It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, July 17, 2022
UK
Hull Trains drivers in 24-hour strike over pay and conditions
ALAN JONES, PA INDUSTRIAL CORRESPONDENT16 July 2022,
Train drivers have launched a 24-hour strike in the worsening rail disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
Members of the Aslef union on Hull Trains walked out on Saturday, disrupting services across the region.
Nigel Roebuck, Aslef’s full-time organiser on Hull Trains, said: ‘We don’t take strike action lightly but this union is determined to defend the living standards of our members
“Drivers on Hull Trains have not had a pay increase for three years and it’s time for the company to do the right thing, with inflation soaring, depending on which index you use, to something north of 10%.”
Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union are planning a series of strikes in the coming weeks which will cripple services across the country.
Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association are also taking industrial action over the summer.
Extensive talks have been held in recent weeks but the dispute remains deadlocked.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “It’s incredibly disappointing that Aslef bosses have opted for destructive strike action instead of engaging in constructive talks.
“Train drivers, such as those Aslef represent, earn a median salary of almost £60,000 – significantly more than the very workers who will be most impacted by these strikes.
“We urge union bosses to reconsider this divisive action and instead work with their employers, not against them, to agree a new way forward.”
Inside Josephine Baker’s badass life as a resistance spy during WWII
By Jennifer Wright July 16, 2022 French US-born singer and dancer Joséphine Baker traveled the world gathering intelligence for the allies, and once even survived enemy fire in Algeria by diving near a buffet tent.AFP via Getty Images
As Josephine Baker moved through international checkpoints in Spain and Morocco, the dancer and singer teased the agents who asked to see her papers, saying they just wanted her “autograph.”
Her official story was that she was on a “tour of Spain.”She was really working as a spy for the resistance, with state secrets neatly hidden in her bra.
Baker took a gamble that no one would dare to strip-search her. She smiled her famous smile — she was at the time the most photographed woman in the world — as the documents stayed “snugly in place, secured by a safety pin.”
Baker’s role as one of the true heroes of World War II, fighting against the Nazis at great risk to herself, is detailed in the new book “Agent Josephine: American Beauty, French Hero, British Spy” (PublicAffairs) by Damien Lewis. In 1961, she received a Legion D’Honneur, France’s highest decoration for military service, for her Spain and Morocco mission, and was commended for retrieving “precious information.”
Josephine Baker — shown here receiving the Legion D’Honneur and the Croix de Guerre on August 19, 1961 — would also receive admission into the Pantheon in 2021, one of only five women to earn a place there.AFP via Getty Images
Born in St. Louis in 1906, Josephine Baker moved to France at 19. She emigrated with the hope of leaving the racism that hindered her American aspirations behind. She quickly became famous for her singing and dancing, including her beloved act where she wore only a skirt made of rubber bananas. She befriended French luminaries like the writer Colette. She bought a chateau, wore gowns by the most exclusive designers, and often walked the streets with her pet cheetah, Chiquita, who wore a diamond collar.
And for a while she was treated equally.
Josephine Baker was once the most photographed woman in the world.Corbis via Getty Images
Once, when a visiting American seeing her dance at the Folies Bergere theater remarked, “At home a n—-r woman belongs in the kitchen,” the room fell silent in horror.
“You are in France,” the manager curtly replied, “and here we treat all races the same.”
But dark forces were rising in Europe.
In 1925, when Hitler’s “brown shirt” storm troopers were still considered a fringe group, Baker performed in Berlin to thunderous applause. When she returned two years later — after Hitler had gained prominence with the publication of his book “Mein Kampf,” which denounced black people as “half-apes” — the response was very different. German and Austrian newspaper headlines denounced her as a “black devil” and a “jezebel.”
“How dare they put our beautiful blonde Lea Seidl with a Negress on stage?” asked one paper, while another claimed “the convulsions of this coloured girl” would undermine Dresden’s sense of dignity. The mobs were such that Baker feared for her life.
Ten years later, Baker’s face adorned the cover of a 1937 brochure denouncing decadent artists issued by Joseph Goebbels, the chief propagandist for the Nazi Party. That same year, Josephine married the Jewish industrialist Jean Lion. Her passion to fight against the Nazis — and to defend her adopted country and husband, as well as herself — grew to a fever pitch. In 1938, she declared that Nazis were criminals and “criminals need to be punished.” She claimed she would kill them with her own hands if necessary.
