Colombia's president withdraws tax reform after protests

By Julia Symmes Cobb 

MAY 2,2021

© Reuters/LUISA GONZALEZ FILE PHOTO: Protest against the tax reform, in Bogota

BOGOTA (Reuters) -Colombian President Ivan Duque said on Sunday he would withdraw a proposed tax reform after sometimes violent protests and widespread lawmaker opposition, though he insisted a reform is still necessary to ensure fiscal stability.

© Reuters/LUISA GONZALEZ FILE PHOTO: Protest against the tax reform, in Bogota

Duque said on Friday the law would be revised to remove some of its most controversial points - including the leveling of sales tax on utilities and some food - but the government had previously insisted it could not be withdrawn.

© Reuters/LUISA GONZALEZ FILE PHOTO: Protest against the tax reform, in Bogota

Protests against the reform have led to multiple deaths around the country since they began on Wednesday.

"I am asking Congress to withdraw the law proposed by the finance ministry and urgently process a new law that is the fruit of consensus, in order to avoid financial uncertainty," Duque said in a video.

The reform, which the government has insisted is vital to stabilizing Colombia's finances, maintaining its credit rating and funding social programs, remains necessary, Duque said.

Political parties, local officials, business leaders and civil society have contributed valuable ideas over the last several days, he said.

There is consensus on the need for temporary taxes on businesses and dividends, an increase in income tax for the wealthiest and deepened state austerity measures, Duque said.

"It is a moment for all of us to work together without malice," he said.

The central bank warned on Friday failure to approve the reform could have a negative impact on the economy, while a loss of the country's investment-grade credit rating has already been priced in by many investors.

Lawmakers, unions and other groups hailed the announcement as a victory. Celebratory cacerolazos, a traditional protest where people beat pots and pans, could be heard in some neighborhoods.

"It is the youth, social organizations and mobilized citizens who have seen deaths and defeated the government," leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda said on Twitter. "May the government not present the same reform with make-up. The citizens won't accept tricks."

There is not yet a definite national count of deaths connected to protests, amid incidents of looting, destruction of public transport and road blockades in several cities.

Local officials in Cali, the country's third-largest city and where demonstrations have been the most violent, have confirmed three. Another death occurred in Neiva and a police officer was killed in Soacha.

Human rights groups have alleged police abuses - especially in Cali - and said deaths number more than 20.

Duque said late on Saturday cities at high risk for disturbances would get military assistance, an offer rejected by Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez.

(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

Another Amazon Warehouse In Ontario Has Been Partially Closed Due To A COVID-19 Outbreak

Duration: 01:00 MAY 2,2021

NARCITY



Yet another Amazon facility in Brampton has been ordered to partially close after a COVID-19 outbreak —

Peel's third reported Amazon outbreak in under a week.

Federal budget lacked a plan to combat violence against Indigenous women, advocates say

Olivia Stefanovich 
CBC 2/5/2021

© Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, holds a copy of the final report from the closing ceremonies of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Gatineau, Que., on June 3, 2019.

Advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) say the federal government sidestepped the national inquiry's finding of genocide in its budget — and they wonder how Ottawa can commit money to ending the violence without a plan.

Two years ago this June, the National Inquiry into MMIWG concluded violence against Indigenous women and girls amounts to genocide — a finding the United Nations Human Rights Office urged the government to investigate.

The word "genocide" isn't mentioned in this year's budget — the first one to be released since the inquiry's final report.

Instead, the document describes the violence against Indigenous women and girls as a "national tragedy."

"It's a misstep because this is a genocide," said MMIWG advocate Meggie Cywink.

"Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau said it was a genocide, so with that comes a certain level of responsibility from the government."
Money welcome, but accountability needed

In its budget, the Liberals promise $2.2 billion over five years and $160.9 million each year after to address the root causes of violence against Indigenous women and girls.

The money is earmarked for culture revitalization and preservation projects, efforts to tackle racism and discrimination in the health care system, the creation of culturally sensitive policing services, improved access to justice for Indigenous people and supports for families and survivors.

The money is in addition to the $781 million-plus — and more than $106 million each year after that — set aside in the Fall Economic Statement to deal with the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system, strengthen community-based justice systems and build new shelters and transition housing for First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

Cywink said the funding is generous but she wants to see the government do more to address violence against Indigenous women and girls.

