AMERICAN JUNKIES

Study: Some seniors at increased risk for opioid misuse after hip surgery

By Alan Mozes, HealthDay News

Many seniors who undergo surgery after breaking a hip continue to take opioids long after being released from the hospital, new research indicates.

After tracking nearly 30,000 U.S. older patients, investigators found that nearly 17% were still taking opioids as much as half a year after hip surgery.

At three months after surgery, that figure was nearly 70%, while almost 84% of the patients were on opioids during the first month following surgery.

The study team said the numbers suggest that older patients struggling with acute pain are not immune to the risk for becoming dependent on an extremely addictive drug.

RELATED Study: Laws that limit opioid prescription duration help cut length of use

"While the risk of long-term opioid dependence following musculoskeletal injury and surgery has been established in younger patient populations, our study found that this risk was present in elderly patients following hip fracture surgery as well," said study lead author Dr. Kanu Okike, an orthopedic surgeon with Hawaii Permanente Medical Group in Honolulu.

Okike and his colleagues focused on hip surgery patients aged 60 and up, with an average age of 82.

All the patients were surgically treated between 2009 and 2018 at one of 35 hospitals across the United States; roughly 7 in 10 were women.

RELATED Doctors prescribing more muscle relaxants for back pain

"Opioid pain medications are powerful agents which can alleviate the pain that many patients experience after hip fracture surgery," Okike acknowledged.

In that light, "it is certainly reasonable for patients to take opioid pain medications for the first few days or weeks following hip fracture surgery," he added.

"However, opioid pain medications are also associated with a number of serious side effects," Okike noted.

RELATED 1 in 10 seniors, 6 percent of adults use opioid painkillers in U.S.

With prolonged use, that can mean nausea, vomiting, sedation, constipation and breathing problems, alongside the risk for developing long-term dependence.

The risk for prolonged opioid use was found to be highest among the youngest patients, women, those who had a history of smoking or substance abuse, and those with a higher body mass index, which is a measure of excess weight.

The researchers will present their findings this week at a meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, in San Diego. Such research is considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Two experts not involved with the study stressed how chronic dependence is potentially a big problem among older pain patients.

"Opioids carry a high risk of addiction," said Linda Richter, vice president of prevention research and analysis with the Partnership to End Addiction.

"And when used for a longer period of time the risk of physical dependence on opioids increases, especially for patients with a history of substance misuse or substance use disorder, as this study found," Richter said.

In addition, Richter stressed that "older patients may be more vulnerable to the adverse effects of opioids, including the risk of addiction, since they typically metabolize drugs more slowly than younger people, and are more sensitive to the effects of drugs like opioids."

Adding to the problem, she noted, is the fact that "health care providers may be less likely to consider or identify a substance use problem in an elderly patient than in a younger patient, potentially mischaracterizing the symptoms of drug misuse as depression or anxiety."

And that, Richter said, could lead to "missing opportunities to help taper patients off addictive medications, provide alternatives, or refer those in need to treatment. The fact that such a high percentage of older patients in this study were prescribed opioids up to six months post-surgery is very concerning."

Such concerns were echoed by Dr. Yili Huang, director of the pain management center at Northwell Health's Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.

"None of these findings are surprising, and just reinforce our current evidence that we should approach opioid use carefully," he said.

Given that "as many as 12% of patients started on opioids for any reason may develop opioid use disorder," Huang said it's important that postsurgical opioid prescriptions be carefully individualized for the type of surgery at hand and tailored for each patient's particular needs.

"The best course of action would be to provide a short course of opioids -- 7-14 days -- and reevaluate pain needs with a follow-up appointment," Huang said.

Meanwhile, Okike stressed there are other effective pain-control options that can be considered, "which can relieve pain without such severe side effects." He pointed to non-opioid painkillers -- such as acetaminophen, commonly known as Tylenol, or anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen; nerve-blocking drugs; ice, and routine body repositioning.More information

There's more on opioid use concerns among the elderly at the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

NOT CHINA, NOT MEXICO

Fentanyl ‘superlab’ dismantled in rural Alberta
Caley Ramsay

© File / The Canadian Press File: Fentanyl pills are shown in an undated police handout photo.

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team says hundreds of millions of fentanyl doses have been kept off the streets after a "superlab" was dismantled in rural Alberta.

In a news release Tuesday, ALERT said 13 search warrants were executed on July 7 as part of Project Essence.

Homes and businesses in the Edmonton and Calgary areas were searched as part of the investigation. A "fentanyl superlab" was also located and searched near Aldersyde, Alta., which is located just southeast of Okotoks, Alta.

Read more: Over $2M in drugs, cash seized after drug ‘pipeline’ disrupted: ALERT

ALERT said more than 31 kilograms of fentanyl and precursors were seized, along with 7,600 kilograms of chemicals used in fentanyl production.

ALERT said the investigation covered all aspects of fentanyl production, "from importation to accumulation and stockpiling of equipment and raw chemicals, to production and eventual distribution."

Read more: Investigation into Alberta-B.C. drug trafficking network ends in $1M bust, 6 arrests : ALERT

It's not yet known if any arrests were made or how many suspects may be involved.

