Rice sacks to runway: India's battle to rebrand jute

HEMP COULD REPLACE JUTE IN THE WEST

Issued on: 06/10/2021 -

From the boutiques of Christian Dior to royal wedding favours, jute is growing in popularity worldwide as demand for alternatives to plastic soars, with experts predicting the bag industry alone will be worth more than $3 billion by 2024

 Dibyangshu SARKAR AFP

Jagatdal (India) (AFP)

From the boutiques of Christian Dior to royal wedding favours, jute is growing in popularity worldwide as demand for alternatives to plastic soars, with experts predicting the bag industry alone will be worth more than $3 billion by 2024.

India is desperate to capitalise on this consumer shift and seize the opportunity to revive its flagging industry, expanding it from sacks and gunny bags to fashion.

Also known as sack cloth, hessian, or burlap, the fibre is hailed by environmentalists because growing it can help with carbon capture, and it uses less natural resources than cotton.

"One hectare of jute plant can soak up to nearly 15 tonnes of carbon-dioxide and discharge 11 tonnes of oxygen during a season, thereby reducing greenhouse effects," estimated Swati Singh Sambyal, a sustainability and circular economy expert based in New Delhi.

She added that production takes about only four months and requires "minimal water and fertiliser" compared to cotton.

During British rule, the jute industry was a key part of India's economy and the fabric was exported worldwide but by the 1990s it was struggling, unable to compete with cheaper synthetic substitutes and lower production costs of farmers in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Today, India is trying to promote jute as a fabric for a sustainable future, with the government issuing a mandate that all foodgrains and 20 percent of sugar should be packed in jute sacks 

Dibyangshu SARKAR AFP

Today India is trying to promote jute as a fabric for a sustainable future, with the government issuing a mandate that all grains and 20 percent of sugar should be packed in jute sacks.

Leading homegrown designers such as Ashish Soni and Pawan Aswani also use jute blends for their fashion lines.

But critics warn the country's rundown mills and outdated farming practices do not match up with such grand ambitions.

- Billion dollar industry -

"India can cater to global demand but for that two things are needed: upgrading the skills of the people...to produce different types of products and upgrading the machinery," said Gouranga Kar, who heads the Central Research Institute for Jute and Allied Fibres.

At Meghna Jute Mills hundreds of barefoot workers labour in a vast dingy hall covered in fine, fibrous dust across eight-hour shifts, 24 hours a day.

"Jute has a potentially huge international market" said company president Supriya Das, as noisy machines rolled out long strands of shimmery yarn behind him.

Also known as sack cloth, hessian, or burlap, jute is hailed by environmentalists because growing it can help with carbon capture, and it uses less natural resources than cotton 

Dibyangshu SARKAR AFP

"If the machines are high-tech we can produce good yarn. For diversified end use, the quality of the fibre has to improve. The industry won't be viable unless we introduce value-added products like decorative items and rugs."

Nearly all of the world's jute is grown in this region or in Bangladesh, because of the conducive humid climate and availability of cheap labour.

According to a recent report by Research and Markets, the global jute bag market reached a value of $2.07 billion in 2020 and is projected to touch $3.1 billion by 2024 as consumers look for alternatives to single use plastic.

The material's appeal has been boosted by brands such as Dior making jute sandals and stars such as the Duchess of Sussex wearing jute footwear and using hessian gift bags for guests attending her wedding to Prince Harry.

- Drowning in plastic pollution -

Kar said India should seize the opportunity to invest in its industry and make diverse jute-based products such as rugs, lamps, shoes and shopping bags.

India's scientists have developed high yielding varieties of jute to tap this renewed interest, Kar explained, but unskilled labour and outdated farming practices meant this had yet to translate into economic returns.

"This is a major cause of concern for us," he added.

Dibyangshu SARKAR AFP

The coronavirus pandemic has also thwarted hopes of restoring the lost glory of the industry -- several mills have shut down and lockdowns have caused labour and raw material shortages.

Environmentalists insist jute has vast economic and green potential, particularly as consumers voice concerns about fast fashion and more countries introduce legislation to ban single-use plastic.

Every part of the jute plant can be used: the outer layer for the fibre, the woody stem for paper pulp, and the leaves can be cooked and eaten, Sambyal explained.

The UN Environment Programme has said the planet is "drowning in plastic pollution", with about 300 million tonnes of plastic waste produced every year.

India generates 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste annually, according to a report in 2018-19 by the Central Pollution Control Board.

Back at Meghna Mills, factory bosses are hopeful that if authorities invest, they can rebrand and reboot jute for the 21st century.

Das said: "Jute has a great future. It can bring a lot of valuable foreign exchange to the country so the government must focus on this sector."

© 2021 AFP

CLEARLY THE CURSE WORKED

US man sues psychic over ex-girlfriend's curse

Issued on: 06/10/2021 -

Adams read Restrepo's tarot cards and told him he had 'mala suerte,' or 'bad luck,' the suit states

 Lillian SUWANRUMPHA AFP

Los Angeles (AFP)

A US man is suing a psychic who said she could remove a curse on his marriage put there by a witch hired by his ex-girlfriend.

Mauro Restrepo claims the clairvoyant had promised he would be happy again if he paid her $5,100 to exorcise the spell.