Twenty-seven-years ago, the body of Cywink's sister was discovered at an Indigenous historical site known as the Southwold Earthworks, just outside of London, Ontario.

Sonya Nadine Cywink was 31 years old and pregnant at her time of death.

Since then, Cywink has been on a quest to learn what happened to her sister, helping other families of missing and murdered women and girls along the way.

Cywink said she wants to make sure those families are at the centre of any discussions on how the $2.2 billion is spent.

"Awareness is something that we've already done," she said. "Now, it's about creating the actions that are really going to stop ... the genocide"
Budget informing national action plan

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett did not use the word "genocide" when asked about its absence from the budget. She said the federal government accepted the findings of the inquiry's final report.

"We have been asked by the families and survivors for decades to put in place the concrete actions where they would seek justice, receive healing [and] support as well as concrete actions to stop this national tragedy. That was their words," Bennett said.

"We are, I think, faithful to the words of the families, but also to the way forward."

Bennett said the recent work on the national action plan informed what's in the budget.

"These investments in the budget are supporting the federal contribution to a national action plan so the dollars in the budget are part of our implementation of that ..." Bennett said

SHE PRODUCE'S CROCIDILE TEARS EVERY TIME SHE HEARS THE WORD GENOCIDE

© Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett wouldn't offer a clear date for releasing the national action plan to address violence against Indigenous women and girls.

Marion Buller, former chief commissioner of the national inquiry, said she wants to see the government do more to acknowledge the finding of genocide.

"Using the term 'national tragedy' in the budget to describe MMIWG is an attempt by government to avoid the legal and social reality of genocide," Buller said.
Addressing the finding of genocide

As for the $2.2 billion pledge, Buller questioned how the government can assign funding to a national action plan that hasn't been released yet.

"How they can assign a dollar amount to something that hasn't landed is a bit of an accounting mystery to me," Buller said.

Buller said she's been briefed on the national action plan several times but has no say on what happens next.

"What I don't see in this budget is the paradigm shift that we called for in our Calls for Justice," Buller said.

"We have to move away from programming and temporary measures and that whole way of thinking ... to that paradigm shift of Indigenous people doing for themselves."

© Chantelle Bellrichard/CBC Marion Buller, former chief commissioner of the national inquiry, said the federal government tried to avoid acknowledging the legal and social reality of genocide in the budget.

Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, said he will be watching to see how the government frames its response to the national inquiry's finding of genocide in the national action plan.

"I recognize the admission of genocide is not an easy thing for any institution or nation state," Obed said.

"The opportunity for Canada, I believe, is to hear what Indigenous women and girls have said, and to respond and show that they have heard and take to heart the findings, and will do all that they can to change the reality, and also to uphold human rights for First Nations, Inuit and Métis women and girls in this country."

Obed said it's good the government is linking its funding with the inquiry's Calls for Justice, which it notes in several of its budget promises, but he wants to see more specifics.

"We want to make sure that this isn't just status-quo funding that would've gone to these areas anyway that is now being repackaged as an investment in the implementation of the Calls for Justice," he said.
Action plan to be released 'as soon as it's ready'

More than 100 Indigenous women, girls and and transgender people are overseeing the plan to address systemic causes of violence against them, said Bennett.

She said urban Indigenous, two-spirit, First Nation, Métis and Inuit specialized groups are creating their own chapters of the action plan, along with the provinces and territories.

© Kate Kyle/CBC Natan Obed, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami president, said he will be watching to see how Ottawa frames its response to the national inquiry’s finding of genocide in the national action plan.

Once it's complete, Bennett said, the action plan will include a way for families and survivors to track its progress and provide feedback.

Bennett wouldn't commit to a new target date for releasing the plan, but said she's optimistic about the work.

"We've made extraordinary progress," Bennett said. "We really look forward to being able to put it together, as soon as it's ready"

DIY MUTUAL AID

How outdoor community fridges are changing life for those facing hard times

Nick Purdon & Leonardo Palleja 
CBC 2/5/2021

You might have spotted a refrigerator, painted with bright colours, out on a public sidewalk near where you live. If so, you've stumbled upon a growing international food-sharing initiative known as "the community fridge."

