Ex-Liberty spokesman says he was fired for raising concerns

By SARAH RANKIN


FILE - This Tuesday March 24, 2020, file photo shows s sign that marks an entrance to Liberty University as students were welcomed back to the campus during the coronavirus outbreak in Lynchburg, Va. A former spokesman for Liberty University is suing the evangelical Virginia school after being fired, alleging in a lawsuit filed Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that his termination came in retaliation for voicing concerns that sexual misconduct accusations were mishandled.

(AP Photo/Steve Helber,File)


RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A former spokesperson for Liberty University is suing the evangelical Virginia school after being fired, alleging in a lawsuit filed Monday that his termination came in retaliation for voicing concerns that sexual misconduct accusations were mishandled.

Scott Lamb, a vice president-level executive at the school where he was hired in 2018, said in an interview with The Associated Press that he pushed for answers about what was being done to investigate claims raised in a lawsuit filed over the summer by 12 women, and was continually dissatisfied.

The women’s lawsuit, which is still ongoing, alleged the school had a pattern of mishandling cases of sexual assault and harassment and had fostered an unsafe campus environment. A student-led movement has since been established to advocate for systemic reforms, and the nonprofit investigative journalism outlet ProPublica published a deeply reported investigation Sunday with findings similar to the allegations raised in the lawsuit.

Lamb said in the interview that the university, which has a gleaming campus in Lynchburg, has plenty of resources and should have used them to open a third-party investigation of the women’s claims.

“We put $300 million in the bank last year, and some change. We have two-point-something-billion in the endowment, and we can’t afford to just deal righteously with these people. Why?” Lamb said.

Liberty University General Counsel David Corry said in a statement that the university “categorically denies Mr. Lamb’s claims that his termination was in any way the result of advice he had given on how the university should respond” to the women’s lawsuit. He said Lamb was terminated with cause as a result of a meeting about “a recent review of the area under his management.”

“Lamb’s lawsuit is a transparent effort to rebuild his own reputation by shamefully playing on the goodwill of supporters of sexual assault victims. We look forward to addressing his claims in court,” Corry said.

Lamb’s lawsuit alleges that he was terminated for engaging in activity protected under Title IX, the federal law that protects against sex discrimination in education, after challenging the university’s handling of the complaints.

His complaint says things came to a head in a meeting early this month when he told top school officials that “he would not be silenced or participate in a cover up of activities” at the university.

The following day, he was approached about negotiating a separation agreement and on Oct. 6, he was fired, according to the lawsuit.

Lamb also alleges that he was retaliated against for his participation in an outside investigation conducted into the tenure of Jerry Falwell Jr., the former president whose personal controversies and acrimonious departure from Liberty last year garnered national headlines.

His lawsuit says he sat for 20-25 hours of interviews as part of that probe, the findings of which the school has not discussed publicly.

Lamb’s lawsuit broadens the list of litigation the school has faced recently. In April, the school sued Falwell, seeking millions in damages. And in July, a former NFL player hired last year to help lead diversity initiatives sued, alleging racial discrimination in his demotion and subsequent firing.

Lamb said he was offered a severance package if he signed a nondisclosure agreement, which he declined. His firing has meant not only the loss of his income and benefits but scholarship funding for his four children who attend the school, he said. His lawsuit seeks to recoup past and future wage losses and unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

“I’ll forsake the scholarship and the salary and the benefits ... to keep my tongue free to speak of which I’ve seen,” he said.

A Liberty spokesperson did not respond to questions from AP about what the school has done to investigate the female litigants’ claims, aside from resending a statement issued in July, when the lawsuit was filed. Nor did the spokesperson respond to a request for comment about ProPublica’s investigation.

Kendall Covington, a senior at Liberty and a student representative for Save71, an alumni-led organization advocating for reform at Liberty, said the group welcomes Lamb’s apparent willingness to push for change.

She said the student body had not received any kind of acknowledgment Monday about the ProPublica story, something she called “par for the course.”

“Liberty University needs to actually address what’s occurring,” she said.

SPACE RACE 2.0

ESA Ariane 5 sets new record on latest launch

24/10/2021

Europe’s Ariane 5 has delivered two telecom satellites, SES-17 and Syracuse-4A, into their planned orbits.

