PM; NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER
Ethiopia parliament dissolves Tigray leadership

BBC• November 7, 2020

These Tigray special forces seized a national army base earlier this week

Ethiopia's parliament has voted to dissolve the government of the northern Tigray region, amid a dispute which has escalated into armed conflict.

In an emergency session, parliament declared the Tigray administration illegal and voted to replace it.

On Friday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said air strikes had been carried out on military targets in Tigray.

There are fears the conflict could lead to civil war, which could also destabilise neighbouring countries.

The leaders of Tigray dominated Ethiopia for many years until Mr Abiy came to power in 2018 on the back of anti-government protests and curbed their influence.

They say they have been unfairly targeted by purges and allegations of corruption, and say Mr Abiy is an illegitimate leader, because his mandate ran out when he postponed elections due to coronavirus.

The UN has called for a "de-escalation in the fighting".


Why there are fears of civil war in Ethiopia


Abiy Ahmed: The man changing Ethiopia


Bold reforms expose Ethiopia's ethnic divides

What did parliament say?

The House of Federation - one of Ethiopia's parliamentary chambers - said the Tigray leadership had "violated the constitution and endangered the constitutional system", according to the state-owned broadcaster EBC.

It said a new caretaker administration would hold elections and "implement decisions passed on by the federal government".

The simmering row boiled over in September after Tigray's ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), defied the nationwide ban on elections, and held a vote which was declared illegal by the central government.

Ethiopia to replace Tigray region leadership as forces clash


NAIROBI, Kenya — Ethiopia moved Saturday to replace the leadership of the country’s defiant northern Tigray region, where deadly clashes between regional and federal government forces are fueling fears the major African power is sliding into civil war. Tigray's leader told the African Union that the federal government was planning a “full-fledged military offensive.”

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Neither side appeared ready for the dialogue that experts say is needed to avert disaster in one of the world’s most strategic yet vulnerable regions, the Horn of Africa.

The upper house of parliament, the House of Federation, voted to set up an interim administration, giving Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the power to carry out measures against a Tigray leadership his government regards as illegal. They include appointing officials and facilitating elections.

The prime minister, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, asserted that “criminal elements cannot escape the rule of law under the guise of seeking reconciliation and a call for dialogue.”

Experts and diplomats are watching in dismay as the two heavily armed forces clash. Observers warn that a civil war in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country with 110 million people, could suck in or destabilize neighbours such as Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia.

“It’s a very, very bad situation,” Audrey Van der Schoot, head of mission for aid group Doctors Without Borders in Ethiopia, told The Associated Press. Heavy shelling resumed Saturday morning, for the first time since Wednesday, near the group's outpost in the Amhara region by the Tigray border. It was so close, Van der Schoot could hear it over the phone.

The clinic has seen six dead so far and some 60 wounded, all combatants from Tigray and Amhara, she said, adding that shelling came from both sides.

A statement posted Saturday on the Facebook page of the Tigray government, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, asserted that it will win the “justified” war, adding that “a fighter will not negotiate with its enemies.”

In a letter to the AU chairman, South Africa's president, Tigray leader Debretsion Gebremichael alleged that Ethiopia's federal government and neighbouring Eritrea have mobilized their forces near the Tigray border “with the intention of launching a full-fledged military offensive.”

The letter dated Friday, seen by The Associated Press, called Abiy's behaviour “unconstitutional, dictatorial and treasonous.” It said the African Union was well-placed to bring parties to dialogue to “avert an all-out civil war.”

The conflict is playing out between former allies in Ethiopia's ruling coalition who now regard each other as illegal. The TPLF long dominated the country's military and government before Abiy took office in 2018 and introduced sweeping political reforms that won him the Nobel. The changes left the TPLF feeling marginalized, and it broke away last year when Abiy sought to turn the coalition into a single Prosperity Party.

Clashes began early Wednesday when Abiy accused the TPLF forces of attacking a military base in Tigray. In a major escalation Friday, Abiy asserted that airstrikes in multiple locations around the Tigray capital “completely destroyed rockets and other heavy weapons."

The military operations will continue, the prime minister said, and he warned the Tigray population: ”In order to avoid unexpected peril, I advise that you limit group movements in cities.”

Tigray is preparing for a “major offensive to come tomorrow or the day after from the federal government,” Kjetil Tronvoll, a professor at Bjorknes University College in Norway and a longtime Ethiopia watcher, told the AP. “That's my estimate. Abiy has promised a quick delivery of victory, so he has to move fast.”

Ethiopia's decision to replace the Tigray leadership leaves the region with essentially two options, he said: pursuing a “full-out war” with the aim of toppling Abiy's government or declaring independence.

Encircled, the TPLF can't afford a drawn-out conflict and might fight its way to the capital, Addis Ababa, or toward the Red Sea for an outlet, Tronvoll said.

He described one published estimate of Tigray having nearly a quarter-million various armed forces a “serious underestimate” and said they outnumber the federal army “by at least two or three multiples." Addis Ababa has called for reinforcements from other regional forces, he said.

Communications remain almost completely severed with Tigray, making it difficult to verify the rivals' assertions and leading aid groups and human rights groups to warn of a brewing humanitarian disaster.

A new United Nations assessment lists eight “recent military confrontations” across Tigray, most near its southern border with the Amhara region. The blockage of air and road networks significantly affects aid to more than a half-million people, the assessment said, and an escalation of fighting could “seriously increase” that number and send millions fleeing.

What’s more, “there is a concern that the vacuum left by security forces re-deployed from other critical areas may incite more ethnic violence including attacks on ethnic minorities” in other parts of Ethiopia, the U.N. report said.

Dino Mahtani with the International Crisis Group, in comments posted Friday, said that if the Tigray forces come under pressure they may "punch into Eritrea, which would then internationalize this conflict." The TPLF and Eritrea have a bitter history of a long border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea before the countries made peace in 2018.

The TPLF's only other real avenue out of Ethiopia is Sudan, which finds itself “in a very delicate position,” Mahtani said.

Sudan's eastern al-Qadarif province has closed its border with Ethiopia’s Tigray and Amhara regions, the Sudan News Agency reported Saturday.

The Tigray drama dominates conversation in Ethiopia, and many people commenting on social media appear to support the government’s move to get rid of the region's leadership. Some cite abuses by the TPLF while it was in power for well over two decades, or echo the federal government's accusation that it incited recent violence across the country.

