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Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Calgary city administration unveils $87B climate plan

City staff rolled out Calgary's proposed new climate strategy Tuesday — a plan that will cost taxpayers billions if implemented.

Jade Markus - CBC

A moonrise over Calgary is seen in this file photo from Sept. 23, 2010

In November 2021, Calgary joined the ranks of Canadian cities that have declared a climate emergency.

Council has already committed to the city reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. In November 2021, it joined the ranks of Canadian cities that have declared a climate emergency.

City administration laid out its plan to hit net zero within the next 28 years — something they say will require an investment of about $87 billion by 2050, or $3.1 billion annually.

"We know what the impact of climate change will be for Calgary, and we know what we have to do to protect Calgarians from the risks of a changing climate," said the city's general manager of planning and development Stuart Dalgleish.

"At the same time, we understand and are sensitive to the challenges Albertans will face as we transition towards a low carbon and climate resilient future. There are significant hurdles that need to be overcome," he said.

The report says the cost of climate impacts grows yearly, and could balloon to as much as $8 billion annually by the 2080s, impacting all Calgarians but especially vulnerable populations.

The plan would introduce building retrofits, renewable energy and zero emissions mobility, as well as dozens of other actions to reduce emissions.

Coun. Kourtney Penner, chair of the city's community development committee, says there is an acknowledgement climate change can no longer be ignored.

"While there is a cost to it, to the implementation of the strategies that will move us towards net zero, that is a cost that we cannot avoid and that we all have a part to play in that future," she said.

"What I look at is what are the costs that we can't measure, the savings that we talk about from an environmental lens, what is the price of clean water? What is the price of clean air?"

The report says the consequences of climate change are widespread, costly, and hazardous, impacting the economy, environment and people's health.

Left unchecked, the impacts of climate change will stretch government and municipal resources, exacerbate inequity, disrupt business operations and damage our environment, the report says.

More than two dozen presenters spoke in support of the strategy during a public hearing held by the committee on Tuesday.

The strategy will go to city council for discussion on June 7.

Calls for ‘ethical oil’ are pushing Canada to become a Petrol-State

Pumpjacks draw oil in a canola field near Olds, Alta.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

THE CONVERSATION
Published: May 31, 2022

Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine has brought fossil fuels and geopolitics to the forefront of public discussion. In an effort to evade economic sanctions, Russia has weaponized its energy exports.

In March, President Vladimir Putin said he expects “unfriendly” countries — those that have imposed sanctions over Russia’s war in Ukraine — to pay for gas sales in rubles. In May, Russia halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria after they refused to pay in rubles. The European Union buys a significant portion of its natural gas (40 per cent) and imported oil (27 per cent) from Russia. Some analysts have said a few countries, like Germany, could see a recession if gas from Russia were completely cut off.

The escalating energy crisis has reignited calls to increase the production and export of Canadian oil and gas to diversify Europe’s energy supply. Pro-bitumen think tanks such as the Canadian Energy Centre and the Macdonald-Laurier Institute have made similar arguments accusing opposition to pipelines as dooming western countries’ energy security.

Imports of natural gas into Europe from both pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

(The Associated Press)

In essence, these arguments repackage the ethical oil rhetoric that frames investment in bitumen as morally superior to oil from non-democratic regimes. But the significant expansion of bitumen infrastructure comes with economic uncertainties and contradicts Canada’s COP26 commitment to decarbonization. Moreover, it diverts public attention away from the inconvenient reality that Canada and Russia are petro-states that share numerous similarities in energy policy making.

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Oil booms and petro-states

Political scientist Terry Lynn Karl introduced the idea of a petro-state in her 1997 book, The Paradox of Plenty: Oil Booms and Petro-States. She developed the petro-state thesis to explain the inability of oil-exporting nations such as Saudi Arabia and Nigeria to convert their petroleum revenues into more stable and self-sustaining economies.

