Wednesday, November 10, 2021

Premier Moe wants Saskatchewan to be a 'nation within a nation' by increasing autonomy

Moe upset he wasn't consulted by Ottawa before recent

emissions cap announcement

Adam Hunter · CBC News · Posted: Nov 09, 2021

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he wants his province to be treated like Quebec when it comes to agreements on child care and immigration. (Kirk Fraser/CBC)

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe says he wants the province to be a "nation within a nation" by increasing its autonomy in several areas, including policing, taxation and immigration.

Moe made the initial statement during a radio interview on Sunday and then referred to the idea again on social media Tuesday morning.

"Saskatchewan needs to be a nation within a nation," he tweeted. "When the federal government implements policies that are detrimental to our province, our government will continue to stand up for Saskatchewan people."

On Tuesday afternoon, Moe said he is "not talking about separation. We are talking about being a Saskatchewan cultural identity within the nation of Canada — but being a nation within a nation."

When asked what makes Saskatchewan a "nation," Moe said language was not the "only indicator of culture."

The federal government has made decisions that are "quite harmful" to the province, he said.

He specifically mentioned his disagreement with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement last week of a plan to cap oil and gas emissions.

Moe called it a "non-consulted" decision that he said will impact "30,000 families in the province" and "15 to 16 per cent" of the province's GDP.

Canada will put a cap on oil and gas sector emissions, Trudeau tells COP26 summit

Moe said he expected a phone call from the federal environment minister or Trudeau.

"They didn't have the decency to pick up the phone and consult with this province," Moe said.

He also questioned the federal government's decision not to accept Saskatchewan's carbon pricing proposal this past summer.

Sask. wants to be treated like Quebec: Moe

AYE THERE'S THE RUB YOU ARE NOT A NATION LIKE QUEBEC YOU ARE A PROVINCE. YOU COULD HAVE NATION RIGHTS HAD THE RIEL REBELLION SUCCEEDED, BUT IT DIDN'T AND THE RCMP EXECUTED RIEL IN REGINA

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for RIEL

In last month's throne speech, the government indicated it wanted to "build a stronger, more independent Saskatchewan within Confederation."

When asked on Tuesday what he wants with respect to being a "nation within a nation," Moe pointed to Quebec.

"Quebec has a very different agreement when it comes to immigration with the federal government than we do here in the province of Saskatchewan. We want that agreement," he said.

Ottawa announces $6B transfer to Quebec aimed at strengthening child care

Sask. throne speech touts addictions supports, investment growth and expansion of policing

"We saw Quebec most recently with the child care agreement — Quebec has a very different agreement than any of the other provinces in Canada. And we want that as well."

Moe referred to his government's throne speech, which said it will "consider other measures to build provincial autonomy."

That includes taking back administration of corporate income taxes from Ottawa and "the creation of a provincial police force to complement municipal police forces and the RCMP," the throne speech said.

Provincial police force in Sask. may not be best option to address rural law enforcement issues: criminologist

On Tuesday, Moe also referred to the province's expansion of international trade offices.

In September, it announced plans to open international trade and investment offices in London, Dubai, Mexico City and Ho Chi Minh City by April. That follows the launch of offices in Tokyo, New Delhi and Singapore in January of this year.

Statement a 'distraction': Opposition

Opposition NDP deputy leader Nicole Sarauer said Moe's "nation within a nation" statement was an attempt to distract from the COVID-19 situation in Saskatchewan.

"We have a horrendous COVID death rate right now. The premier couldn't even keep his own citizens safe and had to rely on federal help to come in and fly Saskatchewan residents to Ontario."

Sarauer said Moe should be advocating for the province federally, but that Saskatchewan "is a province — a very important province," rather than a nation.

WATCH | Premier Scott Moe says he does not expect more COVID-19 patients to be transferred outside the province:

5 of Saskatchewan’s transferred ICU patients have died in Ontario

1 day ago

12:46

Premier Scott Moe says he does not expect more COVID patients to be transferred outside the province for care, as hospitalizations and ICU numbers are declining. 12:46

Sarauer agreed with Moe's position that the federal government should have consulted with provinces before announcing an emissions cap plan.