Arianespace announced liftoff at 03:10 BST (04:10 CEST, 23:10 local time on 23 October) from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, for a mission lasting about 38 minutes.

“For this launch, we increased the Ariane 5 fairing volume by attaching a 1.5 m raising cylinder to accommodate these two very large, stacked satellites. The development and qualification of this adaptation was funded by ESA. Today's launch of 11.2 t to geostationary transfer orbit is a record performance for Ariane 5,” said Daniel de Chambure, ESA’s Acting Head of Ariane 5 adaptation and future missions.

SES-17 satellite prior to launch

SES-17, with a launch mass of 6411 kg, in the upper berth of the fairing was released first.

Following a series of burns controlled by Ariane’s computer, the Sylda structure encasing the 3853 kg Syracuse-4A payload was jettisoned. Syracuse-4A was released about two minutes later towards its own geostationary transfer orbit.

SES-17 is owned and operated by SES. It will deliver broadband coverage over the Americas, the Caribbean and over the Atlantic Ocean and is optimised for commercial aviation.

Syracuse-4A, for France’s DGA (Direction générale de l’armement) defence procurement agency, will provide secure communications between deployed armed forces and will also support NATO and European-led operations.

Both satellites have a design life of about 15 years.

The performance requested for this Ariane launch was 11 210 kg. The two satellites totalled about 10 264 kg, with payload adapters and carrying structures making up the rest.

“Ariane 5 demonstrates continuous improvement with each launch. The success today of launch VA255 and the success of VA254 last July were crucial to move towards Ariane 5’s December launch carrying the James Webb Space Telescope,” commented Daniel Neuenschwander, ESA Director of Space Transportation.

Flight VA255 was the 111th Ariane 5 mission.

Ariane 5 transfer to the launch pad

Ariane 5 transfer from the final assembly building to the launch pad

Ariane 5 on the launch pad for flight VA255 with SES-17 and Syracuse-4A from Europe's Spaceport

Ariane 5 flight VA255 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana to deliver SES-17 and Syracuse-4A to their planned orbits

Ariane 5 flight VA255 lifted off from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana to deliver SES-17 and Syracuse-4A to their planned orbits

Ariane 5 is operated by Arianespace at Europe’s Spaceport. It can carry payloads weighing more than 10 tonnes to geostationary transfer orbit and over 20 tonnes into low Earth orbit. Its performance perfectly complements that of Europe’s Vega light-lift launch vehicle, and Soyuz.

Europe’s next-generation Ariane 6 rocket will eventually replace Ariane 5. Available in two versions, it will be capable of a wide range of missions to any orbit.

No visible flames seen from containers on ship off Victoria: coast guard


VICTORIA — Some of the containers that caught fire on a cargo ship off Victoria contained hazardous materials, but air quality monitoring along the city's waterfront had found no negative results, the Canadian Coast Guard said Monday

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

A flyover of the MV Zim Kingston showed no visible flames, although a salvage master had indicated there were still pockets of fire and some containers had "internal fires," Paul Barrett, an official with the coast guard, told a media briefing.

Crews had been spraying water on the containers and the ship's hull to keep it cool while salvage and firefighting crews waited for calmer weather in order to board.

The coast guard was making plans for Resolve Marine crews to possibly board the ship Monday evening, when the stormy weather was forecast to change.

Another 40 containers that fell overboard were drifting north off the coast of Vancouver Island, where a wind warning was in effect Monday, Barrett said.

The Kingston had reported damage as it approached Vancouver and it anchored for repairs in the Strait of Juan de Fuca before reporting the fire to the coast guard.

Mariah McCooey, the coast guard's deputy federal incident commander, told the briefing the initial cause of the fire was being investigated.

"When it did get really windy (Sunday) night, you know, we were definitely keeping a close eye on it to make sure that the additional oxygen flowing in there didn't reignite some of the flames. It looks like that didn't happen, so that's really good."

An environmental unit has been set up to monitor any ecological effects and to recommend strategies for preventing and mitigating harm, McCooey said.

"Based on the assessment so far, there aren't any identified risks to marine species. There aren't any fisheries closures recommended at this time."