Karl’s main insight was that a nation’s reliance on oil exports leads to economic and political problems such as weak economic growth in manufacturing sectors, vulnerability to price shocks, widespread social inequality, authoritarianism, corruption and so on.

Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, soaring oil prices substantially altered the global energy demand and supply landscape. This trend considerably bolstered the oil and gas industry in countries like Canada, Norway and Russia. In response, scholars began to debate whether the petro-state thesis should include them, given their increasing dependence on fossil fuel revenues.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting in Moscow on May 16, 2022, shortly before halting gas supplies to Finland, after the country refused to pay in rubles. (Alexander Nemenov/Pool Photo via AP)

For instance, scholars noted that Russia is compelled to prioritize the energy sector over other economic sectors due to the influence of natural gas in generating export revenues and in sustaining its geopolitical influence in Europe. This results in an economic structure that is vulnerable to energy market volatility. In 2020, record-low oil prices imposed a hefty cost on Russia, contributing to a dramatic currency depreciation and negative GDP growth for the whole year.
Overcome the petro-state curse

Scholars have debated the extent to which Canada can be classified as a petro-state. After all, energy products only account for 8.3 per cent of national GDP, which is notably lower than typical petro-states. Nonetheless, the Canadian economy and well-known petro-state economies exhibit comparable structural vulnerabilities.

The Hebron Platform, anchored in Trinity Bay, N.L., in April 2017.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly

Canada’s energy sector has struggled from declining demand, as a result of the pandemic. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador rely heavily on the energy sector, and have been hit especially hard.

The resurgence of “ethical oil” narratives that moralize bitumen extraction and demonize critics aim to frame resource dependence as part of Canadian identity. Put differently, the bitumen industry and its allies are pushing for “petro-nationalism,” which symbolically celebrates bitumen while obfuscating the unequal distributions of bitumen’s economic benefits and its environmental costs.
In search of a path to net-zero

Days after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney tweeted, “Now if Canada really wants to help defang Putin, then let’s get some pipelines built!”

However, building more pipelines to increase the Canadian economy’s reliance on fossil fuels is not the only option. Norway, whose economy is currently reliant on the oil and gas industry, is a shining example of how to overcome the petro-state curse.

As policy analyst Bruce Campbell has written, instead of the denial, delay and division that characterizes current Canadian climate policy, Norway’s path to net-zero is built on climate action, close collaboration with labour unions and NGOs and strong government leadership in collecting and redistributing energy revenues.

Read more: 5 ways Norway leads and Canada lags on climate action

If Canada is truly concerned about becoming a moral energy producer, then our public conversations need to focus on exploring immediate policy actions aimed at limiting greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector and planning for its phaseout.

Author

Sibo Chen
Assistant Professor, School of Professional Communication, Toronto Metropolitan University
Disclosure statement

Sibo Chen receives funding from Toronto Metropolitan University and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Children with disabilities getting inconsistent government support, Alberta auditor general finds

Janet French - CBC

Alberta families hoping for financial help for their children with disabilities are often at the whim of their caseworker, rather than consistent rules, the province's auditor general has found.

Auditor General Doug Wylie has found inconsistencies with a program that helps families with the costs of raising and caring for children with disabilities.

Furthermore, only about one in five caseworkers and supervisors with the Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) program had completed all mandatory online training. About a third of those who did finish training whizzed through the multi-hour modules in less than five minutes, the auditor's office found from digital data.

The findings could lead to the perception the government is making decisions unfairly, Auditor General Doug Wylie said on Monday.

"We expect consistency, and it's a hallmark of well-respected corporations and organizations," Wylie said. "I don't see why Albertans wouldn't expect the same when it comes to programs and services offered by their government."

Wylie's office found plentiful inconsistency within the FSCD program, which paid out $193 million in supports to more than 15,000 families in 2020-21.

FSCD helps families cover the cost of expensive therapies, counselling, clothing and shoes, medications, respite care and other services children need to survive and thrive.

