It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Thursday, October 14, 2021
Canada leads world with pledge to curb methane leaks from oil and gas sector
Wed., October 13, 2021
OTTAWA — Canada is nearly doubling its target to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector as it prepares to sign a new global pledge at next month's climate talks in Scotland.
The United States and Europe are pushing a Global Methane Pledge asking other governments to commit to cutting total methane emissions 30 per cent by 2030.
But the International Energy Agency said last month that hitting global climate targets means methane from the oil and gas industry alone must be cut 75 per cent from 2012 levels by the end of this decade.
This week Canada became the first and only country in the world to commit to both targets.
Oil and gas production and refining account for more than two-fifths of Canada's total methane emissions, with livestock and landfills each responsible for about one-quarter.
Methane is an odourless gas that is produced in smaller amounts than carbon dioxide but has a bigger effect on global warming because it can trap more heat when it sits in the atmosphere.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2021.
Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press
BC Drug Use Treatment Services to Expand as ‘Waitlists Have Become Death Lists
Wed., October 13, 2021
The B.C. government says it will spend $132 million over the next three years to expand treatment and recovery services in the province, funding that comes from among the $500 million already allocated in the April budget.
The money will support services “at every step” of someone’s path to recovery, Minister for Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson said outside St. Paul’s Hospital in Downtown Vancouver today.
Much-needed detox spaces, 195 new treatment beds, supportive housing and occupational therapy for people completing treatment will be established in every region of the province through the Ministry of Health and health authorities. Two new peer advisors will be hired at St. Paul’s alone.
“Our vision of a seamless and integrated system of mental health and addictions care is getting closer,” said Malcolmson as ambulance sirens wailed in the background on their way to the busy downtown hospital.
Mark Haggerty, a peer advisor at St. Paul’s, said having detox and treatment resources available when someone is ready to begin recovery is essential to ensure they don’t lose momentum.
“As someone with an addiction, when I needed help… and this is known, there’s a small opportunity to get that help,” said Haggerty, who has been in recovery for eight years. “If you have to wait too long, that opportunity is gone.”
Malcolmson and Vancouver Coastal Health chief medical officer Dr. Patricia Daly said this will be a major change in the province’s sixth year of the overdose public health emergency.
Nearly 3,000 people have died since January 2020. Last year was the most fatal year for toxic drug overdoses on record in the province, and 2021 continues to be terrible.
But expanding treatment and recovery services alone doesn’t address the root cause of deaths: a toxic and unpredictable criminalized drug supply.
Guy Felicella, a peer advisor at the BC Centre on Substance Use, noted there are “two separate crises”: failed addiction treatment and an illicit-drug poisoning crisis.
“And we need to do both, but really I would like to see the numbers of people dying each month go down. And I’d also like to see accessible services for people in addiction scaled up.”
Not everyone who is dying of poisoned drugs was addicted or had a substance use disorder, Felicella said. “It’s a toxic poisoned drugs crisis, and that needs to be addressed off the bat.”
The province has issued a directive expanding programs to provide users with safe, non-poisoned drugs, although critics have said it is too restrictive and narrow. And it does not include access to heroin.
Malcolmson said supplying heroin has not been ruled out and the province is working on creating a domestic supply.
She and Providence Health Care CEO Fiona Dalton also said neither the ministry nor a health authority had been involved in the decision to end the first of its kind take-home heroin program at Crosstown Clinic just two weeks after its start. Users are typically only allowed to consume heroin on site.
No reasons have been provided for the cancellation. “We’ll have more news on that as soon as we can,” said Malcolmson.
Felicella said issues like these demonstrate that safe supply needs to be provided outside the medical system, through approaches like compassion clubs. Vancouver city council has supported a compassion club’s request that the federal government allow it to distribute untainted cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
As the safe supply file inches ahead, Felicella says he is glad to see more people who do have substance use disorders get support.
Every day he gets calls from desperate people and their loved ones trying to find detox spaces or supportive housing after they finish treatment.
One man’s family recently had to pay more than $6,000 for the first week at a private detox facility for alcohol, after their son told Felicella he would surely die waiting the two to three weeks quoted at other public facilities.
“Waitlists have become death lists,” said Felicella. “People shouldn’t have to be desperate; they should be supported.”
Malcolmson sidestepped a question about how long waitlists are or whether the province will track waitlist lengths in the mental health and addiction care system as it does with surgeries.
New services, she said, will go where health authorities have already identified bottlenecks.
Felicella said anything that helps people get the care they want and stay close to their communities and support systems is a good thing.
But issues in the current system are still costing people their lives and precious time, he said.
“In an emergency with water gushing in, when will it be time to stop patching holes and just build a new boat?”
