Amsterdam cannabis cafes fear foreign tourist ban amid COVID recovery

Authorities in one of Europe's most visited cities are eyeing a ban on pot for tourists as a way to cut down on rowdy travelers, but critics say such a measure could push the industry underground.


Ubiquitous Amsterdam coffee shops

As Amsterdam's tourism industry slowly begins to recover from the impact of the pandemic, its famous cannabis cafes could be facing a new hurdle, in the form of a ban on foreign tourists.

Earlier this year, the city's mayor, Femke Halsema, touted a proposal to ban foreign tourists from entering cannabis-serving establishments as a way to reinvent the city's image. Banning foreigners from cafes, supporters say, would help to stop the influx of rowdy tourists who crowd the city's streets and annoy some locals.

However, following more than a year without much revenue from overseas travelers, cafes fear that such a ban would make recovery even more difficult, driving out legal businesses and creating a platform for street dealers.

In recent pre-pandemic years, the city attracted around 20 million tourists annually. But even after several lockdown measures were lifted, the number of foreign visitors to the city remains well below that previous total.
Large dependence on foreign tourists

Eve Mcguire, who works at Coffeeshop Reefer, said that without tourists, a sizable portion of the cafe's revenue would disappear.

Eve Mcguire doubts foreign tourists will be banned from cannabis-serving establishments

"If they were to ban the tourists, 80% of our customers would be gone," Mcguire told DW. "And not only this, but Dutch people don't chill in coffee shops. If you're Dutch, you buy your weed and you go home. The people that chill in coffee shops are tourists."

Gary Gallagher, the manager of the Amsterdam Cannabis Museum, told DW that even with newly-eased travel restrictions, the amount of cash flowing in is still only about half of what it was before the pandemic.

He believes that due to the amount of money that the industry brings in, such a ban on foreigners in cafes is unlikely to come into effect. Even if officials manage to push the ban through, he and other critics say it would likely push the cannabis industry underground.

Gary Gallagher thinks banning tourists from cannabis cafes is an ineffective measure to curb the influx of rowdy travelers

"I think they can change the rules and not the culture. Amsterdam will have this reputation forever," he said.

"When they closed the coffee shops for [the] corona[virus pandemic], there were drug dealers on every street corner. So a few days later they reversed the move."

Mcguire agrees that the chances of such a ban are exceptionally slim. "It's totally a lie," she said. "They will never ever let that come to pass."

She is also concerned that enforcing such a law would be difficult, given the number of non-Dutch European Union residents who work in the city.

"People would have to show residency, but you don't need residency to work here if you're within the European Union," said Mcguire.
Rowdy tourists anger locals

However, even Mcguire herself found Amsterdam to be more peaceful without the influx of travelers. "It was nice to not hear seven days a week 24/7 people coming in and out. The street never shuts up, I didn't miss the tourists to be honest," said Mcguire.

Others have stronger feelings on the matter. Milan, a 26-year-old resident who lives in a souterrain apartment in the heart of De Wallen, told DW that a drunk tourist, one of the many who stumble around the area at night, once vomited into his window.

Amsterdam is known for its vibrant nightlife

"I was just chilling on my bed when I saw someone outside, who just sat down and then he puked into the window," he said.

He added that he'd be happy to see new regulations in place to limit party-going tourists. "They have no respect. It's a neighborhood but they don't see it as a neighborhood where people live."

Measures aimed at limiting tourist influx

This year, Mayor Halsema announced a plan to move sex workers from the De Wallen red light district away from the windows and to a central building closer to the outskirts of the city.

Amsterdam has also added more red tape for those wanting to rent flats out on Airbnb in the city.

In addition, city officials have introduced a tourist quota after a citizens' initiative lobbied for the move. It sets a limit of no more than 20 million overnight stays a year. Amsterdam is the first city in the world to introduce such a cap.
Reinventing Amsterdam tourism?

Officials say the proposed ban on foreigners in cannabis cafes would help the city attract a more wholesome set of travelers, as those coming to make use of the liberal policies on drug use and enjoy the sex industry are not always the same people coming to admire the picturesque canals or to see the Van Gogh House.

Amsterdam officials hope to attract more tourists interested in the city's architecture and cultural offerings

However, Gallagher believes that if officials want to tackle the kind of mayhem that party-oriented tourists create in the city's central districts, a better solution would be to simply focus on policing the central districts more heavily.

