অভিনয়ে পরিচিতি পাওয়ার পর কোথাও গেলে চিত্রনায়িকা বিদ্যা সিনহা মিমের আসন থাকে সবার সামনে। ইচ্ছা করলেও পেছনে গিয়ে বসতে পারেন না। কিন্তু স্কুলের দিনগুলো সামনে বসতে ইচ্ছা করলেও সেটা সম্ভব ছিল না। এর কারণ ছিল এই চিত্রনায়িকার উচ্চতা। এ নিয়ে মিম বলেন, ‘আমি ছোট থেকেই অনেক লম্বা। যে কারণে বন্ধুমহলে যেকোনো কিছুতে আমাকে সবার শেষে থাকতে হতো। চাইলেও কখনো সামনের সারিতে বসতে পারতাম না। বসলেও শুনতে হতো মাথা নিচু করো, দেখা যায় না। স্কুলে লাইন ধরে যখন পিটি করতাম, তখনো আমি শেষে। এখনো বন্ধুরা আমার যত গ্রুপ ছবি পাঠায়, সেখানে আমি শেষে। যে স্কুল ও কলেজে পড়েছি, আমি ছিলাম উচ্চতায় সবার বড়।’

বিদ্যা সিনহা মিম

অর্জনের খাতায় এখন পর্যন্ত নিজেদের প্রথম ম্যাচে আফগানিস্তানের বিপক্ষে পাওয়া একটি মাত্র জয়। এর পর থেকেই টানা হেরে চলেছে বাংলাদেশ দল। অথচ আফগানিস্তানের বিপক্ষে জেতা সেই ম্যাচের আগে বাংলাদেশের কোচ চন্ডিকা হাথুরুসিংহে দেখিয়েছিলেন সেমিফাইনালে খেলার স্বপ্ন।

কিন্তু বাস্তবতা হচ্ছে, এ বিশ্বকাপে বাংলাদেশ পুরোপুরি ব্যর্থ। শ্রীলঙ্কা ম্যাচের আগে আজকের সংবাদ সম্মেলনে এসে তাই সাংবাদিকদের কাঠগড়ায় দাঁড়াতে হলো কোচ হাথুরুসিংহেকে। দলের এই ব্যর্থতার দায় কতটুকু নেবেন তিনি—করা হয়েছিল এমন প্রশ্ন।

এর উত্তরে হাথুরুসিংহে বলেন, ‘এ দলের অন্য সবার মতো এই ব্যর্থতার দায় আমিও নিচ্ছি। আমরা সমর্থকদের হতাশ করেছি, একই সঙ্গে আমরা নিজেদেরও হতাশ করেছি। আমরা নিজেদের সেরা খেলা খেলতে পারিনি। কিন্তু প্রথম ম্যাচ থেকে এ পর্যন্ত কিছুই পরিবর্তন হয়নি। শুধু একটা যে জিনিস পরিবর্তন হয়েছে, সেটা আমাদের মাথার মধ্যে যা ঘুরছে, আমাদের চিন্তাভাবনা।’

সেরা খেলাটা খেলতে না পারার প্রশ্ন ধরেই এসেছে বিশ্বকাপে বাংলাদেশ দলের ব্যাটিং অর্ডার বারবার পরিবর্তনের বিষয়টি। সেটা কি ব্যাটসম্যানদের কিছুটা হলেও অস্থির করে তোলেনি? হাথুরুসিংহে বললেন, ‘বিষয়টি নিশ্চয়ই ব্যাটিং অর্ডারের নয়, তাই নয় কি? আপনি কত নম্বরে ব্যাট করতে নামলেন, এর চেয়ে বেশি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ আপনি যেখানে ব্যাট করতে নামেন আর কততম ওভারে কখন ব্যাট করতে নামেন, তা।’

হাথুরুসিংহেকে প্রশ্ন করা হয়েছিল, বিশ্বকাপের পর বাংলাদেশের কোচের পদে আর থাকতে পারবেন কি না! এই প্রশ্নের উত্তরটা হাথুরুসিংহে দিয়েছেন এভাবে, ‘আমাদের সবাইকে আয়নার সামনে দাঁড়াতে হবে এবং দেখতে হবে কী ভুল হয়েছে। আর আমার কোচ হিসেবে থেকে যাওয়ার কথা—এটা আমার হাতে নয়। এই সিদ্ধান্ত বোর্ড নেবে।’

A professional photographer from Charlottetown, P.E.I., has been fined $230 for "loitering"  while he was taking pictures of Quebec City's iconic Château Frontenac hotel.

