O'Toole says doctors must refer for

 services they object to, reversing pledge

WINNIPEG — Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole says he believes doctors must refer patients seeking services like abortion or medical assistance in dying to another provider if they object to performing these procedures themselves.

O'Toole faced questions Friday about his position on conscience rights for health professionals after a promise to uphold them appeared in his party's election platform.

"They will have to refer, because the rights to access those services exist across the country," he told reporters at a campaign stop in Winnipeg.

"We have to respect conscience rights but allow there to be referrals."

The position marks a shift from O'Toole's leadership run last year, when he vowedto protect the conscience rights of health professionals whose beliefs prevent them from performing a service or offering patients a referral.

Social conservatives have advocated that doctors and nurses with moral or religious objections to a particular procedure shouldn't have to refer patients for these services, including abortion, assistance in dying or gender reassignment surgery

O'Toole courted the party's social conservative base in the leadership contest in a move many believe contributed to his win over rival Peter MacKay.

On the campaign trailearlier this week, O'Toole didn't directly answer whether he thought conscience rights extended to referrals, but said Friday he believes that is something doctors must doas he sought to blunt a potential wedge issue.

O'Toole accused Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau of trying to divide Canadians because of his attack on Conservatives over the issue.

"It’s important for me to state that I’m pro-choice and I have a record very clear as an ally for the LGBTQ community. Because out of the gate in this pandemic election that no one other than Justin Trudeau wanted, every day he’s been trying to divide people, whether it’s on the pandemic itself or whether it’s on misleading people with respect to my record," he said.

The Tory leader also rejected suggestions he reversed his stance on the matter since winning the leadership.

"My position has never changed."

Unveiled in spring 2020, O'Toole's leadership platform pledged to defend “the conscience rights of all health care professionals whose beliefs, religious or otherwise, prevent them from carrying out or referring patients for services that violate their conscience.”

O'Toole made the lane change at a long-haul truck company warehouse on the outskirts of Winnipeg, where he was joined by prominent Manitoba Conservative MPs Candice Bergen and James Bezan.

Flanked by corrugated steel siding and a dozen Dijon mustard-toned semi trucks, O'Toole stressed his plan to incentivize hiring and create one million jobs as he sought to keep the focus on economic recovery.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 20, 2021.

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press

What is ‘conscientious objection’? Here’s why major parties are talking about it
David Lao 

© Joe Raedle/Getty Images FILE

The End of Smallpox | History Today

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/end-smallpox

1999-03-03 · Drawing accompanying text in Book XII of the 16th-century Florentine Codex (compiled 1540–1585), showing Nahuas of conquest-era central Mexico with smallpox. Anyone asked to define ‘conscientious objector’ would undoubtedly describe someone refusing military service on religious or …

As the campaign for the 2021 federal election continues, one controversial topic looks to be coming right to the forefront — whether health-care professionals are obligated to provide care for service they morally oppose, or at least refer the patient to another doctor.

At issue is what's known as conscientious objection: when health-care practitioners refuse to do or refer patients for a medical procedure that is against their belief such as abortions, medical assistance in dying or even gender-reassignment surgery.

The conversation comes as Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole was pressed on Thursday to clarify a promise in his party's platform, under the section detailing human rights, to "protect the conscience rights of health-care professionals."

Read more: Tories say doctors should be allowed to refuse abortions, assisted death

"The challenges of dealing with COVID-19 have reminded us of the vital importance of health care professionals — the last thing Canada can afford to do is drive any of these professionals out of their profession. We will also encourage faith-based and other community organizations to expand their provision of palliative and long-term care," read the promise.

O'Toole refused to say whether that means he believes doctors and nurses should be able to refuse to refer their patients to a willing practitioner who can offer the medical care being sought.

Instead, the Conservative leader repeated his personal views on abortion rights, saying that he was "pro-choice."

Video: Medical assistance in dying: why some say they are being unfairly denied, despite new law

“We can get the balance right, but let me be perfectly clear: As a pro-choice leader of this party, I will make sure that we defend the rights of women to make the choice for themselves with respect to their own health,” said O’Toole during an event in Ottawa.

The promise to protect conscience rights is one heralded by social conservatives, who believe physicians should not be forced to perform or even provide referrals for care they oppose.