Asked about the chemical stored in some of the containers, provincial incident commander Zachery Scher said potassium amyl xanthate is used in mining.

"It is water soluble, not expected to be persistent in the environment and any aquatic impacts are expected to be acute and near the source of discharge."

Owners are responsible for their vessels under Canadian law, McCooey said, adding that the owner of the Greek-based Zim Kingston has been co-operating with authorities.

Gillian Oliver, also with the coast guard, said they're tracking the drifting containers and the ship's owner has contracted a local company equipped to deal with any hazardous material or debris that may come ashore, though that's not expected.

The owner will begin salvaging lost containers once weather permits, she said.

Oliver said the containers slipped off the ship when it was "heeled" or angled during inclement weather.

The Kingston's 1,800-page cargo manifest shows a variety of goods and the owner was working with officials to determine which containers were affected, she said.

— By Brenna Owen in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2021.

The Canadian Press

PROVES WE NEED UBI*

Internal government analysis shows depth of reliance on now-defunct recovery benefit

OTTAWA — The majority of Canadian residents who received the federal Canada Recovery Benefit were continuous or repeat recipients of the now-ended aid program, An internal government analysis reveals. © Provided by The Canadian Press

The assessment from Employment and Social Development Canada found that by early June, 1.5 million, or about 75 per cent of the 1.8 million unique recipients of the benefit, were continuous or repeat beneficiaries.

Among them were some 627,000 recipients who applied and received the benefit for months at a time, never once taking a break.

The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the briefing note to the top official at the department under the access to information law.

Experts who reviewed the document suggested the analysis hints at the level of need for the income-support program, which came to an end over the weekend.

As of Oct. 10, the CRB had paid out just over $27 billion to nearly 2.2 million applicants since launching in late September 2020, but had seen a steady decline in demand from its peak of 1.22 million recipients in January.

By the end, there were about 800,000 people reliant on the payments who only had 48 hours to adjust their finances when the Liberals announced a change in the benefit package on Thursday.

"Workers need the Canada Recovery Benefits to pay rent and not lose their housing. Many workers can only find part-time work & are not getting enough shifts to make ends meet. The pandemic is not over," Deena Ladd, executive director of the Toronto-based Workers Action Centre, wrote in a tweet Sunday asking the Liberals to reinstate the benefit.

The government said the CRB was no longer needed because the Canadian economy was faring better than a few months ago, including a labour market that had recovered the three million jobs lost at the onset of the pandemic last year.

Similarly, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said, the wage subsidy was no longer required as she proposed a broadened credit for companies that hire new workers.

Jennifer Robson, an associate professor of political management from Carleton University in Ottawa, said the Liberals' announcement didn't signal anything about the need for retraining or job-search services to help unemployed workers.

"The hiring credit might, in theory, help some kinds of employers hire more staff, but there's nothing here that would suggest this will do much in the short-term to help CRB users," Robson wrote in an email.

In their analysis, federal officials noted the number of first-time applicants for the CRB decreased starting in mid-January. The document also said more than 600,000 recipients who were paid in the first four months of the CRB's life were off the benefit by the start of June.

A similar trend was noticed among employment insurance claimants, "which indicates that Canadians have been steadily returning to work," officials wrote, adding that EI claims for sales and service jobs "have yet to recover as quickly as other occupations."

CIBC chief economist Avery Shenfeld wrote in an end-of-week analysis that there is now a risk that workers supported by the wage subsidy or CRB "will be added to the ranks of the job hunters" and affect progress on bringing down the national unemployment rate.

In place of the CRB, the Liberals introduced a rejigged $300-a-week benefit that would only go to workers who lose their jobs or income because of a government-ordered lockdown.

In a television interview aired Sunday, Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough told CTV's Question Period that the benefit would only go to those affected by a full lockdown and not tightened restrictions that limited capacity at restaurants, for instance.

"I'm not sure if there are any lockdowns presently in motion, in which case that is an effective shutdown to the CRB with no additional benefits," said David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2021.

