WAR IS ECOCIDE
Attack on Saudi oil site fuels upward march for crude prices

BANGKOK — Oil prices remained elevated Monday as Saudi Arabian oil facilities were targeted by drone strikes just days after the largest crude exporting nations in the world said they would not increase output.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Brent crude, the international standard, surpassed $70 per barrel for the first time in over a year. Even after it lost ground in afternoon trading, at $68.19 a barrel prices are still hoverning at levels not seen since the early days of last year.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil also gave up early gains but at $65 per barrel, it's up 12% over just the past month.

Crude prices have surged more than 30% this year as massive vaccinations campaigns gain momentum, potentially signalling the beginning of the end of a global pandemic.

The attacks in Saudi Arabia follow a devastating winter freeze in Texas and other parts of the southern United States last month knocked out production of roughly 4 million barrels per day of U.S. oil, pushing prices above $60 a barrel for the first time in more than a year.

The threats to the global oil supply are taking place with economists expecting energy demand to surge as nations recover from the pandemic.

In that environment, many energy analysts had expected the OPEC cartel and its allies to lift more restrictions and let the oil flow more freely. But OPEC, rattled by plunging prices over the past year, chose not to open the spigots, sending prices higher still.

The strikes on Saudi sites have increased in frequency and precision in recent weeks, raising concerns about Saudi Arabia’s air defences and the expanding capabilities of the Iran-backed rebels across the border in Yemen.

A Saudi-led coalition launched an air campaign on war-torn Yemen's capital and on other provinces Sunday in retaliation for missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia that were claimed by the Iranian-backed rebels.

The official Saudi Press Agency quoted an anonymous official in the Ministry of Energy as saying that a drone flew in from the sea and struck an oil storage site in Ras Tunura, the port run by Saudi Arabia’s state oil company, Aramco.

It claimed the strike did not cause any damage. Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s oil giant that now has a sliver of its worth traded publicly on the stock market, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Ministry of Energy denounced the strike as “an act of sabotage” targeting not only Saudi Arabia “but also the security and stability of energy supplies to the world.”

When key oil facilities in Saudi Arabia were attacked in 2019, global energy prices soared 14% the next day. But that prior attack disrupted more than half of its daily exports, halting 5% of world crude oil output.

Costlier oil pushes energy costs higher. That would add to inflation at a time when investors have been focusing on the potential for rising prices to cause central banks to raise interest rates that have been taken to record low levels to support economies battered by the pandemic.

“The last thing anyone wants in a recovering global economy is higher oil prices, and we are likely nearing a point when higher oil prices become a negative rather than a positive influence over risk assets," Stephen Innes of Axi said in a report Monday.

Rising prices are a boon, however, for the oil industry, which has lost billions of dollars during the pandemic.

Oil prices crashed as millions of people stayed home and avoided travelling, hoping to avoid infection. Oil futures briefly traded below $0 a barrel last spring before settling around $40 a barrel for months, well below what most producers needed to survive. Many U.S. producers cut production dramatically, others filed for bankruptcy protection. Workers lost jobs by the thousands.

Eventually, prices began to recover as demand trickled back. In January, after Saudi Arabia announced it would cut production by 1 million barrels per day on top of cuts the kingdom already made through its agreement with the OPEC cartel, prices for U.S. benchmark crude pushed above $50 a barrel. The upswing continued through February, when Saudi Arabia’s cuts went into effect.

Natural resources consultancy Wood Mackenzie reports it is forecasting that oil prices will trade in the $70-$75 range in April and that global demand will increase in 2021 by 6.3 million barrels a day from a year earlier.

___

Bussewitz contributed from New York.