Those sympathetic to the TPLF are mostly silenced due to the communications blackout in Tigray, but those able to comment describe the federal government's actions as an aggression that will lead to further escalation of the conflict.

___

Elias Meseret in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed.

Cara Anna, The Associated Press

Military conflict may not be over quickly

By Kalkidan Yibeltal, BBC News, Addis Ababa

Parliament's move signals that the crisis is deepening even though international calls for restraint and de-escalation are increasing.

In a tweet on Saturday, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the military operation he ordered in the state "aims to end the impunity that has prevailed for far too long" and "to hold accountable individuals and groups under the laws of the land".

For its part, the TPLF, in a statement posted on Facebook, said that "through their capacity and in the just war they are engaged in, the Tigray people will win".

Such statements suggest solving the crisis without further military confrontation is increasingly becoming unlikely.

Both the TPLF and the federal government say they will win the conflict in a short period of time but that might not happen.

Prime Minister Abiy has said that there were airstrikes on Friday to destroy missiles, radar equipment and rockets, and that these will continue. The TPLF respond that they have modern weapons.

So, it appears that the conflict is intensifying and it's possible that it might spill over to other parts of the country - and the region.
What's the latest on the fighting?

It's hard to get much detail because the internet and phone lines to Tigray have been cut and the national government is not saying much.

But there are reports that the fighting is spreading along Tigray's border with the Amhara region, which is backing the federal government. There have also been reports of clashes near the border with Eritrea and Sudan, which has partially closed its frontier with Ethiopia.


While Mr Abiy said various military targets had been destroyed, officials in Tigray have denied to the BBC that an air attack took place on Friday.

In a statement earlier on Friday, Mr Abiy, who won the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize for helping to end a long-standing conflict with Eritrea, insisted that the military operation in Tigray had "clear, limited and achievable objectives".

He previously declared a six-month state of emergency in the region and gave a new military taskforce the powers to "restore law and order".

Tigrayan leader Debretsion Gebremichael previously accused Mr Abiy's administration of plotting to invade the state.
What's this all about?

Tension has been mounting for some time as relations between the TPLF and the federal government have deteriorated.

Abiy Ahmed gave a speech to the nation to announce the start of military operations

Although Tigray represents just 6% of Ethiopia's population of more than 100 million, the TPLF used to be the dominant force in Ethiopia's ruling coalition but its power has waned since Mr Abiy became prime minister.

Last year, he dissolved the ruling coalition, made up of several ethnically-based regional parties, and merged them into a single, national party, the Prosperity Party, which the TPLF refused to join.

A statement from the prime minister's office on Friday said that some members of the TPLF were "fugitives from justice" and suggested they opposed Mr Abiy's attempts to reform the way Ethiopia was run.

This week, after TPLF leaders accused the government of preparing to invade, they seized a federal army base in Tigray's capital, Mekelle, prompting Mr Abiy to mobilise the army.

Nations long targeted by US chide Trump’s claims of fraud

BOGOTA — Demands to stop the vote count. Baseless accusations of fraud. Claims that the opposition is trying to “steal” the election.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Kenyan cartoonist Patrick Gathara tweeted that Trump “has barricaded himself inside the presidential palace vowing not to leave unless he is declared the winner,” 

Across the world, many were scratching their heads Friday — especially in countries that have long been advised by Washington on how to run elections — wondering if those assertions could truly be coming from the president of the United States, the nation considered one of the world’s most emblematic democracies.

“Who’s the banana republic now?” Colombian daily newspaper Publimetro chided on the front page with a photo of a man in a U.S. flag print mask.

The irony of seeing U.S. President Donald Trump cut off by major media networks Thursday as he launched unsubstantiated claims lambasting the U.S. electoral system was not lost on many. The U.S. has long been a vocal critic of strongman tactics around the world. Now, some of those same targets are turning around the finger.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro laughed as the vote dragged on past Tuesday, briefly breaking into the hymn of his nation’s annual beauty contest on state TV, singing, “On a night like to night, any of them could win.”

In Africa — long the target of U.S. election guidance — one Kenyan commentator spun out satiric tweets, drawing freely from clichés that long have described troubled elections and questioning the strength of democracy in the U.S.

Kenyan cartoonist Patrick Gathara tweeted that Trump “has barricaded himself inside the presidential palace vowing not to leave unless he is declared the winner,” with a mediator “currently trying to coax him out with promises of fast food.”

Along with the mockery comes dismay. Many people in Africa see the U.S. as a bellwether for democracy and, after troubled votes in Tanzania and Ivory Coast in recent days, they looked to what Washington might say.

“We are asking ourselves, why is the U.S. democratic process appearing so fragile when it is meant to be held up to us in the rest of the world as a beacon of perfect democracy?” said Samir Kiango, a Tanzanian out in his country’s commercial capital Friday.

For decades, the U.S. has been an advocate for democracy abroad, using diplomatic pressure and even direct military intervention in the name of spreading the principles of a pluralistic system with a free and fair vote for political leaders. These tactics have generated both allies and enemies, and this year’s presidential vote perhaps more than any other is testing the strength of the values it promotes around the world.

And the world is paying close attention.

Few places on Earth have been on the receiving end of U.S. election advice as the African continent, where the U.S. has encouraged nations to have independent electoral commissions, a uniform voters’ roll and other standards aimed at ensuring an equitable vote.

“The U.S. electoral system has none of these. Not a single one,” Sithembile Mbete, a commentator and senior lecturer on political science at the University of Pretoria, said at an online event last month.

“Some African elections are actually better-run,” added Nic Cheeseman, professor and author of a book on democracy in Africa.

Denis Kadima, executive director of the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, said he sees Trump’s approach to democracy as an exception, but “we should not use that as a way of allowing our own governments to do bad things.”

In Mexico, some commentators called on the media to follow the lead of U.S. colleagues in cutting off transmissions when their own country’s president begins spreading falsehoods.

Yet there also was concern that a region where many democracies are still on fragile ground — or in the throes of outright autocratic rule — that Trump’s behaviour could set a bad precedent.

“If we resort to violence or loud demonstrations or political leaders trying to do their best to skew the results before it’s finalized, that will provide a different example for countries in Latin America,” said Eric Farnsworth, vice-president of the Council of the Americas, a New York-based organization promoting business in the region.