"They could have more of a police presence in the red-light district. They were just turning a blind eye, but now there's a chance for them, if they want to clamp down on it," he said. "If they want to cut down on the rowdy UK bachelor parties, we're all in favor of that, but stopping people from spending money, especially now, I don't think that's very smart."

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M; PRO SPORTS
Ex-FIFA bosses Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini charged with fraud in Switzerland

The two ex-bosses of the international and European soccer bodies are facing corruption charges.




Swiss prosecutors charged Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, former officials of international soccer's governing body, FIFA, with fraud on Tuesday.

The 85-year-old Blatter, the former president of FIFA, and the 65-year-old Platini the former head of the European confederation, UEFA, were accused of offenses related to the suspicious payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.2 million/€1.9 million).
What are the charges?

The charges against Blatter include fraud, criminal mismanagement and forgery of a document. Platini has been charged with fraud, as well as with participating in mismanagement as an accomplice and forgery of a document.

The charges were the result of a six-year investigation. The Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona will have to decide whether to take the two men to trial.

Both Blatter and Platini are already under prosecution for "disloyal management," "breach of trust" and "forgery of securities" related to a case from 2011 that resulted in the duo's being banned from soccer in 2015.

The new case revolves around Platini's requesting backdated additional salary in 2011 for work he did for Blatter during the FIFA boss's 1998-2002 first term as president. Blatter had been campaigning for reelection at the time and Platini's influence among European voters was key.

"The evidence gathered by the [attorney general's office] has corroborated that this payment to Platini was made without a legal basis,'' prosecutors said in a statement.

"This payment damaged FIFA's assets and unlawfully enriched Platini,'' they added. The two men have both denied wrongdoing.
FIFA mired in corruption scandals

The original charges followed hotel raids in 2015 by the US Department of Justice, which led Blatter to step down as president days after starting his fifth term. Platini had been considered his natural successor, but his involvement in the raids threw his campaign off track.

FIFA's ethics committee later suspended the duo for six weeks, eventually banning them each for six years. Platini's suspension was shortened to four years and he was allowed to return in October 2019.

Blatter's poor health led to his final questioning being delayed. He is also facing a separate criminal process for the authorization of a FIFA payment of $1 million to Trinidad and Tobago in 2010.

FIFA itself has also faced heavy criticism for various scandals, including the decision to award Qatar the role as host of next year's World Cup championship. The treatment of migrant workers involved in the construction of facilities for the event has come under particularly heavy fire.

ab/wmr (AP, dpa, AFP, Reuters)

Germany's Andrea Petkovic: Sexism far from dead in tennis

German tennis player Andrea Petkovic has praised Billie Jean King as a pioneer of gender equality in sports. However, at the same time she warned that "latent sexism" is still very much alive in professional tennis.



"We have come a long way but we still have a long way ahead of us," says Andrea Petkovic

The former top 10 player told German public broadcaster ARD that she feels there are still many examples of sexism in professional tennis to this day.

"After games us women still receive provocative comments on social media. I doubt that is the case for those on the men's tour. Our outfits are discussed, and how we wear our hair."

She is critical of organizational decisions too, adding that "when it rained for two days at the French Open two years ago, the women's semifinals were played on small courts while the men played on the big ones. The latent sexism still shows."

"We have come a long way but we still have a long way ahead of us."

Petkovic has won seven WTA singles titles since turning professional at the age of 18. She also reached the 2014 French Open semifinals and made the quarterfinals of both the Australian and US Open in 2011 but she has been hampered by a injuries throughout her career.

She is currently competing for Germany at the Billie Jean King Cup in Prague, alongside the likes of world No. 9 Angelique Kerber.
Remembering 'sporting ancestors'

Last year the Fed Cup was renamed the Billie Jean King Cup in honor of the female tennis legend whom Petkovic credits with laying the groundwork for players like her today.

"Without her there would be no professional women's sport in the way that it exists today. All this is thanks to her assertiveness and willingness to take risks."

King successfully campaigned for equal prize money in the men's and women's matches

The 34-year-old German also feels the next generation of athletes must be aware of others who helped lay the groundwork in efforts to level the playing field.

