Ontario gave $210M in COVID-19 support to ineligible businesses, auditor general's report finds

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Premier Doug Ford responds to report, saying province

 moved quickly to support businesses

The Canadian Press · Posted: Dec 01, 2021 

Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk has released her annual report, which looked at pandemic support for businesses, among a wide range of other topics. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press)

Ontario businesses that weren't eligible for pandemic relief programs received more than $200 million in provincial supports, others were given more money than they lost, and some hard-hit vendors were excluded altogether, the province's auditor general has found.

That's one of the findings in Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk's annual report, which looked at pandemic support for businesses among a total of 18 topics.

The topics covered by the report include: the use of ministerial zoning orders (MZOs) to fast-track development, Ontario Provincial Police staffing shortages stemming from medical leave, wait times for outpatient surgeries, and a lack of age verification controls by the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation, among other areas.

Pandemic programs for businesses totalled $11.2 billion, or about a third of the money allocated for provincial COVID-19 relief. But the auditor found those programs lacked clear goals or consultation with the most-affected businesses, and eligibility criteria was poorly defined, allowing thousands of ineligible businesses to receive the funds.

"Given the amount of money, the absence of better controls or assessment processes is troubling," Lysyk said in a statement.

Better controls needed 'even in a crisis': auditor

"Even in a crisis, systems should be in place to make sure that only eligible businesses receive taxpayer dollars, and program funds reach those who need it most."

One such program was the Ontario Small Business Support Grant, which the audit found lacked controls to weed out ineligible applicants. That meant $210 million went to 14,500 ineligible recipients — which the province isn't trying to recover — and another $6 million in payments is still being investigated.

The audit found that nearly half of businesses that received grants got more money than they actually lost in revenue, to a total difference of more than about $714 million.

The province also paid $16 million in property tax and energy rebates to more than 3,000 ineligible businesses, and the audit also flagged issues with the Ontario Together fund, which offered help to businesses shifting their operations to assist with the province's pandemic response.

In one case, a $1.8-million contract with that program went to a business that went bankrupt within eight months. In two instances, the audit found the Economic Development Ministry did not identify a potential conflict of interest, including when the CEO of a company that received $2.5 million was part of the COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force.

"It's not acceptable. There should have been a declaration of a conflict of interest," Lysyk said. 

'I think more people benefited than got hurt': Ford

Payouts for COVID business relief funds haven't been tracked centrally, the audit said, so the province doesn't know how effective programs were at helping people or if the money went to the intended recipients.

Hard-hit businesses that lost revenue but didn't have to close during the pandemic weren't eligible to receive funds, the auditor's report noted.

When asked about the findings, Premier Doug Ford said the province moved quickly to support businesses when the pandemic hit.

"When we're rushing the money out the door to support the small businesses that were in desperate need of it, unfortunately, you're going to see some fraud," he said.

"We're going to always continue looking into it, seeing where we can improve, but there's a lot of people that were supported to a tune of $3.3 billion ... I think more people benefited than got hurt."

MZOs used often to fast-track development: auditor

The report also found the government is employing a previously little-used land-planning tool to fast-track development and circumvent normal planning processes.

The audit by Lysyk's office says the government issued 44 Minister's Zoning Orders between March 2019 and March 2021, when in the past, about one was issued per year.

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It found that 17 of the 44 orders were issued to the same seven development groups or companies.

Lysyk says MZOs were originally intended to be issued in special circumstances, but the government is using them as a tool to overcome potential barriers and delays to development.

She also says there are no established criteria by which the minister assesses requests for the orders, so it's hard to know what factors he considered when making decisions.

The auditor noted that the government also recently expanded its power to override local authority, with increased powers for MZOs as part of COVID-19 economic recovery legislation.

Here are some of the report's other highlights:

• More than 80 per cent of the province's emergency stockpile of PPE had expired by 2017 and the Ministry of Health had begun destroying expired PPE without replacing it.

• Medical leave taken by OPP officers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder significantly contributes to increasing front-line vacancies at detachments across the province and many municipalities are getting less service than they should.

• The Ontario Securities Commission imposed $525 million in fines between 2011-12 and 2020-21, but collected only 28 per cent of that.

• The government gave $9.8 million to the Ontario Centre for Innovation for small- and medium-sized businesses to use a 5G network test platform and create or retain 3,000 jobs, but participants only created or retained 320 jobs.

• Wait times for outpatient surgeries vary across the province. For example, in 2019-20 patients waited 98 days for total knee joint replacement surgery in the Toronto region, but they waited 322 days in the Western region.

• The government spent $389 million on assisted living services for more than 23,000 Ontarians last year, but it's often unaware of how many hours service agencies are providing and doesn't effectively monitor programs.

• The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation doesn't have sufficient age verification controls to prevent minors from buying cannabis online or receiving deliveries.

• Of a sample of private career colleges the auditor looked at, 33 per cent of them were charging students higher fees than they told the government. There are three times the number of international students at Ontario's public colleges compared to almost a decade ago. The auditor said those institutions are relying on the foreign tuition for their financial health, which is risky.

