GREEN CAPITALI$M

ECB pledges to buy green bonds as pressure rises on Bank of England over climate change

© ECB handout/Getty Christine Lagarde said the ECB would create a specialist team to focus on climate change ECB handout/Getty

The European Central Bank stepped up its focus on climate change on Monday.

It will invest in a green bond fund and create a dedicated "climate center".

UK lawmakers pressured the Bank of England over its support for polluters.

The European Central Bank stepped up its focus on climate change on Monday, announcing that it will create a specialist team to look into the issue and start investing in a "green bond" fund.

It comes as central banks face growing scrutiny over their investments, with a group of British lawmakers on Monday calling on the Bank of England to stop funding polluters through its bond-buying programs.

Central banks have increased their attention to climate change in recent years. Many are now members of the Network for Greening the Financial System, which aims to manage the risk of climate change through financial systems.

But central banks have loaned billions of dollars to polluters including oil and chemicals companies during the pandemic through various schemes designed to prop up economies, drawing the ire of climate campaigners.

Today, ECB president Christine Lagarde signalled a renewed focus on climate change. She said the ECB would create "a new climate change center to bring together more efficiently the different expertise and strands of work on climate across the Bank".

It followed an earlier announcement from the ECB that it would use part of its own funds to invest in a euro-denominated green bond investment fund. The fund was established by the Bank for International Settlements, an international organization owned by central banks.

The BIS fund invests in bonds that support renewable energy production, energy efficiency and other environmentally-friendly projects.

Yet campaigners said the ECB needed to go further, in particular by reconsidering the bonds it buys through its €1.85 trillion ($2.24 trillion) coronavirus asset-purchase program.

Paul Schreiber of campaign group Reclaim Finance said the ECB is "trying to use the purchase of green bonds to distract from its support for fossil fuels". A Reclaim Finance study from May 2020 found that the ECB finances 38 corporations active in fossil fuels.

In the UK, a group of lawmakers on Monday made similar points about the Bank of England's bond-buying, saying the BoE should limit its support to companies in "high-carbon sectors". It comes as the UK prepares to host the UN climate summit known as COP26 in November.

The Environmental Audit Committee, which scrutinizes public bodies over climate change, wrote to BoE governor Andrew Bailey, saying: "The Bank must begin a process of aligning its corporate bond purchasing programme with Paris Agreement goals as a matter of urgency." The Paris Agreement between governments pledges to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2C (3.6F).

A Bank of England spokesperson said: "The Bank will respond in full to the Environmental Audit Committee letter in due course.

"Climate change is a strategic priority for the Bank. We have an ambitious work programme on climate change, from the stress testing of the largest UK banks and insurers against climate-related financial risks through to working internationally with the central bank Network for Greening the Financial System - a network of which we were a founding member.

"As the governor told the Treasury Select Committee in November, work to consider how best to take account of climate considerations in our corporate bond portfolio is already underway at the Bank."

Read the original article on Business Insider

Bernie Sanders meme to raise money for charity

A single photo of US Senator Bernie Sanders has inspired countless memes worldwide. The Democrat said he would use the viral image to help feed the hungry.

Fans of Bernie Sanders are now able to buy sweatshirts imprinted with the viral photo of the US senator from Joe Biden inauguration, with all proceeds going to charity.

When asked by CNN for comment about his newly-found fame on meme sites, Sanders said he was overjoyed that it could be turned to good use via online sales.

"What we are doing here in Vermont is we're going to be selling around the country sweatshirts and T-shirts, and all of the money that's going to be raised – which I expect will be a couple of million dollars – will be going to programs like 'Meals on Wheels,' that feed low-income senior citizens," Sanders said on Sunday.

From 'Baby Yoda' to the Sistine Chapel

The now-famous photo of the 79-year-old Bernie Sanders was taken by AFP photographer Brendan Smialowski at US President Joe Biden's inauguration.

It shows the independent Vermont senator huddled in a chair against the cold, socially distancing as he keeps his arms folded above a distinctly unglamorous average-guy winter coat. 