Still, despite all the ruckus in the U.S., many said they see it as a blip, unlikely to damage the country’s reputation as a champion of democracy.

Kadima, in the Ivory Coast, said he sees Washington as retaining its ideals, though he admitted confusion over the persistence of the electoral college system.

“I’m not very impressed by the college system, which I don’t find terribly democratic,” he said.

His colleague, Grant Masterson, noted that the U.S. election system has “50 different ways in 50 different states,” something he said works for the American people but “certainly not the system that other countries are charging toward to embrace.”

What he finds “fantastic for American democracy,” however, is the ritual of the concession speech after a bitterly fought vote, signalling that it’s time to “take off your partisan hats and put on your national hat” and move on.

“That’s really been an exceptionally good example for the rest of the world to emulate,” he said — though he has doubts about such a speech this time.

As restless Americans awaited voting results from the few remaining states not yet colored red or blue, millions across the world joined them. And however it turns out, many hoped that ultimately America’s humbled democracy comes out stronger.

Gathara, the Kenyan cartoonist and commentator, said he is optimistic there will be a more honest discussion about democracy as a result.

“I really don’t know how it ends,” he said of his running commentary. “We’re all trying to figure this democratic thing out.”

___

Associated Press writers Jorge Rueda in Caracas, Venezuela, and David Biller in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, contributed to this report.

Christine Armario And Cara Anna, The Associated Press

Puerto Rico votes in favor of statehood. But what does it mean for the island?

As Puerto Ricans voted on Tuesday for their local leaders, there was another decision they had to make: Whether or not the island nation should be admitted as the newest U.S. state.

© Joe Raedle/Getty Images, FILE

 In this June 30, 2015, file photo, an American flag and Puerto Rican flag fly next to each other in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The non-binding referendum was not expected to change Puerto Rico's status anytime soon but was still seen as a barometer of Puerto Ricans' appetite for statehood.

At Tuesday’s plebiscite, residents narrowly favored statehood with 52% of the vote while about 47% of voters were against it, according to the election commission's website.

This was actually the sixth time Puerto Ricans had a choice to make on statehood.

In past plebiscites, independence and Commonwealth have been included as options for Puerto Rican voters to choose.

Puerto Rico has been a U.S. territory since 1898. In 1952, the island's governor at the time, Luis Muñoz Marín, proclaimed the establishment of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico with the idea that the island would have a relationship with the U.S., while still having some independence.

For years, groups in favor of breaking the relationship with the U.S. have tried to push for Puerto Rico to become independent and self-sufficient without success.

Puerto Rico has been unincorporated territory since then, something that will likely not change, experts say.

“It is unlikely that the question of Puerto Rico as a state will be taken up by the Congress,” says political scientist and researcher Carlos Vargas Rsamos.

Although the U.S. mainland still sees Puerto Rico as a commonwealth, many Puerto Ricans, including the island's Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González, a Republican, say the island is constantly treated as a colony.

"Sometimes it's a little bit ironic that the beacon of democracy in the world, which is the United States, is fighting for equality and fighting for democracy and yet you get it in your own backyard -- the oldest colony, with more than 120 years without allowing Puerto Ricans to vote for president, to vote in Congress or to even have federal laws apply equally to American citizens on the island," said González, who was reelected as commissioner last Tuesday.

The resident commissioner is Puerto Rico's sole representative in Congress, but does not have a vote.

In the 2012 and 2017 referendums, statehood prevailed. But the legitimacy of the results were questioned due to the confusing configuration of the status question and voter turnout.

The Republican commissioner said she is ready to take this year's referendum results to Congress.

"We're gonna push for this now, but we're gonna push for this in January, as well. ... It doesn't matter who is the president-elect," Gonzalez told ABC News on Wednesday. "We're gonna move with Republicans and Democrats as well, because it's a bipartisan issue in law."

The commissioner, who actively supported Donald Trump for reelection, recently reacted on Twitter to Joe Biden's victory as President Elect of the United States saying that she is ready to work with him and "find common goals & reach bipartisan solutions" for Puerto Rico.

Although González said she is ready to start working with Congress to push statehood forward, Ramos Vargas is sure Congress will not act on this referendum.

"Congress is just looking for any pretext not to have to take up the question of the status for Puerto Rico," said political scientist and researcher Carlos Vargas Rsamos.

Aside from being a nonbinding referendum, Ramos said voter turnout in this referendum could still be an issue for Congress.

As of September 2020, there were around 2.3 million eligible voters on the island, according to the election commission's website. From those eligible voters, nearly 1.2 million people answered the statehood plebiscite.

"It's gonna be difficult for advocates of statehood to argue that this is a clear mandate to push for statehood, particularly when you have a Congress that is reluctant to take up the question," added Vargas Ramos.

Democratic New York Reps. Nydia Velázquez and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez recently raised the issue of Puerto Rican statehood in Congress. In August 2020, the Puerto Rico Self-Determination Act 2020 was introduced in the House of Representatives.

This bill would allow Puerto Ricans to "exercise their natural right to self-determination" through a status convention created by the island's legislature and with delegates chosen by residents.

Some Puerto Ricans believe that becoming a state should be the No. 1 priority on island politicians' agenda. But it's still an open debate as Puerto Rico grapples with several internal issues: the recovery from Hurricane Maria, devastating earthquakes on the island's southern coast and the coronavirus pandemic.

"We have to solve our internal issues first," said 26-year-old voter Natasha Doble, who was driven to the polls not for the referendum, but looking for a change at a local level. "This referendum is not valid. ... It doesn't matter if we vote it's not going to be taken into consideration."

While the final decision of adding Puerto Rico as a state resides in Congress, Ramos Vargas said that until there is clear proof that a vast majority supports statehood it is unlikely there will be a change.

"Because there hasn't been a conclusive plebiscite in Puerto Rico, that indicates convincingly that Puerto Ricans favor one option over another, the Congress of the United States can continue kicking the can down the road," Vargas Ramos said.

Pedro Pierluisi wins gubernatorial race in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Pedro Pierluisi of Puerto Rico’s 

pro-statehood New Progressive Party won a majority of votes to become the U.S. territory’s next governor, according to official preliminary results released late Saturday.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Pierluisi received nearly 33% of votes compared with nearly 32% obtained by Carlos Delgado of the Popular Democratic Party, which supports the current territorial status, with 100% of precincts reporting.

