from CSFS’s “Fort St. John” office to their remote home, where they had no access to transportation. “They didn’t do it for a month,” alleged Kimberly, who said despite phoning countless times, she had to enlist help from friends and family to get by. “Finally, we showed up at their office and they gave us [an entire month’s worth] of formula. They were like, ‘this is all yours, it’s just been sitting at the office.’” While Jordan was in counseling after the death of his grandfather, a therapist reported his behaviour to MCFD as “aggressive,” the couple alleged. “It was all false,” said Kimberly, who said she wishes the ministry had handled Jordan’s grief with more compassion. Eventually, they said, MCFD insisted that Kimberly move into a shelter, separate from Jordan — who had been residing in a tiny house. During this time, she was given a chance to prove she could care for her children, but said she was chastized by social workers, who allegedly told her she was neglectful and didn’t dress properly (“but I like to dress cozy,” she said). A 2021 report released by the MCFD states that 84 per cent of Indigenous children in foster care were there due to what they call “neglect.” “But neglect from whom?” said Cindy Blackstock, speaking to this issue at the recent Our Children Our Way National conference in “Vancouver.” Blackstock said she believes that child welfare laws push the blame onto the parents, when they should be asking, “What is the actual source of this risk?” she said. While in the women’s shelter, Kimberly said she experienced a health emergency that resulted in her needing to be hospitalized. When MCFD showed up alongside paramedics, she expressed to MCFD that she needed time to recuperate — knowing she would be closely watched and her poor health would make it impossible to comprehensively care for her children on her own. She said she got an ultimatum in return. “And now they’re saying I could have had the boys but I gave them up,” she said. Now that the couple’s children are back in foster care, Kimberly alleged there have been multiple occasions where MCFD has told them there are no funds available to allow them to visit their children, who are divided between foster families in “Prince Rupert” and “Prince George.” But Jordan said after being given a vehicle from Jordan’s aunt, he and Kimberly decided to visit their children using their own money. “It was awesome, we finally had our own transportation,” he said. When they phoned the MCFD office to ask for a visit, they repeated the same reason — “a lack of funds,” Jordan recalled. “We told them they don’t need funding — we are already down here, and we’ve got the money to do stuff with the boys.” An MCFD employee replied they’d look into scheduling a visit, but one week later — after multiple inquiries from Kimberly and Jordan — they said they were told there was no supervisor available to attend a visit. “I feel like whenever we ask for anything, our file gets thrown to the side and they say no,” said Kimberly. IndigiNews requested comment from MCFD, who said that although it could not comment on individual cases, it noted that “recruitment and retention are a continuous priority for the ministry and direct child and family service staffing numbers are stable.” “In the last two years, there has been a 17 per cent increase in staffing levels and staffing has been up year-over-year since the pandemic,” the statement reads. IndigiNews also reached out to Carrier Sekani Family Services, but did not receive a response by time of publication. For Kimberly and Jordan, their frustrations soon reached a tipping point. “We decided we wanted to walk,” Jordan said. The couple spent one week preparing — alerting police they’d be walking the road, telling friends and family, and creating a Facebook group. “It was a really nice send-off,” Kimberly recalled. “People came to see us and it was fun.” After just a day of walking, she was shocked to find roughly 500 people had joined their Facebook group by the time Kimberly regained cell service — and nearly 100 messages of encouragement. The number of people in the group soon grew to close to a couple thousand. “We were like, ‘No way!’ And then people were stopping for us along the way, giving us their food and drinks.” Originally, the couple’s plan was to walk just the 700-kilometre route from “Prince Rupert” to “Prince George” — because their children had been split up between homes in the two cities. But when the Josephs finally reached “Prince George,” they felt so encouraged by the public’s support that they decided to extend their journey to the province’s capital — an additional walk of more than 800 kilometres south. They packed up their car and began leapfrogging their way down — alternating between walking and driving in a shared effort. The couple said they’ve found the walk healing. “I’ve opened up a lot about my past,” said Kimberly, who herself grew up in the “child welfare” system. “I really don’t ever talk about my past, but I think walking has helped me quite a lot.” Jordan said the walk has been healing for him too. “Being close to nature, seeing all the animals and getting to connect with everything has been awesome,” he said. The couple weren’t as fond of the countless tiny frogs, grasshoppers, beetles. “We hate insects,” the couple said in unison. Kimberly says that — besides offering counselling — MCFD also wants her to take parenting and relationship courses. But she believes the structure of such programs are colonial. “There’s Indian time, right?” she said. “I’ve never liked Western structure.” During their walk, Kimberly and Jordan met with many people through social media who shared their own experiences with the child welfare system. “It’s a lot easier to open up to people like that,” Kimberley said, “than to have someone sitting across from you that you don’t really know, that doesn’t say anything back to you other than, ‘How do you feel about that?’” When she and Jordan spoke to IndigiNews in Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, it was actually their second time reaching the community. Back in October, the couple had walked as far as “Lions Bay” — 40 kilometres north of “Vancouver” — just when MCFD called about a visit they’d managed to arrange with their children. The Josephs headed back north. When they resumed their walk in November and finally reached “Vancouver,” the couple visited two local MCFD offices to ask staff what support systems they have for Indigenous mothers needing help. Kimberly recalls staff at both offices telling her she should make complaints through “the main office.” Later, after reaching “New Westminster,” the couple received