Jordan Press, The Canadian Press

*UBI Works - A Canada Where Everyone Can Pursue Their Potential

Exxon calls for carbon price, working on CCS projects across Asia

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp is pursuing carbon capture storage (CCS) hubs across Asia and has started talks with some countries with potential storage options for carbon dioxide, the company's head of low carbon solutions said on Monday.

One of Exxon's key projects is to build CCS hubs in Southeast Asia, similar to one being built in Houston, Texas, ExxonMobil Low Carbon Solutions President Joe Blommaert told Reuters.

CCS traps emissions and buries them underground but is not yet at the commercialisation stage.

CCS advocates, including oil majors and the International Energy Agency, see the technology as being essential to help meet net zero emissions and key to unlocking large-scale economic hydrogen production, although critics say CCS will extend the life of dirty fossil fuels.

Melbourne-based Global CCS Institute said in October that global plans to build CCS projects https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/global-carbon-capture-projects-surge-50-9-months-research-2021-10-12 surged 50% over the last nine months.

For CCS to take off, a transparent carbon price and cross-border pricing adjustment systems will be necessary to enable CO2 to be captured in one country and stored elsewhere, Blommaert said in an interview ahead of the Singapore International Energy Week.

"That's why a transparent value of carbon is so important, that it is a durable mechanism, that it is agnostic to what kind of technology that goes ... and that it works across borders because emissions do not know any borders," Blommaert said, adding he expects discussions of carbon border tax similar to that in Europe https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/eu-proposes-worlds-first-carbon-border-tax-some-imports-2021-07-14 to occur in Southeast Asia.

"Because much of the world doesn't have carbon pricing, there's a risk that some operators will move to countries that don’t yet price emissions," he told the conference.

Last month, the U.S. energy major said 11 companies have agreed to begin discussing plans that could lead to capturing and storing up to 50 million tonnes per year (tpy) of CO2 in the Gulf of Mexico by 2030 https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exxon-proposes-massive-carbon-capture-storage-project-houston-2021-04-19.

"Unlike in Houston, the storage capacity here is not close to the areas with the highest emissions," Blommaert said.

"That's why we've been studying the concept of placing CO2 capture hubs in some of Asia's heavy industrial areas such as here in Singapore and then connecting them to CO2 storage locations elsewhere in the region," he said, adding that CO2 could be transported via pipelines or ships.

Southeast Asia's industrial CO2 emissions exceeded 4 billion tpy, Blommaert said, citing 2019 data from the International Energy Agency.

ExxonMobil has listed Singapore, home to the major's largest refining-petrochemical centre globally, as one of its CCS projects. However, Singapore does not have suitable CO2 storage sites, a recent CCS study commissioned by Singapore government showed.

LOCATIONS

Another study by the Singapore Energy Centre, partly founded by ExxonMobil, estimated nearly 300 billion tonnes of CO2 storage capacity in depleted oil and gas fields and saline formations in Southeast Asia, Blommaert said.

Countries in the region with potential storage sites include Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia where ExxonMobil has oil and gas production facilities. The U.S. major also operates a joint refining-petrochemical complex in eastern China Fujian with Sinopec and Saudi Aramco.

"We continue to evaluate all options around the world, and that includes some of those locations," Blommaert said, without naming countries.

"If you have a very high concentration of carbon dioxide stream that will represent, possibly a lower cost (for CCS)," Blommaert said.

"The market for CO2 is rather limited when you put it into that scale, and therefore storage of CO2 long term is essential."

(Reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore; additional reporting by Christina Bernadette in Jakarta, Sonali Paul in Australia, Sabrina Valle and Gary McWilliams in Houston; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

Carbon needs to cost at least $100/tonne now to reach net zero by 2050 : Reuters poll

By Prerana Bhat 

© Reuters/Ernest Scheyder FILE PHOTO: Equipment used to capture carbon dioxide emissions at a coal-fired power plant 

BENGALURU (Reuters) - Setting the global average price of carbon per tonne significantly higher at $100 or more is necessary right away to incentivise net zero emissions by 2050, according to a Reuters poll of climate economists.

Carbon pricing has come to the forefront of policy measures seen as ways to reduce emissions to a level consistent with the Paris Agreement target of less than 1.5-2 degrees Celsius of warming.

