Opposed piston engine developed 140 years ago

By Ron Lyseng
WESTERN PRODUCER
Published: July 8, 2021
Crops, Machinery



There’s nothing new about opposed piston diesel engines. An industrial electrician I’ve known for 50 years worked on one of the giant engines at Churchill, Man., a few years ago.

Pat Barry recalls the engine was in a 60-foot tugboat used in pushing and pulling grain ships around at the terminal.

“This was a three-cylinder, six-piston engine that stood taller than me,” said the six-foot, six-inch Barry.

The 12-inch diameter output shaft on a 1950s model Fairbanks Morse engine needed a new keyway. The tugboat owners deemed that removing the engine and hauling it south for the job would waste too much time, so they began scouring machine shops looking for a person with a machine who could do the work on-site in the tug.

They found Barry at King’s Electric in Winnipeg. Barry brought a cutting device that resembled a portable milling machine that clamped firmly to the shaft. Multiple passes with the cutter created a foot-long keyway that the key firmly fit.

One of the first opposed-piston engines was the 1882 Atkinson differential engine, according to Old Machine Press. It had a power stroke on every rotation of the crankshaft.

It was not a commercial success. In 1898, a 600 horsepower, two-stroke, opposed-piston engine was installed at the Hoerde ironworks.

An early opposed-piston car gasoline engine was produced by the French company Gobron-Brillié around 1900. Four years later, a Gobron-Brillié car set a world ground speed record of 152.5 km/h (95 mph).

The first diesel engine with opposed pistons was a prototype built at Kolomna Works in Russia.

In 1932, the Junker aircraft company in Germany introduced the Jumo diesel 205 two-stroke with six cylinders and 12 pistons in an opposed configuration. This design required two crankshafts, one at the bottom of the cylinder block and the other at the top, geared together. The pistons moved toward each other during the operating cycle.

Two cam-operated injection pumps per cylinder fed four nozzles per cylinder.

Fairbanks Morse took an interest in Jumo 205 and acquired a licence to produce such engines in the United States. The opposed-piston design offers some advantages over conventional engines by having fewer parts, no cylinder head, improved thermal efficiency and more power for a given size and weight.

Fairbanks Morse used the Jumo design to develop its own line of opposed-piston diesel engines, one of the first being the Model 38. This was a two-stroke vertical engine with two crankshafts linked by a gear train.

In its original form, the engine had eight cylinders, displaced 8,042 cubic inches, and produced 1,200 h.p. at 720 rpm.

In 1934, the United States Navy ordered eight of these engines for Porpoise-class submarines.

By 1937, Fairbanks Morse 38 design was offered in cylinder numbers from four to 12, with power up to 1,600 h.p. Approximately 1,650 38D8 engines were built during the Second World War. Although changes have been incorporated over the years, the 38D8 remains in production today.

‘A lot of anxiety out there:’ Canadian insolvency at highest level since index began in 2017

By Rosa Saba

Business Reporter
Mon., July 19, 2021

As the economy slowly reopens, many Canadians are staring down a mountain of debt incurred during the pandemic and almost half of them are worried about making ends meet without sustaining more debt, according to the latest Consumer Debt Index from accounting, tax and business consulting firm MNP.

In fact, the number of Canadians who are unable to pay their monthly bills and debt payments — in other words, insolvent — is at its highest level since the index began in 2017.

The consumer debt index poll of around 2,000 people, conducted quarterly for MNP by Ipsos, found that half of Canadians are more worried about being able to repay their debts than they used to be — and yet a third of respondents plan to spend more as the economy reopens on things they’ve been missing, like dining and entertainment.

Grant Bazian, president of MNP, said the consumer debt index has been fluctuating during the pandemic for various reasons, but overall anxiety about debt has definitely increased from before COVID-19.

He said Ontario is faring worse than other provinces when it comes to consumer debt and debt anxiety, likely in part due to the province’s slower reopening this summer.

“There’s definitely a lot of anxiety out there,” said Bazian.

Around a third of Canadians say the pandemic made their debt worse, or created more debt for them or their family, especially younger Canadians.

Between low interest rates and the hot housing market, younger Canadians are getting into debt that they may not know how to handle, said Bazian.

David Macdonald, senior economist for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said that for youth in particular, debt is one of the potential long-term impacts of COVID-19, driven in part by the housing market.

“The housing market has gone nowhere but up over the course of the pandemic,” said Macdonald. “Low interest rates in part to drive economic growth have led to massive increases in house costs, which prices youth out of the market.”


If young people do manage to get into the market, they’re likely to become “house poor,” he said.

A third of respondents to the survey who own a home said they’re “house poor,” meaning after they pay their bills relating to their home, they don’t have much left over.

Around two-thirds of Canadians surveyed said they reduced their spending during COVID-19, but more than half said they have taken advantage of the low interest rates to buy things they might not have otherwise, which may be contributing to the higher debt loads, according to the press release.

However, many Canadians have been managing to save more during the pandemic, and around half say their debt situation is actually better than it was pre-pandemic.


