Flowers Growing in Antarctica Are the Latest Sign of Environmental Catastrophe

Molly Taft - Tuesday
Gizmodo
Thumbnail; Antarctic hair grass growing on rocks at Couverville Island, Antarctica.


Some cute little plants in Antarctica are flourishing in warmer temperatures—an ominous sign for rest of the continent and the world. A study published Monday in Current Biology finds that the continent’s only flowering plants have been growing rapidly in the past decade, thanks to warmer temperatures.

“Antarctica is acting as a canary in a coal mine,” Nicoletta Cannone, the study’s lead author and an associate professor of ecology at Italy’s University of Insubria, wrote in an email.

Antarctica’s harsh landscape means that plants are few and far between, and only two are able to flower. The study looked at the spread of these two unicorns, Deschampsia antarctica, a type of grass, and Colobanthus quitensis, which sprouts tiny yellow flowers, between 2009 and 2018. These plants, Cannone said, “have a well-adapted metabolism to the harsh Antarctic climate: they are able to photosynthesize at temperatures below zero and covered by snow and can restart their growth at the end of the long Antarctic winter.”

While the plants live across parts of the Antarctic islands and some of the peninsula, Cannone and her team concentrated their observations of the plants on Signy Island, in the South Orkney Islands range, because of a robust historical dataset related to the plants’ growth. The scientists then compared the growth rate over this nine-year period to previous surveys of growth taken since the early 1960s.

It turns out the plants are loving the warmer weather. The researchers found that Colobanthus grew five times faster between 2009 and 2018 compared to growth rates between 1960 and 2009. Deschampsia, meanwhile, really took off, growing 10 times more in the past decade than before. Signy Island has seen an overall increase of 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in mean annual average air temperature between 1960 and 2018; it’s clear that these plants are benefiting from the new balmy environment.

“Our work provides the first evidence of accelerated impacts of climate warming in Antarctica,” Cannone said. Plants, she wrote, “are the best bio-indicator of the terrestrial ecosystems as they can’t avoid climate warming by moving” like animals can.

While the continent isn’t seeing as rapid of climactic changes as the Arctic, new research increasingly shows that Antarctica is not immune to warming, as some scientists previously theorized. A study published in 2020 found that Antartica has warmed three times faster than the rest of the world over the past 30 years. In the past few decades, Antarctica has also seen a pretty nerve-wracking amount of ice loss: Between 2008 and 2015, ice loss into the ocean in the continent increased by 36 billion gallons per year, while a 2019 study found that a quarter of Antarctic glaciers have now destabilized compared to measurements taken in 1992. Several key glaciers that act as backstops for large amounts of ice, like the Thwaites Glacier—known, ominously, as the Doomsday Glacier—have shown incredibly worrying signs of stress in recent years.

There are probably some non-climate factors helping the flowers flourish, according to the study. The Antarctic fur seal rests and molts on Antarctic islands like Signy, and all that blubbery on-land seal activity can seriously disturb plant populations. The study found that these seals have been less present in recent years on Signy Island, which may be helping the plants.

But overall, it’s clear that warmer weather driven by climate change is accelerating the growth of these plants, at a much faster rate than scientists expected.

“We were surprised of the speed of the acceleration detected here, because we were confident to record an increase of these plants between our surveys but we could not hypothesize an event of such magnitude,” Cannone wrote. “Our statistical analyses show clearly the link between summer warming and plant growth.”

More: Pink Snow in the Italian Alps Is a Cute Sign of Environmental Catastrophe

Panel agrees with Canada that Trump-era U.S. solar panel tariffs violate USMCA

(NAFTATOO)

WASHINGTON — When it comes to trade dispute victories in the post-NAFTA era, Canada just tied it up, 1-1.

A dispute resolution panel has agreed that tariffs on Canadian-made solar products imposed in 2018 by former president Donald Trump violated the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

The panel's final report, released Tuesday, found that by keeping Canadian exports subject to its so-called "safeguard measures," the U.S. was in violation of its obligations under the deal.

The agreement includes language that allows partners to escape such unilateral measures, provided that the levels of their imports are neither a significant share of total imports or contributing to the "serious injury" the measures are meant to prevent.

Canada was hit with tariffs even though the U.S. International Trade Commission had already concluded solar exports stateside averaged less than two per cent over the course of its investigation — not enough to qualify as either a substantial share of total imports or enough to hurt domestic producers.

