A Whistleblower Alleges A Top Trump Official Signed A Last-Minute Agreement With ICE’s Union That Could Hamstring Biden’s Immigration Policies

The agreement could give the union “unprecedented veto authority in many areas," the group representing the whistleblower wrote in a letter to Congress.

Hamed AleazizBuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on February 1, 2021,

Tom Williams / AP
Ken Cuccinelli during a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Sept. 24, 2020


A whistleblower alleged Monday that a top Trump administration official abused his authority by entering into a series of last-minute agreements with the union for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers that could hamstring President Joe Biden’s sweeping policy changes.

The letter released by the Government Accountability Project, which was sent to congressional committees and the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, alleges that Ken Cuccinelli, the department's former acting second-in-command, signed a set of agreements with the ICE union, which endorsed former president Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020.

“The agreements grant [the union] extraordinary power and benefits — far more than what DHS agreed upon with its other employee unions which did not endorse President Trump. The agreements confer on the union the ability to indefinitely delay changes to immigration enforcement policies and practices as well,” the letter, written by David Seide, an attorney with the Government Accountability Project, states. “Moreover, under the agreements, ICE expressly waives statutory management rights which negotiating parties know better than to waive. Even more shockingly, the agreements attempt to prohibit any challenge to their validity for eight years.”

According to the Government Accountability Project, the agreement could give the ICE union “unprecedented veto authority in many areas” and increase the use of agency resources. The letter was first reported by the New York Times.

The group says it is representing the whistleblower, who is a current government official and “possesses information concerning significant acts of misconduct committed” by Cuccinelli.

The controversial former acting deputy secretary also signed a series of agreements that required DHS to provide notice of immigration policy changes to local jurisdictions to give them six months to review and submit comments. The state of Texas, which signed one of the agreements, eventually sued DHS over its implementation of a deportation moratorium, claiming it violated the contract.

The letter states that the government has 30 days to officially disapprove of the union agreement.

A representative for the union did not immediately return a request for comment.

Cuccinelli told the New York Times that the agreement "is entirely legal and appropriate, or we wouldn’t have executed it.”

“I absolutely deny any mismanagement, waste of government funds and any misuse of authority,” he said.

In its first week, the Biden administration issued new priorities for ICE officers as of Feb. 1, including that they should focus on immigrants who have been deemed a national security threat, were arrested at the border after Nov. 1, 2020, or have been convicted of an aggravated felony.

“This abuse of authority is shocking,” the whistleblower letter concludes. “When the evidence is collected — the agreements’ last second timing, their out-sized conveyance of power and benefits, their purported invulnerability and Mr. Cuccinelli’s extraordinary involvement — it is clear that they are another example of the prior administration’s effort in its waning hours to cement a legacy at taxpayer expense. We urge you to investigate immediately and promptly act as you deem warranted.”


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The DHS Has Signed Unusual Agreements With States That Could Hamper Biden’s Future Immigration Policies  Hamed Aleaziz · Jan. 15, 2021

Trump Had A Mandate To Target All Undocumented Immigrants For Arrest. ICE Has A New Plan To Change That.  Hamed Aleaziz · Jan. 27, 2021

Trump Announced He Withdrew The Nomination Of Chad Wolf To Run DHS After He'd Criticized The Capitol Riot  Hamed Aleaziz · Jan. 7, 2021

Hamed Aleaziz is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in San Francisco.

Records Pried Loose By BuzzFeed News Have Prompted A Demand For The Investigation Of Former Trump Health Officials

Under Trump, health officials sought to control the message and limit interactions with the media as the pandemic raged through America, raising questions about violations of anti-gag rules.

Jason Leopold BuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on February 2, 2021

Getty Image   Michael Caputo

Citing documents obtained by BuzzFeed News, two independent government watchdog groups are calling for an investigation into whether a top health official in the Trump administration violated federal anti-gag laws in trying to silence members of the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services.

BuzzFeed News has reported that Michael Caputo, a controversial Republican operative handpicked last year by then-president Donald Trump to control messaging around the coronavirus pandemic, lambasted CDC and HHS personnel for discussing COVID-19 response plans with reporters and demanded to know how an interview conducted with an HHS official was approved.