Moira Wyton, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Tyee
Sask. NDP says lack of request for federal health-care workers from province is 'baffling'
Wed., October 13, 2021 Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili is calling on Premier Scott Moe to request health-care workers through the federal government to support those fighting the fourth wave of COVID-19 and to allow health workers to resume their usual work. (Kirk Fraser/CBC - image credit)More
The leader of Saskatchewan's Opposition says Premier Scott Moe should be asking the federal government to send health-care workers to the province to help in the fight against COVID-19.
NDP Leader Ryan Meili's comments came on Wednesday, after the newly created Provincial Emergency Operations Centre held its first COVID-19 technical briefing.
The formation of the entity — intended to streamline the province's COVID-19 response and jointly led by the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency, the Saskatchewan Health Authority and the Ministry of Health — was announced last week by the provincial government.
At Wednesday's briefing, Public Safety Agency president Marlo Pritchard said the province has not formally requested federal help.
Pritchard said the province is in talks with Ontario about sending Saskatchewan intensive care patients east for care if necessary.
"We are days away from having to send patients out of province. We are days away from doctors having to decide who will get life-saving triage and who will not," Pritchard said.
During Wednesday morning's briefing, health authority president Scott Livingstone said the province is "already over our capacity in ICU. So any major events … we would be triaging patients and sending out of province."
The leader of Saskatchewan's Opposition says the federal government has said it can help the province if a request is made, but "they are refusing to even ask."
"It is baffling," Meili said Wednesday.
"I don't understand why, and there was no explanation given why this government has chosen — when there is help available — to not to take that help," he said.
"We have the highest cases in the country, the highest death rates in the country and the lowest rate of vaccination "
Last week, the premier said the province had not requested health-care workers through the federal government as it was looking for internal solutions first.
"We should be looking for every opportunity and every resource that we have before we go make an external request," Moe said last Thursday. "Is there an opportunity for us to even look deeper within our province?"
On Wednesday, Meili said Saskatchewan's health-care workers need support, and vital provincial health-care programs are being affected by redeployment.
"Call the federal minister, ask for help to get those extra bodies in our hospitals right now," Meili said.
He also accused the premier of "hiding."
"He's in the building today, and still what we got as an update was a teleconference."
Meili also said the province's move to a provincial emergency operations centre was due to Moe's "personal political emergency."
Children's health services impacted: Opposition
NDP education critic Carla Beck said there are children who rely on pediatric treatment and care who are not receiving it due to redeployment of resources to respond to the fourth wave of COVID-19 cases.
"If we don't act now these kids will lose this valuable window for growth and development," Beck said.
Beck said without surgeries, treatments and care, some children could face a "lifetime of consequences."
"The premier refuses to take advantage of the help that's been offered."
Beck says refusing federal help and instead pulling occupational therapists, physiotherapists and other health professionals away from families and children is "madness."
"We never should have got to this position where vulnerable kids are paying for this government's inaction."
In Taiwan tea country, a scramble to adapt to extreme weather Ann Wang Wed., October 13, 2021
The Wider Image: Climate-fuelled drought forces Taiwan tea farmer in search of water
By Ann Wang
MEISHAN/TAOYUAN, Taiwan (Reuters) - Chien Shun-yih looks out over his withering tea fields in Taiwan's picturesque southern Meishan township and lets out a sigh.
A once-in-a-century drought last year followed by torrential rain this year have decimated his crop and left Taiwan's tea farmers scrambling to adapt to the extreme weather changes.
"Climate is the thing we can least control in managing our tea plantation," the 28-year-old Chien told Reuters. "We really do rely on the sky to eat."
(Open https://reut.rs/3aB7uEt in an external browser to see a picture package on Taiwan's tea industry.)
Taiwan's tea output does not come close to matching China or India's, but what it lacks in quantity it makes up for in quality, especially the high mountain premium Oolong variety that Meishan specialises in.
Tea has been grown in the mountains around Meishan since the island was part of China's Qing dynasty in the 19th century. The industry matured and expanded under Japanese imperial rule from 1895-1945.
Chien, who returned to run the family plantation after his father died of cancer four years ago, is now working on coping strategies for extreme weather, including hacking deep into the undergrowth to look for pools to pipe water to the fields.
Lin Shiou-ruei, a government researcher helping Meishan's farmers, said another problem the extreme weather brings is pests that attack the young tea buds.
"Pests love the dry and the heat," she said at her experimental fields in Taoyuan in northern Taiwan. "Previously it wouldn't be hot until around May to July, but now in April it's already really hot."
Lin is working to educate farmers about the pests that proliferate with climate change, and how to identify and manage them.
Her boss, senior agronomist Tsai Hsien-tsung, said they began monitoring weather changes in the tea country four years ago and have already seen the crop's flavour alter with the seasons.
"Temperatures are going up, rainfall is going down. There is less moisture in the air," he said. "Tea is very sensitive."
However, whether or not what is happening in Taiwan's tea country is directly related to climate change remains an area for debate.