The idea behind the fridges that have cropped all across Canada, especially since the pandemic began, is as simple as the motto painted onto their doors: "Take what you need — leave what you can."

The refrigerators offer free food to anyone who needs it, and are stocked by anyone who wants to donate.

There are eight community fridge locations spread across downtown Toronto. CBC's nightly newscast The National spent some time at several fridges and spoke to people who use them, as well as people who keep them filled.

Bernice Sampson

© Nick Purdon/CBC Bernice Sampson, 60, is happy that the lo.cal community fridge in her Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale is so well stocked. 'Oh, it's wonderful,' she said. 'I feel proud of Parkdale'

"I just come to see what I can get. Something to eat for supper," Bernice Sampson said. "Or if I get some toothpaste and toothbrush, I'm good to go."

Sampson frequents the community fridge in the downtown Toronto neighbourhood of Parkdale almost every day. She says it has become part of her routine.

On the day CBC News spoke with Sampson, she was able to grab a couple of onions and a box of breaded shrimp from the fridge.

"They're going to go in my stomach when I get home," she said with a laugh.

"It's awesome that someone wants to give back something to the community," Sampson continued. "It feels good to know that people are doing that for the community — not only for me, but for the kids, for the old ones, for people that don't have nothing."

Diane Hanson comes to the fridges in Parkdale, accompanied by her son, in the hope of finding donations of fresh, healthy food:

Kathryn Arab, 31© Nick Purdon/CBC Kathryn Arab is a front-line nurse who lives a few doors down from a community fridge in Toronto. 'I think a lot of people are struggling,' she said. 'I'm just trying to help out others any way I can.'

Kathryn Arab lives near one of Toronto's community fridges and she stocks it whenever she can.

"I just drop off whatever I had that I wasn't using. And it all gets taken, like, within five minutes," she said.

For Arab, helping comes naturally. She's a front-line nurse and has worked through the pandemic. She also cares deeply about the Toronto community of Parkdale where she lives — one of the poorer neighbourhoods in the city.

"I know these people. I see them on the streets. I see them struggling. I see them begging, sleeping on the sidewalk," she said. "And they're my family. They're my brothers and sisters. They're my friends. Why wouldn't I want to help them if I could?"

© Nick Purdon/CBC Many of the community refrigerators in Toronto have been decorated by the volunteers who maintain and supply them.

Jake Silva

Along with his father, Jake Silva runs The Iceman, an ice-making business that serves restaurants in Toronto. The family business has been in the same neighbourhood for 40 years.

Silva helped set up a community fridge outside his business as a way of giving back.

Patricia Reid

© Nick Purdon/CBC Patricia Reid holds the items she took from her community fridge. 'It's just a godsend,' she said.

Patricia Reid says she only recently found out about Toronto's community fridges. Now she visits them often.

"I got a tomato, I got spinach. I could make a salad. They're expensive," she said on a recent trip, smiling.

Reid is 80 and lives on a fixed income. She explains that the community fridge helps her because she needs to save money to pay for her dental surgery.

"I have to pay $4,000 for my tooth implants. And I'll give up food for that, because teeth are really important in health," she said. "I have to give my food money away to that."

Reid says she doesn't know much about who is behind the community fridges, but she wants them to know that the initiative has made a difference in her life.

"You have eased my life, that's what they've done. And I couldn't imagine somebody being so kind. I get really worked up about that," she said with tears in her eyes.

"It's given to me, so I don't have to go beg. I don't want to beg."

Watch full episodes of The National on CBC Gem, the CBC's streaming service.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

An FDA official who led the approval of OxyContin got a $400,000 gig at Purdue Pharma a year later, a new book reveals

insider@insider.com (Allana Akhtar) 2/5/2021

© Doubleday "Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty" by Patrick Radden Keefe Doubleday

An FDA director who oversaw the approval of OxyContin got a $400K gig at Purdue Pharma a year later.

A new book by Patrick Radden Keefe reported on these claims and on the billionaire Sackler family.

A Sackler family lawyer told Insider Keefe refused to meet with them during his reporting process.

The US regulator who oversaw the approval of the highly-addictive opioid OxyContin got a six-figure gig at the drug's manufacturer a year later, a new book claims.