But after forking over a hefty down payment, the Los Angeles man saw no improvement in his fortunes, court papers say

Now he is suing the soothsayer for fraud, and seeking $25,000 in damages.

Restrepo says he sought out Sophia Adams, who bills herself as a "Psychic Love Specialist," to help improve his lot during a period of discontent.

"This bad luck was, according to (Adams), placed on (Restrepo) by a witch hired by his ex-girlfriend," the suit filed in a Los Angeles court says.

Unless the curse was removed, the misfortune would ruin Restrepo, his children and his marriage, Adams allegedly told him.

But despite receiving an initial $1,000, Adams "did not in any way help (Restrepo's) marriage".

The suit, which also names Adams' husband, daughter and landlords, says Restrepo suffered sleepless nights, anxiety and anguish as a result of the non-removal of the curse.

© 2021 AFP

PEN America honors imprisoned Iranian writers at 2021 gala

Issued on: 06/10/2021

Nigerian writer Wole Soyinka (L), US actress Jodie Foster (C) and US historian and intellectual Henry Louis Gates Jr. attend the Pen America Literary Gala at the American Museum of Natural History on October 5, 2021 in New York City 

Angela Weiss AFP

New York (AFP)

Freedom of expression non-profit PEN America honored three imprisoned Iranian writers on Tuesday at its annual gala that featured actors Jodie Foster and Awkwafina.

The literature and human rights organization awarded Baktash Abtin, Keyvan Bajan and Reza Khandan Mahabadi the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award.

The trio are serving a combined 15 and a half years in prison for their involvement with Iranian Writers Association (IWA), an anti-censorship group.

PEN paid tribute to them at a star-studded gala at New York's American Museum of Natural History after last year's event was held virtually because of the pandemic.

"They are writers who are called not only to offer prose and ideas on a page, but to live fearlessly—and sacrifice immensely in service of the liberties that underpin free thought, art, culture, and creativity," PEN CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a press release ahead of the event.

Abtin, a poet and screenwriter, novelist and journalist Bajan, and Mahabadi, an author and literary critic, have been imprisoned in Tehran's notorious Evin prison since September last year.

US actress Awkwafina attends the Pen America Literary Gala at the American Museum of Natural History on October 5, 2021 in New York City 

Angela Weiss AFP

Abtin and Mahabadi contracted coronavirus there and have not received proper hospital treatment for other ailments, according to PEN.

Some 800 guests attended the gala, which is typically the highlight of New York's literary calendar.

Star of "The Farewell" Awkwafina hosted the event while Foster and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka helped present the awards.

The gala is the latest New York cultural highlight to return following the pandemic after last month's Met Gala.

© 2021 AFP

Czech Communists  STALINISTS risk historic defeat as vote looms

Issued on: 06/10/2021 

Katerina Konecna, a Czech Communist member of the European Parliament,

 admits that her party has failed to adapt to a pluralistic democracy 

Michal Cizek 


Prague (AFP)

A video clip tagged "farewellcomrades" has gone viral ahead of this week's Czech elections as the Communist Party faces a parliamentary wipe-out, 32 years after being toppled in the 1989 Velvet Revolution.

The clip features a queue for food reminiscent of the long lines seen during the former Communist command economy in the then Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1989.

More than three decades since Czechs overthrew the regime, the party now risks crashing out of parliament for the first time since World War II.

"Their voter base is dying out or deserting them for other parties," said Otto Eibl, an analyst at Masaryk University in the second Czech city of Brno.

"And they're obviously not able to revamp themselves in a way that would ensure their survival," he told AFP.

Opinion polls ahead of the parliamentary election show that the Communist party risks failing to muster the five percent voter support required for any political party to enter parliament despite its efforts to woo young voters born after Communist rule.

It is also fighting with something of an image problem for its far-left credentials after giving support to the minority government of embattled billionaire Prime Minister, Andrej Babis.

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia -- the party's official name -- already suffered major losses in regional elections last year.

- Protest status gone -

Katerina Konecna, a Czech Communist member of the European Parliament, admits that her party has failed to adapt to a pluralistic democracy in which "parties that can sell themselves win".

Its current chairman, Vojtech Filip, who has been at the helm since 2005 and has vowed to quit after the election, joined the party in 1983.

Little has changed during his tenure.

Three years ago, the Communists agreed to an offer from Babis to prop up the government his populist ANO (YES) party formed with the left-wing Social Democrats.

An agricultural and chemical products mogul, Babis has been hit by allegations made in the Pandora Papers that he stashed cash in tax havens and by accusations of conflict of interest.

The Communists' support for Babis was the closest they came to power since 1989, after spending three decades in opposition, but it may well have been their political swan song.

"By practically joining the government, the Communists lost their status of a protest party," said Josef Mlejnek, an analyst at Charles University in Prague.

"There are now more active protest parties, and besides, Babis stole a part of their retired voters," he told AFP.

- The last stop? -

The populist prime minister, a former Communist listed as a secret police collaborator in the 1980s, has been wooing voters with pension hikes and other perks.

"He's a huge rival and a huge problem. Andrej Babis has money and great marketing staff, which is something the Communist Party lacks," Konecna said, standing next to a tapestry with a large portrait of Karl Marx in her Prague office.

