Horse who portrayed Seabiscuit dies at 24 at retirement farm

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (AP) — Popcorn Deelites, a 24-year-old retired thoroughbred who was one of several who portrayed Seabiscuit in the 2003 film, has died, Old Friends retirement farm in Kentucky announced Thursday.

Michael Blowen, the farm's founder and president, said the cause of death was complications from colic.

Popcorn Deelites was retired at Old Friends in Georgetown in 2005. His sire, Afternoon Deelites, was also retired there.

He appeared in numerous scenes throughout the Oscar-nominated film, including the match race against 1937 Triple Crown winner War Admiral.

Popcorn Deelites started 58 times and had 11 wins with career earnings of $56,880, the farm said.

Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, who portrayed rider George Woolf in Seabiscuit, said Popcorn Deelites was a star in the film.

“He was my go-to guy in all the big scenes,” Stevens said. “He not only won real races multiple times, but he won the famous match race playing Seabiscuit.”

The Associated Press

Evergrande's debt crisis: International creditors threaten legal action over 'opaque' restructuring process

By Laura He, CNN Business 


Evergrande's international creditors are losing patience.

© Andrea Verdelli/Bloomberg/Getty Images A pedestrian walks past apartment buildings at China Evergrande Group's City Plaza development in Beijing, China, on Friday, Dec. 10, 2021.

A group of the company's overseas bondholders are threatening to take legal action over its "opaque" debt restructuring process, the latest sign of trouble for the embattled Chinese developer.


They said in a statement Thursday they've had to "seriously consider enforcement actions" after Evergrande failed to engage substantially with them about reorganizing its operations.

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The firm's "lack of engagement and opaque decision-making to date is contrary to well established international standards in restructuring processes of this magnitude," the group wrote in its statement. The investors are represented by law firm Kirkland & Ellis and investment bank Moelis & Co.

They said the company's behavior "tarnishes offshore investors' views" about expecting fair treatment when investing in Chinese companies, and added they are "prepared to take all necessary actions to vehemently defend its legal rights and protect its legitimate interests."

Evergrande did not respond to a request for comment from CNN Business about the statement, but said in a Friday filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it would hire more financial and legal advisers to help "follow up" with demands from creditors.

The real estate developer is one of China's largest and it's still reeling under more than $300 billion of total liabilities, including about $19 billion outstanding offshore bonds held by international asset managers and private banks on behalf of their clients.

Evergrande has been scrambling for months to raise cash to repay lenders, and the company's chairman Xu Jiayin has been reportedly selling off personal assets to prop up its finances.

But time seemed to run out for the company last month, when Fitch Ratings declared that Evergrande had defaulted on its debt — a downgrade that the ratings agency said reflected the company's inability to pay interest due that month on two dollar-denominated bonds.

There's also evidence that the Chinese government is guiding Evergrande through a restructuring of its debt and sprawling business operations. The company set up a risk management committee last month that is staffed by officials from state-owned enterprises in Guangdong, where Evergrande is based, along with an executive from a major bad debt management firm owned by the central government.

But international bondholders say they've been left in the dark about the company's plans. The creditors said in their Thursday statement that they have tried to talk with Evergrande, but have received "little more than vague assurances of intent, lacking in both detail and substance."

"Actions speak considerably louder than words," they added, saying that the "overriding impression" is that despite the company's public words, Evergrande "has disregarded its offshore creditors and the legal rights of its creditors."

The group added that it recognizes Evergrande's recent efforts in resuming most of its construction projects, and wants "to be a part of a solution" to help "during these hard times."

Analysts have been long concerned that a collapse by Evergrande could trigger wider risks for China's property market, hurting homeowners and the broader financial system. Real estate and related industries account for as much as 30% of the country's GDP.

Chinese policymakers have also made it clear that protecting domestic homeowners is a priority, as they want to ensure apartments are delivered to customers, many of whom had already paid for properties before they were completed. Last month, Wang Menghui — the Minister of China's Housing and Urban-Rural Development — told the state broadcaster that enduring the delivery of home projects and protecting people's livelihoods were among the government's main goals this year in tackling risks to the real estate sector.