The auditor general studied the program from April 2018 to March 2021. His office released the report last week.

Although there is official guidance on how caseworkers should evaluate kids' needs and decide what should be covered, Wylie's office found some workers might not know about those documents.

"Supports and services varied depending on who the caseworker was, which should not be a factor," says the report.

The ministry of community and social services also wasn't able to provide evidence staff had received proper training in how to do those evaluations consistently.

Related video: Advocates say Alberta disability workers leaving jobs due to low wages (Global News)

"The decisions are quite subjective, and there's quite a lot of judgment required," said assistant auditor general, Patty Hayes.

They also found the coverage for services varied by region of the province.

The program routinely missed provincial targets to evaluate children's needs and reach agreements with families in a timely manner.

Wylie recommends updating guides for caseworkers, developing better staff training and checking that they follow through, and managers monitoring decisions for consistency.

Findings no surprise to Edmonton parent

Sarah Doll, an Edmonton parent whose two children have autism, said the auditor general's findings are disappointing, but unsurprising.

She said getting coverage through the program is a perpetual cycle of re-applying and gathering and submitting evidence that children need specialized help. Both of her children qualify.

Doll, who is co-founder of the group Hold My Hand AB, which advocates for families with children with disabilities, says caseworkers are overloaded, and there can be long wait times to get a verdict on coverage.

There's also high turnover of workers, she said — her family has had three caseworkers in four years.

Her children's reimbursement rates and coverage have changed in the past without notice or reason, she said. Families who compare notes find children with similar issues appear to qualify for different levels of help, she said.

"We always have a running joke that it's like a lottery if your kid is going to get support for what they need that year," Doll said.

And some people are afraid to report that their child is improving in case the worker concludes the child no longer needs therapies, she said.

Justin Marshall, press secretary to Community and Social Services Minister Jason Luan, said the ministry is developing an action plan to address the concerns the auditor general identified.

In addition to reviewing the policies and guides in the program, staff are trying to streamline the application process, review the required training, and address the oversight gaps, he said. They're also trying to bring more consistency across the province.

"We remain committed to delivering the FSCD program as consistently and efficiently as possible so all children with disabilities can achieve the best outcomes," he said in an email.

Enoch Cree Nation’s Ashley Callingbull Named In-Game Co-Host For Edmonton Elks

Caley Gibson,

Globalnews.ca

Yesterday

Mrs. Universe Ashley Callingbull speaking at the University of Manitoba Friday.

The Edmonton Elks have named a new game-day host and she will likely be a familiar face to many in Alberta.

On Monday, the CFL football club announced Ashley Callingbull will join CISN Country's Chris Scheetz as an in-game host.

Callingbull is from Enoch Cree Nation and has had many successes, from becoming the first Indigenous woman to appear in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition to being the face of a major Nike campaign.

Callingbull was also crowned Mrs. Universe in 2015.

"Being a proud member of Treaty Six, I've always been a fan of Edmonton's sports teams. I'm excited to join one of my hometown teams with the Edmonton Elks," Callingbull said in a news release Monday.

Callingbull was born in Enoch Cree Nation west of Edmonton.

"Having Ashley be a game-day voice of the Elks is not only a source of pride for Enoch, but all Treaty Six First Nations," Enoch Cree Nation Chief Billy Morin said.

Callingbull will make her debut at the Elks pre-season game Friday night against the Calgary Stampeders at Commonwealth Stadium.

"As a community-owned team, one of our club's goals is to develop meaningful opportunities that help build our community and provide practical ways for others to climb the ladder we're helping to create," said Elks president and CEO Victor Cui.

"Ashley's appointment is a great opportunity to show children what inclusion means and how it can benefit us all."

Tickets to Friday's pre-season game are $15, with proceeds going to support the Canada-Ukraine Foundation.

© Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

BJP ASSASSINATION?

