Wednesday, February 02, 2022

Protests in Canada catch the eye of U.S. right wing, because they look familiar

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WASHINGTON — Despite his reputation for hair-trigger unpredictability, Donald Trump had a remarkably consistent track record for triggering paroxysms north of the border: all he ever had to do was mention Canada by name.

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Whatever else life outside the White House has dealt the former president, his ability to resonate with Canadians who either love him or hate him appears undiminished.

“The Canadian truckers, you’ve been reading about it,” Trump said to lusty cheers during a weekend rally in Texas, acknowledging ongoing protests that have snarled traffic at the Canada-U.S. border in Alberta and turned life upside down on and around Parliament Hill.

“We want those great Canadian truckers to know that we are with them all the way. They’ve really shown something.”

Indeed they have: the flag-draped semi-trailers, blaring horns and maskless protesters that have swarmed the national capital since Friday offer incontrovertible proof that Canada is not immune to the bitterly angry, Trump-style populism that swept the U.S. more than five years ago.

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The protest is ostensibly fuelled by Canada’s requirement that truckers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter the country — a rule the U.S. has as well. But it’s just as much about pandemic restrictions more broadly, including vaccine mandates and mask requirements.

Trump is hardly the only one who’s noticed.

Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the most unapologetic and controversial acolytes of the former president on Capitol Hill, has repeatedly expressed her support for the protesters, describing them on the alt-right social media forum Gettr as “standing against tyranny.”

Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted her support over the weekend, while the Twitter account for Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee circulated drone footage of idling tractor-trailers, along with a rendition of “O Canada” and a single word — “Freedom!”

Fox News mainstay Tucker Carlson, meanwhile, could barely contain his delight Monday.

He castigated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for taking a hard line with protesters — some brandished Nazi symbols, defiled the National War Memorial and harassed shopkeepers for enforcing mask policies — without acknowledging the larger group’s various grievances.

“These were working-class people. They’re the guys who deliver your Amazon boxes. And Justin Trudeau is repulsed by them,” Carlson said during the segment.

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“Justin Trudeau won’t meet with them because he never meets with people like this — not simply because they are blue-collar and dirty but because they disagree with him.”

ON THE ROAD WITH THE FREEDOM CONVOY Warmington: Ottawa-bound anti-vaxxers are fuming
Joe Warmington reports from the 401 as the truckers roll through the GTA as a part of the 'Freedom Convoy' protesting vaccine mandates for truckers.
0 seconds of 2 minutes, 24 secondsVolume 90%
 

That illustrates the danger of singling out the bad conduct and “tarring everybody with the same brush,” warned Bob Pickard, a veteran public relations expert and principal at Toronto-based Signal Leadership Communication Inc.

That ultimately alienates Canadians who might sympathize with the broader message, even if they don’t condone the behaviour of a select few, adding fuel to the fires of outrage in the white-hot kiln of social media.

“On social media, the usual suspects are all going to engage with Mr. Trudeau on the left, and that would include a lot of moderate or centrist Canadians,” Pickard said.

“But the more there is the activation of intense emotions online, the more the other side — the algorithm of Twitter, for example — will pour gas on the fire of the other side of the algorithm, almost like a knee-jerk backlash.”

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said it will be important to draw a clear distinction between informed, passionate debate and unacceptable conduct as Canada works to put COVID-19 in the rear-view mirror.

“I think in some ways it is important to have an ongoing, very rigorous debate about how to get out of the pandemic,” while drawing “some bright lines and some boundaries” around unacceptable behaviour, Mendicino said Tuesday.

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“I think many of us have seen an uptick in the expressions and the incitements of hate and violence, and that is troubling, and I think we need to really be sure that we are identifying and taking the appropriate actions that are necessary.”

The protests have conjured memories of Jan. 6 last year, when Trump supporters taking part in a massive demonstration on Capitol Hill ran amok through the halls of Congress in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s election victory.

Those protests were similar in that they were attended, for the most part, by Americans with both a deep-seated antipathy toward the institution of government and a new-found interest in politics, thanks to Trump.

“Because they’re not really an organized movement, they’re just impulsive, and things get carried away,” said Sands.