The results come four days after Puerto Rico held general elections, an unusual delay blamed on a record number of early and absentee votes that overwhelmed officials. It's also the first time that Puerto Rico's two main parties fail to reach 40% of votes.

“These are times to unite wills and purposes,” Pierluisi said in a statement.

Pierluisi had claimed victory the night of the election as Delgado refused to concede, noting that his opponent was leading by a very slim margin and that thousands of votes still had not been counted.

On Saturday, he congratulated Pierluisi: “The island needs consensus, dialogue and convergence so that we can face the great challenges of the future.”

Saturday's results were released hours after U.S. President-elect Joe Biden won the election in the U.S. mainland, a victory that Pierluisi said would help Puerto Rico finally gain statehood. He congratulated Biden and said he looked forward to working with him and Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris “for the benefit of all Puerto Ricans in their fight for progress and equality.”

Voters in Puerto Rico participated in a non-binding referendum the day of the local general election that asked, “Should Puerto Rico be admitted immediately into the union as a state?” More than 52% of voters approved, but any changes to the island’s political status needs approval from U.S. Congress. It is the island's sixth such referendum.

Biden has promised to work with local government officials who support a variety of political status for Puerto Rico to “initiate a just and binding process” for the island to determine its own status.

Biden also promised to fight against austerity measures sought by a federal control board overseeing Puerto Rico’s finances amid an economic crisis; accelerate the disbursement of federal funds for hurricane and earthquake reconstruction; and push for equal funding of Medicaid, Medicare and Supplemental Security Income, since Puerto Rico receives less than U.S. states.

Other results released late Saturday included those of a tight race for the mayor of Puerto Rico's capital. New Progressive Miguel Romero received more than 36% of votes, compared with more than 34% obtained by third-party candidate Manuel Natal of the Citizen Victory Movement. Natal rejected the results and said not all votes have been counted.

DáNica Coto, The Associated Press

Protect BAME people hit financially by Covid, says UK thinktank

Haroon Siddique 

A leading race equality thinktank has called on the government to do more to protect black, Asian and ethnic minority communities, after a poll added to the growing well of data suggesting their finances have suffered more than those of white Britons due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The poll from YouGov found that BAME people are about a third more likely than the white British population to say that their finances have suffered as a result of Covid.

BAME respondents to the survey were more likely than white people to say they had been negatively affected with respect to every financial metric they were asked about. While 45% of people from BAME communities said their personal finances had suffered as a result of the pandemic, the figure among white respondents was 34%.

© Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

 The YouGov poll found that BAME respondents were more likely than white people to say they had been negatively affected in every financial metric they were asked about.

BAME people were also more likely to be worried about their job security (54% against 47%) and prospects for career progression (56% against 45%).

Alba Kapoor, policy Officer for the Runnymede Trust, said: “This data is yet more evidence that black, Asian and ethnic minority communities are being left defenceless whilst bearing the brunt of Covid-19.

“We already know that black, Asian and ethnic minority people are more likely to work in low-paid, precarious jobs and to live in poverty. It is extremely alarming to see how the pandemic is worsening these pre-existing inequalities.

“The government can’t turn a blind eye on this any longer. We urgently need more to protect black, Asian and ethnic minority communities, who face profound financial uncertainty during this time.”

The poll of 2,665 people (including 519 BAME) adds to a substantial body of evidence that people from ethnic minorities are being hit disproportionately hard economically by the pandemic. Several studies have shown different ethnicities to be more at risk of contracting and dying from coronavirus than the white British population. An Office for National Statistics analysis published last month linked the greater risk of death to socioeconomic factors, including occupations.

Kapoor added: “The Runnymede Trust is clear that immediate action must be taken to strengthen the social security safety net and increase statutory sickness pay, as well as to address the underlying economic injustices in our society.”

Analysis by the Guardian has previously found that BAME workers are overrepresented in the sectors hit worst by the economic crisis caused by Covid. Research by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at the University of Essex, published in June, showed that ethnic minority workers who had seen a drop in their hours during the pandemic were more likely than their white counterparts to have lost their jobs as opposed to being furloughed.

The YouGov poll showed people from BAME backgrounds were more likely to be concerned about being able to cope with unexpected expenses such as the boiler breaking down (43% to 34%), affording rent and mortgage payments (29% to 17%), finding the money for council tax (29% against 17%) and bills (28% against 19%).

Additionally, 28% of people from BAME communities feared not being able to afford food and clothes, compared with 21% of white people.

Matt Palframan, director of financial services research at YouGov said: “While the pandemic has created uncertainty for so many, our data suggests that there are some groups who are feeling the impact more than others.”

A Treasury spokesperson said: “We’re doing everything we can to ensure our coronavirus support reaches those who need it the most, across all backgrounds.

“We have extended our financial support across the UK to help millions of people continue to provide for their families, and to provide certainty and stability to businesses through the winter.”

Thai police use water cannon to stop pro-democracy march to palace

AFP 

Thai police on Sunday fired water cannon on pro-democracy protesters who were trying to march to the royal palace to deliver letters demanding reform to the unassailable monarchy.

© Mladen ANTONOV Sunday's confrontation was the second time Thai police have used water cannon against protesters

Student-led rallies have rocked the kingdom since July, with protesters calling for the removal of Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha -- a former army chief who came into power through a 2014 coup -- and a rewrite to the military-scripted constitution.

© Jack TAYLOR Pro-democracy protests have rocked Thailand since July

The boldest in the leaderless movement have also demanded reforms to the monarchy -- a once-taboo issue -- sending shockwaves through Thailand's arch-royalist establishment.

On Sunday, nearly 7,000 protesters -- a police estimate -- attempted to march from Bangkok's historic Democracy Monument to the Grand Palace to deliver letters to King Maha Vajiralongkorn, with security forces calling for them to stop.

As the marchers got closer, police briefly fired water cannon at them. The protesters reacted angrily, shouting: "Why did you use the water cannons against us?"

Authorities had warned earlier in the day that protesters were banned from breaching a 150-metre radius around the palace, and some 9,000 officials were deployed.

Police defended their brief use of water cannon late Sunday night, saying it was just "a warning".

"Authorities had no intention to cause any harm," deputy police spokesman Colonel Kissana Phathanacharoen said in a press briefing, adding that only "clean water" was used.