In addition, Caputo’s science adviser at the time, Paul Alexander, sent a lengthy email last August to Caputo, former CDC director Robert Redfield, and other health officials encouraging them to suppress and edit the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. “CDC to me appears to be writing hit pieces on the administration and meant at this time to impact school re-openings and they then send it to the media knowing it is deceiving. I ask it to be stopped now!” Alexander wrote in the email, which was first obtained by Politico.

On Tuesday, the two watchdog groups — Open the Government and the Government Accountability Project — sent a letter requesting action from the Office of Special Counsel, a federal agency that protects government employee rights. The groups argued that Caputo’s and Alexander’s edicts were aimed at stifling HHS and CDC employees’ free speech rights and violated the anti-gag provision in the 2012 federal Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, which states that any restriction on employees' speech has to be accompanied by language informing them of their rights to blow the whistle.

“Separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests by BuzzFeed News and our organizations recently returned records evidencing these violations in primary documents, including email correspondence and agency communication policies,” the letter to Henry Kerner, head of the Office of Special Counsel, states

Referencing protections for federal workers and the dire consequences of a deadly pandemic, the letter says: “The alarming violations of these rights by HHS leadership require a strong response. Otherwise, a workforce chilled from disclosing substantial and specific threats to public health and safety may never thaw. This chilling effect can be especially deadly during a historic health emergency.”

Because Caputo and Alexander have left the government, they can't face any repercussions. The Office of Special Counsel could still order HHS to rescind the orders Caputo issued and remind employees of their whistleblower rights, the watchdog groups said.

The groups have previously been successful in getting the Office of Special Counsel to probe similar incidents aimed at silencing federal employees at the CDC and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

Lisa Rosenberg, executive director of Open the Government, told BuzzFeed News in a statement: “It is unconscionable that the public's right to information is hampered at a time when the need for accurate and timely scientific data could not be more urgent.”

“These revelations underscore the need for more transparency at HHS and for the Biden Administration to repeal autocratic gag orders,” she said.







HHS / via FOIA



Mark Weber, who succeeded Caputo, told BuzzFeed News that HHS issued a new media policy this month that appears to unwind restrictions Caputo implemented. In response to questions from BuzzFeed News about Caputo and whether he ran afoul of the anti-gag law, Weber quoted the new media guidance, which says:

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“HHS is committed to a culture of openness with the media and public that values the free exchange of ideas, data, and information and doing so in a manner that is timely, responsive, and accurate. In keeping with the desire for a culture of openness, HHS employees may, consistent with this policy, speak to members of the press about their work.”

Caputo, who was also a campaign aide to Trump during his 2016 presidential bid and is a close confidant of political strategist Roger Stone, was tapped by Trump last April as assistant secretary of public affairs at HHS. Soon after, Caputo hired Alexander, a Canadian health researcher. The two have been accused of politicizing the agency and undermining the work of scientists; more than 100 pages of emails obtained by BuzzFeed News highlighted some of those actions.

The letter cites Caputo’s reaction to reporting last summer by CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, who sent an email to Caputo trying to confirm that HHS’s vaccine initiative, dubbed Operation Warp Speed, was “working on a vaccine education campaign for the public to increase the chances that people will get the COVID vaccine when it comes out.”

Caputo, the watchdogs’ letter says, “sought to squash the story,” suggesting to Cohen her source was wrong and “does not have actual visibility of the issue.”

“I’d hate to see CNN put out an [sic] wildly incorrect story,” he wrote.

Cohen responded saying her sources were Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Kristen Nordlund, a CDC spokesperson. Caputo then fired off an angry email to then–CDC director Robert Redfield, Nordlund, and other HHS and CDC officials.



HHS / via FOIA



A month later, in July, Caputo sent an email to Nina Witkofsky, then the acting chief of staff at the CDC, and other HHS and CDC officials stating that “according to longstanding policy, no media interviews are permitted” without HHS clearance. “No exceptions.”

The next day Caputo sent an email to Redfield, Witkofsky, and other CDC officials demanding to know the name of the press officer who approved three NPR interviews.


HHS / via FOIA



“I need to know who did it and we will look into the matter,” Caputo wrote.

Irvin McCullough, the deputy director for legislation with the Government Accountability Project and one of the signers of the letter calling for an investigation, told BuzzFeed News Caputo’s emails are a textbook example of illegally gagging a federal employee.