"I think it's really important that the federal government not do anything unilaterally. It's important to ensure that the voices of all the provinces, including Saskatchewan, are at the table and making sure that what is decided works for the province."

Maverick, Buffalo parties endorse message

Two Prairie-based political parties that have advocated for western independence endorsed Moe's message on social media on Tuesday.

This included the Maverick Party, formerly Wexit Canada, which recently ran candidates in Western Canada in the federal election.

"FINALLY! A Western Premier ready to stand up to Ottawa!" Maverick Leader Jay Hill tweeted Tuesday.

The Buffalo Party, formerly Wexit Saskatchewan, ran 17 candidates in the 2020 Saskatchewan provincial election.

ENTRENCH ENGLISH AND PROTESTANTISM WHICH WOULD CONTRADICT THE MANITOBA ACT WHICH GUARANTEE'S FRENCH LANGUAGE RIGHTS FOR CATHOLIC CANADIANS IN WESTERN CANADA, MAN, SASK, AB, NWT

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for RIEL

On Twitter, the party applauded Moe "for taking the time to read our platform, and marketing it for us."

That platform includes "a provincial police force, provincially controlled immigration, and control of our own taxes," the party's tweet read.

The Saskatchewan government under Moe's leadership has made no secret about its wishes for more autonomy.

After the 2020 provincial election, Moe promised a "strong and independent Saskatchewan" in his victory speech. When asked if that was a reference to separation, Moe said he did not support that idea.

"Saskatchewan is a strong and independent province. But we also are a part of the nation of Canada," Moe said at the time.

After the 2019 federal election, Moe met with Trudeau. Following that meeting, he told the media in Ottawa Saskatchewan would be seeking ways to enhance its autonomy.

THE RESULT OF A TORNADO

King tide submerges Jericho Pier in Vancouver

Megan Devlin
Nov 10 2021,

@parkboard/twitter

A larger-than-normal king tide has been flooding ocean-facing pathways around Vancouver this week. The latest place to become submerged is the Jericho Pier.

The Vancouver Park Board tweeted Tuesday that they’ve closed the pier for repairs after the tide rose above its wooden planks.

“We will post an update once it has safely reopened,” the Park Board said.

The king tide also swallowed parts of the Yaletown seawall Tuesday, completely overtaking a section near David Lam Park.

Video captured Tuesday morning shows a kayaker paddling very close to the area that’s normally dry land.

“You could dock a boat here,” resident Linds Rosso said in a video she took of the phenomenon.

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King tides are extremely high tides that happen twice a year when the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces reinforce each other.

Daily Hive has reached out to the Park Board for more information on king tide damage this year but has not yet heard back.

Parts of the Yaletown seawall were under water this morning (VIDEO)

Megan Devlin
Nov 9 2021

@lindsrosso/Instagram

Sections of the seawall surrounding Vancouver’s Yaletown and Kitsilano neighbourhoods were submerged Tuesday morning, much to the surprise of locals who enjoy walking along the waterfront path.

Sections of the seawall in David Lam Park were under several inches of water, leaving a wire fence meant to protect pedestrians sticking out of False Creek.

“You could dock a boat here,” Linds Rosso said in a video posted to Instagram, where a kayaker paddles next to the underwater path.

“Wow, I’ve never seen that,” Rosso said. “I walk here every morning.”

How Vancouver, B.C, pulled off the tornado upset of the century

Monday, November 8th 2021, 9:43 pm - If there's ever a tornado season in the Pacific Northwest, it's the fall where water temperatures are still relatively warm

A November tornado is extremely rare in Canada.

So it probably comes as a bit of a shock that it happened, but in the City of Vancouver? That's next-level rare, but I'll show you it certainly wasn't that far-fetched -- particularly with all of the convective ingredients available.