Evergrande has also made deals with domestic creditors to avoid a formal default on its onshore bond. Earlier this month, it obtained investor approval to delay payments on a 4.5 billion yuan ($707 million) bond.

Land battle awaits Indigenous communities over Indonesia capital relocation: NGO

Tens of thousands of Indonesia's indigenous people are at risk of being expelled from their lands to make way for the construction of a new capital on jungle-clad Borneo island, a rights group warned on Friday.

© HANDOUT Tens of thousands of indigenous people are at risk of being expelled from their lands to make way for the construction of a new capital on jungle-clad Borneo island

At least 20,000 people from 21 indigenous groups live in the area designated for the construction of the new capital with laws enabling the move from Jakarta not providing enough protection for the communities' land rights, according to the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN).

The group issued its warning after parliament last week approved the capital's relocation from Jakarta, on Java island, to the East Kalimantan province on the Indonesian part of Borneo, which the country shares with Malaysia and Brunei.

"The project will trigger problems such as confiscation of customary lands and criminalisation of indigenous people when they try to defend their rights," Muhammad Arman, AMAM's Policy, Law and Human Rights Advocacy Director, told AFP on Friday.

"They will also lose their traditional jobs such as farming."

Data compiled by AMAN in 2019 shows that at least 13 customary lands, which are administered according to indigenous customs, were located in the new capital area in North Penajam Paser.

Indigenous communities on Borneo are already locked in ongoing conflict with corporations, which have been given plantation contracts on around 30,000 hectares that overlap with customary lands.

"It is like a double run over for indigenous communities. First, they have to fight the business sector and in the future, they will have to face their own government for the new capital project," Arman said.

A recent investigation carried out by rights groups including AMAN uncovered at least 162 permits for mining, plantations, and forestry and coal-based power plants have been granted in the new capital area.

The proposed city will cover around 56,180 hectares (216 square miles). In total, 256,142 hectares have been set aside for the project, with the additional land earmarked for potential future expansion.

Early plans for the new capital depict a utopian design aimed at creating an environmentally friendly "smart" city, but few details have been confirmed.

Plans to begin construction in 2020 were hampered by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The development of the area will take place in several stages until 2045.

Environmentalist critics of the new capital have warned it could damage ecosystems in the region, where mining and palm oil plantations already threaten rainforests that are home to Borneo's endangered species, including orangutans.

hrl/ssy

AFP

NO CONSULTATION

Alberta Health Services reverses decision to close laboratory services in Morinville

Anna Junker 

Alberta’s health authority has reversed a decision to permanently close laboratory services in Morinville, 48 hours after the closure was announced.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Alberta Health Services.

On Monday, Alberta Health Services (AHS) announced the laboratory and diagnostic imaging services at the Morinville Clinic will permanently close, effective Feb. 1, due to low patient volumes, challenges recruiting staff, and the lack of functioning X-ray equipment at the site.

AHS said residents could instead access these services in nearby communities, with closest locations in St. Albert, 18 kilometres away.

However, on Wednesday evening, AHS reversed the decision and said it will be maintaining laboratory services at the clinic.

“This decision has been made after feedback from the community,” AHS said in a brief statement. “There will be no disruption in service for local residents.”

The statement made no mention of the community’s X-ray machine, which has been non-functional since February 2020.

News of the lab services ending was met with heavy criticism from the community almost immediately. Within two days, an online petition calling for the government to reverse its decision received more than 4,400 signatures.

Residents said there are many seniors in the community who do not have the ability to travel for testing and that wait-times to get treatment in St. Albert were already significant.

Morinville Mayor Simon Boersma told Postmedia that closing the centre would have impacts around the region.

Following news that the government had reversed its decision, Boersma said he was “totally elated.”

“I just want to thank the government for listening to our residents, to the people of our communities. Obviously we are valued and we value the services that they provide at the same time, so I really appreciate that,” he said.