Baker was not shy to call out the evil of the rising Nazi power in Germany, declaring in 1938 that she would kill [Nazis] with her own hands if necessary. Provided by Svce Historique DeLa
That same year, she was approached by the Deuxième Bureau as an Honorable Correspondent, a voluntary position that involved retrieving intelligence for the bureau. It was entirely unpaid, as was typical for such a role. Throughout the war, Josephine refused to accept money for her work and sometimes resorted to selling off jewels and other assets to help finance her excursions.
Soon after she began working as a spy, Baker learned through friends at the Japanese Embassy that Japan had signed a secret anti-communist pact with Hitler. It was the first of many pieces of information she’d convey back to the bureau. Shortly after that, she informed the bureau that — through friends at the Portuguese embassy — she had learned that Germany planned to occupy neutral Portugal to use their ports. She quickly became one of France’s most valuable assets. Espionage gave Baker the ability, as Lewis puts it, “to strike back, without necessarily ever needing to draw blood.”
Baker’s country home, the Château des Milandes in the Dordogne region, where she housed refugees.courtesy of Damien Lewis
When the war came to France in 1940, Josephine’s glamorous country home — the Château des Milandes in the Dordogne region — became a base of operations for the local members of the resistance, as well as refugees, including a Belgian Jewish couple whom Baker sheltered there.A radio transmitter was installed on the tower for contact with Britain, and the cellar was filled with weapons for the resistance. When German soldiers stopped by to investigateafter receiving a denunciation, Baker assured them that she was merely a dancer.
Though, she informed them pointedly, “I would not have the heart to go on stage when there is so much suffering.” In fact, Baker did go on stage throughout the war — she just wouldn’t perform for Nazis.
As a star performer, Baker had a cover that allowed her to easily travel to other countries — from Portugal to Spain to Morocco — something most people could not obtain visas for during the occupation.
“I come to dance, to sing,” she told journalists abroad who asked her why she’d left France. She’d actually come to ferry missives, photos and documents that might be helpful to the allies, and to meet with those sympathetic to the cause of the resistance. She carried sheet music with information written in invisible ink regarding the positions of the enemy defenses in southwestern France. She stuffed notes about other important details in her lingerie. Fellow agents would travel with her, pretending to be her “tour manager.”
Born Freda Josephine McDonald on June 3, 1906, in Saint-Louis, Missouri, Josephine Baker (center, with dog) obtained French nationality in 1937.Provided by Svce Historique DeLa
Throughout the war, she worked with “Berber leaders, Rif chiefains [from the Northeastern region of Morocco], Arab dignitaries, American troops both black and white, (former) Vichyites, plus the Free French forces.” Even as her friends were murdered by Nazis or sent off to concentration camps, Baker maintained her cool. When she performed for American troops in Northwestern Algeria, she survived enemy fire by diving near the buffet tent. A Texan soldier crawled over on all fours with a bowl of ice cream for her, which she happily ate.
A poster from Casino de Paris, where Baker performed.public domain
Afterward, she joked, “Me, belly down, amongst soldiers from Texas, Missouri and Ohio in my 1900 Paris dress, must have been an irresistibly funny sight. Mostly because I kept on eating.”
After the war, Josephine returned again to Germany in 1945. This time, she was honored at the Allied Victory ceremony at Hohenzollern Castle, the historic home of the German royal family. She took the place of honor in a country that had degraded and ridiculed her only a few years before. Then, she performed for the survivors of Buchenwald death camp who were too feeble to leave the prison. Although the camp was riddled with typhus and still littered with bodies, and Baker was in poor health, she still found the strength to sing a number called “In My Village” about the simple pleasures of home.
Even after France was liberated from the Nazis in 1944 and the war ended the following year, Baker never stopped fighting for equality for all people.
“She would never forget the lesson of the war years: freedom must be fought for, every day,” writes Lewis.
She died in 1975 at the age of 68. While she danced right up until the day before her death in a revue at the Bobino Theatre in Paris celebrating her 50 years in show business, she said that “the war years” had been the highlight of her life.
Baker lounging on a tiger rug, circa 1925. She said “the war years” had been the highlight of her life.Getty Images
“I gave my heart to Paris, as Paris gave me hers,” she said onstage at the Revue’s opening night.
