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Library and Archives Canada service cuts hindering research, historians complain


OTTAWA — Researchers say recent service cuts at Canada's national archives are making their work — already hampered by COVID-19 — even more challenging.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

In a letter to Library and Archives Canada, the Canadian Historical Association urges the institution to reconsider reductions that have left its archival reading room open just three days a week.

Historians say the move means researchers from across the country, including students trying to complete degrees, must scramble for coveted appointments to view paper file holdings in the Ottawa reading room.

The historical association's letter allows that Library and Archives has doubtlessly struggled, like other organizations, to maintain employment and services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the association says members are "gravely concerned" about the federal institution's limits on public access, which threaten the agency's core mission.

In response to questions from The Canadian Press, Library and Archives says it is facing difficulties meeting client demands, meaning it has had to prioritize some services and reduce others.

Justine Lesage, a spokeswoman for Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault, referred inquiries Friday to department staff, saying the minister's office was in "waiting mode" in advance of a new cabinet being appointed Tuesday.

The Wednesday letter from the historical association is signed by president Steven High, a Concordia University professor, and past president Penny Bryden of the University of Victoria.

"At a time when other institutions and businesses are slowly expanding their availability to the public, it seems that LAC has taken the reverse approach," says the letter, also posted on the association's website.

"How is it possible to continue to make the case for the value of … heritage and history when the key driver of their value — the public — is being kept out?"

The previous system of registering for limited numbers of archival reading room spots, two weeks in advance, was difficult enough, the letter says.

"Spaces for the week were snapped up by researchers within minutes of the portal opening, making research virtually impossible for people outside the Ottawa area."

Nevertheless, the possibility of signing up for a maximum of 12 hours of research time a week was better than the complete lockdown of public access that had characterized much of the pandemic, the letter adds.

"Researchers are desperate to get back to the Archives. The complete closure of the reading room in the summer of 2021, and the retrenchment rather than expansion of its services since then, however, is going too far."

Library and Archives Canada acknowledged that the hours of service at some of its on-site locations have been temporarily reduced and that response times are longer than usual for most of its remote services.

"Although these service standards are temporary and should not necessarily be viewed as the new normal, they provide a realistic approximation of our current level of service," the organization said.

Library and Archives added it is "reviewing the allocation" of its resources. "However, addressing current backlogs and responding to service requests is currently our utmost priority."

University of Toronto historian Robert Bothwell said delving into the past is a time-consuming slog through reams of archival papers, a task that is now even more drawn-out.

"Academic budgets are just not made for this," he said. "I mean, we do subsidize our grad students, we do give them some financial help, but a lot of it they have to budget for themselves. So for these guys, it's just hopeless."

Fellow University of Toronto history professor Timothy Sayle said a lack of funds limits the assistance — or at least the timeliness of help — that Library and Archives can provide researchers who are not in Ottawa, or those considering whether a trip to the Archives is worthwhile.

Sayle noted the main gateway to the organization for these researchers is the "Ask Us a Question" feature on the institution's website, a tool he uses.

"When the responses to my queries do come from LAC, they are excellent. But they do take months to arrive," Sayle said. "LAC staff clearly take these very seriously and work hard to answer them — but my sense is there are very, very few people who can provide the answers to the questions that get asked."

He tells master's students about the tool, but warns they are "unlikely to hear back in time for the results to be useful for the research they are doing as part of their degree."

The federal information watchdog is conducting a systemic investigation of the “ongoing failure” of the national archives to provide timely responses to requests from the public for historical spy files.

Information commissioner Caroline Maynard said earlier this year a chronic concern underlying the probe was Library and Archives' difficulty in vetting decades-old, but still highly classified, intelligence files for release.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2021.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

Canadian ski resorts face labour shortage, government slow to issue working visas

VANCOUVER — Canadian ski resorts that rely heavily on international workers are steadying themselves for a labour shortage this winter as the visa approval process by the federal government slows.

 

© Provided by The Canadian Press

With international borders reopening to vaccinated travellers and vaccine passports allowing for increased guest capacity, Paul Pinchbeck, the CEO of Ski Canada, said the expected busy ski season is "creating a conundrum" for resorts across the country.

“We have significant demand for our products, which is exemplified by early-season travel bookings and season's pass sales, but we are short many thousands of employees across the country and that’s going to hamper our ability to deliver their services this year," he said. "The magnitude of this can’t be understated."

Michael Ballingall, senior vice-president at Big White Ski Resort in Kelowna, B.C., said about 60 per cent of its staff members were international workers on a two-year International Experience Canada visa before the pandemic.

He said the resort normally has an influx in seasonal worker applications in the fall, but the pandemic is making it difficult for people to acquire working visas. The resort is currently at 45 per cent of its staff capacity and Ballingall said secondary services, like hospitality, will suffer if nothing changes.

Irish visa applicant Lili Minah has already been offered a bartending job at one of the three Mooney Supply Group restaurants in Big White village and is hoping to receive a response from Immigration Canada before her flight to British Columbia on Nov. 20.

"If they don’t issue me an invite to apply for a visa by then, I guess it’ll just be a holiday," she said.

Ana Mooney, who offered Minah the serving job, said 60 per cent of their staff are typically visa holders. She said her restaurants are short about 50 staffers heading into the season and three staff members have already chosen to return home because the visa process took too long.

"Tourism's being hit so hard by COVID and having a second year of this means some people won't weather the storm,” she said. “It’s not just in the ski industry, it's tourism in general. As the borders open, there's going to be more people visiting, but we don't have the workforce to look after them."