Konecna, who boasts 20,000 followers on Facebook, knows that young blood is crucial.

She is one of the party's hopes for the future -- and possibly its new head -- but faces the mammoth task of shoring up waning membership and voter support.

"It won't be easy, but I already have a team of young communists who are working hard for the party," she said.

But both Mlejnek and Eibl agree that if the Communists are ousted from parliament, they are unlikely to ever return.

"I think that would be the last stop for the Communists," Eibl said.

'No expiry date' for justice, says key lawyer on twilight Nazi trials


Issued on: 06/10/2021 - 
'

I know all the possible means used by prosecutors and judges 30 or 40 years ago to abandon proceedings or to deliver acquittals on Nazi crimes,' says Walther

 PATRIK STOLLARZ AFP/File

Berlin (AFP)

Lawyer Thomas Walther, 78, gets prickly when he hears criticism of German courts putting elderly surviving Nazis -- many over 90 years old now -- on trial.

"No one voices any doubts when charges are filed over a murder after 30 years," he tells AFP.

"But the prosecution of old men and old women is somehow viewed as problematic after 75 years, even if it's about 1,000 or 5,000 murders in which active assistance was provided by the accused."


Justice has "no expiry date", stresses the lawyer, who has led the way on a series of twilight justice cases in Germany against the last surviving Nazis.

It was due to a case Walther put before the courts in the early 2000s that jurisprudence was set in 2011, allowing investigators to prosecute Nazi staff on the basis they had served as part of Adolf Hitler's extermination machine.

On Thursday, another of his cases will be reaching the court.

The trial of Josef S., now 100 years old, accused of complicity in the murder of 3,518 prisoners between 1942 and 1945 at Sachsenhausen concentration camp will open. Walther is representing survivors of the horrors and their relatives.

The long-term prosecutor and later judge has dedicated his retirement years to bringing justice, even if late, to victims of the Holocaust and their descendants.

Besides "the relatives of those killed, countless families that have been completely wiped out too have the right to this late justice", he says.

- Deterrence -

Located about 30 kilometres (18 miles) north of Berlin, the Sachsenhausen camp held 200,000 detainees between 1936 and 1945, mainly opposition figures, Jews and gays.

Tens of thousands of inmates died from forced labour, murder, medical experiments, hunger or disease before the camp was liberated by Soviet troops, according to the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum.

The accused, who lives in Brandenburg, has refused to make public comments about the trial. Aged 21 in 1942, he was a chief corporal at the camp.

"The higher ranked officers have died... only those of lower ranks can theoretically still be alive today" and brought to justice, says Walther.

The German lawyer collects witness accounts from across the world that have helped to launch these last proceedings.

Tens of thousands of inmates died from forced labour, murder, medical experiments, hunger or disease at the Sachsenhausen camp 

John MACDOUGALL AFP

In the 2000s, while he was still a magistrate, he put forward the file that led to the 2011 conviction of John Demjanjuk, 90, a former guard at Sobibor camp.

Since then, courts have handed down several guilty verdicts on the grounds that the defendant served as part of the Nazi killing machine rather than for murders or atrocities directly linked to the individual accused.

In the early years after WWII, there was a general reluctance to pursue former Nazis, many of whom remained in key administrative and judicial positions.

Germans were focused on rebuilding a country in ruins, and many remained in denial about past crimes, dismissing the 1945-49 Nuremberg trials as "victor's justice".

"I know all the possible means used by prosecutors and judges 30 or 40 years ago to abandon proceedings or to deliver acquittals on Nazi crimes," says Walther.

"Such practices have nothing to do with law and justice."

For Walther, the trials serve as valuable deterrence even today.

"It is always a reminder for the present -- there are places and actions one can't be a part of."

© 2021 AFP

These Canadian industries are currently facing the biggest labour shortages


Brooklyn Neustaeter

CTVNews.ca Writer

Published Tuesday, October 5, 2021

A man walks into a restaurant displaying a "Now Hiring" sign, Thursday, March 4, 2021, in Salem, N.H. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)


TORONTO -- The economic effects from the COVID-19 pandemic are squeezing businesses struggling to find workers as ongoing labour shortages continue to stall certain sectors.

Businesses both big and small say they are struggling to find staff and employers have been offering more incentives to attract workers such as higher wages, bonuses, and flexible hours.

However, for those industries trying to recoup losses after months of lockdown, Jasmin Guenette of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says perks may not be an option.

"Only 40 per cent of small businesses are making normal sales at the moment. So increasing wage is not something that is possible for many businesses," Guenette previously told CTV News. BULLSHIT

A LIVING WAGE, RETIREMENT PLAN AND OTHER BENEFITS ARE ESSENTIALS FOR WORKERS THESE ARE NOT 'PERKS'. 

WE ARE ASKED TO BE SYMPATHETIC TO THE BOSS, BUT NOT THE WORKERS NEEDS, THE BOSS PAYS HIS RENT, UTILITIES AND DRY GOODS COSTS WITHOUT WHINING.

IN DOG EAT DOG CAPITALISM IF BUSINESS CAN'T AFFORD TO OPERATE TOO BAD, END IT AND JOIN THE WORKING CLASS.