Chen Yung-ming, head of the Climate Change Division at Taiwan's National Science and Technology Centre for Disaster Reduction, said it was not possible to blame the drought on climate change.
"We can only say that the chance of continuous drought will increase," he said.
Chien estimates he will only harvest 600 kg (1,300 lb) of tea this year, half of last year's crop, due to the drought and rain, but says he is determined not to be beaten.
"These trees are what fed me and brought me up. In return I want to try my best to take good care of them too."
(Reporting by Ann Wang; Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Karishma Singh)
CANADA UPDATES
'We knew something was wrong': Iqaluit residents without drinking water
Wed., October 13, 2021
IQALUIT, Nunavut — Iqaluit residents filled blue plastic jugs and bottles Wednesday in the ice-cold Sylvia Grinnell River just outside the city after they were told tap water in the Nunavut capital may be unsafe to drink.
The city of about 8,000 people declared a local state of emergency Tuesday night saying its water supply could contain fuel.
Iqaluit mayor Kenny Bell said Wednesday the Nunavut government plans to fly in 80,000 litres of water to the city over three days.
Some residents complained last week on social media about a fuel smell in the water, but he said the water had gone through daily testing and it came back clean.
Then, on Tuesday, Bell said city staff opened a "typically-sealed" tank in the water treatment plant that holds treated water before it gets distributed throughout the city.
"There was a strong smell of petroleum products," Bell said.
If the water in that location is affected, he said, it would mean all of the city's water would be affected.
"We knew something was wrong," said Bell. "We're not 100 per cent sure if this is it but it most likely is based on the amount of smell in the tank."
City officials said water samples have been sent to a lab in Southern Canada, but noted it will take about five business days to get those results back.
In the meantime, the mayor said the city is cleaning the tank and inspecting its walls to look for cracks.
"We don't how it got there, why it's there, what it is," Bell said of the smell.
City water trucks were also pumping water from the river late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
The city made treated water available to residents at a water filling station, but it still needs to be boiled.
Andrew Tagak Jr., who had several water jugs to fill at the station, said he's been able to get enough water for himself and the three other people in his household.
"As long as I know it's fresh, I'm happy," Tagak Jr. told The Canadian Press.
He said he noticed a smell in his water last week but didn't think much about it.
"I didn't know it was going to be petroleum hydrocarbons. I felt upset ... but now we got the water and maybe now we can move on."
Katie Hughes, another resident, said she thought there was a fuel smell in her water for the last week and a half.
"I feel like the city should have been doing tests two weeks ago and it's their job to keep us safe," Hughes said.
Christine Karkow said she was irritated when she learned there might be something wrong with the water.
"There has been a lot of back and forth in the last week or so about whether it's safe or not," Karkow said.
The mayor said the city has an outside consulting firm looking into the problem.
Bell said he understands the fear and frustration many residents are feeling.
"I was telling people what the tests were saying. I was drinking the water. My kids were drinking the water," he said.
Schools across Iqaluit were closed Wednesday and government offices shut down by early afternoon because of the water problem.
Both Arctic Ventures and Northmart, the city's two major grocery stores, were out of bottled water by midday Wednesday. Both stores also sold out of plastic jugs.
In Iqaluit, like all of Nunavut's communities, bottled water already sells at a high cost.
For example, a 40-pack of 500 ml bottles of water at Northmart typically sells for $48.79 before tax, while a 24-pack of water is $27.99.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2021.
___
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
Emma Tranter, The Canadian Press
Gas smell in water remained a mystery for days: Iqaluit mayor
Wed., October 13, 2021
City officials searched but could not find the source of a fuel odour reported in Iqaluit’s water supply for more than a week, despite taking several samples and inspecting the city’s water treatment plant, says Mayor Kenny Bell.
City of Iqaluit staff first started hearing complaints on Oct. 2. Staff looked at the regular daily, weekly and monthly tests and the results were clean and met national standards, Bell said.
But the complaints kept coming.
In response, staff collected six samples from various people’s homes across the city and they all came back clean, Bell said. At some of the homes, people said they smelled an odour, but their neighbours reported their own water smelled clean.
“It was so sporadic,” Bell said of the reports.
Staff continued to monitor and test the water and check the water treatment facility located near Lake Geraldine, he said.
When asked why the city didn’t issue water advisory after the initial complaints, Bell answered that the city and Nunavut government agreed it wasn’t necessary.
“Ultimately, our tests were passing,” he said, adding chlorine and iron reacting to each other can cause fuel-like odours in water.
Bell said the city even checked in with the hospital after hearing reports on social media that people were feeling ill after drinking water.
“There was no uptake of stomach sicknesses, no chemical burns,” he said. “So, what do you do?”
Everything changed on Tuesday, three hours after the city released a second statement that all city water met national standards. That’s when the Nunavut government called Bell into an emergency meeting.