If there's ever a tornado season in the Pacific Northwest, it's the fall where water temperatures are still relatively warm. Add record-breaking Siberian air into the mix, and it's a recipe for an atmospheric mistake of epic proportions.

final3

If you sampled the observations around 4 p.m. local time on Nov. 6, 2021 at Vancouver International Airport, the hour before tornado touchdown, you'd see a temperature reading of just 6°C. A temperature that doesn't support instability, although the dew point was 5°C.

That's important because the low-level environment was nearly saturated. If you'd raise a parcel of air, the packet of air would quickly condense and form clouds at the lifting condensation level; and that was just 500 metres or so over the surface of the Salish Sea.

Speaking of the water, this is where the low-level instability is enhanced -- in part because of the relatively warmer water temperatures. Buoys measured the water temperature at 10°C, which increased storm available energy.

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The final ingredient at the surface was a seemingly innocuous easterly wind. Models indicated a southerly wind would dominate the day, but that environment changed as an easterly wind blossomed. It increased the amount of directional shear, wind direction morphing with height, increasing the threat for rotating thunderstorms.

Still, even with these parameters in place, there wouldn't have been a tornado. We need to look up, way up, where the atmosphere was brewing something extreme.

A record-cold air mass engulfed much of the South Coast and the Pacific Northwest. At about 6 km aloft, the temperatures were below -30°C. It encourages parcels of air to continue to rise, but not necessarily rotate. That's where the pivotal trough comes into play, swinging in at the opportune time: Late afternoon.

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The winds associated with the trough were around 45 knots out of the southwest -- maximizing the amount of storm rotation in the atmosphere. Computer models underestimated this parameter.

The pockets of energy and lift in the trough were able to initiate convection.

SPIN WITHIN SPIN

The main low was well north of Vancouver Island. We'll call this the parent low, but a more insidious low was nestled in the Strait of Georgia, called a mesoscale low.

unnamed (2)

These lows are relatively common for the Georgia Strait and develop, in part, because of the topography in the area. There's evidence that the mountains and terrain can aid in storm rotation, as well. Air flows over mountainous terrain, leaving a pressure void at the surface; consequently, this enhances the available spin for a given storm.

It won't be the last tornado for the Lower Mainland, but it's a much more rare beast compared to the non-supercell waterspouts that can typically dance over the waters of the Georgia Strait.

Thumbnail courtesy of Shane Sidsworth/Submitted.

‘You can’t live in a swamp’: Virginia fishing village threatened by rising sea levels

A new study found that Tangier Island is losing ground faster than previously thought, highlighting how climate change threatens U.S. coastal communities.

The sun sets in Tangier, Va., on May 15, 2017, where climate change and rising sea levels threaten the inhabitants of the slowly sinking island.

Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images file

Nov. 10, 2021, 1:32 PM MST
By Evan Bush

Tangier Island, home to a Virginia fishing town and about 400 people, could be saturated by rising seas and convert to uninhabitable wetlands by 2051, according to an analysis released Monday.

The tiny island, which drew national attention for its residents’ support of former President Donald Trump and skepticism of climate change, is one of many Chesapeake Bay islands sinking because of local sea level rise and subsidence. People have lived on the island since the 18th century, but the residents could soon face displacement.

The new study, published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Climate, estimates that it would cost about $150 million to relocate the town of Tangier’s residents and as much as $350 million to bulk up the island and protect its shoreline.

The quick timeline and steep costs for relocating a single small town illustrate the challenges the United States faces as sea levels rise and flooding increasingly threatens coastal communities. Millions of Americans could be forced to move from flood-prone areas by the year 2100, according to the 2018 U.S. national climate assessment. No federal agency has the authority to lead national assistance on climate migration efforts, a 2020 Government Accountability Office report said.

“What people are going to start realizing quickly, dealing with climate change is going to be an extremely expensive undertaking,” said Dave Schulte, a scientist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and one of the paper’s two authors. “A lot of towns and cities are going to have similar estimates, and I have no idea where we’re going to get that money.”