GREEN CAPITALI$M

Exclusive: Chinese EV trio eye Hong Kong listings this year to raise combined $5 billion - sources

POST FORDIST CAPITALISM 

WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS 

By Julie Zhu, Scott Murdoch and Yilei Sun 

© Reuters/MIKE SEGAR FILE PHOTO: 

An Xpeng P7 performance electric vehicle is seen outside the New York Stock Exchange

HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S.-listed Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers Li Auto Inc, Nio Inc and Xpeng Inc plan to list in Hong Kong as soon as this year, to tap an investor base closer to home, said three people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The trio each aim to sell at least 5% of their enlarged share capital in the Asian finiancial hub, the people said. Based on their New York market capitalisation on Monday, proceeds could total around $5 billion.

The EV makers have been working with advisors on the sales which could begin as early as mid-year, one of the people said. The three are looking to take advantage of growing demand from prospective investors in Asia, said another of the people, who declined to be identified due to confidentiality constraints.

Li Auto, Nio and Xpeng declined to comment.

The plans come as the trio increase capital raising efforts to fund technology development and expand sales networks, to better compete in the world's biggest EV market where U.S. peer Tesla Inc is boosting sales of its China-made vehicles.

Auto executives have marked 2021 as a crucial year for EV makers to seize market share as the industry expects Chinese sales of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) to jump almost 40% from last year to 1.8 million units.

Selling shares in Hong Kong would also add the trio to a slew of New York-listed Chinese firms seeking a presence on more local exchanges against a backdrop of political tension between the United States and China.

TRACK RECORD

Under Hong Kong rules, an issuer seeking a secondary listing must have had at least two financial years of good regulatory compliance on another qualifying exchange.

Li Auto and Xpeng went public in the United States in the middle of last year so will likely apply in Hong Kong for a dual primary listing, said two of the people as well as a separate person with direct knowledge of the matter.

As per Hong Kong's dual primary listing rules, firms are subject to full bourse requirements in Hong Kong and a second exchange, but are not bound by the two-year rule.

Xpeng is also considering a third listing on Shanghai's STAR Market for new-economy firms, said two other people.

"In the long run, it's helpful for consumer-focused companies like us to connect with domestic capital markets and domestic investors," Xpeng President Brian Gu told Reuters last week when asked about local listing plans.

"This is the direction we should pay attention to," he said, declining to comment on any Hong Kong listing plan.

GOING GREEN

China's government has heavily promoted NEVs - such as battery-powered, plug-in petrol-electric hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell cars - to help reduce chronic air pollution, spurring interest from technology companies and investors alike.

Last month, Reuters reported telecommunications firm Huawei Technologies Co Ltd plans to market EVs as early as this year.

China forecasts NEVs will make up 20% of the country's annual auto sales by 2025 from around 5% in 2020.

Domestic vehicle deliveries last year totalled 32,624 by Li Auto, 43,728 by Nio and 27,041 by Xpeng. That compared with 147,445 vehicles by Tesla, industry data showed.

(Reporting by Julie Zhu and Scott Murdoch in Hong Kong, Yilei Sun in Beijing; Editing by Sumeet Chatterjee and Christopher Cushing)

China Xinjiang: First independent report into Uyghur genocide allegations claims evidence of Beijing's 'intent to destroy' Muslim minorities

By Ben Westcott and Rebecca Wright, CNN 

The Chinese government's alleged actions in Xinjiang have violated every single provision in the United Nations' Genocide Convention, according to an independent report by more than 50 global experts in human rights, war crimes and international law.

© Bloomberg/Getty Images A Chinese flag flies outside the east gate

 of the Old City in Kashgar, Xinjiang, on November 8, 2018.

The report, released Tuesday by the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy think tank in Washington DC, claimed the Chinese government "bears state responsibility for an ongoing genocide against the Uyghur in breach of the (UN) Genocide Convention."

It is the first time a non-governmental organization has undertaken an independent legal analysis of the accusations of genocide in Xinjiang, including what responsibility Beijing may bear for the alleged crimes. An advance copy of the report was seen exclusively by CNN.