“Some invariably use Confederate flags, swastikas, profanity-laden placards and other symbols that are meant to get a rise out of people, that are meant to provoke, because what they’re trying to do is get attention and vent frustration and feel that whatever it is that’s bothering them, somebody will listen.”

That’s one of the deep ironies of modern-day, fury-fuelled populism in a polarized society: the shock-and-awe tactics of certain protesters oblige political leaders to denounce them, rather than offer the opportunity of a fair hearing.

It may be time to rethink that approach, said Sands, who is counting on the next generation of political leaders to recognize the need for a new way of doing things.

“I hope that they kind of rekindle the old politics of pragmatism. I hope that they see this and come out of it saying, ‘No, that’s not what we want,’ and try to find that common ground,” he said.

“I’m hoping that future generations, the lesson they take from this is, ‘A pox on all their houses, let’s take politics in a different direction, we’re trying to practice politics differently.”‘

Jesse Watters Says Trudeau ‘Looks Like He Wet His Pants’ and Greg Gutfeld ‘Almost’ Calls Him a ‘Douchebag’

A segment on Tuesday’s edition of The Five became especially raucous as the cohosts took turns bashing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

At issue was Canada’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for truckers. The policy requires all truckers returning from the United States to show proof of vaccination. In response, thousands of anti-mandate truckers and other protestors have participated in a “freedom convoy” that arrived in the capital city of Ottawa over the weekend.

In some instances, fringe elements have embedded themselves in the protests and displayed Nazi symbolism.

The Five played a clip of Trudeau reacting to the protests in a video statement.

“I have attended rallies and protests in the past when I have agreed with the goals,” he said. “But I have also chosen to not go anywhere near protests that have expressed hateful rhetoric.”

“He looks like he wet his pants,” said Jesse Watters. “I have not seen any barbarians with tiki torches and pitchforks. These seem like reasonable people that just want to work.”

Greg Gutfeld stated, “Canada should be ashamed of this–god, I almost said ‘douchebag.’ But I’m not! He’s a callow leader. This is a guy who backed a fraudulent BLM form his safe little perch and then he sells out – well he did that to help alleviate his own blackface scandal. That’s why he did it. Then he sells out his own citizens. He’s not a P.M., he’s a B.M.”

“What does B.M. stand for again?” asked Geraldo Rivera.

“Bowel movement,” replied Watters.

“Oh god,” sighed Jeanine Pirro.

Later in the segment Dana Perino expressed concern that discontent among truckers in Canada could exacerbate inflation in the U.S.

“Also, want to have an inflation problem?” she said. “How much is bacon now?”

“Ten,” answered Watters.

How much do you think it will be after this?

“Twenty,” he replied.

“Biden and Trudeau are on the wrong side of this,” she concluded.


GOP lawmaker busted by CNN fact checker for pushing bogus story about Canadian PM fleeing to US

Brad Reed
February 01, 2022

Rep. Chip Roy (screenshot)

CNN fact checker Daniel Dale on Tuesday took Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) to task for twice promoting an utterly baseless internet rumor about Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fleeing to the United States to escape the caravan of angry truckers protesting his vaccination mandates.

In writing up Roy's claims, Dale shows that the story about Trudeau fleeing to America "was initially circulated by an anonymous Twitter account" and had not been reported by anything remotely resembling a credible news publication.

Dale even went so far as to track down the person who runs the anonymous account to see where they had gotten their false information about Trudeau fleeing the country in the wake of a trucker revolt.

"The person behind the 'Terror Alarm' account told CNN that their name is Libi Cohen and that they had gotten their initial information about Trudeau having fled to the US 'from local Israeli media,'" writes Dale. "But when asked for more specifics about the source, they pointed only to an obscure Twitter account with fewer than 4,000 followers, "Masonic Mission," whose tweets are currently "protected" and unavailable to the general public."

Roy has still not deleted the tweets about Trudeau fleeing as of this writing.



ROTHENBURGER: Nastiness around Trudeau coming down with COVID is appalling


Image Credit: CFJC Today / File

By Mel Rothenburger
ARMCHAIR MAYOR

Feb 2, 2022 

HERE’S A MESSAGE for the trolls who have been posting vicious comments about Justin Trudeau testing positive for COVID-19: get a life.