Ballingall said only a small number of the visas are being processed, while the permits for those people allowed to work last year are expiring, leaving both workers and resorts in limbo.

"When the pandemic hit, a lot of (international workers) still had their visas going, so they could work for us last year," he said. "This year, most of those people are still in the country but their visas have expired, so we’re lobbying the government to turn visas back on because everyone in this industry is in a similar boat."

Gemma Nicolle, 30, has worked two winters in retail at Big White, and is hoping to have her work visa reinstated in time for ski season.

"I'm going to have to start working again pretty soon to be able to stay here, so around the end of November, if nothing improves, I’ll probably have to head home," she said.

Ballingall said Canada West Ski Areas Association and the Canadian Ski Council have joined Big White in hiring a lobby firm to convince the government to reinstate the expired visas.

"We need more people and we’re asking the government to help us recover our businesses but also to offer recovery for Canadian tourism in general," said Pinchbeck.

"Last year, we didn't have this glaring need because we were heading into the various waves of COVID and were expecting to have reduced operations. This year, we’ve proven that this is an industry that can operate in a safe and responsible manner and because the governments know so much more about this virus and its transmission now, we’re confident we’re going to need those people to increase services."

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in an email that ongoing international travel and border restrictions, limited operational capacity overseas and the inability on the part of clients to obtain documentation because of the pandemic have created barriers in processing, which it says hinders its ability to finalize applications, creating delays that are outside its control.

"Since early in the pandemic, IRCC has prioritized applications from workers in essential occupations in agriculture and health care, where labour is most needed to protect the health of Canadians and ensure a sufficient food supply," the department said.

While it said it is focusing resources on resettling Afghan refugees through existing programs, there has been no pause in the processing of other lines of business, including International Experience Canada, the department said.

"Despite these efforts, we know that some applicants have experienced considerable wait times with the processing of their applications. We continue to work as hard as possible to reduce overall processing times."

Ballingall said Big White administration isn't panicking yet. He said he's hoping to entice Canadian workers this winter as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit ends.

"We'll start panicking around Nov. 1 if nothing changes because there’s just not enough Canadians in the pool right now to satisfy the industry. Something's got to give."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2021.

———

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press

NEED A NEW EV AUTOPACT

Canada says U.S. electric vehicle tax credit plan could harm industry, violate trade pact


Canada said on Friday that U.S. proposals to create new electric vehicle tax credits for American-built vehicles could harm the North American auto industry and fall foul of trade agreements, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

© Provided by Global News A electric car is seen getting charged at parking lot in Tsawwassen, near Vancouver B.C., Friday, April, 6, 2018. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Separately, a Canadian government source expressed confidence a solution would eventually be reached but said Ottawa might have to launch a challenge through the United States-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal.

In the letter dated Oct. 22, Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng told U.S. lawmakers and the Biden administration that the credits, if approved, "would have a major adverse impact on the future of EV and automotive production in Canada."

Read more: Joe Biden looks abroad for electric vehicle metals — including Canada

She said this would raise the risk of severe economic harm and tens of thousands of job losses in one of Canada's largest manufacturing sectors, adding that U.S. companies and workers would not be immune from the fallout. The auto industry in both nations is highly integrated.

Ng said the proposed credits were inconsistent with U.S. obligations under the USMCA and the World Trade Organization.

The Canadian government source insisted Ottawa did not want to mount a USMCA challenge but said "it is entirely conceivable that that's a tool we would look at" if need be. The source requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.

A U.S. House panel in September approved legislation to boost EV credits to up to $12,500 per vehicle, including $4,500 for union-made vehicles produced in the United States and $500 for batteries made in the United States. Starting in 2027, vehicles would need to be assembled in the United States to qualify for all of the $12,500 in tax credits.

The credits would disproportionately benefit Detroit's Big Three automakers - General Motors, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler parent Stellantis - because they all assemble their American-made vehicles in union-represented plants.

The province of Ontario, home to much of Canada's auto industry, is geographically close to U.S. automakers in Michigan and Ohio. GM, Ford and Stellantis have all announced plans to make electric vehicles at factories in Ontario.

The U.S. arms of foreign automakers have criticized the tax incentive. Tesla Inc has also been critical, though the tax credit is strongly supported by the United Auto Workers union.

The Canadian government source said Cabinet ministers would step up their lobbying efforts.

"I think we will eventually reach a resolution - it just depends on what timeline. Ideally we would be able to change the legislation before it gets passed," said the source.

Read more: Canadian auto industry should be mandated to sell electric vehicles: parliamentary report

Ng said Canada is deeply concerned about the "protectionist elements" of the proposed tax credits, saying they discriminate against EVs and parts produced in Canada.

"Canada is also necessary for the United States to achieve its electric vehicle objectives in the future," she wrote, adding that Canada is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that has all the critical minerals required to manufacture EV batteries.

She said the U.S. and Canadian automotive industries rely on each other for both finished vehicles and components, with total automotive trade averaging more than $100 billion a year.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington and David Ljunggren in Ottawa Editing by David Goodman and Matthew Lewis)

New climate alliance to push for phasing out oil and gas at upcoming climate conference

Christian Paas-Lang 

© Jason Franson/The Canadian Press 

A flare stack lights the sky at an oil refinery in Edmonton in December 2018.