Sunday's confrontation was the second time police have deployed water cannon against protesters.

Last month, a peaceful rally in downtown Bangkok saw protesters blasted with chemical-laced liquid as police bore down -- images that shocked many in Thailand.

Since then, demonstrators have appeared prepared for any retaliation from authorities, bringing along umbrellas, goggles, and even hard hats.

The movement has also borrowed tactics from Hong Kong's pro-democracy protesters, who shared tips on Twitter using trending hashtags on how to react to police crackdowns.

The youth-led movement's direct challenge to the monarchy is unprecedented in Thailand, where King Maha Vajiralongkorn sits at the apex of power supported by a coup-happy military and its billionaire clans.

Among the students' demands are the abolition of a royal defamation law -- which shields the monarch from criticism -- a clear accounting of the palace's finances, and for the king to "stay out" of Thailand's turbulent politics.

The king last week addressed a reporter's question on the non-stop protests across the capital, declaring "love" for all Thais and saying that "Thailand is the land of compromise".

But a protest leader Sunday said the use of water cannon on marchers was not acceptable.

"We came to submit our letters," Jutatip Sirikhan told reporters after the confrontation.

"No matter what, we will not step back," she said as protesters chanted "slaves to dictatorship" at security forces who watched on.

Organisers had brought along crimson-coloured homemade mailboxes -- with the words "Royal Household Bureau" emblazoned across them -- for protesters to submit their letters to the king.

Police allowed them to leave the mailboxes outside the Supreme Court, and most protesters dispersed around 9 pm (1400 GMT).

Before the march to the palace, the rally at the Democracy Monument was peaceful with protesters chanting "Prayut, get out" and holding up a three-finger salute -- a symbol of the movement.

They also threw flowers into a makeshift cardboard coffin carrying a life-sized mannequin with Prayut's face. Some scrawled messages on it, including "go to hell".

Earlier Sunday, prominent pro-democracy figures called on the king to listen to the protesters.

"We hope you will change your behaviour once and for all and become a King of all people," wrote lawyer Anon Numpa, one of the most recognisable faces in the movement.

"I hope Your Majesty will open your mind and reach out to dialogue with us to solve the crises together."

The unprecedented demands to Thailand's ultra-wealthy monarch have infuriated pro-royalist groups, and they have retaliated with counter-rallies.

On Sunday, a smaller group of the king's supporters came out to the Democracy Monument holding portraits of King Vajiralongkorn, but they left after they were outnumbered by the protesters.

bur-dhc/qan

EASTERN EUROPE
Georgian police fire water cannon at protesters who claim polls were rigged

By Margarita Antidze 

© Reuters/IRAKLI GEDENIDZE 

Opposition supporters protest against results of a parliamentary election

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian police fired water cannon and tear gas against hundreds of protesters outside the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Sunday to support a call by opposition parties for a rerun of Oct. 31 parliamentary elections which they say were rigged.

© Reuters/IRAKLI GEDENIDZE 

Opposition supporters protest against results of a parliamentary election

Small groups of protesters started throwing stones at the police. The demonstrators had moved to the CEC building from the capital's main Rustaveli avenue, where thousands of people held a peaceful rally.

Police said that protesters tried to storm the CEC building.

"As the protesters used violent methods and did not obey the instructions of the police, the Interior Ministry used proportional force within its powers," the ministry said in a statement.

The opposition is demanding the resignation of the CEC chief, Tamar Zhvania, and the calling of fresh elections.

According to official results, the ruling Georgian Dream party won 48.23% of the vote, with the largest opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), taking 27.18%.

After the result gave the ruling party the right to form a government, eight opposition parties, including the UNM, said they would boycott parliament.

The opposition accuses the ruling party and its supporters of vote buying, making threats against voters and observers and of violations during the counting process. Georgian Dream leaders have denied the accusations.

Protesters moved to the CEC building after the 8 p.m. deadline to dismiss the electoral commission head and to start talks on a fresh vote passed without a response from the government.

The economy of the South Caucasus country has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak. The government said on Saturday it would impose an overnight curfew from Monday between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in the largest cities due to a sharp rise in cases since early September.

(Reporting by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Mike Harrison and Nick Macfie)

QAnon proves internet companies aren't up to the task of defending democracy

As the electoral drama unfolded on the evening of November 3, the nation held its breath. Civil society groups prepared for turmoil, journalists for rapid response and tech companies to stem the spread of disinformation.

© Getty Images QAnon proves internet companies aren't up to the task of defending democracy

Brian Friedberg, opinion contributor 

In the early hours of the morning, the networked factions that back President Donald Trump - disparate groups united by their support of the president - applauded his premature declaration of victory. Some turned to conspiracy theorists, operating in hives online, to make sense of the unfolding turmoil. Then they amplified the misinformation created in these spaces.

One group associated with such conspiracy theories is QAnon, which has contributed to the spread of misinformation in the 2020 election. The QAnon movement is centered around an individual (or group), referred to as Q, who claims to be part of a secret U.S. intelligence operation, disseminating esoteric propaganda to encourage support for Trump's imaginary crusade against forces of the so-called "deep state." It originated from the 4chan, migrated to 8chan, then found a home on 8kun, which are message boards designed to share memes and anime - not foster extremism. But their characteristics made them attractive homes for groups ranging from the hacktivist Anonymous collective, the reactionary Gamergate movement to white supremacist terror. They also have been a home for anti-democratic speech and celebrating political violence.

The growth of the QAnon conspiracy is the work of media manipulation by a small group of motivated actors, who move the storyline along across networked platforms. Like networked social movements that have used the internet as an advocacy platform, QAnon followers have managed to create a resilient cross-platform ecosystem of content and influencers that has shuttled misinformation across its various hubs for the last three years. Eventually Trump, who QAnon followers largely support, acknowledged and tacitly defended the conspiracy. As 2020 has shown us, political representation is on the horizon - several Q candidates were on ballots across the country, including Marjorie Greene, who won a seat in the House, and Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), who is facing a runoff election to retain her seat in the U.S. Senate.