Read more: Medical schools should deny applicants who object to provide abortion, assisted death, bioethicist says

O’Toole says he supports health care professionals if they choose not to perform abortions, assisted dying

The Liberals were quick to attack O'Toole's stance, with the party releasing a video Thursday that showed Conservative candidate and former leadership rival Leslyn Lewis supporting health-care providers' choice not to refer patients for medical services like abortions.

Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau on Thursday criticized O'Toole's position.

“Pro-choice doesn’t mean the freedom of doctors to choose. It means the freedom of women to choose. Leaders have to be unequivocal on that,” said Trudeau during a campaign stop in Victoria on Thursday.

On Wednesday night, Liberal MP Maryam Monsef slammed O'Toole in a series of tweets that described the leader as having "pretended to be pro-choice."

"That's the same position as Andrew Scheer," Monsef wrote.

While the campaign platform does not make specific mention to referrals, the platform O'Toole ran on while seeking the Conservative party leadership did, promising to protect "the conscience rights of all health care professionals whose beliefs, religious or otherwise, prevent them from carrying out or referring patients for services that violate their conscience.”

In a statement to Global News Thursday, the Conservatives pointed to several quotes of Liberal MPs and ministers in which they mentioned support for the conscience rights of professionals during the legislative debates on assisted dying.

Video: How do you balance doctor, patient rights on assisted-death?

"Mr. Speaker, as I have indicated, I will always respect the conscience rights of doctors," said Labour Minister Filomena Tassi in 2016 during a House of Commons debate on medical assistance in dying.

Tassi, who was not a minister at the time, said she was speaking in the context of accessibility to the service.

Another quote included Justice Minister David Lametti during his defence of assisted dying legislation in 2020. In it, Lametti said that that doctors' conscience rights were protected in the bill.

Yet in an interview with The Canadian Press, Lametti said that ensuring physicians did not have to participate in a medical procedure against their conscience was "way different" than supporting a right for them to refuse to provide referrals.

According to him, conscientiously objecting doctors have a "moral obligation" to refer their patients to someone else.

The majority of provincial physicians' colleges — the governing bodies that set in place policies and guidelines for doctors to follow — for the most part allow their health-care professionals to object to a medical procedure.

Where they differ often comes down to the question of how each college views the ethical obligation for members to refer patients to other doctors who can provide the care.

Read more: Fewer Canadian women appear to be travelling to U.S. for abortions during COVID-19

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario requires doctors to provide an "effective referral" within a "timely manner" to another professional or agency, should they consciously object.

"Physicians must not impede access to care for existing patients, or those seeking to become patients," reads the college's policy.

That position was challenged in court but upheld as a reasonable measure aimed at ensuring access to healthcare for patients by Ontario's Court of Appeal in 2018. The court also sided with the lower divisional court which ruled allowing doctors to refuse referrals would further stigmatize already vulnerable patients.

The appeal court agreed with the determination that objections by practitioners to providing referrals "were designed to preserve their rights, and were not directed — as they should have been — to promoting the objective of equitable access to health care."

Read more: Canada election: Complete list of promises made during the 2021 campaign

Data gathered about the policies of colleges in other provinces by the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada found the policies in provinces like Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Alberta and B.C., were more ambiguous.

Those policies describe processes for the patient to obtain more information or to see another doctor who can provide the service, but do not clearly direct doctors to make an "effective referral."

On Friday morning, Quebec's Collège des médecins du Québec clarified its position on the matter in a tweet which, translated, says that: "In Quebec, doctors cannot abandon patients or even ignore their request by invoking conscientious objections, particularly in matters of abortion or medical assistance in dying, without referring them to another colleague," the college said.

"It is an ethical obligation."

Colleges in Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Manitoba all explicitly say that professionals who refuse to provide service are not required to make a referral, citing the Canadian Medical Association's Code of Ethics and Professionalism.

