ALBERTA

Oilsands workers decry poor conditions in COVID-19 isolation

Duration: 01:56 

COVID-19 outbreaks have hit Alberta’s oilsands hard and some workers who’ve contracted the virus say there was a lack of food and health care available to them while isolating.

MAY, 13,2021

CBC.COM

PRIMITIVE ACCUMULATION OF CAPITAL

Strip club, bikers and drug deals at core of case over private property rights, state power

Adrian Humphreys 
POSTMEDIA

Michael Norwood was waiting for his drug trafficking trial when he died four years ago. The owner of a played-out strip club had been caught up in police raids targeting the Hells Angels but is now the centre of a legal battle of a different sort: over the government’s power to grab assets from beyond the grave

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© Provided by National Post The Silver Dollar club in Ottawa.

Norwood’s strip club in Ottawa was called the Silver Dollar; his assets, however, were worth a million times that.

Despite his sudden death, of natural causes, the Ontario government still wants it.

Further complicating the affair, is that even before the court process to determine whether Norwood’s house and business are indeed the proceeds of his criminal activity, the properties have already been sold and the government is trying to pay out some of the money, including to his elderly mother and to a man who was shot at the strip club.

The government is leaning on the power of Ontario’s Civil Forfeiture Act, a tool that can take away a citizen’s property deemed to be the proceeds of crime.

The province’s move against Norwood’s assets and the unusual circumstances of him being dead with outstanding claims against his estate brought years of litigation and, on Wednesday, a hearing before the Court of Appeal for Ontario.

Although the root of the case flows from a world of strip clubs and drug deals, implications for property rights and the power of the state elevated the arguments in court and attracted public interest intervention.

Norwood was arrested in 2015 after an Ontario Provincial Police drug trafficking investigation targeted members and associates of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and a support club called 13 Crew. At the time, the public focus was on two Correctional Service of Canada employees who were among the 29 people arrested.

As part of the government’s drug prosecution against Norwood, the Silver Dollar, a strip club operating in Ottawa for decades, as well as his nearby home, were seized by the federal government. After Norwood’s death, the drug criminal charges were dropped and federal prosecutors abandoned their claim on his assets in 2017 — but before the money could be returned, the province stepped in, using its civil asset forfeiture act to take control of it.

The home was sold for $146,225 and the business for $840,216, which was paid into court under a preservation order pending the legal outcome. The province says the house and nightclub were proceeds or instruments of his drug trafficking.

The club had some notoriety, including in 2010, when a staff member shot a customer in the leg without warning when the patron got into a scuffle at the club. The gunman was convicted, but the victim sought compensation from the Silver Dollar for his injury.

A court awarded the victim $125,000 in damages. Once Norwood’s assets were seized, the victim sought his money from the government and Ontario’s Attorney General agreed. Last year, an Ontario court judge ordered the victim be paid from Norwood’s estate.

The province asked the court to also approve a $120,000 payout to Norwood’s 86-year-old mother.

Court heard from the mother’s lawyer that she gave her son money in the mid-1990s to renovate his house to make a separate unit for her to live in. That agreement, however, wasn’t put into writing until after Norwood was arrested in 2015.

The Ontario government accepted the mother’s claims, deemed her to be a legitimate owner to the value she said and, with no evidence she was aware of or participated in her son’s alleged criminal activities, approved paying her.

A lower court judge agreed, even though the owner was dead and his money had not yet been declared the proceeds of crime.

The move to make another large payment from the assets, before the money being formally declared criminal profits, has brought legal intervention. The estate appealed that decision.

Geoffrey Adair, lawyer for Norwood’s estate trustees, argued in court Wednesday that allowing the ruling to stand gives the province excessive power over private property.

“This would amount to rubber stamping decisions of the Attorney General, even if those decisions exceeded the very power the court itself,” he told court, “and allow the Attorney General to do whatever it wants.”

He said ordering the payment before establishing a criminal source goes against the intent of the act: “You shouldn’t be able to satisfy debts with the proceeds of crime,” he said.

Antonin Pribetic, representing the Ontario government, rejected Adair’s characterization.

“This is not a circumstance where the Attorney General is rubber stamping a side deal,” he said. He said that if Norwood’s assets end up not being found to be criminal proceeds, then the estate can seek to get the money back from Norwood’s mother, he said.