The G20 group of large economies recognized carbon pricing for the first time as a possible tool at a meeting in Venice in Italy this year.

A higher price for carbon is seen as essential to fund the transition to net zero emissions by 2050, which is estimated to cost $44 trillion or 2%-3% of annual global GDP.

The International Monetary Fund has recommended a global average carbon price of $75 per tonne by the end of the decade.

But that figure should be at least $100, and right away, to reach net zero emissions by 2050, according to the median view of about 30 climate economists from around the world polled from Sept. 16 to Oct. 20 ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.

That is significantly higher than where most countries who set the price currently have it, including among high carbon emitters.

Nearly 70% of respondents - 19 of 28 - said the cost of carbon per tonne should be above $75, of whom 17 suggested $100 or above. While six respondents agreed with the IMF recommendation, only three believed it should be lower than $75. Recommendations ranged from $50 to $250.

"Current carbon prices in G20 economies are between $3-$60 per tonne of carbon emissions, but many large emerging economies like Brazil, India, Indonesia still have no carbon prices," said Patrick Saner, head of macro strategy at Swiss Re.

"We also need to recognize that carbon pricing in itself is no silver bullet."

The top three largest emitters - China, the United States and India - account for approximately half of global carbon emissions today.

According to the International Energy Agency, current carbon pledges by governments are insufficient to reach targets, and closing the gap would need the global average price of carbon to be much higher than what the IMF recommends.

Indeed, Julien Holtz, strategist at Pictet Wealth Management, argues the global average carbon price per tonne is really only around $2 given only about 20% of global emissions are currently covered by actual carbon pricing schemes.

While China, the biggest carbon emitter, kicked off its emission trading system on July 16, with an opening price of 48 yuan ($7.51) per tonne, the U.S. and India still do not have a national carbon pricing market mechanism.

Even the European Union, at the forefront of reducing carbon emissions, has set the carbon price at a little more than half the poll's recommendation. Benchmark carbon prices in the EU Emission Trading System, the first such system, were last trading at 57.78 euros ($67.26) as of Oct. 20.

The EU price is expected to average around 55.88 euros ($65.07) and 69.87 euros ($81.36) per tonne this year and next, according to a separate Reuters poll.

Wide economic disparities pose a major challenge to all countries agreeing to a uniformly high global carbon price, which partly explains the wide range of recommendations provided by climate economists to reach net zero by 2050.

With most emerging and some developed countries' continued reliance on fossil fuel-based energy sources to meet their energy demands, a high carbon price will be hard to sustain.

"It should start modestly but (be) sufficient to push out coal in the electricity merit order, at least partially," said Charles Kolstad, professor of economics at Stanford University.

Despite being crucial to fight climate change, experts say carbon pricing alone is not enough.

"While carbon prices in the major world economies are necessary, they are not by themselves sufficient to deliver net zero economies by 2050," said Jon Stenning, associate director and head of environment at Cambridge Econometrics.

"The key issue is the need for supporting fiscal and regulatory policy, in addition to carbon pricing to ensure that economies can decarbonise at the pace required."

(For a story on the global economic cost of climate change:)

(For an EXPLAINER on the economic stakes of climate change:)

($1 = 6.3925 Chinese yuan renminbi, 0.8590 euros)

(Additional reporting by Swathi Nair; Polling by Swathi Nair, Prerana Bhat, Hari Kishan and Mumal Rathore; Editing by Ross Finley and Hugh Lawson)

HE LIES
Chrétien says he never heard of abuse at residential schools during time as minister

HE SCOOPED A FIRST NATIONS CHILD TO BE HIS FOSTER SON

MONTREAL — Former prime minister Jean Chrétien says the abuse of Indigenous children that took place in Canadian residential schools while he was minister of Indian affairs was never brought to his attention at the time.

© Provided by The Canadian Press Powered by Microsoft News

"This problem was never mentioned to me when I was minister," Chrétien told the popular Quebec TV talk show "Tout le monde en parle,' Sunday night. "Never."

Chrétien, who was minister of Indian affairs from 1968 to 1974, said he knew residential schools existed and how difficult the experience was, drawing a comparison with his own time in conventional boarding schools.