Up to 2 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are believed to have been placed in a sprawling network of detention centers across the region, according to the US State Department, where former detainees allege they were subjected to indoctrination, sexually abused and even forcibly sterilized. China denies allegations of human rights abuses, saying the centers are necessary to prevent religious extremism and terrorism.

Speaking at a press conference on March 7, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said allegations of a genocide in Xinjiang "couldn't be more preposterous."

On January 19, the outgoing Trump administration declared the Chinese government was committing genocide in Xinjiang. A month later, the Dutch and Canadian parliaments passed similar motions despite opposition from their leaders.

Azeem Ibrahim, director of special initiatives at Newlines and co-author of the new report, said there was "overwhelming" evidence to support its allegation of genocide.

"This is a major global power, the leadership of which are the architects of a genocide," he said.

This photo taken on June 4, 2019 shows a facility believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are  detained, north of Akto in China's northwestern Xinjiang region. 

Genocide Convention

The four-page UN Genocide Convention was approved by the United Nations General Assembly in December 1948 and has a clear definition of what constitutes "genocide." China is a signatory to the convention, along with 151 other countries.

Article II of the convention states genocide is an attempt to commit acts "with an intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."

There are five ways in which genocide can take place, according to the convention: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; or forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Since the convention was introduced in 1948, most convictions for genocide have occurred in the International Criminal Tribunals held by the UN, such as those for Rwanda and Yugoslavia, or in national courts. In 2006, former dictator Saddam Hussein was found guilty of genocide in a court in Iraq.

However any establishment of an International Criminal Tribunal would require the approval of the UN Security Council, of which China is a permanent member with veto power, making any hearing on the allegations of genocide in Xinjiang unlikely.

While violating just one act in the Genocide Convention would constitute a finding of genocide, the Newlines report claims the Chinese government has fulfilled all criteria with its actions in Xinjiang.

"China's policies and practices targeting Uyghurs in the region must be viewed in their totality, which amounts to an intent to destroy the Uyghurs as a group, in whole or in part," the report claimed.

A separate report published on February 8 by Essex Court Chambers in London, which was commissioned by the World Uyghur Congress and the Uyghur Human Rights Project, reached a similar conclusion that there is a "credible case" against the Chinese government for genocide.

No specific penalties or punishments are laid out in the convention for states or governments determined to have committed genocide. But the Newlines report said that under the convention, the other 151 signatories have a responsibility to act.

"China's obligations ... to prevent, punish and not commit genocide are erga omnes, or owed to the international community as a whole," the report added.


'Clear and convincing'

Yonah Diamond, legal counsel at the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights, who worked on the report, said a common public misunderstanding about the definition of genocide was it required evidence of mass killing or a physical extermination of a people.

"The real question is, is there enough evidence to show that there is an intent to destroy the group as such -- and this is what this report lays bare," he said.

All five definitions of genocide laid out in the convention are examined in the report to determine whether the allegations against the Chinese government fulfill each specific criterion.

"Given the serious nature of the breaches in question ... this report applies a clear and convincing standard of proof," the report said.

The Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy was founded in 2019 as a nonpartisan think tank by the Fairfax University of America, with a goal to "to enhance US foreign policy based on a deep understanding of the geopolitics of the different regions of the world and their value systems." It was previously known as the Center for Global Policy.

Thousands of eyewitness testimonies from Uyghur exiles and official Chinese government documents were among the evidence considered by the authors, Diamond said.

According to the report, between 1 million and 2 million people have allegedly been detained in as many as 1,400 extrajudicial internment facilities across Xinjiang by the Chinese government since 2014, when it launched a campaign ostensibly targeting Islamic extremism.

Beijing has claimed the crackdown was necessary after a series of deadly attacks across Xinjiang and other parts of China, which China has categorized as terrorism.

The report details allegations of sexual assaults, psychological torture, attempted cultural brainwashing, and an unknown number of deaths within the camps.

"Uyghur detainees within the internment camps are ... deprived of their basic human needs, severely humiliated and subjected to inhumane treatment or punishment, including solitary confinement without food for prolonged periods," the report claimed.