“Someone reading that might get the impression they can't blow the whistle or disclose information to the media during a public health emergency,” said McCullough, who has recently published four op-eds about federal workers rights under the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act. “It’s a clear-cut violation of an employee’s anti-gag rights.”

Alexander, meanwhile, sent politically charged emails to numerous officials about masks and about allegations of racism at the agency. In one email he asserted that the media has “no concern for lives lost” due to COVID-19.

Neither Caputo nor Alexander could be reached for comment.

Caputo’s tenure at HHS ended on Sept. 16, 2020, a couple of days after he posted a video on his Facebook page accusing CDC scientists of “sedition” and being part of a “resistance unit” that was plotting against Trump. Alexander exited shortly thereafter.


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The FBI Has Released A Final Batch Of Memos From The Mueller Probe

Jason Leopold · Dec. 1, 2020


Jason Leopold is a senior investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Los Angeles. He is a 2018 Pulitzer finalist for international reporting, recipient of the IRE 2016 FOI award and a 2016 Newseum Institute National Freedom of Information Hall of Fame inductee

After Fueling A Genocide, Facebook Is Taking A Stand Against A Myanmar Coup

In an internal post, the company outlined how it will try to protect people opposing Myanmar’s military coup

Posted on February 2, 2021, 

Sopa Images / SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett
A soldier stands on guard outside a Hindu temple in Yangon, Myanmar.

After failing to stem the hate speech and misinformation that fueled a genocide in Myanmar, Facebook now says it plans to take proactive content moderation steps following a military coup taking place in the country.

In an internal message posted late on Monday and viewed by BuzzFeed News, Rafael Frankel, a director of public policy in the Asia-Pacific region, told employees that the social network was watching the “volatile situation” in Myanmar “with grave concern” and outlined a series of measures to crack down on people who used it to spread misinformation or threaten violence.

As part of those measures, Facebook has designated Myanmar as a “Temporary High-Risk Location” for two weeks, allowing the company to remove content and events in the country that include “any calls to bring armaments.” The social network previously applied that designation to Washington, DC, following the insurrection at the US Capitol on Jan. 6.

The social network, which had touted its efforts to protect the integrity of Myanmar’s national elections in November, also said it would protect posts that criticized the military and its coup, and would track reports of pages and accounts being hacked or taken over by the military.

“Myanmar’s November election was an important moment in the country’s transition toward democracy, although it was not without its challenges, as highlighted by international human rights groups,” Frankel wrote. “This turn of events hearkens us to days we hoped were in Myanmar’s past and reminds us of fundamental rights that should never be taken for granted.”

“This turn of events hearkens us to days we hoped were in Myanmar’s past and reminds us of fundamental rights that should never be taken for granted.”

Facebook’s moves come after General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s military, took control of the country’s government and detained its elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her National League of Democracy (NLD) party on Monday. Following the election in which the NLD won a majority of seats in Myanmar’s parliament, military-backed opposition groups called the results fraudulent and demanded a revote.

On Tuesday, the US State Department officially designated the military’s takeover in Myanmar as a coup, triggering financial sanctions.

“After a review of all the facts, we have assessed that the Burmese military’s actions on February 1st, having deposed the duly elected head of government, constituted a military coup d’etat,” a State Department official said in a briefing, employing the name the US government uses to refer to the country.

In a statement to BuzzFeed News, Facebook confirmed the actions it outlined in Frankel’s post and said it would be removing content that praises or supports the coup.

“We’re putting the safety of people in Myanmar first and are removing content that breaks our rules on violence, hate speech and harmful misinformation,” Frankel said. “This includes removing misinformation that delegitimizes the outcome of November’s election.”

Facebook is taking action in a country where it has previously faced international condemnation for its handling of the displacement and genocide of Rohingya Muslims that began in 2016. In 2018, United Nations investigators found that senior military officials in Myanmar had used Facebook, which did not have content moderators in the country, to foment fear and spread hate speech.

The “extent to which Facebook posts and messages have led to real-world discrimination must be independently and thoroughly investigated,” the UN investigators concluded in their report.

In Monday’s post, Frankel said Facebook was using “a number of product interventions that were used in the past in Myanmar and during the US elections, to ensure the platform isn’t being used to spread misinformation, incite violence, or coordinate harm.”