BOSTON 

More than 400 Cambridge students walk out of classes protesting sexual assaults and harassment

By Naomi Martin 

Boston Globe Staff,

Updated November 30, 2021

Students protesting sexual assaults walked out Tuesday from classes at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, shown here in May when full-time in-person classes resumed following pandemic-induced closures.

JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBE STAFF


Hundreds of students walked out of classes at a Cambridge public high school Tuesday in protest of sexual assaults, sexual harassment, and their impact on the school community, officials said.

The demonstration, which follows two large recent student walkouts in Quincy and Braintree protesting racism, was organized by students calling for a heightened educational focus on sexual consent and other measures. Cambridge Superintendent Victoria Greer vowed to listen and work to address students’ concerns.

“When I see incidents like this happen, I think of how can we support our students, ensure their voices are heard, and address any needs for improvement,” Greer told the Globe. “This is one of those moments, we use it as a teachable moment, and we use it to make improvements collaboratively that we all want to see happen.”

Between 400 and 500 students left class at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School at 10:15 a.m. and continued protesting through at least 12:20 p.m., Principal Damon Smith told families in an email.

Several students spoke about their personal experiences. School social workers and deans were working to follow up with those students and the school set up spaces for students to access support, Smith said.

The protest did not seem to be sparked by anything recent, though officials are still investigating, Greer said. Greer did not attend the protest but said she learned that students shared personal stories there that involved incidents from prior school years that occurred off-campus at private homes or parties.

“We’re doing an extensive investigation to make sure there has not been a recent incident that were not aware of,” Greer said.

Greer said the students made three demands of administrators: mandatory education for 9th graders, including student athletes, on sexual consent; student-led conversations about sexual assault and harassment; and an update to the high school’s incident reporting system to ensure that reports are investigated

Greer, who started as superintendent this school year, said she already had requested the Cambridge School Committee update the school’s health and wellness education policy as part of a routine review. The school has implemented a new curriculum that discusses sexual harassment and sexual assault, she added.

Greer said she also has been working to revamp incident-reporting procedures to allow people to report to multiple people, including people outside the school. And she said she was interested in fostering student conversations, though she cautioned that topics such as sexual assault and harassment must be handled carefully due to their sensitive nature so she wanted to move cautiously on that request.

“I’m not opposed to it,” Greer said. “I just want to make sure that we’re doing it in a way that we’re not causing further harm.”

The demonstration comes after two separate large student walkouts at local high schools in recent weeks, prompting leaders to vow to listen and try to address students’ concerns.

On Nov. 12, hundreds of students left classes at Quincy High School to protest the administration’s handling of racism by students after two students’ recordings circulated on social media that used racist language.

On Nov. 15, at least 300 students walked out of their classes at Braintree High School, protesting what they viewed as the administration’s inadequate response to racist episodes involving students, including students using the n-word, students making fun of a Black teacher’s accent, as well as other derogatory terms and microaggressions directed at people of color.

Naomi Martin can be reached at naomi.martin@globe.com.

Australian mining giant looks to Canada for green hydrogen projects

The logo of Australia’s Fortescue Metals Group can be seen on a bulk carrier as it is loaded with iron ore at the coastal town of Port Hedland in Western Australia on Nov. 29, 2018.MELANIE BURTON/Reuters

An Australian mining giant has signed agreements with three Canadian Indigenous nations to determine the viability of building green hydrogen projects as the company attempts to reinvent itself as a supplier of clean renewable energy.

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) sees Canada as potentially one of the largest sources of renewable energy in the world and is hoping to develop multiple large-scale green energy projects here.

“We have scouted over 60 countries in the last 18 months, looking for where there are strong renewable resources and governments that are supportive of the green hydrogen industry,” FFI chief executive officer Julie Shuttleworth said in an interview. “We think Canada is very attractive. It is resource-rich and there is a strong government support for decarbonizing.”

Ms. Shuttleworth recently signed three memoranda of understandings with the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation in British Columbia, northern Manitoba’s Fox Lake Cree Nation and the Innu Nation in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The agreements give FFI the right to set up hydroelectric dams and wind-farm sites to determine if they can be used to produce green hydrogen to power everything from ships, locomotives, trucks and heavy industry. While other forms of hydrogen produce emissions, green hydrogen is carbon-free.

“These are multibillion-dollar projects so we would aim to have some of the first projects producing green hydrogen by 2025,” she said. “We are trying to create green hydrogen projects for domestic consumption in Canada and then for export.”

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The feasibility studies for B.C., northern Manitoba and northern Labrador can take one to three years because it includes negotiations to develop job training and social programs for Indigenous people. FFI is also in discussions with other First Nations in Canada, Ms. Shuttleworth said.

“It means good opportunities to produce green renewal hydrogen and hopefully there are royalties as well,” Chief Morris Beardy of the Fox Lake Cree Nation said in an interview.

Grand Chief Etienne Rich of the Innu Nation said his people are hopeful that the feasibility projects will lead to green hydrogen projects in Labrador that will create jobs but also meet Canada’s emissions-reduction goals.

Ms. Shuttleworth’s involvement in cutting-edge clean energy production led to her selection as one of only six CEOs worldwide to address world leaders during the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow last month.