Sanders' overall look – and his curmudgeonly glare — has prompted a river of creative memes as people worldwide have superimposed Sanders on famous works of art and into family photos. 

In recent days Sanders has been shown in Zoom meetings: 

Or sitting on the Iron Throne from "Games of Thrones", or alongside Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin in Yalta in 1945. 

Beyond appearing in countless "Star Wars" scenes or cradling "Baby Yoda", 

others have depicted him in his mittens touching Michelangelo's Hand of God in the Sistine Chapel.

When asked about his outfit on Wednesday, the typically non-plussed Sanders grinned slightly while telling interviewers on CBS: "You know in Vermont, we dress warm, we know something about the cold, and we're not so concerned about good fashion."
Not your typical mittens

The woman who created the thick brown and beige mittens, Jennifer Ellis, hadn't even met Sanders before the inauguration.

A 42-year-old elementary school teacher from the town of Essex Junction, Vt, Ellis made the gloves from repurposed wool sweaters, using fleece made from recycled plastic bottles for the inside lining.

She first sent a pair to Sanders after he lost to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary.

Last year, when Sanders was again running for president, Ellis learned that he liked wearing her creations. She was so touched after finding out that he'd lent them to someone in need that she sent him another 10 pairs.

Ellis is thrilled the mittens and meme-making are bringing people joy.

"I mean, people are so funny. And that's what we need right now: it's a very tough time for a lot of people. They need something to laugh about that's totally harmless and not political," Ellis said.

mb/dj (Reuters, AFP, AP)

Bernie Sanders' inauguration jacket is selling out as his mittens meme continues to dominate social media

© Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images Bernie Sanders is making money for charity thanks to his virtual inauguration meme. Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

The Burton jacket Bernie Sanders wore on inauguration day has sold out.

Bloomberg reports Burton saw sales of the jacket more than double on Wednesday compared to cumulative sales of the past 17 days.

The jacket is available in other colors, though supplies are going fast.

Bernie Sanders might not have been the most lavishly dressed on inauguration day, but his outfit choice has not only caused a barrage of memes, but booming sales for Burton, the company behind the senator's jacket.

The jacket Sanders wore on inauguration day has sold out, Bloomberg recently reported.

The company, based out of Sanders' home state of Vermont, saw a large increase of interest and sales after the inauguration. By Wednesday, Bloomberg reports the Edgecomb down jacket Sanders had worn had more than doubled in sales compared to the past 2.5 weeks combined.

The jacket is available in other colors, though Sander's taupe colored jacket sold out fast.

Sander's mittens also gained notoriety. The mittens, which were given to Sanders by second-grade teacher, Jen Ellis, are made from recycled sweaters.

Ellis said she has received numerous requests to make the mittens as well as turn them into a business, according to Slate.





Video: Bernie Sanders Turns Inauguration Meme Into a Sweatshirt for Charity (Money Talks News)

A photo of Sanders dressed for cold weather amidst celebrities like Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez, who dressed up for the occasion, went viral on Wednesday and has continued to spread on social media since. Celebrities, including Ryan Seacrest, Whoopi Goldberg, and Guy Fieri, as well as brands like IKEA have gotten in on the fun.

Ikea used the image for a new marketing campaign, using the image of Sanders with the title. "Get the look," to sell a folding chair and similar open gloves.

Sanders responded to the memes during NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers."

"I was just sitting there trying to keep warm, trying to pay attention to what was going on," Sanders said.

Sanders also turned the inauguration meme into an opportunity to raise money for charity, selling sweatshirts online with the meme on it for $45 with the proceeds going to Vermont's Meals on Wheels.

The sweatshirt has already sold out on the campaign store website.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Bernie Sanders Memes Go International 

With Google Maps Tool 

© Provided by HuffPost Canada Bernie Sanders in Vancouver's Crab Park.

The evolution of a meme is a beautiful thing to watch.

In the 24-hours since the image of a mitten-clad senator Bernie Sanders first drew attention at U.S. President Joe Biden’s inauguration, the meme has naturally changed and evolved. At first the Internet was simply obsessed with Sanders’ “Vermont grandpa-core” look, remarking on how he looked like he was on his way to the post-office, or like a chilly parent at their frigid kids’ outdoor sports game.