John Morris says he was standing on a sidewalk opposite the U.S. consulate near the famed hotel around noon on Tuesday, waiting for some clouds to arrive to get the perfect shot, when police officers approached him and told him to leave.

"[They] said, 'You can't be standing outside for 30 minutes,'" he said.

Morris said he did not understand what he was doing wrong.

"It's a public sidewalk," he said. "I'm not disturbing anybody. I'm not blocking any views. I'm out of the way."

He said he refused to provide his identity unless the police told him what offence he was committing. He said at one point, he took out his phone to film the interaction, and that's when police handcuffed him.

He said the officers only explained that he was loitering and issued the fine for it after he was put in the back of a police cruiser.

"It's absolutely crazy that you would be given a fine for waiting for clouds on a public sidewalk. I'm a professional photographer. I do this for a living," said Morris, who produces books, calendars and jigsaw puzzles with his photographs.

Morris said he has pleaded not guilty and plans on contesting the ticket.

"It kind of does make you question, like what are the rules of being on a public sidewalk in Canada anymore if that's what happens."

Consulate allegedly 'afraid' of being photographed

Morris said police told him those at the U.S. consulate were "afraid that I could see inside their building and take photos."

Morris said a guard from the consulate did approach him earlier that day to ask him to leave, but he refused.

"I said, 'Well, it's a public sidewalk, and I'm allowed to take photos on a public sidewalk."

Morris says he was standing on the sidewalk on the right to take pictures of the Château Frontenac. The U.S. consulate is on the left.

Quebec City police spokesperson Sandra Dion confirmed that police received a 911 call shortly after noon on Tuesday about "a suspicious man that was near the American consulate."

She said when the police officers arrived, they determined that the individual was breaking a municipal bylaw and asked him to provide his identity, but he refused, so they arrested him.

Dion confirmed the person was fined but declined to confirm his name or what bylaw he broke.

Dion also declined to say under what circumstances police will arrest someone who is taking pictures near the consulate.

"What I can tell you is that it's not every day that we get 911 calls about a suspicious person [near the consulate]," she said.

Not every day, but it's not unheard of. In fact, it has already happened five times this year.

Dion also would not say whether the consulate controls the sidewalks or the park near its building.

The U.S. Embassy in Ottawa declined the CBC's request for an interview. It also would not say if its personnel made the 911 call.

"We take seriously the safety and security of our personnel and visitors to our facilities. We do not comment on U.S. Consulate General security protocols," it said in an email.

What is considered loitering?

John Morris said he plans to contest the $230 fine if the matter goes to court. 

Quebec City's municipal bylaw says that is "prohibited for a person, without a reasonable motive … to loiter, wander or sleep in a street or a public space."

When asked under what circumstances Quebec City police will arrest or fine someone for loitering, Dion said "it's on a case-by-case basis," and "it's up to police officers' discretion."

Florence Boucher Cossette, a criminal defence lawyer who has worked on loitering cases before, says the legal definition of the offence is unclear and is used arbitrarily by law enforcement.

"Every day, every single second in this city, people are loitering. So why aren't you arresting them?" she pointed out.

She said Morris likely has a good shot at winning his case, as people accused of loitering when they were sunbathing or drinking coffee on a bench were acquitted in previous cases.

"In terms of defence, he was doing something, he was not loitering and there without apparent reason," said Boucher Cossette. "He was taking photographs."

In the end, Morris never succeeded in getting his perfect shot.

"Lo and behold, when the clouds came, I was in the cruiser," he said.

First Nations leaders are calling on the RCMP, media and the public to do more to help find two people who have gone missing from the Saik'uz First Nation over the past year.

Jay Preston Raphael, 28, and Chelsey Amanda Quaw (Heron), 29, were last seen at residences on the nation's land, located about 85 kilometres west of Prince George, B.C., in February and October respectively. 