What kind of person could be so callous as to wish bad things on another human being who has contracted a potentially life-threatening virus? I’m not talking about nasties from the other side of the country, either, though I’m sure there are plenty of those.

No, I’m talking about the mean-spirited critics here in our own town and region who have been posting comments such as, “who cares?” and “what a joke” and “the little baby,” and “coward.”

Wow. We’re the Tournament Capital, the city of volunteers and friendly, community spirited people who genuinely want the best for everyone. What’s going on when we wish such ill on our leaders? Surely, we’re better than that. Somewhere, somehow, all this hate has to stop and maybe we can start by showing more humanity and less spite.



Let’s remember that Justin Trudeau is a father of three and that two of those kids have also tested positive, as his wife did early in the pandemic. He’s our prime minister, like it or not. He’s also a fellow citizen and we’re supposed to care about each other as Canadians.

We can certainly disagree on political matters and we don’t have to like the measures taken by provincial and federal governments in their efforts to keep the spread of the virus down. But being offensive to someone who’s come down with it?

No doubt a lot of people think he’s a lousy leader. Others see this situation as certain proof that their own views on COVID vaccinations are vindicated. That’s no excuse for the poison being spread around these past few days.

Trudeau says he feels fine. We should be thankful for that, and we should fervently hope he comes out of it none the worse for wear and that his kids do likewise.


I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.
Mel Rothenburger is a former mayor of Kamloops and a retired newspaper editor. He is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

——

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.
Multiple investigations are underway as protests in Canada over Covid-19 vaccine mandates continue, police say


By Paula Newton and Travis Caldwell, CNN
 Wed February 2, 2022


Ottawa (CNN)A demonstration that began with a group of truckers objecting to new Canadian Covid-19 vaccine mandates and escalated into wider protests over the weekend continued Wednesday, as authorities say multiple investigations into criminal activity are underway in the nation's capital.

There are fewer protesters in Ottawa now than over the weekend, police said, but heavy trucks and other vehicles continue to clog downtown.

Residents, businesses and legislators entering Canada's parliament can hear loud honking at all hours, and the smell of fuel pervades much of the downtown core.
Two people have been arrested for demonstration-related incidents and 13 active investigations are proceeding, the Ottawa Police Service said Tuesday.

"We want to be very clear, both for the current demonstrations and any planned demonstrations: Illegal activity will not be tolerated," the police service said in a statement. "There will be consequences for anyone contravening City By-laws, Highway Traffic Act and Criminal Code legislation."


Truckers and protesters against Covid-19 mandates block a border crossing. Others tried to take meals away from the homeless in Ottawa, shelter says

Some demonstrators have been threatening and harassing locals, officials said, including reports of homophobic and racist behavior, as Ottawa has become a hotspot for protesters objecting to the vaccine mandates.

The protests stemmed from a "Freedom Convoy" of truckers that traveled across Canada for several days before arriving in Ottawa Saturday.

The demonstrators are opposing a recent vaccine mandate requiring truckers entering Canada to be fully vaccinated or face testing and quarantine requirements, though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters last month that 90% of the country's truckers were already vaccinated.

Thousands of miles west, a blockade by truck drivers at the Canadian-US border is entering its fifth day, blocking a major commercial artery between the two countries. The drivers, stationed near a border checkpoint in Alberta, have said they're not moving until health restrictions are lifted.

AMERICAN INFLUENCE ON PROTESTS 1776 SIGN
CANADA'S BIRTHDATE IS 1867

Supporters arrive at Parliament Hill for the 'Freedom Truck Convoy' to protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in Ottawa on Saturday.

Ontario premier says it's time to 'move on'

As the trucks in Ottawa idle and supporters wave Canadian flags, the vitriol from some demonstrators has alarmed city residents and officials.

Police observed "multiple cases of disruptive, inappropriate and threatening behavior from demonstrators," and are aware of their intention to stay in place, the Ottawa Police Service said in a statement Sunday.



Ottawa to establish hate incident hotline amid reports of racism and anti-Semitism during protests over Covid-19 mandates

Police avoided ticketing and towing vehicles "so as not to instigate confrontations with demonstrators," but confrontations and the need for de-escalation has regularly occurred between police and demonstrators, according to the statement.

Instances of harassment, threats and war monument desecration have been documented, police said.