Now, the meme’s evolved, and we’ve collectively moved on to simply placing Sanders in places he seems like a natural fit. Because why not imagine Bernie hanging out with sad Keanu or on the Toronto sign?

Of course Canada’s prodigal son Ryan Reynolds got in on the fun with his own spin on the meme. 

But a new web tool makes building your own Bernie memes even easier for the not-so Photoshop savvy, allowing you to drop photographer Brenden Smialowski’s iconic image of cosy Bernie literally anywhere in the world. New York software engineer Nick Sawhney developed the tool, which uses Google Maps to place Bernie at any address or place the service recognizes.

You can simply type a place name or street address, and the webpage will load you your very own version of the Bernie meme. Canadians took the chance to place Sanders in some iconic locales in their own neighbourhoods, like Vancouver’s Congee Noodle House or its international airport.

Or various Toronto-area Chinese restaurants. 

Or even just a driveway in Edmonton. 

Really, we all just love putting Bernie places.

Admittedly some addresses work better than others, like when we tried to plunk Bernie down in front of the old HuffPost Canada office in Toronto.

© Provided by HuffPost Canada This is what happens when you try to input the old HuffPost Canada office into the Bernie meme generator.

On Twitter, Sawhney said the site has crashed several times since its launch due to overwhelming demand. He is funding the server out of his own pocket, and has launched a fundraiser on buymeacoffee.com to fund both the server and associated fees from Google Maps and keep the Bernie memes going.

When asked about the iconic image yesterday, Sanders himself said he wasn’t looking to inspire a meme, but rather was simply bundled up against the cold.

So go forth and put Bernie in front of your childhood home. It’s the least we can do to smile during these trying times.

WATCH: Image of Sanders in mittens goes viral.

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© Provided by HuffPost Canada

Bernie’s Inauguration Mittens And Practical Coat Were A Mood

© Provided by HuffPost Canada

The Deeper Meaning Behind Those Stunning Inauguration Outfits

Pacific island nations turn to Beijing-backed AIIB as pandemic sinks economies

By Jonathan Barrett and Praveen Menon

© Reuters/TINGSHU WANG FILE PHOTO: Headquarters of Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in Beijing

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON (Reuters) - Pacific island nations are turning to China-led agencies to plug funding gaps in their pandemic-ravaged budgets after exhausting financing options from traditional western partners, stoking fears the region is becoming more dependent on Beijing.

The Cook Islands, a tiny country of around 20,000 people in the South Pacific, turned to the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) late last year after loans from the U.S. and Japanese-led Asian Development Bank (ADB) and grant from close ally New Zealand fell short.

The US$20 million AIIB loan to the Cook Islands was the second to a strained Pacific economy in the last few months, after Fiji secured a US$50 million facility, signalling the arrival of a development bank closely linked to China's Belt and Road Initiative to the Pacific.

Vanuatu, with a population of 300,000, also announced last week that it had accepted a US$12 million grant from the Chinese government.

While most Pacific island countries have used their natural borders to combat COVID-19 infections, they have faced economic hardship given their reliance on international tourism, a sector that abruptly shut as the pandemic struck.

China's growing reach in the region is unsettling for the United States and its allies, who have been the dominant powers in the Pacific since World War II.

Despite being small, Pacific states boast strategic ports and air strips and control vast swathes of resource-rich ocean. They also represent a vote in some international forums.

"China is very willing to lend money to any Pacific island nation. As much as Australia and New Zealand have encouraged the islands to look to them first it's been a lot easier getting money out of China," said Fletcher Melvin, president of Cook Islands' Chamber of Commerce.

The AIIB did not immediately respond to questions.

FUNDING GAP

One of the most remote outposts of World War Two, Cook Islands has a free association agreement with New Zealand and shared citizenship, though it is its own country.