‘Not sold’

Tangier is the kind of place where churches are at the core of the community, kids cruise the streets on bicycles, parents don’t worry about them and the sunset reminds you why you love home, said James “Ooker” Eskridge, a waterman who serves as the “close-knit” community’s mayor.

Tangier is mostly white and working class, and its economy since the 1880s has centered on fishing, crabbing and oystering, said Jonna Yarrington, an anthropologist at the University of Virginia who lived on the island for about a year, wrote a dissertation about Tangier and is working on a book about it. In recent decades, job opportunities have declined and the population has dwindled, Yarrington said.

Today, the island is a haven for blue crab, Conservative political views and journalists, drawn in recent years to the tale of a “Trump-loving” island of “climate skeptics” whose home faces an existential threat.

Benjamin Eskridge, left, carries a crab trap while helping his grandfather Allen Crocket prepare for the next day of crabbing in Tangier, Va., on May 15, 2017. Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images file

It’s an image embraced by Eskridge, who welcomes reporters in hopes media attention might help save the island.

Eskridge said he’s personally not convinced humans are the cause of climate change, and he’s unsure what can — or should — be done about it.

“I think we need to adjust to it, but as far as stopping it, I’m not sold,” he said. In his view, it’s erosion that is bedeviling the island. (Sea level rise can exacerbate coastal erosion. The study found that sea level rise is driving the sinking of Tangier and that stopping coastal erosion alone wouldn’t save the town.)

While many Tangier residents might not agree that climate change is the culprit, they’ve watched their island shrink for decades.

Exodus by 2053

Last spring, when Zehao Wu, now 18, brought his computer into the family living room to show off the results of the project he’d been fiddling with for weeks, his dad “jumped out of his chair.”

For years, Schulte, Wu’s father, had been talking about Tangier Island around the dinner table, often venting frustration at how little action had been taken to help communities like it.

Schulte, a marine scientist based in Norfolk, Virginia, had published a paper in 2015 in Scientific Reports predicting Tangier might soon need to be abandoned. The 2015 study said the land mass was on pace to be lost in the next 50 years.

The paper stirred media interest but no commitment from policymakers to save the town. And Schulte felt that people misunderstood the cause of Tangier’s problems — that accelerating sea level rise is to blame.

In 2017, after CNN aired a segment that noted Tangier Island’s support of Trump, the president himself phoned Eskridge to tell him not to worry about sea level rise and that the town would last for hundreds more years.

Wu’s computer screen last spring said otherwise.

In this May 27, 2012, photo, an Osprey sits atop a cross erected in
the waterway leading to the harbor of Tangier Island, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

Data analysis of satellite mapping showed that Tangier Island had lost nearly 62 percent of its upland area since 1967.

“I was really astounded at the change. It was much larger than I thought I knew at that time,” Schulte said.

Over the next months, on weekends and after high school classes, Wu pulled up a bean bag chair beside his father’s desk, and the pair worked side-by-side to finish their paper explaining the pace at which data suggests seawater will saturate the island.

“My science teacher is really pumped,” said Wu, who worries that poor and disadvantaged communities will be left behind as the nation adapts to climate change.

The study paints a disquieting picture for Tangier Island. More than two-thirds of the island’s land mass is gone. Most individual properties now contain wetland areas. Two of the islands’ ridges are expected to become wetland in the 2030s, with the third expected to succumb by 2051, the paper states.

The rate of relative sea level rise has accelerated. A model of Tangier’s population decline, which predicts a total exodus by 2053, shows that it trends similarly to the decline in habitable land.

“You can’t live in a swamp,” Wu said.

A grave stone rests on the beach where a cemetery once stood but has been washed away due to erosion in an area called Canaan in Tangier, Va., on May 16, 2017.Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images file

Even if coastal erosion were stopped, the town would still need to be abandoned because of sea level rise, the study says.