New research published last week from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) reports that 64 per cent of Canadian businesses say labour shortages are limiting their growth.

According to Statistics Canada, there were 731,900 job vacancies in the second quarter of 2021. StatCan said these vacancies can be seen across all provinces, with the largest increases in Quebec, Ontario and B.C.

Overall, Deloitte Canada says that 30.3 per cent of Canadian businesses are reporting labour shortages.

Trevin Stratton, economic advisory leader and partner at Deloitte Canada, told CTVNews.ca the sectors that have been able to shift to a work-from-home model, such as finance, insurance and real estate, have seen "substantial job growth" throughout the pandemic.

"On the other hand, hard-hit sectors that rely on physical presence, like accommodation and food services, transportation and recreation and tourism, still have a way to go before being fully recovered from the pandemic," Stratton said in an email on Tuesday.

Stratton explained that the relaxation of public health measures in recent months has allowed these sectors to increase their employment substantially, but further gains could be "limited by the unavailability of labour."

While many industries have struggled to return to regular working capacity amid COVID-19, data shows that these sectors have the largest number of job vacancies in Canada:

HOSPITALITY AND FOOD SERVICE

As one of the sectors hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, Deloitte Canada predicts that the labour shortages facing the hospitality and food service industry won't be over anytime soon.

"We expect employment in accommodation and food services and information, culture and recreation to continue to experience substantial growth in 2022 but to remain below pre-pandemic levels for some time," Stratton said.

According to data from Statistics Canada, the number of job vacancies in hospitality and food services increased by 11,600 from the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2021, reaching an all-time high of 89,100.

StatCan says this increase was "entirely" in the food services and drinking places subsector. The agency added that food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations had the second largest increase in vacancies of any occupation over the two years in Canada.

The general manger of Italian restaurant Romeo's in Victoria, B.C. says there is less incentive for Canadians to go back to waiting tables full-time when they can collect pandemic benefits instead.

"They say they can only work so many hours because they know if they pass a threshold of hours, they can't collect subsidies on the back end," Christopher Mavrikos told CTV News in September.

However, the BDC report suggests the phase out of the Canada Emergency Response Benefit and other programs like it won't fix the labour problem.

While some sectors have lost thousands of jobs during the pandemic, BDC's chief economist Pierre Cleroux says the pandemic didn't create Canada's labour shortage -- it just made an existing problem worse. He said the key problem is demographics.

"Today, 16 per cent of Canadians are over 65. In the next five years, many Canadians are going to retire," Cleroux said. "And not a lot of young people are entering the job market."

HEALTH CARE

While the pandemic has increased demand for health services, many nurses report having left the profession after the stress of COVID-19 made their jobs more difficult and less safe, creating a shortage of health-care workers in certain regions and even forcing rural areas to temporarily close hospital units.

According to Statistics Canada, health care and social assistance currently have the largest need for labour of any sector in the country.

StatCan says job vacancies in this sector increased by 40,800 from the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2021. The agency said the sector currently represents one in seven job vacancies in Canada.

Job vacancies for registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses had the largest increase of all health-care occupations since 2019, according to StatCan. The agency notes that nearly half of vacancies for this occupation have been open for 90 days or more.

While there aren't yet firm numbers, there are reports that the pandemic has increased burnout among highly-trained nurses, causing them to leave the profession at an alarming rate. Others have chosen to retire early due to stress.

Health advocates say keeping the skilled nurses with better staffing and more mental health supports could help address the problem, as well as putting an end to wage cuts and caps in the profession with campaigns underway in Ontario and Alberta against efforts to limit wage increases in the public sector.

MANUFACTURING AND CONSTRUCTION

Statistics Canada reported a record number of job vacancies in the manufacturing sector last month.

The agency says there were 65,900 manufacturing job vacancies in the second quarter of 2021, the highest number of vacancies for the sector since 2015. The increase was spread across several subsectors, with the largest gains in food manufacturing, such as meatpacking, and wood product manufacturing, according to StatCan.

The Canadian Meat Council -- which represents Canada's federally-registered meat packers and processing plants -- reported in September that there are more than 4,000 empty butcher stations at meat production facilities countrywide, working out to an average job vacancy rate of more than 10 per cent.

Canadian meat packers say the shortage is in part due to the rules governing how many temporary foreign workers meat processing employers can employ at any one time and are lobbying the federal government to increase the current cap of 10 to 20 per cent, depending on the facility, to 30 per cent.

The construction industry has also reported a record number of job vacancies, especially in masonry, painting and electrical work.

According to StatCan, vacancies in construction increased to 62,600 in the second quarter of 2021, the highest number since 2015. Carpenters, construction trade helpers and labourers also accounted for a large portion of the rise in job vacancies, the agency said.

RETAIL TRADE

Job vacancies in retail trade increased to 84,300 in the second quarter of 2021, according to StatCan, with the largest gains in food and beverage stores, building material supply dealers and garden equipment shops.

By occupation, the agency said retail salespersons, store shelf stockers, clerks and order filers were among the top 10 occupations with the largest increase in vacancies from the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2021.

With ‘help wanted’ signs in many storefronts across the country, Charles Kay, owner of Montreal furniture store Prunelle, says the responsibility falls to the employer.