"We see examples downtown of racism, and anti-Semitism, so it's quite a collection of people that have arrived and that are really, quite frankly, terrorizing some of our residents in their neighborhoods," Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said Monday.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance, a federation of trucking associations, condemned the memorial vandalism and said many protesters in Ottawa appeared to have no connection to the trucking industry.

On Tuesday, the premier of Ontario joined a chorus of politicians from many political parties calling for an end to the demonstrations, urging the protesters to move on.
"There's a million people that live in Ottawa, you know I hear you, I hear the protesters, the province hears the protesters, the country hears the protesters. Now it's time to let the people of Ottawa get back to their lives," Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday.

Protesters in Alberta nearly ran over police, mayor says

In western Canada, trucks and cars have been blocking the Coutts, Alberta, border crossing just north of Sweet Grass, Montana.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) attempted to end the standoff Tuesday through negotiations, but drivers are still idling their trucks and have been joined by more protesters, according to Jim Willett, the mayor of Coutts.


Quebec premier drops 'unvaxxed tax' plan, saying it 'divided' people

"The numbers here have grown again and the RCMP are going truck to truck giving people an ultimatum. They have a facility to start towing vehicles and that's what I expect to start seeing next," Willett told CNN, adding the protest is putting a severe strain on residents and businesses.

Both Monday and Tuesday, the RCMP said it tried to find a peaceful solution to the border blockade but the protesters had chosen not to comply.

Protesters so far have been peaceful and mostly polite, Willett stressed, but he noted the situation had clearly escalated and "anything could happen now."


Ottawa soup kitchen donations roll in after truck protesters allegedly harassed staff

Another group of protesters broke through a barricade that had been set up by police about 12 miles north of the border town, Willett said, nearly running over RCMP officers as they headed south to join the border blockade.

Jason Kenney, premier of Alberta, condemned those "aligned with the protesters assaulting RCMP officers, including one instance trying to ram members of the RCMP," and called for cooler heads to prevail.

"This kind of conduct is totally unacceptable, assaulting law enforcement officers who are simply doing their job to maintain public safety and the rule of law is completely unacceptable and without hesitation I condemn those actions," Kenney said.

"And I call for calm amongst anybody who feels sympathetic to those engaged in this blockade, please stay away from the area, please do not further intensify an already difficult situation."

CNN's Paula Newton reported from Ottawa; Travis Caldwell wrote in Atlanta. CNN's Raja Razek, Chris Boyette, Holly Yan, Dakin Andone, Kelly McCleary, Artemis Moshtaghian and Keith Allen contributed to this report.

Conservatives hitch their wagons to the convoy protest without knowing where it's going

The protest is unpredictable, its goals are uncertain — and the nation is watching

Protesters gathered on January 31, 1 p.m., on Wellington Street in Ottawa. (Frédéric Pepin/CBC)

As the convoy rolled into Ottawa on Friday afternoon, Pierre Poilievre stood on a highway overpass to film a promotional video. 

Speaking directly to the camera, with trucks honking behind him, Poilievre proposed an expansive view of the convoy that went well beyond its nominal goal of protesting the vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers.

The protest, Poilievre said, "was not just for truckers, but for the 60 per cent of Canadians who say they worry they can't afford food." It was for "the 60-year-old small businessman who has spent his entire adult life building up an enterprise and watching it wiped out … the depressed 14-year-old who's been locked out of school" and "the families that can't take it anymore."

In Poilievre's telling, the convoy represents "the people who want to stand and speak for their freedoms" and "all those that our government and our media have insulted and left behind."

"Freedom, not fear," Poilievre concluded. "Truckers, not Trudeau."

WATCH: MP Pierre Poilievre discusses his support for protest convoy

Conservative MP discusses his support for truckers' protest

7 days ago
Duration0:40
Pierre Poilievre says he supports peaceful protest by legitimate truckers and denounces those promoting extremism. 0:40

That video may soon mark the unofficial launching point of a new Conservative leadership race. But if Conservatives have hitched their wagon to this convoy, it remains to be seen where it will take them.

By Monday morning, even Poilievre felt the need to state that his embrace of the movement did not extend to all of its members. Erin O'Toole, still officially the leader of the Conservative Party, did so on Saturday night.