The biggest concern for Canadians in debt right now is interest rates, according to the press release: a third of respondents said if interest rates go up, they’re worried they will be driven to bankruptcy.

For many, job prospects are still uncertain, Bazian said. Many are relying partly on income assistance such as Employment Insurance.

Though the provinces, even Ontario, have been progressing along their reopening plans, it’s unlikely employment will be back to normal levels by the time the federal subsidies for businesses and individuals, as well as the temporary EI inclusions, end in September, Macdonald said.

It is possible the government will extend some of those programs past their planned end date, said Macdonald. That’s what happened over and over again during the past year and a half. But it’s not a guarantee, and the programs can’t go on forever.

“I think maybe there’s a bit of hedging to see how strong the recovery is in July,” he said.

For Ontario, it’s not likely to be a strong rebound, said Macdonald, as the province has been slowest to reopen.

“On the reopening side we’ve been slower, and on the real estate side we’ve seen tremendous growth,” he said. “That’s going to drive the debt picture as well, is people … overextending themselves in order to get into the housing market.”

There have been predictions that when COVID-19 financial support ends, Canada will see a wave of insolvencies. But Bazian doesn’t think that’s the case.

More likely, the number of insolvencies will steadily increase month over month, he said, potentially above pre-pandemic levels.

“If they were struggling before COVID hit, and they incurred more debt during COVID, there’s a likelihood you’re going to have more people filing in a post-COVID world than you had in a pre-COVID world,” said Bazian.

Posthaste: A third of Canadians feel 'house poor,' but are ready to take on more debt as economy reopens

Around 5.5 million homeowners are susceptible to financial disruptions such as an interest rate increase

Author of the article:

Yadullah Hussain

Publishing date:

Jul 19, 2021  •  

Home prices have surged during the pandemic, making many Canadians feel rich at least on paper. PHOTO BY COLE BURSTON/BLOOMBERG

Article content

While the pandemic certainly improved the financial situation of many Canadians, not everyone has been fortunate enough to build a ‘wall of wealth’.

Despite surging home prices that have left many Canadians look fiscally stable at least on paper, many are struggling to make ends meet, according to a new survey.

The latest MNP Consumer Debt Index shows the number of Canadians concerned they cannot make ends meet without going into further debt has reached its highest level in three years.

Almost half (45 per cent, up 6 points since March) are not confident they will be able to cover all living and family expenses in the next 12 months without taking on more credit, according to the quarterly poll conducted by Ipsos on behalf of MNP Ltd, released this morning.

“In fact, the proportion of Canadians who report being insolvent, or unable to pay their monthly bills and debt repayments, sits at the highest level recorded since the index was created in 2017 (30 per cent, unchanged),” the survey noted. “Half (51 per cent, unchanged) say they are more concerned about their ability to repay their debts than they used to be.”

For now, the pandemic has helped rein in spending in most households, with the average Canadian family left with $731 after paying all their bills, an increase of $106 compared to the March findings. This may explain why about half (49 per cent) of Canadians feel their debt situation is better now than it was before the pandemic started and are more relaxed about carrying debt than they usually are (45 per cent, -4pts).

But that financial buffer may not last. Canadians are also keeping an eye on rising interest rates, with one in four concerned that rising rates would negatively impact their financial stability, and a third are worried that an interest rate hike could drive them towards bankruptcy.

Homeowners with an outstanding mortgage feel they are at particular risk.

“One-third (32 per cent) of Canadians who own a home say they are ‘house poor,’ meaning that they don’t have much left over after paying bills related to their home,” according to the survey. “All told, approximately 5.5 million homeowners are susceptible to financial disruptions such as an interest rate increase or change to their job situation. Perhaps it is, therefore, not surprising that two in ten (20 per cent) homeowners say they regret the amount of debt they took on to buy their home.”

But as the pandemic shows signs of retreating at least in the country and the provinces open up, Canadians are ready to spend on travel and entertainment in a big way.

“A significant proportion of Canadians appear to be ready to emerge from their bubbles and go straight into shopping malls, restaurants and airplanes to celebrate the pandemic wind down,” said Grant Bazian, president of MNP Ltd. “For many, the financial damage will likely linger for years even as they regain employment and try to cope with new debts they may have accumulated.”

30% of Canadians say they’re insolvent, 

MNP debt survey shows

By Erica Alini Global News
Posted July 19, 2021 

WATCH: As the stock market grapples with fears that the COVID-19 Delta variant could harm economic recovery, a survey found that nearly half of Canadians can't cover living expenses this year without going deeper into debt. Global's Anne Gaviola reports.

 

As the COVID-19 health emergency fades across the country, Canadians are reporting very different levels of concern about their debt, according to a recent poll conducted by Ipsos on behalf of debt consultancy MNP.

Higher-income households are more likely to say that their debt situation has improved compared to before the pandemic. Those with lower incomes, on the other hand, are more likely to say things have gotten worse.

Younger Canadians, in particular, are more likely to report both that it’s become more difficult to keep up with debt payments and that they’ve accumulated additional liabilities during the pandemic.