In 2021, she was given her greatest honor — admission to the French Pantheon, which recognizes only the greatest figures in French History, such as Voltaire, Victor Hugo and Marie Curie.
She is one of only five women to earn a place there.
Saturday, July 16, 2022
LEAVE THE WOLVES ALONE
Swiss canton gives green light to shoot wolves attacking cows Reuters A wolf is seen in a near-natural enclosure at the Langenberg Wildlife Park in Langnau am Albis, Switzerland June 9, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann
ZURICH, July 15 (Reuters) - The eastern Swiss canton of the Grisons gave the green light on Friday to shoot two young wolves whose pack has begun attacking cows in addition to traditional prey of sheep and goats.
The move highlights a national debate over how to handle the more than 100 wolves in Switzerland whose protected status is a thorn in the side of farmers keen to protect their flocks from the predators.
Cantonal authorities said they had to act after the so-called Beverin wolfpack mauled a grown cow so badly on Wednesday that it had to be euthanised, just days after the pack killed another mother cow in the area.
Federal authorities had approved the decision, they added.
"The canton's goal remains the removal of the entire pack and the shooting of the particularly conspicuous sire M92 within the framework of the Swiss legal system," they said.
Swiss voters in 2020 decided not to relax curbs on shooting wolves deemed a threat to livestock in a referendum that exposed divergent attitudes held by urban voters keen on protecting wildlife and rural voters who have to put up with wolves. read more
Swiss federal law holds that wolves may be shot only after they have attacked a certain number of livestock and their pack has had offspring, which applied in this case.
Hungarians Rally Against Orban's Reforms, Skeptical of Change
Leader of Everybody for Hungary party Peter Marki-Zay speaks during
a rally against the new taxation rules in Budapest, Hungary, July 16, 2022.
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY —
Around 1,000 Hungarians demonstrated against Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government Saturday in the latest of a series of smaller demonstrations this week since his right-wing Fidesz party passed legislation sharply raising taxes on small firms.
Nationalist Orban is facing his toughest challenge yet since taking power in a 2010 landslide, with inflation at its highest in two decades, the country’s currency, the forint, plunging to record lows and European Union funds in limbo amid a dispute over democratic standards.
The blockade of a bridge in Budapest Tuesday failed to derail the approval of a government motion to increase the tax rate for hundreds of thousands of small firms, defying criticism from some business groups and opposition parties.
People take part in a rally under the motto "Stand for Victims of Orban's Government" against the new taxation rules in Budapest, Hungary, July 16, 2022.
On Wednesday, Orban's government also curtailed a cap on utility prices for higher-usage households, rolling back one of the 59-year-old premier's signature policies in recent years because of a surge in electricity and gas prices amid the war in Ukraine.
"I have an acquaintance who only heats with electricity. His monthly power bill has been 30,000 forints ($75) so far, which is not a lot, but from now on he will be paying 153,000," said Miklos Nyiri, a 70-year-old pensioner at the rally.
"He is a pensioner, so the pension will be eaten up by the power bill, and they will be left grazing in the field," he said, adding however that the small-scale protest was unlikely to force Orban to change tack.
Saturday's rally was called by small-town mayor Peter Marki-Zay, Orban's independent challenger, whose opposition alliance suffered a crushing defeat in an April parliamentary election.
The low number of participants at the rally indicated that despite lurking discontent with Orban's latest reforms to shore up Hungary's state finances, anti-government sentiment was struggling to gain traction even in Budapest, where the opposition had its strongest showing in April.
Ildiko Hende, 52, who works as a cleaner in a bank, also lamented the low turnout at the rally.
"I have been working for more than 30 years, but what is going on in this country right now is hell incarnate," she said.
People take part in a rally under the motto "Stand for victims of Orban's government" against the new taxation rules near the Margaret Bridge in Budapest, July 16, 2022.
Despite Orban capping the prices of fuel and some basic foods, inflation has surged to its highest in two decades, at 11.7% year-on-year in June, forcing the central bank into its steepest rate tightening cycle since the collapse of Communist rule.
Even so, the forint is skirting record lows versus the euro, feeding into inflationary pressures.
"I just want to be able to live a normal life, not having to pinch pennies at the end of every month," Hende said. "Prices are just so high that it makes you go crazy. This is really not sustainable."