In 2020, the limited data we have from polling and critical reporting suggests millions are now aware of and may be on board with this movement. QAnon has become a fully networked conspiracy complex with numerous entry points for new followers, such as breaking news events, celebrity gossip and political intrigue. The movement uses pseudonymity to avoid attribution on social media, distributed amplification to quickly spread disinformation and fostered by fringe "alt tech" platforms like 8kun and Gab. Sheltered by these platforms known to harbor extremist groups, QAnon punches well above its weight, affecting our media, democratic institutions and public health.

While QAnon is not the alt-right, both movements grew in the same places. QAnon first came to popular attention when its supporters became visible at Trump rallies, and it spread globally during COVID-19 lockdowns. Steeped in ancient antisemitic tropes, QAnon members engage in misguided research, networked harassment of politicians and blind support for Trump. They are not the originators of these conspiracy theories, but the amplifiers often look to Trump himself for tacit recognition, and they rely on social media to grow their ranks.

Social institutions around the world are struggling with anti-democratic movements weaponizing social media. A few people can rapidly deploy disinformation across networks to deadly results QAnon was initially spread by three conspiracy influencers before it was taken up on large platforms. This network of influence is much like fandoms, and mimics the form of activist groups. We see how these methods were used to deadly effect by white nationalists.

After Charlottesville in 2017, platforms finally removed many of the extremists who used their systems to organize the deadly Unite the Right Rally. QAnon, unlike the alt-right before it, is not focused on ethnonationalism, but rather the acceleration of civic decay in the form of political and medical disinformation, including vaccine hesitancy. While the vast majority of QAnon influencers and believers do not advocate violence, some have taken matters into their own hands.

Just as QAnon co-opted the fight against human trafficking with the #savethechildren hashtag, the movement isn't bound to the 2020 elections. On their dock now is Agenda 21, the belief global leaders are plotting a depopulation genocide to favor elites.

How are platforms responsible

The manipulation of social media by unknown actors fundamentally disrupts democratic communication. This lack of identity leads to lack of attribution, leaving our political communication in the so-called "new public square" of social media vulnerable to both domestic and foreign interference. As power and wealth is consolidated around these platforms, they show us time and time again they are unable to successfully mitigate these campaigns. Now, as we see the impact on electoral politics, we must consider the true cost of disinformation and brace for its continual impact on our democractic institutions long past the elections. Internal leaks from facebook suggest the movement was allowed to grow, unfettered, for far too long despite internal concern.

What can be done

In the chaos that exists between breaking news and verified information, disinformation thrives. Most recently, two individuals associated with the QAnon movement were arrested in Philadelphia for an alleged plot to attack the site of ballot counting. As liberals call for regulation, and conservatives rally around the abolition of Section 230, which governs liability on platforms, we cannot lose sight of what is at stake. Coalitions, like Change the Terms, have long worked to hold platforms accountable by creating model policies on hate speech. While debates about content moderation are about QAnon and Trump right now, it will not always be. The enduring influence of QAnon on political communication is a symptom of how social media platforms remain unable to adapt to evolving use cases, and the only way to counter it is to recalibrate how platforms moderate content, especially conspiracy and medical misinformation.

Brian Friedberg is a senior researcher of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Merging academic methods and Open Source Intelligence techniques, he is an investigative ethnographer, focusing on the impacts alternative media, anonymous communities and unpopular cultures have on political communication and organization.

Arkansas police chief called for violence against Democrats

By Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken

An Arkansas police chief who posted calls for violence against Democrats on social media resigned from his job on Saturday

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© Parler 02 parler free speech app foreman pkg 07022020

Lang Holland, who was police chief of the roughly 1,300-person city of Marshall, Arkansas, drew outrage from both local residents and people around the country after making ominous comments online in recent days. In addition to repeatedly saying Democrats should be killed, he shared memes from conspiracy theory QAnon and claimed that the election was being stolen.

"Death to all Marxist Democrats," Holland posted on Parler, a new social media site popular with conservatives and used as an alternative to Twitter. "Take no prisoners leave no survivors!!"

One image he shared depicted a group of Democrats, including Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, wearing prison jumpsuits. Under the image he wrote: "I pray all those in that picture hang on the gallows and are drawn and quartered!!!! Anything less is not acceptable."

CNN could not reach Holland for comment. His Parler account was made private on Saturday.

Marshall Mayor Kevin Elliott issued a statement Saturday stating Holland had resigned from his position, effective immediately.

"The City of Marshall strongly condemns the actions of Mr. Holland in his posts to social media," Elliot wrote in the statement. "The Marshall community does not in any way support or condone bullying or threats of violence to anyone of any political persuasion...the Marshall Police force is here to serve and protect EVERYONE."

Elliott said he called a meeting with Holland on Saturday after his phone continued to ring off the hook with calls from people who had seen the chief's posts on Parler -- posts that were also spread across Twitter and Reddit.

The mayor said he was surprised and disturbed to find out about the posts. He described Holland as a "hero" who had served multiple tours overseas and said he "is very, very United States." But he said Holland's social media posts were out of line.

"It's not acceptable for the City of Marshall," he said. "We don't care if you're Republican or Democrat. You're a voice and you have a right."

Holland made national news earlier this year when he publicly refused to enforce the state's Covid-19 mask mandate.

B.C. must look to Oregon on recreational drug decriminalization, legalization of mushrooms: UBC expert

Srushti Gangdev

A UBC expert on drug policy says B.C. should carefully observe what happens in states south of the border that have just decriminalized some or all hard drugs — and see how those policies could hypothetically be applied here.

© (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File) FILE - 

In this May 24, 2019, file photo a vendor bags psilocybin mushrooms at a pop-up cannabis market in Los Angeles. Oregonians voted Tuesday to legalize the psilocybin for therapeutic use, at regulated treatment centres.

People caught with small amounts of heroin, cocaine, LSD and other drugs will have the option of paying US$100 fines or attending a free addiction recovery centre instead of facing arrest and the possibility of time in prison after Oregonians voted to pass Measure 110 on Tuesday.

“Punishing people for drug use and addiction is costly and hasn’t worked. More drug treatment, not punishment, is a better approach,” reads a statement previously issued by the Oregon Nurses Association, the Oregon chapter of the American College of Physicians and the Oregon Academy of Family Physicians.

B.C. premier calls on federal government for decriminalization of drug possession

Mark Haden, adjunct professor at the UBC School of Population and Public Health, agrees wholeheartedly.

"The drug war needs to come to an end. We need to have a health approach to drugs, not a criminal justice approach," he told Global News.