READ MORE: It’s not just inflation, the COVID-19 pandemic is also feeding ‘shrinkflation’

Why Canadians are racking up record amounts of debt – Jun 10, 2021

Overall, survey respondents said they have more money left over at the end of the month than they did in a previous poll in March (the average amount of self-reported left-over cash rose by $106 to $731). However, 30 per cent of those who answered the poll reported being insolvent, the highest share since 2017, MNP noted.

It’s a split that others who work with debtors are seeing as well.

“There are a lot of people who now have cash, a lot of people who’ve been able to use the pandemic — when they weren’t spending money but still had their paycheck — to actually deleverage and pay off their debt,” says Doug Hoyes, a licensed insolvency trustee and co-founder of Ontario-based Hoyes Michalos.

On the other hand, others who’s lost their job during the pandemic had to take on more debt to make ends meet, he adds.

As the economy reopens, some Canadians with increased debt loads will may become more financially vulnerable, Hoyes warns.

READ MORE: Canadians with long COVID: Sick and, increasingly, worried they’ll go broke

Ottawa has started gradually phasing out some of the extraordinary income support measures it rolled out as parts of Canada’s labour market cratered during the pandemic, leaving millions without jobs.

The amount Canadians can receive through the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) will change to $300 a week — down from $500 a week — for those applying for the first time starting with the pay period that begins with July 18 or for those who have already received 42 weeks of CRB.

And the temporary changes the federal government introduced to bolster EI benefits during the pandemic are only in effect until September 2021.

The lifting of pandemic-related restrictions is generating strong demand for workers from sectors that have been hard-hit by the health measures, such as the restaurant sector and the hospitality industry.

  

Quebec Labour Shortage

And there are signs that employers across many industries are eager to hire. In early July, for example, job postings on job-search site Indeed Canada stood 33 per cent above their February 2020 levels.

But, counterintuitively, some debtors may start to struggle more financially as they go back to work, Hoyes warns.

Joblessness means having no wages that can be garnished, he explains. Creditors like banks and credit card companies can’t garnish income support benefits like the CRB, he adds.

“So while you are not earning wages, you are, in effect, protected,” he adds.

READ MORE: Some salaries up ‘drastically’ as Canada feels impact of labour shortages

While Hoyes says some debtors will be able to catch up on payments or negotiate a solution with creditors on their own, he also expects personal insolvencies to start rising in the fall, as more people return to work and creditors ramp up collection activity.

Homeowners with mortgages may be another “at risk” group, according the MNP report. One-third of surveyed Canadians who own a home said they feel “house poor,” with little money left over at the end of the month after paying bills related to their home. Approximately 5.5 million homeowners are financially susceptible to an interest rate increase or change to their job situation, according to the survey.

A survey released Thursday by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation found that two-thirds of recent homebuyers paid the highest price they could afford on the purchase of a new home.

At MNP, licensed insolvency trustee Grant Bazian has words of caution for those who’ve emerged from the pandemic in better financial shapes too.

With one-third of survey respondents saying they planned to increase spending as the economy reopens, Bazian warns against indulging in budget-busting spending sprees.

“A significant proportion of Canadians appear to be ready to emerge from their bubbles and go straight into shopping malls, restaurants and airplanes to celebrate the pandemic wind down,” Bazian, who is president of MNP’s insolvency practice. “For many, the financial damage will likely linger for years even as they regain employment and try to cope with new debts they may have accumulated.”

First Nations leaders decry 'racist political propaganda' by Manitoba government, call for resignation

Fallout continues over comments by Premier Brian Pallister, Alan Lagimodiere

Darren Bernhardt · CBC News · Posted: Jul 19, 2021 

Ted Bland, former chief of York Factory First Nation, addresses a crowd Monday on the steps of the Manitoba Legislature as part of a call to action by the Summit of Treaty 5 Sovereign Nations following remarks by Premier Brian Pallister and cabinet minister Alan Lagimodiere. (Patrick Foucault/Radio-Canada)

First Nations representatives harshly called out the Manitoba government on Monday, labelling recent comments by Premier Brian Pallister and cabinet minister Alan Lagimodiere as propaganda and demanding the latter's resignation.

Standing on the front steps of the legislative building, the Summit of Treaty 5 Sovereign Nations (STFSN) blasted the Progressive Conservative government for a "deliberate attempt to distort the history of Indigenous peoples regarding the policy of genocide at residential schools."

In a fiery speech that could be heard far from the Tyndall stone steps, Grand Chief Arlen Dumas of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs shouted his anger with Pallister and Lagimodiere.

"We found 1,505 children murdered in these schools, hidden and buried in the ground, and in the same breath, [you] say 'but residential schools were a good thing. Assimilation was a good thing.' Who can say that in their right mind?" he said.

"Here we are today trying again to have people who are so ill-informed and uninformed and uneducated [and] ignorant, tell my mother that what happened to her in residential school, it was OK."