Concern over the power of the Civil Remedies Act prompted the Canadian Constitution Foundation to seek intervener status in the case.

“Civil forfeiture is an extremely powerful tool in the government’s tool box and because of the power of that tool there need to be limits in how it is exercised,” said Christine Van Geyn, the foundation’s litigation director.

“Civil forfeiture does not just apply to criminals, it can also be used to take the assets of individuals who have never been charged or even suspected of a crime.”

The panel of three appeal court judges reserved their decision until a later date.

• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys

AMERICA
Presidents of teachers unions call for full school reopening

The presidents of the nation's two major teachers unions called separately for a full return to in-person learning in the fall, with the leader of the American Federation of Teachers declaring Thursday that her organization was “all-in.”

© Provided by The Canadian Press

In an address on social media, Randi Weingarten said the wide availability of vaccines and a new infusion of federal education money have removed many obstacles that prevented schools from opening.

“Conditions have changed,” Weingarten said. “We can and we must reopen schools in the fall for in-person teaching, learning and support. And keep them open. Fully and safely, five days a week.”

The National Education Association issued its own statement after Weingarten’s remarks.

“NEA supports school buildings being open to students for in-person instruction in the fall,” said the group's president, Becky Pringle. “Educators will continue to lead in making sure each school has what it needs to fully reopen in a safe and just way, and to ensure the resources exist to meet the academic, social and emotional needs of all students.”

If local unions heed theses calls, it would be seen as a major stride in the effort to reopen schools. Teachers unions have been blamed for slowing the process with demands for a variety of safety measures. Teachers in some districts have refused to return until ventilations systems are updated, virus tests are given and all teachers are vaccinated.

Weingarten said vaccines have been the decisive factor in her vision for a fall reopening. President Joe Biden in March ordered states to prioritize teachers in vaccination rollouts, and by the end of that month, federal health officials said 80% of school workers had been given their first shot.

“I hear it in educators’ voices and see it in our polling results,” the union chief said. “The fear that they will bring the virus home decreases the moment educators get the shots.”

Surveys by the union find that 89% of its 1.7 million members have been fully vaccinated or want to be, she said.

Still, Weingarten isn’t suggesting a quick return to the type of schooling students knew before the pandemic. She said schools should continue with mask requirements, social distancing, contact tracing and other measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“It’s not risk free,” Weingarten said. “But we can manage the threat by encouraging people to get vaccines and following guidance from the CDC.”

The union will continue to push for 3 feet of space between students in classrooms, which the CDC recommended in March after reducing it from 6 feet. Weingarten said schools should work over the summer to “find adequate space” to maintain smaller classes throughout the school year.

Her address came after a unanimous vote from the union's executive council approving her message for the fall.

A $1.9 trillion aid package that Biden signed in March included $123 billion to help schools reopen and recover from the pandemic. Weingarten, who endorsed Biden, wrote that his administration has been “fighting the pandemic with science, truth, transparency and, yes, money.”

“The United States will not be fully back until we are fully back in school. And my union is all in,” she said.

The CDC has been saying since February that schools can safely reopen with certain safety measures, but many of the nation’s largest districts have remained mostly or entirely online. The latest federal data found that, in March, 54% of public elementary and middle schools were offering five days a week of in-person instruction to all students.

Even in districts that have reopened, many students have opted to stay at home, including a disproportionate share of nonwhite students. Weingarten is suggesting that schools create committees of parents and teachers to tackle safety issues. That, along with continued safety measures, would help rebuild trust with families, she said.

The union is also coming out with a $5 million campaign to push for a fall reopening. The group said it will reach out to teachers, families and communities to highlight the value of getting all students back in the classroom. A local union in Pittsburgh plans to go door to door talking about safety measures in place in schools. Other local groups are helping operate vaccination clinics for students and families.

“When I tell you we’re all in,” Weingarten says, “we’re all in.”

Collin Binkley, The Associated Press

Locked out stagehands protest outside Metropolitan Opera


NEW YORK (AP) — Locked out Metropolitan Opera stagehands protested the use of nonunion shops to construct sets for the company's upcoming season, attracting a crowd of roughly 1,000 people outside Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Thursday.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Met has been shuttered by the coronavirus pandemic since March 11, 2020, canceling 276 performances plus an international tour scheduled for next month, but it has announced plans to start next season in September. The company stopped pay to unionized employees on March 31 last year because of the pandemic, while continuing health benefits. The stagehands’ contract expired last July 31, and that union was locked out Dec. 8.