Curtis Wright, once a director at the US Food and Drug Administration who oversaw evaluation for pain medication, got a position with a first-year compensation package of $400,000 at Purdue Pharma a year after he led the approval of OxyContin, according to the book "Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty" by Patrick Radden Keefe.

Purdue Pharma's sale of OxyContin, a formulation of the narcotic oxycodone that was said to slow down the release of the strong painkiller when taken as prescribed, has been associated with the rise of the opioid crisis, according to a trillion-dollar lawsuit filed by nearly all US states.

OxyContin was the "most prescribed brand name narcotic medication" for treating moderate to severe pain by 2001, according to a report by the US Government Accountability Office. Deaths from prescription opioid overdose quadrupled between 1999 to 2019, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 247,000 deaths from prescription opioid overdose over the last two decades.

Read more: One of the nation's biggest insurers wants to make mental-health care available to more people. Here's how Cigna plans to tap Ginger's network of coaches to do it.

Keefe's book explores the lives of the billionaire Sackler family who founded Purdue Pharma and profited off of the sale of OxyContin. Forbes estimates the Sackler family's net worth at $10.8 billion, as of December 2020.

"This author has refused to correct errors in his past reporting and also blatantly violated journalistic ethics by refusing to meet with representatives for the Sackler family during the reporting of his book," Daniel S. Connolly, an attorney for the Raymond Sackler family, said in a statement to Insider. "Documents being released in Purdue's bankruptcy now demonstrate that Sackler family members who served on Purdue's board of directors acted ethically and lawfully."

The FDA approved OxyContin in December 1995, originally believing the controlled-release formulation of OxyContin would result in "less abuse potential," according to the agency's website. The agency amended the label in 2001, giving OxyContin a "black box" warning it adds on drug with the highest possible abuse potential, per the FDA website.

Keefe wrote Wright had confessed in a sworn deposition that he "might" have written the portion of the FDA package insert that said OxyContin was "believed to reduce the abuse liability of the drug." Keefe added that Wright would instruct Purdue Pharma to mail him documents at his home office, and conducted reviews of clinical study reports regarding the safety of OxyContin with the help of Purdue Pharma employees.

After Wright left the FDA he spent a year at another company before joining Purdue, according to the book.

"That was sufficient as a cooling-off period, apparently, to allay any concerns that Richard Sackler might have had about the appearance of a conflict of interest," Keefe wrote.

Purdue Pharma did not have additional comment to add. The FDA declined to comment.
Read the original article on Business Insider

Israeli settlers attack Palestinian village after shooting



Associated Press
Mon., May 3, 2021


JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank overnight, setting brush fires and hurling stones, Palestinian officials and an Israeli rights group said Monday.

It appeared to be a revenge attack after three Israelis were wounded in a drive-by shooting at a nearby traffic junction on Sunday.

The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said dozens of settlers attacked the village of Jaloud. It circulated videos showing the fires, with people shouting in the background. Israeli security forces arrested 11 Palestinians and four people were wounded by rubber bullets, B'Tselem said.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, provided a similar account, saying the villagers had come out to defend the village after the settlers attacked.

The Israeli military said Israeli civilians and Palestinians hurled rocks at each other outside the village and that “a number of locations were ignited.” It did not provide details on what triggered the violence. It said around 10 people were detained, but did not identify them.

Radical Israeli settlers have been known to carry out so-called “price tag” attacks on Palestinian communities in response to violence or perceived Israeli plans to restrict settlement activity.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state. Nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in more than 100 settlements scattered across the West Bank, which is home to some 2.5 million Palestinians.

The Palestinians view the settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace, a position with wide international support.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be a harsh response to Sunday's shooting. “We will not allow terrorism to raise its head and we will strike our enemies with force,” he said Sunday.

Clashes broke out in another village in the northern West Bank late Sunday during an Israeli military raid. The Palestinian Health Ministry said five people were wounded by live ammunition in the village of Beita.

The military said troops entered the village to search for suspected attackers after the shooting. It said Palestinians hurled rocks and firebombs at the soldiers, who responded by opening fire.

Trump's Scottish Golf Resorts Took $800,000 In Taxpayer Funds To Save Jobs, But Cut Workers


Mary Papenfuss
·Trends Reporter, HuffPost
Sun., May 2, 2021


Donald Trump’s two Scottish golf resorts collected up to $800,000 in subsidies from the British government to protect jobs during COVID-19 but fired “scores” of workers, a top union complained Sunday.