FFI has recently signed agreements with Papua New Guinea to develop up to seven hydropower projects and 11 geothermal energy projects and concluded a deal to become the largest supplier of green hydrogen to Britain. It also struck a deal with Jordan to develop green hydrogen production through potentially large-scale wind and solar energy production facilities.

FFI’s green hydrogen production is anticipated to grow to 15 million tonnes of green hydrogen (GH2) per year by 2030, accelerating to 50 million tonnes a year in the next decade.

“That’s 20 years ahead of every mining company,” Ms. Shuttleworth said. “We have also tested hydrogen in a truck, ammonia in a train, and we are testing ammonia in a ship. We want all our fleet to run on green products,” she said.

FFI, a subsidiary of iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., was set up last year to allow the company to diversify into green energy, a market that Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest predicts could generate revenues of US$12-trillion by 2050.

Physics-informed deep learning to assess carbon dioxide storage sites

by Gabrielle Stewart, Pennsylvania State University

This diagram shows the modeling framework for the physics-constrained deep learning 

algorithm. Credit: Parisa Shokouhi

Pumping carbon dioxide underground may help combat the warming of the atmosphere but finding appropriate underground sites that could safely serve as reservoirs can be complicated.

To address this complexity, a Penn State-led research team combined an artificial intelligence technique with an understanding of physics to develop an efficient, cost-effective predictive modeling approach. They published their results in the Journal of Contaminant Hydrology.

"Storing carbon dioxide underground is one environmentally friendly way to reduce the amount of the gas in the atmosphere," said Parisa Shokouhi, associate professor of engineering science and mechanics. "But the geological structure can be unfavorable to carbon dioxide injection. For example, if pressure surpasses a certain limit, there can be fractures, gas leakage and earthquakes, and if you over-inject with too much gas, you can have similar issues."

Numerical simulations, complex and detailed models used to help understand a problem that can't be easily defined otherwise, have been used to predict a potential site's response to carbon dioxide injection. These simulations, however, can be remarkably expensive and time-consuming to run. And for every new site being explored as a storage site candidate, a new numerical simulation must be run anew.

To avoid the cost and time commitment required with numerical simulation, the research team trained deep learning algorithms to make accurate predictions across a variety of scenarios. Learning from data produced by simulated scenarios of carbon dioxide in a 7,500-foot-deep reservoir, the algorithms were able to predict how carbon dioxide saturation and pressure would behave in new simulated systems.

The simulated training data approximate the performance of a system, from which the algorithms identify patterns they can use to make estimations on future behavior—but these patterns do not always obey the laws of physics. Although driven by data, the models can make inaccurate predictions for a system for many reasons, including inaccuracies in data. Limited training data may lead to estimations that are too specifically tailored to the dataset, a problem known as overfitting.

The researchers addressed this shortcoming by incorporating physics to refine the deep learning algorithms' predictions, developing models constrained by fundamental physics principles, such as the natural movements of subterranean liquids or for the law of conservation of mass. When physics-based discrepancies occurred, the team added a penalty to help the algorithm learn to correct the mistake.

This approach resulted in a model that was still less expensive and faster to use than a conventional numerical simulation, but more accurate than data-driven models and potentially more generalizable, according to Shokouhi.

"Using a physics-informed approach makes the model more versatile," she said. "Using just a data-driven model would make the predictions very specific to one domain, but our method allows us to get very accurate results even if you use the model on a site it wasn't trained on."

The research could enable reliable prediction software for use by scientists or operators in the field. A user could make selections for different injection options and, depending on the machine used, view predictions of the carbon dioxide behavior in a matter of seconds.

"We were able to get very accurate and fast prediction models," Shokouhi said. "One day, an operator or seismologist could use these models to be informed on how to make real-time, quick decisions about injecting carbon dioxide into the ground."

New method to predict stress at atomic scale

More information: Parisa Shokouhi et al, Physics-informed deep learning for prediction of CO2 storage site response, Journal of Contaminant Hydrology (2021). DOI: 10.1016/j.jconhyd.2021.103835

Provided by Pennsylvania State University 

As Canada ditches coal, Alberta bets on 'cheap' and 'temporary' natural gas

Jeff Lagerquist
Thu., December 2, 2021

Progress on Canada's goal to phase out traditional coal-fired electricity by 2030 is uneven across provinces still burning the world's dirtiest fossil fuel to generate power, according to a new study from the Pembina Institute.

The think tank found utilities in Alberta and Saskatchewan have made "considerably more progress" than peers in the Maritimes in their efforts to pivot away from coal. Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are the four provinces that still use coal to generate electricity.

"Utilities in Alberta are on track to phasing out coal by 2023 — decades ahead of original forecasts," Binnu Jeyakumar, Pembina's director of clean energy, stated in a news release on Thursday.

"Nova Scotia has committed to a 2030 coal phase-out and New Brunswick has now been mandated by the federal government to meet the same timeline. However, New Brunswick Power and Nova Scotia Power have yet to implement concrete plans to phase out coal by 2030."