— With files from Ashley Joannou

ajunker@postmedia.com

Nevada geothermal power lawsuit bound for US appeals court

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal appeals court will have to decide whether protecting historical tribal lands and a rare toad warrant blocking a major geothermal plant in Nevada as the nation tries to move away from fossil fuels amid a looming climate crisis.

Ormat Technologies says it may abandon the project if a 90-day court order remains in place into March at the high-desert site bordering wetlands fed by hot springs about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Reno.

The legal battle is headed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco after a federal judge in Reno denied Ormat's request this week to lift the temporary injunction by Feb. 28.

The Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe and the Center for Biological Diversity won the Jan. 4 court order temporarily banning any activity on what they say are sacred ceremonial grounds and home to the Dixie Valley toad being considered for a U.S. endangered species listing.

They also warn that the project could end up costing ratepayers in Southern California more for electricity.

Reno-based Ormat, one of the five largest U.S. geothermal producers, says it could lose tens of millions of dollars if it can’t begin construction at the site on federal land before March.

“While this is a significant blow to the company, it may sound the death knell for the project,” its lawyers wrote in their request to cut the 90-day order in half.

Ormat said it has invested $68 million over 10 years to start construction early this year and meet a Dec. 31 deadline to begin selling power at rates above current market prices under a 2017 contract.

They told U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones on Jan. 10 the situation makes it “virtually impossible” to meet the deadline “critical to making the project economically feasible.”

Jones said in his order late Wednesday they should take it up with the appellate court in San Francisco.

“The most efficient and direct path to resolve any party’s concerns with this court’s orders on the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction is to pursue appeal on an expedited basis,” he wrote.

On Thursday, Ormat's lawyers filed formal notice of their intent to appeal.

It's the latest development in a lawsuit the opponents filed last month seeking to void an environmental review the Bureau of Land Management approved in authorizing the project in November.

The lawsuit says pumping water from beneath the earth in Dixie Meadows will harm the hot springs the tribe considers sacred and could push the toad to the brink of extinction at the only place in the world it's known to exist.

The opponents lawyers also say in their latest court filings that while Ormat may benefit from the energy deal it cut in 2017, electric ratepayers would not.

“Ormat’s interest in profiting from above-market prices — which would likely be borne by consumers in the Los Angeles area over the length of the contract — does not constitute irreparable harm," they wrote.

Ormat argues the ceremonial lands and the toad itself are too far from the plant to be harmed, and that the area already is developed with roads, powerlines, a wellfield and an existing gravel pit bordering the site.

Its lawyers say geothermal development is an especially important step “in the global fight to reduce greenhouse gases and slow climate change.” Unlike wind and solar, geothermal power “contributes to availability of clean energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week," they said.

“The loss of the project would deal a massive blow to the state’s efforts to replace fossil fuel combustion with renewable energy, posing an obstacle to Nevada’s constitutional requirement to procure 50% of the state’s energy from renewable resources by 2030," they wrote.

The tribe and conservationists say any delays in construction are largely of Ormat’s and the government’s “own making.”

Their lawyers say the bureau’s environmental assessment makes clear that from 2011-2016, Ormat failed to collect required surface water monitoring data as it had agreed to under its lease.

They said they alerted Ormat and the bureau in 2017 that they needed to prepare a more detailed environmental impact statement.

“The failure to resolve those issues over the subsequent years does not now create an emergency,” they wrote.

Scott Sonner, The Associated Press

Ottawa, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation make deal to hand over residential school documents

Peter Zimonjic, Olivia Stefanovich 

The federal government has struck a deal with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation that will see it hand over thousands of residential school records, Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said today.

The memorandum of agreement outlines how and when the federal government will share the documents with the Winnipeg-based National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR).

"Canada has a moral obligation to survivors to pursue the truth and to ensure access to documents, school narratives and records, so important to healing, to closure, to education and preservation," Miller said today.

In October, the NCTR said Ottawa had yet to provide key documents detailing the histories of each government-funded, church-run institution that made up the residential school system.

In December, Miller said his government would hand over thousands of documents that the federal government had been criticized for withholding. Today, Miller said the deal will see more than 875,000 documents handed over to the NCRT.