"It's incredibly important that young female players educate themselves about our sporting ancestors and how we got into the position to earn such good prize money in the first place."

mm/pfd (dpa, sportschau.de)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M; CONSTRUCTION

Berlin's BER airport: Coliform bacteria found in drinking water

The German capital's BER airport was almost nine years behind schedule and way over budget when it finally opened for business a year ago. Now, the scandal-hit site has a new problem: dirty water.



Coliform bacteria does not usually cause illness, but it can be a sign of other pathogens in the water supply

Coliform bacteria has been found in the drinking water at Berlin's beleaguered new BER airport, the operating company said Tuesday.

The discovery is the latest in a long list of woes that the infamous airport has struggled with since its conception three decades ago. Its opening, originally planned for 2012, was repeatedly delayed amid technical difficulties and allegations of corruption.

When it finally did open in October 2020 — almost nine years behind schedule and costing three times more than originally planned — the coronavirus pandemic had largely brought air traffic to a halt.
What's the problem now?

The coliform bacteria were detected during a routine test of the water system in the main terminal of the Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, the operating firm said.

It is not clear what caused the contamination. The firm said that all pipes will have to be flushed, a process that is expected to take several days. It also warned that water in all sanitary facilities in Terminal 1 and the special government terminal should not be used as drinking water in the meantime.

Coliform bacteria occur naturally in the intestines and in nature and are unlikely to cause illness. However, the germs can indicate the presence of other harmful organisms which could cause diarrhea or vomiting.

Notorious BER

Over the past year, German newspapers have reported a raft of other problems at the site, including overflowing rubbish bins, broken floor tiles, frequently dirty toilets and faulty escalators.

A report on the airport's first year of operation is expected to be delivered on November 5.

Last week, the CEO of the airport's operating company warned that it was running out of money and urgently needed an injection of cash in order to avoid bankruptcy.

nm/wmr (AFP, dpa)

Climate change in 11 charts

With COP26 underway, the climate crisis is in the spotlight. Here are the most important facts relating to how our planet has been changing.



Over 100 years of man-made CO2 emissions have changed the planet


World leaders are meeting for the 26th time to address the causes and effects of climate change. These five questions and answers show how much our planet has already changed.

#1 Which regions emit the most CO2?

Governments are increasingly pledging to transform their economies to become carbon neutral within the next 10 to 30 years. With emissions stabilizing in Europe and the Americas and rising in Asia and Africa, the following chart shows how much of an economic turnaround carbon neutrality would need.


Absolute emissions, however, only tell half the story. Countries in Asia have seen immense population growth over the last decades, and more people leads to greater consumption of resources.

Seen from a CO2 per capita perspective, the picture is very different. Factoring in population size puts the spotlight on both Western countries like the US and Australia, as well as nations in other parts of the world, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Mongolia.


In the discussion about who should contribute most to emissions reductions, experts argue that not all nations can be held equally responsible, and that economic power and wealth should be taken into account.

Clustering countries in terms of income groups (see below) shows a connection between higher levels of income and higher median emissions per capita. It also reveals how countries within each group vary widely, and that the higher the income group, the wider the spread across the emissions spectrum.

High income countries with elevated emissions, such as Qatar, emit much more CO2 per capita than countries like Germany and France, although they are in the same income group.


And although countries like India and China rank low on per capita emissions, their decisions still have a big impact, given their huge population numbers (bubble size).
#2 What are the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions?

Given the correlation between economic strength and CO2 emissions, it's no surprise that the industrial sector is responsible for the lion's share (35%) of overall greenhouse gases (GHG) — including methane and nitrous oxide — released into the atmosphere.

At 20%, agriculture, forestry and change in land use collectively account for the second greatest source of GHG emissions.

Over the last two decades, the annual amount of tree cover lost has gradually increased. Russia, Brazil and the United States were the world's biggest drivers of deforestation in 2020.

Compared to the decade from 1990-2000, however, the rate of deforestation has slowed

.


Deforestation is not only problematic because the CO2 previously stored in the ground and the trees themselves is released into the atmosphere, but also because forests and soils are "carbon sinks" that absorb atmospheric CO2 — making them a valuable tool in the fight against climate change.
#3 How have CO2 emissions developed over the last centuries?

CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels have been on the rise since the early days of industrialization. However, as humans produced higher levels of carbon dioxide, Earth absorbed it in natural "carbon sinks," such as forests and oceans.