"Suicides have become so pervasive that detainees must wear 'suicide safe' uniforms and are denied access to materials susceptible to causing self-harm."

The report also attributed a dramatic drop in the Uyghur birth rate across the region -- down about 33% between 2017 and 2018 -- to the alleged implementation of an official Chinese government program of sterilizations, abortions and birth control, which in some cases was forced upon the women without their consent.

The Chinese government has confirmed the drop in the birth rate to CNN but claimed that between 2010 and 2018 the Uyghur population of Xinjiang increased overall.

During the crackdown, textbooks for Uyghur culture, history and literature were allegedly removed from classes for Xinjiang schoolchildren, the report said. In the camps, detainees were forcibly taught Mandarin and described being tortured if they refused, or were unable, to speak it.

Using public documents and speeches given by Communist Party officials, the report claimed responsibility for the alleged genocide lay with the Chinese government.

Researchers cited official speeches and documents in which Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities are referred to as "weeds" and "tumors." One government directive allegedly called on local authorities to "break their lineage, break their roots, break their connections and break their origins."

"In sum, the persons and entities perpetrating the enumerated acts of genocide are State organs and agents under Chinese law," the report said. "The commission of these enumerated acts of genocide ... against the Uyghurs are therefore necessarily attributable to the State of China."

Rian Thum, a report contributor and Uyghur historian at the University of Manchester, said in 20 years, people would look back on the crackdown in Xinjiang as "one of the great acts of cultural destruction of the last century."

"I think a lot of Uyghurs will take this report as a long overdue recognition of the suffering that they and their family and friends and community have gone through," Thum said.


'The lie of the century'

The Chinese government has repeatedly defended its actions in Xinjiang, saying citizens now enjoy a high standard of life.

"The genocide allegation is the lie of the century, concocted by extremely anti-China forces. It is a preposterous farce aiming to smear and vilify China," Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a news conference on February 4.

The detention camps, which Beijing refers to as "vocational training centers," are described by officials and state media as being part of both a poverty alleviation campaign and a mass deradicalization program to combat terrorism.

"(But) you can simultaneously have an anti-terrorism campaign that is genocidal," said report contributor John Packer, associate professor at the University of Ottawa and former director of the Office of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities in The Hague.

World Uyghur Congress' UK director Rahima Mahmut, who was not involved in the report, said a lot of countries "say (they) cannot do anything, but they can."

"These countries, the countries that signed the Genocide Convention, they have an obligation to prevent and punish ... I feel every country can take action," she said.

While the report team avoided making recommendations to maintain impartiality, co-author Ibrahim said the implications of the its findings were "very serious."

"This (is) not an advocacy document, we're not advocating any course of action whatsoever. There were no campaigners involved in this report, it was purely done by legal experts, area experts and China ethnic experts," he said.

But Packer said such a "serious breach of the international order" in the world's second-largest economy raised questions about the global governance.

"If this is not sufficient to instigate some kind of action or even to take positions, then what actually is required?" he said.

AS FAR BACK AS 2006 THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT HAS TRIED TO FREE A DUAL CITIZEN WHO WAS A UYGHUR/CANADIAN, CHINA CALLED HIM A TERRORIST AS THEY LABELED ALL UYGHURS AT THE TIME.

TERRORISM IS THE FAVORITE EXCUSE OF EVERY AUTHORITARIAN STATE 

#IWD

Shakeup coming atop Canadian military as 1st woman deputy to be named
Murray Brewster 

© Facebook/Canadian Armed Forces Lt.-Gen. Francec Allen is currently Canada's military representative at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

The Canadian military's second-in-command will soon be replaced as part of an anticipated major shakeup of the senior ranks of the embattled institution.

Lt.-Gen. Mike Rouleau will be moved aside as Vice Chief of the Defence Staff (VCDS) in order to make way for Lt.-Gen. Frances Allen, CBC News has confirmed.