The company is working to secure the accounts of activists and journalists “who are at risk or who have been arrested” and removing content that threatens or calls for violence against them, Frankel wrote. The company will also protect “critical information about what’s happening on the ground,” given the restrictions imposed on news outlets in the country.

Facebook’s work is an ongoing effort. On Tuesday, it removed a page for Myanmar’s military television network late Monday, following inquiries from the Wall Street Journal. While the company had banned one page for the Myawaddy television network in 2018 during a crackdown on hundreds of accounts tied to Myanmar’s military, a new page had reappeared and garnered 33,000 likes.

Facebook has frequently come under fire for facilitating the growth of violent and extremist groups and its ineffectiveness in stemming misinformation. Most recently, a tech watchdog group accused the company of fomenting the unrest that led to the deadly attempted coup in the United States.

“[Facebook] has spent the past year failing to remove extremist activity and election-related conspiracy theories stoked by President Trump that have radicalized a broad swath of the population and led many down a dangerous path,” the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) said in a report.

The report uncovered specific threats made in pro-Trump and militant groups on Facebook both before and after Joe Biden’s election victory in November.

Tasneem Nashrulla is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.


Ryan Mac is a senior tech reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in San Francisco.

Canada Just Declared The Proud Boys A “Terrorist Entity”

The move comes after members of the Proud Boys were found to have played integral roles in the US Capitol insurrection last month.

Christopher Miller BuzzFeed News Contributor
Last updated on February 3, 2021

Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Members of the Proud Boys join gun rights advocates in front of the Virginia capitol building in Richmond, Jan. 18, 2021.

The Canadian government on Wednesday labeled the violent far-right Proud Boys group, whose members were among those who stormed the US Capitol last month, and two other extremist movements “terrorist” organizations.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair made the announcement, saying the threat of “ideologically motivated violent extremism has been identified as the most significant threat to domestic security in Canada.”

Blair said the Canadian government has also added Atomwaffen Division, an American neo-Nazi group, and the Base, a white supremacist group, to its list of terrorist entities. It is not known if any of those groups’ members were involved in the insurrection at the Capitol. The Russian Imperial Movement was also added to the list.

“No matter the ideological motivation, they’re all hateful, intolerant, and, as we've seen, they can be highly dangerous,” Blair said, adding that he hopes the new labels will send a message to violent extremist groups that their actions will not be tolerated by law enforcement.

The government designation follows a motion unanimously passed by Canada’s Parliament last month to designate the Proud Boys as a banned terrorist group.

Neither Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio nor anyone associated with Atomwaffen Division could be reached for comment. Rinaldo Nazzaro, the founder of the Base, wrote on his Telegram channel, “this is flat-out political repression.”

With the designations, Canada has gone further than the US when it comes to labeling such extremist groups. But President Joe Biden has directed his administration to conduct a full assessment of the risk of domestic violent extremism in the wake of the attack on the Capitol.

Asked at a White House press briefing on Wednesday if the US planned to do the same, press secretary Jen Psaki said there was a review underway of domestic extremist violence. "I expect we will wait for that review to conclude before making any determinations," she said.

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning about further violence by domestic political extremists, noting there is still a “heightened threat environment across the United States.”

While Canada's designation does not make it a crime to be a member of the groups, those associated with them can now face serious consequences. For instance, banks can now freeze the assets of those involved with the groups, and police can charge anyone who financially or materially supports them.

The Proud Boys saw its profile raised and its ranks grow significantly last year when former president Donald Trump called on the group to “stand back and stand by” during a presidential debate with then-candidate Biden.

Several members of the Proud Boys played key roles in the Capitol insurrection last month, and at least two of them now face federal conspiracy charges.

Dominic Pezzola, one of the Proud Boys charged for participating in the Jan. 6 mob attack, was caught on camera smashing a Capitol window with a police shield, according to the FBI. He had instructions for making guns, poisons, and bombs in his home when the FBI searched his home, prosecutors said.

Another member, Ethan Nordean, was arrested Wednesday in Washington state and charged with obstructing or impeding an official proceeding, among other charges, relating to the coup attempt.


Evelyn Hockstein for the Washington Post via Getty Image
Proud Boys march in support of Trump in Washington, DC, on Dec. 12, 2020.