Union officials called the money grab a “scandal” and are calling for a government investigation.

Trump’s SLC Turnberry Ltd received as much as $700,000 in taxpayer funds, while his resort in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, was paid up to $100,000 in just two months, according to government documents, reported the Scottish Sun. (The amounts are reported in ranges.)

Some other golf resorts collected as much or even more. But the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers complained to The Scotsman that the Trump Organization “hoovering up” public money while cutting staff made a “mockery” of a program specifically designed to save jobs.

The union said some 66 workers were let go at Turnberry in Ayrshire since last spring. Some have been hired back but at reduced pay, according to the union.

“It is clear to us that at the very least the principles of the job retention scheme appear to have been breached by the Trump Organization, and that should now be subjected to a detailed and forensic investigation” by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs department, said the RMT’s General Secretary Mick Cash. “It’s a scandal.”

When Trump wooed both Ireland and Scotland to allow him to develop golf resorts in both countries, he promised the operations would deliver major tax revenue. In fact, it appears the Trump Organization hasn’t paid a penny in taxes at any of the resorts because of constantly reported losses.

In 2017, Turnberry was granted a $147,000 tax break. The resort was later cut out of the program that was intended to give struggling companies a break, the Sunday Herald reported.

“It’s bad enough that he has a business presence in Scotland,” Patrick Harvie, a member of the Scottish Parliament from the Green Party, told the newspaper after the decision was made. “It’s galling to learn that the public purse is giving him a helping hand.”

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request from HuffPost for comment.

QUEBEC

No money left for pay raises, Legault tells 'guardian angels' and other public-sector workers

The Quebec Workers Federation said in a news release that the average annual salary of its public-sector workers is $39,819.

Sun., May 2, 2021

A health-care worker seen here during the first wave of the pandemic in Montreal, in May 2020. At the time, Premier François Legault routinely referred to health-care workers as Quebec's 'guardian angels.' (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Premier François Legault told Quebec's nurses, teachers and elderly care workers on Sunday that the government had no money left in its coffers to offer them pay raises much higher than inflation.

Earlier on Sunday, Legault met with the heads of several public-sector unions, representation around 550,000 workers, in an effort to sell them on the government's latest offer. He was joined by Treasury Board chair Sonia LeBel.

The workers, who include many of the health-care professionals Legault referred to as Quebec's "guardian angels" during the first wave of the pandemic, have been without a contract since March 2020.

The government is offering them a five-per cent pay rise over three years, and a further three-per cent if inflation exceeds five per cent. Inflation for that period has been estimated at 4.87 per cent by the government.

But the government is also offering higher pay rises for patient attendants in long-term care homes (23 per cent) and first-year teachers (18 per cent), in an effort to attract more applicants to positions where Quebec is facing severe staffing shortages.

Legault and Sonia Lebel, Minister Responsible for Government Administration, speak during a news conference following a meeting with union leaders in Montreal, Sunday.(Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

The public-sector unions had already indicated the salary offers were too little for their members to accept, particularly those who don't qualify for the larger raises.

Legault, though, said Sunday that with the province facing several years of deficits because of pandemic spending, that salary offer was as good as it's going to get.

"We've reached the capacity of what we can pay. So when some union leaders say 'We want more money,' well, we don't have anymore money," Legault said at a news conference following the meeting.

"I think it was important to say clearly to the union, even if you continue asking for [more money for] another six months, or a year, there won't be anymore money on the table."

Legault added that he had been patient with the unions for the past year, but now wants to see the contract negotiations wrapped up in the next several weeks.

Unions angered by Legault's inflexibility

The union leaders held a press conference of their own Sunday, expressing disappointment that the government had refused to boost its offer, which it initially tabled in March.

They said that without more significant pay raises, the public sector would continue to have difficulty attracting young workers, and retaining more experienced ones.

Throughout the pandemic, many critical areas of the health-care system has struggled to provide services to the public because of long-running staffing issues.

"People realized in the pandemic that without the public sector nothing would work in Quebec," said Caroline Senneville, a vice-president of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, a union that represents around 160,000 public-sector workers, including CEGEP teachers and nurses.