BURNING OFF H2SO4, METHANE, AND OTHER GHG'S

Our planet is changing. So is our journalism. This story is part of a CBC News initiative entitled "Our Changing Planet" to show and explain the effects of climate change and what is being done about it.

A new climate alliance set to launch at the COP26 conference is taking aim at the oil and gas industry, putting pressure on Canada to set a clear date to wind down oil and gas extraction in this country.

The Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, headed by Denmark and Costa Rica, will bring together countries and subnational entities willing to set an end date for fossil fuel extraction. The list of those signing on will be released in Glasgow, Scotland, during the major climate conference starting there next week.

"We think that to be a climate leader you also have to lead on the difficult questions, and ending oil and gas extraction is definitely one of the defining questions of climate action," Tomas Anker Christensen, Denmark's climate ambassador, said in an interview with CBC's The House airing Saturday.

Denmark announced last year it would stop issuing new licenses for oil and gas exploration as part of a wider plan to phase out extraction by 2050. Denmark has been the largest oil producer in the European Union since the United Kingdom left the bloc in 2020.

Echoing the words of his country's energy minister, Christensen questioned how countries can hope to meet their net-zero by 2050 commitments while also expanding oil and gas production.

"It is a paradox. It's hard to envision how you do both," he told guest host Laura Lynch. The International Energy Agency said in a recent report that nations pushing for a net-zero world by 2050 have no reason to invest in expanding oil production after this year.

But it's not clear if Canada will join the nascent alliance, given its status as the fourth largest producer and third largest exporter of oil in the world.

The IEA report suggests Canadian oil production will continue to grow until 2030 under existing policies. Even under the government's proposed policies, Canadian production will fall just 100,000 barrels a day by then, the agency estimates, down from the over five million barrels per day produced in 2020.

Responding to a request for comment from The House, the federal government did not say whether it intends to join the Beyond Oil and Gas alliance but did say climate change was both a "competitiveness issue" and "economic opportunity" for oil and gas.

"The majority of oil and gas companies are already committed to net-zero by 2050, and in order to get to our shared goal, emissions from the oil and gas sector need to go down," said Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson's press secretary, Joanna Sivasankaran, in a media statement.

"We committed in our platform, and have a strong mandate, to ensure that pollution from the oil and gas sector doesn't go up from current levels and instead goes down at the pace and scale needed to get to net-zero by 2050."

Oil and gas extraction has driven much of emissions growth over the last decade or so, going from 63 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2005 to 105 in 2019.

The Canadian oil industry has argued that it has a strong commitment to reducing emissions and investing in clean energy technology.

No decision yet from Quebec

Simon Donner, a professor and climate scientist at the University of British Columbia who also serves on Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body, told The House it's unlikely Canada will join the alliance at this point.

"I think it would be a great signal to the rest of the world for Canada to join an initiative like that. I don't think we're probably ready to do it, though, right now," he said.

But Canada could be pre-empted by subnational groups. California, for example, set a target this year to end oil extraction by 2045.

Closer to home, Quebec Premier François Legault announced his intention to ban any oil and gas extraction in the province.

A spokesperson for Quebec's environment minister, Benoit Charette, did not say whether the province would join the alliance later this month.

"The initiative is interesting but as of now no decision has been made," said Charette's press secretary Rosalie Tremblay-Cloutier in an emailed response. Quebec does not currently have any commercial oil or gas production operations, though it has issued exploration licenses.

An 'awkward' position: expert

Catherine Abreu, founder and executive director of the group Destination Zero, said Quebec and California's recent policy moves "potentially makes them eligible" to join the alliance, which would be "really significant" given the potential for expansion in the oil and gas sectors of both Canada and the United States over the next decade.

In an interview on The House, Abreu said Canada's position on the oil and gas industry leaves it in an "awkward" place in terms of meeting its climate goals.

"We've seen our government's very reluctant to take that challenge on fossil fuels," she said.

COP26 would only make that position more difficult, added Jennifer Allan, a lecturer at Cardiff University and adviser with the Earth Negotiations Bulletin publication.

"Well, one thing that COPs are good at is increasing pressure on countries," she said. "Sometimes it really leads to a lot of pressure being put on governments to start to do, frankly, the right thing."

OPEN AND TRANSPARENT NON

O'Toole's Tories outliers in Canadian politics for keeping vaccination status secret

OTTAWA — The federal Conservatives' refusal to disclose how many of their elected members are fully vaccinated makes them something of an outlier in the Canadian political sphere.

Most federal and provincial parties are open about the immunization status of their members, even though not all legislatures have adopted a rule requiring that members be fully vaccinated.

All government and main opposition members in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador say they are fully vaccinated.

In Ontario, where Premier Doug Ford made vaccination a requirement to sit in his Progressive Conservative caucus, two of his MPPs say they are medically exempt. All opposition MPPs are fully vaccinated.

A spokeswoman for New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says all members of the governing Progressive Conservative caucus are fully vaccinated, except for one who is undergoing cancer treatment and had to delay their second shot until later this month.

All but two MLAs in Manitoba's Progressive Conservative government say they're fully immunized. The two refuse to reveal their vaccination status.

Mandatory vaccination rules have also been announced for admittance to Nova Scotia's Province House and Quebec's National Assembly.

A similar policy was unveiled federally this week by the board of internal economy, the multi-party governing body of the House of Commons. It announced a double vaccination requirement for entering buildings in the Commons precinct, including the House of Commons chamber itself.

Nothing has yet been decided for the Senate, which sets its own rules.