another phone call from MCFD, alerting them to another visit the agency had arranged with their children. So for a second time, the couple returned north, only to learn the ministry had cancelled the visit due to “poor weather,” said Kimberly. “I keep telling them if you arrange a visit for us and we can show up, you have no excuse. You should be ready for us to receive our kids,” said Kimberly. On Nov. 30, the couple updated that they were finally being given an opportunity to visit their boys for a few hours. “I can’t wait to see our boys,” Jordan told the Facebook live. “Love and miss them so much.” With winter quickly approaching, Kimberly doesn’t think they’ll actually reach “Victoria” this year, though she hasn’t completely laid the idea to rest. In fact, she’s already planning next year’s walk. “We want to do it until something’s done for the foster children,” she said. With a pre-trial date being set, Kimberly and Jordan now want to focus their attention on preparing for their day in court, hoping to finally be reunited with their children. “Not all parents get to hug their children, not all parents get to play with them, wake up to them, go to sleep and tuck them in,” Kimberly said. As the couple ponders the next steps on their journey, Jordan added that “time is precious” for any parent. “We have to be watched every time we see ours,” he said. “So cherish every moment with your kids.”MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible. Putin's apology came as allegations mounted that Russian air defenses shot down the plane while attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya. Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videoconference Saturday at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. An official Kremlin statement issued Saturday said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner "repeatedly" attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane. The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace." The readout said Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to participate. The Kremlin also said that "relevant services" from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. The plane was flying from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while attempting to land. There were 29 survivors. According to a readout of the call provided by Aliyev's press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was subject to "external physical and technical interference," though he also stopped short of blaming Russian air defenses. Part of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane lies on the ground Thursday near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan. Aliyev noted the plane had holes in its fuselage and the occupants sustained injuries "due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight." He said that a team of international experts began a probe of the incident at Azerbaijan's initiative, but provided no details. Earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's office confirmed that investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny. On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon, echoing those made by aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack. U.S. President Joe Biden, responding Saturday to a reporter asking whether he thought Putin should take responsibility for the crash, said: "Apparently he did but I haven't spoken to him." Biden made the comment after leaving church in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Passengers and crew members who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it circled over Grozny. Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic. Yadrov said after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau. People attend a funeral Saturday for Mahammadali Eganov, who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau at the age of 13, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Earlier this past week, Rosaviatsia cited unspecified early evidence as showing that a bird strike led to an emergency on board. In the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines blamed "physical and technical interference" and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It didn't say where the interference came from or provide any further details. If proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian fire, it would be the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014. Russia denied responsibility but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defense system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base. The grave of Mahammadali Eganov, 13, who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's Aktau airport, is seen Saturday in Baku, Azerbaijan. Following Wednesday's suspension of flights from Baku to Grozny and nearby Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced Friday that it would also halt service to eight more Russian cities. Several other airlines made similar announcements since the crash. Kazakhstan's Qazaq Air on Friday said it would stop flying from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month. Turkmenistan Airlines, the Central Asian country's flagship carrier, on Saturday halted flights to Moscow for at least a month, citing safety concerns. Earlier this past week, Israel's El Al carrier suspended service from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital, citing "developments in Russia's airspace." Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!Klubnik's 3 TD passes, DT Page's pick-6 lead No. 17 Clemson to 51-14 win over The Citadel

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Daily Dose of Social Media: Djokovic’s busy day in Brisbane– Celebrates Mirra Andreeva’s victory, fun with Grigor Dimitrov and trains with Jakub MensikDarnold delivers for Vikings with career-high 347 yards and 5 TDs to beat Falcons, Cousins 42-21A federal appeals court panel on Friday unanimously upheld a law that could lead to a ban on TikTok in a few short months, handing a resounding defeat to the popular social media platform as it fights for its survival in the U.S. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit denied TikTok’s petition to overturn the law — which requires TikTok to break ties with its China-based parent company ByteDance or be banned by mid-January — and rebuffed the company’s challenge of the statute, which it argued had ran afoul of the First Amendment. “The First Amendment exists to protect free speech in the United States,” said the court’s opinion, which was written by Judge Douglas Ginsburg. “Here the Government acted solely to protect that freedom from a foreign adversary nation and to limit that adversary’s ability to gather data on people in the United States.” TikTok and ByteDance — another plaintiff in the lawsuit — are expected to appeal to the Supreme Court, though it’s unclear whether the court will take up the case. “The Supreme Court has an established historical record of protecting Americans’ right to free speech, and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue,” TikTok spokesperson Michael Hughes said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the TikTok ban was conceived and pushed through based upon inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information, resulting in outright censorship of the American people,” Hughes said. Unless stopped, he argued the statute “will silence the voices of over 170 million Americans here in the US and around the world on January 19th, 2025.” Though the case is squarely in the court system, it’s also possible the two companies might be thrown some sort of a lifeline by President-elect Donald Trump, who tried to ban TikTok during his first term but said during the presidential campaign that he is now against such action. The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, was the culmination of a years-long saga in Washington over the short-form video-sharing app, which the government sees as a national security threat due to its connections to China. “Today’s decision is an important step in blocking the Chinese government from weaponizing TikTok to collect sensitive information about millions of Americans, to covertly manipulate the content delivered to American audiences, and to undermine our national security,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Friday. The U.S. has said it’s concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. Officials have also warned the proprietary algorithm that fuels what users see on the app is vulnerable to manipulation by Chinese authorities, who can use it to shape content on the platform in a way that’s difficult to detect — a concern mirrored by the European Union on Friday as it scrutinizes the video-sharing app’s role in the Romanian elections. TikTok, which sued the government over the law in May, has long denied it could be used by Beijing to spy on or manipulate Americans. Its attorneys have accurately pointed out that the U.S. hasn’t provided evidence to show that the company handed over user data to the Chinese government, or manipulated content for Beijing’s benefit in the U.S. They have also argued the law is predicated on future risks, which the Department of Justice has emphasized pointing in part to unspecified action it claims the two companies have taken in the past due to demands from the Chinese government. Friday’s ruling came after the appeals court panel, composed of two Republican and one Democrat appointed judges, heard oral arguments in September. In the hearing, which lasted more than two hours, the panel appeared to grapple with how TikTok’s foreign ownership affects its rights under the Constitution and how far the government could go to curtail potential influence from abroad on a foreign-owned platform. On Friday, all three of them denied TikTok’s petition. In the court’s ruling, Ginsburg, a Republican appointee, rejected TikTok’s main legal arguments against the law, including that the statute was an unlawful bill of attainder or a taking of property in violation of the Fifth Amendment. He also said the law did not violate the First Amendment because the government is not looking to “suppress content or require a certain mix of content” on TikTok. “Content on the platform could in principle remain unchanged after divestiture, and people in the United States would remain free to read and share as much PRC propaganda (or any other content) as they desire on TikTok or any other platform of their choosing,” Ginsburg wrote, using the abbreviation for the People’s Republic of China. Judge Sri Srinivasan, the chief judge on the court, issued a concurring opinion. TikTok’s lawsuit was consolidated with a second legal challenge brought by several content creators – for which the company is covering legal costs – as well as a third one filed on behalf of conservative creators who work with a nonprofit called BASED Politics Inc. Other organizations, including the Knight First Amendment Institute, had also filed amicus briefs supporting TikTok. “This is a deeply misguided ruling that reads important First Amendment precedents too narrowly and gives the government sweeping power to restrict Americans’ access to information, ideas, and media from abroad,” said Jameel Jaffer, the executive director of the organization. “We hope that the appeals court’s ruling won’t be the last word.” Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers who had pushed for the legislation celebrated the court’s ruling. “I am optimistic that President Trump will facilitate an American takeover of TikTok to allow its continued use in the United States and I look forward to welcoming the app in America under new ownership,” said Republican Rep. John Moolenaar of Michigan, chairman of the House Select Committee on China. Democratic Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who co-authored the law, said “it’s time for ByteDance to accept” the law. To assuage concerns about the company’s owners, TikTok says it has invested more than $2 billion to bolster protections around U.S. user data. The company has also argued the government’s broader concerns could have been resolved in a draft agreement it provided the Biden administration more than two years ago during talks between the two sides. It has blamed the government for walking away from further negotiations on the agreement, which the Justice Department argues is insufficient. Attorneys for the two companies have claimed it’s impossible to divest the platform commercially and technologically. They also say any sale of TikTok without the coveted algorithm – the platform’s secret sauce that Chinese authorities would likely block under any divesture plan – would turn the U.S. version of TikTok into an island disconnected from other global content. Still, some investors, including Trump’s former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and billionaire Frank McCourt, have expressed interest in purchasing the platform. Both men said earlier this year that they were launching a consortium to purchase TikTok’s U.S. business. This week, a spokesperson for McCourt’s Project Liberty initiative, which aims to protect online privacy, said unnamed participants in their bid have made informal commitments of more than $20 billion in capital.