Why Sidhu Moose Wala's violent death has sent shock waves from Punjab to Brampton

Brampton-based rapper's shooting sparks grief in Punjabi communities around the world

Ali Raza · CBC News · Posted: May 30, 2022

The death of a renowned musician who rose to fame in Brampton, Ont., has sent shock waves across Punjabi communities around the world.

Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, known by his stage name Sidhu Moose Wala, was shot dead in Punjab on Sunday, police in the Indian state confirmed. He was 28.

Moose Wala's impact on Punjabi music, culture and the community at large — in Brampton and beyond — is an underdog success story, many say.

"Brampton is where he found his success," said journalist Jaskaran Sandhu.

Sandhu, who co-founded and runs Baaz News, an outlet focused on the Sikh and Punjabi diaspora, says Moose Wala's story is an international one. But in Brampton, it's a story to which many can relate.

'A very unique voice'

Moose Wala came to the city, just northwest of Toronto, in 2016 to study — as many other Punjabis have.

"This is very Brampton. You've come here as an international student, you found your voice, your crew, and he fulfils a long dream of becoming a popular and famous Punjabi singer," Sandhu said.

Sidhu Moose Wala was shot and killed in Punjab, India on Sunday. Punjabi diaspora communities across the world, including in Brampton, are expressing condolences and grief. (Sidhu Moose Wala/Facebook)

Brampton's Punjabi music scene is massive and growing, he says, with songs streamed by millions across the planet. Moose Wala's uniqueness, Sandhu says, stemmed from his ability to combine classic Punjabi musical traditions with modern rap and hip hop.

But what also set Moose Wala apart from the rest were his lyrics.

"That only happened because of the kind of ecosystem that exists locally," Sandhu said.

How Brampton, Ont. became a powerhouse within the Punjabi music industry

He would tackle several social issues facing the Punjabi community, including a song about the widespread farmers' protests in India.

"He was a very unique voice, and the kind of outpouring, love, and condolences you're seeing is a result of that," Sandhu said. "I think he represented a lot of internal dialogues and struggles within the community."

Moose Wala's background in Brampton helped him connect with not just those born and raised in the city, but also with those who came as immigrants or students.

Sandhu says he's heard stories of people taking a day off from work or school to mourn Moose Wala's death, something he says is reminiscent of when Tupac Shakur was killed in 1996.

Roots in Punjab

But Canadians who have never heard of him might not recognize the significance of his death. Sandhu says the Punjabi community in Canada is more likely to be Sikh, and it's a transnational community connecting Canada, the U.S., U.K. and India, and many more countries where Punjabi Sikhs have settled.

"You can't disconnect us with what's happening in Punjab and South Asia," Sandhu said.

That's part of why Moose Wala's music resonated with so many.

"We listen to [Punjabi] music more than we listen to English music," he said. "Even if you're born and raised here, even if Punjabi has become your second language, you still listen to it more."

Moose Wala has "left a huge impact on the community, widespread across the world." says Rupen Bhardwaj, a music video director based in Brampton.

Bhardwaj directed many of Moose Wala's hit videos, including Legend and B-Town, a song dedicated to Brampton. In all, he and his brother shot six music videos for the acclaimed rapper, some of them in Brampton.

Rupen Bhardwaj and his brother have directed six music videos for Sidhu Moose Wala, including Legend, which was shot in Brampton just behind where Bhardwaj stands. (CBC)

When Bhardwaj learned of Moose Wala's death, he could only think of one of his lyrics "te parallel chalda aan death de" (I walk parallel to death).

"Sidhu's impact on Brampton is spread across the city," Bhardwaj said.

"So many people never thought to be an artist, but they see a success story from another college student from India who came here to have a life in Canada and got so far with such acclaim," he said.

"It's the simple case of an underdog story," he added.

Deepinder Singh, an international student who now calls Brampton home, said he couldn't get over the shock of hearing the news.

"He's like us," Singh said. "He came here as an international student, struggled, composed his music, but now he's not with us."

"May God bless his soul."