Almost one-third of Cook Islands' NZ$215 million ($153.2 million) external debt now lies with Beijing-linked bodies, AIIB and China's Exim Bank, up from 16% before the pandemic.

Cook Islands expects to require additional borrowings of NZ$71.2 million ($50.74 million) over the next three years to cover shortfalls, documents show.

Jon Fraenkel, Professor in Comparative Politics at Victoria University of Wellington said Fiji, which has one of the biggest Pacific economies, was desperate for foreign funds after it entered the pandemic in a weak financial position.

The Cook Islands has previously defended its economic ties to China, which has funded several projects, including a water supply system. Its government did not respond to requests from Reuters for comment.

The ADB said in a statement to Reuters that late last year it provided an additional US$20 million loan, which was the "country limit" for the small island nation.

The New Zealand government said it provided a NZ$22 million ($16 million) grant through its aid programme.

After getting what it could from those sources, the Cook Islands then sought funding from AIIB, sources with knowledge of the financing talks told Reuters.

"If the AIIB becomes the primary lender to the Pacific and the region's economic recovery is driven by Chinese lending, then certainly there will be cause for significant concern that economic dependence could be exploited," said Anna Powles, senior lecturer in the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University based in Wellington.

($1 = 1.4033 New Zealand dollars)

IKEA lowers climate footprint helped by pandemic and energy-efficient light bulbs

By Anna Ringstrom

© Reuters/PHIL NOBLE FILE PHOTO: Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Warrington

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Furniture giant IKEA said it is on track to cut its emissions further after an 11% reduction in its climate footprint in the 12 months to the end of August, partly because of temporary store closures.

Brand owner Inter IKEA said on Monday carbon emissions throughout the value chain - from the production of raw materials to customers' use and disposal - fell in its fiscal year (FY) 2020 to 21.2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

The reduction per euro of retail sales - a measure that takes into account that government lockdowns meant most stores closed for several weeks - was 7%.

"Our expectation is that the trend that we started already in FY19 and continued in FY20 will also continue in FY21," Inter IKEA Chief Executive Jon Abrahamsson said in an interview.

"Looking at CO2 emissions divided by sales we do believe we will have a positive development compared to 2020."

Head of sustainability Lena Pripp-Kovac told Reuters the main contributors, beside the pandemic, to curbing emissions were more energy efficient lighting and appliances, followed by more renewable energy use in production and transport.

IKEA, whose emissions shrank for the first time in 2019, aims to be climate positive - to reduce more greenhouse gas emissions than the value chain emits - by 2030. It said on Monday that translates into a cut of at least 15% from baseline year 2016 to 20.4 million tonnes CO2 equivalents.

IKEA said in fiscal 2020 it reached its target that more than 98% of wood in its products be from responsibly managed forests - as certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - or recycled. It launched a new target that at least a third of wood be recycled by 2030, up from 12% last year.

IKEA, one of the world's biggest wood buyers, in the year used 19 million cubic metres of wood in products and packaging.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; editing by Barbara Lewis)

GOUGING NB MONOPOLY CREATES PETRO PANIC
Irving Oil supporters and skeptics lining up on opposite sides of company price hike request

© CBC News file photo Irving Oil says it needs an 'urgent' increase in petroleum margins to ensure product shortages do not hit consumers.

An initial hearing into Irving Oil's request for increases in petroleum wholesale prices begins today in front of the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board with supporters raising the stark prospect of the company shutting down if it does not get what it is asking for and skeptics warning the board against being manipulated.

"We must be cautiously aware that no business is too big to fail," read one letter on the issue received and posted publicly last week by the EUB.

"They are playing the Board," read another about the company's application.

New Brunswick adopted petroleum price regulation in 2006 and put the Energy and Utilities Board in place to oversee it. Currently wholesalers are allowed to add 6.51 cents per litre to the price of motor fuels they handle (gasoline and diesel) and 5.5 cents per litre to furnace oil.