Here's a look at Brian Pallister's full comments on Canada Day statue toppling — and what he's said since

New Manitoba Indigenous minister says residential school system believed 'they were doing the right thing'

WATCH | Dumas decries recent comments by Manitoba politicians:

Manitoba's grand chief calls out 'archaic' ideas about residential schools

'Who in their right mind' can say residential schools and assimilation were a good thing, asks Grand Chief Arlen Dumas of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. 1:21

Dumas spoke of how Indigenous people showed the first European settlers how to travel and survive in a land and climate that could be inhospitable at times.

"Where we treated your ancestors like human beings, your institutions treated us like savages," he yelled.

The comments by Pallister and Lagimodiere suggest nothing is changing, Dumas said.

"I'm tired of talking to Pallister. I give him every opportunity to have meaningful dialogue. We bring forward meaningful solutions to work together, hand in hand, to move forward. But he'd rather talk at me."

During a Canada Day rally in Winnipeg, following the discovery of unmarked graves at former residential schools in Canada, statues of Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth were pulled down on the grounds of the Manitoba Legislature.

Pallister denounced the actions and made comments that suggested the colonization of Canada was done with good intentions.

The people who came to Canada "didn't come here to destroy anything. They came here to build. They came to build better," he said, adding the statues would be repaired and set back up, though the locations might change.

In a news release, the STFSN said the premier's comments are "racist political propaganda distorting and romanticizing colonialism."

"If Pallister wants to rebuild that statue so quickly, a statue that some of my non-First Nations friends in Manitoba didn't even know the significance of, then he may as well be building them on those graves," Dumas said.
Remarks prompted minister to step down

Pallister's remarks provoked the resignation of his own Indigenous and northern relations minister, Eileen Clarke, who stepped down from her cabinet position two days later.

In doing so, Clarke said many Manitobans are disappointed with their representatives, and added that she and other cabinet ministers had not been listened to.

'Change is necessary': Former Manitoba Indigenous relations minister posts statement about resignation

Manitoba premier appoints new ministers, replacing Clarke, Pedersen

She was replaced by Lagimodiere, who, within 10 minutes of his appointment on July 15, told reporters the people who ran Indian residential schools believed "they were doing the right thing."

"In retrospect, it's easy to judge in the past. But at the time, they really thought that they were doing the right thing," he said.

"From my knowledge of it, the residential school system was designed to take Indigenous children and give them the skills and abilities they would need to fit into society as it moved forward."

WATCH | Alan Lagimodiere called out for remarks on residential schools:

Manitoba’s new Indigenous reconciliation minister called out for residential school comments On his first day as Manitoba's new Indigenous reconciliation and northern affairs minister, Alan Lagimodiere was publicly taken to task by Opposition leader Wab Kinew for saying that those who once ran residential schools thought they were 'doing the right thing.' 2:00

Lagimodiere has since apologized, saying his words were wrong, but the fallout has continued.

Two Indigenous men, Jamie Wilson and Darrell Brown, quit their positions on Manitoba economic development boards shortly after Lagimodiere's comments. Wilson had previously served as a deputy minister in two departments under the Progressive Conservative government and was the treaty commissioner for Manitoba.

2 Indigenous men on Manitoba PC-appointed boards quit over ministers' comments

"There is no way to sugarcoat the intent and effect of the residential school [system]. It was purposefully designed and carried out to impose forcible, punitive assimilation on every First Nation child they could lay hands on," said AMC regional chief Cindy Woodhouse.

"The Indian residential school system was all about denigrating First Nations cultures, First Nations languages, values and First Nations everything. That's why there are thousands of children who disappeared without a trace. They were devalued in death as they were in life."

There is no such thing as benign colonialism, or well-intentioned colonialism and governments cannot move on from that dark past by denying the truth, she said.

"At a time when our people are recovering children's bodies and our survivors are finally starting to be acknowledged by the general public, the comments by the PC government has caused a setback by the use of such irresponsible and volatile words," said Chief Clarence Easter of Chemawawin Cree Nation.

"We are stepping to the plate to deal with this."

Action plan calls for new minister to step down

The action plan unveiled by the STFSN calls for alliances between the Treaty 5 First Nations and affiliate organizations to work together to respond to hate crime and racism.

Treaty 5 includes more than 100,000 people from 37 First Nations in Manitoba and three in Saskatchewan, according to the STFSN.

The plan calls for the following:

Hate crimes and racism should be standing discussion items at every annual gathering of Treaty 5 Nations, beginning Aug. 10.

To promote non violence and avoid destruction of property.

To develop a report on hate crimes and racism and report them to the United Nations.

To conduct an awareness campaign on the prevalence and effects of hate crimes and racism.

To lobby the federal government to do more to criminalize hate crimes and racism, saying the Criminal Code currently does little to deter it.

To condemn and publicly expose hate crimes and racism and hate propaganda through First Nations social media.

To create a task force of academics, elders and youth to enact the actions.

"Today we are not here to topple any statues, we are here to topple a government that is racist, a government that has no place in this legislature," said Garrison Settee, Grand Chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, which represents 26 First Nations in northern Manitoba.