But as humanity began to produce more CO2 and other greenhouse gases than the planet's ecosystem could naturally absorb, more of those emissions became trapped in the atmosphere (red area in the following chart).

#4 How much has the world warmed already?

An increasing volume of CO2 particles traps the sunlight's warmth in the atmosphere, acting like a greenhouse in which it gets warmer and warmer. Compared to the 20th century — and the past five years in particular — the average global temperature has increased by almost 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit).



This change is measured by calculating the difference between temperatures observed at a specific time and place and the historical average for that same spot. The 1 degree increase in temperature is the global average of those variations. The difference can be much greater on a local level.

In a more concrete example, the average August temperature in the northwestern US city of Portland was around 20 C from 1991 to 2020. With global warming, Portland is seeing hotter-than-average days. On August 13, for example, the daily average reached 30 C, which was an extreme temperature anomaly.

In the same week, unusual temperatures were recorded in Spain, Tunisia, Russia, India, Cambodia, Australia and Argentina, to name just a few countries.

Such temperature increases push Earth's temperature anomaly up and will have potentially wide-ranging effects — from pockets of impossible heat to failing harvests and an increase in dangerous events like storms and floods. A rise in sea levels is among the most noticeable impacts. Hotter temperatures are melting ice caps and glaciers and increasing the total amount of water in the oceans.
#5 How much sea level rise do we already have?

According to data compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the United States government climate research agency, sea levels have risen nearly 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) in the last 140 years. Around one third of that increase happened in the last 25 years alone.


Sea levels are rising worldwide, but the trend is accentuated in the Arctic, which is heating faster than other regions.

The thermal property of water that allows it to expand when warmer is also contributing to rising sea levels.

As usual, there is a caveat to the absolute numbers. While most of the world's oceans and seas are indeed higher their historical levels, some areas are more affected than others.

Tide gauges in western Canada and northern Chile, for example, detect steady or even receding seas, whereas island countries in the southern Pacific and Indian oceans are witnessing alarming increases in levels — threats that could lead to them literally disappearing beneath the waves.

Afghanistan's Buzkashi Season Begins, With Taliban At The Reins


By James EDGAR
11/02/21 

Haji Mohammad Pahlawan waves his whip in the air, pulling his grey stallion away from the calf carcass he has just dumped in a goal to claim victory in a tournament of buzkashi, Afghanistan's national sport.

A cloud of dust swirls around the heaving scrum of three dozen horses competing in the final contest on a vast plain in the northern province of Samangan, where buzkashi riders known an "chapandazan" are revered as heroes.

About 3,000 spectators -- all men and boys -- cheer, whoop and ululate as a beaming Mohammad canters over to tournament officials to collect his $500 prize, gathering his mounted teammates for their lap of victory.

Buzkashi -- from the Persian words for goat ("buz") and drag ("kashi") -- has been played in Central Asia for centuries, with Afghanistan's neighbours Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan having their own variations.

Buzkashi has been played in Central Asia for centuries 

Photo: AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR

Banned under the Taliban's brutal regime of 1996 to 2001 for being "immoral", there were fears the ancient game would again be barred after the Islamists seized power in August.

But not only have Taliban fighters gathered in the crowd after Friday prayers to watch this showpiece buzkashi tournament -- a local commander is taking part, and Mohammad's club is captained by a district governor.

"I'm walking away with the glory," 29-year-old Mohammad tells AFP on the sidelines, still wearing his Soviet-era tank helmet, his face layered in the fine powder kicked up during the two-hour competition.

Buzkashi riders are known as "chapandazan" Photo: AFP / WAKIL KOHSA

Flanked by mountains, the early-season tournament takes place at Qara Shabagh, just outside Samangan's capital Aybak, where the Hindu Kush mountains meet the Central Asian steppe.

The objective is for the horsemen to haul the decapitated and disembowelled goat or calf carcass around a rock, before throwing it on a chalked central scoring circle called a "jor", also known as the "circle of justice".

Although buzkashi no longer draws the huge cash prizes dished out by warlords like the notorious Abdul Rashid Dostum, for these hardened chapandazan, winning is a matter of honour.

The Taliban have not yet formalised a policy on sport, and have refrained so far from preventing buzkashi games from happening Photo: AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR

"One of my horse's ears is like wine, and the other is like a kebab," Mohammad's brother Najibullah tells AFP, straddling his bay stallion.