Irving Oil is applying for a 62.8 per cent (4.09 cent per litre) increase in the allowed wholesale margin for motor fuels and a 54.9 per cent (3.02 cent per litre) increase in the margin for furnace oil

© Robert Jones/CBC News New Brunswick's Energy and Utilities Board has scheduled a full hearing into Irving Oil's request for wholesale petroleum price increases for March 30. It will hear arguments Monday for and against an emergency interim increase.

The increases are substantially more than the 11 per cent growth in inflation that has occurred since the margins last changed in March 2013, but the company says fundamental changes in the oil industry and a sudden collapse in demand for petroleum products caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have rendered those old amounts obsolete.

"Petroleum pricing regulations in New Brunswick were created 15 years ago," Darren Gillis, Irving Oil chief marketing officer, said in an affidavit supporting the application. "They did not contemplate the challenges of the last several years and were not designed to react to a global pandemic."

If granted in full, the increases would apply to all New Brunswick wholesalers and would cost consumers about $60 million per year in higher retail prices.

The Energy and Utilities Board has tentatively scheduled a full hearing into the matter for the end of March, but in its application Irving Oil said its situation is dire and it cannot wait that long for relief.

Instead it is asking for 85 per cent of the requested increase on motor fuels (3.5 cents) and 99 per cent of the increase on furnace oil (3.0 cents) to be granted immediately pending the outcome of the full hearing next spring.

"The entire supply chain in under pressure and at risk," Gillis said in the application. "COVID-19 has exacerbated challenges for the industry and urgent action is required."

That tone has alarmed supporters of Irving Oil who fear the company is in trouble. Last week, the company announced layoffs at its Saint John refinery and worried suppliers have been mobilizing to urge the EUB to grant its request in full.

Eric Lloyd is president of Sunny Corner Enterprises Inc., an industrial construction firm in Miramichi that does business with Irving Oil.

Lloyd wrote to the EUB to say it "must take action to understand the economic forces that are stressing a very important contributor to our economy," and warned it is not "too big to fail" in asking its request be granted.

© Tori Weldon/CBC News Hafsah Mohammad is with the Moncton social justice and climate action group Grassroots NB, one of several groups registered to oppose Irving Oil's application.

Another Irving supplier, Lorneville Mechanical Contractors Ltd. in Saint John, also sent a letter expressing concern about the company's financial health.

"We understand that Irving Oil has identified New Brunswick's highly regulated fuel pricing system as a challenge to its ability to operate reliably and sustainably," wrote Lorneville's president Jim Brewer, in endorsing immediate increases.

Local building trade unions warned the viability of the refinery itself could hinge on the EUB's decision.

"It would be devastating to lose this asset," wrote union president Jean-Marc Ringuette in his letter supporting Irving Oil's request.

But others are skeptical.

A number of anti-poverty, union and social justice organizations have signed up to oppose Irving Oil's application and a clutch of private citizens, like Saint John resident Mary Milander, also sent letters opposing the increase.

"I believe that that the people of Saint John and the whole province have suffered financially much more than the oil industry during the pandemic," Milander wrote to the board.

© Radio-Canada Natural Resources and Energy Development Minster Mike Holland stoked early controversy about Irving Oil's request by writing a letter to the Energy and Utilities Board telling it the application should be dealt with quickly.

Although yet to start, the hearing has already been highly controversial following news last week that New Brunswick Natural Resources Minister Mike Holland sent his own letter to the EUB expressing concerns about Irving Oil's ability to supply products at current prices.

That led to criticism from all three opposition parties and a call for Holland to resign from Green Party Leader David Coon. Premier Blaine Higgs defended Holland's intervention.

The EUB has granted interim relief to applicants in other cases before, but normally on the condition money collected from consumers be returned if the increases are later found to be unjustified.

A complicating factor in Irving Oil's application for immediate relief is that Gillis has acknowledged that other than home heating oil sales, returning money to customers will not be possible.

"In the unlikely case the permanent increase for motor fuels is lower than the interim increase, Irving Oil cannot effectively and fairly rebate the difference," he said.

Posthaste: Don’t write off Canadian pipeline companies just yet — there is plenty of growth left post-KXL

© Provided by Financial Post Steel pipe to be used in the oil pipeline construction of the Canadian government’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project lies at a stockpile site in Kamloops, British Columbia.