— with files from The Canadian Press and Amanda Connolly

Class, Gender, and the Conscientious Objector to Vaccination, 1898–1907
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 May 2013

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-british-studies/article/class-gender-and-the-conscientious-objector-to-vaccination-18981907/69A6826787AC35FEB34E0E6ADEB9D114

Nadja Durbach
Article

Extract

In 1898, after forty-five years of enforcing mandatory infant smallpox vaccination, the British parliament passed an act to allow parents to “opt out” of the compulsory system. The 1898 Vaccination Act introduced a conscience clause that entitled parents who objected to the practice of vaccination to claim certificates of conscientious objection by applying to a magistrate for an exemption. This provided working- and lower-middle-class anti-vaccinationists a measure of relief from the repeated fines they had suffered for noncompliance with the law, and from the threat of imprisonment. By the end of 1898, over 200,000 certificates of conscientious objection had been issued. Many of these were granted in anti-vaccination strongholds where exemptions outnumbered vaccinations, but conscientious objection to vaccination was by no means limited to these regions. Once an amended conscience clause was passed in 1907, which made conscientious objector status much easier to attain, the national exemption rate grew to 25 percent of all births.

The vaccination conscience clauses were controversial. As most of the applicants who applied for these exemption certificates came from the working classes, and many were women, these acts generated a national debate over the classed and gendered nature of the conscience and the meanings of conscientious objection. The years between 1898 and 1907 thus mark a significant moment in the making of the modern subject and citizen. For, as the debate over conscientious objection to vaccination reveals, who exactly was entitled to make a claim to possess a conscience, with its concomitant rights, was itself a contested issue.

Vaccination Exemptions | History of Vaccines

https://www.historyofvaccines.org/index.php/content/articles/...

The British Vaccination Act of 1898 provided a conscience clause to allow exemptions to mandatory smallpox vaccination. This clause gave rise to the term “conscientious objector,” which later came to refer to those opposed to military service. By the end of 1898, magistrates had issued more than 200,000 vaccination exemptions.

Conscientious objector - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscientious_objector

Conscientious objectors who were deemed not to have made any useful contribution to the state were formally disfranchised (through a clause inserted in the Representation of the People Act 1918 at the insistence of back-bench MPs) for the five years 1 September 1921 - 31 August 1926, but as it was a last-minute amendment there was no administrative machinery to enforce such disfranchisement, which …

conscientious objectors | Padraig Colman

https://pcolman.wordpress.com/tag/conscientious-objectors

The book Smallpox Zero includes President Thomas Jefferson’s letter of congratulation to Jenner. Edward Jenner was born on 17 May 1749 in Berkeley, the eighth of nine children. ... The term “conscientious objector

 

Food claiming to have 'wild mushrooms' rarely do

by Lisa Potter, University of Utah

Food products analyzed in study. The manufacturer names have been blurred to

 protect their identity. Credit: Cutler II WD et. al. PeerJ (2021)

Harvesting wild mushrooms requires an expert eye to distinguish between the delicious and the inedible. Misidentification can have a range of consequences, from a disgusting taste and mild illness to organ failure and even death. Culinary wild mushrooms staples, such as truffles or porcini, require symbiotic relationships with specific plants in the ecosystem that make it impractical or impossible to produce them commercially. This means they can only be harvested from their natural habitat, which is why porcini and truffles are often so expensive. Many food producers opt for common fungi that can be cultivated easily and grown in large quantities, such as oyster, shiitake, and portabella mushrooms.

The United States has minimal regulations around the harvest and sale of wild fungi. Food products that tout "wild mushrooms" as ingredients are often vague and non-specific, making it impossible to know if the products are truly wild or just cultivated varieties, or even if they contain poisonous mushrooms harmful to humans.

In a new study, researchers from the University of Utah (U) and the Natural History Museum of Utah (NHMU) used DNA barcoding techniques to test what mushroom species made up 16 food products that listed "wild mushrooms" on their labels. The authors sourced soups, dried mushrooms, powdered mushrooms, pasta sauces, and flavor enhancers from local grocery stores around Salt Lake City, Utah, and a large online retailer.

They found 28 species of mushrooms across all 16 food products. Almost all products that claimed to have wild mushrooms consisted of cultivated species, including oyster, shiitake, or portabella mushrooms. Only five products had contents that were accurately described on the label, and some included species that likely have yet to be described in academic literature. One packet of dried wild mushrooms from the online retailer contained a species from a group of fungi that includes the "Death Cap," a notoriously poisonous mushroom known to cause renal failure in humans.

"If you looked at the reviews on this product, a surprising number of people wrote that the mushrooms 'made me violently ill,' or that they had 'never been so sick in my life,'" said Dalley Cutler, lead author of the paper and a recent biology graduate at the U. "No one is checking if the mushrooms are what the labels say they are."