The move appears to leave Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole in a predicament: He didn't make vaccination against COVID-19 a rule to run as a Conservative candidate in the recent federal election and he won't say now how many of his 118 MPs are fully vaccinated. At the same time, he wants to return to an in-person Parliament when it resumes Nov. 22.

O'Toole, who contracted COVID-19 and personally promotes the value of vaccinations, says he respects an individual's personal health choices.

The most recent analysis by The Canadian Press found at least 80 Conservative MPs are fully vaccinated, while two said they couldn't be immunized for medical reasons. Two others refused to disclose their status on principle and the others did not respond.

Some in O'Toole's caucus champion the need to keep their vaccination status private, like backbench Saskatchewan MP Jeremy Patzer. He wrote a recent op-ed saying he rejects "bully tactics" to cajole people into divulging private medical information, but then later confirmed he is himself vaccinated.

Similarly, Alberta MP Glen Motz posted on his website: "As strongly as I support the use of vaccines in our fight against COVID-19, I am as equally opposed to coerced vaccination."

Just as the Liberals drove mandatory vaccinations as a wedge during the election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has continued criticizing the Conservatives. He suggested this week that his decision to wait another month to recall Parliament was to ensure all of O'Toole's team had time to get vaccinated.

Conservative spokesman Mathew Clancy said the official Opposition doesn't believe the nine-member board of internal economy "has the jurisdiction to infringe on a member’s right to take their seat in the House of Commons," but didn't elaborate on whether it would challenge the decision.

Carleton University professor Philippe Lagassé, an expert on the Westminster parliamentary system, said the rules weren't designed to deal with public health, but it's up to MPs to lay down their own laws in their parliamentary house.

“The fundamental principle remains the same — this is a collective right and if as a collectivity the House determines that its safety and ability to perform its function needs to be protected against some external force — a disease, or a police officer, or a court — well, then that’s the way it is,” he said.

“The reality is we’re not a pure democracy, we’re a parliamentary democracy.”

He said the issue some Conservative MPs may raise is whether the board of internal economy can speak for the entire House of Commons.

However, if they compel the Commons to vote on the issue, it's clear the mandatory vaccination policy would easily pass, with the support of Liberal, Bloc Quebecois and NDP members.

Federal parties must also decide whether the Commons should resume all normal in-person proceedings or continue with a virtual component, allowing MPs to participate by videoconference.

At B.C.'s legislature, there is a hybrid option for the assembly itself and a rule that all MLAs, staff and guests must show proof of vaccination to gain admittance to the building.

In Saskatchewan and Ontario, visitors must be double vaccinated or show a negative COVID-19 test result before entry.

In Manitoba, many continue to participate remotely. Speaker Myrna Driedger said in an email that the legislature hasn't yet dealt with the issue of vaccination requirements for its chambers.

In Alberta, Speaker Nathan Cooper said decisions around whether to exclude an MLA from the assembly must be made by the assembly alone.

“This has been a very complicated and fascinating time to see our democracies wrestle with this very foundational building block of our society in terms of our democracy, and the very real and active concerns around public health," he said.

The Alberta NDP, which says all of its MLAs are fully vaccinated, has pushed United Conservative Premier Jason Kenney to ensure the same of his caucus. Cooper said it's been "widely reported" all UCP members are vaccinated, except for one seeking a medical exemption.

Kenney has said he favours making sure all MLAs are either vaccinated, or show a negative result from a COVID-19 test to enter the assembly, which begins sitting Monday.

Lagassé said when it comes to introducing any new set of rules for Parliament, an important question is how long they will last, particularly when it impacts the abilities of the public and parliamentarians to access these spaces.

“We’ve got to be careful with it, but you almost have to deal with it on a case-by-case basis," he said.

— with files from Steve Lambert and Dirk Meissner

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2021

Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press

Class action certified alleging harm from extended solitary confinement in N.L. jails

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court judge has certified a class action lawsuit alleging harm from prolonged periods of solitary confinement in the province's jails.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The lawsuit claims negligence by the provincial government in ensuring the safety and well-being of inmates, and alleges the use of periods of solitary confinement over 15 days is unconstitutional and violates basic human rights guaranteed under the charter.

St. John's law firm Morris Martin Moore announced its bid to certify the suit in September 2020, and Justice Valerie Marshall granted consent on Thursday.

Lawyer James Locke says since the announcement of the lawsuit, about 70 former inmates have contacted the firm with stories of being kept in solitary confinement or segregation for extended periods of time.

The lawsuit spans three decades, going back to 1990, and will also include inmates who spent time in segregation while they had a serious mental illness.

The provincial government did not immediately respond to request for comment on the suit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2021.

The Canadian Press

A flying car could allow us to get from point A to B, exploring the skies while never sitting in traffic.

© Opener Marcus Leng flying BlackFly

This technology is no longer the stuff of fantasy. Numerous companies around the world are racing to make theirs available.

Canada’s Marcus Leng leads one of them.

“I think we've all had dreams of complete three-dimensional freedom," said Leng, who is the CEO of Opener, a company developing a personal aerial vehicle.

As a young boy walking to school, he would wonder if there would ever be an aircraft that you could just jump in "and be able to take off vertically and fly wherever you wanted."

He started designing and building prototypes in his basement in the small community of Warkworth, Ont.

Read more: Ground-breaking flying taxi cruises through Paris

“I think our house became a factory," he recalls.