"The president's proclamation contained no explanation of why that less than two per cent figure … demonstrates that Canada had achieved a 'substantial share' of total imports," the decision reads.

Canada argued that the U.S. violated the agreement "by failing to exclude imports from Canada from its safeguard measure," which "had the effect of reducing imports of Canadian (solar) products and not allowing for reasonable growth."

The U.S. countered by saying that because the USMCA had not taken effect when the tariffs were originally imposed, they could not be challenged under the new agreement — even though Canada's efforts to dispute the tariffs under NAFTA's rules were essentially rebuffed.

It also argued that Canada was consistently in the top 10 sources of imports prior to the USITC's investigation and that imports from Canada were growing substantially between 2012 and 2015.

The U.S. also noted that Canadian Solar, a Guelph-based producer, ranks as one of world's largest manufacturers of solar components, "with substantial production of (solar) cells and modules in China."

International Trade Minister Mary Ng said the panel's ruling "unequivocally confirmed" that the tariffs are "unjustified and in violation" of the new agreement, which Canada refers to as CUSMA.

"Canada will work toward the complete removal of these unjustified tariffs," Ng said in a statement. Exports of solar products to the U.S. have declined by as much as 82 per cent since the tariffs were imposed, her office noted.

"Canada will also ensure that our solar industry, as well as all Canadian industries and workers, can fully benefit from CUSMA."

Ng also acknowledged U.S. President Joe Biden's declaration earlier this month that both extended the measures and also authorized U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to sit down with Canada and Mexico to negotiate a resolution.

Such a resolution would require confirmation that neither country's imports to the U.S. would "undermine the effectiveness of the action," the declaration reads.

"If the USTR subsequently determines … that such an agreement is not effective, the USTR is authorized … to terminate any previous suspension of the action with respect to imports of Canada or Mexico."

Tai's office acknowledged the decision late Tuesday, saying it "reaffirmed the president's authority to make exclusion determinations in safeguard proceedings."

"We will continue to review the report and work with Canada to resolve the dispute."

The decision is the second final report to be issued in a major USMCA dispute between Canada and the U.S. since the agreement took effect in July 2020.

Last month, arbitrators sided with the U.S. in its complaint that Canada was denying American dairy producers fair access to the supply-managed market north of the border.

Canada has also joined Mexico in a request for a dispute resolution panel over how the U.S. is choosing to interpret the all-important auto rules of origin that define what constitutes U.S., Mexican and Canadian content.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 15, 2022.

James McCarten, The Canadian Press

Bill Gates and Chris Sacca invest in energy storage start-up Antora to help heavy industry go green

Catherine Clifford -  CNBC

Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital co-led a $50 million financing round in Antora Energy, a start-up looking to decarbonize industrial processes.

The thermal battery would store heat from solar and wind farms and provide an alternative to the natural gas boilers that are used by heavy industrial processing companies.

Antora CEO Andrew Ponec said the technology can work now because of the plummeting price of renewable energy in recent years.


© Provided by CNBC

An artist rendering of an Antora Energy

Decarbonization at the scale necessary to meet global warming mitigation targets will require a radical rethinking of global infrastructure. Heavy industry is a large and often overlooked piece of the puzzle.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has researched the issue extensively. In his 2021 book, "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster," Gates wrote that the process of making things like cement, steel and plastic is the single biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. That's largely because the high-temperature heat needed for industrial processes typically comes from natural gas.

Gates, through investing arm Breakthrough Energy Ventures, is now backing a start-up that's at the very early stages of addressing the problem through technology.

Founded in 2018, Antora Energy takes zero emissions energy from renewable energy sources, like wind and solar farms, and converts that to heat, which it stores in solid carbon blocks that are insulated in a kind of thermal battery. From there, the stored energy is used as heat in industrial processes needed to make materials like cement and steel, or it's converted into electricity.

In its efforts to reach its ambitious goals, Antora said Wednesday that it raised $50 million in a financing round led by Breakthrough and Chris Sacca's Lowercarbon Capital. Energy giant Shell's venture arm also contributed to the deal.

The Antora thermal battery is meant to replace a natural gas boiler and will be similar in size to a small house or a large truck trailer. If Antora is successful, it will be selling to large industrial companies, providing a zero-emissions alternative at a lower price.