The authors contacted the online retailer to inform them of the potential dangers of the product. As of the paper's publication, the dried mushrooms are still for sale. The mislabeling across the wide range of products could be due of fraud, negligence, or just a lack of awareness.

Bryn Dentinger (left) and a graduate student collected 50 pounds of porcini mushrooms in

 southern Utah. Credit: Bryn Dentinger

"There's an ignorance about mushrooms in general—in food products, museum collections, the definition for wild mushrooms are all over the place," said Alexander Bradshaw, co-author of the study and doctoral student at the U. "One package of dried mushrooms said it contained porcini, defined by a characteristic spongy texture underneath the cap. Just by looking at it, we knew it was untrue—the mushrooms had gills underneath their caps. It seems like if you can dry it down, you can just slap a porcini label on it."

The authors say their results are inevitable partly because policies that regulate the international food supply chain vary wildly. Some parts of Europe require a license to collect edible wild mushrooms, but the guidelines differ between countries. In the U.S., state governments are responsible for regulating commercial wild mushrooms sales, but only 31 states have any regulations at all, according to a National Survey of State Regulation of Wild Mushroom Foraging for Retail Sale.

Another reason for inconsistencies is because the field of mycology is vastly understudied.

"About 95% of fungal species on Earth are undescribed. Fungi are so poorly documented, how do you regulate something that is virtually unknown?" said Bryn Dentinger, senior author of the paper, curator of mycology at the Natural History Museum of Utah, and associate professor of biology at the U. "This puts human health at risk, but it also puts our ecosystems at risk. Around the world, unsustainable harvesting practices could put rare and threatened species at risk of extinction."

There are still safe ways to enjoy wild mushrooms, the researchers say. Just know who you're buying from.

"I don't want people to read this and be scared to eat porcini and other wild edible mushrooms, they are delicious," said Dalley. "This study looked only at packaged products, not locally harvested wild mushrooms. I would encourage people that enjoy porcini and other wild edibles to only purchase from local sellers that are qualified in the identification of wild mushrooms."

The study was published online in the journal PeerJ on Aug. 2, 2021.

Review of arsenic speciation in mushrooms from China

More information: W. Dalley Cutler II et al, What's for dinner this time?: DNA authentication of "wild mushrooms" in food products sold in the USA, PeerJ (2021). DOI: 10.7717/peerj.11747

Journal information: PeerJ 

Provided by University of Utah 

 

Efficient buildings could save thousands of lives in US every year

by Geoffrey Giller, Yale University

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Buildings in the U.S. are responsible for 40% of the country's total energy consumption. By improving the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings, the emissions generated from heating and cooling them could be reduced—preventing thousands of premature deaths every year.

A new paper published in Science Advances, authored by Yale School of the Environment Economics Professor Kenneth Gillingham and colleagues at Yale's SEARCH Center and the Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science, lays out two building efficiency improvement scenarios and estimates for how many premature deaths in the U.S. would be prevented in each case.

The burning of fossil fuels, in addition to greenhouse gasses, releases large amounts of harmful airborne particulate matter called PM2.5 (particles with diameters of less than 2.5 micrometers), which can cause heart and lung disease and aggravate conditions like asthma. The reduction in premature deaths is primarily due to the reduction in PM2.5.

The "optimistic" scenario, the authors say, envisions a 50% increase in appliance efficiency (everything from refrigerators to boilers) and a 60-90% increase in the efficiency of buildings' outer shells by 2050. The researchers estimate that up to 5,100 premature deaths would be prevented yearly if those conditions were met. The "intermediate" scenario—still "a big step up" from what is being undertaken today, says Gillingham—could save up to an estimated 2,900 lives each year.

These estimates of lives saved, however, are focused on changes in outdoor air pollution.

"It is important to also consider the impacts on indoor air quality that may accompany changes in building ventilation," says study co-author Drew Gentner, associate professor of chemical and environmental engineering and the environment at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science.

The potential drawback of the increased energy efficiency of buildings, says Gillingham, is that when buildings are more tightly sealed to prevent leakage of heated or cooled air, the total amount of circulation between indoor and outdoor air also decreases.

"While tighter buildings can partially isolate you from outdoor pollution, it requires greater attention to indoor pollutant emissions," Gentner says.

For example, inside a home, emissions from cooking or appliances can impact indoor air quality. "If you close the building shell and don't accompany it with recirculation and filtration upgrades, then you can actually face some health impacts," Gillingham says.