SAS and striking pilots closer to deal but issues remain, mediator tells E24
A majority of SAS pilots in Sweden, Denmark and Norway walked out on July 4 after negotiations over conditions related to the Scandinavian carrier's rescue plan collapsed. The parties returned to the negotiating table in the Swedish capital on Wednesday.
National Mediator of Norway Mats Wilhelm Ruland said the parties had come closer during the day.
"Yes, we are, but there are still many and big questions that need to be solved," he told E24 on during a break in negotiations on Saturday. "The development in the first hours has been good."
SAS had been struggling with increased low-cost competition for years before the COVID-19 pandemic heaped pressure on the airline industry. The governments of Denmark and Sweden, which are the biggest owners, see it as a key part of the region's transport infrastructure.
The airline said on Thursday the strike had caused 2,550 flight cancellations, affecting 270,000 passengers and costing the carrier between $94 million and $123 million.
Pilots employed by SAS Scandinavia, a subsidiary of SAS Group, have said they would agree to limited wage cuts and less favourable terms, but SAS has said that concessions offered so far are not enough for it to carry out a rescue plan announced in February.
Unions are also demanding that pilots who lost their jobs during the pandemic are rehired at SAS Scandinavia, rather than having to compete with external applicants for jobs on less attractive terms at recently created SAS Link and Ireland-based SAS Connect.
(Reporting by Johan Ahlander; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Boeing 'disappointed' union recommending rejection of contract offer
Sat, July 16, 2022 A Being logo is seen at the company's facility in Everett
(Reuters) - Boeing on Saturday said it is "disappointed" that the union representing nearly 2,500 employees at the U.S. planemaker's facilities in the St. Louis area has recommended rejection of management's contract offer.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the union representing the workers, said in an earlier statement that it recommended rejecting the company's "last, best, and final" contract offer.
The contract is set to expire on Monday, July 25. After a seven-day waiting period, the workers could begin picketing on Aug. 1 if they vote to reject the contract offer and go on strike, the union said.
Boeing said it remains "hopeful that our employees will see the value in this offer and vote yes" to accept its offer, which the company said provides "highly competitive" wage increases and cash and stock immediately and also includes one of the "most lucrative" 401(k) retirement plans in the country.
Tom Boelling, an IAM official, said Boeing had failed to meet members' needs on a number of issues. "We will fight for a contract the membership deserves," he said in the union statement.
(Reporting by Jose Joseph and Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Paul Simao)
ANOTHER FIND FROM THE MUSEUM STORAGE ROOM Ancient shark skeleton, hidden in Manitoba museum's collection for 40 years, may be 1st of its kind
Ozten Shebahkeget - CBC The skeleton of an ancient shark that could be the first of its kind is now on display at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden, Man. — and it was only recently "rediscovered" after sitting in the museum's collection for decades.
'Dave,' the nickname given to a shark fossil now on display at the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in the southern Manitoba city of Morden, could be a new species, says executive director Alfonso Cuetara.
"It's a very special shark for many reasons," Adolfo Cuetara, the fossil centre's executive director, told CBC News in an interview. "It's highly possible that we are talking about a new species."
Because of that, the shark has not been given a scientific name yet, said Cuetara. It's unofficially been named "Dave," in honour of the owner of the farm just west of Morden where it was found nearly 50 years ago.
The centre found Dave in its collections room eight years ago, though the shark fossil had been there for much longer.
"It was discovered in 1975, but it was just hidden in the collections room for more than 40 years," said Cuetara.
It was wrapped up in a plaster field jacket in a safe in the museum's collection room, and "nobody was thinking that there was something special in there," Cuetara said.
He explained that museums sometimes don't have the capacity to comb through every piece in their collections — but a few years ago, museum employees decided to open the plaster jacket up to see what was inside, and were surprised to discover it was a shark.
After rediscovering the fossil, Dave was finally put on display in the museum.
Dave is nearly four-and-a-half metres (15 feet) long and is one of the biggest, best-preserved shark skeletons in the world, Cuetara said.
Complete shark skeletons are difficult to find because they are made up of soft cartilage, which does not preserve well, he said.
Dave is a filter-feeder shark with no teeth who got his nutrients by absorbing them out of the water, said Cuetara.
After finding the fossil, the centre dedicated the last few years to preparing a display for Dave, which launched earlier this year.
Cuetara now hopes an upcoming scientific paper will clear the mystery around the species of the shark.