"Antora makes heat and electricity from solar at prices cheaper than burning gas," Sacca wrote in an email. "The oil and gas industry can deny climate change all they want, but buyers will always choose the lower price option, and that means lights out for fossil fuels."


© Provided by CNBC

Bill Gates and Chris Sacca invest in energy storage start-up Antora to help heavy industry go green

For now, Antora is still a lab project. CEO Andrew Ponec said he doesn't expect deployments to begin until late 2023.

"It's only in the last few years that you've had wind and solar get cheap enough that you may be able to compete directly with fossil fuels for something like industrial heat," Ponec said in an interview. "It wouldn't make sense to do what we're doing if you didn't have that massive shift in the energy landscape over the last few years."

Ponec has been around the industry long enough to see the change. He previously started Dragonfly Systems, a solar company that was acquired by SunPower in 2014. A couple years after the acquisition, he went back to Stanford to complete his degree in energy systems engineering.

That's where he met co-founder Justin Briggs. They connected with David Bierman, who had just launched a company with the same vision. The three joined forces to start Antora.

"The biggest opportunity that we saw was how to take all of this very inexpensive wind and solar and apply it to different areas of the economy that produce a lot of carbon," Ponec said.


© Provided by CNBC

The Antora Energy prototype being assembled.

A toaster for blocks of carbon

The industrial market isn't as visible to the public as consumer-focused products like Tesla's electric cars. But it's just as critical when it comes to decarbonization.

"Finding climate friendly solutions to supply high temperature thermal heat for industrial processes is an important and difficult challenge that we are trying to address," said Carmichael Roberts, an investor at Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

Ponec said Antora's technology acts "just like a toaster." The machine heats up carbon, which is then insulated, holding the energy as heat until it's needed for things like making cement and steel.

"The calcination of limestone only occurs at temperatures above 1,000 Celsius, and so you have to have very high temperature storage in order to to drive that reaction to make cement," Ponec said.

To reach those levels of heat, the energy has to be stored at even higher temperatures, because "temperature only flows downhill," Ponec said.

It may seem counterproductive to build decarbonization technology that depends on carbon.

Ponec says there are two reasons for it. First, the chemical properties of carbon allow it to stay in solid form until heated to 3,600 degrees Celsius, the hottest temperature of any element. Thus, there's no concern it will melt or vaporize.

The second reason, Ponec said, is that carbon is cheap, and solid carbon is already used in the aluminum and steel industries, so supply chains are up and running.

"Low cost is clearly good, and existing supply chains was a must," Ponec said. "We've seen too many promising climate companies struggle to scale up despite promising technology."

Bender Voice Actor John DiMaggio Says ‘The Entire Cast’ Deserves Better Pay For ‘Futurama’ Revival

Brent Furdyk - ET Canada

© Photo by Barry King/WireImage


Fans are rallying to the support of voice actor John DiMaggio, best known for portraying booze-swilling robot Bender in animated comedy "Futurama".

According to a report from Deadline, fans celebrated the announcement that Hulu was reviving the cult hit — until news emerged that DiMaggio was unable to come to a deal to reprise the character he's voiced since the series' first season in 1999.

While Hulu finalized plans today to order 20 new episodes, most of the series' voice cast have signed on, including Billy West (who voices Fry and Professor Farnsworth) and Katey Sagal (Leela), in addition to actors Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and David Herman.

DiMaggio, however, was reportedly unable to come to a deal with 20th Television Animation, which produces the series; as a result, reports Deadline, Bender and the other roles he voices are being recast in advance of the first table-read next week, although "there is still a desire on both sides for him to return."

“Negotiations are a natural part of working in show business. Everyone has a different strategy and different boundaries… Some accept offers, some hold their ground," he continued. “Bender is part of my soul and nothing about this is meant to be disrespectful to the fans or my ‘Futurama’ family. It’s about self-respect. And honestly, [it’s about] being tired of an industry that’s become far too corporate and takes advantage of artists’ time and talent."

Finally, he added, “I wish I could give you every detail so you would understand, but it’s not my place. Thanks again for the love everyone. Still hoping for the best.”

Irate fans have been saying a lot about the situation — and DiMaggio has been retweeting some of the choicer comments.

In a tweet on Tuesday, DiMaggio addressed the dispute: "I don't think that only I deserve to be paid more. I think the entire cast does."