The death of Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala, who had deep ties to Canada, sent shockwaves among his fans and celebrities. Police are still investigating a motive, but Moose Wala's father reportedly told them he had received threats before his death.

Critics fear environmental impact of new Alberta anti-red-tape legislation

"Bill 21 to me looks like a blank cheque."

RED TAPE = REGULATIONS

EDMONTON — New Alberta legislation aimed at reducing red tape could do just the opposite while threatening parks and protected areas, say legal and environmental critics.

"It further centralizes authority with the minister and the higher echelons of the bureaucracy," said Nigel Bankes, professor emeritus of resource law at the University of Calgary. "It actually makes the job of finding the law more difficult."

Last week, the United Conservative government passed a bill as part of its ongoing "red-tape reduction" efforts that changes the way rules are made on public lands.

The legislation gives much broader power to the environment minister. It allows the minister to "set standards, directives, practices, codes, guidelines, objectives or other rules relating to any matter" involving public lands.

It also broadens the scope of who can set rules to any "government, board, agency, association or person" -- a provision that did not exist under the old legislation.

That scope is now so broad that different rules could apply in different parts of the province, said Katie Morrison of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. Those local rules could end up working against wider land-use goals.

"It absolutely could open up to land uses in protected areas that are not appropriate or commercial purposes that are not appropriate to maintain the goals of those protected areas," she said Tuesday.

New Democrat environment critic Marlin Schmidt said he is worried about losing public oversight of who is allowed to do what and where. He points out there's no requirement for the minister to sign off on new rules.

"That's extremely concerning from a transparency point of view. If the minister doesn't even know what regulatory changes are being made, how are Albertans supposed to know?"

Alberta Environment spokesman John Muir said those concerns are overblown.

"Bill 21 does not allow the department to act outside of the legislation, regulations or land management intent," he wrote in an email.

"There will continue to be public, stakeholder and Indigenous engagement on regulations, directives, rules, codes and standards as required."

New regulations must also be officially published by the government.

Lorne Fitch, a well-known Alberta biologist, was not reassured. He wanted to know who asked the government for these changes.

"Without some transparency in this, without knowing what Bill 21 was designed to fix, it leads us to look at this with some skepticism and even some suspicion."

He suggests it could be used, for example, to increase access for off-highway vehicles in areas already overloaded with roads and trails.

"Bill 21 to me looks like a blank cheque."

Bankes said it's not unprecedented for government rules to accommodate changes made by an outside body -- International Organization for Standardization standards for pipelines, for example.

But he said the new law allows for regulations to be set by so many different groups it'll be harder for people to know what the rules in force actually are. Nor do any new rules have to be proposed in advance and opened to public input.

"It leads to a loss of transparency and accountability," he said.

Bankes adds that nowhere in the bill are there any standards for the standard-setters.

"It doesn't say they have to be a credible professional organization or a national standard. It just seems way too broad."

Bill 21 has passed third reading in the Alberta legislature and requires only royal assent to be proclaimed into law.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2022.

-- Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

Small-scale possession of illicit drugs will be decriminalized in B.C. starting next year: federal government

Adults will be able to possess small amounts of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA

Christian Paas-Lang · CBC News · Posted: May 31, 2022

Ottawa, B.C. government make announcement on opioid crisis measures

An 'important announcement' from Ottawa and the B.C. government regarding the opioid overdose crisis may relate to the province's application to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illicit substances.

Adults in British Columbia will be allowed to possess small amounts of some illicit drugs starting next year, the federal government announced Tuesday.

The federal government says Canadians 18 years of age and older will be able to possess up to a cumulative 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA within British Columbia. The announcement is in response to a request from the province for an exemption from the law criminalizing drug possession.

This first-of-its-kind exemption will go into effect January 31, 2023 and last until January 31, 2026.

Federal Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett and her provincial counterpart Sheila Malcolmson announced the policy shift together in Vancouver today.

The city has been the site of a surge in drug overdose deaths which accelerated throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. B.C. saw 2,224 suspected toxic illicit drug overdose deaths.