James J. Claffey, Jr., president of Local One of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), accused the Met of “using the pandemic for unreasonable and draconian cuts damaging to our families.”

The Met is having sets for Bartlett Sher’s production of Verdi’s “Rigoletto” and David McVicar’s staging of Verdi’s “Don Carlos” built at Bay Productions in Cardiff, Wales. The sets for James Robinson and Camille A. Brown’s production of Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones,” the first opera by an African American composer scheduled for the Met, are being built at a nonunion shop in California.

Technical rehearsals for next season are scheduled to start in early August.

The crowd included workers from the company’s three large unions and also of its many smaller unions.

“We sell the tickets. We hang the lights. We design and build and paint the sets. We do the hair and makeup. We design and make the costumes, We dress the performers. We record the events for broadcast. We are the Met,” shouted Matthew D. Loeb, IATSE’s international president. “We were absolutely prepared to talk about making a deal to cover extra expenses, problems caused by the pandemic on a temporary basis, and the Met wants to use this as an opportunity to get things they could not normally get at the bargaining table.”

The Met often outsources productions, and company spokeswoman Lee Abrahamian said 39 of 79 stagings new to the Met in the past 13 years were manufactured in other shops.

Truckers honked horns as they drove by the midday rally. Speakers included Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, New York Senators Brad Hoylman and Jessica Ramos, New York Assemblywoman Linda B. Rosenthal and New York City Councilmen Mark Levine and Keith Powers.

“You are one of the cultural engines that brought 65 million tourists to New York City. They’re not coming back until you're back fairly with a contract,” Brewer said, citing NYC & Company’s record figure for visitors in 2018.

The Met’s contract with Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, which represents the orchestra, expires July 31, and negotiations are ongoing.

“They asked for things that would set us back 20 years,” Local 802 president Adam Krauthamer said, accusing Met general manager Peter Gelb of refusing to alter the company’s initial proposal of March 2020. “The only person who doesn’t see that his job is to reopen the arts is Peter Gelb.”

The company this week reached an agreement subject to ratification on a four-year contract starting Aug. 1 with the American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents the chorus.

“The Met is a union house and has no desire to undermine Local One or any of our other 14 unions,” the company said in a statement. “However, having lost more than $150 million in box office revenues over the past 14 months, we are facing the worst economic crisis in the 137-year history of the Met and must reduce our costs in order to survive.”

The Met says stagehands have average salaries of $185,000. Claffey said that figure was for 120-122 of the stagehands covered by contractual guarantees, one segment of the 261 employees on whose behalf the Met made benefit contributions.

The company says its proposal to Local One is for a reduction of 20%, with half the cut to be restored when the box office returns to pre-pandemic levels. The union said the management proposal represents a cut of 30%.

“In order for the Met to reopen in the fall, as scheduled, the stagehands and the other highest-paid Met union members need to accept the reality of these extraordinarily challenging times,” the company said.

Ronald Blum, The Associated Press

CANADA
Nurses working during COVID-19 pandemic ‘beyond the point of burnout’

Pia Araneta 

GLOBAL NEWS

In February, the emotional toll from the COVID-19 pandemic began to weigh heavily on Michael Gaerlan, a registered nurse working in an intensive care unit in Edmonton, Alta.

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette Registered nurse Jane Abas tends to a COVID-19 variant patient during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on April 13, 2021.

Speaking to family members of patients on the phone, tight regulations means that he's had to say no to visitations more often than not.

“It hit me that a lot of these patients we look after often die alone, or die with only a few family members beside them,” he says. “It’s tragic.”

Read more: Registered Practical Nurses struggling with pandemic stress, workload: poll

Gaerlan works at the Royal Alexandra, one of Canada’s busiest hospitals. Currently, the province also has the worst COVID-19 outbreak in North America, with the highest active case rate per capita.

COVID-19 pandemic stress leading to nurses increasingly asking for help

“(Nurses) are beyond the point of burnout. We all just want this pandemic to be over but it feels like we’re far from it,” he says.

Nurses have been working tirelessly over the last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, trying to keep people out of hospitals, treat positive cases, vaccinate people and educate communities, among other things.