"A school without a secretary — that doesn't work. A operating room that hasn't been cleaned — you can't operate there even if you have doctors."

The Quebec Workers Federation, another large labour federation involved in the negotiations, said in a news release that the average annual salary of its public-sector workers is $39,819.

SLEAZY CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M 
How the Gaetz probe grew from sex trafficking to medical pot

Sat., May 1, 2021



ORLANDO, Fla. — When Rep. Matt Gaetz vacationed in the Bahamas in 2018, he was joined by a doctor who donated to his campaign and a former colleague in the Florida state legislature.

The Republican congressman, Dr. Jason Pirozzolo and Halsey Beshears were united in their enjoyment of politics, fancy travel and the company of beautiful women. They also had another mutual interest: Florida’s $1.2 billion medical marijuana industry.

The Bahamas trip is a central element of a federal investigation surrounding Gaetz that has suddenly endangered his political career. What began as a probe into sex trafficking and whether Gaetz paid women and an underage girl in exchange for sex has grown into a larger review of public corruption, according to people familiar with the investigation.

Investigators are looking at whether Gaetz and his associates tried to secure government jobs for some of the women, the people said. They are also scrutinizing Gaetz’s connections to the medical marijuana sector, including whether Pirozzolo and others sought to influence legislation Gaetz sponsored. The probe includes legislation from 2018, when Gaetz was in Congress, and earlier work in the state legislature, according to one of the people.

Pressure on the congressman could build in the coming weeks as Joel Greenberg, a Gaetz associate who has been accused of trafficking a minor for sex, faces a May 15 deadline to strike a plea deal with prosecutors. If he does, Greenberg may be pressed to co-operate with federal investigators and deliver damaging information against Gaetz.

None of the people on the trip to the Bahamas has been charged with a crime. Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and has retained high-powered lawyers. The congressman and his representative did not respond to a message seeking comment for this story.

Beshears and a lawyer for Pirozzolo declined to comment for this story.

The Associated Press spoke with more than 10 people familiar with the dynamic among Gaetz, Pirozzolo and Beshears. Three of the people had knowledge of the investigation. They all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to publicly discuss the ongoing probe.

Gaetz's interest in medical marijuana dates back nearly a decade, when he was a member of the Florida House of Representatives. Well before he would gain national attention for his steadfast support of Donald Trump, Gaetz would carve out an unusual reputation in Tallahassee as a Republican who wanted to liberalize marijuana laws.

In February 2014, Gaetz co-sponsored the first state effort to allow marijuana for medical use. His proposal allowing the use of a non-hallucinogenic marijuana extract was limited to patients with cancer or a severe form of epilepsy and slowly earned the support of his father, Don Gaetz, who was then serving as president of the Florida Senate and said he was “being pummeled” by his son about supporting it.

Gaetz cast his proposal as a pared-down alternative to a statewide ballot measure that would have broadly legalized medical marijuana. Gaetz's law was approved with broad bipartisan support and signed into law by Republican Gov. Rick Scott in June 2014, while the statewide measure narrowly failed at the ballot box that November.

The day Gaetz's measure was up for a final debate and vote in Florida's House of Representatives, both Pirozzolo and Beshears were on the floor.

Beshears was a fellow GOP member of the legislature who joined Gaetz to support the legislation. Pirozzolo, an Orlando hand doctor and pilot, was there serving as the physician of the day for the lawmakers — a role he would frequently take on by flying his own plane to Tallahassee.

Once the legislation passed, it created lucrative new opportunities for Beshears' family and Pirozzolo.

The long-standing nursery owned by Beshears' family was awarded one of five highly coveted licenses to cultivate and dispense medical marijuana.

The legislation was written to specify — and restrict — who could win such a license. An amendment added by another lawmaker in the Florida House limited the pool of applicants to nurseries that had been in continuous business for 30 years and had an inventory of 400,000 or more plants.

The Beshears family nursery, joining with two other growers, met that standard.

The Tampa Bay Times reported in 2014 that Beshears had failed to file a conflict of interest report when he voted on the bill, and the lawmaker who sponsored the amendment wanted to “err on the side of limiting who could qualify now” when embarking on such a new industry. More licenses have since been awarded, but the industry is still tightly controlled.