Good morning!

Canada’s pipeline sector was shaken up by U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to nix TC Energy Corp.’s Keystone XL pipeline, but don’t write off the industry — and TC Energy — just yet, analysts say.

RBC Dominion Securities Inc. analyst Robert Kwan argues that a decade-long cliffhanger surrounding KXL’s construction was weighing down on TC Energy’s stock and its cancellation ‘cleans up the story’, as it allows investors to focus on the company’s other businesses.

“From a financial perspective, we calculate a modest reduction in EPS (earnings per share) associated with ceasing the booking of capitalized interest, partially offset by not recording non-controlling interest expense associated with the Alberta government’s funding,” Kwan wrote in a note for clients on the weekend.

The Alberta government had committed $1.5 billion to the project last year, with another $6 billion in loan guarantees.

While the analysts’ optimistic notes present a less than bleak picture, the industry now has one less route to the market. Expect environmental groups to turn their attention to the federally-funded Trans Mountain pipeline and Enbridge Inc.’s Midwest pipelines such as Line 3 and Line 5.

Citibank notes that Canadian oil producers don’t need any increase in pipeline capacity, at least over the next two years.

“We remain WCS (Western Canada Select benchmark) bulls and do not see President Biden’s cancellation of KXL as a material headwind to our 2-year view,” wrote Prashant Rao, analyst at Citibank.

However, if Enbridge’s Line 3 expansion and Trans Mountain expansion fails to materialize, “we see the potential for a return to Canada’s historic egress crunch come 2023, but note that Alberta’s authority to resume issuing production quotas remains in the background throughout,” Rao added.

Scotiabank analyst Robert Hope believes that while the KXL cancellation could impact TC Energy’s growth prospects, it also removes a large equity funding requirement and should help the company de-lever.

“TC Energy’s shares have under-performed its peers since the fall, which we attribute to the loss of KXL, but also a flow of funds from TC Energy, which we view as the lowest risk name in the energy (space), into companies with more torque to higher oil prices,” Hope noted. “We view TC Energy as a high quality name at an attractive valuation at a 2021 PE of 13.5x and free cash flow yield of 10.2 per cent. With KXL behind them we believe the narrative on the shares could improve.”

TC Energy’s shares closed $56.39 on Friday, stable after closing at $56.57 per share a day before Biden’s executive order killed the project. Scotiabank has a 12-month target price of $69 on the stock, albeit lower than the $72 per share previously.

BMO Capital Markets also remains optimistic about the prospects of Canadian midstream companies such as Enbridge, TC Energy and Gibson Energy Inc., with the caveat that greater focus on carbon reduction could see profit margins being squeezed over the long term.

“The more aggressive carbon-reduction Net Zero (1.5°C) scenario appears to be already reflected fully in the share prices of GEI (Gibson), ENB, and TRP, but points to 20 per cent downside from current levels for the other midstream companies,” such as Keyera Corp., Inter Pipeline Ltd. and Pembina Pipeline Corp.

“That said, we view the most damaging Net Zero scenario as somewhat of an unrealistic outcome given it would require significant cost and change in societal preferences,” BMO analyst Ben Pham wrote in a note.

Also remain on the look out for consolidation news. Calgary-based investment bank Peters & Co. expects mergers to continue to play a larger role in TC Energy’s growth path, as the company aims to maintain its 5-7 per cent annual growth path.

In addition, the new Biden Administration’s efforts to restrict U.S. production, such as the temporary bans of new oil and gas leasing, could curtail American crude energy production, providing an opening for Canadian fossil fuel products.

“Against a backdrop where we could see U.S. natural gas demand move higher driven by environmental regulations(e.g., coal-to-gas switching), this has the potential to be positive for Canadian production, particularly natural gas,” RBC’s Kwan said.

THE NORTH NEEDS AIRSHIPS AND HIGHSPEED INTERNET

Senator Dennis Patterson Peeved About ‘No Action’ On Nunavut’s Bad Internet

Unlike most jurisdictions in Canada, there is no option for unlimited internet.