In comparison to the beginning of the pandemic, when healthcare workers felt the “tremendous support” from the general public in the form of convoys of honking cars or free food, Gaerlan says the everyday frustrations — and the inability to keep up with variants of concern — make it difficult to stay positive.

Video: Two Kingston nurses and a doctor launch health care podcast

Tim Guest, the president of the Canadian Nursing Association, says critical care nurses working in the ICU, in particular, are facing significant burnout right now, similar to long-term care nurses during the first wave.

“They’re demoralized. They’re exhausted. They are at the brink … from witnessing so much tragedy,” he says, adding that many nurses might exhibit post-traumatic stress disorder once the pandemic subsides.

Read more: Nurses in Ont. hospitals can now give care outside of ‘regular scope of practice’

A new survey conducted by Oraclepoll Research found that of the 2,600 registered practical nurses who belong to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, more than half of respondents said they were coping “poorly” or “extremely poorly” at work over the past year.

Just over 80 per cent reported that their workload had “increased a lot,” and over 90 per cent are worried about bringing COVID-19 home to their families.

“They don’t really like being called heroes,” Guest says. “They are faced with the same kind of public stressors that everyone else is facing and when they go to work, their families are always at the back of their minds.”

Read more: B.C. critical care nurses being redeployed to support COVID cases in Fraser Health

Gaerlan says the media missed the mark when labelling healthcare workers as the frontline, because it takes the onus away from the public.

“The frontlines are everyday people wearing masks, businesses changing their daily practices to accommodate regulations and people who are socially distancing,” he says. “Especially in the ICU, we are essentially the last line (of defence),” he adds. “There's nobody else after us.”

Like many other hospitals in Canada, the Royal Alexandra has had to expand its capacity to accommodate an excess of patients.

Gaerlan says some storage rooms have been repurposed for patient care, equipment is sometimes scarce and several patients with COVID-19 might have to be contained in a common area.

“(It’s) an efficient way of looking after patients but it’s at the cost of their dignity,” he says, adding some patients are side by side and on life support.

VIDEO
"Foreign-trained doctors face barriers to work on the frontlines of the pandemic in Canada"


Though a lack of space can be remedied, the amount of staff remains unchanged, meaning the workload has been stretched to the max for many healthcare workers.

“We’re pulling nurses from other patient care areas like surgeries,” Gaerlan says. “(But) we’re still pulling from a finite pool of nurses.”

Canada’s nurse shortage has been one documented over the past decade, but the extraneous circumstances of the pandemic have highlighted how grave the issue really is.

Read more: Nurses’ union calls Alberta finance minister hypocritical in contract talks

A study of over 550 registered practical nurses conducted by the Service Employees International Union found that 94 per cent of RPNs regularly work short-staffed, and 72 per cent believe staffing is insufficient.

Many nurses are contemplating leaving the profession once the pandemic subsides.

Ontario recently called upon other provinces to send nurses, and even requested international help from the U.S. and the Philippines.

Guest says there are enough internationally educated nurses in the country who are willing and able to help with the current crisis, but barriers to becoming a registered nurse in Canada need to be eliminated first.

“They have skills that can be used … and we need to find a better way of supporting them so we can get them in the workforce,” he adds.

Read more: ‘I couldn’t take it anymore’: Why some medical staff are calling it quits amid COVID-19

Gaerlan’s parents were both nurses in the Philippines. After immigrating to Canada, his mom took a refresher course so she could continue working in the field and she now works alongside Gaerlan at the Royal Alexandra.

“My parents are caring and loving people and I wanted to follow in their footsteps,” Gaerlan says. “Being able to say that I'm (a nurse) really empowers me.”

Video: NB Nurses Union president says system is ‘crumbling’ amid nursing staff shortages

Lianne Mantla-Look, a relief community health nurse in Yellowknife, has also been working alongside her mom as part of the COVID-19 immunization response team.

Her mom is a retired language and culture coordinator, and they have both been working hard to translate information from English to Tłı̨chǫ for Indigenous communities in the Northwest Territories.

“There’s a lot of misinformation out there … and a lack of trust in the healthcare system,” says Mantla-Look.

Being able to provide reliable information — as she and her mom are trusted by many of the Elders in their region — and the translation of health material, in general, is a step towards decolonizing healthcare, she adds.

Many words are difficult to translate, however, considering there is no direct translation to Tłı̨chǫ, Mantla-Look says.