Another amendment added to the 2014 legislation the day Pirozzolo watched in the House required dispensary applicants to employ a doctor as a medical director.

Eight days later, Pirozzolo started a consulting firm connecting marijuana businesses with medical directors, the Orlando Sentinel reported. He later co-founded a group called the American Medical Marijuana Physicians Association, which advocates for doctors who recommend medical cannabis.

Gaetz has spoken at least twice at the association’s annual conferences, including an appearance with longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, according to the group’s social media posts and the recollections of a member.

With recommendations from Gaetz and Beshears in 2018, Pirozzolo was appointed by current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to serve on a board that runs Orlando International Airport. In 2019, he stood next to DeSantis on an airport tarmac and greeted Trump as he arrived in Orlando to kick off his reelection campaign, according to video posted online by an Orlando Sentinel reporter.

Two years after Gaetz's first medical marijuana law, he sponsored another measure in the Florida legislature to expand on it, allowing near-death patients to use non-smokable marijuana of all strengths and doses.

The day it came up for a vote in the Florida House, Beshears voted for it, and Pirozzolo witnessed it, again serving as the doctor of the day.

By the time Gaetz was in Congress in 2018, he introduced legislation that would increase the number of entities that would conduct cannabis research. The legislation included provisions similar to what Pirozzolo's group was pushing to also expand research.

Nearly five months later, the men would meet in the Bahamas.

___

Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Fla., and Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report.

___

Follow Price on Twitter at twitter.com/michellelprice and Balsamo at https://twitter.com/MikeBalsamo1.

Michelle L. Price And Michael Balsamo, The Associated Press

How regenerative farming could help Canada meet its new carbon emission targets

CBC Sat., May 1, 2021


Claudia Wagner-Riddle, an agro-meteorologist at the University of Guelph, says cover cropping, integrating livestock and increased diversity are key components to using agriculture to fight climate change through improved soil health. 

(Mia Sheldon/CBC - image credit)

Standing in a field of alfalfa, 79-year-old Carl Israel picks up a handful of soil, smells it and remarks on its sweetness.

"I remember my dad saying … that when you're out there all day on the plow, you really get an appetite because of the smell of the soil."

That same soil, crucial to healthy crops and livestock, could also play a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and help the Canadian government meet ambitious targets it announced recently.

Carl's grandson Brett, 24, says that by adopting a series of regenerative farming techniques like the ones used by his family's 3Gen Organics operation, farmers can reduce agricultural emissions while simultaneously improving soil health.

"Farmers are on the forefront of climate change, we are seeing more intense weather systems," Brett Israel said. "So we need to build resilient systems to overcome these issues and enrich the environment around us."

Building those resilient systems starts with allowing soil to capture and sequester more carbon through cover cropping, promoting crop diversity, protecting watersheds and integrating livestock into the farm system, according to Claudia Wagner-Riddle, an agro-meteorologist at the University of Guelph who studies agricultural emissions and greenhouse gases.

Agriculture is responsible for 10 per cent of Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. As part of its strategy to address climate change, the government earmarked $270 million in its April 19 federal budget to support agriculture and climate-smart solutions, including regenerative farming.

"They [regenerative practices] are making the system more resilient to extreme climate events or weather events," Wagner-Riddle said, adding that keeping carbon sequestered in the soil in organic compounds means it is not easily accessible to be returned to the atmosphere. "That is the magic of carbon sequestration."

Brett Israel switched to regenerative farming five years ago, which includes rotating through 20 different types of crops on his organic pig farm in Wallenstein, Ont.

"We've been able to integrate forages back into our cropping system, keeping the ground covered over winter, reducing our tillage which helps us sequester more atmospheric carbon into our soils, and ultimately trying to balance our livestock with our crop land."

Crumbling soil in his hands, tracing the intricate root systems and nitrogen nodules, Israel says planting crops like alfalfa, oats or winter wheat throughout the year instead of leaving the ground bare over the winter — a practice called cover cropping — makes his soil healthier.

"The cover crop might not be feeding my physical livestock or feeding people, [but] it's feeding the biology below our ground right now."