There, he was told public works staff had opened a sealed access vault that contains chemicals that the water mixes with to filter it before it is stored in holding tanks.
“When they opened it, they noticed that there was the smell of petroleum,” he said.
No one knows exactly what is in there, when it got in there or how.
“Once the tests come back, we will know definitively,” he said.
City staff are now trying to bypass those sealed access vaults and treating water in the holding tanks, Bell said.
While that’s happening, Bell said the GN is bringing 80,000 litres of water in jugs and bottles to Iqaluit over the next three days.
When asked how Iqalummiut are supposed to trust the city and the current guidelines for tap water usage after they were told twice that the water was safe to consume, Bell said:
“You can imagine how terrible it is for me. I was out there, trusting the science, telling people that they should be drinking the water. I was drinking the water, my kids were drinking the water, you know, we’re bathing in it.
“I don’t blame people for having that, that non-trust. We are working on fixing that trust and, I mean, this is a major step back.”
David Venn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Nunatsiaq News
Fuel in Iqaluit water not dangerous short term, but ‘very risky’ moving forward, says expert
By Emma Tranter The Canadian Press Posted October 14, 2021 WATCH: Tap water contaminated in Nunavut's capital, triggering state-of-emergency
A University of Saskatchewan professor who has worked in Iqaluit says any amount of fuel in drinking water is unsafe, but drinking it over the short term isn’t necessarily dangerous.
Iqaluit residents were told not to drink the city’s tap water Tuesday after a fuel smell was detected at the water treatment plant, but it’s still unknown whether there is fuel in the water.
Steven Siciliano, a microbiologist and toxicologist who has done research in the north, says the city did the right thing by telling its residents as soon as it found the smell.
A local state of emergency for the city of about 8,000 people was declared after more than a week of residents complaining on social media about a fuel smell in their tap water.
Siciliano says Iqaluit’s regular water testing looks for bacteria, not hydrocarbons, and notes the city shouldn’t be blamed for the situation.
Water samples from Iqaluit have been sent to a lab in Southern Canada for testing and are expected back in the coming days.
Siciliano says the human nose is “incredibly sensitive” to hydrocarbons, meaning people can smell it even if there’s a very low amount.
2:16Miller says he remains ‘committed’ to ensuring access to clean drinking water in First Nations communitiesMiller says he remains ‘committed’ to ensuring access to clean drinking water in First Nations communities – Mar 10, 2021
He says long-term exposure to compounds found in gasoline could be “very risky” but drinking it for a week or so probably isn’t going to do much harm.
“It’s not like if you have one cup of water, you’re poisoned for the rest of your life,” says Siciliano.
Despite that, he says the situation is urgent and a solution needs to be found as soon as possible.
“If they drank it before they found there was fuel, I don’t think they have grave cause for concern. Going forward, is it OK? Absolutely not,” he says.
As a comparison, he says smoking one or two cigarettes a day won’t give a person cancer but smoking a pack a day likely will.
“It’s kind of like that with the water. Drinking it every day for a week? Not going to give you cancer,” he says.
“We don’t know how much fuel there is. They may not be fuel in there — that’s the good news.”
Residents in Canada's north warned not to drink tap water
Possible petroleum contamination in water supply in capital city
Barry Ellsworth |14.10.2021 TRT
TRENTON, Canada
The capital city of Iqaluit in Canada's far north in Nunavut territory, home to the country’s indigenous Inuit people, declared a state of emergency Wednesday due to possible petroleum contamination of the city's water supply.
The government of Nunavut will fly in 80,000 liters of water over three days in an effort to defuse the crisis as officials attempt to find the source of the suspected contaminate.
"We are grateful for that," said Iqaluit Mayor Kenny Bell.
The community, located near Baffin Island, is isolated, and water must be flown in for the population of around 8,000. The advisory, issued by the Department of Health, follows reports of a fuel smell coming from taps in homes. When the city checked one of the tanks that holds water in its treatment plant, the smell was there too. "There was a strong smell of petroleum products," Bell told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). "We knew something was wrong."
The city is still days away from getting water test results.
"An active investigation of the city's drinking water system and additional testing of the drinking water are ongoing," said the health department advisory. "The Department of Health anticipates receiving additional test results from out of territory environmental laboratories in about five business days."
Petroleum hydrocarbons cannot be removed by boiling or filtering, so residents who need water were forced to take jugs to a pickup location to be filled. Bottled water was selling for CAN$9 a liter in Iqaluit stores.
Schools were closed Wednesday as well as government buildings. The latter were expected to reopen Thursday, according to a news release from the city.