For Tangier Island, “All the data are pointing to the same conclusion. This is a very well done study,” said Tal Ezer, a professor of Ocean & Earth sciences at Old Dominion University who was not involved in the Tangier paper. “This island has been in the news and it’s the most at risk, but there are some other communities near the coast along the Chesapeake Bay and mid-Atlantic that are also at risk.”

Scientists view the greater Chesapeake Bay area as a hotspot for local sea level rise.

The southern part of the bay has been sinking for centuries. Ice Age glaciers once laid across land to the north, pressing down on that area and causing Chesapeake Bay land to rise higher. Now, it’s settling, Ezer said. Ocean circulation patterns might also be contributing to make local sea level rise more significant than the global average.

Storm surge

In the days before the study was published, a nor’easter and high tides battered Tangier Island, Eskridge said. It flooded at least 10 of the island’s 210 homes. Platforms for crab pots collapsed and crab shanties were damaged.

“Even guys in their 80s hadn’t seen the water so high before,” Eskridge said. “This time, homes got water that never had to worry about it before.”

Eskridge and Schulte might not agree on what is causing Tangier’s demise, but they share a similar hope for its future. The island needs help soon, they say.

The local fishing community is mostly self reliant, “but this erosion issue is too large to deal with,” Eskridge said. “We do need help from the government to do it.”

Schulte estimates that it would take $250 million to 350 million to protect the island’s shoreline with stone and oyster reefs, raise the landscape with dredged sand and then retrofit much of the town’s infrastructure. (Eskridge thinks the island could be built up and protected for a fraction of that cost.)

“If America decides to save things in the order of what’s economically productive, all these small towns like Tangier are going to get abandoned,” Schulte said. “I think it’s worth the effort to save the town.”

CALGARY

More parents demand HEPA filters in classrooms as cases increase for young children

More parents are raising concerns around why public schools won’t allow HEPA filters in classrooms to reduce COVID spread, just as new data shows a spike in cases among five to 11 year olds.

Amanda Hu, spokeswoman for Fresh Air Network, an Alberta parent advocacy group fighting for better ventilation, says it’s time schools recognize COVID as an airborne virus and that students in classrooms get the protection of filtration.

“We know this virus is airborne, that infectious particles are coming out of mouths, and out of noses, and are being emitted into the air,” Hu said.

“HEPA filters, very simply, pull in the air with infectious particles through a filter, and emit air that no longer has those infectious particles. Why not provide that extra layer of protection?”

Alberta anti-abortion party brings in more than $200K after years of inactivity

Pro-Life Alberta is not aiming to govern but does want to

make abortion an election issue

Stephen David Cook · CBC News · Posted: Nov 09, 2021

Alberta's Pro-Life Alberta Political Association, which grew out of the long-dormant Social Credit party, aims to bring the abortion issue back into political discourse at the provincial level. (Josee St-Onge/ CBC)

An anti-abortion party in Alberta that in 2020 had just $30 in the bank has raised nearly $217,000 in contributions this year.

According to Elections Alberta, in the first three quarters of 2021 the Pro-Life Alberta Political Association out-fundraised each of the Wildrose Independence Party, the Alberta Party and the Alberta Liberals.

The amount, still leagues below the millions of dollars raised by the United Conservative Party and the New Democratic Party, is a seismic shift for a single-issue political organization that has been largely inactive for years.

Executive director Richard Dur credited the revival to two things: an unsolicited $20 donation in February from a supporter in Red Deer that motivated party organizers; and a growing frustration that anti-abortion views were not being addressed provincially.

"It's our aim then to make the right-to-life issue an issue that is talked about during an election campaign, when other political parties might perhaps rather ignore that issue," he said.

The fact that a controversial conscience-rights bill, known as Bill 207, died before reaching the Legislative Assembly in a UCP-dominated committee was also a motivator, Dur said.

"We would be naive to simply rely on something to happen there," he said.