"People flying evil confederate or Nazi flags or disrespecting monuments are individually responsible for reprehensible acts," Poilievre tweeted. "They do not represent the thousands of lawful truckers who are actually part of the protest and are peacefully championing their livelihoods & freedoms."

A statue of Terry Fox is decorated with a Canadian flag, protest sign and hat as people participating in a cross-country truck convoy protesting measures taken by authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19 and vaccine mandates walk gather Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

But the troubles have not been limited to a few flags.

Maskless individuals forced the Rideau Mall in downtown Ottawa to close. Operators of a downtown homeless shelter said some protesters showed up at their door, demanded to be fed and harassed the staff; the shelter's CEO said one of their clients was assaulted.

Rocks reportedly were hurled at an ambulance. The "F–k Trudeau" flags are everywhere. The traffic disruption forced a vaccine clinic and a school to close. Ottawa residents have reported being harassed.

But there were warning signs even before the convoy arrived in Ottawa — such as the views expressed in the past by its organizers. The stated purpose of the convoy was to deliver a "memorandum of understanding" effectively calling for the undemocratic overthrow of the federal government so that all vaccine-related restrictions in Canada might be lifted. One organizer told an interviewer last week that the prime minister is a "criminal."

Conspiracy theories

It also isn't obvious that the convoy represents more than a minority of truckers in Canada.

If Conservatives now have to carefully parse this protest to explain precisely which elements they agree with and which they renounce, their flirtation with the convoy echoes the party's brush with the United We Roll protest in 2019. That movement — nominally about the plight of the oil and gas industry — became associated with anti-immigrant sentiments and conspiracy theories about a global pact on migration.

Poilievre, who also played footsie with "great reset" conspiracy theorists in 2020, posted his overpass video with the hashtag #FreedomOverFear. In a subsequent video, he was recorded telling a small group of protesters that "governments have taken advantage of COVID to try and take away our freedom and give themselves more power."

A person lights a campfire on Wellington Street in front of Parliament Hill’s West Block as a rally against COVID-19 restrictions continues in Ottawa, on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Poilievre knows that public health restrictions on businesses and schools are the responsibility of provincial governments. He knows that most of those provincial governments are run by ideological cousins of the Conservative Party. But his call for "freedom" over "fear" is another enigmatic bit of alliteration from a politician who has described the trucker mandate as a "vaccine vendetta."

Living in total freedom might be preferable to living in fear, but in the context of a pandemic the notion that freedom should come before fear might suggest that individualism should matter more than public health.

Many Canadians — not least the medically vulnerable and immunocompromised — would no doubt like to live without the fear of a potentially deadly virus or overcrowded hospitals, and believe that vaccination and restrictions on the unvaccinated are the only way they can be free to do so.

An overwhelming majority of Canadians, along with the citizens of nearly every country on Earth, might be tired and frustrated right now — but they might not share Poilievre's view of who and what is to blame.

Riding a wave of rage

Whatever spirit — or anger — the convoy is carrying, Conservatives seem keen to capture some of it without taking responsibility for everything about the protest. They may see some of their own supporters in the crowd. They may fear that if the Conservative Party doesn't co-opt the convoy's energy, the People's Party will.

After making a great deal of noise, the convoy might fade away. Even Conservatives eventually might feel compelled to tell the protesters to go home.

But Amarnath Amarasingam, an associate fellow with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, suggested this weekend that the convoy could become something like the Tea Party movement in the United States. In that case, what began as a loud protest against President Barack Obama ultimately became a driving force in the modern Republican Party.

It's far too early to say that's what the convoy might become — or even to guess at where this might be headed.

But once you've hitched yourself to a moving truck, it can be hard to jump off. And if a Conservative leadership race is about to start, a crowd of motivated and aggrieved citizens might look like a lucrative constituency to court.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Aaron Wherry

Parliament Hill Bureau

Aaron Wherry has covered Parliament Hill since 2007 and has written for Maclean's, the National Post and the Globe and Mail. He is the author of Promise & Peril, a book about Justin Trudeau's years in power.