Emma Tranter Canadian Press
01/24/2021 

SUNNYGRAPH VIA GETTY IMAGES

Loading Concept laptop screen with typing hands on the keyboard.


IQALUIT, Nunavut — In Nunavut, it’s not unusual for the internet to cut out, slow down or stop working altogether.

Unlike most jurisdictions in Canada, there is no option for unlimited internet. Instead, residents are faced with high prices and heavy fees for higher monthly data caps.

Amy Matychuk, who lives in Iqaluit, says each month she and her fiancé wait for the notice from their internet service provider telling them they’ve reached their data limit.

Matychuk says the couple spends about $250 a month on internet. Her fiancé is completing his masters, which requires him to be on Zoom nearly eight hours a day.

“He’s at the maximum data he can have on his phone, so once we run out of internet at home he can hot-spot to his phone,” she said.

Nunavut’s internet problems aren’t new, but the territory’s senator, Dennis Patterson, says the pandemic has made a bad situation even worse.

“Internet continues to be of crucial importance to remote communities in Nunavut. The situation has sadly not changed,” Patterson said in an interview. 

Only province or territory without fibre internet

A report commissioned by Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., the land-claim body that represents Inuit in the territory, says the fastest possible internet speed in Nunavut is eight times slower than the national average.

The report states Nunavut is the only jurisdiction in Canada without residential access to internet speeds over 25 megabits per second. The highest possible speed in Nunavut is 15 megabits per second.

Some 86 per cent of Canadian households have access to unlimited data packages and 94 per cent have access to broadband speeds of at least 25 megabits, the report says. It would cost a single Nunavut household at least $7,000 annually to reach the average level of data usage in Canadian households.

Nunavut is also the only Canadian province or territory without access to fibre internet. There are three proposals that could bring it to Nunavut through lines connected to other provinces, but those are still a few years away from completion.

Patterson says one reason internet hasn’t improved in the territory is a lack of competition for service providers. Northwestel, which is owned by Bell, serves all of Nunavut’s 25 communities. Qiniq, its main competitor, also offers internet and mobile phone service but runs off a different network because it doesn’t have access to Northwestel’s.

“It’s like an airport being owned by one airline and other airlines needed to either build their own airport or pay premium rates to access that airport,” Patterson said.

We need immediate relief during the height of the pandemic when all these services in health and education and working at home are so critical. Senator Dennis Patterson

Another reason internet hasn’t improved in the territory is because previously announced federal funding has not been distributed, he added.

“There’s been no action. It’s deeply disturbing to me.”

Last summer, projects in Yukon and the Northwest Territories received $72 million from the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to improve broadband internet service.

Nunavut did not receive any money. In a news release at the time, the CRTC said Nunavut projects were deferred to a second round of funding.

“We need immediate relief during the height of the pandemic when all these services in health and education and working at home are so critical,” Patterson said.

The CRTC said in an email that it “is continuing to evaluate the applications submitted to the second call for applications.”

“Further funding announcements will be made as additional projects are approved.”

The CRTC said it could not disclose how many Nunavut projects had applied for funding.

Andrew Anderson, communications director with Northwestel, said the company’s proposal to the CRTC seeks to bring internet speeds up to 50 megabits per second with an option for unlimited internet. Right now, the company’s highest internet package for home users is 150 gigabytes a month and costs $129.

“We’re hopeful that our proposal brings good value to Nunavut and will help meet that standard, but we’re waiting to hear back on that,” Anderson said.

For his part, Patterson will continue to push the federal government to make immediate investments for faster, more affordable internet as the pandemic rages on.

“People still need to work and do schooling remotely. It’s no secret that Nunavut has been subject to internet blackouts.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2021

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Northern internet company secures new satellite

 to fix shortage

© David Gunn/CBC Dean Proctor is the chief development officer of SSi Micro.

Nunavut's main internet service provider has secured more satellite capacity to fix a shortage that forced them to stop taking on new customers. 

SSi has joined a multi-year agreement with a European satellite network SES to increase their internet capacity. 