Nepal arrests dozens in protest against US grant

© PRAKASH MATHEMA


Nepali police fired tear gas and water cannon and arrested 77 demonstrators in the capital Kathmandu as several hundred people protested against a $500-million US grant, authorities said.

"The protestors were arrested after they pelted stones and tried to push into the restricted area (near parliament)," police spokesman Bishnu Kumar KC told AFP.

Nepal signed the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) pact in 2017 to fund infrastructure projects but the government is struggling to get parliament to ratify it by a February 28 deadline.

Major opposition comes from Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's own coalition partners including Maoist politicians -- seen as traditionally close to China -- who say it undermines Nepal's sovereignty.

Local media has reported that Chinese officials have lobbied Nepali politicians about their concerns, seeing the grant as a covert US push to increase Washington's influence.

Indian daily the Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday that Washington believes that China is behind a disinformation campaign against the pact.

"Should outside influence and corruption cause parliament not to ratify, it would be deeply concerning for the US, and a loss for the people of Nepal," the paper quoted a US State Department spokesperson as saying.

Prakash Sharan Mahat, spokesperson of the ruling Nepali Congress party said that backtracking from the commitment will only erode Nepal's credibility.

"This grant is expected to help spur the economic growth in Nepal... We will continue to hold dialogue with other coalition partners as well as other political parties to mobilise their support to present the MCC Compact in the next session of the parliament," he said.

The Millennium Challenge, created by the US Congress in 2004, offers large-scale grants to support economic growth and reduce poverty, according to Washington.

pm/stu/je

BAN MASKS NOT VIOLENT PASSANGERS
Cruz, other GOP senators oppose no-fly list for convicted unruly passengers

A group of Republican senators sent a letter to the Justice Department on Tuesday to express "strong opposition" to creating a federal no-fly list for unruly passengers, claiming "the majority of recent infractions on airplanes has been in relation to the mask mandate."

Sens. Mike Lee of Utah, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas were among those who signed a letter opposing Delta Airlines' CEO Ed Bastian's, request earlier this month that the DOJ create a "no-fly" list for passengers convicted of federal offenses relating to on-board disruptions.


© Win Mcnamee/Getty Images

Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill, Feb. 9, 2022.

2021 saw a major spike in unruly passengers, with more than 5,981 reported cases, according to the FAA. The agency notes, of those cases, 4290 were mask-related.

"Creating a federal 'no-fly' list for unruly passengers who are skeptical of this mandate would seemingly equate them to terrorists who seek to actively take the lives of Americans and perpetrate attacks on the homeland," the GOP senators' letter said. "The [Transportation Security Administration] was created in the wake of 9/11 to protect Americans from future horrific attacks, not to regulate human behavior onboard flights."

The senators argued airlines could create their own no-fly lists and refuse services to unruly passengers, but that it would be an overreach for the federal government to do so.MORE: After increase in assaults, flight attendants are saying enough is enough

Many airlines have already done this, but they do not prevent an offender from boarding another carrier. Delta has previously asked other U.S. airlines to share their internal no-fly lists so that people who endangered their crew can't do so on another airline.


© Bloomberg via Getty Images

Ed Bastian, chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines Inc., speaks during a keynote at CES 2020 in Las Vegas, Jan. 7, 2020.

"The creation of this list by DOJ would result in a severe restriction on the ability of citizens to fully exercise their constitutional right to engage in interstate transportation," the GOP letter said. "It also raises serious concerns about future unrelated uses and potential expansions of the list based on political pressures."

In Bastian's request to the DOJ, he indicated that he believes banning unruly passengers from all commercial flights will send a strong signal to the flying public that not following crew member instructions comes with severe consequences.

MORE: Delta CEO: Put convicted unruly passengers on national 'no-fly' list

"This action will help prevent future incidents and serve as a strong symbol of the consequences of not complying with crew member instructions on commercial aircraft," he wrote.

Unruly passenger incidents onboard Delta planes have increased nearly 100% since 2019, according to Bastian. The airline has placed almost 2,000 people on Delta's internal no-fly list for refusing to wear a mask and has submitted around 1,000 banned names to the TSA to pursue civil penalties.

Other people in the industry have called for support of a no-fly list for unruly passengers. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, responded in a statement to the GOP senators.


© Scott Olson/Getty Images

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers screen passengers at O'Hare International Airport on Nov. 08, 2021, in Chicago.