In both cases, family and friends say their disappearance from the community, with an on-reserve population of about 400, is out of character and cause for concern.

"We are calling for more volunteers and resources to help increase search efforts," Saik'uz First Nation Chief Priscilla Mueller and the advocacy group Highway of Tears Governing Body said in a joint statement Friday.

The organization was formed in 2006 in response to a series of cases of women and girls, many Indigenous, who had either gone missing or been killed along Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert. In total, more than 40 women and girls are associated with disappearances along the 700-kilometre stretch of highway.

The formation of the governing body was one of the 33 recommendations that came from the 2006 Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendations Report, which called for various measures to improve safety in the area.

But Mary Teegee, one of the governing body's leaders, said the number of missing people shows that more still needs to be done.

"There seems to be little change in responsiveness," she said. "We need to do better as a community to come together and find our missing loved ones.

"Support your community, support the families, and please help bring Jay and Chelsey home."

Unusual not to be in touch

Police have put out missing person alerts for both Raphael and Quaw and is appealing to the public for information.

According to RCMP in Vanderhoof, about 15 kilometres northeast of Saik'uz, Raphael was last seen on Feb. 26 walking away from a residence in Saik'uz and has not been heard from since. He is described as being five feet nine inches and 143 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Friends and family said it is unusual for him to not be in contact.

The RCMP put out missing person alerts for both Jay Preston Raphael and Chelsey Amanda Quaw and is appealing to the public for information. (Submitted by Saik'uz First Nation)

Similarly, Quaw is believed to have walked away from her father's home in the early morning hours of Oct. 11 and never returned.

According to her aunt, Tamara DeLong, her dad "thought she was going out to have a cigarette and that she would come right back."

Quaw is roughly five feet 10 inches tall, weighing 120 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Both cases are still considered missing persons, said B.C. RCMP Staff Sgt. Kris Clark — who is based in Surrey and speaks on behalf of the provincial force — in a written statement to CBC News. If any evidence were to come forward indicating the need for a criminal investigation, attention would shift to "finding those responsible without delay."

"At this time, the investigations for both Chelsey and Jay continue to be for missing persons, with the ultimate goal of finding them safely," he said.

Clark also said "while Indigenous people have historically been over-represented amongst missing persons," RCMP are dedicated to finding people who disappear "regardless of their race or gender" and the Vanderhoof detachment has been "continuously engaging external partners and following up on all investigative leads, while also keeping the family updated with regards to the search."

Anyone with information in either case is asked to contact Vanderhoof RCMP at 250-567-2222 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477(TIPS).

'Chelsea is very loved'

In an interview with CBC News, Quaw's mother described her daughter as an "independent, educated and hard-working woman. She's loving and caring."

"Chelsea is very loved," said Pam Heron.

She said her daughter would usually respond within hours of getting a phone call or text message, so not hearing from her for weeks is really concerning.

Chelsey Amanda Quaw is believed to have walked away from her father's home on Saik'uz First Nation in the early morning hours of Oct. 11 and never returned. (Submitted by Saik'uz First Nation).

Heron is worried her daughter has been stereotyped as a troubled Indigenous girl and said she doesn't think the RCMP treated her disappearance with enough urgency when she was first reported missing.

"She worked hard. She worked at a mill. She was very educated," Heron said.

Community gathering held

Speaking at a community gathering held Friday afternoon, Mueller said she feels the local RCMP detachment has done all it can. However, the chief and council are asking for more resources from other regions, as well as the province.

Kayla Mitchell, deputy chief of the neighbouring Witset First Nation, also said more needs to be done.

"Our lost loved ones do not get the media coverage or justice support they deserve," Mitchell said in a statement of support released Friday.

Charity West, a member of the Kwadacha Nation who recently walked across Canada to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and men, said she often heard the same sentiment from Indigenous people across the country.

"Policing agencies are failing us," West said. "They are failing us. The media's failing us too. They do not give us the coverage we need."

Christopher Holopina was six days away from the end of his peacekeeping deployment in Bosnia when the armoured vehicle he was in rolled in a ravine.

"He was the only one [killed]," his mom, Gloria Hooper, said this week from her home in the small French village of St. Claude, Man., about 90 kilometres west of Winnipeg and just south of Portage la Prairie.

