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Nova Scotia held their 44th general election on August 17, with the Progressive Conservatives (PC) led by Tim Houston winning a surprise majority government. The strong victory was surprising given the PCs only had two percent more of the popular vote than the incumbent Liberals.

Justin Trudeau called the federal election for September 20, just 17 months after the last election. The English Language Debate will be on September 9 at 6 pm Pacific.

Canada officially surpassed the United States in the race to get all our citizens vaccinated. Both countries have been marred by far-right politicians spreading false information about the virus and the vaccines, and those refusing to get vaccinated. President Joe Biden said the pandemic was effectively over, but there was still a "pandemic of the unvaccinated."

In a horrifying sweep, the Taliban has reclaimed its rule over Afghanistan. The recapturing of Kabul and western forces fleeing from the country marked a devastating end to a 20-year war. Afghanistan citizens fled en masse. Horrifying human rights abuses are being reported, particularly against women, including whippings for wearing sandals.

On July 26, Canada took another step towards reconciliation as Mary Simon became the first Indigenous person to serve as Governor General of Canada. Simon opened on a warm note, speaking to the idea of a selfless Canada. Simon’s installation as Governor General was marred by hundreds of complaints to the language commissioner over Simon’s lack of fluency in French. Simon has previously stated that she was denied the opportunity while attending Kuujjuaq Federal Day School and that she had already begun lessons in French to become fluent.

A lot is going on in Canada and in our community. Frankly, it would be impossible to fit all the important events into one issue of the magazine, but we try our best. Every month, this short section will tell you all about the things you should take a quick look at on the internet, so you are not out of the loop.

After a year-long delay, the Tokyo Olympics were rung in with dramatically reduced opening ceremonies. International viewership also fell to a historic low for the competition but saw the introduction of skateboarding as an Olympic event, with the gold medal winner being 13-year-old Sky Brown of Japan. Canada won 24 medals, placing 11th overall. Damian Warner and Andre De Grasse won the high-profile events of the Decathlon and the 200-metre sprint, respectively. The Canadian women’s soccer team won gold by defeating the United States and Sweden, with the team's win also leading to the first gold medal for a transgender athlete at the games. Canada also saw Penny Oleksiak emerge as the country's most decorated Olympian in history with seven medals total.

Montreal Canadiens became the first Canadian team to reach the Stanley Cup Final in a decade. They proceeded to get crushed 4-1 by Tampa Bay Lighting, and then drafted Logan Mailloux, who was fined in Sweden for sharing explicit photos without consent. This caused a mass uproar from fans. All NHL teams except the Las Vegas Golden Knights lost players to the newest team in the league, the Seattle Krakens. The highest profile draft for the team was Mark Giordano from the Calgary Flames.

The long-standing problem of sexual harassment in Canada’s military came to a head when two heads of the Defence Staff, Jonathan Vance and Art McDonald, were accused of sexual misconduct. Investigations were launched. Colonel Dany Fortin, who oversaw Canada’s vaccine rollout, was also removed when he was accused of misconduct. McDonald was cleared by the RCMP and is currently trying to return to Canada’s top military office, while Fortin has now been charged criminally.

In BC, masks are once again mandatory in all indoor public spaces. Anyone 12 and older will be required to wear one. Before this update, many were still wearing their masks out of an abundance of caution, as the Delta variant has the potential to create a third wave.