"We've been punched, kicked, spit on, and sexually assaulted. This puts everyone at risk and disrupts the safety of flight, which is never acceptable and every single one of the senators who signed this letter knows full well what is at stake if we leave a gap in aviation safety and security," Nelson said. "It is irresponsible and political brinkmanship that will put our economic security at risk right along with our lives."

Nelson pushed back against the lawmakers' argument about mask mandates, noting many charges stem from incidents unrelated to mask-wearing.

"Our union continues to call for the creation of a centralized list of passengers who may not fly for a period of time after being fined or convicted of a serious incident. This is not about "masks," and the worst attacks have nothing to do with masks," Nelson said. "You're either for protecting crew and passengers from these attacks or you're against. We need clear and consistent rules with strict consequences for those who cannot respect our collective efforts to keep everyone safe - in the air and on the ground."

Joe DePete, the president of the Air Line Pilots Association, called for the Department of Homeland Security to create a "no-fly list" for unruly passengers.

"There should be zero tolerance for airline passengers who threaten the safety of others," DePete said in a tweet Tuesday.

Delta responded to the Republicans senators in a statement, saying unruly passengers risk the safety of airline staff and other passengers.

"Delta welcomes the interest from Congress as U.S. airlines continue to grapple with an uptick in unruly passengers, putting the safety of airline employees and the flying public at risk," a spokesperson for Delta told ABC News on Tuesday. "At Delta, nothing is more important than ensuring a safe and secure travel experience for our customers and our people."

VW Employees Getting Another Coronavirus Bonus As One-Off Payment

Jacob Oliva - Yesterday 
© Motor1.com

This is the second premium that VW employees got amid the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has been affecting various industries since two years ago. The automotive industry is one of those, and companies have been trying hard to compensate their workers who continue to soldier on despite the risks.

One of those companies is Volkswagen AG. The automaker has announced that its employees working at its German locations will be given another round of "coronavirus premium" in recognition of their hard work in recent months.

The bonus amounts to 500 euros or around $568 with the current exchange rates, a retrospective payment for the period from July 2021 to February 2022.

The payout will happen at the end of February 2022 with the employees' monthly salary. It will be paid gross for net, which means it won't be taxed and the employees will receive the full amount.

It Was A Tough Year For VW But Not Porsche:

Porsche Sold 300,000+ Cars In 2021 And The Taycan Outsold The 911


VW Group Global Vehicle Sales Down 4.5 Percent In 2021

"In recent months, the pandemic greatly tested our employees – whether they were working at our locations or remotely. The flexibility and tireless dedication they have shown is a remarkable performance that we would like to recognize. That is the reason for the new coronavirus premium," Chief Human Resources Officer Gunnar Kilian said in a statement.

Apprentices, dual students, and doctoral students will also receive a bonus in recognition of the additional strain caused by the pandemic. They will receive up to 300 euros ($341).

Volkswagen's first round of coronavirus bonuses was paid out in June 2021 for the period from March 2020 to June 2021. That money amounted to 1,000 euros ($1,136).

The German government’s coronavirus economic aid package made these bonuses possible. The package allows employers to pay their employees up to 1,500 euros ($1,705) in premium, free from tax and social security contributions.

This isn't the first time we've heard of a coronavirus premium from automakers. In December 2020, Daimler rolled out a $1,200 "corona bonus" to its employees for similar reasons.

Source: Volkswagen

Volkswagen works council sees Q1 decision on new Wolfsburg plant

BERLIN (Reuters) - The works council of Volkswagen said on Wednesday it hopes for a final decision on exactly where the German company will build a new electric vehicle plant in the first quarter, adding it wants it close to its existing Wolfsburg factory.

"We are fighting for Trinity production right here in Wolfsburg, which means either on the factory site or in the direct vicinity of the main plant," works council head Daniela Cavallo said in a statement.

Volkswagen said last year it plans to build a new state-of-the-art car factory close to its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, hoping to raise its game as the opening of Tesla's gigafactory near Berlin draws closer.

The plant is part of the group's Trinity project under which the carmaker wants to build a flagship electric sedan in Wolfsburg from 2026.

However, Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess has angered labour representatives by arguing that VW's main site - which does not currently produce any electric models - was way behind Tesla in terms of efficiency and speed.

Cavallo said the new plant should be closely connected to the existing factory to maximise synergies. The works council added it expected a decision about the precise location of the new plant in the first quarter.