Brett Israel's family farm in Wallenstein, Ont., rotates through 20 different types of crops and has reduced tillage to help keep the soil healthy.(Ousama Farag/CBC)

It can take up to a decade to see the benefits of regenerative farming and carbon sequestration, and the practice has remained a relatively fringe approach to agriculture until recently. But a growing body of research is showing its effectiveness in reducing agricultural emissions and improving the soil.

"In the last 10 years, there has been a lot of effort put into from various organizations to raise awareness of soil health to better measure and be able to say when the soil is healthy or not," said Wagner-Riddle.

Standing between two fields at the university, one that uses regenerative practices and one that does not, the side using regenerative techniques is green with the remains of a radish crop. The other dry and brown. Wagner-Riddle says leaving fields dormant is a missed opportunity for farmers. The dormant land could be growing crops, feeding the soil and helping to offset climate change.

Claudia Wagner-Riddle walks between two fields at the University of Guelph. The one that uses regenerative techniques is green with the remains of a radish crop that continues to feed microbes in the soil, while the one that does not is bare.(Mia Sheldon/CBC)

But a big hurdle, she says, is persuading farmers of the benefits.

"Overall, it's extra work for the farmers, right?," she said. "Basically they have to plant the [cover] crop by the seed without getting an income, because you're not selling it to feed people or animals. You're using it to feed the soil."

Another issue hampering wider adoption has been the difficulty of quantifying the economic and environmental impact of regenerative farming, because hard data has been scarce. Wagner-Riddle says she hopes to help address those concerns later this year when she publishes results summarizing the first three years of her study of the soil's ability to store carbon.

Blain Hjertaas has also been trying to get other farmers to adopt regenerative farming practices. He started using them himself in the late '90s on his cattle farm in southeastern Saskatchewan, helping foster both the overall health of the soil and the growth of the microbes living and dying in it that sequester carbon.

"In my mind it's really simple. There are three types of agriculture. There's degenerative, in which the soil health is going down. In sustainable [agriculture], it stays the same," he explained.

"Regenerative [agriculture] is when we turn the corner and we say, oh, we're going to make it go better again. So that's regenerative."

In recent decades, tilling has been blamed for disturbing soil and advancing erosion. The practice has mostly subsided on the prairies, but Hjertaas says much more needs to change to make a larger dent in agricultural emissions.

"We got to capture that sun up there, get photosynthesis to happen, and get that sugar down into the roots, which feeds the organisms below our feet."

A cover crop may not feed people or livestock, but it helps feed microbes below ground that keep the soil healthy and productive.(Mia Sheldon/CBC)

Hjertaas uses rotational grazing with his livestock to encourage plant regrowth, for example, naturally distributing nutrients and allowing roots to grow deeper.

"On this farm, we are sequestering enough carbon to more than offset 400 Canadians' footprint [per year]" he said. The average Canadian's carbon footprint is 15.6 tonnes annually.

Hjertaas is confident in those numbers, but admits it is not an exact science. And unlike organic farming, there are no regulatory bodies for regenerative agriculture and the practice remains more of philosophy.

Even so, major corporations are recognizing the benefits and getting involved.

Cargill has pledged to promote regenerative agriculture on more than four million hectares of farmland in North America by 2030.

Walmart has also announced its intent to become a regenerative company.

General Mills began working with farmers across North America in 2019 to advance regenerative agriculture over about 400,000 hectares, a project that includes 45 oat farmers in Saskatchewan. The company offers soil testing and coaching to participating farmers, to help offset its own carbon footprint.

Blain Hjertaas started using regenerative farming practices in the late '90s on his cattle farm in southeastern Saskatchewan. He also teaches other farmers about the benefits of regenerative techniques.(Bonnie Allen/CBC)More

Hjertaas is one of the trainers with General Mills. "They have very little greenhouse gas emissions in their own processing, but most of the greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture. So that's why they want to work with us as the farmers producing their products, to get us to lower our greenhouse gas emissions."

Agriculture is an industry steeped in tradition, and Israel admits it can be a struggle to get some farmers to try something new.

However, he tells others it's actually like going back to how his great-grandfather used to farm the same land before climate change was a crisis.

"At the start you get some questions and some strange looks from the neighbours," he said, noting the unconventional grains or crops he might be growing as a pork producer. But he's hopeful more farmers will start using regenerative agriculture.

"These [climate change issues] are universal problems, and farmers should be taking a step."