The government said it did not release the documents earlier because of third-party obligations to Catholic entities, including the Sisters of St. Ann, Sisters of Charity of Providence of Western Canada, Sisters of the Presentation and La Corporation Episcopale Catholique Romaine De Prince Albert.

"To me as a survivor we have to acknowledge our shared history, where we've come from, where we're at today and where is it we're going to go into the future," said Garnet Angeconeb, a residential school survivor working with the NCTR.

"This is very important in that the records that will be handed over will be a way to get at the truth, to be able to tell our stories, to be able to validate and acknowledge where we have come from as survivors."
The search for more records

Among the records not yet released are what's known as school narratives — reports compiled by Ottawa outlining an individual institution's history, including its administration, the number of Indigenous children forced to attend it and key events, such as reports of abuse.

The 11 narratives being released to the NCTR are for the following institutions:
Assumption Indian Residential School (IRS)
Fort Vermilion IRS, Grouard IRS
Sturgeon Lake IRS
Kamloops IRS
Kuper Island IRS
St. Mary's IRS
Mistassini Hostels IRS
Kivalliq Hall IRS
Fort George Anglican (St. Phillips) IRS
Norway House (United) IRS

These new documents will be added to the narratives the NCTR has for 125 other residential schools. There are no narratives or surviving documents for the residential schools at Lac La Biche, Lesser Slave Lake, St. Augustine and St Joseph's.

Miller also said that he has told his staff to look for additional documents that can also be shared with the NCTR.

"I have also committed to an extensive internal review of all documents held by my department to identify other possible records we can share while respecting the crucial privacy obligations to survivors as well as other legal processes," Miller said.

"Out of an abundance of caution, I will be issuing a directive to my department to retain any and all documents relating to these types of records."
Honouring commitments

Stephanie Scott, the NCTR's executive director, said that by transferring these record Ottawa will help to piece together a more comprehensive picture of how the residential school system operated.

Demands for the documents grew louder last year after several First Nations announced that ground-penetrating radar had located what are believed to be the remains of hundreds of children in unmarked graves on the sites of former residential schools.

At Thursday's news conference, Scott said she hopes the federal government's spring budget includes funding to allow the NCTR to get a new building and more resources to properly archive and share documents.

Miller said his government made those promises during the 2021 election campaign and it intends to honour them.

"We know that the resources of the NCTR are well insufficient as well as the building in which it is housed, so I just want to reiterate that support," he said.

GM Working on Hydrogen-Powered Generators to Make EV Charging Portable

GM is working with a company called Renewable Innovations to build tools that will bring its Hydrotec hydrogen fuel-cell technology to generators.

The automaker's mobile power generator (MPG) and Empower rapid charger offer ways to charge as many as 100 or more EVs without refilling or tapping into the electrical grid.

With the U.S. hydrogen infrastructure still in its infancy, these systems are not very cost-effective, at least for now, but they're intriguing.

General Motors announced Wednesday that it is planning to bring its Hydrotec hydrogen fuel-cell technology to generators. The company plans to test the waters with a hydrogen-powered mobile power generator, or MPG, and a rapid charger called Empower.

While GM foresees multiple use cases for its Hydrotec-based generators, it is primarily highlighting this technology’s potential to help today’s gas stations transition to electric-vehicle charging stations. That said, GM also sees the versatile MPG playing a military role, with its palletized prototype designed to provide power to temporary camps.

© General Motors GM Palletized Hydrotec-based Hydrogen MPG

Credit the hydrogen generator’s quieter operation and lower heat signature relative to its gas- or diesel-powered counterparts. In theory, these features ought to reduce the chance of enemy combatants coming across makeshift military sites.