It's a dramatic policy shift in favour of what decriminalization advocates say is an approach that treats addiction as a health issue, rather than a criminal one.

B.C., Vancouver and Toronto Public Health have all separately filed exemption requests to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.

Under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, the health minister has the authority to grant exemptions if it is "necessary for a medical or scientific purpose or is otherwise in the public interest." The federal government confirmed that the applications from Vancouver and Toronto Public Health are both still under review.

The principle of decriminalizing possession of a small amount of illicit drugs has been endorsed by the Canadian Association of the Chiefs of Police. The B.C. Association of Chiefs of Police also has supported the idea, though it recommended decriminalizing possession of just 1 cumulative gram.

Why is Canada's illicit drug supply so deadly and what's being done about it?

Overdose victims trending younger as drug supply grows ever more toxic, death review panel finds

While the federal government has granted an exemption, it's not giving B.C. exactly what it asked for.

One major difference is the quantity of drugs being decriminalized for personal possession. B.C. asked for a cumulative 4.5 grams — the federal exemption allows for just 2.5 grams.

Health Canada said it consulted numerous sources of information to set its possession threshold. It also acknowledged a lack of evidence to determine what an effective threshold would be. The department said that once the exemption is in place, it will be thoroughly examined by a third party and its details could change as evidence is gathered and analyzed.

Delaying implementation until January 2023 was meant to give governments and agencies time for training, consultation and outreach, and to otherwise prepare for the shift in policy, federal and provincial officials said.

Activities like production, trafficking still illegal

The exemption carries certain other limitations. It does not apply on the premises of elementary or secondary schools, in child care facilities or airports. It does not apply to Canadians subject to the military's disciplinary code.

The B.C. Ministry of Health said that they view decriminalization as only one part of a set of policies meant to address the opioid overdose crisis.

Health Canada said that the exemption does not decriminalize activities like trafficking, producing, importing or exporting controlled substances.

The exemption comes just a day before a vote is expected on a decriminalization bill put forward by NDP MP Gord Johns.

Black and Indigenous offenders twice as likely to be put into maximum security prison: auditor general

Christopher Nardi -

OTTAWA — Correctional Services Canada places a disproportionately high number of Black and Indigenous offenders into maximum-security institutions, who then remain there longer than other offenders, according to a new federal auditor general report.

tA correctional officer looks on at the Collins Bay Institution in Kingston, Ont., on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, during a tour of the facility.

“Overall, we found that Correctional Service Canada failed to address and eliminate the systemic barriers that persistently disadvantaged certain groups of offenders in custody,” says Canada’s Auditor General Karen Hogan in a report published Tuesday.

“Disparities were present from the moment offenders entered federal institutions.”

The findings in the report are both stark and show little improvement over the years for Black and Indigenous offenders in the country’s carceral system, despite previous auditor general (OAG) reports highlighting many of the present issues in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Combat misogyny and systemic racism, Canada's public safety agencies told

Prison watchdog raises concerns of 'culture of impunity'

In this report, Hogan found that Indigenous and Black offenders were way twice likely to be assigned higher security levels when admitted into prison than other criminals. When entering custody, offenders are assigned one of three security classifications: minimum, medium or maximum.

“Offenders’ initial security placements affect their potentials for parole and the lengths of the sentences that they serve in custody. Offenders initially placed at minimum security are more likely to be granted parole by the time they are first eligible for release than those at higher levels,” reads the report

Between April 2018 and December 2021, 15 per cent of Black men and 11 per cent of Indigenous men were admitted into a maximum security prison. That is above the average of nine percent of all offenders assigned a maximum security rating over the same period, according to the OAG.

During that time, Indigenous men accounted for over 36 per cent and Black men accounted for nearly 15 per cent of all maximum security offenders, meaning they represented over half of all of Canada’s maximum security carceral population.

