The aces of info | Halloween and cultural appropriation: everything you need to know!

Yippee! Halloween is upon us! Finally, the time of year when you don’t have to feel bad about eating an astronomical amount of candy! However, when you’re going to choose your disguise, you have to be careful about one thing: cultural appropriation. Shushan Bacon, a journalist from the Innu community who works for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), explains why this is important. Good viewing !

Quebec does not sufficiently protect its species

The Government of Quebec has refused for 13 years to designate new species to be protected on its territory.

On the planet, the survival of many wild animals is threatened. You may have already heard of, for example, the giant panda which was considered endangered. Thanks to the efforts of the government, there are now many more than before in China. But unfortunately, there are also endangered animals in Canada, and the government of Quebec is partly responsible for protecting them.

When given a special status such as ‘vulnerable’ or ‘threatened’, species are subsequently better protected against possible human-caused dangers. Yet the committee responsible for recommending which species should be considered threatened or vulnerable has not been consulted by Quebec once in the past five years.

In 2009, the Government of Quebec protected several species such as the polar bear and the Blanding’s turtle, but no others since.

Quebec is not exemplary

In December, Montreal will host COP15, a United Nations conference to discuss biodiversity. However, Quebec is far from impressing with its actions. The committee that chooses endangered species has not met since 2017. Some biologists believe that Quebec does not measure the full extent of the biodiversity crisis.

Currently in Quebec, 20 animal species are designated as threatened and 18 are designated as vulnerable. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other species that are in bad shape. As long as they have no special status, their population continues to decline.

The Government of Canada seems to be taking the situation more seriously. For example, the beluga population of the St. Lawrence Estuary obtained the status of “threatened” species in Quebec in 2000. Its status has not changed since. Federally, however, the species has been listed as “endangered” since 2017.

Félix Auger-Aliassime on an excellent streak

Last Sunday, 22-year-old Quebec tennis player Félix Auger-Aliassime triumphed at the tournament in Antwerp, Belgium. He beat American Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 in straight sets.

“It’s been another wonderful week. I played some great tennis and I really fought hard to be here in front of you today. I have to pay tribute to my team, whom I thank,” said Auger-Aliassime during the trophy ceremony.

It is therefore a second title in a row for the young Montrealer. A player is said to win a “title” when he wins a tournament. The previous week, in Florence, Italy, he had also won the final against Jeffrey John Wolf, another American. It was in two sets of 6-4 and 6-4, after more than an hour of play.

A promising future

Auger-Aliassime now has three titles to his credit, if we also include the one he won last February in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Today, he will try to triumph for a third consecutive week, when he will face the Dane Holger Rune, in Basel, Switzerland. In the semi-finals, the Quebecer defeated Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, world number 1.

Félix Auger-Aliassime is now in a good position to reach the ATP World Tour finals. It’s a tournament that will bring together the eight best players of the season in mid-November in Turin, Italy. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) was formed in 1972 to represent the interests of professional male tennis players.