Why this coffee shop owner started paying his staff a living wage

Sam Jones increased his labour costs by 20 per cent, but

 says it's worth it

Victoria coffee shop owner Sam Jones had long wanted to move to a living wage model, but finally did it in August. (Submitted by Sam Jones)

When you walk into 2% Jazz Coffee in downtown Victoria, you'll find americanos, espressos, and all of the other things you'd expect.

What's unexpected is what's going on behind the scenes.

In an industry that's struggling under the weight of the pandemic, owner Sam Jones made the decision to pay all of his 22 employees, from baristas to dishwashers, a living wage.

That wage doesn't include tips. He's also offering up to 10 days of paid sick leave — twice the amount currently guaranteed by the B.C. government.

"When people ask me how I can afford to pay a living wage, I turn the question around and say, 'How can I afford not to?'" said Jones, who sees his employees as an asset instead of an expense.

Jones started his certified living wage program in August 2021. One of the perks is he hasn't had any trouble attracting employees, at a time when other restaurants in his area can't keep staff on the books. 

"There is not so much a labour shortage in my mind, there's a reaction to how we treat labourers in our society right now," said Jones. 

"Why would you want to ... work that hard and have to go get another job at the same time [to make ends meet]? COVID has really put that on a pedestal for everyone to see."

A living wage

A living wage is calculated for cities across the country as what each adult in a two-parent family needs to make to support two children and pay for basic expenses like shelter, transportation, food and childcare, according to Living Wage For Families BC. It differs from location to location based on cost of living.

Right now the living wage for Victoria is $20.46, more than five dollars higher than British Columbia's minimum wage, which is set by the provincial government.

Living wage rates in cities across Canada:

Toronto           $22.08

Vancouver      $20.52

Calgary           $18.60

Ottawa            $18.60

Winnipeg        $16.15

Halifax            $22.05

Sources: Living Wage for Families BC, Ontario Living Wage Network, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Jones had already paid his employees more than minimum wage, but moving to a living wage has increased his labour costs by about 20 per cent. He had long been thinking about making the change, but credits the Bread and Butter Collective for finally giving him the courage to do it.

The collective is a group of Victoria hospitality owners that formed during the pandemic to try to address problems in the industry, as well as share information and best practices.

Some collective members were already paying their staff a living wage, and were able to advise Jones on how to implement it at his own business.

It's the first time Hoèlune Hernandez has made more than minimum wage and she says it's brought ease to her and her family. (Submitted by Sam Jones)

Hoèlune Hernandez, 21, started working at 2% Jazz Coffee as a barista in March 2021. After growing up in a lower-income family, she says it's the first time in her life that she's making more than minimum wage.

"Since I've got my job at 2% Jazz, there is so much stability and ease that has come from it," said Hernandez.

After her father died in 2020, she worked at least two jobs at a time to support her family. She bounced around five different jobs trying to find one that would allow her to make ends meet, before landing at 2% Jazz.

"It's widened my horizons to what life could be like, because I've been living off of minimum wage for all of my life," said Hernadez.

She now sees a possible future for herself taking on a bigger role with Jones's company, including building the relationships between the cafe and suppliers and farmers.

By paying his employees a living wage, Jones says he gets retention and more out of his staff. (Submitted by Sam Jones)

Jones is encouraging other business owners to follow suit in paying their employees a living wage.

"When you combine the base value of paying your employees more with the vision of the company, and you include your employees in that vision, that's where you get retention, you get happy customers because they see that you have happy staff," he said.

"If you're still thinking that you can attract employees at a minimum amount of pay and the minimum amount of involvement in your business and the minimum amount of respect, which is what those two previous things add up to — well, good luck to you."


Written and produced by Bridget Forbes.

First Nation wants Ottawa to help clean up plastic waste left behind by 27-year boil water advisory


Neskantaga has relied on plastic water bottles and jugs to ensure safe drinking water for 27 years



Olivia Stefanovich · CBC News · Posted: Feb 02, 2022 
Jugs and boxes of water bottles stack the community centre in Neskantaga First Nation. (Olivia Stefanovich/CBC)


A remote northern Ontario First Nation wants Ottawa to help it find an environmentally responsible way to dispose of the thousands of empty water bottles that have piled up over 27 years under a long-term drinking water advisory.

Neskantaga, a fly-in Oji-Cree community with approximately 300 members located about 450 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., marked a grim milestone on Tuesday — the longest drinking water advisory of any First Nation.