"And so the more examples that we can see around the United States and Canada of how drugs could be regulated in a way that's helpful to us, the better it is."

Haden said criminalizing people who use drugs has the effect of disproportionately incarcerating people of colour. It also, he said, means governments have to foot the bill for that, and can't collect taxes on the revenue of drug sales as they would be able to if they were regulated.

"Slowly the drug war rhetoric is crumbling under the sheer weight of its own ineffectiveness and harm that it does to all of our society," he said.

Read more: Oregon to become first state to decriminalize hard drugs, other states adopt recreational pot

Oregon also voted Tuesday on Measure 109, which legalizes the psychotherapeutic use of psilocybin — otherwise known as psychedelic mushrooms.

Haden called that decision for state health authorities to therapeutically provide the drug to patients at regulated treatment facilities very exciting and said it's something we should watch very carefully here at home.

"How would it be — if our health authorities started to take psychedelic healing seriously — how would they actually integrate that into their services?"

Haden said the legalization in Oregon will make it much easier for observational research on what patients taking psilocybin would actually experience.

"Normally with research, you have to give somebody a medicine, and then you have to go through a huge number of regulatory hurdles in order to do that, and it can actually cost millions," Haden said.

Read more: B.C.’s top doctor urges province to decriminalize possession of hard drugs to address overdose crisis

"But to be able to just observe, without giving anybody anything — it's given by the health clinic that's currently being legalized — so it makes research a whole lot easier and quite frankly less expensive."

Studies out of New York University and Johns Hopkins University have found psilocybin can significantly improve symptoms of anxiety and depression.

Public health officials in B.C. have strongly voiced support for decriminalizing possession of small doses of drugs for personal use, as has the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

In 2019, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry released a special report on the matter, which said stigma often leads drug users to hide their usage and creates barriers to accessing harm reduction and treatment services — often with tragic consequences.

Read more: B.C. premier formally asks federal government to decriminalize illegal drugs

In July of this year, B.C. Premier John Horgan formally wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking the federal government to act on decriminalization.

“Criminal prohibitions are ineffective in deterring drug use, and criminalization of drug possession directly leads to both individuals and systemic stigma and discrimination that prevent people from seeking services,” Horgan wrote.

According to the B.C. Coroners Service, 1,202 people died of illicit drug overdoses from January to September 2020 — the highest number in at least 10 years.

B.C. declared a public health emergency in April 2016 in response to the opioid crisis.

— With files from Phil Heidenreich and Richard Zussman

Oregon to become first state to decriminalize hard drugs, other states adopt recreational pot

By Phil Heidenreich Global News
Updated November 4, 2020 

A Board of Election's employee works among stacks of mail-in ballots in Linden, N.J., Thursday, Oct. 29, 2020. AP Photo/Seth Wenig

The possession of small amounts of hard drugs will be decriminalized in Oregon after people in that state voted in favour of the initiative on Tuesday.

With the vote, Oregon will become the first state in the U.S. to adopt such a policy.

When the state implements the provisions included in Measure 110, people caught with small amounts of heroin, cocaine, LSD and other drugs will have the option of paying US$100 fines or attending a free addiction recovery centre instead of facing arrest and the possibility of time in prison.

Measure 110 proposed funding the recovery centres through tax revenue generated by the state’s legal cannabis industry.

The proposal to decriminalize the possession of such drugs was endorsed by several organizations that represent health professionals in the state.

“Punishing people for drug use and addiction is costly and hasn’t worked. More drug treatment, not punishment, is a better approach,” reads a statement previously issued by the Oregon Nurses Association, the Oregon chapter of the American College of Physicians and the Oregon Academy of Family Physicians.

While some district attorneys also backed the initiative, at least two dozen of their counterparts voiced opposition to it.

Oregonians also voted to move ahead with legalizing the therapeutic use of psychedelic mushrooms.

Oregonians voted in 2014 to legalize the recreational use and sale of cannabis.

Before Election Day, 11 U.S. states had fully legalized marijuana’s use for adults and on Tuesday, people in New Jersey and Arizona voted in favour of seeing those states become the latest in the U.S. states to legalize the recreational use of cannabis.

In both New Jersey and Arizona, recreational cannabis use will become legal for people 21 and older. New Jersey will need to pass legislation to set up the cannabis marketplace in that state.

Steve Hawkins, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, said the result in New Jersey “will undoubtedly have a rippling effect in the Northeast and add to the increasing pressure in neighbouring states to take action on marijuana legalization.”

The measure passed in Arizona also allows for people convicted of certain crimes related to cannabis to seek to have their records expunged.

Montana and South Dakota also voted on legalizing recreational cannabis. South Dakota, along with Mississippi, also saw people cast ballots on measures regarding the medical use of cannabis.

The legalization of cannabis use has gained momentum since 2012, when citizens of Colorado and Washington state voted in favour of the idea.

–With files from The Associated Press’ David A. Lieb and Andrew Selsky

STACEY ABRAMS FOR DNC CHAIR
Stacey Abrams helps raise $3.6m in two days for crucial Georgia Senate runoffs

Richard Luscombe in Miami

Stacey Abrams, the Democratic former candidate for Georgia governor who is credited with motivating voters against Donald Trump in the traditionally red state, has helped raise more than $3.6m in only two days for two crucial US Senate runoffs to be contested in January.

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Brandon Bell/Reuters

A spokesperson for Fair Fight Action, part of Abrams’ voter education and advocacy efforts, announced the achievement on Sunday.

While the closely-watched presidential election in Georgia has yet to be decided, with President-elect Joe Biden holding a slim lead over Donald Trump and the race heading to a recount, the 5 January Senate runoffs involving Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are drawing further attention – and massive political resources.

If Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler are beaten, the Senate would be balanced 50-50, making Kamala Harris, as vice-president, the tie-breaking vote and thereby ending Republican control of the chamber.

Democrats were disappointed not to take the Senate outright this year but Ossoff and Warnock performed well enough to force run-offs in Georgia.

This is going to be the determining factor of whether we have access to healthcare and access to justice

Stacey Abrams

“This is going to be the determining factor of whether we have access to healthcare and access to justice in the United States,” Abrams, a former Georgia House minority leader, said on Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

“Those are two issues that will make certain people turn out. We know this is going to be a hard fight, it’s going to be a competitive fight [and Ossoff and Warnock] are two men who are going to make certain that Joe Biden has the leadership, the support and the congressional mandate that he needs to move this country forward.”