SSi Canada runs the internet service Qiniq— which is the main provider for Nunavut communities outside Iqaluit. 

"They [SES] have actually liberated a satellite, a whole satellite that was already in space, and pointed it north," said Dean Proctor, SSi's chief development officer. 

Proctor says the satellite covers all of Canada and will allow SSi to continue to provide the same quality service to existing customers while being able to take on new customers. 

In the fall, Qiniq had to stop taking on new customers because they didn't have the bandwidth to take on more users without the quality of the existing service going down. 

"We have been running out of [internet] capacity in Nunavut because there are only so many satellites that deliver service there," said Proctor. "It has been a real issue." 

The deal with SES is the solution to that problem. 

"This is providing much more than we had, but there is much more to be done," said Proctor. 

However, Proctor says satellite is still a much more costly service than other internet options like fibre optic, DSL, or cable — options that don't currently exist in Nunavut because of a lack of infrastructure. 

"We're still not at a point where we can deliver the same capacity for the same price as you would find in southern Canada," said Proctor. 

Proctor says this deal is another step in closing the digital divide in the North and improving connectivity. 

"This is an essential step," said Proctor. "It's one that comes in the time of COVID where more than ever we need this."

Nunavut Broadband - Newest Technology Updates (nunavut-broadband.ca)

French court hears Agent Orange case against chemical firms

A French court on Monday heard a case against more than a dozen multinationals, accused by a French-Vietnamese woman of causing grievous harm to her and others by selling the Agent Orange defoliant to the US government which used it to devastating effect in the Vietnam War.

© Provided by AFP The US used Agent Orange for a decade during its war in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

© KHAM A Vietnamese soldier stands next to a hazardous warning sign by a runway at Bien Hoa air base, a former US air base, on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City

Tran To Nga, born in 1942 in what was then French Indochina, worked as a journalist and activist in Vietnam in her 20s.

She filed the lawsuit in 2014 against 14 firms that made or sold the highly toxic chemical, including Monsanto, now owned by German giant Bayer, and Dow Chemical.

Backed by several NGOs, she accuses the companies of being responsible for injuries sustained by her, her children and countless others, as well as for damage done to the environment.

"A recognition of Vietnamese civilian victims would constitute a legal precedent", said international law specialist Valerie Cabanes.

So far, only military veterans -- from the US, Australia and Korea -- have won compensation for the after-effects of the chemical whose toxic properties Cabanes said were "absolutely phenomenal" at around 13 times the toxicity of herbicides in civilian use such as glyphosate.

Four million people in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were exposed to Agent Orange, according to NGOs, over a decade when the US military sprayed an estimated 76 million litres (20 million gallons) of the herbicide and defoliant chemical to halt the advances of communist North Vietnamese troops and deprive enemy combatants of food sources.

© Mandel Ngan The US ended the use of defoliant chemicals in the war in 1971, and withdrew from Vietnam in 1975, defeated by the Viet Cong

The US ended the use of defoliant chemicals in the war in 1971, and withdrew from Vietnam in 1975, defeated by the Viet Cong.

Agent Orange destroyed plants, polluted the soil and poisoned animals, and caused cancer and malformations in humans, NGOs say.

"I'm not fighting for myself, but for my children and the millions of victims," said Tran To Nga, who says that Agent Orange attacked people's immune system.

She herself was suffering from typical Agent Orange effects, including type 2 diabetes and an extremely rare insulin allergy.

She said she also contracted tuberculosis twice, developed a cancer and one of her daughters died of a malformation of the heart.

Every year, some 6,000 children are diagnosed with congenital malformations in Vietnam, Cabanes said.

The multinationals have argued that they could not be held responsible for the use the American military made of their product.

Contacted by AFP, Bayer said that Agent Orange was made "under the sole management of the US government for exclusively military purposes".

The plaintiff and her lawyers are expected to argue that the makers of Agent Orange misled the US government as to its true toxicity.

The trial in the southern Paris suburb of Evry was originally due to open in October, but its start was postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions.

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