But even without additional indoor air filtration upgrades, the researchers found that improved building efficiency would still save roughly 3,600 per year under the "optimistic" scenario, and 1,800 under the "intermediate" scenario.

The researchers also note that some outdoor air pollution factors, like wildfire smoke, would be reduced indoors if buildings were made more efficient and there was less circulation between outdoor and indoor air. While average outdoor PM2.5 levels have been continually decreasing over time in the U.S., wildfires can sometimes drastically increase outdoor air pollution. And, as recent years have shown, wildfire smoke can spread across large swaths of the country, causing harmful levels of air quality from coast to coast.

"These results, including effects on outdoor and indoor air pollutants, are quite interesting because no one's modeled both before. People have examined similar questions narrowly in small regions, but no one's done it broadly over the entire country," says Gillingham.

Another factor that Gillingham and his colleagues modeled was the possible effect of a carbon tax. They found that a carbon tax, combined with building efficiency improvements, would save even more lives.

The study helps make clear to people, Gillingham says, that forgoing opportunities to reduce emissions can truly harm people's health.

Air pollution exposure is shifting from outdoor to indoor – here's why

More information: The climate and health benefits from intensive building energy efficiency improvements, Science Advances (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abg0947 , advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/34/eabg0947

Journal information: Science Advances 

Provided by Yale University 

Jobless benefit cuts cause lost earnings, spending in US states: study

A study found the 26 US states that ended pandemic unemployment benefits early saw 

slight increases in employment but big falls in spending and income.

American states that ended pandemic jobless benefits early saw slight dips in unemployment rates but big declines in spending and income, according to a study released Friday, in what could be a preview of the effects nationwide when the programs end completely.

First created by the CARES Act in March 2020 and extended several times since, the emergency benefits increased weekly unemployment payments and expanded them to freelance workers and the long-term unemployed.

But the federal aid has become controversial in recent months, as critics say it encourages people not to return to work even as Covid-19 vaccines became widely available and businesses struggle to fill open positions.

Officials in 26 states—mostly led by Republicans—have announced early cuts to some or all of the programs, which are due to expire nationwide on September 6.

In states where benefits ended early, nearly 25 percent of people surveyed had jobs as of the end of July, compared to about 22 percent in states that continued the programs, according to the study that analyzed data on 18,648 jobless people in the 22 states that ended extra benefits in June.

However, the job gains did not make up for the decline in incomes and spending that followed, according to the researchers from Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Toronto.

"We see a small... rise in earnings of $14 per-week, making up around five percent of the shortfall from benefit decline," they wrote in the study using data from financial services firm Earnin.

However, unemployment benefits fell by $278 a week and "The reduced income was accompanied by a $145 per-week (20 percent) fall in spending."

Nationwide spending drop?

As the aid ends nationwide, "We could see around $8 billion in reduced spending during September and October. The spending losses are likely to continue further as additional workers take time to enter the workforce," they wrote.

While the authors were not certain, they predicted about half a million new jobs would be created in September and October, but the majority of the four million people who would lose benefits after the September expiration would "take much longer to find jobs."

President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan stimulus package passed in March allocated $350 billion to state and local governments, and on Thursday his administration said states could use that money to keep the expanded benefits going beyond September, especially if rising infections from the Delta variant of Covid-19 delay hiring.

Labor Department data released Friday gave a mixed verdict on the impact of the benefit cuts on state-level unemployment rates, with joblessness declining in only 17 states in July, nearly half of which had cut the benefits early.

Rise in labor earnings inequality during pandemic reversed by stimulus, unemployment checks

---

© 2021 AFP

 

New nuclear reactor will make Slovakia a power exporter

17 August 2021

Slovakia's new Mochovce 3 reactor is slated to start up and generate electricity this year with unit 4 following in 2023, according to an energy security report released by the Ministry of Economy. Once it starts up, Mochovce 3 will immediately tip Slovakia's energy balance back to an export footing.

Mochovce units 1 to 4 (Image: Slovenské elektrárne)

Slovakia is adding significant clean generation capacity in pursuit of the European Union's goals for emissions reductions for its member states. The ministry said it expects 670 MWe of solar and 497 MWe of wind to be added during the next decade in addition to the 942 MWe that would come from the two new reactors at Mochovce.