"I was a boarding student, from age six to 21," he said. "I had my share of baked beans and oatmeal. For sure, life in boarding school was difficult, extremely difficult."

Chrétien's comments drew immediate criticism.

The discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at residential school sites across Canada over the summer revived conversations around the discriminatory system designed to assimilate Indigenous children. The 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission report documented the physical and sexual abuse and malnutrition suffered by children in the schools.

At a news conference in Ottawa along with residential schools survivors, New Democrat MP Charlie Angus said he simply doesn't believe Chrétien.

"It is outrageous for Jean Chrétien today to try and whitewash his role at St. Anne's residential school, because he knew," Angus said, referring to a facility in Fort Albany, Ont. "People reached out to him and begged him to do the right thing, and he ignored them."

Angus shared on Twitter a handwritten letter that was sent to Chrétien by a teacher in 1968, denouncing the conditions at St. Anne's and referring to the school's "sterile, rigid, unloving atmosphere."

"Jean Chrétien never responded," Angus said. "Imagine if he had read that letter and thought, 'I should do something.' How many children could have been saved, because some of the worst crimes were being committed at that time?"

The 87-year-old former politician was invited on the show to talk about his new book, published in English as "My Stories, My Times Vol. 2." He was asked about a passage in which he says he advised the Queen against apologizing to the Maori people of New Zealand for what was done to them by the British colonial administration.

"Your Majesty, if you start, I will have to bring you to Canada and, since we have several hundred Indigenous communities, you will be on your knees for at least two years," he recalled telling the Queen in the book.

On Sunday, Chrétien defended his words by saying excuses are good, but offering a future to Indigenous Peoples is better. "We cannot rewrite history," Chrétien said.

"Terrible things have happened, not only in Canada. In the United States, it's the army that destroyed the Indigenous Peoples. Here, we had missionaries that were sent, it was less dangerous."

National Chief RoseAnne Archibald of the Assembly of First Nations raised doubts Monday about the sincerity of Chrétien's comments.

"Chrétien says the Queen’s apology would keep her kneeling for two years, but he heard nothing about institutes of assimilation and genocide?" she wrote on Twitter. "Let’s remember that he promoted the 1969 White Paper on assimilation and genocide that launched First Nations activism."

Innu author Michel Jean, another guest on the talk show, criticized Chrétien's comparison of residential schools to his own boarding school experience.

"Mr. Chrétien, with all respect, doesn't exactly realize what a residential school was," Jean said. "And he's not alone." Jean explained that most people tend to wrongly associate these institutions with schools, where you "teach people how to write."

While Chrétien said he never heard of nor experienced abuse while he was in boarding school, insinuating he "mustn't have been a pretty boy at that time," Jean recalled completely different stories from his family.

"Someone in my family, who went to a residential school in Fort George, told me they were sexually assaulted every day, for eight years by a nun," Jean said.

Chrétien repeated throughout Sunday's interview that he deeply cared about Indigenous issues while he was in power. He pointed to the adoption by him and his wife Aline of an 18-month-old Indigenous boy as evidence of his devotion to the cause.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 25, 2021.

— With files from Lina Dib in Ottawa

Virginie Ann, The Canadian Press

Major League Baseball work stoppage almost certain on Dec. 2


HOUSTON (AP) — Baseball’s ninth work stoppage and first in 26 years appears almost certain to start Dec. 2, freezing the free-agent market and threatening the start of spring training in February.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Negotiations have been taking place since last spring, and each side thinks the other has not made proposals that will lead toward an agreement replacing the five-year contract that expires at 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 1.

The luxury tax system that started with the 2003 season sunsets with the expiration of the labor contract, with the exception of completing accounting and payments for the 2021 tax year. Uncertainty over the 2022 season probably will cause high-spending clubs to delay reaching pricier player agreements.

Free agents can start signing with any team on the sixth day following the World Series, and this year’s group includes Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Freddie Freeman, Trevor Story, Max Scherzer, Marcus Semien, Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, Michael Conforto and Kevin Gausman.

MLB may attempt a signing freeze with the start of a lockout, or the marketplace might grind to a halt on its own, even more pronounced than the slowdowns of the 2017-18 and 2018-19 offseasons.