"Some employers are getting a little bit burnt out because there just isn't… enough hand to get the job done," he told CTV News.
TRUCKING

Trucking HR Canada, a national, non-profit organization working to address workforce issues in the trucking and logistics sector, reports that there was an average of 18,000 truck driver vacancies in the second quarter of 2021.

According to its latest report, the trucking industry had a vacancy rate of five per cent at the end of 2020. In comparison, the vacancy rate across all occupations in Canada was 2.7 per cent.

The organization says the impacts of COVID-19, lack of foreign workers and poor working conditions have contributed to the increase in job vacancies. As well, Trucking HR Canada says these factors have contributed to and increase in older truckers retiring with not enough new drivers to replace them.

Trucking HR Canada noted that the trucker shortage will continue to put "pressure and stress on Canada’s economic recovery" if not quickly addressed.

"Trucking and logistics supports key economic sectors from retail/wholesale trade to construction, agriculture, forestry and mining, and more," the organization wrote in its report. "One fact remains: the longer it takes to better address driver shortages – the longer it will take for full economic recovery."

With files from The Canadian Press and CTV National News' Vanessa Lee

 Montreal

If Joyce Echaquan were white, she would still be alive, Quebec coroner says

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Echaquan's family meet with reporters, husband says she

 died 'because she was Indigenous'

Antoni Nerestant · CBC News · Posted: Oct 05, 2021 

Coroner Géhane Kamel held back tears at one point as she explained her findings on the death of Joyce Echaquan during a news conference in Trois-Rivières, Que., on Tuesday. She concluded the Atikamekw woman would be alive today if she were white. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)

The Quebec coroner who presided over a three-week inquiry into the death of Joyce Echaquan said she believes the Atikamekw woman would still be alive today if she were white.

Echaquan, a mother of seven, died on Sept. 28, 2020, shortly after recording herself as health-care staff in a hospital north of Montreal hurled racist remarks at her.

Her death and the footage leading up to it sparked outrage and protests, as well as calls for the province to acknowledge systemic racism.

After her report into Echaquan's death was released on Friday, coroner Géhane Kamel met with reporters in Trois-Rivières, Que., to explain her findings.

She concluded that racism played a role in Echaquan's death and that her death was not from natural causes but "accidental" because she did not receive the care she was entitled to.

Asked by a reporter in French if she thought Echaquan would still be alive today if she were white, Kamel replied: "Je pense que oui," or "I think so."

Echaquan's loved ones, who held a news conference of their own on Tuesday, agree.

"Joyce died," her husband Carol Dubé said before pausing for several seconds, "because she was Indigenous."

Dubé was accompanied by his children, Echaquan's parents, the family's lawyer, and Constant Awashish, the grand chief of the Atikamekw Nation.

Dubé thanked the coroner for her work, adding that there were several lies and contradictions during some of the inquiry's testimony, making it difficult for the family.

"Our healing will come through truth," he said. "And today, a small [part] of that truth finally sees the light of day."

The family's lawyer said they will soon file a lawsuit, with the details to come over the next few days.

They also plan to file complaints with the province's college of physicians, order of nurses and the human rights commission.

WATCH | Echaquan died because she was Indigenous, husband says:

Joyce Echaquan died because she was Indigenous, husband says

13 hours ago

3:49

Joyce Echaquan's husband, Carol Dubé, said Tuesday he believes his wife died because she was Indigenous. His comments echoed those made by Quebec coroner Géhane Kamel, who said at a Tuesday news conference in Trois-Rivières, Que., that she believed Echaquan would still be alive today if she were white. 3:49

'System imprinted with prejudice'

In her report, Kamel concluded Echaquan's death could have been prevented with better care from staff at the hospital in Joliette, Que.

"Although this may be difficult to hear, it is a system imprinted with prejudice and biases that contributed to [health-care staff] not taking the situation seriously," Kamel said Tuesday. 

She also said that Echaquan was "infantilized" and labelled as a manipulative drug abuser, despite there being no evidence of this.

Kamel said the inquiry was a "difficult but necessary" process, and some of the testimony "shook her on a human level."

"Through her death, Joyce left us an extremely important legacy," Kamel said while fighting back tears. "It would be extremely sad if we learned nothing from her death."

Kamel's three-week inquiry was held last spring following Echaquan's death in a hospital north of Montreal. (Facebook)

Echaquan died of pulmonary edema.

​Kamel's report notes that Echaquan's care was affected because medical staff assumed she was suffering from withdrawal, which turned out to be untrue.

Premier continues denial of systemic racism

Kamel also issued several recommendations, the top one being that the Quebec government must recognize the existence of systemic racism within its institutions.

"Systemic racism doesn't imply that each individual that is part of this system is racist. It implies that the system — either through prejudices that are tolerated, reprehensible acts or its inaction — contributes to trivializing and marginalizing Indigenous communities," Kamel said during the news conference.

"Once my observations are made and my recommendations are sent to the different [provincial] ministries and organizations, it is up to them to decide if they'll seize this opportunity for a dialogue."

On Tuesday, Premier François Legault once again denied the existence of systemic racism, reiterating a position he has held onto for more than a year.

Legault said the definition of systemic racism that he agrees with is different than the one used by Kamel.