Don’t drink from tap, Canadian city says, as gasoline suspected in water supply
State of emergency in Iqaluit, capital of Nunavut territory, as officials say they are testing water for petroleum hydrocarbons
Residents collect water from the Sylvia Grinnell River near Iqaluit. The city’s investigation into its main drinking water source began last week after residents complained their tap water had a gasoline-like smell. Photograph: Canadian Press/Rex/Shutterstock
Officials in Canada’s northernmost capital have declared a local state of emergency after finding possible evidence of gasoline in the city’s tap water.
Residents of Iqaluit, the capital of the Arctic territory of Nunavut, have been told not to drink, boil or cook with the city’s water.
In a public health advisory late on Tuesday, the Nunavut government said it was testing the city’s water for suspected petroleum hydrocarbons. Results from the testing are expected next week.
Until then, the government warned that newborns and infants should not be bathed in tap water, but Iqalummiut can still use the water for showers and cleaning.
The city’s investigation into its main drinking water source began last week after residents complained their tap water had a gasoline-like smell. Tests suggested the water was safe. But the most recent test, done in Ottawa, found microbes in the water.
Officials announced there was observed evidence of possible hydrocarbon contamination at the water treatment plant.
“In this case, we suspect that there is … some type of petroleum product in the water,” Amy Elgersma, chief administrative officer, told city council on Tuesday evening.
Schools in Iqaluit and neighbouring Apex were ordered closed on Wednesday, as well as all government buildings.
Water trucks have started pumping water from the Sylvia Grinnell River, a popular source of fresh water, and officials say they are working to bypass the tank with the suspected contamination to get the city’s water system back up and running.
In a region known for incredibly high food costs, a litre of bottled water currently sells for nearly C$9 (US$7.25), Mayor Kenny Bell told CBC North on Wednesday. A package of a dozen smaller bottles currently retails for about $24 – reflecting both the cost of shipping in supplies to a community 300km south of the Arctic circle, as well as the current demand for the product.
“It is extremely expensive, everything is extremely expensive here,” he said, adding the city was prioritizing getting water to elders. “Right now, we’re in limbo because there is not enough jugs to fill with water to give to people.”
CANADA DEFINES ANTIZIONISM AS ANTISEMITISM
Canada to make special envoy on antisemitism a permanent post, Trudeau says
Wed., October 13, 2021,
OTTAWA — Canada will develop a national plan to combat hate with the help of its special envoy for preserving Holocaust remembrance and fighting antisemitism.
The Liberal government will also make the special envoy role permanent, and bolster the position with more resources.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced plans to further the fight against antisemitism and all forms of hate in a virtual appearance at the Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism.
"We need to attack directly the problem of antisemitism with increased urgency and focus all together, because antisemitism isn't a problem for the Jewish community to solve alone," Trudeau told the forum Wednesday.
"It's everyone's challenge to take on, especially governments."
COLTER DEFINES BDS AS ANTISEMITIC Former justice minister Irwin Cotler was appointed envoy in November 2020 to advance Holocaust education and fight domestic and global antisemitism.
Cotler was part of the Canadian delegation at the forum, and said Canada's national plan is a necessary step in joining Jews in the fight against antisemitism.
"This is central to the building of a democratic culture as well as the promotion and protection of human rights and human dignity," he said in a statement. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs has been advocating for Cotler's role to be made permanent for several years. The group is the advocacy agent of the Jewish Federations of Canada.
"We are pleased to see that the government has heeded our advice, and we thank them for being our allies in the fight against the scourge of antisemitism," association president Shimon Koffler Fogel said in a statement Wednesday.
B'nai Brith Canada, a Jewish human rights organization, says it recorded 2,610 antisemitic incidents last year, the fifth consecutive record-setting year for reports of antisemitism in Canada. Trudeau told the forum he was deeply concerned about a surge of antisemitism in Canada and abroad, and called it "the canary in the coal mine of evil."
"We've seen so many different radical, extremist groups of various types lashing out at so many different things," he said. "One of the few common things so many of them have is an acceptance of antisemitic stereotypes and tropes that slip into their discourse and that they build so much of their other hatred on." In July, the federal government hosted a national antisemitism summit where Cotler proposed ideas to fight the phenomenon. The suggestions included more resources for Holocaust and antisemitism education as well as enhanced security and protection for Jewish institutions such as synagogues, schools, community centres and memorial sites.
On Wednesday, Trudeau promised to work with Jewish communities to develop a national plan.
B'nai Brith Canada said it looks forward to helping the government.
"We view this as a true affirmation that the government will not allow the haters to continue to spew their venom," said Marvin Rotrand, national director of B’nai Brith’s League for Human Rights. Trudeau also urged other governments to adopt the definition of antisemitism put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, as Canada did in 2019.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2021.
— With files from Maan Alhmidi
Laura Osman, The Canadian Press
Holocaust forum looks at social media's role in antisemitism
Wed., October 13, 2021, 12:43 p.m.·3 min read
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Participants at a Holocaust remembrance conference in Sweden blamed social media Wednesday for contributing to a global rise in antisemitism, while YouTube and Facebook officials pledged to be part of the solution.