The works council said Volkswagen produced 330,000 fewer vehicles than originally planned at the Wolfsburg plant last year due to a lack of semiconductors, with just under 400,000 vehicles rolling off the production line.

Volkswagen said in early February that night shifts at Wolfsburg would be cut on some production lines because of the lack of chips.

"The coming months will be hard, but we will carry on being the leading plant for the whole Volkswagen Group here in Wolfsburg. This is where we set the direction for the company," Cavallo said.

Cavallo reiterated a demand for a wage bonus for employees despite the tough earnings situation.

(Reporting by Jan Schwartz and Victoria Waldersee, writing by Emma Thomasson; Editing by Madeline Chambers)

works council can be elected in Germany in operations normally having at least five employees. Whether a works council should be elected in an operation is decided exclusively by the employees. Preventing a works council election in Germany is punishable under criminal law. The size of the works council to be elected depends on the number of employees in the company and can consist of up to 35 members.

10 Facts for Dealing With German Works Councils

www.squirepattonboggs.com/~/media/files/insights/events/2011/10/works-council…

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M


Morgan Stanley's role in Archegos collapse sped up block trade probes -Bloomberg News

(Reuters) -Morgan Stanley's role in the collapse of Archegos Capital Management deepened a probe by U.S. authorities into Wall Street's lucrative market for block trades, Bloomberg News reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The investment bank lost nearly $1 billion last year when Bill Hwang's Archegos failed to meet margin calls, forcing several investment banks including Morgan Stanley to attempt recouping losses by liquidating shares and assets.

Block trades were already under scrutiny when the highly leveraged family office imploded, the report said on Wednesday.

Morgan Stanley, shares in which were down 2.3%, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Broker-dealers frequently buy and sell blocks of shares, either on behalf of clients or as part of a hedging strategy, which are large enough to move the company's share price.

Block trading tends to increase during times of volatility as institutional investors rebalance their portfolios. Information on such share sales ahead of time could be extremely valuable.

Federal investigators began focusing on trades carried out by Morgan Stanley a day before the wider sell-off wiped out $35 billion from the value of Archegos' holdings https://bloom.bg/3LGBXlA, Bloomberg said.

That led to a wider inspection of multiple trades brought to market by Morgan Stanley, and whether its clients illegally profited from trading in advance of those transactions, according to the report.

It also led to scrutiny of Pawan Passi, a senior executive at the bank who spoke about various block trades, the report said.

Reuters and other media outlets reported on Tuesday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was probing whether financial executives broke the rules by tipping off hedge funds ahead of large sales of shares.

The SEC subpoenaed financial institutions in recent weeks to ask about particular block trades, including some dating back to 2019, according to a source familiar with the probe.

The sweep appears aimed at the broker-dealers involved in the trades as well as protocols the firms have to prevent misuse of the information, the source said.

(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Chris Prentice; Editing by Aditya Soni, Michelle Price and Andrea Ricci)

Proposed class-action lawsuit in B.C. seeks permanent deletion of sex-work records

VANCOUVER — A proposed class-action lawsuit filed in British Columbia wants the court to order criminal records related to sex work removed from police information systems nine years after Canada's highest court threw out the laws.

The civil suit filed in B.C. Supreme Court says members of the class-action had convictions, charges or police interactions related to sex work before the Supreme Court of Canada struck down key prostitution laws in 2013.

The top court found the laws that criminalized making money from sex work violated constitutional rights to life, liberty and security of the person, while advertising or purchasing sexual services remains illegal.

The lawsuit says plaintiff Susan Davis wanted to volunteer for a community policing foundation in 2020 and the disclosure of sex-work offences through a criminal record check deprived her of "control over when, where and who to tell about her convictions."

The City of Vancouver and its police department say they will file their responses in court, while other defendants, including the B.C. Ministry of Attorney General, the federal Justice Department and the RCMP, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

No statements of defence have yet been filed and none of the allegations have been proven in court.

The notice of claim, filed Wednesday, says criminal record checks are required for many employment and volunteer positions and the disclosure of sex-work records to potential employers, schools and other organizations can have adverse consequences.

The lawsuit asks the court for an order requiring the defendants to permanently delete all such records in their possession and for a declaration that the retention and use of the records infringes on constitutional rights and freedoms.

The suit says one or more of the defendants sent sex-work records to immigration, border and policing authorities in the United States, Australia and the European Union. It asks the court to direct the Canadian government to take appropriate steps to request that the other countries expunge those records.