The move is part of a number of general officer appointments and transfers, which the Department of National Defence intends to announce on Tuesday.

Global News first reported the latest shakeup, but a confidential source confirmed the information late Monday to CBC News.

It is happening at a time of extraordinary crisis within the military as the two most senior officers — Admiral Art McDonald and Gen. Jonathan Vance — remain under investigation by the Canadian Forces National Investigative Service for alleged sexual misconduct.

After learning last week that he was under investigation, McDonald, who had only been in the Chief of the Defence job a month, stepped aside.

The normal practice would have been to make the vice chief the acting top commander, but Rouleau was passed over and the head of the Canadian Army, Lt.-Gen. Wayne Eyre was given the temporary appointment by Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan

.

© CBC News Lt.-Gen. Mike Rouleau will be moved aside as Vice Chief of the Defence Staff in order to make way for Lt.-Gen. Frances Allen, CBC News has confirmed.

Video: Defence committee expands military misconduct investigation (Global News)

The intention, according to a defence source, is to make Rouleau, who is the former commander of special forces, a senior adviser on future capabilities.

Both Rouleau and Allen have only been at their current jobs since last summer.

Allen, who as a major-general served as the deputy vice chief, is currently Canada's military representative at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

She will become the first woman to hold the position of vice chief and in that capacity will be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the military.
Increased political scrutiny

Allen inherits an institution in the midst of crisis, one that is struggling to salvage its signature social initiative: the campaign to stamp out sexual misconduct, which has suffered a major credibility hit because of the scandals surrounding Vance and McDonald.

There will be increased political scrutiny.

On Monday, a Parliamentary committee agreed to an expanded set of hearings into sexual misconduct in the military.

The House of Commons defence committee has held a series of meetings and heard from a number of witnesses, including former military ombudsman Gary Walbourne, who told MPs he had warned the minister three years ago about an allegation of inappropriate behavior involving Vance.

An investigation into the claim was hamstrung because the complaint was informal and Walbourne had given the woman his guarantee of confidentiality.

Trial begins in university professor's defamation lawsuit against Ezra Levant

© Provided by Edmonton Journal

Ezra Levant is accused of making defamatory statements against Farhan Chak, a former Liberal Party of Canada candidate in Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont.

A university professor and former Liberal Party candidate’s defamation lawsuit against pundit Ezra Levant has made it to court six years after it was filed.

(LIBEL HAS A SEVEN YEAR LIMIT FOR TRIAL) 

On Monday, Edmonton Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Shaina Leonard heard opening arguments in the case of Farhan Chak, who launched a lawsuit against Levant in 2015 over comments Levant made on his Sun News Network program.

According to Chak’s statement of claim, Levant alleged during his Feb. 25, 2014, broadcast that Chak was involved in a shooting at an Edmonton nightclub in 1993, when Chak was 19.

Chak was acquitted of the 1993 charges in what he called “a case of mistaken identity.” He vehemently denied any involvement in the shooting, saying he was at his parents’ home with friends and had “absolutely no knowledge of what transpired.”

For reasons that remain under dispute, neither the plaintiffs or the defendants were able to obtain a transcript of the 1993 trial.

Chak won the Liberal nomination in Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont under Stéphane Dion in 2007 but eventually withdrew his candidacy amid controversy stemming in part from the charges.

Levant is now the head of Rebel Media, while Chak is a professor at Qatar University with a doctorate in political science.

A file photo of Farhan Chak, when he was 

a Liberal candidate in Edmonton—Mill Woods—Beaumont.

Levant made the allegation as part of a monologue about human rights commissions (Chak’s brother was a lawyer at the time for the Alberta Human Rights Commission.)

Leonard is expected to hear from six witnesses, the majority of whom will be called by the defence. The bulk of Monday’s hearing was testimony from Chak, who appeared by video from Qatar.

Chak lived much of his life in Edmonton, the son of refugees from Jammu and Kashmir.