Abrams believes it is an “anachronistic notion” that her party cannot win in a state that has two Republican senators, a Republican governor in Brian Kemp, and a Republican-controlled legislature. The most recent Democratic senator for Georgia was former governor Zell Miller, who retired in 2005.

“We’re so proud of the work the Biden campaign did in Georgia but we’re incredibly excited about the work that’s been done on the ground for the last decade to bring us to this point, and we’re so excited to be going blue,” Abrams said.

The support of Georgia’s black voters has been key to Biden’s strength there, but Abrams said it would take a diverse coalition to seat two Democrats in the Senate.

“We began early on saying that this is not about black and white, this is about pulling together a coalition of people of colour, of the poor, of the disadvantaged, of the marginalised, and being consistent with our engagement, not waiting for an election to meet them, and certainly not waiting till the end of an election to acknowledge their value,” Abrams said.

“We’ve been doing this work from the very beginning, but I also want to acknowledge the very strong work of progressive whites, who’ve been working to help build these opportunities as well.

“We are not a majority minority country yet. And that means that this is a coalition that has to be built and sustained across racial lines, across demography, across geography, because our mission should be the protection of our democracy, and the action of progress for all.”

Abrams’ own run at the Georgia governor’s mansion was unsuccessful, her defeat by fewer than 55,000 votes in the 2018 election to Kemp following an acrimonious contest marred by controversy.

Kemp, then Georgia’s secretary of state, retained his position through the race, effectively overseeing his own election and declaring himself the winner. Additionally, an investigation found Kemp had improperly purged 340,000 voters from the rolls.


Abrams, who never officially conceded, and who was considered by Biden as a potential running mate, embarked on a huge voter engagement effort, determined 2020 would bring a turnaround in Democratic fortunes in Georgia.

“There have been dozens of organisations and hundreds of people who’ve made this their primary mission,” Abrams said.

“I’ve been privileged to be able to bring to bear resources both before the election of 2018 and the $40m we were able to spend in 2018 to build a Democratic infrastructure that may not have yielded a victory for me but certainly yielded a victory this week.

“The people who did that work will be hard at work to ensure that we continue our streak and that we deliver two US Senate seats to join Joe Biden in January.”

Financial hurdle gone: Alberta first province to eliminate fees for addiction recovery programs
Janet French 

© CBC 

Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Jason Luan says eliminating user fees for residential addiction recovery programs is good value for money. 

After 28 years sober, he lost his house, all his savings and sold all the equipment he owned to pay for alcohol.

Then, Lloydminster senior Bryan Robinson was staring down a $1,800 bill for a 45-day addiction recovery program.

His son came to his aid, paying the tab for his time at the Thorpe Recovery Centre.

"I knew I had to get well," he said in an interview on Friday. "I knew I had to get better."

Now in a long-term program at Our House Addiction Recovery Centre in west Edmonton, he's been paying $1,200 a month from his old age security and Canadian Pension Plan benefits.

But this month and beyond, his bill will be $0.

That's due to a major shift in the way the Alberta government is funding addictions recovery. For the first time, the province has eliminated fees for people to attend the 72 licensed, publicly funded treatment centres in the province.

The $40 daily cost for room and board will be covered for everyone who does not have health insurance plans that would cover the cost.

Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, Jason Luan, said it's been a goal of his team since the United Conservative Party took office.

"I think we are contributing to a transformational change in the sector," he said. "I wouldn't mind to say our major step forward, this milestone, will signal another best practice that we hope will lead the country with our numbers, with our evidence."

Luan said families shouldn't have to sell a vehicle or refinance a mortgage to pay for addictions treatment programs. The cost was a huge hurdle, and one he wanted to eliminate.

He said it's also good economics. A 2018 report estimated substance use cost Alberta $5.5 billion in 2014 to pay for health services, police, court and corrections costs and in lost productivity. Every dollar invested in prevention can save another $12 down the road, he said.

His staff calculate the cost at about $8.2 million a year. About $5 million of that will be diverted from the department of Community and Social Services. People who qualified for income support or Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) already had their recovery treatment costs covered by the government.

Although about 2,700 people in those programs entered recovery each year, many people whose lives were in crisis didn't qualify for the help. Seniors, post-secondary students and the working poor were left out.

The point of the policy change is to divert people to recovery programs before they lose everything.
Expanding service key part of plan

The loss isn't limited to the person snared by addiction. Lerena Greig helps their families. Executive director of Parents Empowering Parents Society, Greig has seen families spend their life savings to pay for addiction treatment programs.

Sometimes, if a person relapses, they may go through detox and treatment two, three or four times.

She's watched parents' mental and physical health deteriorate while they carry the stress. Some have remortgaged their homes to pay. She's seen the financial and emotional pressure lead to divorces.

She said she's ecstatic the financial barrier has been removed. That's because the largest barrier to recovery is often the willingness of the person to enter treatment at all.

"With addiction, it's kind of like there's a moment of clarity," she said. "And if you don't jump on that moment of clarity when that person decides they want help, that moment is gone."

With financial barriers gone, will there be enough treatment beds to take patients in their moments of clarity?

The government has been working on that. Luan has pledged to add 4,000 treatment "spaces" over four years, bringing the total to more than 12,000 across Alberta. A "space" is a bed and staffing to treat patients for one year, but most programs are far shorter.

It's also unclear how successful recovery programs are in the long-term — the government hopes to begin tracking that.

The funding changes could also bring more stability to recovery centres, which are either non-profit or run by Alberta Health Services.

Steven Archambault, director of community engagement and fund development for Simon House Recovery Centre in Calgary, said the 84-bed facility is heavily dependent on community donations.

Rather than receiving funding per patient, centres will now bid on three-year contracts determined by their services and capacity. That could make funding more predictable and allow them to expand their offerings, Archambault said.

He said the changes are exciting.

"Ideally, in the long run, we hope that the recognition will bring a much better opportunity of lowering the stigma that is attached to addiction throughout the country."

Back in Edmonton, Robinson says saving up his pension earnings is a good first step to preparing for his eventual independence — whatever it looks like.

"Eventually, sooner or later, I've got to start, right? And it takes money to start. Or I'll be back to square one again.