Government and social media representatives attending the International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance in Malmo vowed to crack down on hate speech, disinformation and the denial of facts both online and off. Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said the company is “now removing 15 times more hate speech than we were just five years ago. And we are not going to stop.”
The head of the European Union's executive arm, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called Holocaust denial and antisemitism “a threat to Jewish people, but it is also a poison for our democracies, our values and our open societies.”
From Brussels, von der Leyen said the 27-nation EU plans to create “a network of young European ambassadors for Holocaust remembrance." She added: "Who is in a better position to teach the lessons of the Shoah to their peers than our young?”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was allocating $1 million to counter online antisemitic hate speech in the Mideast and North Africa. Washington also has started “an expanded series of international visitor leadership programs" to confront Holocaust distortion and antisemitism in North Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America, he said.
“Our priorities include condemning and countering antisemitism, ensuring physical security for Jewish communities, supporting Holocaust education, especially for young people, protecting religious freedom and urging countries to commit more deeply to the fight against hate speech online,” Blinken said in a video message.
Pedro Pina, head of YouTube in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, said the video sharing platform owned by Google pledged more than 5 million euros ($5.8 million).
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, the event's host, said other pledges included new memorial sites, museums and educational programs dedicated to preserving the history of the Holocaust and the mass killings of Roma. And he said the one-day conference was “by no means the end of the road."
“On the contrary, this is a powerful relaunch of the work to combat antisemitism, anti Roma-ism and other forms of racism,” Lofven said." The real work starts now. It’s now that our pledges must be turned into concrete action.”
Presidents Isaac Herzog of Israel and Emmanuel Macron of France participated remotely, with the latter addressing the assembly in a prerecorded video message.
The first International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance was held in Stockholm in 2000. International leaders urged all countries at the time to open secret government files on Nazi Germany's extermination campaign, a genocide that killed 6 million European Jews.
Ronald Lauder, the president of the World Jewish Congress, said during a news conference Wednesday that Jewish organizations "want governments to start making laws against putting hate on the internet."
“We will fight and fight that struggle, and we’re not to be silenced," Lauder said. "Silence is what makes antisemitism grow.”
Jan M. Olsen, The Associated Press
Canada Post reveals Christopher Plummer stamp featuring his iconic roles
Wed., October 13, 2021, 2:12 p.m.·4 min read
TORONTO — Christopher Plummer used to say he felt at home at Ontario's Stratford Festival, so it's fitting that one of his legendary stage roles there is featured on a new Canada Post stamp in his honour.
The work revealed Wednesday depicts the late Toronto-born stage and screen great in several prominent roles from his 70-year career, with his acclaimed turn asProspero the sorcerer in a 2010 production of "The Tempest" in the foreground.
Floating amida background of storm clouds and lightning from "The Tempest" are four images fromother roles: King Lear in a stage production of "King Lear," Rudyard Kipling in the 1975 adventure feature "The Man Who Would Be King," Capt. Georg von Trapp in the 1965 musical film "The Sound of Music" and John Barrymore in the play "Barrymore."
"It's a beautiful piece and the lightning from the production in the background is suitable for the wilder side of Chris Plummer," Des McAnuff, former Stratford Festival artistic director who directed Plummer in "The Tempest" and "Caesar and Cleopatra," said Wednesday in a phone interview.
"He was a great partner and on that one, it was a little bit of a long runway to get him to do it because he would always say: 'Well, this (role) is what to do when you exit, (when) this is your last show, and I'm not ready to do my last show,'" added Ontario-raised McAnuff.
"I finally found out that John Gielgud did 'The Tempest' six times and so I said, 'Well, for Gielgud it was an awfully long exit, so I don't think you have too much to worry about.' So he then took it on and that was my good luck."
Canada Post said Plummer played a leading role in selecting the stamp design before he died at his Weston, Conn., home in February at age 91.
The Crown corporation said it first approached the Oscar-winning star about creating a stamp in 2019 and he was thrilled with the idea and consulted along the way.
Nova Scotia-based artist Steven Slippdesigned the stamp and U.K.-based Oliver Burston, a.k.a. Spooky Pooka, did the illustrations.
McAnuff as well as Plummer's widow, dancer/actress Elaine Taylor Plummer, were among those at Wednesday's Toronto press conference. Others on hand included his longtime friend and manager, Lou Pitt, and former CBC News anchor and author Peter Mansbridge, the ceremony's MC.
Plummer appeared in more than 200 screen projects and performed on stages around the world.
His honours included two Emmys, two Tonys and an Academy Award for his supporting role in "Beginners."
McAnuff, who had planned to shoot a Canadian big-screen adaptation of "King Lear" starring Plummer this past summer, said the actor was "a truly magnificent creative partner" who "came to the table with insights and ideas."