ALERT said more details would be released at a media availability at 11 a.m. Wednesday, where Justice Minister and Solicitor General Kaycee Madu, Minister for Mental Health and Addiction Mike Ellis, ALERT CEO Supt. Dwayne Lakusta and ALERT Edmonton Insp. Kevin Berge are all expected to speak.

Video: Edmonton’s Downtown Business Association takes action against opioid crisis

#LEGALIZEDRUGS

Canada’s drug policy — not drugs — is killing people at record numbers, advocates say


​It’s mind-boggling communities across Canada must still organize for an annual awareness day to draw public and policymakers’ attention to poisoned street drugs and an ongoing health crisis that has killed more than 21,000 people in just five years, advocates say.

Events for International Overdose Awareness Day are taking place across Canada on Tuesday to commemorate people killed by toxic street drugs, recognize the grief of family and friends, and advocate for change.

Yet as people gather to mourn across the globe, and despite public recognition of the public health crisis, the death toll across Canada from toxic street drugs is the highest it has ever been — and is spiking, said Karen Ward, a drug policy consultant for the City of Vancouver.

“It’s outrageous and so upsetting that we even have to have awareness when what we need right now is outrage and immediate and obvious action to change drug policy,” said Ward.

“Especially when we know what the problem is, and we know what to do.”

Deaths from poisoned street drugs continue to soar, and are anticipated to get worse, Ward said, noting recent federal modelling suggests that if the status quo continues, more than 1,800 people in Canada will die every three months in 2021 from the illicit toxic drug supply.

And should fentanyl poisoning worsen, that number may well peak at almost 2,400 fatalities over a three-month period.

British Columbia, the province hardest hit by the overdose crisis, is on track to experience its worst year on record since declaring a public health emergency in 2016, according to the BC Coroners Service report released Tuesday.

Experts call for removal of barriers to safer drug supply in B.C. (msn.com)

A total of 1,011 people died from poisoned street drugs in the first six months of 2021 alone — a 34 per cent increase over the previous high of 757 deaths during the same time frame last year as isolation and an increasingly toxic street supply was aggravated by the pandemic.

But 5.3 people continue to die daily from toxic illicit drugs in B.C., which has tallied 7,000 fatalities in the half-decade since declaring the issue a health crisis.

The toll is inexcusable given the deaths are preventable, Ward said, adding government drug policy is killing people rather than the drugs themselves.

“These deaths are the consequence of prohibition, which is the foundation of Canada's drug policy,” Ward said.

“People are buying ... unknown substances and don’t know what they're putting in their bodies.”

Drug users, advocates, grieving families, and substance use researchers have long called for provincial and federal governments to end prohibition, create a comprehensive regulated safe supply of drugs, and decriminalize the possession of illicit drugs.

An international awareness day is important so people suffering the loss of loved ones can grieve together, particularly after being isolated during the pandemic last year, Ward said.

But it’s not enough to just remember the dead, she stressed.

“We must mourn our dead collectively, but we also need to fight for our living, and our lives, because it’s only going to get worse if we don’t.”

Leslie McBain, co-founder of Moms Stop The Harm (MSTH), a national advocacy group made up of families who have lost loved ones to toxic street drugs, sat next to B.C.’s chief coroner Lisa Lapointe during the press conference for the latest death toll — and not for the first time.

McBain questioned why a socially conscious province and country would allow such a dismal and tragic situation to continue.

“Addiction is the only health issue wherein we shuffle people off to black-market produced products,” she said.

“These substances are produced without a nod to safety, science, or consistency.

“People who are addicted or have substance use disorder cannot access the drugs they need in any other way.”

McBain urged every member of the public to push all levels of government to demand drug policy change and implement a widespread regulated system of safe drug supply akin to those in place for other drugs, such as alcohol, tobacco and cannabis.

It’s hard to stay motivated and continue to push for a more compassionate drug policy, said McBain, who lost her only child, Jordan Miller, to a drug overdose in 2014.

“Here we have the worst year so far in the province for drug harms and drug deaths, so I feel a little demoralized,” McBain told Canada’s National Observer.

“Yet in other ways, I’m inspired to become more of an activist, and maybe more radical in our approach to demanding change from the government.”

The need for an overdose awareness day is driven by the stigma around drug use, but senior levels of government compound the shame and pain associated with it through inaction and incremental responses inadequate to the scale of the crisis, said McBain.

“Both levels of government don’t have the courage to widely implement a safe regulated supply of drugs for people who need them,” she said.

“If they did, those people who are addicted, or have substance use disorders, would not be dying.”

To effect such a systemic change to public health would be complicated, she conceded, but not impossible.

“I want people to understand that this is a solvable problem,” said McBain

“Yet meanwhile, people are dying, about 16 or 17 a day, across the country from toxic drugs.”

In addition to an online candlelight vigil for overdose awareness Tuesday evening, relatives are drawing purple chalk outlines of bodies with details about their loved ones outside politicians’ offices, including that of B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix, to draw attention to the losses suffered and to advocate for action, noted McBain.