"We could hardly wait for him to come home, and I thought after, yeah, he came home, but not the way he wanted or that we wanted."

The crash that killed the 22-year-old happened July 4, 1996, but for Hooper, it might as well have been yesterday.

Many memories of the boy she said was a mischievous clown cause her to start laughing.

But the pain of losing him is present as ever.

"Oh yeah, I think of him every day — like, every single day," she said. "I can't believe it's been that long ago."

On Nov. 11, Hooper will lay a wreath at the cenotaph during the national Remembrance Day ceremony in Ottawa, representing all families who have lost a child who was serving for Canada.

She has been named this year's National Silver Cross Mother, an annual honour bestowed by the Royal Canadian Legion dating back to 1919.

When called upon to place the wreath, Hooper said her mind will be comforted by thoughts of Holopina and "what would he be doing now?"

The idea, she said, makes her smile.

That's because she knows nothing would likely be any different. So how can there be any regrets?

Despite the hurt she has learned to tolerate, Hooper has also realized Holopina was doing what he loved. 

"He always said, 'If I die, I want to be in a soldier's [uniform].' And he was," she said. "If he could do anything again, he would have been there."

Gloria Hooper also represents Silver Cross Mothers at the school in St. Claude and at other events, including laying a wreath at the cenotaph in the town each year on Bastille Day, which she is seen doing here in an undated photo. Chris Holopina's name is engraved on that monument. (Submitted by Gloria Hooper)

Holopina was a true soldier, having embodied that persona from a very young age, his family said. As a child, he made toy swords and would sit for hours playing with toy soldiers. 

His younger sister, Ashley, remembers him declaring, "I want to join the army when I'm older."

Even when Holopina's interests shifted to art, he never strayed from his heart's inclination. He drew for hours, creating images of of knights and dragons, Ashley said.

• Silver Cross honour needs updating, says Canada's 1st female infantry officer

He followed his chosen path as soon as he was able, joining the reserves at 16 in Portage la Prairie. After graduating from high school, Holopina enlisted as a member of a combat engineer regiment in Petawawa, Ont.

"As a teen, he'd always work out in the garage, evenings and weekends. He also started running and doing ruck marches around home, especially when he was transitioning from reserves to the regular force," Ashley said.

Holopina served two previous tours of duty abroad — in Cyprus in 1992-93 and in Croatia in 1993-94. 

He was part of Operation Alliance in Bosnia-Herzegovina in July 1996 when his troop was rushing to help a group of British soldiers trapped in a minefield. The Canadian vehicle left the road to avoid an accident but careened down a ravine and rolled.

Holopina was the first Canadian to give his life in Bosnia as part of that mission, the Royal Canadian Legion said.

Hooper went to the site in Bosnia not long after the crash to better understand where her son died.

"I wondered what it was like," she said, but admits she was in shock and "like a zombie." She went back again, this time with a clear head and to see the memorial erected in her son's honour.

During his time in Bosnia, Holopina organized a toy and clothing drive for children. His family collected, packed and shipped donations to Holopina, who handed them out.

"He worked with the kids over there … to get them playing and stuff," Hooper said.

His heart was big, to match his stature. At six-foot-four — which required his uniforms to be custom-made — Holopina had long arms that enclosed his mom and sister in hugs.

"Oh, what a kid," Hooper said, almost drifting into a daydream.

Christopher Holopina, who died at age 22, was born to be a soldier, his family says. 

The Portage la Prairie Armoury lounge was renamed the Holopina Lounge and a wall was dedicated to him, while the province named a lake after him in 2005.

Holopina now rests at the St. John cemetery in Shell Valley, north of Russell, Man., where he was born.

Hooper goes as often as possible to sit and update her son on the latest news from home.

"He's learning things about us and stuff like that. I do it all the time," she said.

Ottawa wants to pay class action lawyers roughly half the amount they're requesting in legal fees for a multi-billion dollar First Nations child welfare compensation case — the largest settlement agreement in Canadian history.

The federal government argued before Federal Court this past week that it should pay the class action lawyers between $40 million and $50 million, rather than the $80 million they've requested.

Federal Court Justice Mandy Aylen, who reserved her decision on Thursday, said the court must take into consideration the size of the settlement agreement and the fact that the case was based on more than 10 years of litigation at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT).