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman doesn’t know the parameters of what he has to spend.

“I have yet to have the conversation yet with what potentials, acknowledging that we have budget commitments already in play and depending on how the new collective bargaining agreement works out over the course of time, hopefully sooner than later,” he said.

Agents say they have received no guidance from the players’ association. Some have braced for a two-week scramble to sign next March or later, whenever a lockout ends.

This lack of pace in negotiations is similar to what occurred in 1989-90, when the agreement expired Dec. 31 and owners announced on Jan. 9 that a lockout would begin Feb. 15 absent an agreement. A deal was reached March 1 and opening day was delayed a week until April 9, causing 78 games to be postponed and rescheduled.

Teams have proposed eliminating salary arbitration and allowing players to become free agents in the offseason after they turn 29 1/2 rather than the six seasons of major league service in place since 1976. They have proposed a lower luxury threshold along with a payroll floor. Players have refused for decades to consider a payroll floor, feeling it would lead to a salary cap.

Concerned with “tanking” by rebuilding teams and a slide in spending on major league payrolls, players want changes in the current deal, which calls for payrolls to be taxed above $210 million (using average annual values plus benefits) and includes surtaxes that went into place for 2017. Management’s proposal called for the threshold to be dropped to $180 million, another factor that may gridlock many free agent negotiations.

The average major league salary dropped from $4,097,122 in 2017 to $3,881,021 in 2020, before accounting for prorated pay caused by the pandemic, according to the players’ association. Based on this year’s opening-day payrolls, the final figure for 2021 is projected to be about $3.7 million.

Baseball was interrupted by eight work stoppages from 1972-95, the last a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 that wiped out the World Series for the first time in 90 years. The closest the sport has come to another stoppage was in 2002, when an agreement was reached on Aug. 30 about 3 1/2 hours before players had been set to strike. That marked the first agreement without a stoppage since 1969.

Agreements were reached before the expiration on Oct. 24 in 2006, on Nov. 22 in 2011 and on Nov. 30 in 2016.

As bargaining sputtered this year, the union began a grievance hearing before arbitrator Martin F. Scheinman on Sept. 27 on its claim that the 60-game schedule in the 2020 pandemic-affected season was too short. Jeffrey L. Kessler, the Winston & Strawn co-executive chairman, gave a four-hour opening argument on behalf of the union, a person familiar with the hearing said, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the sides have not commented on the session.

Kessler declined to comment.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Ronald Blum, The Associated Press

Ontario university sports are overwhelmingly white, report finds


University athletics in Ontario are overwhelmingly white, from student athletes to coaches to administrators, according to a new report that found rampant systemic racism in varsity sports.

 

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The organization that co-ordinates athletic competitions at the university level in Ontario said in the OUA Anti-Racism Project report released Monday that more than three-quarters of the province's coaches and administrators are white, as are more than two-thirds of student athletes, based on a survey that saw 45 per cent of its membership respond.

The Ontario University Athletics report, led by Janelle Joseph, an assistant professor with the University of Toronto's Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, found racialized coaches are more likely to be volunteers, or get paid on seasonal salaries or stipends. Racialized administrators were also more likely to be in assistant, part-time or entry-level positions, "meaning they earn the lowest salaries of OUA members."

"This finding echoes extensive research on universities in Canada that show low rates of recruiting, hiring, retention, and promotion of racialized student, staff, and faculty, despite large pools of candidates to draw from," the report reads.

In interviews with coaching and administrative staff, the OUA found an inequitable hiring process may have contributed to that gap.

"For white-identified OUA members the path to obtain a position as a head coach or leader within administration appeared smooth," the report reads. "Most were either offered a position without a formal interview or were explicitly encouraged to apply."

Racialized staffers had a notably different experience.

"All racialized coaches were former players who had volunteered, worked part-time, completed education and/or assisted for many years with few ever ascending to the role of head coach," the report said.

The racialized coaches who were able to jump through those hoops and get hired found the differences didn't stop there, according to the report.

"Unlike their white colleagues, they live in excessive scrutiny and fear of reprimand for their coaching decisions, worry about being alienated or ostracized for speaking up against injustice, and are exhausted from navigating racist communities on and off campus," the report reads.