"There's research underway right now," he said. "Probably it's going to be a new species, but we have to wait for the scientific paper." More changes at Morden museum
The fossil discovery centre in Morden — a city of 10,000 in southern Manitoba — is no stranger to big attractions.
It's long been home to "Bruce," believed to be the world's largest publicly displayed mosasaur — a type of marine reptile dominant during the later age of the dinosaurs, around 80 to 66 million years ago.
The museum also says it has Canada's largest collection of marine reptile fossils.
After more than two years of pandemic disruptions, the fossil centre is once again welcoming visitors, with about 500 students coming through so far this season, Cuetara said.
The return of visitors is coinciding with a few new expansions at the museum, which is currently housed in the basement of the city's Access Event Centre.
The fossil museum is now in the preliminary stages of building a new standalone facility, Cuetara said. The new 40,000-square-foot facility will focus on a more interactive experience for visitors using technology, projections and movement sensors, straying from what many think of as the standard model for a museum.
"People don't maybe learn in that classical way anymore," said Cuetara. "Or maybe there's just more ways of learning."
The centre is also building a 45-hectare (110-acre) field station in the Manitoba escarpment around the Morden area, where the centre conducts its excavation work during the May to October field season.
The new field station will offer day camps for kids ages five to 12, Cuetara said. Construction of the field station will finish at the end of this summer in preparation for centre's popular dig tours in 2023.
The centre has also developed an interactive collection management system that will let the public virtually explore 20,000 fossils from over 1,500 different species.
"We are uploading thousands of photos, thousands of papers," said Cuetara. "You can go through the collections room virtually."
New Orleans struggles to secure an abandoned Navy base that's become a source of community danger
Workers watch while rebuilding a home damaged by Hurricane Katrina during an unofficial parade dubbed Krewe de Screwe in the Bywater neighborhood February 22, 2006 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mario Tama / Getty Images
On Monday, New Orleans began its latest attempt to clear and secure the massive blighted Navy base that's stood vacant in the Bywater area of the city for over a decade.
The base dates back to 1919 and was, at one time, used as a supply depot for the U.S. Army, according to Nola.com. In 1966 it took on new use by the Navy and then fell under ownership of the city in 2013. Up until this week, the 25-acre property was home to hundreds of unhoused people, who city officials and volunteers are attempting to clear out, with varying results and no provided alternative as to where they should relocate to.
On Monday morning, Andrés Fuentes, a journalist for FOX 8 New Orleans, shared video footage of a SWAT team assisting with the first sweep of the base, with a parade of unhoused people carrying whatever they could as they left the area in search of their next home.
"Dozens of people have left the abandoned Navy base in the Bywater as a SWAT truck loads up to sweep more of the property," Fuentes tweeted. "New Orleans leaders say they want to secure the area in order to make way for redevelopment."
Officials from the Office of Economic Development are working with NOPD alongside Mayor LaToya Cantrell to clear and secure the base to make way for developer Joe Jaeger's plan to renovate and repurpose the base into affordable housing apartments with attached retail properties, but locals have been hearing similar plans for years now, as the base falls further into blight.
On Friday, days after the first big sweep of the base, a fire broke out on one of the upper levels. It's presumed that the fire was caused by someone trespassing on the property, but the NOLA fire department has not yet released details, according to Nola.com.
"Wow, four days after the city of New Orleans declared the abandoned Navy base in the Bywater closed, firefighters battle a one-alarm fire at the complex. The base was supposed to be emptied and secured by 3 guards 24/7," Paul Murphy, an eyewitness reporter for WWLTV tweeted along with NOFD photos of the interior of the Navy base after the fire was extinguished.
The abandoned Navy base has, for years, been a none-too-proud tourist attraction for explorers, documentarians and brave lookie-loos. In 2018, the popular YouTube exploration channel called The Proper People posted a nearly 20-minute video of their tour of the base, which is something you'd have to see to believe. The hulk of the structure, in the state that it's in, is nothing short of haunting.
Although locals are eager for the base to be secured in some way, and even more eager for it to be put to some good use, the fact that there is little to no assistance available for houseless, drug-addicted, or mentally ill inhabitants of the base, or the city in general, leaves the situation with more problems than solutions.
"There's been dead bodies, there've been raves at the site," Bywater Neighborhood Association President John Guarnieri said in a quote to WWLTV. "There's no security. There are drug users there. There's been drug paraphernalia all over the site." "So where are they providing 100 free or affordable housing units to house the people who live here once they are displaced?" The Anti-Racist South Twitter account wrote after Monday's first sweep of the base. "What's the plan? Just take people away from their only shelter and then… what?"