“Words like Moderna, antibody and even COVID-19 … you have to completely break down one word into various different things to convey your meaning,” she adds.

One highlight for Mantla-Look has been going back to her community of Behchokǫ̀, where she grew up, to administer vaccines.

Read more: Lost in translation: Advocates on battling language barriers amid COVID-19

She has been the only person from her community who both speaks her language fluently and works in healthcare, and so the Elders have always been proud of her, she says.

“The Elders gave me a seal of approval — calling me the nurse who gives painless needles,” she says.

Vanessa Wright, a primary care nurse practitioner at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, also works at a refugee clinic and different shelters in the city.

When working with communities, she says it’s important to start from a place of cultural humility.

“You have to approach it with the perspective that ‘I’m not the expert, the community is the expert.’ And we try to find the model that works best for them,” she adds.

Read more: COVID-19 variant found in more Toronto homeless shelters, encampment

Wright has also been administering vaccines to undocumented workers at a refugee centre.

COVID-19 has highlighted the diversity and breadth of the nursing profession, Wright says, bridging knowledge gaps to different communities that might be at greater risk of transmission.

“Nurses are the real connecting piece across all these different silos within the (healthcare) system,” she says. “We are the backbone of the healthcare system.”

Read more: Future nurses, doctors hope COVID-19 pandemic creates better health-care system

When Wright is feeling overwhelmed or incapacitated, she says she reaches out to other nurses for support.

“I find a lot of gratitude and solace in that. … We are good at acknowledging the barriers and injustices and we find ways to bridge that,” she says. “And we listen to each other.”

— With files from Global News' Shawn Jeffords and Slav Kornik

PURGE
Two Alberta UCP members kicked out of caucus after challenging Kenney's leadership

"If you’re down in the polls, if you don’t have the confidence of your caucus and your donors are keeping their hands in their pockets, what’s your justification for continuing?” said Brown. “It seems like he’s failing with all three audiences.”

EDMONTON — Members of Premier Jason Kenney’s United Conservative Party caucus have voted to turf two of their own for challenging the leader.

Backbencher Todd Loewen was ejected Thursday night after publicly announcing earlier in the day the party is adrift and out of touch under Kenney and that the premier must quit before things spiral further.

Backbencher Drew Barnes had been the most vocal critic of the government's COVID-19 health restrictions, saying they are of questionable effect and an intolerable infringement on personal freedoms. He was also voted out.

"Members recognize the need for government caucus to remain strong and united behind our leader, Premier Jason Kenney, as we continue to fight through what looks to be the final stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond," UCP whip Mike Ellis said in a statement.

“There is simply no room in our caucus for those who continually seek to divide our party and undermine government leadership, especially at this critical juncture.”

Kenney’s spokeswoman, Jerrica Goodwin, added in a statement: “The premier is proud to stand with his caucus colleagues and lead Alberta through the greatest health and economic crisis in a century.”

Loewen, representing the northern rural riding of Central Peace-Notley, had been the chair of the UCP caucus. Barnes represents Cypress-Medicine Hat in the south.

Loewen and Barnes join a third backbencher, Pat Rehn, who was expelled earlier this year after his constituents complained he wasn’t doing any work or listening to their concerns.

Weeks of bubbling internal discontent within the caucus boiled over into an open challenge by Loewen in a public letter to Kenney published on Loewen’s Facebook page in the pre-dawn hours Thursday.

In the letter, Loewen called on the premier to resign, saying he no longer sees a commitment to teamwork and party principles.

“We did not unite around blind loyalty to one man. And while you promoted unity, it is clear that unity is falling apart,” writes Loewen.

He accused Kenney and his government of weak dealings with Ottawa, ignoring caucus members, delivering contradictory messages, and botching critical issues such as negotiations with doctors and a controversy over coal mining in the Rocky Mountains.

“Many Albertans, including myself, no longer have confidence in your leadership," Loewen says in the letter.

“I thank you for your service, but I am asking that you resign so that we can begin to put the province back together again.”

In a radio interview later in the day, Loewen said he wanted to stay in the UCP and that he was not seeking to split the party but save it from looming disaster in the next election.

“The people are upset. They are leaving the party,” Loewen told 630 CHED. “We need to do what it takes to stop the bleeding.

"We need to have our constituency associations strong. We’ve got to quit losing board members."

Loewen later received a message of support from a second UCP backbencher, Dave Hanson.