Manitoba Indigenous reconciliation minister offers 'sincerest apologies' over residential schools remarks

Political experts say Manitoba PCs will have a hard time recovering from residential school blunder

One of the first actions in the plan on Monday was to call for Lagimodiere to step down from his cabinet position.

"Dr. Alan Lagimodiere proved himself as an embarrassment to reconciliation and Indigenous relations," said Chief Sheldon Kent of Black River First Nation.

"His comments were harmful, retriggering anger and discontent among our people. There was no good intention at Indian residential schools to promote and it is catastrophically irresponsible to suggest otherwise.

"We call for his resignation and he must step down."

First Nations leaders call out Pallister government over recent comments

First Nations Chiefs called out the Manitoba government on the steps of legislature Monday, saying comments made by Premier Brian Pallister and Minister Alan Lagimodiere were racist. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Reporter/Editor
Darren Bernhardt spent the first dozen years of his journalism career in newspapers, first at the Regina Leader-Post then the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. He has been with CBC Manitoba since 2009 and specializes in offbeat and local history stories and features. He is the author of award-nominated and bestselling The Lesser Known: A History of Oddities from the Heart of the Continent. Story idea? Email: darren.bernhardt@cbc.ca

 

Price says 'better job' needed in teaching Canadians about residential schools

The Montreal Canadiens' Carey Price says more needs to be done to make more people aware of the history of residential schools.

The Canadian Press

Carey Price , The Canadian Press

KELOWNA, B.C. — Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price says more needs to be done to make more people aware of the history of residential schools.

Price, from Anahim Lake, B.C., has previously spoken about his grandmother being a residential school survivor who faced "social injustices" at school.

The star netminder told 680 News he believes not many Canadians are aware of what residential schools were.

Lynda Price, Carey's mother, is chief of the Ulkatcho First Nation in northern B.C. and he says sharing stories about experiences at residential schools makes her emotional.

He adds that residential schools have had a "snowball effect" on generations of Indigenous people.

The federal government has pledged further support for the identification and investigation of burial grounds near former residential schools after allocating $27 million in 2019, in the wake of unmarked graves being found in several provinces.

"That part of our history in Canada was not covered very well," Price said from Kelowna, B.C.

"I think we need to do a better job in the future of recognizing that this is a part of our history in Canada and it's just not right."

(680 News)

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2021.

 ANIMALS DO NOT HAVE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS THEIR OWNERS DO

Pandemic pet parent remorse: Sudbury rescue group getting so many unwanted dogs it has to turn some away

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Many people got pets during pandemic, but if not trained properly developed behaviour problems

CBC News · Posted: Jul 19, 2021 8:02 AM ET | Last Updated: July 19

An animal rescue group in Sudbury says they're seeing an increase in the number of dogs surrendered to them. Many of the animals were adopted over the pandemic and small bad habits turned into big behavioural problems. (Pet Save Sudbury )

A northern Ontario pet rescue group says it's had to start turning away unwanted dogs that were adopted during the pandemic. 

Many people got pets during the pandemic, but Jill Pessot, director of Pet Save in Sudbury, says if they weren't properly train or socialized it likely led to anti-social behaviour in the dogs, and now their owners don't know what to do with them.

Jill Pessot, director of Pet Save in Sudbury, says they have 8 dogs with behavioural issues, which a 20-year record. Normally that number is 1 or 2. (Jan Lakes/CBC)

Some are posting online to try to sell their unwanted dogs. 

"If you're looking for a dog this year on the net — and there's a bunch of them on there — be careful because there's a reason they're on there. If every [dog] was a perfect dog, they wouldn't be on the internet," she said.

• Scammers taking advantage of rising demand for pandemic puppies

• AUDIO
  Sudbury breeder sees 'boon in busyness' for dog breeders during COVID-19 pandemic

Other owners are surrendering their new pets to shelters or rescue groups like Pet Save

"And now they're coming into rescues because people, number one, couldn't even enlist trainers for a while or didn't know when to enlist that trainer," Pessot said.

There are eight dogs in the Pet Save kennel with behaviour issues, where they normally only have one or two. 

Pessot is getting calls daily about owners wanting to surrender animals to her, and she's having to turn them away.

Patience and proper training helps 

Many pet issues could be solved with patience and a good trainer to help.

Jacqueline Preyde is founder of Canine Intuition Training and Rehabilitation, a dog training service in Sudbury that specializes in behavioural correction. 

• How will your dog handle you returning to your workplace?

• 11 dog training tutorials to help homeschool your pup

Her biggest piece of advice to new dog owners is to crate-train their pooch.

"Crate training is a very useful tool, especially in a time where dogs are very dependent on their owners," she said. "If you create the crate as a safe space it really helps with the transition with then having to leave the home."

Preyde also suggests giving the dog something to lick or chew before you have to leave them at home by themselves. That provides mental stimulation and a distraction.

She warns new dog owners to do proper research on the breed they're considering and methods for correct training, adding there are lots of great resources online.

"When it comes to certain behaviours though, I'm adamant about reaching out to a professional, just because we see a lot more anxiety and reactivity nowadays than we used to," Preyde said. 