Despite the coroner's recommendation, Premier François Legault once again said he does not believe systemic racism exists in Quebec. (Dany Pilote/Radio-Canada)

The premier said as far as he's concerned, systemic racism would have to be organizational, in the form of directives coming from people in positions of authority that support racist policies.

Using the province's health-care system as an example, Legault said the behaviour of staff or people in management doesn't mean there is a system in place to discriminate against Indigenous people.

"For me, a system is coming from upstairs, coming from the top people, and I don't see this in the health-care network," he said.

Legault also said that systemic racism existed in Quebec when residential schools were in place but that he doesn't see any evidence of it now.

• Coroner's report on Joyce Echaquan's death adds pressure on Quebec premier to acknowledge systemic racism

• Legault admits he was insensitive on Indigenous issues last week, promises to do better

He once again urged Quebecers not to get bogged down with definitions and to agree that racism — systemic or not — exists in Quebec and must be dealt with.

"Yes, there is is prejudice and discrimination and racism, and we need all Quebecers to work together to fight it," the premier said.

Within the regional health board that oversees the hospital where Echaquan died, 12,000 employees have received at least three hours of cultural safety training, Legault said.

He also highlighted — as proof the province wants to improve the health care Indigenous patients receive — that some members of the Atikamekw community have been given prominent roles on the health board.

In the wake of Echaquan's death, Atikamekw leaders in Quebec drafted Joyce's Principle, a set of recommendations meant to guarantee health care for Indigenous people, free of discrimination, by having it enshrined in provincial law. 

But the province has refused to draft legislation that included tenets from Joyce's Principle because they also referenced systemic racism.

Coroner says Joyce Echaquan would still be alive if she were white

Global News

Global National: Oct. 5, 2021 | 

A year after Joyce Echaquan recorded hospital staff insulting her with racist remarks in her final hours, a Quebec coroner has concluded the Indigenous woman would still be alive if she were Caucasian. Mike Armstrong looks at the findings of the inquiry into Echaquan's death, the calls to recognize systemic racism within the health-care system and what her family is planning now

  

Joyce Echaquan's courage has empowered Indigenous people to speak up, says grand chief

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Quebec coroner says people never would have known

 about Echaquan's mistreatment if she didn't film it

CBC Radio · Posted: Oct 05, 2021 6:06 PM ET | Last Updated: 10 hours ago

Joyce Echaquan died in hospital shortly after filming herself as staff hurled racist remarks at her. (Facebook)

One of Joyce Echaquan's final acts before she died was to film her mistreatment at the hands of hospital staff in Joliette, Que.

Her courage has emboldened other Indigenous people across the country to speak up about racism, says Atikamekw Nation Grand Chief Constant Awashish.

Echaquan, an Atikamekw woman, died in hospital of pulmonary edema on Sept. 28, 2020, shortly after recording herself as staff members hurled racist remarks at her.

Quebec coroner Géhane Kamel said Tuesday that if Echaquan were white, she would have received the care she needed and still be alive today. The lawyer representing Echaquan's parents said they will soon file a lawsuit, with the details to come over the next few days.

The top recommendation in Kamel's report into Echaquan's death is for the Quebec government to recognize the existence of systemic racism within its institutions.

It's a step that Premier François Legault has refused to take. On Tuesday, he blamed Echaquan's death on "a few employees" who "didn't deliver the right services to her."

Awashish says it's time for the premier to revise his position. Here is part of his conversation with As It Happens host Carol Off. 

What do those words from François Legault say to you following this report on the death of Joyce Echaquan?

It's kind of difficult to hear those kinds of comments. I know his position, and he's been having the same position for way before he was in power. And I think he's just seeing ... the result, and he doesn't see the cause.

Because there's a cause of ... why the stereotypes of First Nations [exist], why First Nations are having a hard time today, why we are, like, 60, 70, some places 90 years behind in terms of social development. It's not by coincidence. Because there is a system put in place. 

That's what he doesn't want to see. And even [Premier Doug] Ford in Ontario recognizes systemic racism. So I don't understand why he's tried to keep on going and denying there's systemic racism.

Constant Awashish, grand chief of the Atikamekw Nation, says Echaquan's courage has empowered others to speak out against systemic racism. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)

The coroner in Quebec does recognize that systemic racism was a contributor to the death of Joyce Echaquan. Though she says that the death was accidental, because she did not receive the care she was entitled to because of racism. So does it seem as though the premier is accepting even that part of the report?

It's clear what the coroner said. It's clear in other reports [that] First Nations are living in systemic racism constantly. And he's tried to say it like it's an isolated event. But from what I hear, from what has been brought up now here and there by other members, other First Nations, there's a lot of situations like that happening.

When the big boss talks this way, it gives the chance to those kind of people to act like they will always be protected. And I understand that he doesn't want to recognize the systemic racism, but it's clear everywhere. It's clear for a lot of organizations. It's clear for different reports, different commissions. And even the coroner now says that … if [Echaquan] was not a First Nation woman, she would get all the services, the health services, that she was entitled to.

More and more First Nations [people] are talking about it. They feel like now they're being listened to. That's the effect of what Joyce Echaquan left behind.- Constant Awashish, grand chief of Atikamekw Nation 

The coroner said that if Joyce Echaquan had been white, she would not have died. This wouldn't have happened to her. But the coroner also says that if it wasn't for her courage to actually record the racism, the abuse she was getting in the hospital, and to make that public … we wouldn't have known about this. And so what impact has all this had on your community?