Hanson wrote on Facebook: “Todd, I applaud your courage and stand behind your decision.

“I hear the same thing from our supporters in my area. I along with many of our colleagues share in your frustration.”

Hanson, Barnes and Loewen are three of 18 UCP backbench members who broke with the government in early April over restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19. The group said the rules were needlessly restrictive and infringed on personal freedoms. Sixteen wrote an open letter expressing those concerns.

Since then Barnes has remained vocal, actively questioning why the regulations are needed in low-infection areas and demanding to see data underlying the health decisions.

Kenney tolerated the open dissension for weeks. He has said he believes in free speech and that backbenchers are not in cabinet and don’t speak for his government. But Loewen was the first to openly challenge Kenney’s leadership.

Kenney’s poll numbers, along with party fundraising contributions, have dropped precipitously during the pandemic while those of Rachel Notley’s NDP have climbed.

Notley said regardless of Kenney’s internal political troubles, Albertans need to see him focus on governing the province.

Alberta has seen in recent weeks some of the highest COVID-19 case rates in North America that threaten to swamp the province’s health system.

“It’s not looking good,” said Notley.

“What we need as a result is for the premier to clean up his house, get his house in order and provide the kind of leadership that Albertans desperately need during one of the most challenging times in our history.”

There were rumours of a widening internal UCP breach two weeks ago when Kenney suspended the legislature's spring sitting. He said it was to keep staff and legislature members safe from COVID-19.

On Wednesday, the government extended the hiatus for another week.

Political scientist Duane Bratt said Kenney had little choice but to expel Loewen but noted it took several hours of debate among the caucus to get there.

“This is not a good day for Jason Kenney. He is wounded by this. And I don’t think it’s over,” said Bratt with Mount Royal University in Calgary.

Pollster Janet Brown said the open dissension magnifies Kenney’s leadership woes. Brown said a premier relies on three pillars of support: party fundraising, caucus support and support in the popularity polls. Any one of those three can help offset crises somewhere else.

But Kenney, said Brown, doesn’t have support in any area right now.

"If you’re down in the polls, if you don’t have the confidence of your caucus and your donors are keeping their hands in their pockets, what’s your justification for continuing?” said Brown.

“It seems like he’s failing with all three audiences.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2021.

UCP RIGHT WING REVOLT UPDATED

'We did not unite around blind loyalty to one man:' Kenney faces call to quit

WHEN HE DOES HE HAS TO CALL AN ELECTION

EDMONTON — A United Conservative senior backbencher publicly calling on Alberta Premier Jason Kenney to resign says it’s about keeping the party from spiralling toward electoral disaster.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Todd Loewen said Thursday he wants the UCP to thrive and survive but too many volunteers and board members are throwing up their hands and quitting under Kenney’s leadership.

“The people are upset. They are leaving the party,” Loewen told radio station 630 CHED in an interview. “We need to do what it takes to stop the bleeding.

"We need to have our constituency associations strong. We’ve got to quit losing board members.

“The majority of people I’m talking to, they want a strong UCP party. But they don’t see that they have that now. We need to have that so we can move forward and be able to form government in 2023.”

Loewen’s comments follow weeks of bubbling internal discontent within Kenney’s UCP caucus that has now boiled over into an open challenge to his leadership.

Earlier Thursday, Loewen, in a letter to Kenney posted on Facebook, called on the premier to resign, saying he no longer sees the commitment to teamwork and party principles.

“We did not unite around blind loyalty to one man. And while you promoted unity, it is clear that unity is falling apart,” writes Loewen.

He accused Kenney and his government of weak dealings with Ottawa, ignoring caucus members, delivering contradictory messages, and botching critical issues such as negotiations with doctors and a controversy over coal mining in the Rocky Mountains.

“Many Albertans, including myself, no longer have confidence in your leadership," Loewen says in the letter.

“I thank you for your service, but I am asking that you resign so that we can begin to put the province back together again.”

Kenney's office did not respond to a request for comment.

Loewen is the member for Central Peace-Notley, a sprawling rural constituency in northern Alberta.

He later received a message of support from a second UCP backbencher, Dave Hanson.

Hanson wrote on Facebook: “Todd, I applaud your courage and stand behind your decision.

“I hear the same thing from our supporters in my area. I along with many of our colleagues share in your frustration.”