Federal officials detain dozens of foreign workers at mountain hotels
Bill Kaufmann -
Dozens of foreign workers at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and other Rocky Mountain hotels have been detained and deported by federal border officials who are investigating how they illegally came to the iconic resorts.
Last Tuesday, Canada Border Services Agency personnel rounded up more than 30 staffers at the iconic Lake Louise hotel, who one of their co-workers said hail from Mexico, working under potentially improper immigration documentation.
“We can confirm that CBSA officers were in Lake Louise on July 12 as part of an ongoing Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Criminal Code of Canada investigation,” border services spokeswoman Rebecca Purdy said in an email.
“If an individual is found to be working in Canada without a valid work permit, the CBSA will consider appropriate enforcement action, which may include issuance of a removal order. The Agency has a legal obligation to remove all foreign nationals found to be inadmissible to Canada under the IRPA.”
One of their co-workers at Chateau Lake Louise said the CBSA operation came as a shock to both the detained staff members and their colleagues.
“The workers were given a knock-on-the-door notice, lined up, and prepared to be deported,” said the employee, who wished to remain anonymous.
“It’s obviously pretty traumatic for them.”
It comes at a time when the Bow Valley hospitality industry and those who help hire staff have said there’s an especially acute labour shortage to handle this year’s busy summer season.
A spokesperson with the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts said their hiring was done as a result of those pressures and could affect a total of 105 of its staffers at Lake Louise, as well as the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and Jasper Park Lodge.
“Hotels use third-party staffing agencies to assist with challenges related to labour shortages,” said Anastasia Martin-Stilwell.
In this case, the third-party staffing provider had facilitated the workers’ arrival and pay at all three hotels, she said, adding the resort chain has severed its partnership with the firm.
“(The third-party company) was contracted to be responsible for guaranteeing all appropriate documentation for individuals, complying with all applicable laws and representing that all workers provided to the hotels would be properly hired and have the ability to legally work in Canada,” she said in an email.
“We are very disappointed in (their) operations and their negligence in their hiring practices. The decisions made by (the contractor) have real, consequential effects on their contract workers.”
The 31 contract employees who worked in the stewarding, culinary, housekeeping and residence divisions at Lake Louise have been deported, she added.
Fairmont Hotel and Resorts has offered free accommodation and food for up to 10 days and transportation to Calgary and Edmonton for other affected contract workers and is also seeking ways of employing those whose documentation is in order, said Martin-Stilwell.
“We are working diligently to identify opportunities to support the impacted contract workers to the best of our ability,” she said, adding that assistance has its limits.
“Upon guidance provided by CBSA, the RCMP, and our internal counsel, we have learned that we are not legally allowed to provide financial compensation to (these) contract workers.”
The foreign employees’ co-worker said the loss of so many staff members at the Chateau Lake Louise has negatively impacted a range of services there.
“The hotel already had staffing issues so it’s had an immediate impact on the hotel and its ability to attract tourists,” said the worker.
For instance, restaurants at the hotel are only able to accommodate diners with prior reservations and not walk-ins, said the employee.
Hotel chain spokesperson Martin-Stilwell said they’re “working diligently to minimize any impact to the guest experience and will continue to provide high-quality hospitality offerings to our guests and maintain regular operations.”
The issue facing Fairmont Hotels and Resorts is a “one-off situation” in a hospitality sector that’s serious about observing ethical hiring practices, said Wanda Bogdane, executive director of the Banff & Lake Louise Hospitality Association.
“While it is incredibly rare to encounter a circumstance like the one that recently unfolded, organizations contracting services in good faith can also be a casualty within a negligent process,” she said in an email.
“Employers remain vigilant in meeting and exceeding labour standards identified by the provincial and federal government.”
Late last month, a recruiting agency operating in Banff-Canmore said the area, significantly dependent on foreign workers, was short between 1,000 and 2,000 employees due to pandemic travel uncertainties and other employment options.
Bogdane said the hospitality sector in the region is “adequately staffed and will be delivering the same great experience that Banff National Park is known for. They will continue managing customer intake against their staffing levels to ensure that standards remain high.”