"But there was another side of him that's perhaps surprising," said McAnuff. "He certainly, of course, had a formidable ego. He was, at the time we launched ('The Tempest'), the greatest actor in the world. But he was also very modest and gentle and he had a really sensitive and soft side."
McAnuff recalled Plummer wanted to see a particular lighting cue during technical rehearsals for "The Tempest." Time was extremely limited and Plummer sat beside him in the front row of the theatre to connect with McAnuff about it.
"He said, 'Do be patient with me, dear boy. I promise I just want to see this one thing,'" McAnuff recalled. "And the fact that he would care about my feelings when he's playing Prospero was just really unexpected and a real building block on our friendship. I saw a dimension there that was a bit of an epiphany."
McAnuff, a two-time Tony Award winner who recently shot a film version of "Jersey Boys" with Nick Jonas, is bringing his hit musical "Ain't Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations" back to Broadway this weekend.
But his plans for a big-screen "King Lear" adaptation are still alive. He's producing it with Shaftesbury CEO Christina Jennings and worked closely with Plummer on developing the script.
McAnuff said he's been told that at the end, Plummer told those close to him that he wanted McAnuff to carry on with the film.
"The problem is, of course, you're tempted to wait for an actor like Christopher Plummer. You don't do Lear and then search around for someone to play it. You do 'King Lear' because you have an actor that can play Lear," he said.
"He was, of course, the inspiration for that and I think I could wait a very long time — a very long time, indeed — before an actor like Christopher Plummer comes along."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2021.
Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press
Heiltsuk leader says community still waiting for environmental justice 5 years after 'traumatizing' oil spill
Wed., October 13, 2021 An early picture of spill and rescue efforts for the Nathan E. Stewart near Bella Bella, B.C. The Heiltsuk First Nation says it is still reeling from the impact of the October 2016 spill on its territory. (Canadian Coast Guard - image credit)
Five years after a U.S.-owned tugboat spilled thousands of litres of diesel and heavy oil in the traditional fishing territory of the Heiltsuk First Nation, the nation's leader says the community is still reeling from the economic and cultural impact of the disaster — and waiting for environmental justice.
On Oct. 13, 2016, the Kirby Corporation's Nathan E. Stewart spilled an estimated 110,000 litres of diesel and another 2,000 litres of lubricants after it ran aground in the Seaforth Channel near Bella Bella, B.C.
The spill sent contaminants into Gale Pass, a significant Heiltsuk harvesting site for manila clam and other shellfish. The clam beds make up to $200,000 in income every year for the community.
"We're still not harvesting in that area. We're not practising our cultural activities in Gale Pass ... It's been very traumatizing for our community," said Heiltsuk Nation Elected Chief Coun. Marilyn Slett, speaking Wednesday on CBC's The Early Edition.
Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press
Slett said the nation is now conducting and raising funds to pay for its own environmental impact assessment (EIA). The decision to do so was made after the nation determined Kirby Corporation was unwilling to meet its requests for comprehensive post-spill research or a health impact assessment.
In a press release issued on the first anniversary of the spill, the nation said the U.S.-owned corporation's environmental assessment would look only at sampling and monitoring work conducted in a short period of time after the oil spill and a one-week period in early 2017.
"We feel that the EIA needs to be very robust. It really needs to tell the whole story. It needs to be comprehensive and what was put forward was very narrow and would not," said Slett.
The Early Edition reached out to the Kirby Corporation for comment, but did not receive a reply. April Bencze/Heiltsuk Nation
Slett said nation members feel strongly the assessment must be done by the community, incorporating both western science and Heiltsuk traditional knowledge.
In 2019, Kirby Corporation, which is based in Texas, was fined over $2.5 million after entering guilty pleas related to separate counts under the Fisheries Act, the Migratory Birds Convention Act and the Pilotage Act for the fuel spill that damaged both fish and birds, and for failing to have a pilot aboard the vessel.
At the time, Slett called the fine a "drop in the bucket for a multi-billion dollar company." Zoe Hopkins
The nation is currently involved in a civil suit against the company, as well as the provincial and federal governments.
Slett has called government response to the spill slow, ineffective, and done with little regard for the health and safety of Heiltsuk people and their way of life.
The Government of Canada did not respond to The Early Edition's request for comment.
"Oil spill regulations need to be toughened along the whole Pacific coast," said Slett.
"These regulations, where the polluter can hold out and not pay for an EIA, like what's happening here, should not be allowed to happen."
Survivor’s Flag unveiled at Parliament ceremony
Wed., October 13, 2021, 2:33 p.m.·5 min read
CANADA – The first legislated federal holiday on Sept. 30 was meant to commemorate and honour the people who endured the residential school system and their families.