The Proud Boys, a self-proclaimed “Western chauvinist” group, was founded in 2016 by Canadian Gavin McInnes, who could not be reached for comment. The Proud Boys were vehemently pro-Trump for years until the former president made a statement following the insurrection condemning the violence. Since then, members have called Trump “weak” and a “failure” on the several Telegram channels they operate.

The group, which welcomes only men and has branches across the US and the world, has been involved in numerous violent events since its inception.

The Base, a white supremacist group founded in 2018 by New Jersey native Nazzaro (who goes by several aliases, including Norman Spear and Roman Wolf), has been described by the FBI as a “racially motivated violent extremist group” that “seeks to accelerate the downfall of the United States government, incite a race war, and establish a white ethno-state.” According to the Guardian, Nazzaro purchased land in Washington state for the Base to train its members in combat.

The FBI cracked down on the Base in 2020, arresting nine members who were allegedly planning domestic terrorist acts, including assassinations. Nazzaro remains free and now lives in St. Petersburg with his Russian wife and two daughters. In an interview last year with Russia’s state-run Rossiya-24 channel, he claimed the group was merely a “self-defense” organization and called himself a “family man.”

Atomwaffen Division is a neo-Nazi group that emerged in 2016 alongside the US alt-right segment of the white supremacist movement, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Members of AWD have already been connected to several killings in the group’s short history, per the ADL. Five senior members were arrested and charged with federal crimes last year. In October, Ukraine deported two members who tried to set up a local branch and join a far-right military unit to gain combat experience in the war-torn country. The Southern Poverty Law Center said AWD is “organized as a series of terror cells that work toward civilizational collapse.”

The Russian Imperial Movement is an ultranationalist, far-right paramilitary organization based in St. Petersburg. Last April, the US State Department listed three leaders of the group as "specially designated global terrorists." The move marked the first time the US had labeled a white supremacist group as a terrorist organization.



MORE ON THIS
One Of The Proud Boys Who Stormed The Capitol Had Instructions For Making Guns And Bombs In His Home, FBI SaysEma O'Connor · Jan. 29, 2021

The Proud Boys Got A Bunch Of New Followers After Trump Said To “Stand By”Jane Lytvynenko · Sept. 30, 2020


Christopher Miller is a Kyiv-based American journalist and editor.

On This Day: US 15th Amendment ratified

 

An 1870 print celebrating the passage of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. On February 3, 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It decreed that the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude. File Photo by Thomas Kelly/Library of Congress

On This Day, Feb. 3: US 15th Amendment ratified - UPI.com

 

'New chance at life': Man gets face, hands in rare surgery

NEW YORK — Almost six months after a rare face and hands transplant, Joe DiMeo is relearning how to smile, blink, pinch and squeeze

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The 22-year-old New Jersey resident had the operation last August, two years after being badly burned in a car crash.

“I knew it would be baby steps all the way,” DiMeo told The Associated Press. “You’ve got to have a lot of motivation, a lot of patience. And you’ve got to stay strong through everything.”

Experts say it appears the surgery at NYU Langone Health was a success, but warn it’ll take some time to say for sure.

Worldwide, surgeons have completed at least 18 face transplants and 35 hand transplants, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, or UNOS, which oversees the U.S. transplant system.

But simultaneous face and double hand transplants are extremely rare and have only been tried twice before. The first attempt was in 2009 on a patient in Paris who died about a month later from complications. Two years later, Boston doctors tried it again on a woman who was mauled by a chimpanzee, but ultimately had to remove the transplanted hands days later.

“The fact they could pull it off is phenomenal,” said Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, a surgeon at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital who led the second such attempt. “I know firsthand it’s incredibly complicated. It’s a tremendous success.”

DiMeo will be on lifelong medications to avoid rejecting the transplants, as well as continued rehabilitation to gain sensation and function in his new face and hands.

In 2018, DiMeo fell asleep at the wheel, he said, after working a night shift as a product tester for a drug company. The car hit a curb and utility pole, flipped over, and burst into flames. Another driver who saw the accident pulled over to rescue DiMeo.

Afterward, he spent months in a medically induced coma and underwent 20 reconstructive surgeries and multiple skin grafts to treat his extensive third-degree burns.

Once it became clear conventional surgeries could not help him regain full vision or use of his hands, DiMeo’s medical team began preparing for the risky transplant in early 2019.