"Sex-work records constitute private information of a personal and confidential nature, and are not evidence of criminality," the lawsuit says. "There is no lawful authority to keep, maintain, use, access or disseminate sex work records."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2022.

Montreal man's death demonstrates need for better police training, coroner says

The Canadian Press

MONTREAL — The fatal shooting by Montreal police of a man in distress highlighted a lack of training for officers dealing with people in crisis, a Quebec coroner found in a report released Wednesday into the 2017 death of Pierre Coriolan.

Coriolan, 58, was shot three times by police in 2017 after officers responded to a call about a man smashing things inside his apartment. A pathologist ruled Coriolan died of abdominal trauma from a gunshot, and a toxicology report found high traces of cocaine in his system.

"This intervention does not meet what is expected of police officers trained in recent years," coroner Luc Malouin wrote. "And, in my humble opinion, this is the biggest problem of this intervention: police officers who have not had the most recent training in intervention with people in crisis (and) therefore acted with outdated methods that were in no way up to date with current knowledge."

Six police officers responded to the call involving Coriolan, and their intervention lasted just over five minutes. Coriolan was sitting on a sofa holding a knife and screwdriver, and when he did not obey instructions to drop them, police opened fire. They had first tried to subdue him with a stun gun and rubber bullets.

Malouin said that police should have switched to a defensive posture when they saw Coriolan was alone and sitting on a sofa when they arrived. Instead, two officers began yelling at him simultaneously, provoking what the coroner described as a "chain reaction."

"The manner in which the police summoned Mr. Coriolan is questionable, because two police summoned at the same time when it is recommended that only one police officer do so to avoid a possible contradiction in the orders given to the person concerned," the coroner said.

Officers involved in the shooting had been trained to subdue an active shooter, the coroner noted.

"They followed the guiding principle of rapid-response tactical training, which is to quickly isolate and control the threatening person," Malouin said. "This training is still valid for an active shooter, but not for a person whose mental state is disturbed."

In 2019, Quebec prosecutors concluded the officers who fired on Coriolan, who was Black, would not face charges after an investigation by the province's police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes.

Malouin's inquest began in February 2020 and was delayed by the pandemic. He wasn't tasked with finding wrongdoing, but with making recommendations that would avoid a repeat in a future police intervention. Twenty-one people testified, including two experts in the use of police force.

He concluded that the police's actions that day demonstrated they had failed to plan the intervention, but their behaviour was consistent with their training, he said, adding that the officers didn't know that Coriolan was alone in the apartment.

The coroner noted in his report that the 911 dispatcher mentioned Coriolan was in distress but did not tell the officers the man was likely alone — information that would have changed the officers' approach, he said. Experts on police use of force told the coroner's inquest the operation would have benefited from a slower approach and that a sergeant charged with overseeing the operation should have stayed back to analyze and direct officers.

A lawyer representing Coriolan's family said Wednesday they were satisfied with the coroner's findings. The family is suing the city over Coriolan's death.

"When we put his report in this context, of course they are satisfied with the conclusion," Virginie Lemire-Dufresne said in an interview. "Many questions remain but they can be proven in the trial that will happen in May."

Recommendations made to police, the Public Security Department and the province's police academy include mandatory training for police officers and supervisors on how to de-escalate situations involving people who are mentally ill or intoxicated.

The police have changed how they engage with mentally disturbed people, Malouin said. Since 2019, the province's police academy has developed a use of force model encouraging communication.

Malouin said the academy has implemented a course on de-escalation tactics, but added that there is no plan to update the training or to require that officers take refresher courses. The Montreal police force, he said, has also created a new training module on de-escalation tactics but it, too, doesn't have a plan to require officers take refresher courses.

In a statement Wednesday, Montreal police said officers are being trained on how to de-escalate situations.

"We openly welcome the report and will analyze all of the recommendations made, more specifically those regarding the (Montreal police) and relating, in particular, to training," the police force said in an emailed statement, adding that it wouldn't comment further.

Malouin's report noted that in Montreal alone, the police force gets 50,000 calls annually about people in crisis, making it essential, he said, for police to continually receive training.

"Given the volume of these calls, it would be appropriate to consider that the police are better equipped to intervene and that these skills require frequent updating and requalification, just like other techniques that are subject to periodic requalification," he wrote.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2022.

Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press