On Sept. 29, Ottawa hosted a special ceremony, lighting up the parliament building with orange lights, listening to survivors speak, and raising a new flag, the Survivor’s Flag.
Survivors created the flag as their expression of remembrance to share with the broader public. Each survivor who consulted received the flag to raise in their community for the National Day for Truth and Reconciliations’ first legislated day of remembrance.
Many of the contributing survivors hope that the flag will be incorporated at public events and that remembrance becomes a regular part of practice at gatherings.
The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation said, “The Survivors’ Flag is an expression of remembrance, meant to honour residential school survivors and all the lives and communities impacted by the residential school system in Canada. Each element depicted on the flag was carefully selected by survivors from across Canada, who were consulted in the flag’s creation.”
This Survivor’s Flag includes many symbolic and essential messages. It holds significant meaning to those people who helped to create it.
Each symbol represents an aspect of the past, the present, and the future, a true path to reconciliation and, more importantly, to healing.
The Family
Some saw the adults as our ancestors watching over us; others saw these as parents signifying whole families ripped apart and also reuniting to represent healing.
The Children
More than one child is depicted in the design as often whole sibling groups were taken from their parents, younger siblings, grandparents, and community.
The Seeds Below the Ground
Represent the spirits of the children who never returned home. Although they have always been present, they are now seen and searched for.
Tree of Peace
Haudenosaunee symbol of how nations were united and brought to peace, which in turn provides protection, comfort, and renewal.
Cedar Branch
Sacred medicine that represents protection and healing, but also what is used by some Indigenous cultures when one enters the physical world and then again when they pass on to the next (i.e., medicine bath). The seven branches acknowledge the seven sacred teachings taught in many Indigenous cultures.
Cosmic Symbolism
Represents Sun, Moon, Stars, and Planets. The Sun represents the divine protection that ensures those who survived came home. The North Star is prominent as it is an important navigation guide for many Indigenous cultures.
The Sash is a prominent ceremonial regalia worn with pride. Certain colours of thread represent lives that were lost, while others signal connectedness as humans and resilience through trauma. All the threads woven together spell out part of history, but no single thread defines the whole story.
The Eagle Feather
The Eagle Feather represents that the Creator’s spirit is among us. It is depicted pointing upwards which mirrors how it is held when one speaks their truth.
The Inuksuit
Inuksuit are used as navigational guides for Inuit people and link to tradition.
The Honourable Levinia Brown, Inuk survivor who attended Chesterfield Inlet Residential School, said, “This project came about at a time when the grief survivors carried, as well as that of the families of those who were lost, came back to the surface. The news that children lay in unmarked graves was not unimaginable to us as survivors because our memories of these schools are marked by abuse, pain, neglect and profound loss. It was important that the design show the missing children are present because there is much work ahead of us and their memory must also be part of that work.”
Arthur Steinhauer, Cree Survivor who attended Blue Quills Residential School, said, “Creating a flag in honour of survivors and those who did not return is very special. For me, the design symbolizes remembrance, hope for family, love and peace. It is a beautiful reminder of where we’ve been and who we are, as well as the goal of where we should be headed.”
This marks the completion of Call to Action No. 80. However, questions have arisen about the sincerity of the government’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a vacation with his family, issuing a formal apology when he returned.
The Assembly of First Nations National Chief RoseAnne Archibald released the following statement in response to Trudeau’s apology.
“As I stated to the Catholic Church, hollow apologies will no longer be accepted. As National Chief, on behalf of all First Nations, I expect concrete action and changed behaviours. The Prime Minister must demonstrate through actions that he is committed to the healing path forward.”
Archibald also called upon media outlets to do better, saying, “Let’s remember that Truth and Reconciliation is about survivors and those children who died in the institutions of assimilation and genocide. Therefore, I ask media outlets to give as much time to survivors’ stories as they are giving to the Prime Minister’s behaviour on Sept. 30.”
You can view Survivors stories, get updated on the progress of the Calls to Action, and much more at https://nctr.ca/.
The NCTR is a place of learning and dialogue where the truths of the residential school experience will be honoured and kept safe for future generations.
Cory Bilyea, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Wingham Advance Times
Appeals court rules Manitoba had the right to impose wage freeze on public sector
Wed., October 13, 2021,
WINNIPEG — The Manitoba Court of Appeal has ruled the provincial government was within its right to legislate a wage freeze for 120,000 public-sector workers.
The court has overturned a lower-court ruling that said the wage freeze bill, introduced in 2017 but never proclaimed, violated collective bargaining rights.
The written decision says the trial judge was wrong in saying that the government was required to negotiate before introducing the bill.
The appeal judges also say it is not unconstitutional for a government to remove wages from the bargaining table.
The coalition of labour groups that challenged the legislation says it is considering taking the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Former premier Brian Pallister said the wage freeze was needed to help bring Manitoba's deficit under control.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2021