Indigenous women also represent a disproportionate amount of maximum security carceral population admissions (70 per cent) during the same period. Only Black women are well under the average (less than one per cent) of offenders with the highest security rating.

Many of these issues are longstanding and were found in previous audits, Hogan worried.

“Indigenous and Black men were placed at maximum-security institutions at twice the rate of other offenders and made up 51 per cent of maximum-security placements,” the OAG concluded.

“We note that overrepresentation of Indigenous men and women at higher levels of security is a long-standing issue. We made similar observations in our 2016 audit,” the report added.

The OAG also found that though the government has a security classification tool called the Custody Rating Scale, CSC employees regularly and disproportionately overrode the results to give Indigenous offenders a higher security level.

“For Indigenous women, most overrides placed them to a higher security level: Corrections staff overrode up 53 per cent of minimum-security placements, compared with 27 per cent for non‑Indigenous women. For Indigenous men, corrections staff overrode up 46 per cent of minimum-security placements to higher levels, compared with 33 per cent for non‑Indigenous offenders,” reads the report.

Black men and women were on the other more likely to have their security recommendations lowered during an override.

The OAG also published three other reports Tuesday on the government’s ability to process disability benefits for veterans, access to federal benefits for hard-to-reach populations and a follow-up audit on Ottawa’s gender-based analysis plus system.

The first found that veterans applying for disability benefits for the first time waited a median of 39 weeks for a decision, which is more than double Veterans Affairs Canada’s service standards of 16 weeks.

The second concluded that both the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) had “not done enough” to connect hard‑to‑reach populations with the benefits meant to support low‑income Canadians. Despite new outreach activities by the government since 2018, the OAG found that ESDC and CRA had only “limited” evidence their efforts were paying off.

The third, a follow-up of a 2015 audit of the government’s analytical system to determine the “gendered” impacts of its decisions, programs or policy, found that there are still issues in certain departments and agencies’ ability to perform gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) properly.

Ruins of Hidden 3,400-Year-Old City Emerge as Giant Dam Dries Up

The tightening grip of climate change on our planet is revealing secrets buried for millennia.

Michelle Starr - Yesterday

ScienceAlert

The archaeological site of Kemune in the Mosul Dam.

As waters and ice recede under warming conditions, the traces of people and civilizations long gone from the mortal realm emerge. In recent months, Iraq has been hit particularly hard, battered by extreme drought, with the Mosul reservoir shrinking as water is extracted to keep crops from drying.

Amid this crisis, the ruins of an ancient city, submerged for decades, are once again on dry land. Since the dam was created in the 1980s before the settlement was archaeologically studied and cataloged, its re-emergence represents a rare opportunity for scientists to explore it. The archaeological site has been named Kemune.

The ruins consist of a palace and several other large structures, dating back to the Bronze Age in the region, around 3,400 years ago. Scientists think the ruins might be the ancient city of Zakhiku, a bustling center for the Mittani Empire, which thrived on the banks of the Tigris River between 1550 and 1350 BCE.

This isn't the first time that the city has risen from the waters like a lost Atlantis. In 2018, the dam receded enough to give archaeologists a brief window in which to discover and document the ruins, before the water level rose and covered them again.

So, in December of 2021, when the city began to emerge once more, archaeologists were ready to leap in and take advantage of the second brief window.

In January and February of this year, archaeologist Hasan Ahmed Qasim from the Kurdistan Archaeology Organization in Iraq, along with fellow researchers Ivana Puljiz of the University of Freiburg and Peter Pfälzner from the University of Tübingen in Germany, set about mapping the mysterious city.

The walls of a storage building.

(Universities of Freiburg and Tübingen, KAO)

In addition to the palace that was uncovered in 2018, the researchers found some other interesting structures. These included a large fortification with a wall and towers, an industrial complex, and a huge, multi-story storage building, all dating back to the Mittani Empire.

"The huge magazine (storage) building is of particular importance because enormous quantities of goods must have been stored in it, probably brought from all over the region," Puljiz says.