“It’s to signify that people — our people, our kids, our loved ones — are dying,” she said.

“It’s about remembering those losses, and it’s a day of using every platform possible to talk about the solutions to the problem.”

In Campbell River, the city’s community action team (CAT) and community partners are hosting a memorial and public education event that will also provide free naloxone training, so people can save the life of someone overdosing on toxic drugs, said CAT co-ordinator Gwen Donaldson.

The CAT's goal in the small Vancouver Island city is to develop and support local solutions to the overdose crisis, reduce stigma, and make people aware of what resources are available to reduce the number of deaths from the poisoned drug supply, Donaldson said.

Seven people have died in the Campbell River area so far this year, according to the coroner’s report.

No community is exempt from the perils of the poisoned drug supply, Lapointe stressed.

“This public health emergency is just as real in small towns and communities as in any urban centres,” she said, noting that a fatal overdose from illicit toxic drugs is now the leading cause of death in B.C. for people aged 19 to 39.

Island Health Authority has the third-highest number of fatal overdoses so far this year — 162, behind Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health with 283 and 342 deaths, respectively.

The cities with the highest number of deaths in the province are Vancouver, Surrey, and Victoria.

And of the total deaths in Island Health, 79 people have died in the south Vancouver Island health service area, 51 in central Vancouver Island, and 32 in the north region.

The number of deaths in the island’s north region at the six-month mark has already matched last year’s total deaths — previously the worst on record.

Dr. Erika Kellerhals, who practices addiction medicine in the North Island region, said there are fewer resources and specialists to deal with the toxic drug crisis in rural areas and small towns.

Few primary care providers have the expertise or feel comfortable prescribing what safe drug alternatives already exist to substance users, and given the lack of doctors in small communities, most already carry heavy caseloads and can’t provide the wrap-around services necessary to meet drug users needs, she said.

“People are just maxed out and must be the Jack or Jill for everything,” Kellerhals said, agreeing a regulated safe supply system that takes the issue out of the hands of individual doctors is needed.

In addition, the implementation of new harm reduction initiatives (such as injectable opiates or fentanyl patches) happens much later than in urban areas, and access to readily accessible detox and treatment is worse.

“When a person says, ‘I am capable of making a change today,’ and I as a doctor have to tell them there’s a 90-day waiting list, you can imagine how discouraging that is for everyone involved.”

And many people using drugs, whether recreationally or due to a substance use disorder, are hesitant to access any existing services because of the stigma and lack of anonymity in small towns.

The decriminalization of drug use, more compassion from individuals and communities, and normalizing substance use disorders as a health issue would help stem the shame, isolation, and disconnection people feel, she said.

“People should be able to say, ‘I’ve got depression, I've got a broken leg, I’ve got a stimulant use disorder,’” Kellerhals said. “They should all kind of be the same thing.”

Kellerhals hoped that awareness events, such as the one in Campbell River, would encourage people to be kinder and stop turning their backs on people using drugs since they come from every walk of life.

“If people walked away with their hearts filled with more compassion and less judgment for folks struggling with substance use, that would be huge.”

Rochelle Baker/Local Journalism Initiative/Canada's National Observer

​

Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

STILL GOING TO IMPOSE  AUSTERITY ON PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS

Alberta halves projected budget deficit to $7.8B; credits global boost in oil demand


EDMONTON — New numbers show Alberta's bottom line is on track to look better this fiscal year, but the province remains mired in a deep ditch of red ink as it battles a resurgence of COVID-19.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Finance Minister Travis Toews said Tuesday that this year's deficit is projected to be $7.8 billion, less than half of the $18.2 billion projected in the 2021-22 budget in February.

He said benchmarks such as GDP projections, consumer spending, exports and housing starts are all far above projections made six months ago.

"Economic growth is exceeding our expectations," Toews told reporters.

The government credits the turnaround to an ongoing economic recovery from COVID-19, along with a rebound in the energy sector and price restraint by the oil cartel OPEC.

"Global demand for oil has outstripped supply, meaning oil prices are stronger than expected," said Toews.

West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark price for oil, was expected to fetch US$46 a barrel in the budget, but has been rising sharply and is expected to average more than US$65 a barrel this year.

Alberta's non-renewable resource revenue is now forecast at almost $10 billion, which is $7 billion more than first projected in February.

The overall revenue forecast is $55 billion, about $11 billion more than expected.

Total expense is now pegged at $62.7 billion. That's almost $1 billion more than planned, due mainly to anticipated crop insurance payouts caused by extreme drought this summer.

Toews reiterated there would be a plan to balance the books after COVID, but in the meantime, taxpayer-supported debt is projected to reach nearly $106 billion by next March, with debt interest payments pegged at $2.6 billion.

Toews said the government will keep trying to find savings — including a proposal to cut wages for nurses now bargaining for a new collective agreement.