"The basement was used for basically doing all the structure work … and the kitchen was basically used for manufacturing motors,” he told Global's current affairs show, The New Reality. “We used to bake the motors in the oven. Boy, would that stink.”

It took over a year for him to fly his first proof-of-concept vehicle in his front yard.

“I found myself eventually at the end of our driveway and my friends and neighbours … were behind a barrier of cars that we had set up,” Leng said.

“And I figure, just like in skiing, I'll do a skidding turn in front of them. All went very well, except during the skidding turn, the edge of the wing made contact with the lawn … but the propulsion systems reacted so fast that it basically created this long divot as it scraped through grass without the aircraft losing any control.”

Using eVTOL, which stands for electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing, Leng said he was able to produce a vehicle that doesn’t need a runway to get off the ground.

It’s called BlackFly. Some people often refer to it as a flying car. Leng calls it a personal aerial vehicle designed to fit one person.

Read more: Flying car completes intercity test flight in Slovakia

Anyone up to six feet six inches and weighing 200 pounds or less can use it.

It has a joystick, can fly in -20 Celsius weather, and operate in about 32 km/h winds.

“In the United States, which is our primary market, we have very serious weight restrictions. So, the American vehicles have a 20-plus mile (32 km) range for an operator that's 200 pounds,” Leng said.

Video: Driving to new heights: Canadian team designs flying car set to take off soon (Global News)

“In Canada, we don't have those weight constraints and also we don't have speed constraints,” said Leng, who in 2014 relocated the majority of his operations to Palo Alto, Calif.

One of the key features about BlackFly is you don’t need a pilot’s licence to fly it.

According to Leng, a potential owner would have to complete a training course and be at least 18 years old.

“The nice thing about our vehicle is (that in) both the United States and Canada (it's) classified as an ultralight aircraft,” he said. “In Canada, you require an ultralight licence, which is relatively easy and straightforward to obtain.”

In order to fly it, you need to take a short training course.

“I think the most unique thing is that I can be an operator, you can be an operator … in the course of about two days and a few hours of simulation how to safely fly this aircraft,” said Kristina Menton, who is the director of operations, flight testing and propulsion lead at Opener.

“That is something that is exceptionally novel and really incredible — to be able to give that type of experience of three-dimensional flight to regular people.”

She said the aircraft is almost exclusively made from carbon fibre, including the wings, fuselage and propellers. It’s electric, and therefore emissions-free.

“We have autoland features. So basically, when you get close to the ground, the aircraft will take over,” Menton said.
Canadians who help make BlackFly ... fly

Menton has been working on BlackFly for years. When she first signed on with the company, she had no idea what product she’d be working on.

“I first met Marcus on a phone call the day before my last exam of university. He was looking to hire two mechanical engineers. At the time, the company was completely in stealth mode and he wasn't able to say what the product was, who the investors were, really any of the technical details,” Menton told Global News.

“But I could get from the phone call that it was a pretty exciting and innovative opportunity and decided to take the leap to jump on board.”

She wasn’t the only one who took the leap. Eleanor Li, Menton’s classmate at the University of Toronto in mechanical engineering, did too. She joined Opener and moved to Silicon Valley without knowing the project she was hired to work on.

“Marcus basically came along and said, ‘Oh, we're making this huge carbon epoxy part. Do you want to be part of our team?’ And I just said, 'Yes, yes, here I am,'” said Li, who is now the plant manager at Opener.

For years, Leng had been secretly working on his invention while recruiting.

It wasn’t until 2018 that he started letting the world get a glimpse of BlackFly.

In July 2021, Li, Menton and Leng flew Blackfly at the Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture show in Oshkosh, Wisc. The annual event can bring in hundreds of thousands of spectators.

“The flight is incredible. You have a panoramic view of anywhere,” said Li. “I told this to a few people at Oshkosh: when you're in the aircraft, you feel like you are the aircraft and the aircraft is you.”

The team is working hard to make the aircraft available to consumers soon.

But first adopters will only be able to fly in rural areas. BlackFly is not allowed to go over built-up areas.

Leng is keeping the price tag to himself, but he believes as the industry advances, BlackFly will become more accessible to people.

“Our objective for next year is to produce 260 vehicles. But the ultimate goal is to be producing tens of thousands of these at a price that would be in line with an SUV,” he said.

--

See this and other original stories about our world on The New Reality airing Saturday nights on Global TV, and online.

#ABOLISHTHESENATE INCREASE SEATS IN PARLIAMENT

COMMENTARY: Bloc leader’s threat to unleash ‘fires of hell’ over Quebec seat proposal might just 

A proposed rejigging of Canada’s electoral map could see Quebec lose one of its seats in the House of Commons by 2024 while Alberta gains three and Ontario and B.C. each gain one.

© Provided by Global News Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet speaks to supporters election night Tuesday, September 21, 2021 in Montreal.

Randy Boswell is a Carleton University journalism professor and former Postmedia News national writer.

The changes would increase the total number of federal ridings to 342 from 338.

Read more: Quebec to lose 1 electoral seat, Alberta to get 3 more after new riding distribution

There are reasonable arguments for and against implementing the exact changes recommended by Elections Canada. But Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet’s opening salvo in the debate — that the BQ would “unleash the fires of hell” if his province’s seat count is dropped to 77 from 78 — is the wrong way to begin what needs to be a calm, cool conversation about updating the country’s political geography.

How are we supposed to respond to Blanchet’s Trumpian explosion of outrage? Can thoughtful discussion follow a toddler’s tantrum?