"If you win, you get drunk, and if you lose, you get burned like meat on a skewer," says the 35-year-old pre-tournament favourite from Samangan's Feroz Nakhchir district.

When Mohammad and his five brothers who play buzkashi are not competing, they take care of the horses -- including Khanjar (Dagger), Qara Bator (Brave Black), and Tyson -- feeding them on grain, melons and grapes, and training themselves for the winter tournaments.

Standing at 1.92 metres (6 foot 4 inches) tall and weighing 110 kilograms (243 pounds), Najibullah is a hulking giant of a man with a bone-crushing handshake, but a disarming smile.

Among the riders are a local Taliban leader aided by a young fighter 

Photo: AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR

"Buzkashi is a really dangerous game," he says, listing a cracked skull, broken thumbs, twisted legs, split lips and "one hundred broken teeth" among his injuries.

"But I still feel great and I'm not afraid," grins Najibullah, whose family's long association with the sport as riders and horse owners has earned it the title "Pahlawan" -- wrestler.

Buzkashi riders are revered as heroes in the northern Afghan province of Samangan 

Photo: AFP / WAKIL KOHSAR

Spectators flock from across Afghanistan's northern provinces, making their way on foot, bicycles and cars, or crammed into the back of pick-up trucks and rickshaws.

Some arrive early to see the chapandazan saddle their horses and pull on their mismatched outfits of padded judo jackets and trousers, welding gloves and cowboy boots in the afternoon sunshine.

Young boys balance packets of sunflower seeds on trays on their heads, calling out for customers, while others haul flasks of tea.

As the tournament gets under way, with the winners of early rounds claiming 1,000 Afghanis ($11) each, the crowd swells to create a huge rectangular pitch around the 50 to 60 horses and riders.

A wall serves as a main stand, where the event's announcer whips up fans with a regular "Hey, hey, hey!" on the loudspeaker.

A rowdy group of several hundred fans are pushed back repeatedly by gun-toting Taliban fighters, although they are quicker on their feet when the pack of marauding buzkashi horses hurtle towards them as they wrestle for the muddied carcass.

The most excitable is 45-year-old Khasta Gul, who runs on to the dung-caked pitch to cheer on his favourite chapandazan, spraying water into the air and cracking jokes to other spectators.

He gets a reward of 500 Afghanis ($5.50) from one rider for his unbending enthusiasm.

"I have a lot of passion for sport," Gul tells AFP. "I support our riders and enjoy spurring them on."

The buzkashi games are played at blistering speed, with the burly chapandazan using all their strength, guile, and some dark arts, to prise the carcass from one another.

Among the riders gripping their wood and leather whips between their teeth is local Taliban leader Abu Do Jana, aided by a young fighter called Osama -- but they are no match for the winner.

Abbas Bromand, the head of the Feroz Nakhchir district and club captain of the team of brothers, congratulated Mohammad on his victory.

"Everyone should support sportsmen and riders," he tells AFP. "We will try to make more tournaments around the country."

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers are yet to formalise a policy on sport but have indicated men and boys are allowed to participate.

And Mohammad says the hardliners have not created any problems during the tournament.

The rider tells AFP his combined winnings and bonuses for the day total about $800 -- more than five times the average monthly salary in Afghanistan, which is facing a massive economic and humanitarian crisis.

The brothers will continue to play buzkashi each week throughout the winter, until April.

"Those who don't have any hope are losers," he says. "The season is looking great now."

Corbella: Rural bus line will go bust without a hand up from Alberta government that doesn't seem to care

CONSERVATIVE COLUMNIST SUPPORTS BC NDP GOVT HAND OUTS TO BUSINESS

Licia Corbella 

Back in early March, Sunny Balwaria — the president of Cold Shot bus lines — received an unsolicited call from an official with the B.C. government. The government official thanked Balwaria for providing essential inter-city bus service in rural British Columbia and told him he could receive a grant to help survive the effects COVID-19 was having on his small business

.

© Provided by Calgary Herald Sunny Balwaria, President, Cold Shot, with Sam Sayegh, President J&L Shuttle Services in the background. Photo taken on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020 in Edmonton.

What’s ironic about that is Balwaria is an Albertan who lives in Edmonton and has been completely ignored by his own provincial government.