THEY ARE CONTRACTING OUT HOSPITAL SUPPORT STAFF, HOUSE KEEPING, FOOD SERVICES AND LAUNDRY, THEY ARE CUTTING WAGES FOR REMAINING SUPPORT STAFF BY 4%, THEY ARE ALSO CALLING FOR CUTS TO WAGES FOR AUPE GENERAL SERVICES MEMBERS THIS IS KLEIN AGENDA FROM THE BAD OLD NINETIES

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for LAUNDERY WORKERS 

The economic improvement comes as Alberta battles a steep rise in COVID-19 cases linked to the more contagious Delta variant.

There were a thousand new cases a day reported last week, but that number dropped slightly on the weekend and was at 920 on Tuesday. There were 431 people in hospital with COVID, 106 of whom were in intensive care.

Premier Jason Kenney’s government lifted almost all health restrictions two months ago and Kenney, chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw and Health Minister Tyler Shandro have not spoken to reporters for weeks to address whether anything would be done on the rising case rates.

In their absence, municipal, business and education leaders have moved on their own, implementing a patchwork quilt of masking, testing and vaccination rules.

Toews challenged reporters who suggested the province is failing to lead through the pandemic, noting officials have issued statements and social media updates as required.

"We have not kept anybody in the dark," he said.

As for the economy, he said: "We've factored in the issue of the pandemic.

"It's been expected that the fourth wave is going to be a bit bumpy."

The Opposition NDP said Toews can't take credit for an economic rebound based on the ups and downs of global oil prices, and said that any continued economic recovery depends on a robust, responsible strategy to deal with the COVID surge.

"The government has flatly abandoned Albertans at a time when the fourth wave of COVID-19 is larger than they ever warned it would be," said NDP jobs critic Deron Bilous.

"They've abandoned us as uptake of life-saving vaccines has levelled off and Alberta is amongst the worst in the country in this regard.

"If the finance minister can't level with Albertans about his government's horrendous mishandling of this pandemic, we can't take him at his word about this government's so-called economic plan, either."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2021.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

AFN Alberta Chief slams UCP government


(ANNews) – Assembly of First Nations Alberta Regional Chief Marlene Poitras has issued a statement in response to the Alberta government’s refusal to observe Sept. 30 as the National Day of Reconciliation, tying it into their recent decision not to set up voting booths on reserve for October’s referenda and senate elections as examples of an anti-Indigenous bent in the United Conservative Party.

“There have been too many stories in recent days of this provincial government ignoring First Nations peoples and communities in the province as of late, enough is enough,” wrote Poitras.

“Why won’t the government step up and acknowledge this day, which directly responds to the TRC calls to action to bring more awareness to the struggles Canada’s First Peoples have gone through in dealing with colonization?”

While $10 million is being offered to municipalities to support voting in plebiscites and the senate elections on Oct. 18, no support is being offered to reserves to make it easier for First Nation members to vote, she added.

“Instead, we are told ‘drive to the nearest community’. For some nations in Alberta this is an over 100km trek in one direction, for others, they are fly in communities and are left without any options to participate in the democratic process,” says Poitras.

“This government’s actions are showing that First Nations aren’t just an afterthought, they are outright unimportant.”

As of writing there are two referenda occurring on municipal election day — one on whether the province should oppose the federal equalization program that transfers a portion of federal income taxes to lower-income provinces, which Premier Jason Kenney says is unfair to Alberta, and another on adopting Daylight Savings Time year-round.

Since reserves are technically not municipalities, their elections occur on different timelines and thus are not included in October’s civic election.

However, as Piikani Nation member Adam North Peigan previously told Alberta Native News, the provincial government is in effect disenfranchising First Nations by making it more difficult for them to vote than people in municipalities.

“These issues should have input from all Albertans, whether you’re pink, blue or black,” Peigan said.

Jeremy Appel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News

ALL CAPITALI$M IS STATE CAPITALI$M

Oil producers hope next Canadian government can fund ambitious carbon capture program
Heather Yourex-West 


Since last summer, up to 70 per cent of the carbon dioxide produced at the NWR Sturgeon Refinery northeast of Edmonton has been pumped into the ground.

CNRL (Canadian Natural Resources Limited) Horizon oil sands upgrader near Fort McMurray, Alberta. 

The Canadian Press Images/Larry MacDougal

It's carried to a storage facility via the Alberta trunk line, a pipeline that took more than a decade and hundreds of millions of provincial and federal government dollars to build.

In the first year, more than a million tonnes of carbon dioxide has been stored underground. It's an example of how the oil and gas sector can decarbonize, and Canada's five largest oil producers believe it can be done across the entire oilsands within the next three decades.

"If Canada doesn’t find a way to decarbonize its oil and gas sector, there just simply won’t be a market for the product," said Chris Severson-Baker, Alberta regional director for the Pembina Institute.

"If we want to stay in the business of providing oil and gas to a market that is declining but also demanding a better product from a carbon perspective, then we’re going to have to do a number of these things."

READ MORE: Several Canadian oilsands operators commit to become net zero emitters by 2050

It's why oilsands giants Suncor, Cenovus Energy, Canadian Natural, MEG Energy and Imperial launched the Oilsands Pathways to Net Zero initiative earlier this year.