He said Levant’s statements had a “devastating” effect, including on his health and his career prospects.

Chak’s lawyer, Imran Qureshi, said his client was never given an opportunity to respond, and that Levant’s statements were “at best reckless and at worst malicious.”

“This was not by accident,” Qureshi said. “The very purpose of the broadcast and the defamatory statement was to villainize Dr. Chak.”

Chak’s 2015 statement of claim seeks $1 million in damages.

Levant’s lawyer, Barry Zalmanowitz, cross-examined Chak on his memories from the 1994 trial. 

ZALMANOWITZ IS THE TOP LIBEL LAWYER IN THE PROVINCE. THE SUN IS A CLIENT

Levant’s statement of defence argues that the statements were “substantially true.” He also claims the defences of fair comment, qualified privilege and responsible communication on a matter of public interest.

BOILER PLATE DEFENSE

Other defendants in the case include Sun News, Sun Media Corp. and Quebecor Media Inc.

Postmedia, this newspaper’s parent company, purchased Sun Media’s English language newspapers in 2015.

The trial is scheduled to run four days.

EZRA HAS BEEN TRIED 

BEFORE FOR LIBEL

IT DID NOT GO SO WELL

REST IN POWER 

OUTSPOKEN ECOLOGIST

'Truth to power:' Lab was not enough for renowned scientist David Schindler

EDMONTON — His research in the lab and the field was published in some of the world's top journals, but that was never enough for David Schindler, who died Thursday at age 80

© Provided by The Canadian Press

"The importance of David Schindler was his ability to talk truth to power," said Jim Handman, a longtime science journalist and journalism professor.

"He was extremely brave in doing that at a time when very few scientists in this country were willing to challenge politicians and put themselves on the line."

Few Canadian scientists — Schindler held joint Canadian-U. S. citizenship — can claim the influence on public policy achieved by the bluff, straight-shooting University of Alberta ecologist, who was known to call politicians "turkeys" if that's what his reading of the data suggested.

In the 1970s, Schindler pioneered a study of acid rain at Ontario's Experimental Lakes Area. By gradually adding acid to a lake under controlled conditions, he was able to link the toxin to effects that were being seen in thousands of lakes across Central and Eastern Canada and in the United States.

His work was at the heart of talks between prime ministers and presidents and helped prod the U.S. and Canada to sign 1991's Acid Rain Treaty, one of the most successful environmental accords ever signed.

In the early '90s, Schindler was a major part of the Northern River Basin Study, a five-year effort looking at the health of the vast Peace-Athabasca River Basin, one of the largest in the world, as it came under increased pressure from industrial development such as pulp mills.

That study brought together diverse perspectives from industrial to Indigenous in a way that was unique at the time. It set a framework that is still referred to today for understanding and regulating the area.

In 2010, he and co-author Erin Kelly published some of the earliest work showing that contaminants from oilsands developments were showing up on land and in water.

The work was hugely controversial, especially in Alberta, but it led to a federal review of how the province tracked environmental impacts and resulted in legislation still in place that requires industry to chip in $50 million a year for environmental monitoring.

"His personality, his booming voice, the way in which he dealt with reporters was a skill that many of us find to be quite a challenge," said his University of Alberta colleague Mark Boyce. "He had a special knack and a special communications style that was very effective."

That voice wouldn't have been heard unless the science was top-notch. Schindler regularly published in some of the world's best journals, including Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

He won at least 18 medals and prizes in Canada and abroad and was a member of four elite Canadian and international scientific societies.

Boyce remembers how Schindler loved the cut and thrust of scientific debate.

"We had some long-standing disputes," he recalled.

"He just delighted in being challenged and thinking through various topics. It was wonderful to have a colleague who delighted in challenge and complexity."

"He knew what the important questions were," said John Smol, a Queen's University ecologist who worked with Schindler. "Almost every important problem with water, he was on the front line."