"It shouldn't be like that in a country like Canada," Chief Wayne Moonias said.

Like many other First Nations, Neskantaga does not have waste pickup or recycling. Most of its garbage, including plastic, is incinerated or ends up in a dump.

Ottawa sends weekly water shipments to the community but doesn't bring back all the used plastic bottles.

B.C. developing plan to protect water sources from effects of climate change, development
Iqaluit seeks alternative water source after recurrence of fuel odour issue

Moonias said that with its lack of potable water, crumbling infrastructure and high rate of suicide, Neskantaga has too much on its plate right now to deal with plastic waste.

"It's a concern for our community because we all know that we need to do something to protect the environment," he said.

"The community cannot do it alone because the community is spending their efforts and energies on trying to address the well-being of our community."

A child carries jugs of bottled water in Neskantaga First Nation. (Submitted by Marcus Moonias)

In the last federal budget, Ottawa set aside $560 million over seven years for solid waste management projects in First Nations. But there is still no federal plan to address plastic waste in communities.

Some First Nations, including Neskantaga, are calling for that to change.

They say they want Ottawa to work with them to curb plastic waste in First Nations, especially plastic waste generated by drinking water advisories.
'We need to do better'


"We are hurting our land by dumping all this plastic when we could be doing something about it," said Charla Moonias, a 24-year-old Neskantaga member who grew up on bottled water.

"We need to do better for our future generations."

She said she would like to see workers hired to sort out recycling and ship plastic waste out on aircraft or winter ice roads.

WATCH | Neskantaga First Nation asks for help with its plastic problem:



Neskantaga First Nation has no clean drinking water and an overflow of plastic bottles
Duration2:01A lack of clean drinking water has left Neskantaga First Nation in northern Ontario with an abundance of plastic water bottles in their landfill. The community is calling on the federal government to assist with their disposal. 2:01


Bearskin Lake First Nation, a fly-in community of roughly 400 people located 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, also wants to change the way it handles plastic waste created by more than two decades of a drinking water advisory.

"There's no such thing as recycling up here in the community," Chief Lefty Kamenawatamin said.

Indigenous Services Canada has a First Nations Waste Management Initiative to help develop sustainable waste management systems. The department told CBC News it has spent $384,000 since 2019 to support a community-led solid waste management planning project for Neskantaga for storing and handling plastics.

In 2021, it also gave $137,000 to Matawa Tribal Council to fund a full-time solid waste coordinator position to help all Matawa First Nations, including Neskantaga and Bearskin Lake, with waste management strategies.

Chief Lefty Kamenawatamin of Bearskin Lake First Nation, 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay, Ont., said his community doesn't have a recycling program so all of its plastic ends up in the trash. (CBC )

Alternatives and prevention needed, professor says


But plastic recycling doesn't have a good track record, said associate professor Shirley Thompson of the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

"We have to see alternatives and prevention," Thompson said.

Thompson said the burden of reducing plastic waste should fall on retail stores operating in northern and remote communities, including Neskantaga.

They could start deposit-return programs for people to return water bottles for a small refund, she said.

The Northern Store in Neskantaga First Nation. (Olivia Stefanovich/CBC)

"Having a federal regulation that requires it will result in better follow-up," Thompson said.

For far too long, Thompson said, Ottawa has pushed waste management in First Nations down the priority list.

She researched waste management in more than a dozen First Nations and found that many have landfills that are not at a safe distance from roads or rivers, which can put them at risk of contamination.

She also said First Nations communities, including Neskantaga, often burn their garbage, generating toxic chemical waste.

ANALYSIS  Microplastics accumulating in rivers and in the air but solutions are available

WHAT ON EARTH? How Indigenous pipeline resistance keeps emissions in the ground

"This is a necessary evil in the fact that they don't have money for covering up the landfill on a regular basis," she said.

"This is a result of policy. There is not sufficient funding for waste."

Environmental Defence Canada is also calling on Ottawa to end the long-term boil water advisories that cause mounting plastic waste.

"The federal government needs to throw in all of their efforts and resources that they can behind addressing this issue," said Michelle Woodhouse, program manager for freshwater protection and the Great Lakes at Environmental Defence Canada.