Alberta's human rights commission chief under fire for Islamophobic book review
Mrinali Anchan -
Community groups are condemning the appointment of the new chief of the Alberta Human Rights Commission and Tribunals, following the resurfacing of a 2009 academic book in which he made Islamophobic comments.
Calgary lawyer Collin May began his new five-year role as chief this week after serving on the commission since 2019.
"It was very shocking and hurtful and just troubling to see some of the statements Collin May expressed," said Said Omar, Alberta advocacy officer for the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM).
Collin May's review of Israeli-British historian Efraim Karsh's Islamic Imperialism: A History came to light again earlier this month in an article published by The Progress Report, an Alberta news outlet.
May's commentary highlighted Karsh's racist assertion that Islam is inherently militaristic in nature, under the guise of analysis.
"[Karsh] defies the multicultural illusion regarding pacific Islam and goes to the heart of the matter. Islam is not a peaceful religion misused by radicals. Rather, it is one of the most militaristic religions known to man, and it is precisely this militaristic heritage that informs the actions of radicals throughout the Muslim world," May wrote in his 2009 review.
C2C Journal is mainly an online publication, whose "unabashed bias is in favour of free markets, democratic governance and individual liberty," according to its website.
C2C USED TO BE THE WORK RESEARCH FOUNDATION; A FRONT FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN ORIGINATED REFORM CHURCH OF CANADA AND IT POLITICAL ARM THE CHRISTIAN LABOUR ASSOCIATION OF CANADA (CLAC) WHOSE LEADERSHIP HATES THE SOCIAL DEMORCATIC CLC AND THE NDP AND ARE TRYING TO BE A RIGHT WING ALTERNATIVE
It is the same outlet in which Paul Bunner, Premier Jason Kenney's former speech writer, wrote an article that dismissed the "bogus genocide story" of Canada's residential school system, and said Indigenous youth could be "ripe recruits" for violent insurgencies.
The NCCM is now working with May to see that he better serves Muslim communities.
May's review is problematic because it's based on stereotypes of Islam that most — if not all — Muslims do not hold, and it is based on an understanding of Islam that is incorrect, Omar said.
The council approached May and members of the Alberta government, and work is ongoing to rectify the situation with community members, he said.
"A true apology must be a commitment to ongoing action and a true commitment to making amends," Omar said. "We will let the community be the arbitrator of his good faith efforts and sincerity."
CBC News requested an interview with May. The commission responded, saying its policy mandate prevents a chief from giving media interviews in order to maintain neutrality, given the nature of the position, but passed along a statement from May issued last week. "I do not believe or accept the characterization of Islam as a militant religion or movement, especially in light of important recent and diverse scholarship that is working to overcome misconceptions regarding Muslim history and philosophy," May said in the statement.
"I specifically want to affirm that Muslim Albertans are entitled to the full and equal respect accorded all our communities."
The commission, in a separate statement, said it is independent from the provincial government and commits to upholding the Alberta Human Rights Act.
"We have a long history working with Islamic organizations and the Muslim community, and will continue our efforts to enhance those relationships going forward," the commission said.
Opposition NDP justice critic Irfan Sabir has called for May's resignation, saying Albertans would be better served by someone who is educated and connected with Muslim communities.
"The Alberta Human Rights Commission should not be a position for him to get on-job training," Sabir said.
"That position should be filled by a person who understands the diversity of this province, who understands what challenges BIPOC communities, Indigenous communities face."
"He'd been on this commission for a while ... had he evolved his views, he should have come forward," he said.
He added that this situation casts further doubt on the the provincial government's vetting process, as well as the United Conservative Party's commitment to tackling racism, particularly because of the lack of major action regarding 48 recommendations from the Alberta anti-racism advisory council released last year.
The Alberta government is scheduled to share details of an action plan to combat racism in the province next week.
The office of the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General handled the vetting process for May.
CBC News requested an interview with Tyler Shandro, Alberta's justice minister and solicitor general. Shandro's press secretary provided a statement.
"Alberta's government does not agree with the characterization of Islam or the position expressed in the book review written in 2009," the statement said.
The justice ministry accepted May's statement, and the government "will continue to hold the commission to their mandate of fostering equality and reducing discrimination in our province," it added.
![Baker was not shy to call out the evil of the rising Nazi power in Germany, declaring in 1938 that she would kill [Nazis] with her own hands if necessary.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/07/jobaker1.jpg)