Like you said, it took her a lot of courage. And I think this courage gave people empowerment and gave them also courage to denounce that kind of situation. And since then, I think more and more are coming up, are coming forward, to talk about the situations that are similar, the situations where they feel uncomfortable, where they're being mistreated or they're being called names. And more and more First Nations [people] are talking about it. They feel like now they're being listened to. That's the effect of what Joyce Echaquan left behind. It's this positive effect.

And I think, too, non-Indigenous people, for a long time ... couldn't comprehend or couldn't believe it, or were not sure about it. Like, I think it's a natural reflex from anybody. It doesn't matter where you're from. I think most of the time, people need to see to believe. And that's what she contributed.

When I talk to non-First Nations [people] here and now, everybody … wants more justice. They want to know more about what happened to First Nations, why they are in this situation. Why we, for many years, for many decades, we taught First Nations in a different way — like stereotypes, bad things about them, all those different things that have been put in the public [imagination] about First Nations. 

Now people want to comprehend why. Why are we thinking like that? We are neighbours. We're so close to each other, but we don't know each other. I think that's what Joyce Echaquan contributed, is this awakening. And people are really realizing that we share so many values, common values. And now why are we not investing in those common values and creating something better for the future?

• 1 year after Joyce Echaquan's death, Indigenous leaders say issues of racism in health care persist

• Coroner's report on Joyce Echaquan's death adds pressure on Quebec premier to acknowledge systemic racism

Do you think that despite what the premier is saying, that … a lot of Quebecers are starting to realize what is happening, the racism that exists towards Indigenous people?

I think we need to name the cause the way it has to be named, which is systemic racism. And now we see the result. And the result is the people being racist against the First Nations [people]. 

That's the kind of message that the premier of Quebec … doesn't want to admit.

---

Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from CBC Montreal. Interview produced by Kevin Robertson. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. 

Climate change is a huge threat, so why isn't everyone talking about it?

Climate change is a major global threat, but not yet a major topic of kitchen table conversation. At the Dallas World Aquarium, CBS News found most people just don't usually get into the conversation.

© Credit: CBSNews 1633437246179.png
CBS News 13 hrs ago

"How often do you talk about climate change?" "CBS Mornings" co-host Tony Dokoupil asked some visitors.

"Have we once talked about climate? Maybe once or twice in our, you know, seven-year relationship," Chris Glenn replied.

Two other people who were asked the same question said they have not started a conversation intentionally with someone else about the issue of climate change.

If climate change threatens us all, shouldn't everyone be talking about it?

According to the new book, "Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World," the lack of conversation may be the biggest threat of all. The book is published by an imprint of Simon & Schuster, a division of ViacomCBS.

Author Katharine Hayhoe said more than half of U.S. adults are concerned about climate change, but only about a third of us ever talk about it.

Hayhoe is a prominent climate scientist at Texas Tech University who studies not only the climate but the conversation around it.

"I mean, if one more person tells you about a starving polar bear, or a melting iceberg, or rising sea levels, you're just like, 'What am I supposed to do? I'm just one person. I'm not, like, the president, or CEO, or anything," said Hayhoe.

Hayhoe argues the most important thing people can do is the one thing so many have been avoiding—talking about it.

"You think regular people can start a revolution on this by having conversations in their community," Dokoupil asked.

"I think that's the only way revolutions ever started," said Hayhoe.

To see how Hayhoe does it without devolving into politics or argument, CBS News started some conversations.

"For me, I feel like this world ain't gonna survive long," Chantz Beene said after being asked about the topic.

"Did you know that 90 companies are responsible for two-thirds of the whole global warming problem since the beginning of the industrial era?" asked Hayhoe, who joined in the conversation.

"I did not know that," Beene replied.

Hayhoe was full of facts, yet her first move wasn't to lecture, but to listen. She informed two people that 9,000,000 people die every year of air pollution.

When Hayhoe did jump in the conversation, it wasn't with global data, but local issues.

"We see changes in weather patterns, but they don't happen to happen as close to home..." Glenn said.

"Here's the thing. If we live in Texas, we're getting hit hardest of any state. We get..." Hayhoe said.

"Hurricanes," Glenn replied.

"The Hurricanes, the floods, the heat, even the crazy winter storm that we had... It was worse because of the Arctic warming so fast," added Hayhoe.

In conversation after conversation, Hayhoe kept the focus on solutions. She informed one person that Texas is number one in wind energy.

She also reminded people that while the challenges may seem overwhelming, the country has a pretty good track record of getting it right, eventually.

After the conversation, Beene — who said earlier that the world was potentially "doomed" — said that the first step to getting it together is "talking about it."

The conversation with Hayhoe even changed one person's view.

"Has this conversation changed you in any way?" Dokoupil asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I would, I'd be more vocal to it. I'd want to spread the awareness," one person said.