“Within the world of transplantation, they’re probably the most unusual,” said Dr. David Klassen, UNOS chief medical officer.

Almost immediately, the NYU team encountered challenges including finding a donor.

Doctors estimated he only had a 6% chance of finding a match compatible with his immune system. They also wanted to find someone with the same gender, skin tone and hand dominance.

Then during the search for a donor, the pandemic hit and organ donations plummeted. During New York City’s surge, members of the transplant unit were reassigned to work in COVID-19 wards.

In early August, the team finally identified a donor in Delaware and completed the 23-hour procedure a few days later.

They amputated both of DiMeo’s hands, replacing them mid-forearm and connecting nerves, blood vessels and 21 tendons with hair-thin sutures. They also transplanted a full face, including the forehead, eyebrows, nose, eyelids, lips, both ears and underlying facial bones.

“The possibility of us being successful based on the track record looked slim,” said Dr. Eduardo Rodriguez, who led the medical team of more than 140 people. “It’s not that someone has done this many times before and we have a kind of a schedule, a recipe to follow.”

So far, DiMeo has not shown any signs of rejecting his new face or hands, said Rodriguez, who revealed details of the transplant Wednesday.

Since leaving the hospital in November, DiMeo has been in intensive rehabilitation, devoting hours daily to physical, occupational and speech therapy.

“Rehab was pretty intense,” DiMeo said, and involves a lot of “retraining yourself to do stuff on your own again.”

During a recent session, he practiced raising his eyebrows, opening and closing his eyes, puckering his mouth, giving a thumbs up and whistling. DiMeo can feel his new forehead and hands get cold, and often reaches up to push his long hair off of his face.

DiMeo, who lives with his parents, can now dress and feed himself. He shoots pool and plays with his dog Buster. Once an avid gym-goer, DiMeo is also working out again — benching 50 pounds and practicing his golf swing.

“You got a new chance at life. You really can’t give up," he said.

As with any transplant, the danger of rejection is highest early on, but lasts indefinitely. The medications he takes also leave him vulnerable, for the rest of his life, to infections.

“You’re never free from that risk,” Klassen said. “Transplantation for any patient is a process that plays out over a long period of time.”

Still, Rodriguez said he’s amazed to see that DiMeo has been able to master skills like zipping up his jacket and putting on his shoes.

“It’s very gratifying to all of us,” Rodriguez said. “There’s a tremendous sense of pride.”

___

Follow Marion Renault on Twitter: @MarionRenault

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Marion Renault And Marshall Ritzel, The Associated Press

PERMANENT ARMS WASTE ECONOMY

Canadian Royal Navy needs to prepare for tough talks over warship delays, cost increases: Norman


OTTAWA — Retired vice-admiral Mark Norman is warning the Royal Canadian Navy to start preparing for some hard discussions as delays and escalating costs continue to buffet the country’s $60-billion plan to build new warships over the coming decades.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Department of National Defence revealed this week that the first of 15 new warships being built to replace the Navy’s 12 frigates and three already-retired destroyers will be delivered in 2030 or 2031, years later than planned.

News of the schedule slip comes ahead of a highly anticipated update from the parliamentary budget officer on the cost of the overall project, though defence officials have maintained the $60-billion budget set in 2017 remains sufficient.

While the department’s assertions are encouraging, Norman told The Canadian Press on Tuesday that there is a direct correlation between delays and cost increases when it comes to military procurement projects.

And while Norman hopes it doesn’t reach that point, the former navy commander and vice-chief of the defence staff suggests officials should nonetheless start getting ready for pressure to scale back the number or quality of new ships.

“These are all conversations that I think legitimately, at some point, are going to have to happen,” Norman said. “To pretend that they're not going to happen is naive. This is all about tradeoffs at the end of the day.”

For his part, Norman is firmly in the camp that if the conversation comes down to significant cuts to the new warships’ capabilities or building fewer vessels to save billions of dollars, quality should trump quantity.

“There's only so much blood you can get from that rock or you end up producing something which isn't really a frontline warship anymore,” he said. "And ultimately, that's what this is all about.”

The new warships to be built in Halifax are based on the British-made Type-26 and are to be the backbone of the navy for decades. The project, which originally had a budget of $26 billion, is the largest military procurement in Canadian history.