Party reactivation

The party started as a 2017 takeover of the Christian-based, right-wing Alberta Social Credit Party, which formed government in the mid-20th century but fell into political irrelevance in following decades.

Initially, the reactivated party ran only one candidate during the 2019 election — garnering 60 votes in Calgary-Currie — and brought in no contributions between 2018 and 2020.

Its financial statement for last year shows cash holdings of $32.31.

But the first three quarters of 2021 the party brought in $216,814, with around 75 per cent of contributions being $250 or under.

The Pro-Life Alberta Political Association advertises on its website that because it is a political party, contributions up to $200 receive 75 per cent tax credit, far more than the approximately 25 per cent tax credit for a similar donation to a charity.

Charities are also barred from directly or indirectly supporting or opposing political parties or candidates.

The party's executive director, Richard Dur, says it is still organizing and exploring how best to engage with the public., but it has started running radio ads. (Submitted by Pro-Life Alberta Political Association)

Dur said the volunteer-run party does not aim to form government. It is still organizing but has started running radio ads and does not rule out putting forward candidates in the next election, he said.

Kathy Dawson, a board member with Alberta's Pro-Choice Coalition, which advocates for women's right to abortion, said she has a few concerns with the party, including its access to the province's list of electors.

She said the group being able to advertise with no spending limits during non-election periods is also an issue.

"We've got enough misinformation on health out there without them jumping into the fray," Dawson said.

Abortion law

In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down criminal regulation of abortion as a violation of the charter — no law has been installed to replace it.

The party says one way to limit abortion would be to put in place measures provincially to deter the medical procedure, including elimination of public funding for it.

Provinces do have some control over health-care spending, but defunding abortion would be fraught with challenges, according to University of Alberta law professor Erin Nelson.

"If a province were to stop funding a service that is considered medically necessary, then they would face repercussions from the federal government," Nelson said.

The federal government can withhold funding if it deems a province is not complying with the Canada Health Act, she said.

Ontario's highest court rules doctors must give referrals for services they oppose

ASK CBC NEWS
Abortion is legal. Why is it still an election issue?

Other party goals include requiring notification of parents or guardians when an abortion is scheduled for someone under the age of 16 and practices more commonly seen in the United States, such as requiring certain information be given to a pregnant person or obliging them to undergo an ultrasound pre-procedure.

Nelson said that would likely see pushback from health-care providers, who have a lot of autonomy in how to approach their practice.

"The idea that we would list an itemized checklist of what has to be told to a patient is not something that I have encountered before," she said.

MORE UCP BULLSHIT

Alberta 'cannot keep pace' on affordable housing, UCP wants private partners

Alberta Minister of Housing and Seniors Josephine Pon takes questions

from reporters on Nov. 1, 2021.

Sean Amato
CTV News Edmonton
Published Nov. 9, 2021

EDMONTON -

Alberta's minister of seniors and housing says the province needs to sell off some of its existing affordable homes in order to fund 25,000 new units by 2032, a plan that has drawn criticism.

Josephine Pon proposed a private-public partnership (P3) last week which could see Alberta assess all publicly-owned housing so undesirable assets can be sold to private companies or non-profit groups.

She added that all proceeds would be reinvested into housing programs.

RELATED STORIES
'We will focus on people': Alberta releases 10-year strategy for affordable housing

"It is clear, government investment alone cannot keep pace with the growing demand," Pon claimed in a Nov. 1 news conference.

"I know some people may say we are taking a step to privatization, let me be clear this is not true."

Alberta officials would not provide any details on the number of units for sale, when they would be listed or how much the government is hoping to collect.

But Pon's plan is flawed, a local advocate told CTV News Edmonton.

Erick Ambtman, who runs End Poverty Edmonton, said for-profit companies aren’t interested in entering the social housing market, unless they can make money.

"The only way to incentivize private businesses to operate below market housing is to pay the difference. In a lot of ways they are just not incentivized to be in that game," Ambtman argued.

"There are a lot of families in need, I think we can say this is a crisis."