"The above changes, especially the commercial operation of Mochovce 3 and 4, will significantly change the power balance of Slovakia," said the ministry. "After the start-up of Mochovce 3, the balance sheet character of the system will change from imports of 1.1% in 2020 to exports of 9.0% in 2022."

Mochovce 3 and 4 are VVER pressurised water reactors that have been under construction since 2008. They will each have a capacity of 471 MWe.

An operating licence for Mochovce 3 was issued by the Slovak nuclear regulator in May and owner Slovenské elektrárne is expected to load fuel and commission the unit this year. Mochovce 4 should begin operation in 2023, according to the ministry's projections.

Slovakia's other nuclear power reactors are Mochovce 1, also with a capacity of 471 MWe; Mochovce 2; which has been upgraded to 500 MWe; and two reactors at the Bohunice plant, with net capacities of 466 MWe each.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Trudeau slams Kenney in Calgary campaign stop; Liberals hope to dodge repeat of 2019 Alberta shutout

Author of the article:Jason Herring
Publishing date:Aug 19, 2021 • 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in town to rally with candidate George Chahal at the Whitehorn Community Centre in Calgary on Thursday, August 19, 2021. 

Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia

Justin Trudeau didn’t visit Calgary during his 2019 election campaign until the last weekend before Canadians headed to the polls. His Liberals secured a minority government, but failed to win a single seat in Alberta.

This time around, it didn’t take nearly as long for the Liberal leader to make his way to Calgary. Trudeau stopped in the city’s northeast Thursday evening on only the fifth day of the campaign, signalling his party is looking to avoid a repeat of that Alberta shutout two years ago.

Trudeau appeared at the Whitehorn Community Centre alongside Calgary Skyview candidate George Chahal, who looks to jump from city councillor into federal politics with the Grits.

“What a pleasure to be back in Calgary. What a pleasure to be here next to your extraordinary next MP, George Chahal,” Trudeau said at the start of a brief whistle-stop speech to a crowd of about 100 supporters.

Advertisement

Article content

The Liberal leader called the snap election Sunday, drawing criticism from opposition politicians who called the move unnecessary and opportunistic, amid a surging fourth wave of COVID-19 cases across the country and with thousands of Afghan interpreters stuck in that country awaiting refuge to Canada.

But Trudeau defended the election call, saying it gives voters the chance to choose how Canada will navigate out of the pandemic. He focused on a handful of key issues for the Liberals, including climate change, child care and the COVID-19 response.

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt says the early campaign stop indicates the Liberals believe they can win the Skyview riding, where Chahal is taking on Conservative incumbent Jag Sahota. Liberal Darshan Kang won the seat in 2015, but was booted from caucus amid sexual harassment allegations and didn’t seek re-election in 2019.

Advertisement

Article content

“I don’t think the chances are low. I think George Chahal has a better than even chance of winning,” Bratt said.

“If this was the 2019 campaign, this would be checking off the box, saying, ‘I’ve done the Calgary thing.’ But I would be surprised if this is the only time we see Trudeau in Calgary. I think the Liberals believe they can win seats.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in town to rally with candidate George Chahal at the Whitehorn Community Centre in Calgary on Thursday, August 19, 2021. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia PHOTO BY DARREN MAKOWICHUK /DARREN MAKOWICHUK/Postmedia

According to Bratt, two other seats in Calgary could be in play for the Liberals — Calgary Confederation and Calgary Centre. In those ridings, candidates Murray Sigler and Sabrina Glover look to unseat Tories Len Webber and Greg McLean, respectively.

Trudeau briefly criticized federal Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole in his speech before turning his sights to Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.

Advertisement

Article content

He slammed the Kenney government for its proposed cuts to health-care worker salaries, particularly during the pandemic. He said the UCP made “wrong decision after wrong decision” in the course of dealing with COVID-19.

“Quite frankly, here in Alberta, I know you see what happens when conservatives make decisions that aren’t based on science,” Trudeau said.

“While Jason Kenney was making decisions that were hurting all of you and blaming people in Calgary Skyview for the pandemic, the reality is Erin O’Toole and the federal conservatives weren’t there to fight for you. He was too busy praising Jason Kenney to have your backs.”