Charge It

Yet, it's the MPG's potential role as a mobile fast charger for EVs that interests us most. As described by Charles Freese, GM's executive director of its global fuel-cell business, the MPG provides the ability to add an EV fast charger without the need to connect to the grid or break ground to install fixed charging stations. The Empower rapid charger, meanwhile, takes the basic concept of the MPG and kicks it up a few notches—notably, because of its ability to fast-charge four EVs at the same time. With its internal hydrogen tanks at full capacity, the rapid charger can charge north of 100 cars before needing a refill, according to GM.
Hydrogen Highway

GM intends to offer its hydrogen-powered generators in a variety of outputs, from as few as 60 kilowatts to as much as 600 kW, in order to satisfy varying commercial needs. Even so, the potential success of these emissions-free tools is stifled by the hydrogen infrastructure limitations of the United States. As such, refueling either of them is likely to be costly in many areas of the country

.

© General Motors GM Hydrotec-based Hydrogen MPG

In fact, Freese acknowledged as much during a media call, saying that today's practice of trucking hydrogen is often cost-ineffective due to the vast distances traveled. However, Freese believes hydrogen production will eventually happen closer to points of use, which ought to afford shorter trucking routes and bring down the price.

Nevertheless, GM and its manufacturing partner Renewable Innovations are continuing to develop these hydrogen-powered generators, with the two companies planning to start public demonstrations of the MPG later in the year. Renewable Innovations is also working to place 500 Empower rapid chargers across the U.S. before 2026.

Despite this progress, GM is keeping coy about the potential price of the MPG or Empower generators. Likewise, the company's not quite ready to discuss the possibility of producing a smaller hydrogen generator for personal use. Regardless, it seems it's only a matter of time until gas- and diesel-powered generators are replaced by zero-emission alternatives.

Chevron, Total exit Myanmar over deteriorating human rights

PARIS (AP) — TotalEnergies and Chevron, two of the world's largest energy conglomerates, said Friday they were stopping all operations in Myanmar, citing rampant human rights abuses and deteriorating rule of law since the country's military overthrew the government.

The announcement came just a day after the French company called for international sanctions targeting the oil and gas sector, which remain one of the military government's primary sources of funding.

Total and Chevron had come under increasing pressure over their role in running the offshore Yadana gas field, and Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production. Total has a majority stake in the venture and runs its daily operations, while MOGE collects revenues on behalf of the government.

“Since the Feb. 1 coup, we have seen the evolution of the country and it is clearly not favorable: The situation of rule of law and human rights in Myanmar has clearly deteriorated over months and despite the civil disobediance movements, the junta has kept power and our analysis is that it's unfortunately for the long term,” Total said.

Since the takeover, the military has cracked down brutally against dissent, abducting young men and boys, killing health care workers and torturing prisoners.

Total said it would withdraw without financial compensation and hand over its interests to the other stakeholders.

About 50% of Myanmar’s foreign currency comes from natural gas revenues, with MOGE expected to earn $1.5 billion from offshore and pipeline projects in 2021-2022, according to a Myanmar government forecast. Prior rounds of U.S. and European sanctions against the Myanmar military have excluded oil and gas.

In a statement released shortly after Total’s announcement, Chevron said it too was planning to leave “in light of circumstances.” The company has condemned the human rights abuses and said it would comply with any international sanctions.

The Myanmar-based human rights group Blood Money Campaign called on the companies to ensure that future payments are made into accounts inaccessible to the military and "stop treating the criminal junta as a legitimate government.”

Human Rights Watch welcomed the decision.

"The next step is to ensure that gas revenues don’t continue to fund those atrocities,” said Ken Roth, executive director of the organization.

___

Associated Press writers Elaine Kurtenbach in Bangkok, Victoria Milko in Jakarta, Indonesia and Kristen Gelineau in Sydney contributed to this report.

Lori Hinnant, The Associated Press

Alberta government decimates funding for parent council support organization


Some Alberta parents who serve on school councils say the provincial government is trying to circumvent and silence them.

In the past two years, the United Conservative Party government has all but eliminated nearly $650,000 annual grant funding to the Alberta School Councils' Association (ASCA) – an organization that trains and represents volunteers serving on councils.

The cutback comes after the organization's membership criticized government policies, including the proposed new draft curriculum, education funding and how the province has managed COVID-19 in schools.