Former Alabama star’s silly gesture during an NFL game just forced him to give a large chunk of cash back to the leaguePeter Anholt tried to keep things light as he emerged from one of the elevators at Canada’s hotel. The temperature had been turned way up on the veteran hockey executive and the country’s under-20 program after a stunning upset some 12 hours earlier. “You only want to talk to me when things are bad, eh?” Anholt joked to reporters Saturday morning. “Is that how this works?” That is indeed what happens when a powerhouse with a record 20 gold medals expected to roll over an opponent suffers one of its worst all-time defeats at the tournament. Canada was embarrassed on home soil 3-2 by Latvia — a country it had thumped by a combined 41-4 score across four previous meetings — in a shocking shootout Friday. Coming off a disastrous fifth-place finish last year in Sweden and having talked a lot about upping their compete level and preparation, the Canadians looked disjointed for long stretches against the plucky, hard-working Latvians. The power play finally clicked late in the third period, but stands at 1-for-7 through two games, while the top line of Easton Cowan, Calum Ritchie and Bradly Nadeau has yet to translate its pre-tournament chemistry into success in the spotlight. “We’re certainly trying to problem solve, but not throw the baby out with the bath water,” said Anholt, who heads the world junior setup. “We’ve got to be really careful.” Canada, which picked up a solid 4-0 victory over Finland to open its tournament Thursday, had plenty of offensive zone time and directed 57 shots at Latvian goaltender Linards Feldbergs. Included in that total, however, were far too many one-and-done efforts from the perimeter with little traffic in front. There were, of course, desperate spurts — especially late in regulation and in 3-on-3 overtime — but not nearly enough for a roster peppered with first-round NHL draft picks and top prospects. “We played really, really hard,” Anholt said in defending his players. “We controlled the puck lots. We created some chances. Their goalie was really good and they defended really good ... 99 times out of 100 we win that game.” Hoping for a big response Sunday against Germany before meeting the United States on New Year’s Eve to tie a bow on round-robin action in Group A, Canada will have to push ahead minus one of its best players. Star defenceman Matthew Schaefer was injured Friday and is done for the tournament after he slammed into Latvia’s net and skated off favouring his left shoulder area. “Tough blow for the kid,” Anholt said. “The way he plays the game, he plays it at such a high speed.” Cowan, a Toronto Maple Leafs first-round selection, said Canada remains confident despite Friday’s ugly result in the nation’s capital. “We’re good,” said the 19-year-old from Mount Brydges, Ont. “Everyone’s lost a hockey game before.” But not like that — or to that opponent on that stage. “Bit of a (crappy) feeling,” said Nadeau, a Carolina Hurricanes prospect from St-Francois-de-Madawaska, N.B. “We all know what this group is capable of. Losing that game is not our standard. “We’ll bounce back.” Some corners of social media exploded following the Latvian debacle, with heavy criticism directed at head coach Dave Cameron and the team’s overall roster construction. “We’re not really worried about it,” defenceman and Ottawa native Oliver Book, who like Cowan is back from last year’s team, said of the outside noise. “We know we didn’t play well.” Canada appears poised to mix things up against the Germans. Vancouver Canucks prospect Sawyer Mynio of Kamloops, B.C., is set draw in for Schaefer, while Anholt indicated there’s a good chance forward Carson Rehkopf will get his first crack at the 2025 tournament as a returnee. The 19-year-old Seattle Kraken second-round pick from Vaughan, Ont., has scored a combined 78 goals over his last 97 regular-season and playoff games in the Ontario Hockey League. “Great player,” Cowan said. “He finds ways.” Anholt said taking a big-picture approach is key in challenging moments. “Let’s not panic,” he said. “The world hasn’t fallen in. It’s hard, but we’ll learn from it.” It’s something Canada will have to do under intense scrutiny. “People are gonna love you and people are gonna hate you,” said Cowan, who has a goal an assist through two games. “Gotta keep doing you.” Anholt, who was also at the helm 12 months ago when Canada never got in gear, isn’t getting 2024 vibes from this year’s group. “Not even in any way, shape or form,” he said. “We’ve just got to take care of business.” They get a first shot at redemption Sunday.

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