The preservation of the mud brick walls was rather remarkable, considering they had been underwater for over 40 years, but that was a result of the city's rather abrupt fall in 1350 BCE.

During this, an earthquake devastated the region, toppling buildings, which resulted in a protective coating of rubble falling over the remaining intact walls, covering their painted murals and the buildings' contents.

One of the ceramic vessels containing cuneiform tablets.

(Universities of Freiburg and Tübingen, KAO)

Fascinatingly, the city also yielded some ceramic jars containing over 100 unfired clay tablets inscribed in cuneiform, dating to the Middle Assyrian, shortly after the earthquake.

The team hopes that these records might contain some information about who lived in the city, and maybe even about the earthquake itself that led to its demise.

"It is close to a miracle that cuneiform tablets made of unfired clay survived so many decades underwater," Pfälzner said.

The dam has since been refilled, submerging the city once more, but steps have been taken to make sure that it will be preserved for future excavations, when the water recedes once more. The ruins have been sealed under plastic coverings that will prevent future erosion and degradation in the years ahead.

In the meantime, the frenzied work has given the archaeologists material to study that may shed light on the lives of the ancient Mittani who lived in the once-great city.

"The excavation results show that the site was an important center in the Mittani Empire," Qasim said.

DeLorean Alpha5 Revealed As Electric Coupe With 300 Miles Of Range

Adrian Padeanu -
motor1.com

Italdesign gave it the largest gullwing doors we've ever seen.

DeLorean is officially back and ready to embrace the future by hopping on the electric bandwagon with its all-new Alpha5. Much like its source of inspiration, the iconic DMC-12, this one too takes the shape of a stylish coupe with gullwing doors styled by Italdesign. The top-hinged massive doors and rear glass louvers are essentially the only nods to the past as the rest of the design is thoroughly modern.

In keeping with today's EVs, it has massive wheels and slim lights front and rear. Its curvaceous body hosts the charging port on the driver’s side front fender, so no more having to open the trunk to access the gasoline cap. The Alpha5 has a two-tone finish and a swoopy roofline reminiscent of the car made famous by the Back to the Future trilogy.

Inside, gone is the flux capacitor as it has made way for two individual rear seats. As with the latest high-end EVs, it does away with most (if not all) conventional controls as everything has been embedded into the touchscreen residing on a "floating" center console. The driver has a wide fully digital instrument cluster and a flat-bottomed steering wheel. Accessing the rear seats should be a breeze given how wide the gullwing doors are and the absence of a B-pillar.

DeLorean remains coy on details about the drivertrain, but it does say the Alpha5 needs 3.4 seconds to 60 mph (96 km/h) and tops out at an electronically capped 150 mph (241 km/h). It has a battery pack with a capacity of more than 100 kWh, good for an EPA-estimated range in excess of 300 miles (483 kilometers). Mind you, all these specs apply to the "base performance model," suggesting hotter versions are on the way.

We also know the electric coupe has a remarkably low drag coefficient of only 0.23, which isn't the best in the business as Mercedes has achieved a Cd of 0.20 with the EQS liftback. Thankfully, there's no underpowered V6 gasoline engine from Peugeot-Renault-Volvo anymore, replaced with an unspecified electric setup that'll go from 0 to 88 mph (142 km/h) in 4.35 seconds after which it probably won't time travel.

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It's much bigger than its ancestor, stretching at 4,995 millimeters (196.6 inches) long, 2,044 mm (80.4 in) wide, and 1,370 mm (53.9 in) tall when the gullwing doors are closed. DeLorean says it has outsourced production to Italy whereas the powertrain will be provided by a supplier from the UK.

Only 88 (of course!) cars will be made, with a V8-powered sports coupe to follow. If everything goes according to plan, the extended lineup is bound to include an electric sedan and even a hydrogen-powered SUV. Following its public debut in August at Pebble Beach, the DeLorean Alpha5 will enter production in 2024.

Source: DeLorean