Coal-burning Prairie and Maritime provinces are charting decidedly different paths away from coal. Utilities out west have mainly opted to convert coal units to burn natural gas, which also generates greenhouse gas emissions. Those in Atlantic provinces primarily plan to replace retired coal plants with cleaner nuclear, renewable, and imported hydropower sources.

"Alberta has abundant and cheap natural gas, the Maritimes don't. So while Alberta is also building renewables, the bulk of the replacement has been converting coal facilities to run on natural gas," University of Calgary energy economist Blake Shaffer told Yahoo Finance Canada in an email on Thursday.

"It's a cheap option as much of the infrastructure can simply be repurposed, and it's a temporary one as coal-to-gas conversions have an expiry date, and much of the infrastructure is old," he added.

Meanwhile, the shift to renewables is proving challenging in New Brunswick. Ottawa rejected a bid from the province last week for an equivalency agreement that would have allowed New Brunswick Power to continue operating the coal-fired Belledune Generating Station past the 2030 federal deadline.

Shaffer says while cheap and plentiful natural gas has given Western provinces a lead in the race to abandon coal, the pivot to another fossil fuel may only serve to delay a shift to greener sources of electricity.

"Eventually Alberta, too, will move beyond natural gas, or at least unabated natural gas, for its power," he said.

Currently, 81 per cent of Canada’s electricity is generated by non-emitting sources, according to the Pembina study. Beyond Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the country chiefly relies on hydroelectricity, with the exception of Ontario's nuclear power plants.

Jeff Lagerquist is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance Canada. Follow him on Twitter @jefflagerquist.

Antarctica volcano warning after scientists suggest eruption could cause 'sea level rise'

ANTARCTICA is home to a number of volcanoes that are hidden beneath its icy surface, with some scientists suggesting that an eruption could cause global sea levels to rise.

By JOEL DAY
Wed, Dec 1, 2021

Antarctica: Scientists find area where no life exists

Believe it or not, over 100 volcanoes are scattered across Antarctica. Scientists recently uncovered the largest volcanic region on Earth there, two kilometres beneath the surface of a vast ice sheet that covers the west side of the continent. One of the highest found was as tall as the Eiger — the famous mountain in Switzerland that stands at 3,967 metres.

The team from Edinburgh University, who made the discovery in 2017, claimed that the region was likely to dwarf that of East Africa's volcanic ridge, which was rated as having the densest concentration of volcanoes in the world.

At the moment, there are only two active volcanoes in Antarctica — Mount Erebus and Deception Island.

They are both unique in their geological makeup, completely different to many found around the world.


While scientists who work in and study Antarctica say that the volcanoes are unlikely to pose any real threat anytime soon, some have suggested that their eruption could have a knock-on effect around the world.

Antarctica: A volcanic eruption on the icy continent could lead to rising sea levels

 (Image: GETTY)

Deception Island: One of Antarctica's active volcanos 

(Image: GETTY)


John Smellie, Professor of Volcanology at the University of Leicester, previously suggested that any movement from these volcanoes could create significant amounts of melt water.

This water would then slowly stream into the sea, raising levels.

In 2017, he told The Conversation about the structure of these volcanoes: “The volcanoes would melt huge caverns in the base of the ice and create enormous quantities of meltwater.

“Because the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is wet, rather than frozen to its bed – imagine an ice cube on a kitchen worktop – the meltwater would act as a lubricant and could cause the overlying ice to slip and move more rapidly.

“These volcanoes can also stabilise the ice, however, as they give it something to grip onto – imagine that same ice cube snagging onto a lump-shaped object.

Research: Antarctic researchers pictured at the base of a mountain (Image: GETTY)

“In any case, the volume of water that would be generated by even a large volcano is a pinprick compared with the volume of overlying ice.

“So a single eruption won’t have much effect on the ice flow. What would make a big difference, is if several volcanoes erupt close to or beneath any of West Antarctica’s prominent ‘ice streams’."

When it comes to freshwater reserves, around 80 percent of the planet's stores are in Antarctica.

If melted, this would raise global sea levels by about 60 metres.

Scientists have pointed out that this would make the planet uninhabitable for humans.

Prof Smellie claimed that an eruption beneath the ice could cause this process to speed up: “Ice streams are rivers of ice that flow much faster than their surroundings.

“They are the zones along which most of the ice in Antarctica is delivered to the ocean, and therefore fluctuations in their speed can affect the sea level.

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Mount Erebus: Another active volcano on Antarctica (Image: GETTY)

Tectonic plates: Most of the worlds volcanoes are found around the edges of tectonic plates (Image: GETTY)

“If the additional ‘lubricant’ provided by multiple volcanic eruptions was channelled beneath ice streams, the subsequent rapid flow may dump unusual amounts of West Antarctica’s thick interior ice into the ocean, causing sea levels to rise.

“Under-ice volcanoes are probably what triggered a rapid flow of ancient ice streams into the vast Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica’s largest ice shelf.

“Something similar might have occurred about 2,000 years ago with a small volcano in the Hudson Mountains that lie underneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet – if it erupted again today it could cause the nearby Pine Island Glacier to speed up.”