Ambtman estimates there are about 10,000 Edmontonians waiting for affordable housing.

'BUILD MORE HOUSING, NOT SELL IT': NDP

Alberta currently has 57,000 affordable housing units, serving about 110,000 residents.

One of those residents is Nadine Chalifoux.

She's lived in several affordable housing units over the years and said whatever the government provides is better than shelters or the streets.

"I could not pay my rent, have food and pay my bills (without government support). When I moved in here I had a whole new sense of self…When you are on the streets it's just survivor mode," Chalifoux said.

The NDP has been critical of Pon's P3 plan.

"The government needs to build more housing, not sell it," Lori Sigurdson, NDP critic for seniors and housing, said on Nov. 1.

"I am worried the UCP are trying to avoid their responsibility to provide safe housing to Albertans in this bill."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Chelan Skulski and Adam Lachacz

Toronto passes controversial rule forcing developers to build affordable homes

Well, it happened: Toronto will finally be moving forward with a long-discussed Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) policy designed to make living in the city more affordable.

This afternoon, city councillors voted overwhelmingly to approve the implementation of guidelines that will force developers to build affordable rental and ownership units within certain residential developments in portions of the city starting in 2022.

This long-discussed planning tool aimed at improving housing affordability in one of the most expensive cities on the continent took a leap forward in late October when the city's Planning and Housing Committee voted to approve a staff report that advanced the policy.

That vote paved the way for the policy's final judgement day. And IZ was the top item at Tuesday's council meeting, with longwinded questions, detailed explanations, and debates dragging the issue on well into the afternoon.

Motions by councillors seemed to be pulling in both directions.

Mayor John Tory summed it up perfectly, stressing that council is never going to agree entirely on any given issue, but that the range of opinions evens out at a need to make changes to the system.

"When you have two polar opposites that are coming at you in respect to opinions on something, with one side saying you're doing too little and the other side saying too much, you probably, within the margins, have arrived at about the right place with the kind of balance you need in order to achieve what you're setting out to do," said Tory.

"Which in this case is to get affordable housing built."

After several motions by council members and some pretty spirited speeches on the topic, it was finally time to vote.

And the results were almost unanimous in support of IZ. Only two councillors voted against the IZ report, unsurprisingly Michael Ford and Stephen Holyday, the motion carrying by a vote of 23-2.

With the biggest hurdle now in the books, the policy will next have its final recommended Implementation Guidelines submitted in the first half of 2022.

Between five and 10 per cent of condominium developments would be subject to the rules, though this rate would increase gradually to 22 per cent by 2030.

Units secured under the IZ policy will go to households with an annual income of between $32,486 and $91,611, and will be maintained as affordable for 99 years after their construction.

"No two cities have the same Inclusionary Zoning policy," said Deputy Mayor Ana Bailão, who also chairs the city's Planning and Housing Committee.

"The implementation of this made-for-Toronto program is balanced, forward-looking and equitable," said Bailão.

"It will provide longer and deeper affordability for our residents who find it difficult to manage on a limited income, and help us to reach the City's target of more than 40,000 affordable rental and ownership homes by 2030."

Alberta 1st in federal spending growth, still a 'have' province: U of C economist

Sean Amato
CTV News Edmonton
Published Nov. 9, 2021

EDMONTON -

For the first time since the 1960s, Alberta received more in federal spending than its taxpayers sent to Ottawa, but so did every other province.

New data released Tuesday by Statistics Canada showed Alberta's "fiscal gap" in 2020 was a net negative in Ottawa's budget, according to numbers crunched and tweeted by an economics professor based in Calgary.

"The federal spending dramatically increased everywhere, but Alberta saw a larger increase per person than any other province," Trevor Tombe said in an interview with CTV News Edmonton.

But this doesn't necessarily qualify Alberta as a "have not" province.

That label is usually attached to provinces that receive from the equalization program, which is a part of Tombe's "fiscal gap" calculations, but not all of it.