Advertisement

Article content

Trudeau also referred to a radio interview by Kenney in November 2020, during Alberta’s second wave of COVID-19, in which the premier issued a “wake-up call” to the city’s South Asian community, saying there was a high level of spread among the group. The comments were derided by many at the time, including Chahal; many South Asian people live in Calgary Skyview.

Kenney also took heat from another federal leader passing through Alberta earlier in the day. At a campaign stop in Edmonton, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took aim at Kenney’s “attacks” on health-care workers and promised to create a $250-million Critical Shortages Fund to address the shortage of nurses and health-care workers across Canada if he becomes prime minister.

The premier’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

It’s not surprising to see federal leaders target Kenney when they’re in Alberta, Bratt said.

“It’s because people don’t know who Erin O’Toole is but they know who Jason Kenney is, and he’s not popular,” he said.

Trudeau’s trip to Calgary was brief. Following the event, his team flew from Calgary to Winnipeg, where a campaign stop is planned for Friday.

— With files from Ashley Joannou

jherring@postmedia.com

Shaman King’s Pro-Environmentalism Has Only Become Timelier

Shaman King promotes an environmental message that has grown even more relevant in the reboot than it was in the 2001 anime.

BY ANTHONY GRAMUGLIA

PUBLISHED 2 DAYS AGO


WARNING: The following contains minor spoilers for Shaman King (2021), now streaming on Netflix.

Shaman King has returned with a new 2021 reboot that, despite not changing much thematically or plot-wise, resonates harder due to the increased relevance of its environmental message. Anime that caution against turning the planet into our own personal dumping ground have become increasingly prevalent as the machine of industry soils our land, blackens our skies and contaminates our oceans.

While Shaman King is not as overt as anime like Princess Mononoke when it comes to environmentalism, it does shun modern conventions of society, with many characters either turning to natural ways of living or maintaining a deep respect for nature's order. The Shamans argue that the world belongs more to spirits than humans, a belief with roots in Shinto culture and philosophies.

RELATED: Shaman King: Yes, One Spirit Really Did Eat His Own [SPOILER]

The Environmental Messages Of Shaman King


The various Shamans in Shaman King maintain a deep regard for nature that goes deeper than merely respecting humanity's history. They respect the natural order of events, and not just the cycles of life and death. When we meet protagonist Yoh Asakura, he completely defies the traditions of modern society, mostly hanging out with spirits and having a difficult time relating to people who don't have some degree of connection to the other side.

Many Shamans also incorporate natural powers into their abilities. While Yoh has Amidamaru, a legendary swordsman whose grave is defiled by punks, other characters like Horohoro incorporate ice powers. Anna is even capable of manipulating the natural world and the realm of nature to send spirits to heaven or hell. Later on, viewers are introduced to Shamans who manipulate the very spirits of nature themselves.

Of course, Shaman King also features characters who do not respect nature. As a result they are typically seen as adversaries and evil, but others have stranger perspectives. The X-Laws, for example, are Shamans who can summon Angels yet turn out to be the spirits of manmade mechanics. While they later prove to be heroes, they are initially seen as enemies. The X-Laws aside, spirits are tied more to the natural world than the mechanical one, resulting in some interesting messages about the way humanity is connected to the world.

Humanity's Dismissal Of The Natural World


Many of the humans outside the Shaman community are disrespectful to nature. We build over it, desecrate graves, and generally seem to care less about the world we're living in. Shaman King's anime and manga argue that the Earth is capable of incredible power and worthy of respect and love. And as we see with Tao Ren's personal story arc, forcibly manipulating the spirit world is ultimately a bad thing.

All of this ties into Shaman King's general message: respect nature. When humans become closer to the spiritual world, they themselves become Shamans capable of incredible power. "Wooden Sword" Ryu is a case in point. He starts the series desecrating graves but soon -- after several experiences where the spiritual world gives him a series of nonconsensual haircuts -- learns to respect nature and embrace being a Shaman himself.

Even the X-Laws, who draw their archangels from cars or trucks, maintain this philosophy. People don't typically associate cars with spirits or souls, rather seeing them as disposable, but Shaman King argues that even these mechanical creations are alive and worthy of respect as sentient life forms.

This overarching message is all the more relevant today, in a world where we increasingly dispose of materials we don't immediately need, move on to the next product to consume and neglect the Earth's needs. Perhaps we as a society would do well to return to the traditions of nature, respecting the history and the world as Shaman King does.