The plan, which aims to get the industry to net-zero by 2050, is anchored by a multi-billion dollar carbon capture and storage plan that would see a trunk line built between oilsands facilities in northern Alberta to an underground storage hub near Cold Lake.

"There's nobody better to do this than the oil and gas companies, but it's going to take some time in order to put this together," said Mike Monea, President of Monea CCS Services, a leading expert on carbon and capture and storage technology.

"Without carbon capture and storage, we will never be able to meet our (emission reduction) commitments."

The Oilsands Pathways to Net Zero proposal would reduce emissions by 68 megatonnes by 2050, which represents about a nine per cent reduction of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions (when compared to 2019 levels), but the plan comes with a hefty price tag as well.

It would cost $75 billion, and the industry says it's not prepared to foot the bill alone.

READ MORE: O'Toole supports reviving Northern Gateway pipeline in appeal to indigenous communities

The companies involved with the Pathways Initiative declined a request for an interview, but in an e-mailed statement to Global News, a spokesperson pointed to similar investments made by governments in the U.K. and Norway.

"Following the election, we look forward to working with the federal government to develop an achievable plan to net-zero that will kick start the development of clean technologies across Canada and make Canada a global leader in the next generation of energy production," the coalition of companies said.

But Pembina Institute's Severson-Baker believes the tens of billions of potential government dollars could be better spent someplace else.

"It would make sense to take that additional public funding and put it towards industries that are going to be part of the economy in a carbon-constrained future for years to come rather than putting it towards something where the world is actively trying to get away from using that commodity."

THE REALITY IS THAT CCS IS NOT GREEN NOR CLEAN IT IS GOING TO BE USED TO FRACK OLD DRY WELLS SUCH AS IN THE BAKAN SHIELD IN SASKATCHEWAN
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-myth-of-carbon-capture-and-storage.html

ALSO SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=CCS

OUCH

Manitoba chiefs endorse Liberal candidate at press conference with NDP’s Singh
Rachel Gilmore 

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Grand Chief Garrison Settee, left, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, listen to Grand Chief Arlen Dumas, right, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, following a meeting Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak in Winnipeg, on Thursday, August 26, 2021. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Two Manitoba chiefs stepped up to the microphone at NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh's press conference last week and endorsed the candidate of their choice -- but it wasn't the NDP one.

Standing side by side before the cameras with Singh, they endorsed the Liberal candidate in their riding.

The awkward moment happened on Aug. 26, when the two First Nations leaders said their appearance at Singh's press conference shouldn't be read as a show of NDP support.

Commentary: Singh’s NDP seeks new seats with a focus on Indigenous campaigns

Rather, they're throwing their weight behind the Liberal candidate in the Churchill–Keewatinook Aski riding, Shirley Robinson, because she is Indigenous, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Arlen Dumas and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Grand Chief Garrison Settee shared at the microphone

NDP incumbent Niki Ashton is not Indigenous, and the chiefs said they'd like to see more Indigenous people involved in the political process.

"Our executive has recognized the candidate that is running for our riding and she's Indigenous," said Settee.

"We want Indigenous people to get involved in this process because as I said earlier, we have a vested interest in what happens in Canada when it comes to Indigenous people."

Dumas stepped up to the microphone immediately afterwards to echo Settee's remarks.

"We will always advance our First Nations candidates. On that level, being an elected official for the past two decades, I think that it's time for a fresh start in the north," Dumas said.

"I absolutely support Shirley Robinson in her candidacy."

Commentary: Federal election another ‘Moon of Many Promises’ for Indigenous people in Canada

And as Singh looked on, Settee stepped in front of the cameras once again.

"I concur with that comment," he said, following Dumas's explicit endorsement of the Liberal candidate.

Robinson had asked for the chiefs’ endorsement earlier this month, citing the fact that she is an Indigenous person and the incumbent candidate, Ashton, is not.

“What we need is a strong voice from a native speaker inside the halls of influence,” Robinson told the MKO chiefs earlier this month, according to a report in the Thompson Citizen.

However, Singh and the NDP are committed to keeping Ashton in the House — even as they seek to elect Indigenous New Democrats elsewhere in the country.

“It should be really clear that I support my candidate Niki Ashton,” Singh said on Friday during a stop in Thunder Bay, Ont.

“She has been a strong voice for Indigenous people and has a proven record, and New Democrats in general have shown that we are backing up our words with action.”

--With files from Global News' David Akin

Métis candidates hope to win seats for NDP, Liberals in Saskatchewan


Two Métis candidates are hoping to become blemishes on the Conservative’s perfect record of sending a full complement of 14 Members of Parliament from Saskatchewan to Ottawa.

Robert Doucette, who is running for the New Democratic Party in the Saskatoon-West riding, aims to become the first Indigenous MP to represent an urban riding in Saskatchewan.

Buckley Belanger, running for the Liberals in Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, wants to be a voice on the inside of the government for his northern riding and Indigenous people.

Both men are strong candidates with public recognition in the political field, although their choice of federal parties may come as a surprise.