Despite the province's GDP crashing by -7.9 per cent in 2020, Alberta still led the country in wealth generated per person at more than $65,000, just ahead of Saskatchewan.

"There's not a lot to celebrate in today's data. Every single province had their economy contract significantly," Tombe said.

"Us receiving more in federal spending, doesn't mean we are going to qualify for equalization. We don't know yet, but I would bet very strongly that we will not qualify for equalization."

Alberta, B.C. and Ontario were net contributors to fiscal transfers, while the rest were recipients, his data showed.

Tombe doesn't think this will change the "Fair Deal" push in Alberta, but said it does hurt the separatist movement, because it highlights a "pooled risk" of provinces during major world events.

"Because Alberta suffered the most and received the most in federal spending, I think it does illustrate some value of why we're in confederation," he said.

University of Calgary Economics Professor Trevor Tombe on Nov. 9, 2021.

Sask. environmental group pushes for change as premier pans federal oil, gas emissions cap plan

Falling short of doing 'fair share' to help meet emissions

reduction obligations: Sask. Environmental Society

Emily Pasiuk · CBC News · Posted: Nov 09, 2021

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe said the province wants more autonomy on many issues, including climate policy. (Liam Richards/The Canadian Press)

A Saskatchewan environmental group is calling on the provincial government to think bigger when it comes to cutting emissions, as the United Nations COP26 climate change summit continues for its second week.

"If Saskatchewan were a country, we would have the highest per capita greenhouse gas emissions in the world," a report from the Saskatchewan Environmental Society says.

The province now has higher annual greenhouse gas emissions than northern European countries with much larger populations such as Finland, Sweden and Norway, the report says.

The environmental organization says it is concerned that Saskatchewan doesn't have a plan for deeper emissions cuts, and released 25 recommendations for the provincial government to consider on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Premier Scott Moe blasted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's performance and proposals at COP26, a sign that the two are still at odds over climate policy and the way forward.

In a video posted to Twitter on Sunday, he criticized Trudeau and other government officials of hypocrisy for flying to the conference in Scotland "to lecture the rest of us about how we should change our behaviour."

Canada will put a cap on oil and gas sector emissions, Trudeau tells COP26 summit

Premier Moe wants Saskatchewan to be a 'nation within a nation' by increasing autonomy

At the climate conference last week, Trudeau announced that Canada will impose a hard cap on emissions from the oil and gas sector — a plan Moe told reporters Tuesday his government was not consulted on.

"It's going to increase the price of of gasoline for all Canadians for a long time, and it's going to increase emissions worldwide," Moe said.

Steven Guilbeault, the federal environment minister, "did not so much as give a phone call to our environment ministers to say, 'We're thinking about this policy. We know it will have an impact on 30,000 families in Saskatchewan. What are your thoughts on it?'" Moe said.

"That call was never made. That is not a way to run a nation."

No new natural gas power stations: SES

In a news release announcing its 25 recommendations, the Saskatchewan Environmental Society said provincial action is needed to curb emissions, and "it can't be left to Ottawa alone to provide leadership."

Saskatchewan's 2017 Prairie Resilience climate change plan included measures that "were a step forward, but they are insufficient in the face of the climate emergency the world faces," the group's report says.

"Today they fall far short of what is needed for Saskatchewan to do its 'fair share' in helping Canada meet its emission reduction obligations to the United Nations."

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Saskatchewan's emission numbers make us a world leader in the worst way possible

Peter Prebble, a board member with the Saskatchewan Environmental Society, said among many things, the province should not build any new natural gas power stations.

"If we want carbon neutrality in Saskatchewan by 2050, we need to have a carbon-neutral grid by 2035 to 2040," he said during a news conference Tuesday.

Investing in more solar power, reopening talks with Manitoba about importing hydro power and working with the federal government to ship more goods by rail are all things the society said could help.

Prebble did say that oil and gas emissions have gone down in recent years, but said that was largely due to federal government policies.