Deadliest volcanoes: Some of the deadliest active volcanoes around the world

 (Image: Express Newspapers)

He added: "Most dramatically of all, a large series of eruptions could destabilise many more subglacial volcanoes.

“As volcanoes cool and crystallise, their magma chambers become pressurised and all that prevents the volcanic gases from escaping violently in an eruption is the weight of overlying rock or, in this case, several kilometres of ice.

“As that ice becomes much thinner, the pressure reduction may trigger eruptions.

History: A 19th century drawing of Mount Erebus (Image: GETTY)

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“More eruptions and ice melting would mean even more meltwater being channelled under the ice streams.”

While the doomsday scenarios could happen, for now, most of Antarctica's volcanoes remain dormant and have not erupted for 10,000 years.

But, in the future, they could become active once again.

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Palestinians launch national football team for amputees



Palestinian players with disabilities, part of a football team organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross, take part in a training session in Gaza City (AFP/MOHAMMED ABED)

Sakher ABOU EL OUN
Thu, December 2, 2021

Players in the Gaza Strip used crutches and prosthetic legs Thursday to stretch, run and dribble as part of the first-ever Palestinian national team that hopes to qualify for the Amputee Football World Cup.

The team trained at the Palestine Stadium in Gaza City under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The 20 players on the team were selected from among five Gaza clubs for players who lost limbs.

Player Hassan Abu Kareem, 38, said his leg was amputated after he was injured in an Israeli raid on Al-Maghazi refugee camp in 2006.

"From the moment of injury, my life has not changed," he told AFP.

"I continued with my ambition and great goal in life, and my goal is to represent Palestine and to make an achievement for myself in the field of sports."

Red Cross spokeswoman Suhair Zakkout said the players were setting a new Palestinian standard after the first local team began in 2019 with several players.

"Today, these players make history by forming the first national football team for amputees," she said.

Zakkout said the players were training for qualifying matches to be held in March 2022 in Iran. If the team succeeds, they will go on to the Amputee Football World Cup, slated to be held in Turkey in late 2022.

Fuad Abu Ghaliun, chairman of the Palestine Amputee Football Association, said his group applied to join the World Amputee Football Federation in 2019. Their candidacy was accepted earlier this year.

The Palestinian team is in the isolated Gaza Strip, whose two million residents have been locked under an Israeli blockade since the Islamist Hamas movement took control in 2007

Friday is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Coach Simon Baker, himself an amputee, said he was working with players "in a way where people see the football being played, and not the person with a disability."

"We want people to respect the players and see them for Ahmed or whoever it is and not see them as somebody broken. We want to make heroes of these players," said Baker, who founded the Irish Amputee Football Association.

The Palestinian team is in the isolated Gaza Strip, whose two million residents have been locked under an Israeli blockade since the Islamist movement Hamas took control in 2007.

Ahmed Abu Nar, 34, used crutches and said he was injured in 2018 by Israeli forces who suppressed Gaza protests known as the "Great March of Return".

"Before the injury I was one person, and after the injury I became someone else," he told AFP. "A new life began, new goals began and new ambitions and new challenges, and now I am achieving my goals."

OPEN BORDERS NO ONE IS ILLEGAL
Despite migrant deaths, Iraqi Kurds still seek out smugglers

By SAMYA KULLA

1 of 5

Zana Mamand, shows a photo of his missing brother, Twana Mamand, who was lost at sea in the English Channel trying to get to the UK, sits with family members, at the family house in Ranya, Iraq, Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2021. Twana had tried and failed five times to cross the English Channel from Calais before he boarded a small boat on the evening of Nov. 23. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)


RANYA, Iraq (AP) — Shoes pile up outside the Mamand home in northern Iraq from relatives and friends who have streamed inside to offer solace as they anxiously await news of the family’s young son, who was lost at sea somewhere between France and Britain.

Most are afraid to articulate their fear that 18-year old Twana Mamand may have drowned along with at least 26 others when their flimsy boat sank near the French coast last week. They had been bound for Britain with hopes of starting new lives.

Zana Mamand, 33, wiped away tears and vowed to take revenge against the family of the smuggler who arranged for his brother’s journey. “I know him, I know his family here, I have all their phone numbers,” he said.

In Ranya, a town of about 400,000 in Iraq’s Kurdish-run region, the plight of the migrants seems to be a topic that everyone knows something about.

Those who want to get out ask local travel agents to connect them with smugglers in Turkey and elsewhere. Those who have returned from failed attempts hang around the main park, eager to try again. At the police station, officers say they can’t stop the smugglers.

Many victims of the English Channel tragedy are believed to be Iraqi Kurds, who seem to make up the majority of Middle Eastern migrants seeking to move to the West. Although northern Iraq is more prosperous than the rest of the conflict-scarred country, growing unemployment and frustration over corruption is forcing many to consider the risky journey to Europe.

About 28,000 Iraqis left for Europe in 2021, with about 7,000 from the Raparin district that includes Ranya and the nearby town of Qaladze, said Baker Ali, head of a local association of refugees returning from Europe.

MISSING AT SEA

Twana had tried and failed five times to cross the English Channel from Calais before he boarded a small boat on the evening of Nov. 23.