"This motion arises in what I would say are very unique circumstances," Aylen said.

"One is that this settlement of this type has been characterized as what we call a mega settlement ... Second, and importantly, this settlement piggybacks on the tribunal proceeding."

Paul Vickery, senior general counsel for the federal Department of Justice, called the $80 million sum unreasonable. He said there is strong public interest in cutting the bill down.

"Counsel fees are going to be closely scrutinized here, both by the claimant community and the broader Canadian public," Vickery said.

But class action lawyers said they're justified in asking for $80 million because the deal they helped to negotiate is unprecedented, and they took it on with the understanding that they would be paid only if they succeeded.

Ottawa agreed to pay legal fees for the five law firms that launched the class action lawsuits that led to the $23 billion-plus settlement agreement approved last Tuesday by the Federal Court.

The compensation will be distributed among more than 300,000 First Nations children and families who experienced discrimination because the government underfunded on-reserve child welfare systems and other family services. 

The CHRT said the government's actions created an incentive for foster care systems to remove children from their homes. Dubbed the "millennium scoop," the practice meant more Indigenous children ended up in foster care than were sent to residential schools at the height of the residential school system.

The legal bill will not be paid out from the $23 billion in federal cash set aside for compensation. It also won't come from the other $20 billion earmarked by Ottawa for long-term reform of First Nations child and family services. Class action lawyers will be paid through additional public funds.

The fees will go to five firms: Sotos LLP, Kugler Kandestin LLP, Miller Titerle + Co., Nahwegahbow, Corbiere and Fasken Martineau Dumoulin.

Judge questions risk taken in case

The government said it takes issue with some lawyers billing at the upper end of their hourly rate scales.

The government argues that if the $80 million legal bill is approved, it would result in some lawyers being compensated at $4,580 per hour.

Ottawa says a legal bill of $40 million to $50 million is more consistent with other recent, large settlements, according to court filings.

Vickery said the government acknowledges a premium should be paid to class action lawyers as an incentive for picking up such cases.

But he argued these lawyers took only a moderate risk by pursuing this case because the federal government already had stated publicly that it would compensate First Nations people affected by its discrimination.

"We say that the amount awarded should recognize that," Vickery said.

Aylen also questioned the amount of risk the settlement lawyers took on, pointing out that it was distributed across multiple firms and none of them submitted evidence to suggest they were hurting financially.

"I'm struggling with the suggestion of risk," Aylen said.

Aylen also said the settlement piggybacked on more than 10 years of proceedings before the CHRT.

The case stems from a 2016 tribunal ruling that found Canada engaged in wilful and reckless discrimination against First Nations children and families by failing to provide them with the same level of child welfare and other family services provided elsewhere.

The class actions also came on the heels of the tribunal's 2019 ruling, which ordered Canada to pay the maximum human rights penalty of $40,000 per First Nations child and family member.

"There is at least a portion of this proceeding that is a deliberate duplicate of the pre-existing proceedings before the tribunal," Aylen said.

Fasken lawyer Geoffrey Cowper acknowledged the tribunal laid the foundation for the class actions, but argued that the settlement agreement reached with Canada made the tribunal's orders enforceable.

Cowper also said the settlement agreement went beyond the tribunal's orders.

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said legal fees must be kept within a reasonable space.

The settlement covers children and families on-reserve or in the Yukon who were discriminated against from 1991 on — a period 15 years longer than the one covered by the tribunal.

Under the agreement, every First Nations child who was forcibly removed from their home and put into the on-reserve child welfare system would get a minimum of $40,000 — or more, depending on the severity of harms they experienced.

Class action lawyers agreed to cap their fees at $80 million — a move they said was highly unusual — because the Assembly of First Nations raised concerns about lawyers in previous class actions taking advantage of Indigenous Peoples.

The lawyers also said the capped fee is much lower than what they could have sought under contingency fee retainer agreements, which could have resulted in a $2.35 billion bill.

"We say it's fair and reasonable," Cowper said.

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu made the case for lowering the legal bill at a press conference on Thursday in Ottawa. 

"This has been an astronomical legal effort, and we acknowledge that and respect that, while also having a responsibility to keep fees in a reasonable space," she said.