The Type-26 will replace the navy’s existing fleet of 12 Halifax-class frigates as well as its three Iroquois-class destroyers, which were retired several years ago. Those two classes had different roles and abilities, which the Type-26 will be expected to adopt.

The decision to combine the two classes into one is part of why the current project is so complicated, said Norman. It is also why there is only so much flexibility when it comes to the systems and capabilities that are to be built into the Type-26.

The federal Liberal government has committed to building 15 new warships as part of its defence policy, which was unveiled in June 2017 and increased the project’s budget from $26 billion to $60 billion.

The ships are being ordered in batches and defence officials say they are still working on the exact numbers. Such an approach gives the government flexibility to cut back on the numbers later if it wants.

All eyes are currently on the upcoming report from the parliamentary budget officer, which is to be released later this month and provide an updated cost for the Type-26 along with estimates for purchasing two other warships.

The report could kickstart fresh debate around the Type-26 and Ottawa’s decision to build the ships in Canada, particularly given a French-Italian consortium’s assertion that it could build a new fleet faster and cheaper in Europe.

Norman, who is on record saying the navy needs at least 10 new warships but he hopes it gets all 15, said restarting the process or “throwing the whole thing out, the baby with the bathwater, is a very bad idea.”

At the same time, he warned that Canadians need to be careful when comparing the costs of different ships and proposals. To that end, he lamented that the government and military were not more forthcoming with information about the project.

This week’s revelation about the delay in delivery of the first Type-26 was the first real update from the Defence Department and government on the warship project in many months.

“To me that's partly what's missing in the public discourse around this, is the degree of information, explanation, context,” Norman said.

“We just seem to be presented with a series of facts or information presented as fact. And there doesn't seem to be a particularly sophisticated discussion ongoing about what that really means going forward.”

Irving Shipbuilding president Kevin McCoy defended the Type-26, saying the vessels will be much more capable than the class of frigates currently being built by the United States, which has a variety of warships in its fleet.

“We acknowledge that there are less expensive ships in the global market,” McCoy said in a statement, “but they do not meet Canada’s stringent combat requirements for a multi-mission ship to execute a full range of stressing missions and ensure the safety of the crew in a potential conflict.

“Any comparison of costs must be accompanied by a detailed and rigorous comparison of combat and mission capability. So far, this comparison has been missing from media articles on (the ship project).”

This report from The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2021.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

LONGEST RUNNING TV SHOW

Canadian production company Shaftesbury forms strategic partnership with AMC Networks

TORONTO — Canadian production company Shaftesbury of "Murdoch Mysteries" fame has formed a new strategic partnership with AMC Networks in the U.S., which it says might result in more of its shows winding up on American television.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

 MURDOCH HISTORICAL CANADIAN MYSTERIES HAS RUN 13 SEASONS!! IT HAS INCLUDED ONE EPISODE WITH EMMA GOLDMAN AND TORONTO ANARCHISTS.

The Toronto-based Shaftesbury — whose other series include "Departure," "Frankie Drake Mysteries" and "Hudson & Rex" — says AMC's investment will give the American entertainment company access to its slate.

Shaftesbury CEO and chairman Christina Jennings says the hope is that AMC buys more of its content for the U.S. market and provides intelligence about the type of content it's looking for, so the Toronto company can develop it.

The two companies have worked together before, with AMC Networks' Acorn TV streaming service picking up Shaftesbury titles including the hit detective series "Murdoch Mysteries."

Shaftesbury co-produced shows "Dead Still" and "The Sounds" also landed on Acorn, while Season 4 of the Canadian company's series "Slasher" is bound for the AMC-owned Shudder streamer.

Jennings says the two companies have a creatively-driven partnership, and AMC seemed the right fit when Shaftesbury was looking for a way to grow with a global company.

They're now co-developing some other shows they plan to announce in the next month or so.

"For Shaftesbury, going back 30 years, we've always been trying to find the largest global market for our shows, and I think we've done a pretty darn good job," Jennings said in an interview.

"But maybe with AMC, we might be able to get more of our shows on American television. So I think there is a big win for Shaftesbury in terms of having a strategic partner that is able to look at the content we make and say: 'That could be perfect for our channel,' or be able to give us a heads up: 'We're looking for a show like this, how can you help us?'"