"Many parents and many of our members are left wondering if it's because of their advocacy positions that the entirety of the association is being penalized," said ASCA president Brandi Rai.

The organization applied for a $170,000 grant this year. The education ministry turned them down, saying the government doesn't fund non-profit groups' operations.

Instead, they offered ASCA a $15,000 grant to do a project on learning loss during the pandemic. This, after government funding made up the bulk of ASCA's revenue for at least 15 years.

Rai isn't sure if the organization will accept the money offered. She said after laying off some staff, ASCA is already stretched thin with their existing work.

"Our organization refuses to be a check box," Rai said.

They have raised membership fees, and now charge parents for training courses that were once free.

In August, Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced the government would spend $1 million to send $500 directly to every school council in Alberta. A news release at the time said it was to help prepare volunteers for the work, and to "strengthen engagement and the parental voice in their schools."

Although councils can spend the money on professional development, Rai says they can't spend it on ASCA membership fees or to attend their annual conference.

Last fall, LaGrange also created a new minister's parent advisory council, composed of 40 volunteers from across the province.

Rai said it shows the minister only wants to hear from hand-picked parents on topics she chooses.

Parents worry school councils will be diminished

Alberta's Education Act requires all public schools have a council.

It's not a fundraising group. Parents involved review the school budget, look at academic results, and consult on school goals and policies.

Last year, about 83 per cent of the province's 1,500 school councils were ASCA members. They include public, Catholic and charter schools.

Red Deer parent Wendy Fath has served on her youngest son's school councils for seven years.

She said, at first, most parents don't understand what councils do. She credits ASCA for training thousands of volunteers for the work and organizing networking events.

Fath said the $500 government grant to each council is a "small shiny thing to take away from the big thing that we're losing."

She worries parents won't get adequate training, and become disengaged and disempowered.

© Submitted by Meagan Parisian Meagan Parisian is a Red Deer parent of three children. She's the president of the school council at Ecole Barrie Wilson Elementary in Red Deer.

Meagan Parisian, a parent of three and president of the Ecole Barrie Wilson school council in Red Deer, said the government is cherry-picking parents to hear from.

"We don't need a parent advisory committee," she said. "We have ASCA."

Minister LaGrange's press secretary, Katherine Stavropoulos, says ASCA doesn't represent all parents.

"Alberta's government is proud to expand opportunities to engage directly with parents," she said.

Stavropoulos said the advisory council isn't a replacement for ASCA, but a way to reach different parents.

She said the $500 grants reinforce the government's commitment to parent councils.

Rai said the cuts have left ASCA in a "dire" position, but it's not dead yet.

"I think that they anticipated that we would go away," she said. "But we've been here for 90 years, and if we need to look different for a few years while we rally, and regroup, we will. But we will be here long past this sitting government."

Alberta announces advisory group to help roll out new K-6 curriculum subjects in fall

The Alberta government says work by its K-6 Curriculum Implementation Advisory Group is already underway to help shape how portions of a new K-6 curriculum will be rolled out in the fall.

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Adriana LaGrange, Minister of Education, speaks about the draft K-6 curriculum during a press conference at the McDougall Centre in Calgary on Monday, December 13, 2021.

In a news release Thursday, the government announced the group, meeting monthly until June, will provide recommendations to the government on timing, preparing the education system, and classroom supports.

It comes after Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced in December the government would delay some of the most controversial subjects of its draft curriculum, including social studies, while new drafts, expected in the spring, could be developed.

Beginning in September, sections on K-6 English language arts and literature, physical education and wellness, and mathematics will be taught in classrooms, while remaining subjects will undergo updates and be piloted in classrooms beginning in fall 2022, before being rolled out province-wide for the 2023 school year.

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Education Minister Adriana LaGrange said in a statement the government aims to make piloting and implementation manageable for teachers and students.

“Alberta’s government has been listening to all input from Albertans about the draft K-6 curriculum review process,” LaGrange said.

Members of the 17-member panel, some of whom remain anonymous so they “do not become targets of online harassment,” include Education Ministry officials, representatives from the Alberta School Boards Association and College of Alberta School Superintendents, and three teacher representatives.