Water was also where he turned for pleasure. Schindler was a passionate fly fisherman and legend has it that he convinced then-federal environment minister Jim Prentice on the importance of oilsands monitoring while the two were on an angling trip.

He mushed dogs, too, and raced teams for years.

"He was very good at it," said Boyce.

"When I first came to Edmonton, he had 90 dogs. He'd buy a semi-truck full of chicken scraps in the early winter to keep his dogs going.

"He was crazy about dogs."

Even when he was out on the water casting a fly, Schindler would still cast his mind to his research and the problems he was trying to unriddle.

"He was not divorced from that while we were out fishing," said Boyce. "An interest in the environment is something that dominates your life."

Schindler, whose health had been in decline for two years, died in Brisco, B.C., where he had retired with his wife and fellow scientist Suzanne Bayley. Although he had stepped back from public life — increasing deafness made him a difficult interview — he had lost none of his passion.

In an email last summer to The Canadian Press, Schindler quoted a saying of his grandfather's in reference to politicians and industry officials who turn a blind eye to science: "Too low to kick and too slimy to step on."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2021.

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

CANADA

Virtual voting for House of Commons moves into next phase with debut of mobile app

Until Monday, MPs not in the chamber were using video conferencing to cast votes, a cumbersome process that took up to an hour for each vote.

OTTAWA — Members of Parliament zipped through two votes in 30 minutes Monday as they began using new technology allowing them to cast votes with their mobile devices

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The voting app is the latest adaptation of the parliamentary process to allow MPs to work remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It comes nearly a year since Parliament shut its doors as part of the national lockdown to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Commons remained fully closed for nearly a month before the parties were able to agree on a path forward that would keep people safe and ensure government was still working.

Now, the House of Commons sits in a hybrid format that allows most MPs to participate via video conference while only a small number are physically present in the chamber.

Until Monday, MPs not in the chamber were using video conferencing to cast votes, a cumbersome process that took up to an hour for each vote.

With the new mobile app, MPs are given 10 minutes in which to vote via smart phones, with their votes registered live online as they come in.

Monday's debut went off with only a few hitches -- a handful of MPs reported that they were unable to vote.

But with one exception, they were all allowed to vote subsequently. Speaker Anthony Rota said he'll look into the exception to ensure it doesn't happen again.

"This solution offers the House another secure and reliable way to conduct its business over the next few months, despite the constraints of the pandemic," Rota told the Commons after the votes.

"One day soon, I hope we will all be able to get together again in person in this chamber to continue our work on behalf of our fellow citizens."

Rota expressed his "profound gratitude" to Commons staff who have worked "tirelessly to ensure that ourselves can work for our constituents."

"We could not have done this without them."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2021.

Stephanie Levitz, The Canadian Press

RIGHT WING PRESS REPORT 

Ohio Democrat calls passage of union bailout provision 'best day of my Senate life'

Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown called Senate passage of President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID spending package “the best day of my Senate life” because it includes an $86 billion taxpayer bailout for 185 union pension plans.

© Provided by Washington Examiner

“It was the best day of my Senate career. It is writ large. It's also that for five years, I've been working on pensions," Brown told reporters on Capitol Hill on Saturday.

The overall bill, the American Rescue Plan, now heads to the House. Its union pension provision would allow certain multiemployer pensions to apply for federal grant funding, which union workers could put toward paying for retirement benefits. Multiemployer pension pay benefits to union workers in industries such as construction, manufacturing, mining, retail transportation, and entertainment.

The bill passed 50-49. Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan was absent. The House passed the legislation last week, and Senate Democrats altered the bill to placate party moderates and follow Senate rules that that enabled them to pass it without GOP support. Senate Democrats removed the measure provision that mandated a $15 minimum wage and agreed to lessen the monthly enhanced unemployment insurance pay from $400 to $300.

“This is the best day of my Senate life," Brown said. "It really is, because we won on so many big things. We passed so many big things. The public won.”