The routine was the same: Ahead of each attempted crossing, smugglers would select a travel office in Ranya where Zana would deposit money.

That night, Zana spoke to his brother by phone just before midnight. He asked about the weather, the boat and the others with him.

“The boat is not good,” he recalls that Twana replied, explaining it was too small, and there were 33 people waiting to cross — too many for the vessel.

They spoke again at 2:05 a.m. on Nov. 24. In a four minute call, Twana laughed and joked, telling his older brother they would be docking in an hour’s time. Zana was tired, and asked his sister, Kala, who lives in the U.K., to stay online.

In his last message, Twana said the engine wasn’t working.

A STRUGGLE TO FIND WORK

Twana was athletic and particularly adept at soccer. Zana proudly showed photos of him charging down the pitch with the ball, a look of steely determination on his face.

He didn’t care much for school, doubting it would ever land him a job. But almost everyone in the family struggled to find work. Zana, a firefighter, seldom received his wages on time or in full. Sometimes, Twana would work as a laborer for 12 hours a day, earning 15,000 Iraqi dinars — about $10.

When he turned 18, Twana said nothing would stop him from going to Europe. The trip would be costly: $13,000 to cross from Turkey to Italy. From there, Twana would have to find his way to Calais, France. Then, it would cost another $3,000 to cross the channel to the U.K.

With a Turkish visa, he traveled to Istanbul in September and found that there were plenty of smugglers from his home region, including Ranya and Qaladze.

Twana tried and failed three times to cross from Turkey to Italy, each with a different smuggler. The money, obtained by borrowing and putting their father’s home up for sale, was deposited with a designated travel agent who pulled it back each time the ventures failed, Zana said.

When Twana finally reached Italy in late October, the travel agent sent the money, he said. The same procedure was used when Twana made it to Calais.

FINDING ‘THE BEST SMUGGLERS’ FOR CLIENTS

Abdullah Omar’s office window offers a view of Ranya’s bustling center. His agency Yaran Travel, is on the second floor, above popular tea shops.

Here, the 35 year-old travel agent summed up his business: “I help people find the best smugglers to take them to Europe.”

He has high standards, he said, working only with those who have helped people reach their destination with the fewest complaints. The smugglers are his relatives, including a brother in Turkey.

He helped over 500 people this year, a number that has risen steadily, he said. Most want to go to the U.K. where they have relatives who sought asylum years earlier. Smugglers tell would-be migrants to leave a deposit with Omar once they have a visa for Turkey.

From Turkey, most are smuggled to Italy via risky sea routes. Others try for Greece or Bulgaria.

Omar acts as an intermediary between the smugglers and the migrants and their relatives in Iraq, using the so-called hawala network in Muslim countries in which individuals rather than banks act as brokers for money transfers. He only releases funds via hawala once all sides give approval.

He sometimes sends funds directly to migrants who “run out of money and sleep in train stations in Italy, or become sick,” Omar said.

One smuggler from Iraq’s Qaladze area said he began sneaking people into Poland from Belarus in July. It was easier than other routes, he told The Associated Press by phone, because Belarus had loosened visa restrictions, and he had a friend in Poland who drove migrants to Germany for a fee.

But after tensions mounted along the Belarus-Poland border in November, business stopped, said Shwan, who didn’t give his full name because he feared getting into trouble with authorities.

THE AFTERMATH

When word reached Zana that his brother might have died, he went to the office of the agent with whom he left his deposit, and threatened him in a fit of rage. The agent told him how to reach the smuggler, who calls himself “Bashdar Ranya,” a pseudonym.

Since Ranya is relatively small, Zana soon found the smuggler’s family. He threatened to send information about the smuggler to his sister in the U.K. to report them to the authorities.

Zana later was contacted by the elusive smuggler via Facebook’s messenger app, in which he said in a voice message that he was on the run in Germany.

Zana played the message for an AP reporter, the recording breaking the mournful silence in the Mamand household.

“I am sorry. It was a surprise to me too,” the voice said of the sinking. “I will compensate you.”

Attempts by AP to reach the smuggler through a contact in France provided by Zana were unsuccessful.

Authorities can do little about the smugglers, said Hazhar Azawi, director of Kurdish security in Ranya. “The smugglers are in Turkey. They (Iraqis) get a visa to go there, so what can we do?”

Lt. Shorsh Ismail, a spokesman for Ranya’s police, said authorities are aware of the travel agencies’ activities but can do nothing without an order from Kurdistan’s presidency.

Omar, the travel agent, said he does not believe he is doing anything wrong, insisting: “I am helping people.”

In the town’s nearby park, 24-year-old Alan Aziz recalled his own failed attempt to reach Italy. He was on a boat in the Mediterranean when the currents took him to Libya instead. He spent nearly a month there before being repatriated.

“I need his help,” he said of seeing a travel agent. “I want to try again for Europe.”

—-

Follow AP’s global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration

Fact check: Wind turbine blades can be recycled, but it rarely happens today

Kate S. Petersen
USA TODAY

The claim: Wind power turbine blades cannot be recycled

As the U.S. continues to build up its wind power infrastructure, a claim is circulating on social media questioning just how green this alternative energy is.