Injecting apocalyptic rhetoric into a decision-making process that must be driven by the fundamental democratic principle of representation by population — and basic math — is precisely how to inflame prejudices, fuel interprovincial pettiness and polarize the nation.

Blanchet, of course, knows this. Driving wedges wherever possible between Quebec and the rest of Canada is crucial, by definition, to the political project of any diehard separatist.

So we shouldn’t be too surprised that Blanchet has zeroed in histrionically on the planned removal of a single Quebec seat from the Commons as if it were a sign of the End Times. Although Elections Canada proposed the change for the benign reason that Quebec’s population is not growing at the same pace as the populations in Alberta, Ontario or B.C. — and because Quebec is (relative to those other big provinces) already more fairly represented in the current parliamentary seat count — Blanchet is invoking biblical imagery of the final battle between Good and Evil.

Sonia LeBel, Quebec’s minister responsible for relations with the rest of Canada, has employed more moderate language — and advanced a more compelling rationale — in urging special considerations for the province in the latest redistribution of federal ridings.

“We are part of the founding peoples of Canada,” she said this week. “We have three seats guaranteed at the Supreme Court for judges. We have seats guaranteed in the Senate, a weight that is important and represents much more than just a simple calculation of population.”

All of this is why Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other political leaders interested in preserving the peace in our mostly peaceable kingdom need to rise above Blanchet’s blatant bullying while finding a sensible solution to the seat-count conundrum — one that delicately balances numerical fairness with other considerations endemic in a land of complexity and compromise.

Remember: there’s no purely mathematical justification for granting a federal seat to each of Canada’s three territories — none of which has a population above 50,000 — when the average number of Canadians represented by each MP is more than 110,000. There’s no logical reason, either, for Prince Edward Island — with a mere 0.43 per cent of the national population of about 38 million — to have four seats representing 1.19 per cent of the elected positions in Parliament.

So there may well be legitimate reasons to avoid reducing Quebec’s seat count at this time.

In 2011, the Conservative government of Stephen Harper implemented legislation that increased the number of seats to 338 from 308 to reflect population changes. At the time, the Harper government — with much prodding from Quebec, the BQ and other opposition parties — chose to inflate the overall size of the House of the Commons so that the number of Quebec seats would increase (by three, to 78) instead of remaining static at 75 — as an earlier, hotly rejected, purely mathematical proposal had called for.

The government’s thinking at the time was that tweaking the formula for allocating seats in a way that would better recognize Quebec’s special status as a nation within the nation was politically prudent.

It also happened to keep the province’s seat total roughly proportional to its percentage of Canada’s population, even as those two numbers remained unfairly out of whack for faster-growing provinces.

The Quebec-friendly adjustment wasn’t immediately embraced by Harper’s own caucus. The additional Quebec seats, according to a Globe and Mail report at the time, “caused consternation among Conservative backbenchers, who were concerned that Canada's French-speaking province was benefiting from a bill meant to address under-representation in the three large and fast-growing anglophone provinces” — Alberta, Ontario and B.C.

Sound familiar?

The Conservative caucus was ultimately convinced by Harper to accept the plan for the sake of national unity. But despite the Quebec-friendly compromise, the pre-Blanchet Bloc Québécois still slammed the 2011 reconfiguration of the House as falling short of true recognition of the province’s “unique status with regard to its political weight.”

You can’t please everyone. As then-B.C. premier Christy Clark, who supported the 2011 changes, said at the time: “Perfection in these things is impossible because it's a big and complicated country.”

A decade later, the scenario confronting Elections Canada, the federal government and the provinces is much the same. And maybe a little massaging of the numbers to mollify Quebec is warranted yet again.

Would it be so bad if Quebec kept its 78 seats and we had 343 federal ridings instead of 342? That would represent about 22.7 per cent of the seats in the House for a province with about 22.6 per cent of Canada’s population. (Meanwhile, Ontario’s proposed 122 seats would then account for 35.6 per cent of 343 seats for a province with almost 39 per cent of the country’s population.)

But Blanchet’s bluster about unleashing the “fires of hell” risks torching the good will required for the rest of Canada to grant Quebec some latitude in its allotment of seats in the national legislature. It’s the kind of talk that’s more likely to unleash cynicism and stinginess.

And eventually, if population trends continue in the current direction, maintaining Quebec’s present share of federal seats as its population drifts towards one-fifth of Canada’s total will become untenable from a democratic point of view — Blanchet’s fires of hell notwithstanding.

THE QUEBEC NATION SHOULD NOT CARE ABOUT SEATS IN OTTAWA 

Quebec premier says Trudeau must ensure the Quebec nation does not lose a seat

The Quebec premier has challenged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to ensure that the province does not lose a seat in the planned redistribution of parliamentary ridings in Canada.

  

© Provided by The Canadian Press

François Legault said that, following the recognition of Quebec as a nation by Parliament, ensuring it does not lose political representation in Ottawa is a "test" for Trudeau.

His challenge to the prime minister to protect Quebec's political influence in Parliament follows Elections Canada's plans to strip the province of an MP in the House of Commons.

Quebec is the only province set to lose a seat in the proposed redistribution of seats, based on population.

Speaking at a news conference in L'Assomption, Que. on Friday, Legault said: "It’s a test for Justin Trudeau, because it’s nice to recognize that Quebec is a nation, but now there has to be an effect."

"I think the nation of Quebec deserves a certain level of representation in the House of Commons, regardless of the evolution of the number of inhabitants in each province.”