"We just see a lot of people that don't understand the magnitude of what a certain breed or what a puppy requires anymore."

 

Opposition calls for COVID-19 vaccine clinics in Alberta schools this fall

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Health minister says current strategy is to vaccinate many eligible people as fast as possible

Michelle Bellefontaine · CBC News · Posted: Jul 19, 2021 

NDP Leader Rachel Notley is calling on the province to get vaccine clinics into Alberta schools this fall. (Alberta NDP )

The Alberta NDP wants COVID-19 immunization clinics in schools when classes resume this fall to ensure more students get their second dose of vaccine as soon as possible. 

According to statistics published by Alberta Health, 63 per cent of Albertans between 12 and 19 have received their first dose of vaccine, but only 38.5 per cent have received their second shot. 

NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley says those numbers need to improve, especially now that the more highly contagious delta variant is in the province. She says Alberta's full reopening on July 1 may give many the false impression that a single dose is all that is required to stay safe. 

"We're six weeks away from everybody going back to school, and over half of the people going into those schools do not have their second dose," Notley said Monday. "And what we know is that the second dose is critically important." 

Notley wants the government to run vaccine clinics inside all schools this fall for anyone who wants to get their shot. 

The idea was given a tepid reception by Health Minster Tyler Shandro who was asked about the plan while at an unrelated news conference in Grande Prairie on Monday. 

Shandro said the province may look at school-based clinics when vaccines are approved for children 12 and under. 

He said Alberta's current strategy is to vaccinate as many eligible people as quickly as possible. 

"We want to ensure that our resources are deployed in the best way possible," he said. "We right now want to focus on community partners to be able to provide those vaccines."

 

Rachel Notley is calling on the UCP government to devise a plan to prevent hospital staffing shortages and bed closures as some rural hospitals have had to periodically close or go without ER doctors.

‘Critical staffing shortages in hospitals across Alberta’: Notley

By Emily Mertz Global News
Posted July 19, 2021 3
 

Several Alberta hospitals have been dealing with staffing shortages in their emergency departments, including three of Edmonton’s busiest EDs.

On Friday, Alberta Health Services confirmed 18 treatment beds at the Royal Alexandra Hospital’s emergency department were temporarily closed “due to short-term staffing coverage issues.”

Twelve of those beds were closed for just four hours, AHS said.

“There was no reduction in care for patients in the emergency department during those four hours and EMS was not diverted to avoid the Royal Alexandra Hospital.”


READ MORE: Nurse shortages lead to emergency room bed closures in Alberta: doctor, union

Opposition NDP leader Rachel Notley said Monday that bed closures due to staffing pressures aren’t isolated to the Royal Alex.

“Over the past weeks, we have seen critical staffing shortages in hospitals across Alberta.”

“This has led to bed closures and cancelled surgeries and repeated emergency room closures in the communities of Edson, St. Paul, Boyle, Elk Point, Galahad, Westlock, Fairview, Rocky Mountain House, Cold Lake, Lac La Biche, High Prairie, Slave Lake, Wainwright, Rimbey and Lacombe.

“Here in Edmonton, at the Royal Alex, one of the busiest emergency departments in western Canada, they had to close 18 beds, nearly half its capacity, because there aren’t enough front-line health-care workers to operate safely.”

1:46Alberta health-care support staff presented with 4% wage cut

“Over the weekend, we learned that another of Edmonton’s busiest hospitals, the Grey Nuns, will be periodically closing its endoscopy unit over the next few weeks and transporting emergency patients who need that service when the unit is closed, to other hospitals,” Notley said.

Covenant Health confirmed the endoscopy unit at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital “will operate at 80 per cent outpatient capacity” for the next two weeks “as a result of staffing coverage issues due to pre-approved staff vacations and unexpected absences for non-COVID-related medical concerns.

“No other departments within the Grey Nuns are facing service impacts of this nature.”

AHS said 11 spaces at the University of Alberta Hospital emergency department were closed for 12 hours overnight and reopened at 8 a.m. Monday.

AHS said the ED remained open “for all patients needing emergency care as usual,” “there was no reduction in care for patients in the emergency department” and “EMS was not diverted to avoid the UAH and Stollery.”


READ MORE: ‘Burnout is real’: COVID-19 pandemic takes mental health toll on health-care workers

AHS issued two notices on Friday, advising of two other staffing shortages.

There will be no physician overnight (from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily) at the St. Theresa General Hospital emergency department in Fort Vermillion from July 19 to July 31, AHS said. Nursing staff will provide assessments and triage patients in the ED and refer them to the Northwest Health Centre in High Level, if needed. EMS calls will be re-routed to the Northwest Health Centre (81 kilometres away) during this time.

Also, the Sacred Heart Community Health Centre in McLennan was without an on-site emergency department physician over the weekend, AHS said. EMS calls were re-routed to High Prairie Health Complex (50 km away), Peace River Community Health Centre (80 km away) or Valleyview Healthcare Centre (90 km away), AHS said.

“This is a dangerous situation,” Notley said.