Alongside an image of a bulldozer burying wind turbine blades, the post says: “These blades need to be disposed of and there is presently no way to recyle (sic) them. That’s how green energy works!”

A Facebook version of the meme from Nov. 5, was shared more than 200 times within 10 days.

But it's not exactly right.

It is true that decommissioned wind turbine blades are often thrown away in landfills.

The image in the meme shows blades being buried at the Casper Regional Landfill in Wyoming​​​​​​. It was taken by photographer Benjamin Rasmussen and featured in a February 2020 Bloomberg article about blade waste.

However, experts say there are ways to recycle them – though the technology has not been implemented on a large scale.

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USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim.

Twitter user @CharlesHawtrey3 acknowledged that blades could potentially be recycled. "Some companies say they are recycling blades, but ... the amount they recycle is minimal," the user told USA TODAY in a direct message.

Wind turbine blades can be recycled now, though the practice is not widespread

Wind turbine blades have typically been constructed to last for 20 to 25 years. This means many blades that are being decommissioned now were made a couple decades ago.

At that time, they weren't designed with recycling in mind, Kazem Fayazbakhsh, an assistant professor at Ryerson University, told USA TODAY. They have a chemical composition that makes it difficult to separate them into their constituent components at the end of their service life.

However, there are multiple contemporary examples of successful wind turbine blade recycling.

Fayazbakhsh has published papers documenting his team's success in creating a 3D printing feedstock from recycled windmill blades. He says they have also started a company, Fibrecycle Materials Corp., to commercialize this process.

Global Fiberglass Solutions is a U.S. start-up that is working to scale up its proprietary wind turbine blade recycling technology, CEO Don Lilly told USA TODAY. The company's website advertises diverse recycled products such as building materials and railroad ties.

"Windmill blades can be recycled," Karl Englund, CTO of Global Fiberglass Solutions and associate research professor at Washington State University, told USA TODAY. “We have proven that over and over again.”

Englund has published multiple papers documenting his wind turbine blade recycling successes.

Danish company Miljøskærm has successfully commercialized noise barriers made from recycled wind turbine blades, according to the company’s CEO, Jakob W Nielsen.

He said his company's products are currently available for purchase, and they are continuing to expand their business.

“We consider our acoustic insulation and noise barrier products as the first step in the development of a wider product range," he told USA TODAY in an email. "We are currently in the process of product developments with interesting commercial potential.”

The catch here is that while wind turbine blade recycling is technically possible, landfill disposal remains the most cost-efficient and accessible option in many cases.

“Physical and material scientists can recycle blades now," Eric Lantz, wind analysis manager at National Renewable Energy Laboratory told USA TODAY in an email. "But, broadly speaking, scaling up recycling technologies will require more research and development to maximize the value of the recycled materials and improve the economics of the processes.”

Fact check: Storm damaged a wind turbine in Texas, not a heat wave

Englund also pointed to a lack of investor buy-in as a potential obstacle, even after a technology becomes viable at scale.

 
Wind companies commit to turbine blade recycling

If decommissioned wind turbine blades continue to be thrown out, 2.2 million tons could end up in U.S. landfills by 2050, according to a study led by Aubryn Cooperman, a mechanical engineering researcher at National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

This amount “is non-trivial, but it is also one of many significant sources of potential waste across the economy,” Cooperman told USA TODAY in an email.

As an example, the EPA reports that nearly 27 million tons of plastic were dumped in U.S. landfills in 2018 alone. That amount is more than ten times the amount of windmill blade refuse that may accumulate by 2050.

Nevertheless, the industry is seeking ways to limit this waste.

European wind industry group WindEurope has called for a Europe-wide ban on the disposal of wind turbine blades in landfills by 2025.

GE Renewable Energy announced an agreement with German company, neowa, to recycle decommissioned blades. neowa recycles wind turbine blades into a product used to replace sand in cement manufacturing, CEO Frank Kroll told USA TODAY in an email.

Swedish utility Vattenfall has reportedly pledged to immediately stop dumping blades in landfills and to recycle all decommissioned blades by 2030. Danish energy company Ørsted also announced a plan to “reuse, recycle or recover all of the wind turbine blades in its global portfolio,” according to a June 2021 press release.


Fact check: Critique of windmills is a misquote, is misattributed to Thomas Homer-Dixon

While traditional turbine blades can currently be recycled through innovative techniques, wind power researchers and wind companies have started creating blades with ease of recycling in mind.

Researchers at National Renewable Energy Laboratory have created a more recyclable blade prototype using a “material technology (that) is actively being researched at a large scale and is likely to be adopted by industry,” Robynne Murray, a mechanical engineering researcher at the laboratory, told USA TODAY in an email.