Elections Canada said the chief electoral officer of Canada calculated the redistribution of seats in an independent and non-partisan manner, applying a formula set out in the Constitution.

It said, in a statement, that the calculation was "mathematical" and the chief electoral officer "exercises no discretionary authority" over how many Commons seats would be allocated to each province.

Overall, the number of seats in the House of Commons will increase by four, to account for population changes, under plans published this month by Elections Canada.

The review, which follows the census, will increase the number of MPs from 338 to 342.

But Quebec’s 78 MPs will be reduced to 77 — the first time since 1966 that a province has lost a seat during redistribution.

Alberta is gaining three more seats, Ontario one and B.C. one, while other provinces and territories will keep the same number of MPs.

The next step will be for three-member commissions in each province — which don't include elected officials — to draw up proposed boundaries. MPs can provide input on the proposed boundaries, but the commissions are not obliged to make changes based on their comments, Elections Canada says.

Legault's comments came as Yves-François Blanchet, the Bloc Québécois leader, insisted that Quebec gain an extra seat in Ottawa.

Blanchet said Elections Canada's plan to strip Quebec of an MP fails to acknowledge Quebec's official status as a nation and would reduce the power of Quebecers.

Blanchet said Quebec should have 79 MPs, not 77.

"On June 16, 2021, the House of Commons massively recognized the status of the French nation of Quebec. So it makes sense that not only should Quebecers not have to lose a seat in the next redistribution, but instead gain more, if the total number is increased, in order to maintain and give lasting protection to their political power," Blanchet said in a statement.

At his news conference, Legault said: “What’s important is the percentage of seats, whether it’s more for everyone or fewer for everyone, what’s important is the percentage, that we keep the percentage of seats that we currently have."

He said that changing populations may matter in other provinces “but from the moment when we say the Quebec nation is one of the two founding people, it has to have consequences. The consequence, among others, is preserving the influence of the Quebec nation in the House of Commons.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2021.

Marie Woolf and Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press

Alberta's prosthetic funding model is outdated and unfair, amputees say

Madeleine Cummings 

© Nathan Gross/CBC 

Angela Oakley walks her dog, Gretchen, in Edmonton while using her new microprocessor knee.

After months in a wheelchair, Angela Oakley is walking again, slowly descending the front steps of her parents' house in Edmonton's Highlands neighbourhood as she makes her way to a physiotherapy appointment at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.

Oakley, a veterinarian who lives in Grande Prairie, Alta., started battling a bone infection in her left leg when she was in vet school in 2010. After scores of surgeries and having part of her leg amputated a few years ago, she became an above-knee amputee in March.

Last week, after months of complications and pandemic-related delays, she finally received a new prosthetic knee that should allow her to walk, cross-country ski and ride horses again. A longtime multi-sport athlete, she also has dreams of representing Canada at the Paralympic Games.

Her mobility, however, comes at a high price. Her new knee costs about $57,000 and Alberta Aids to Daily Living, the provincial program that funds medical equipment for long-term disabilities, will pay no more than $6,000.

If she lived in England, her prosthetic limb would be fully covered. But in Alberta and other Canadian provinces, amputees are responsible for paying most of the cost.

"How many Albertans can turn around and drop $50,000 on a knee?" Oakley said during an interview with CBC News last week.

Oakley, who launched a petition advocating for prosthetic funding changes and contacted Alberta's health minister, believes the current funding structure is outdated and unfair, preventing amputees who cannot afford limbs they need from doing activities they love and fully contributing to their communities.

In a country known for its universal health care system, "we're letting all of these people down," she said.

Why are some knees so expensive?

There are generally two types of prosthetic knees: mechanical and microprocessor.

A mechanical knee replaces the knee joint with a mechanical hinge, but a microprocessor — also known as "computerized" — knee is much more sophisticated — and expensive.

With a computer and sensors, a microprocessor knee automatically adapts to real-time information about the user's gait and walking speed.

For some amputees, a cheaper mechanical knee is sufficient, but not for Oakley, who is highly active with a physically demanding job. She also felt unsafe using a mechanical knee because of the nerve damage and lack of muscle strength in her left leg.

"I didn't have the quadriceps strength to swing it through and lock it," she said. "When I would step, the knee wouldn't be locked, so it would just collapse out from under me."

Oakley was shocked to learn that microprocessor knees cost from $35,000 to $95,000, and that the most she would receive from Alberta Health is a $6,000 grant covering about 10 per cent of the cost.

As a below-knee amputee, she only paid a $500 deductible for prosthetic components.

Friends, family and colleagues helped her raise money through a crowdfunding campaign and other online fundraisers, but she was only able to pay for the microprocessor knee thanks to her employer contributing the rest.

Her new knee won't last forever either. Oakley, 32, expects she will need five to eight replacements over her lifetime, as prosthetic knees usually last six to 10 years.

Oakley managed to pay for her knee, but amputees who cannot afford them often end up using prosthetics that are less suited to their bodies, she said.

© Nathan Gross/CBC Ben Proulx's microprocessor knee allows him to play sports like tennis and go hiking with his family. He has advocated for more prosthetic funding for years.
Years of advocacy, no results

Ben Proulx, who lost one of his legs to cancer when he was four years old, received his first microprocessor knee when he was a teenager.

Like Oakley, he struggled to use a mechanical knee, experiencing back problems and hip pain.

His current knee, which he paid for with crowdfunding proceeds and funds from the War Amps, has allowed him to coach youth sports and hike with his family without pain.