“Today is the third anniversary of us taking over 11 of Greyhound’s rural routes in Alberta and into Northern B.C.,” Balwaria said during a telephone interview on Monday.

As a result of the effects of COVID, Balwaria had to cut back the number of routes he serviced by almost half to just six.

“We had just started turning a profit and then, bam, COVID hit and now we might not make our fourth anniversary, but the Alberta government doesn’t seem to care,” said Balwaria. “The people who use our service are the elderly, people who can’t afford a car or who don’t drive, or (people) who can’t afford insurance. So, we really are an essential service for so many people.”

Under normal circumstances, most Albertans would agree with the Alberta government’s approach. A business is either viable or not and the government shouldn’t be in the business of propping up unprofitable businesses.  BUT THEY DO AND THEY DID AND CORBELLA IS GENERALIZING ABOUT A POPULATION THAT IS URBAN AND SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC SHE OF COURSE IS SPEAKING ABOUT RURAL ALBERTANS THOUGH SHE DOESN'T SAY THAT BECAUSE IT WOULD BE 'DIVISIVE'

But COVID is not normal circumstances. 

CORBELLA NEEDS AN EXCUSE TO JUSTIFY THE NEED FOR THIS SERVICE

COVID forced Balwaria to run his 20-passenger buses at half capacity (even though that wasn’t a requirement of the provincial government) because his customers demanded more space during the pandemic in an effort to stay safe. Plus, ridership is down and costs are up.

On March 30, the B.C. government put out a press release announcing that 20 inter-city bus operators and 55 regional airports were approved to receive $6.2 million worth of funding to help them stay open and provide essential transportation services to British Columbians.

“Our government is working to keep vital services operating during this unprecedented time, and this funding will help British Columbians — especially those in rural areas of the province — have a safe and reliable way to travel to essential appointments,” said Rob Fleming, B.C.’s minister of transportation and infrastructure at the time.

The news release shows that Cold Shot received a grant of $102,060.

That money, says Balwaria, will keep the line operational that runs from Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C. to Grande Prairie (located 450 kilometres northwest of Edmonton). That grant, says Balwaria, means that he can run that route for one year without going broke doing so.

“The Alberta government cares a lot about rural Alberta so it’s very strange to me that the importance of connecting communities in rural Alberta is not front and centre for the government,” said Balwaria.

© Ian Kucerak/Postmedia A Cold Shot Bus is seen at the company’s depot at 11204 119 Street in Edmonton, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2019.

Besides being a “bread and butter” issue for Balwaria and his 84 full-time and 30 part-time staff, this is an issue of regional development for northern Alberta, says the Edmonton entrepreneur.

He adds that whenever there has been news about his company’s struggles, rural Albertans who rely on his service phone him in a panic at the prospect of Cold Shot shutting down.

“I’ve had people call me in tears,” he says. “We are a lifeline for them.”

Balwaria says his company has made repeated requests to the provincial government for assistance, including seeking a portion of the federal government’s $70 million recovery plan funding for transportation provided to Alberta in 2020. While the province matched that amount, all of the money was directed to public municipal transit services within major municipalities that also suffered as a result of COVID.

Alberta’s Minister of Transportation, Rajan Sawhney, was not available for an interview Monday but said in a written statement, “Alberta Transportation does not provide direct operational subsidies to private bus services.

“However, Alberta’s government is willing to work with companies to apply for applicable federal and provincial relief programs that would help keep buses on the road. I have directed my department to reach out to Cold Shot to help them navigate through the suite of supports available to businesses.”

In a letter sent to Balwaria in May, former Alberta Transportation Minister Ric McIver said Balwaria should apply to the federal government’s Canada Emergency Rent subsidy and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy, as well as to the fed’s $250-million program for rural transit as part of Budget 2021.

“We would have shut down last December if it wasn’t for almost $1 million in loans from Western Economic Diversification Canada,” said Balwaria. “Overall, we’ve incurred $3.1 million debt to continue serving rural Alberta during the pandemic.”

B.C.’s government appreciates Balwaria and Cold Shot. Alberta’s government tells an Albertan to call the feds and that its policy doesn’t apply to private bus lines.

The Alberta government is once again proving to be tone-deaf and out of step with Albertans throughout this pandemic. This is just the latest example.

“We’re running on fumes right now,” said Balwaria.

That’s more than the UCP government’s running on right now.