The overwhelming whiteness of those in charge may have also had a trickle-down effect on student athletes, the report found. Many administrators and coaches told researchers that they didn't see colour, were naïve about the presence of racism, or didn't know where to look for it.

"Those in positions of power within the OUA, who often have no personal experience handling or witnessing instances of racism, are those who make decisions regarding anti-racist practice and policy," the report reads.

Discriminatory practices may also have led to a lack of diversity among student athletes, the report found.

While the Canadian University Survey Consortium's 2021 survey of graduating students found 47 per cent of graduating undergrads identified as visible minorities or Indigenous, more than 71 per cent of student athletes who responded to the OUA survey identified themselves as white.

"The funnelling system into university for most sports relies heavily on private schools, clubs, and pay-to-play systems," the report reads. "Each of these methods overwhelmingly select athletes from middle- to upper-class families with many opportunities and resources available to succeed in sport and university."

The report recommends mandatory and continuous anti-racism training, and a shift in how athletes and coaches are recruited.

Rather than looking for student athletes only at private schools and pay-for-play clubs, teams should hold open tryouts, the report recommends.

"Recruiting racialized athletes will require some coaches to break well-established patterns of recruitment and spark new relationships with coaches, parents, and athletes," the report reads.

The report also recommends publicly celebrating the achievements of racialized athletes so potential recruits know they wouldn't be alone on a team.

It said the OUA and university athletic departments should establish an anti-racism policy that is specific about what is not tolerated, has a step-by-step reporting process and consequences for racist behaviours.

"Participants noted that policy affects practice and advocated for a 'zero tolerance' anti-racism policy, which would mean they would not need to fear being ostracized by their teammates or penalized by their coach for speaking up," it reads.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2021.

WTF
Basketball trailblazer denied Canadian permanent residency, must return to U.S.

Kate Dubinski 

© Haute Hijab Sport Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir and her husband moved to London, Ont., three years ago. Abdul-Qaadir coached at the London Islamic School.

Bilqis Abdul-Qaadir, the trailblazing basketball player who set up an academy for girls and coached multiple sports at an Islamic school in London, Ont., has been denied permanent residency in Canada and will have to go back to the United States.

"We've been here for two years, my son is Canadian, and we would love to be part of this country, but we finally got the message from immigration that we were denied permanent residency. It's very unexpected," said Abdul Qaadir from her London home. "I'm at a loss for words. I've single-handedly brought sports to an underserviced community. It's heartbreaking."

Abdul-Qaadir and her husband, A.W. Massey, moved to London from Tennessee three years ago.

She said she hasn't been able to work in Canada since August, when her work permit expired and wasn't renewed by a Canadian border official.

"We're still trying to figure out what we're going to do. We aren't sure. We're angry and we're tired. We put our heart and soul into this application. We felt like we checked all the boxes."

Abdul-Qaadir led a four-year battle against the International Basketball Federation, which banned religious head coverings on the court. She won, but sacrificed her basketball career to do so.

She had been the leading high school point scorer for both boys and girls in Massachusetts, and went on to play for the University of Memphis in Tennessee, where she was the first woman to play in a hijab in NCAA Division 1.

Alongside her motivational speaking gigs, she teaches at the London Islamic School and has opened a basketball academy in London, but all that is now up in the air.

On Thursday, Abdul-Qaadir got a letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that said she doesn't "meet the requirements for immigration to Canada."

She applied for permanent residency as an athletic director at the London Muslim Mosque, but her duties — including developing, managing and supervising the school's physical education and athletic programs, as well as being the head coach for the basketball, volleyball and cross-country teams — are "inconsistent with the actions" of an athletic director.

"I am not satisfied that your stated duties is sufficient to indicate that your role involves plan, organize, direct, control and evaluate the operations of comprehensive fitness programs at this organization. I am also not satisfied that you performed a substantial number of the main duties for this [job classification]," IRCC wrote in her letter.

Abdul-Qaadir said she doesn't know if she and her husband will fight the refusal.

 

© Jamie Schwaberow/NCAA Photographer Abdul-Qaadir set the state record for the highest all-time high school scorer for men and women in Massachusetts.