Tags: News, Sherrod Brown, Stimulus, Pensions, Unions

Original Author: Kerry Picket

Original Location: Ohio Democrat calls passage of union bailout provision 'best day of my Senate life'

Alaska Senators Introduce New Legislation to Bypass Canada’s Cruise Ship Ban

Alaska senators are working to get the state's cruise season off the ground with new legislation following Canada's cruise ship ban

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© Provided by Travel + Leisure Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images 

Quantum's Ovation of the Seas ship cruising through Stephens Passage in Alaska.

Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan introduced the Alaska Tourism Recovery Act on Friday that, if passed, would allow cruise ships to travel between the state of Washington and Alaska without stopping in Canada. Currently, the Passenger Vessel Service Act — passed in 1886 — requires large foreign-flagged ships to stop in Canada before heading north to the state, which wouldn't be possible this year as Canada extended its cruise ship ban through February 2022.

"Canada's recent decision to prohibit Alaska-bound cruise ships from operating in Canadian waters creates legal hurdles that will hamstring the Alaska cruise season, creating additional economic strain on Alaska's entire economy, especially in our Southeast communities," Murkowski said in a statement. "Alaskan communities are already facing severe economic hardship and uncertainty from missing one tourism season as a result of COVID-19… Missing another cruise season would only compound the economic fallout that has been devastating for so many families."

Since Canada extended its ban, cruise lines have been forced to cancel Alaska itineraries while some have pivoted to land-based journeys. The introduction of the bill comes weeks after Alaska leaders pledged to find a workaround.

Sullivan said Canada's decision has "dire implications" for Alaska, adding the state "simply can't afford to weather another season without the tremendous economic activity that cruise ships provide to our coastal communities."

While Alaska sailings remain in jeopardy, visitors can still head to The Last Frontier to spot wildlife, explore the state's expansive national parks (including the popular Denali NationalPark), and listen to the deafening crack of calving glaciers.

 Travelers to Alaska are no longer required to complete a COVID-19 test prior to arrival, but can choose to get tested at the airport.

Alison Fox is a contributing writer for Travel + Leisure. 

EPA investigates toxic 'forever chemicals' in pesticides
Rachel Frazin 7 hrs ago

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating the presence of toxic chemicals in pesticides, which may be coming from their plastic containers, it said on Friday.

© istock EPA investigates toxic 'forever chemicals' in pesticides

The agency said in a statement that its testing showed that the chemicals, belonging to a family of substances called PFAS, were "most likely formed" by a reaction while fluorine was being put into the containers, and then "leached into the pesticide product."

The agency said it was still early in its investigation, and that it will use "all available regulatory and non-regulatory tools to determine the scope of this emerging issue."

The EPA said that it is "actively working" with the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and industry and trade organizations to "raise awareness" of the issue.

"The Biden-Harris Administration's focus on developing and using the best available science will guide our decision-making, strengthen our work with stakeholders, and lead to pragmatic solutions that advance our efforts to address PFAS contamination and protect human health," said acting assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention Michal Freedhoff in a statement.

PFAS refers to a class of chemicals that have been linked to cancer and other health issues. They have been found in a variety of household products, as well as water, and are sometimes called "forever chemicals" because of their persistence in nature and the human body.

The statement comes after testing conducted by the environmental group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) last year which found the presence of PFAS in mosquito-killer Anvil 10+10.

The EPA said that it found PFAS in fluorinated containers that a mosquito control product was packaged and sold, and a spokesperson for the agency confirmed that the product in question was Anvil 10+10.

Anvil's manufacturer, Clarke Mosquito Control Products Inc., noted in a statement that there's no PFAS in the product itself, but that its packaging may be the source of the contamination.

It has "voluntarily ceased all sales and shipments to customers of Anvil 10+10 packaged in plastic containers and is directing its customers to not use Anvil 10+10 packaged in plastic containers" and will transition to PFAS-free packaging.