“The closures are happening because people are leaving.”

She slammed the UCP’s plan to cut Alberta nurses’ salaries, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, calling it “disrespectful, demoralizing and damaging.”

READ MORE: Alberta nurses call government-proposed 3% salary rollback ‘a kick to the gut’

The opposition leader said the premier and health minister need to keep hospitals open and “abandon these plans to cut the wages of the Albertans who work in them.”

Notley said in other regions, bonuses are being used to encourage health-care workers to stay on and keep working. In Alberta, however, they’re looking at long-term salary rollbacks, she said.

2:04 Facing COVID-19 staffing crunch, hospitals offer cash bonuses to new nurses – Jun 16, 2021

“These folks who work in health care have gone through career-level high marks for stress and anxiety and emergency,” Notley added.

“Having gone through that, it’s shocking that their reward is to be told they’ll earn less afterward.”

Health Minister Tyler Shandro said the NDP continues to politicize issues, “lie about our response to the pandemic” and “what’s happening in the province.”

“That’s their track record,” he said at a news conference Monday.

READ MORE: Health care job vacancies in Canada are soaring despite COVID-19 demand. Here’s why

Shandro said AHS has done great work dealing with the pressures exacerbated by the pandemic.

“AHS has done an amazing job in being able to make sure resources are deployed, to make sure people are getting the critical care they need, surgeries are happening… They’ve done an amazing job acting dynamically as the situation changes across the province,” the health minister said.

2:08 COVID-19 claims life of Calgary health-care worker who friends say ‘died a hero’ – Jan 5, 2021

In a statement to Global News Monday, AHS spokesperson James Wood said “any Albertan who is in need of acute care will get care.”

Wood said changes to service aren’t new and it is common for resources to be adjusted, especially in the summer, to align with staffing levels.

“Temporary bed closures are only done as a last resort and we work to ensure patients continue to receive safe, high-quality care.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact through staff redeployment and a depletion of the available pool of casual staff, which is being seen across Canada.”

AHS also said the staffing shortages are due to vacation time being taken by staff who worked extremely hard over the last 17 months.

“Staff are taking well-deserved vacation time and we thank them for their incredible efforts through the waves of the pandemic in Alberta to date.”

Recruitment efforts continue, Wood said.


“AHS is working on recruitment plans that are targeted to fill current vacancies by the end of August and September.

“AHS continues to aggressively recruit physicians for rural areas. New physicians have recently been recruited in McLennan, Falher, Valleyview, Barrhead, Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray, Cold Lake and St. Paul.”

2:00 NDP accuse health minister of lying about how many doctors were planning to leave Alberta – Oct 1, 2020

While staffing challenges were expected, Alberta has worked hard to recruit health-care workers to the province, Shandro said.

“We have 1,000 more nurses than we had a year ago, so we are recruiting more.”

“We have net — month over month, quarter over quarter, year over year — more positions, more nurses because we continue to show not just the rest of the country but the rest of the world that Alberta is an amazing place not just to come to work and serve residents in your profession but also a great place to raise your children.”

© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Shandro says NDP exaggerating health-care shortages, Notley calls bed closures 'very real'


Adam Lachacz

CTVNewsEdmonton.ca 

Digital Journalist

Published Monday, July 19, 2021

Alberta Minister of Health Tyler Shandro speaks at a press conference in Calgary on May 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh


EDMONTON -- The minister of health in Alberta says the NDP is “lying” and exaggerating claims about shortages in health-care staff in the province leading to temporary service level reductions.

Tyler Shandro was asked by reporters about staffing shortages at health-care facilities across the province at a media availability Monday.

Multiple hospitals across the province have faced bed closures and staff shortages. Earlier this month the Royal Alexandra hospital – the largest in Edmonton – closed six beds in their emergency room.

On Friday, another 12 beds were closed at that facility until receiving morning staff relief.

Additionally, Fort Vermillion’s St. Theresa General Hospital emergency department announced on Friday that it would have no overnight physician coverage temporarily until the end of the month.

McLennan’s Sacred Heart Community Health Centre had limited physician coverage over the past weekend.

On Saturday, the Grey Nuns Hospital in Edmonton reduced nurse service levels at their endoscopy unit due to “unforeseen medical leaves of several staff in rapid succession.”

The minister maintained on Monday that staffing reductions are temporary and that they are resulting from residual pressure from the COVID-19 pandemic and seasonal vacations.

“I understand the NDP are going to – as they’ve done for the last year and a half – hypercriticize issues and quite frankly lie,” Shandro said, “about our response to the pandemic and lying about what is actually happening in the province.

“AHS has done an amazing job in being able to make sure that resources are deployed, and to make sure that people get critical care that they need throughout the province,” he added. “Surgeries are happening as they need throughout the province. They’ve done an amazing job acting dynamically as the situation changes throughout the province.”

When asked if Alberta is attracting health care workers to the province, Shandro said recruitment targets were being met.

“We have a thousand more nurses than we had a year ago,” he said. “We are recruiting more. Month over month, quarter for quarter, year over year, we have more physicians, more nurses because we continue to show Alberta is a great place to live.