Hanson represents Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul, a rural constituency northeast of Edmonton.

They are two of 18 UCP backbench members who broke with the government in early April over restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19. The group said the rules were needlessly restrictive and infringed on personal freedoms. Sixteen wrote an open letter expressing those concerns.

Kenney has tolerated the open dissension for weeks. He has said he believes in free speech and that backbenchers are not in cabinet and don’t speak for his government. But Loewen is the first to openly challenge Kenney.

In his letter, Loewen also resigned as caucus chair. He said he needed to do so to speak his mind but has no intention of leaving the party.

“The caucus dysfunction we are presently experiencing is a direct result of your leadership,” he writes.

“I no longer believe that caucus can function properly: meetings have been cancelled without members’ consent, significant decisions of government have been made without notice to members, and our input as elected members is rarely considered.”

He said the caucus has tried to be heard but is ignored. And he said when caucus is ignored, their constituents are ignored.

“These folks have not abandoned the principles and values of the UCP, but they have abandoned you specifically," writes Loewen.

Kenney’s poll numbers have dropped precipitously during the pandemic while those of Rachel Notley’s NDP have climbed.

Notley said regardless of Kenney’s internal political troubles, Albertans need to see him focus on governing the province and steering it through the pandemic.

Alberta has seen in recent weeks some of the highest COVID-19 case rates in North America that threaten to swamp the province’s health system.

“It’s not looking good,” said Notley.

“What we need as a result is for the premier to clean up his house, get his house in order and provide the kind of leadership that Albertans desperately need during one of the most challenging times in our history.”

There were rumours of a widening internal UCP breach two weeks ago, when Kenney suspended the legislature's spring sitting. He said it was to keep staff and legislature members safe from COVID-19.

On Wednesday, the government extended the hiatus for another week.

Loewen’s letter comes a week after Kenney risked further pushback from dissidents by imposing extra health restrictions along with stepped-up enforcement to stop soaring COVID-19 infections.

Political scientist Duane Bratt said it looked like Kenney had struck a truce with the dissidents, but the dam appears to be breaking.

“I don’t think (Loewen) is a person coming out on his own,” said Bratt, who is with Mount Royal University in Calgary.

“I think you’re going to hear more coming on the record after this."

Political scientist Jared Wesley said Kenney has no choice but to turf Loewen from caucus.

“It’s hard to imagine a world in which you can call for your leader’s resignation and still remain a part of caucus,” said Wesley of the University of Alberta.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13, 2021.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

 cbc.ca

Kenney has to choose between two unsavoury options, says political scientist

Duration: 01:57 

University of Alberta political scientist Jared Wesley says MLA Todd Loewen's letter is rare in Canadian politics and is unlikely to have been written without consulting other caucus members.

REVOLT ON THE RIGHT
UCP caucus chief Todd Loewen resigns as Jason Kenney's troubles mount in Alberta

The veteran backbencher posted a letter early Thursday thanking Kenney 'but am asking that you resign so that we can begin to put the province back together'

RESIGN AND CALL AN ELECTION CAUSE YOU AND YOUR PARTY CANNOT GOVERN

Author of the article: Tyler Dawson
Publishing date: May 13, 2021 • 

UCP member Todd Loewen has written to Premier Jason Kenney: 'I know that many Albertans, including myself, no longer have confidence in your leadership'. PHOTO BY PETER SHOKEIR / POSTMEDIA NEWS

EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, who has faced internal dissent over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, has now received the first serious call from a United Conservative Party caucus member to resign as premier.

Todd Loewen, a veteran backbencher who represents the northern Alberta riding of Central Peace-Notley, posted a letter addressed to Kenney in the early hours Thursday morning. A long-time Wildrose Party MLA before the conservatives united, Loewen also stepped aside as UCP caucus chair.

“I know that many Albertans, including myself, no longer have confidence in your leadership,” the letter says. “I thank you for your service, but am asking that you resign so that we can begin to put the province back together again.”

Just weeks ago, Kenney faced a shocking show of internal dissent when 17 of his 63 MLAs signed an open letter denouncing another round of COVID-19 public-health measures. Loewen was among the signatories.


Loewen’s letter doesn’t specifically mention COVID-19 measures, although there is discontent about that across Alberta, including within Loewen’s own riding, which, incidentally, is named after NDP leader Rachel Notley’s father. The riding has been home to so-called “freedom rallies” calling for an end to COVID-19 restrictions.