Licia Corbella is a Postmedia columnist in Calgary.

lcorbella@postmedia.com

Twitter: @LiciaCorbella

UCP BACKBENCHER FACES ANGRY UCP BASE

Alberta politician angry after COVID-19 protesters leave gallows, noose at her house

EDMONTON — An Alberta member of the legislature says she is outraged after COVID-19 protesters came to her house on the weekend and hung up a noose.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Tracy Allard calls the threats and intimidation inexcusable and says her private life and her family are out of bounds to protesters.

"It was really disturbing," Allard said at the legislature Tuesday.

"The most disturbing piece for me was at the end of it they left a noose — and that is a clear act of aggression and utterly unacceptable."

Allard, a United Conservative backbencher for Grande Prairie, said she was travelling to Edmonton on Sunday afternoon when she got a call about a large crowd in front of her house.

She said doorbell cam footage later revealed it was about 30 people.

Allard said the protesters left behind a crude wooden gallows, with a noose, and the words "No to masks. End the gov't. Hang 'em all."

She posted a picture of it on her Facebook page.

RCMP confirmed they were called to investigate the large gathering in front of Allard's home around 3 p.m. Sunday.

Const. Lindsay Ralph said officers attended the protest and saw the gallows and noose attached upright to a fence.

"They did see that stick with the noose on the end. It was attached to a fence located near the property," Ralph said in an interview.

"Officers did speak to the people in attendance and explained to them that (it) should be removed, and they did take it down."

She said no charges were laid, but Allard said she is looking to see if the police will investigate further.

This was not the first time an Alberta politician has faced public backlash for rules tied to the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Last summer, then-health minister Tyler Shandro and his family were publicly harassed at a Canada Day event by protesters upset by COVID-19 public health restrictions.

Premier Jason Kenney's government has faced criticism from Albertans, including some of his rural caucus members, for previous health restrictions, mask rules and more recently for a form of vaccine passport that severely curtails customer capacity for non-participating businesses.

Allard has previously urged people to get vaccinated but said she respects the right to choose. She has called for more COVID-19 testing and more hospital surge capacity to fight the coronavirus.

In the spring, she was among a number of UCP backbenchers who signed a public letter criticizing a return to previous health restrictions.

"I believe that I have the reputation for listening, for understanding instead of listening to be right or make somebody else wrong. I'm open to different perspectives," she said.

"This particular group (of protesters) wants — I'm not sure exactly what they want. Freedom is the word I keep hearing, although I don't know who they are, so I can't even have a conversation with them."

Allard made headlines at the start of the year when she resigned as municipal affairs minister after it was revealed she took a Christmas vacation to Hawaii.

She was among a number of United Conservative legislature members and staff to take holiday trips to hot spots despite Kenney's government urging Albertans to stay home to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Allard choked up as she told reporters, "2021 has been a very rough year for my family.

"As a woman in politics, I think it's been really challenging to see how cruel people can be," she said. "I'm thinking of my daughter, who has faced significant backlash as the daughter of a politician, and that should not be the case.

"I apologize for getting so emotional, but I think it’s important."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 2, 2021.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

BUILDING RARE EARTH MONPOLY
Vancouver lithium miner targeted in $400M takeover battle with Chinese firm

CBC/Radio-Canada 

© Noah Friedman-Rudovsky/Bloomberg A worker wears protective clothing while making lithium at a facility in South America. Lithium is one of the key components of making batteries for electric cars.

A small Vancouver-based mining company with mining rights to one of the biggest undeveloped lithium deposits on Earth has become the focus of an unexpected bidding war.

Lithium Americas Corp. made a $400 million US stock-and-cash offer for fellow Vancouver-based company Millennial Lithium Corp. on Monday, trumping a previous offer for the company made by China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., or CATL.

Millennial's main asset is its stake in the Pastos Grandes lithium mine in Argentina. Ultra-liight lithium is a key component in batteries for electric cars, demand for which is exploding right now.

The Argentinian project is believed to have enough lithium to produce 24,000 tonnes per year of battery-quality lithium carbonate for 40 years.

The new offer of $4.70 per share trumps the $3.85 per share offer for the company made by CATL, which is the world's largest maker of lithium batteries and one of Tesla's major suppliers.