Corps of Engineers considers nature-based flood control

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is known for damming rivers and building levees to keep waterways at bay. But a new initiative seeks natural flood control solutions as climate change brings increasingly frequent and severe weather events that test the limits of concrete and steel.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

It only makes sense to use Mother Nature's flood defenses as one of the tools to combat destruction from intense rains in the middle of the country and storms and sea level rise on the coasts, says Todd Bridges, who heads the Corps Engineering with Nature initiative.

Pieces are in place to make the change. In the 2020 Water Resources Development Act, Congress directed the Corps to consider nature-based systems on equal footing with more traditional infrastructure. And the initiative was directly funded for the first time last year with $12.5 million.

But the Corps is often constrained by its own rules and the way costs and benefits of its projects are evaluated.

“The Corps has a lot of people who are used to doing things a certain way," said Jimmy Hague, The Nature Conservancy’s senior water policy advisor. "We’re tracking some projects right now where nature-based solutions are almost an afterthought.”

In Missouri, the Corps recently completed a levee setback along the Missouri River after the existing levee was overtopped and breached by flooding in 2019. Rather than simply repairing the levee, the Corps built a new 5-mile (8-kilometer) stretch farther from the river, opening up about 1,000 acres (405 hectares) of floodplain to help reduce future flooding while providing habitat for rare and declining species.

Dave Crane, the Corps' environmental lead on the project, said making it happen was not simple. The Corps is required to repair levees at the lowest cost, and only extreme damage to the original levee made building a new one possible under its rules.

The Corps also likes to work fast to repair levees before a new flood, and moving the levee required time for planning and acquiring land. The local levee district needed to purchase millions of dollars in farmland that would no longer be protected. With help from The Nature Conservancy and local community buy-in, the Corps constructed the setback, but it’s far from the norm.

Bridges hopes new 1,000-page international guidelines for nature-based systems, five years in the making, will push the Corps to take nature-based solutions more seriously. The manual was developed in collaboration with the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, among others.

The stakes are rising. Over the past five years alone, weather and climate-related disasters cost the U.S. more than $630 billion in damages, Richard Spinrad, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said when the guidelines were released Sept. 16.

“How we evaluate benefits (of nature-based solutions) is the key issue,” Bridges said. Putting monetary value on their flood protection is a first step. Bridges also wants the Corps to recognize social and environmental benefits not traditionally considered.

For example, he said, a mangrove forest can provide wildlife habitat, enjoyment for people who dive, fish or boat, as well as cleaner air and water. And while concrete floodwalls fall apart and must be replaced, mangroves can grow, affording more protection over time.

“Florida has 500,000 acres of mangrove forest today that provide billions of dollars in flood-risk reduction. How do we sustain or even grow that benefit in the future?” Bridges asked.

The Corps has rules beyond benefit assessments that complicate its adoption of such solutions.

In Port Fourchon, Louisiana, authorities want to use dredging spoils to restore nearby marshland. But the Corps wants to pump the spoils into the Gulf of Mexico, said Chett Chiasson, the port's executive director.

That's because the project's money comes from the Corps navigation fund requiring the agency to dispose of spoils as cheaply as possible. It doesn't matter that there is a separate ecosystem restoration fund for projects like the marsh, Chiasson said.

“Their money is siloed, and they can’t put (funds) together in a way that makes common sense,” he said.

In Northern California near the state capital Sacramento, the Corps built the Yolo Bypass nearly a century ago to divert floodwaters. Its 59,000 acres (24,000 hectares) have also become habitat for native and endangered species, including Chinook salmon and steelhead.

Rick Johnson, executive director of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, wants to make needed improvements to the bypass while enhancing fish habitat. But the Corps, which has a flood control easement on the property, has rules that require it to own property outright before doing ecosystem restoration work.

“We're in a position right now where it's hard to build new infrastructure, so we need to get what we can out of what is existing," Johnson said. “And we need to look at it through a multipurpose lens.”

Relatively little has been done to quantify benefits of nature-based flood control, but a 2016 study estimated coastal wetlands saved northeastern states from more than $625 million in damages during Superstorm Sandy. Census tracts with wetlands averaged 10% less property damage than those without, reported researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, The Nature Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Researchers at a Corps lab in Vicksburg, Mississippi, are attempting to better quantify benefits of mangrove forests with a simulation. A complex web of PVC pipes mimics mangrove roots inside a nearly 65,000-gallon (246,000-liter) tank where a wave machine provides storm surge.

The Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority has spent billions of dollars restoring coastal wetlands and barrier islands after Hurricane Katrina to bolster the state's storm defense. Hurricane Ida was the biggest test to date, and the evaluation is ongoing.

Nature-based systems aren't trying to recreate a past landscape, but rather restore the function that a landscape feature provided. And they can't entirely replace more traditional infrastructure, Bridges emphasized, noting that a barrier island can work together with a wetland and a levee to provide layers of protection.

“We need to re-envision what infrastructure looks like," he said. “Flood-risk management is serious business. People die.”

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This story corrects the spelling of Chett Chiasson.

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Follow Travis Loller on Twitter: @travisloller

Travis Loller, The Associated Press

The World Has Spent $16 Trillion on Covid-19 So Far

Oct 5, 2021

Bloomberg Markets and Finance

While the Covid-19 pandemic is far from over, the developed world isn't nearly as hobbled as it once was. What did the $16 trillion worth of global government response achieve, and was it well spent? .