“Everybody wants to come to Alberta because it is an amazing place to live.”

BED CLOSURES ARE 'VERY REAL': NDP

Rachel Notley told CTV News Edmonton in a statement that the bed closures and staff reductions are "very real."

“These bed closures are publicly reported by AHS," she said. "They are very real, and they are putting Albertans at risk. It’s disgraceful that Tyler Shandro continues to gaslight Albertans and refuse to accept responsibility for his ongoing failures as Health Minister.”

Notley added that the health-care staff shortages are creating a “dangerous situation.”

“We have repeatedly called on Tyler Shandro to take action, but all he has offered Albertans is excuses and finger-pointing,” the leader of the official opposition said. “Let’s be clear: we are here because Jason Kenney acted last and acted least in the second and third waves."

Notley called on Shandro to create a plan to keep Alberta’s hospitals open, without reductions in service.

“Our healthcare heroes are burnt-out and patients who are arriving much sicker than before because their conditions have been left unaddressed for a year and a half.”

The Sea Is Not Made of Water by Adam Nicolson review – of mollusc and men

Digging deep: Adam Nicolson in Argyllshire. Photograph: Sarah Raven

This lyrical dive into rock pools illuminates the interconnectedness of all natural habitats
Alex Preston
Mon 19 Jul 2021 

There’s a WTF moment about a third of the way through Adam Nicolson’s new book, The Sea Is Not Made of Water. The first chapters largely follow in the footsteps of his last book of nature writing, The Seabird’s Cry, applying the same characteristic form of lyrical scientific investigation into the creatures of the rock pool that he’d deployed on the birds of the cliffs and wide oceans. The opening section of this book is called Animals and we leap from sand hopper to winkle to prawn, understanding the complex interconnectedness of these underexamined lives, learning a new and perspective-altering fact on every page. Then, all of a sudden, there’s a chapter on the pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus.

It’s a segment of exquisite beauty, a bravura act of writing that seems not only to provide a model for the rest of this book, but changes the way you understand the whole dizzying Nicolson oeuvre. This is a writer who has moved from memoir to literary criticism to nature writing via The Mighty Dead, one of the best books on Homer ever written. In his chapter on Heraclitus, Nicolson reads a rock pool through the work of the great philosopher, bringing to the crucible of tidal life “a systemic understanding whose wholeness relies on its union of opposites”. We begin to understand that the thread that links Nicolson’s books is precisely this – a philosopher’s wish to provide a way of comprehending the place of the individual in a vast and shifting world, the quest for a good life, the search for new answers to old questions.

The chapter on prawns makes us consider whether invertebrates have a consciousness, a right to dignity in life and death

The Sea Is Not Made of Water takes the reader on several journeys. First, there is the contemporary story of Nicolson, in his 60s, deciding to dig rock pools on the shore near his wife’s family home in Argyllshire. Nicolson writes off for official permission for his project and is slightly wounded to receive a response saying that he ought not to have bothered, as “they do not appear to be any different to anything built by local children during the holidays”. Undeterred, Nicolson seizes his pickaxe and waterproof cement and sets to work. The first pool fails – it is too far out of the water – but the next ones don’t, and are soon full of scintillating life.

With life comes drama. There’s the slow-motion battle between two anemones – red foot and blue foot; there’s the self-sacrifice of young winkles so that their elders can escape (“the winkles speeded up from about an eighth of an inch a minute to about half an inch a minute, running for the hills”); there’s the remarkably tender, week-long lovemaking of green crabs. The chapter on prawns is one of the best, doing for the cockroaches of the sea what David Foster Wallace did for their big brothers in his wonderful essay Consider the Lobster, making us consider whether invertebrates have a consciousness, a sense of self, a right to dignity in life and death.

The real journey of The Sea Is Not Made of Water occurs in its second and third parts, though. We come to recognise that the chapters on rock pools have only been a rehearsal, a study for what is to come. From the Lilliputian intimacy of the rock pool we spool out to chapters on the tides and the formation of rocks – vast in space and time, vertiginous in their scope and ambition. The last part of the book provides a history of the humans who inhabited this wild and rocky Scottish shore from pre-history to the present, with Nicolson applying the same sympathetic scientific curiosity to these lives that he gave to the winkles. “Life is tidal, full of loss and arrival, a thing that makes and ebbs,” he writes at one point, and this is what we take away from the book – that we are all in rock pools, knitted within complex systems. We are part of nature, not separate from it.

Here’s an idea: the best books are never only, or even mainly, about the subject they claim to be about. The novelist John Barth said something like this when asked what kept people turning pages. “The question ‘Who am I?’ is what ultimately motivates the reader,” he said. The greatest literature – and this unique and terribly moving title is great literature indeed – reaches beyond itself to speak to us of the most profound and essential things. Spending time in Nicolson’s rock pool will change your life and the way you view the lives of others.

The Sea Is Not Made of Water: Life Between the Tides by Adam Nicolson is published by William Collins (£20).