As things stand, the world does not produce enough lithium to make all the batteries that will be required to meet commitments by automakers to electrify their fleets.
'No geopolitical angle at all'

CATL's bid of $3.85 for the company in September was not the first Chinese overture for the company, as it bested a previous takeover offer of $3.60 a share in July from another China-based firm, Ganfeng.

The higher offer will doubtless come as some relief to politicians in Ottawa, who would otherwise be forced to decide on whether the offer from China-based CATL should be allowed to go ahead on national security grounds.

Last year, at the height of diplomatic tensions over Meng Wangzhou and the imprisonment in China of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor as a result of her detention at the Vancouver airport, Ottawa moved to block another Chinese takeover of a Canadian miner, TMAC Resources, which has gold mines in Canada's North.

"There's no geopolitical angle at all," Lithium Americas CEO Jon Evans said of his company's offer. "We purely look at this as an exciting future."

While the marriage of two Vancouver-based miners would appear to be ideal at first blush, analyst Craig Hutchison at TD Bank suspects the story may not be over yet.

"CATL has a market cap of around $238 billion US and is one of the largest battery makers in the world," he said in a note to clients. "Therefore we believe there is possibility of a higher bid."

Investors seem to think that's a possibility, too, as shares of Millennial Lithium were trading above the $4.70 offer price on Tuesday, a sign they think a higher offer may be coming.

US files antitrust suit to stop major book publisher merger

The Justice Department is suing to block a $2.2 billion book publishing deal that would have reshaped the industry, saying consolidation would hurt authors and, ultimately, readers.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

German media giant Bertelsmann's Penguin Random House, already the largest American publisher, wants to buy New York-based Simon & Schuster, whose authors include Stephen King, Hillary Clinton and John Irving, from TV and film company ViacomCBS.

The Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit in federal court in Washington, D.C., Tuesday in the first major antitrust action by the Biden administration. The department said the deal would give Penguin Random House “outsized influence" over which books are published in the U.S. and how much authors are paid.

“If the world’s largest book publisher is permitted to acquire one of its biggest rivals, it will have unprecedented control over this important industry," Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “American authors and consumers will pay the price of this anticompetitive merger — lower advances for authors and ultimately fewer books and less variety for consumers."

The purchase of Simon & Schuster would reduce the so-called Big Five, which dominate American publishing and include HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan, to four.

Because it targets the prices paid to authors as well as those paid by consumers, the suit shows a possible new direction for the antitrust regulators under the Biden administration, suggested Daniel Crane, a law professor at the University of Michigan who focuses on antirust.

“There’s a desire to think very comprehensively about all the interests that could be harmed,” he said. “It raises lots of interesting questions about publishing and about competition in publishing.”

The government’s case addresses a conventional market of five mammoth old-line publishing houses. Overshadowing it is Amazon, which created an empire and ecosystem of digital books starting back in 1995, controlling not only the bookstore but also the dominant devices for reading e-books and listening to audiobooks, and eventually some of the content. The e-books undercut the prices of conventional books, providing ammunition to the publishing houses in asserting that they have to bulk up to survive the competition.

The deal raised concern from writers and from rival publishers. The Authors Guild has said it opposes the acquisition because there would be less competition for authors’ manuscripts.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, which owns HarperCollins and had reportedly also been interested in buying Simon & Schuster, also slammed the deal. Its CEO Robert Thomson said last fall that Bertelsmann was “buying market dominance as a book behemoth.”

In a statement, Penguin Random House and Simon & Simon & Schuster said they would fight the lawsuit. They say blocking the deal would harm authors.

“DOJ’s lawsuit is wrong on the facts, the law, and public policy,” said Daniel Petrocelli, Penguin Random House's lawyer. “Importantly, DOJ has not found, nor does it allege, that the combination will reduce competition in the sale of books."

The new antitrust suit signals that the Justice Department “is willing to use its full authority to combat the wave of consolidation swallowing the American economy,” said Sarah Miller, executive director of the American Economic Liberties Project, an organization that advocates for government action against business concentration.

“This case also reflects how Amazon’s dominance looms as a predatory presence for most firms in the economy,” Miller said in a statement. “The CEOs of the number one and number three publishers openly sought to use this merger to become an ‘exceptional partner’ to Amazon.”

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AP National Writer Hillel Italie and Business Writer Marcy Gordon contributed to this report.

Tali Arbel, The Associated Press