In September, Spanish renewable energy company Siemens Gamesa, also announced the creation of a new, more easily recycled turbine blade.
Our rating: Missing context


Based on our research, we rate MISSING CONTEXT the claim that wind power turbine blades cannot be recycled, because without additional information it could be misleading. The blades can technically be recycled, and an array of small-scale efforts are doing so. But the practice is not widespread due to the cost of the undertaking and a lack of infrastructure.
Our fact-check sources:

Resources, Conservation, and Recycling, Feb. 1, Wind turbine blade material in the United States: Quantities, costs, and end-of-life options
Kazem Fayazbakhsh, Nov. 12, Interview with USA TODAY
Fast Company, Sept. 10, This giant wind turbine blade can be recycled
CNBC, Sept. 7, Wind turbine giant Siemens Gamesa claims world-first in blade recycling
Siemens Gamesa, Sept. 7, Siemens Gamesa pioneers wind circularity: launch of world’s first recyclable wind turbine blade for commercial use offshore
Miljøskærm, accessed Nov. 15, Products
Jakob Nielsen, Nov. 15, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Don Lilly, Nov. 15, Interview with USA TODAY
Global Fiberglass Solutions, accessed Nov. 18, Website
Reuters, Oct. 12, Sweden's Vattenfall to stop sending wind turbine blades to landfill
Ørsted, Feb. 6, Ørsted commits to sustainable recycling of wind turbine blades
Reuters, May 16, End of wind power waste? Vestas unveils blade recycling technology
Materials, Nov. 27, 2019, Recycled Glass Fiber Composites from Wind Turbine Waste for 3D Printing Feedstock: Effects of Fiber Content and Interface on Mechanical Performance
GE Renewable Energy, June 10, GE Renewable Energy announces onshore wind turbine decommissioning and recycling agreement with neowa
Bloomberg, Feb. 5, 2020, Wind Turbine Blades Can’t Be Recycled, So They’re Piling Up in Landfills
Karl Englund, Nov. 16, Interview with USA TODAY
Aubryn Cooperman, Nov. 11-16, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Robynne Murray, Nov. 11-16, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Eric Lantz, Nov. 16-18, Email exchange with USA TODAY
Waste Management, Mar. 2, 2018, Recycled wind turbine blades as a feedstock for second generation composites
Waste and Biomass Valorization, Apr. 4, 2019, Extruded Fiber-Reinforced Composites Manufactured from Recycled Wind Turbine Blade Material
Carbon Rivers, accessed Nov. 16, Website
WindEurope, June 16, Wind industry calls for Europe-wide ban on landfilling turbine blades
NREL, Nov. 1, NREL Explores Innovative Manufacturing Approach for Next-Generation Wind Turbine Blades
Frank Kroll, Nov. 16-17, Email exchange with USA TODAY
EPA, accessed Nov. 17, National Overview: Facts and Figures on Materials, Wastes and Recycling
USA TODAY, Feb. 12, Wind energy had a 'banner year' in 2020. Here's what it means for Joe Biden's climate plan
Composites Part B: Engineering, July 9, 2019, Recycling of fiberglass wind turbine blades into reinforced filaments for use in Additive Manufacturing
WindEurope, accessed Nov. 18, Website
neowa, accessed Nov. 18, Website
USA TODAY, Feb. 17, Fact check: Frozen wind turbines don't deserve all the blame for Texas blackouts

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HISTORY OF UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE

 The case for turning universal suffrage into the instrument of emancipation

Binay Sarkar

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WORLD SOCIALISM

INTRODUCTION The raison d'être of this pamphlet is to chronologically narrate the commencement and progression of the right to vote that had its origin under feudal aristocracy of the thirteenth century England, eventually extended to the nascent industrial bourgeoisie having in the course of class struggles, finally yielding to the working class of the most developed and developing countries of the world resulting in universal suffrage. Modern states are the ruling political instruments in the hands of the capitalist class to administer the affairs of society by a top-down bureaucratic – authoritarian – dictatorial machinery. Consequently it was the exclusive right of the capitalist class to run their own businesses as they needed and liked. It was not at all imperative to them to extend suffrage to the working class. Eventually they accepted their class adversaries alongside themselves into their most vital political decision-making bodies such as parliaments. For two reasons: the working class’s struggle and the capitalist class’s self-interest. In all their struggles against the feudal aristocracy the capitalist class had to depend on the working class who supplied their loyal driving force. Hence they ultimately did pay heed to the unrelenting struggles of their wage slaves for a political ballot which could be allowed without hampering their economic interest – exploitation, even by manning the state with their hired representatives elected from ranks of the working class. They held on to their exclusive right to exploit at the price of conceding the right to vote into the hands of their workers. Secondly, historically, through class struggle they learnt their class-lesson that they could tactically deceive the working class by extending this concession regarding the working class’s persistent and potent political demand for franchise while retaining the rein of economically exploitative, hire and fire system of wages slavery unhampered under the despotic employer/employee relation as usual . In this booklet we narrate the long drawn-out struggles of the working class to achieve this democratically decisive instrument. The working class got a political right to elect their exploiters’ executive committees of the states that oppressed them. However, the wages slavery remained unharmed since the workers were demanding only political democracy and not the economic democracy that is socialism. And this they have never done as yet. Even then that is s … View full abstract

https://www.academia.edu/35104305/HISTORY_OF_UNIVERSAL_SUFFRAGE_The_case_for_turning_universal_suffrage_into_the_instrument_of_emancipation?auto=download&email_work_card=download-paper