AMC Networks also operates the entertainment brands AMC, SundanceTV, BBC America and the streaming services AMC+, Sundance Now and ALLBLK.

With the new partnership, Jennings will continue on in her role alongside executive vice-president, Scott Garvie.

Shaftesbury’s board of directors will now include them as well as Michael Levine and two AMC Networks directors.

Shaftesbury's focus will remain on Canada, Jennings said, noting the company's staff will remain here and may grow a little bit over the next couple of years. And the company will still air its shows on Canadian networks.

"I think that's one of the beauties of this, is that there really isn't competition between AMC and the Canadian broadcasters," Jennings said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2021.

Victoria Ahearn, The Canadi

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SMRA wants feds to back off Atlantic salmon


ST. MARY’S – With almost exquisite irony, the St. Mary’s River Association (SMRA) has joined other conservation groups in eastern Canada to oppose a federal effort that could formally list their cherished Atlantic salmon as a protected “species at risk.”

The move comes after a notification earlier this year from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), which stated it was “in the final stages of developing listing advice … under the Species at Risk Act (SARA)… for the Ministers of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard to support the Minister of Environment and Climate Change in making a recommendation to the Governor in Council on a listing decision.”

According to the memo on DFO stationery, signed by Julie Stewart, who is identified as Director, Species at Risk Program, the department “is projecting that a proposed listing decision could come forward in fall of 2021.”

The problem, said Deirdre Green, a SMRA board member, is that the listing designed to save the fish could actually hinder any efforts that are already underway to do so.

“We support any initiative that provides the best opportunity for Atlantic salmon to survive and thrive,” she said. “However, we are not convinced that listing Atlantic salmon under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) will accomplish this, or that it will aid our group in fulfilling the mandate to conserve, enhance and protect the St. Mary’s River ecosystem.”

She added: “When a species is listed under SARA, there is a general prohibition against harming and harassing that species. This has been known to impact critical research, recovery and restoration efforts.

“Conservation is a human activity and Atlantic salmon need people who care. Our group is concerned that our work and that of others will be negatively impacted. Indigenous communities, various NGOs and conservation-minded volunteers should not be alienated from the rivers and the aquatic species they care about, and a SARA listing could do just that.”

The SMRA is not alone. Both the Nova Scotia Salmon Association (NSSA) and The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) have expressed grave reservations about DFO’s decision.

“The listing of a species as either ‘Endangered’ or ‘Threatened’ (but not ‘Special Concern’) under SARA triggers legal prohibitions which would effectively end recreational salmon angling,” the NSSA recently posted to its website. “A well-managed catch-and-release salmon fishery fosters stronger public engagement in salmon conservation; provides important population data for stock assessment; and helps prevent poaching due to the presence of responsible anglers on the water. A SARA listing could also potentially curtail long-term research and habitat restoration efforts to which the NSSA and our local affiliates have devoted considerable resources.”

The ASF is even blunter.

“A SARA listing would close low-impact salmon fisheries on more than 130 rivers in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Cape Breton,” its website notes. “It would also extinguish the hope of reopening rivers in parts of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This is unnecessary [and] ill-timed.”

According to Green, a more sensible approach would be to “use the tools we have now and work collectively to develop a better path forward to ensure the survival and recovery of the Atlantic salmon.”

She points out, for example, that since 2014, the SMRA has spent approximately $3 million dollars on habitat restoration and liming in the St. Mary’s River and completed 600,000 square meters (about 20 linear kilometres) of in-stream structure work.

“This past fall, we spread approximately 850 tons of lime over 200 acres on one of the West Branch tributaries,” she said. “There are Atlantic Salmon returning to our river, spawning on restored sections of river and being observed frequently in the estuary, cold water holding pools throughout the east, west and main branches.”

A SARA listing does not compel DFO or other government agencies to do anything about the actual threats a species might face, such as resource extraction, agriculture and unregulated fishing.

“As such, it is our belief that there is no need for another legislative or regulatory tool at this juncture,” Green said. “DFO currently possesses the tools it needs to take the required actions on the rivers in question.”

Late last year, DFO announced a slew of investments designed to protect aquatic species at risk in Atlantic Canada, including a grant to the NSSA worth up to $3 million “to conduct conservation planning for priority watersheds within the Southern Uplands region of Nova Scotia.”

Alec Bruce, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Guysborough Journal