Doucette, who has been involved in Métis politics for 30 years, is the former president of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan and presently is the executive director of the Saskatoon Indian and Métis Friendship Centre. In those positions, he has worked closely with the Liberal government and says he has “felt betrayed as an Indigenous person” by Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett.

Doucette draws attention to the exclusion of Métis from the Sixties Scoop Settlement Agreement reached in 2017 despite, he says, Bennett’s promise to include Métis. The Liberals came to power in 2015. It took until this past July for the court to issue a certification order for a similar class action undertaken by Métis and non-status Indians.

“There’s lots of examples of why I’m running for the NDP… I want a leader and Jagmeet (Singh) is that person. Where he says, he or she, is going to do something and they actually do do it if they’re given a chance,” said Doucette, who says his personal values align with the NDP and his family has always voted NDP.

For Belanger, it’s been a move in the other direction. Although first being elected as a Liberal in 1995, Belanger has served in the Saskatchewan legislature as a member of the NDP since 1998, including as a member of the Cabinet for two NDP premiers.

“You’re sitting there as an elected NDPer, a provincial MLA, and you’re frustrated. I could have stayed there for three more years and collected a pay cheque and I just didn’t think that that was something I wanted to continue doing … If (running for the Liberals) was going to move the agenda for my people in my riding and make things a lot better, then it’s important that I keep that in mind,” he said.

Belanger says it was his lobbying for his constituents in the northern provincial riding of Athabasca that brought his name and work to the attention of federal Cabinet ministers and resulted in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to join his team.

Belanger is reluctant to draw parallels between his personal invitation from Trudeau and the personal recruitment of First Nation’s candidate Jody Wilson-Raybould in 2015. Wilson-Raybould resigned from the Liberal caucus in the midst of a political scandal that implicated Trudeau and was re-elected as an independent in 2019; she is not seeking re-election this time around.

“I don't know all the particulars and all the circumstances,” he said about Wilson-Raybould. “Any candidate, including me … has to have a team discipline, and that's how you get things done. And sometimes opinions can be very strong from people and lots of times it is difficult to keep the team intact, but I know being in Cabinet in Saskatchewan … you can certainly push your ideas and get your concepts to bring forward changes and if you get the support of the caucus and the Cabinet, you see those changes occur. But ... you still have to have a structure. You’ve got to have a team. You’ve got to have discipline. Those are prerequisites to being a good MP.”

Belanger points to Ontario, Quebec, the Atlantic provinces and British Columbia as having representatives within the government. He says Indigenous peoples and the prairie provinces also need representation. There were six Indigenous Liberal MPs elected in 2019.

“Instead of sitting at home hoping things happen, I want to be in there to drive the change and speed up the process,” said Belanger.

Doucette emphasizes that neither he nor the NDP are running to come in second or third, but he does point to the pivotal role the NDP played in a minority government during the coronavirus pandemic, which included getting the Liberals to double the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) from $1,000 to $2,000 a month and ensuring that small businesses got support.

“The NDP kept the Liberals and Conservatives honest in parliament,” he said.

A Mainstreet poll of the Saskatoon-West riding from Aug. 21 to Aug. 25 shows the NDP in a tie with the Conservatives, both with 33 per cent support.

Doucette says Saskatoon-West has substantial Indigenous, ethnic and diverse populations and if those numbers come out to the polls in strength, they “can have a huge impact in this riding.”

He also points out that incumbent Brad Redekopp was one of the 13 of 14 Saskatchewan Conservatives to vote against a bill to ban conversion therapy. That bill died in the Senate because of the election call.

Doucette said he has been door-knocking and has heard concerns about housing and the need for the NDP-proposed pharmacare (government-coverage costs for medicine). He stresses he has been following a strict protocol set out by the NDP for campaigning.

“A lot of the NDP supporters have said we need to carry forth with the 94 recommendations from the (Truth and Reconciliation Commission on the legacy of Indian residential schools). And also to ensure that the living conditions, the conditions that Indigenous people find themselves in, has to be rectified. And the NDP party has made that a priority,” said Doucette.

He underscores Singh’s early stop in the campaign at the Cowessess First Nation and meeting with Chief Cadmus Delorme to bring attention to the unmarked children’s graves found at the former residential school site and the experiences of those who attended residential schools.

Doucette is trying to return the Saskatoon-West seat to the NDP who won it in 2015.

Beyond the Conservative candidate Redekopp, Doucette is facing three other candidates in his fight: Liberal (Ruben Rajakumar), Green (David Greenfield), and People’s Party (Kevin Boychuk).

Belanger says “folks delivering food hampers from the federal Liberal government” during COVID-19’s community lockdown and the availability of CERB to help feed families and pay for utilities illustrated the concern the Trudeau government has for Indigenous people.

He says the Liberals have also lifted the majority of boil water advisories on First Nations and has pledged to continue with that work.

As for the criticism the party has faced for not meeting enough TRC Calls to Action or yet to implement a national action plan to deal with the recommendations from the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls national inquiry final report, Belanger said, “When I spoke to the Prime Minister … he is very, very committed to working with me if we are successful and, obviously, he said he will continue to work even if we are not. We made great strides on that front. Obviously, you have to be inside of government to make things happen and that’s where I want to go.”