Loewen points to Kenney’s “ineffective” handling of a “hostile federal government,” negotiations with the province’s doctors, and the botched plan to allow coal exploration on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains as sources of “caucus dysfunction.”

“Messaging from your government has been contradictory, confusing, and needlessly inflammatory,” the letter says.

Still, Loewen does nod to the pandemic, by obliquely mentioning the compliance issue the province has with people not following COVID-19 rules.

“When the Premier chooses not to listen to caucus, is it any wonder why the people choose to stop listening to the government?” the letter says.

In the past, Kenney has welcomed dissent within the ranks of his caucus, saying that they welcome debate.

But the latest drama is further evidence of the growing internal strife for the United Conservatives, a reality that has caused trouble for Kenney for months.

More to come …

Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid nearly $5 million to the hackers who shut off service to the largest fuel line in the US

insider@insider.com (Ben Gilbert) 5 hrs ago

A woman fills her car at a gas station in Annapolis, Maryland, on Wednesday. Fears that the shutdown of a Colonial Pipeline fuel line because of a cyberattack would cause a gasoline shortage led to panic buying in some states. JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

A major US gas provider forced to shut down a fuel line reportedly paid hackers nearly $5 million.

Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid the ransom almost immediately after the attack last Friday.

The nearly $5 million was said to have been paid in untraceable cryptocurrency.


The hackers who shut down the largest US fuel pipeline last week apparently got rich from the attack: The group received nearly $5 million to restore service, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

That ransom was paid in untraceable cryptocurrency, two people familiar with the transaction told Bloomberg.

Though previous reports said no money had changed hands, the Bloomberg report said Colonial Pipeline paid the ransom within hours of the attack last Friday. Representatives for the company didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to Bloomberg, in exchange for the nearly $5 million in cryptocurrency, Colonial Pipeline got a decryption tool to help restore the company's computer systems that had been hobbled in the so-called ransomware attack.

"Our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society," DarkSide, the hacking group thought to be responsible for the attack, said in a statement earlier this week. The group also promised to be more careful with its attacks "to avoid social consequences in the future."

Colonial Pipeline is responsible for nearly half the fuel consumed on the East Coast.

After the attack, several states had gas shortages, and some people rushed to hoard gasoline in anticipation of long shortages. The US Department of Energy has said it expects a return to normal supply by the end of the weekend.

Myanmar jails journalist for anti-coup protests coverage

It is one of the first guilty verdicts against a reporter since the military junta took control of Myanmar three months ago. A human rights observer said journalism is effectively illegal in the country.



Press freedoms have been stripped away from many media outlets in Myanmar since the coup

A court in Myanmar has sentenced a journalist to three years in prison for his reports on anti-junta protests, his organization said Thursday.

Min Nyo of the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) is one of the first media workers to be imprisoned since the military coup on February 1.

He was arrested on March 3 while covering the protests in the town of Pyay.

The DVB said he was "brutally beaten" by police and denied visits from his family.

"DVB demands the military authority release Min Nyo immediately, as well as other detained or convicted journalists around Myanmar."

VIDEO
Myanmar crackdown leads to deaths, arrests and displaced people

Three of the DVB's journalists were detained in northern Thailand earlier this week for illegally entering the country after fleeing Myanmar.

Human rights groups and press freedom advocates, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, have urged Thailand not to deport them.

Cracking down on press freedom

The DVB, which had its license revoked by the junta, said Min Nyo was found guilty under Article 505 (a) of the penal code, which criminalizes spreading information that could incite security forces to mutiny.

Several other news outlets have had their licenses canceled in Myanmar. Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director Emerlynne Gil said journalism has been effectively criminalized in the country.

"They risk life and liberty to shed light on the military's abuses. The military authorities are ruthless, determined to crush dissent by silencing those who seek to expose their crimes," said Gil in a statement.

Watch video 02:27 Myanmar still in turmoil 100 days since military coup

The military has brutally suppressed any resistance, firing live ammunition at people and hurting protesters. According to the AAPP prisoners' aid organization, at least 785 people have been killed since the coup occurred three months ago.

More than 4,900 have been imprisoned and arrest warrants have been issued for at least 1,600 people.

Watch video02:45 Myanmar violence: A protester speaks out

kbd/rt (dpa, Reuters)