The group’s work will be confidential, and won’t involve reviewing the content of the curriculum or making recommendations about funding.

At a Thursday virtual news conference, Alberta Teachers’ Association president Jason Schilling said teacher involvement on the panel is woefully inadequate, even though teachers will be the ones responsible for implementing the curriculum and delivering lessons — not school boards or superintendents.

“There are more members of government than there are people working in classrooms today,” said Schilling, who added he would have liked to see at least 50 per cent of the group made up of teachers.

He repeated calls for the government to halt implementing the curriculum until its content is significantly improved, noting there are still outstanding questions and concerns from teachers about content and resources for subject areas moving ahead in the fall.

“To implement this during this time when the system is already so stressed, just seems to be a huge mistake to do it this quickly,” said Schilling.

Schilling noted the ATA has not seen transparency from the government about feedback it’s received on curriculum development.

“This government is quick to say they’ve consulted with teachers, but the engagement that has been done so far lacks authenticity, and the advice is routinely ignored.”

lijohnson@postmedia.com

twitter.com/reportrix

Industrial development giving coyotes an edge in wolverine habitat: study


EDMONTON — Industrial development is helping coyotes move into wolverine country and edge out the rare carnivore despite its fierce reputation, newly published research suggests

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

"Roads and seismic lines were actually driving competition between wolverines and coyotes," said Gillian Chow-Fraser of the University of Victoria, lead author of the paper published in the journal Biological Conservation.

Chow-Fraser said it's another example of how human activities on a landscape have far-reaching consequences for all the animals living on it.

"We see them changing the animal community in all sorts of ways."

Chow-Fraser, her university colleagues, and the Alberta government examined data from 154 camera traps collected in 2006-08 and 2011-13 from two areas of the province — the relatively untouched Willmore Wilderness Area and Kananaskis Country, which is heavily laced by roads and cutlines from forestry, energy and recreational development.

Altogether, the study analyzes data from 2,790 weeks of camera deployment.

Coyotes and wolverines have different habitats and wouldn't normally interact, Chow-Fraser said.

But, as development clears pathways into the boreal forest and foothills of the Rockies, now they do.

"It was increasing the odds they co-occur in an area," Chow-Fraser said.

The data showed that on a road or cutline, the two animals were three times more likely to show up at the same spot within a week of each other than elsewhere.

Wolverines are fierce beasts and Chow-Fraser doesn't suggest coyotes are beating them fang-to-fang. It's more a case of coyotes, with their superior numbers, using up resources wolverines could once count on for themselves and their kits.

"We're talking about a competition for resources or space," she said. "There's a lot of coyotes and they're outcompeting wolverines in these places where there's high density of linear features."

Other predators such as wolves, cougars or bears aren't the problem, Chow-Fraser said. Those animals feed differently and don't compete with wolverines.

Wolverines are considered a "data deficient" animal in Alberta. The province's most recent population estimate — now 20 years old — is fewer than 1,000 animals.

"The Alberta population is considered to be declining at an unknown rate," says Alberta's fact sheet on wolverines.

A 2020 study by the Alberta Conservation Association for the provincial government concludes there are no "robust" population estimates for wolverines across the vast majority of its habitat.

"In 2022, Environment and Parks will be reviewing new information and data available on wolverines to determine if an updated status evaluation should be conducted," said department spokesman Jason Penner.

Federally, wolverines have been listed as a species of special concern since 2014. That status under the Species At Risk Act doesn't compel governments to develop a recovery plan for the animal.

"There really needs to be a reassessment of wolverine numbers in Alberta," Chow-Fraser said. "We definitely need to start taking the status of wolverines more seriously."

The study shows how human intervention on a landscape creates new circumstances that change how species have interacted for millennia. Chow-Fraser compares the wolverine situation to that of caribou, now suffering from wolf predation because roads and cutlines have opened the way into the deep forest.

"We need to think about how industrial development is fundamentally changing the wildlife community."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 19, 2022.

— Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960Bob Weber, The Canadian Press