"It allows me to have a more normal lifestyle and it takes less of a toll on my body," Proulx said.

He has advocated for more prosthetic funding from the last three provincial governments without success.

Proulx's prosthetist has accompanied him to meetings with policymakers, armed with studies and data showing long-term cost savings associated with funding microprocessor knees, but he said the conversations still "go nowhere."

"It would actually be a minimal spend for the government to up their game and take care of Albertans who have a prosthetic leg and fund it properly up front. But they're not likely to gain any votes from it because there are not that many of us."

His current knee, which cost $40,000, will likely need to be replaced in four or five years and Proulx worries about how he will pay for a new one.

"It gets very demoralizing over time wondering, 'Hey, where's my next body part going to come from?' when that's really not something that you should have to worry about," he said.

Alberta Health spokesperson Carolyn Gregson said the Alberta Aids to Daily Living program "is intended to meet basic needs to help Albertans remain independent."

Gregson said the program provided grants for microprocessors to eight Albertans in the 2020–21 fiscal year

.

© Madeleine Cummings/CBC

 According to Calvin Howard's research, provincial funding for microprocessor knees is minimal in Canada.

'We need to increase coverage'

In an article for the Canadian Prosthetics & Orthotics Journal, Calvin Howard and his colleagues reviewed prosthetic coverage in all 10 provinces, finding variable funding levels.

They discovered amputees could receive up to $15,000 for microprocessor knees in Saskatchewan and up to $20,000 in New Brunswick. Nova Scotia's coverage was similar to Alberta's. No provinces fully funded them.

Howard, who is now a doctor in Manitoba, said the cost of prosthetics has exploded in recent years but provincial policies have not caught up.

"We need to increase coverage if we're really going to be able to provide for amputees," he said.

Though advanced prosthetics are expensive up-front, he said, research has shown that high-quality prosthetics can lead to societal cost-savings over time.

Someone using a microprocessor knee for a decade, for example, will put less strain on their hip, reducing their likelihood of needing a total hip replacement than if they had used a "minimally functional prosthetic device," he said.

150 mph without a driver: Indy autonomous cars gear up for race

Issued on: 23/10/2021 - 

An autonomous car competing at the Indy Autonomous Challenge 

Ed JONES AFP

Indianapolis (AFP)

Nine single-seaters will take part in the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC), a competition with a $1 million prize that aims to prove "autonomous technology can work at extreme conditions," said Paul Mitchell, CEO of co-organizer Energy Systems Network (ESN).

Cars will not race on the "Brickyard" track at the same time but will start one after the other -- with the winner being the fastest over two full-speed laps.

Teams are made up of students from around the world. Each group was given the same Dallara IL-15 car, which looks like a small Formula One vehicle, and the same equipment, which includes sensors, cameras, GPS and radars.

On race day, it is not drivers that will make the difference -- but about 40,000 lines of code programmed by each team.

There will be cars racing Saturday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 

but not a driver in sight 

Ed JONES AFP

The software kickstarts the engine and a powerful computer wedged in the bucket where the driver usually sits.

The MIT-PITT-RW team, the only one made up entirely of students without supervision, got their car only six weeks ago.

Engineering student Nayana Suvarna, 22, does not yet have a driving license but was nonetheless reluctantly designated as team manager.

"I didn't know anything about car racing," she said with a smile, "but I'm becoming a fan."

The MIT-PITT-RW's car hit 130 km/h (81 mph) in testing, but Suvarna believes it capable of overtaking 160 on Saturday (100 mph).

'Generation of talent'

Other teams have gone much faster.

The car belonging to the PoliMOVE team, a partnership between the universities of Alabama and Politecnico in Milan, drove past the pits at around 250 km/h (155 mph) on Thursday.

But the car skidded at the next turn, spinning 360 degrees before coming to a stop on the inside lawn.

"It was a miracle we didn't crash," said Sergio Matteo Savaresi, professor at Politecnico.

There was no glitch to blame: only cold tires and a slight oversteer.

"We actually reached the very limit of the car," said Savaresi, who overseas the PoliMOVE team.

"A professional driver at that speed with tires like these would have done exactly the same."

The Robocar, made by manufacturer Roborace, has held the speed record for an autonomous car since 2019, clocking in at 282 km/h (175 mph) -- but on a straight course, not a circuit.

The concept of self-driving cars has captured imaginations since the 1950s, but the tech needed to make them a reality has been boosted over the past five years.

In the Indy Autonomous Challenge, it is not the drivers that make a difference on race day, but 40,000 lines of code programmed by each team

 Ed JONES AFP

Most big car manufacturers are working on autonomous driving projects, often in collaboration with tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft or Cisco.

IAC participants do not see speed as the primary goal.

"If people get used to seeing cars like these going 300 kilometers per hour... and they don't crash," said Savaresi, they may eventually think that such cars are safe "at 50 kilometers per hour."

According to a Morning Consult survey published in September, 47 percent of Americans considered autonomous vehicles less safe than those driven by humans.

The race's other goal is to enable tech sharing.

Mitchell said several teams plan to make their code publicly available and open source after the competition.

"So you're going to take some of the most advanced AI algorithms ever developed for autonomous vehicles, and put it out there for industry, for startups, for other universities to build on."

The project also aims to "develop a generation of talent," Savaresi said.

"The people who are competing in this challenge are going to go and start companies, they're going to go work for companies. And so I think the innovations from this competition will live on for many years."

© 2021 AFP