Belanger has a “4-H” campaign for the priorities in his riding: housing, highways, hope and healing. He says adequate housing, safe highways, and services for healing all “fit together” to give people hope.

Unlike the majority of Saskatchewan ridings, which saw Conservatives win with 70 per cent or more support, Conservative Gary Vidal won in Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River with 42 per cent of the support in 2019, as the First Nations NDP incumbent and the First Nations Liberal candidate split approximately 56 per cent of the vote.

Beside Vidal, Belanger is facing two other candidates who are both Indigenous. Harmonie King, a Métis, is running under the NDP banner, while Nasser Dean Chalifoux, non-status First Nations, is running for the Greens. Belanger is not concerned that the Indigenous vote – the riding is 71 per cent Indigenous – will be split and incumbent Vidal will maintain the seat.

“I’m the only northerner. I understand the challenges and that gives me a distinct advantage,” said Belanger, whose home in Île-à-la-Crosse puts him further north than any of the other five candidates. There is also an independent (Stephen King) and a candidate from the People’s Party (Dezirae Reddekopp).

The NDP have 27 self-declared Indigenous candidates running in this election; only one is an incumbent. The Liberals have not responded to requests from Windspeaker.com for similar information, although their five incumbent Indigenous MPs are running again. The Assembly of First Nations reports there are 15 Indigenous Liberal candidates running in this election.

Windspeaker.com

By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com

ECOCIDE

BC

Herbicide spraying by lumber company hurts wildcraft business


An owner of Prince George foraging and wildcraft business is crying foul after learning a pair favourite spots for collecting her product have been sprayed with a controversial herbicide.

Jennifer Cote, owner of Moose Mushrooms and Mud, had travelled to two cutblocks she had previously scouted and at both locations, she found signs indicating it had been sprayed with a herbicide containing the chemical glyphosate.

The signs say people should avoid the area for 72 hours, but, according to James Steidle of Stop the Spray, recent research shows berries can have more glyphosate than what is allowed in stores the following year.

Cote erred on the side of caution and did not harvest any of the berries, forgoing hundreds of pounds in the process.

“There’s so much up there, and it can’t be touched. It really frustrates and saddens me,” said Cote in a statement issued by Steidle, who has long campaigned to eliminate use of herbicides in B.C. forests.

Cote uses the huckleberries to teach people how to make jams and jellies.

“I put three or four different jellies on the class. As soon as you put huckleberries on the list people are like woohooo...people look forward to the huckleberry jam,” said Cote.

“It’s a gourmet jam to some people as you don’t commonly find huckleberry jam in the grocery store. The reason you don’t find huckleberry jams in the grocery stores is because huckleberries cannot be grown commercially, like cultivated blueberries.

"Having huckleberries for wild-food classes is really awesome on the repertoire as it gives people a chance to taste some of the local and wild food that people may not otherwise be familiar with.”

Steidle said Canfor is behind the spraying which is used to clear cutblocks of deciduous trees and other types of vegetation to make way for seedlings of spruce, pine and fir that form the basis of lumber production in the Central Interior.

He has said that not only does the herbicide kill valuable species but pose a health hazard to people too, noting that glyphosate, the active ingredient, has been linked to cancer.

"Prince George area forests are the most heavily sprayed in British Columbia. One hundred percent of 2021 interior aerial spraying was conducted in P.G. regional forests, to the best of our knowledge," Steidle said. "The public is not notified beforehand and there is nothing the public can do to stop it.

In a statement, Canfor spokesperson Michelle Ward said the company no longer uses herbicides on leading stands of deciduous trees and, instead, relies on manual brushing on those sites.

"Our limited herbicide application is reserved for sites where it is required in order to meet legal reforestation requirements, and is done in strict accordance with Health Canada requirements. We continue to investigate ways to further reduce the use of herbicides going forward," Ward added.

Cote said the spraying has hurt her way of making a living.

“My hope this year was if I had enough of this wildcraft product in stock, not only could I run a few jam and jelly classes with the huckleberries, but I could also host a few ‘wild dessert’ classes and have a ‘wild-food-to-table social’ to talk about ‘all things wild,’" Cote said.

"There is a growing sector in which people want to know about wild, local food. Wild food helps reconnect us with the land. It can be part of people’s food security system and it provides a source of natural food, free from chemicals and sprays. Wild berries sprayed with herbicides are no longer ‘natural’.

“It’s not just about lumber, it’s about other people’s livelihoods and food security.”

Mark Nielsen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince George Citizen

Level 3, not Level 4: U.S. mistakenly tells Americans ‘do not travel’ to Canada
Rachel Gilmore 

 Canadian and American flags fly near the Ambassador Bridge at the Canada-USA border crossing in Windsor, Ont. on Saturday, March 21, 2020.

 THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rob Gurdebeke

The United States mistakenly told Americans not to travel to Canada at all, just one day after warning prospective U.S. tourists to "reconsider" their travel plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


The U.S. State Department confirmed to Global News that it had to release a "corrected" travel advisory update, after mistakenly announcing that its travel advisory alert for Canada had been raised to a "level 4," which means "do not travel." The statement was reported by several media outlets.

Read more: U.S. advises citizens to ‘reconsider travel’ to Canada amid rise in COVID-19 cases

So while Americans are still being told to "reconsider" plans to travel to Canada — a "level 3" designation — they aren't being urged to cancel them altogether.

Multiple countries, including Switzerland, Laos and Estonia, were actually slapped with the highest alert level by the U.S. this week due to the rising spread of COVID-19.

The State Department's website describes Level 4 as the "highest advisory level" due to the "greater likelihood of life-threatening risks."

"During an emergency, the U.S. government may have very limited ability to provide assistance. The Department of State advises that U.S. citizens not travel to the country or to leave as soon as it is safe to do so," the website explained.

Canada's COVID-19 cases have been trending upwards recently in what experts are warning is a fourth wave driven by the Delta variant. Canada reported just over 2,700 new cases on Monday, and it has over 31,000 active COVID-19 cases across the country.

Read more: How bad is Canada’s 4th COVID-19 wave getting? Here’s a look at the data

The United States, however, has been seeing much higher case numbers. There have been over 158,000 daily average COVID-19 cases reported daily over the past week, according to the New York Times. That's about 272 active cases per 100,000 people in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control's tracker.

Canada, meanwhile, has just nine cases per 100,000 people, according to the New York Times.

For the first time in 16 months, Canada reopened its land borders for fully vaccinated Americans on Aug. 9, but the U.S. has yet to reciprocate.

American travellers who are fully vaccinated don’t have to quarantine upon arrival in Canada, but they’re required to show a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival and provide proof of vaccination by way of the ArriveCAN smartphone app or web portal.

Video: Coutts border sees slow 1st day of Americans being allowed into Canada for non-essential purposes

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is seeking re-election, stood by the decision when pressed on it by reporters on Tuesday.

"We have brought measures in that allow fully vaccinated Americans to come to Canada because we know that getting back to normal quickly is something we want to do, and if people are fully vaccinated, they are low risk. Extremely low risk," he said.

"There is a fourth wave, primarily around the unvaccinated, people unable or unwilling to get vaccinated right now, that is cause for concern. But that is why we are continuing to encourage and to create motivation and accountability and mandates and support passports so that more and more people get vaccinated."

Read more: Travellers double up on COVID-19 vaccine as Delta variant spreads through U.S.

Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole agreed that Americans should continue to be allowed into Canada.

"We need to make sure that we keep our economy open and the border open, safely," he said.

"We can do that by leveraging the levels of vaccination, of course, in our country and in the United States, but also faster access with daily rapid testing."

Over 82 per cent of Canadians aged 12 and older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and over 74 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to Health Canada.

The United States hasn't been quite as enthusiastic in its uptake of the vaccine. Just over 61 per cent of Americans have gotten at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to the CDC, and a little over 52 per cent are fully vaccinated.

The U.S. has extended land border restrictions — in place since March 2020 — for Canadians and Mexicans until Sept. 21.

--With files from Global News' Saba Aziz

Vaccine hesitancy highest in Alberta, racialized groups at rollout's start: survey

TORONTO — A national survey suggests the vast majority of Canadians planned to get vaccinated against COVID-19 when the country's rollout began, but intentions were lower among certain demographics, including residents of Alberta and racialized communities

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© Provided by The Canadian Press

The survey, led by researchers at Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital, was published online Tuesday in The Lancet Regional Health —Americas.

The survey asked more than 14,500 Canadians online between December 2020 and February 2021 if they intended to get vaccinated once they were eligible, with researchers identifying differences in participants by age, education, ethnicity, and home province.

Nine per cent of respondents overall said they did not intend to get vaccinated, with hesitancy highest in Alberta at 16 per cent, and Manitoba and Saskatchewan, both at 14 per cent.

Fifteen per cent of respondents who identified as Indigenous and 12 per cent of those identifying as racialized said they did not intend to get vaccinated.

Men were more hesitant than women overall — 11 per cent versus eight — and participants aged 40 to 59 had the lowest vaccination intention, with about 12 per cent reporting no intention to get vaccinated.

The survey suggested that education also factored into hesitancy, with 14 per cent of participants with a college education or less saying they did not intend to get vaccinated, compared to five per cent of respondents with a bachelor's degree or higher.

The study did not indicate whether intent translated into action, but researchers say they plan to answer that in the coming months.

They noted that 18 per cent of eligible Canadians had not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine dose by Aug. 27 — nearly twice the rate expected in the survey.

Researchers said the findings should encourage policymakers to target vaccine campaigns on the most reluctant groups, as well as those who said they planned to get a shot but did not.

The study was a collaboration between the Centre for Global Health Research at Unity Health Toronto, the University of Toronto and the Angus Reid Forum. Funding was provided by an unrestricted grant from Pfizer Global Medical Grants and Unity Health Toronto.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 31, 2021.

The Canadian Press