WHAT ON EARTH?How Indigenous 'cultural burns' can replenish our forests  
  

No word on when Neskantaga's advisory will be lifted

The ultimate solution for Neskantaga would be to lift its boil water advisory. Chief Moonias said he can't offer a timeline for ending it.

Indigenous Services Canada spent $20.9 million to update the community's water treatment plant and another $4.1 million for related wastewater system upgrades. The water treatment system upgrade is complete.

Neskantaga First Nation Chief Wayne Moonias wants the federal government to develop a plan with First Nations to reduce plastic pollution. (Christina Jung/CBC)

But there is still some work to do to address problems such as leaks, and to make sure the upgrade works with the aging distribution system.

A 14-day performance test was scheduled for Jan. 10 but was pushed back due to the pandemic.

Moonias said he hopes it will begin in the next month or so.

"The faith and trust in the system is very low right now," Moonias said. "Our community has suffered far too long."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Olivia Stefanovich
Senior reporter
Olivia Stefanovich is a senior reporter for CBC's Parliamentary Bureau based in Ottawa. She previously worked in Toronto, Saskatchewan and northern Ontario. Connect with her on Twitter at @CBCOlivia. Story tips welcome: olivia.stefanovich@cbc.ca.

Department of the Interior has hired its First Full-Time Investigator to Ensure Museum Compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act




Screenshot from a Telegraph-Herald video about the Effigy Mounds National Monument, featuring

David Barland-Liles. (Screenshot Feb. 1, 2022)


BY JENNA KUNZE 

 FEBRUARY 01, 2022

The Department of the Interior announced this week it hired a full-time investigator to ensure museum compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act for the first time in the law's 31 year history.

Previously, the agency hired part-time investigators to fill the role. Their job was to receive allegations of museums out of compliance with the law, conduct investigations, and present their findings to the person responsible for assessing civil penalties, the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks.

Now, longtime National Park Services law enforcement officer, David Barland-Liles—who has assisted the department with investigations on a part-time basis for many years—will serve as the agency’s first full-time NAGPRA investigator. 

“We expect to be able to do more and perhaps bigger investigations, and do them more efficiently and effectively,” National NAGPRA Program manager Melanie O’Brien told Native News Online about the new position. 

Barland-Liles career highlights include the investigation into the 1990 theft of Indigenous human remains from the museum collection of Effigy Mounds National Monument, where the museum’s former superintendent was found guilty in 2016 of stealing the human remains of at least 40 Native Americans.

Barland-Liles did not respond to Native News Onlines request for comment by press time.

The new position comes amid larger overhaul measures to NAGPRA, including proposed changes to the law informed by more than 700 tribal comments in extensive consultations that are slated for public release in the coming months.

“The repatriation of human remains and sacred cultural objects, and the protection of sacred sites is integral to preserving and commemorating Indigenous culture,” Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Bryan Newland, said in a press release announcing Barland-Liles’ new position. “Changes to the NAGPRA regulations are on the way and long overdue.”

Though civil penalties have always been an enforcement mechanism of NAGPRA, advocate Shannon O’Loughlin at the Association of American Indian Affairs said that a lack of resources behind the enforcement program made the investigations into civil penalty complaints“extremely slow.”

“Therefore, Tribes and others could not rely on the program to find violations and get them resolved to move repatriation work forward,” O‘Loughlin told Native News Online. “Even more importantly, because the investigations have taken so long, the process has not worked to be an incentive, forcing institutions to comply with urgency.”

Over the last 30 years, records show that the National Parks Program collected a total of $59,111 in civil penalties from institutions failing to comply with NAGPRA, though National NAGPRA Program manager Melanie O’Brien previously told Native News Online that the dollar amount doesn’t reflect enforcement.

O’Loughlin said she sees the new position providing “some force and consistency into a part of NAGPRA that has been ignored and is significant for NAGPRA compliance.”

“This strengthens Indian Country’s ability to seek enforcement against institutions that are not complying with the act,” she said. “Anyone can submit a civil penalty complaint to the National NAGPRA Program which can be helpful for whistleblowers and others who are aware of failures to comply with NAGPRA within institutions."

Instructions on how to allege an institution's failure to comply with NAGPRA, are available at https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nagpra/civil-penalties.htm