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)
Friday, August 05, 2022
Heat pumps, induction burners and other (free) ways to make your home more green
Thu, August 4, 2022 This heat pump was installed at a home in Prince Edward Island. They can act as a replacement for a furnace and/or air conditioner. While the upfront cost may be more money, climate change consultant Heather McDiarmid says operating costs are much lower and a heat pump is better for the environment. (Danny Arsenault/CBC - image credit)
About two years ago, Heather McDiarmid replaced her furnace and air conditioner with a heat pump.
She says there were a few motivations to make the switch. One was that home heating was the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions for her family.
"As a climate change professional, I know that there is an urgent need to take deep cuts to emissions and I want to do everything that I can," McDiarmid, who runs a climate change consulting firm in Waterloo region, told CBC News.
Statistics Canada reported that in 2019, almost one-quarter of the energy used in the country was by households, and homes were responsible for 18.4 per cent of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions, "mainly because of the large share of household energy coming from electricity."
In Ontario, household greenhouse gas emissions were 3.8 tonnes per person, per year, which was on par with the national average.
But Evan Ferrari, executive director of Emerge Guelph, says many people don't want to make changes if it's going to cost money.
"Unfortunately, when it comes to the environment, one of the first things that people ask is: Is it economically worth it?" he said.
"I would argue, do you want your children to continue breathing? How economically worth is that for you to make decisions that ultimately are going to prolong the problems of climate change?"
For the McDiarmid family, a heat pump cost more to install than another gas furnace, but in the long run it saved them money.
Heather McDiarmid/LinkedIn
"It's cheaper to operate than our gas system and air conditioner ... and we're going to save back the extra upfront cost," she said.
The McDiarmid family isn't alone in making the switch to a heat pump and seeing the benefits.
Reep Green Solutions, an environmental charity based in Waterloo region, posted a blog post on Wednesday about a Kitchener couple who renovated their home using the Canada greener homes grant. They upgraded the air sealing and insulation in the home and replaced the gas furnace with a heat pump and have lowered their energy consumption by 55 per cent.
How a heat pump works
The Canadian government touts heat pumps as a "proven and reliable technology" that works year-round, including the most humid days of summer and coldest days of winter.
Simply put, "a heat pump is an electrically driven device that extracts heat from a low temperature place and delivers it to a higher temperature place," according to Natural Resources Canada's website.
McDiarmid explains, in the summer, the heat pump takes the hot air inside a house and pumps it outside.
In winter, it extracts heat from the cold air outside and transfers it inside.
"Your home is overall warmer and more comfortable," McDiarmid says of the winter months.
She said she has heard from people who have talked to HVAC installers who have tried to dissuade them from getting a heat pump and she worries there's a lot of misinformation being provided to customers. She says while older heat pumps may have been noisy, didn't work well in winter and cost a lot of money, that's no longer the case.
"Some people are concerned that it may not be able to provide enough heat in the winter time," she added.
"This is a point where heat pumps have improved significantly in the last 10, 20 years and particularly they are much better able to provide heat in really cold temperatures and they're able to do so very efficiently."
Free ways to save on energy
Emerge Guelph is an organization that helps people reduce energy and water use. Ferrari says for those still unsure about doling out cash, there are some free things people can do to bring down their energy bills and help the environment.
Emerge Guelph/Facebook
"People don't operate their homes properly to avoid or to reduce air conditioning," he said.
"A perfect example is, we're about to get into a serious heat later this week … A simple thing for people to do is only open the windows when it's cooler outside," he said.
That often means opening windows overnight and closing them during the day and, if you can, pull the curtains or blinds shut, too.
Ferrari said people also need to understand off-peak hours for electricity and that it's about more than saving money on the hydro bill.
"During peak demand, we burn the dirtiest of fuel to generate electricity," he said.
He will go on the Independent Electricity System Operator website to look at the power data and see what sources Ontario is using for its power at a particular time.
The province largely uses nuclear and hydro power, but also uses wind, solar, natural gas and biofuel. The use of natural gas will increase as demand goes up, such as during heat waves.
If at 9 p.m. he notices the province is still using what he feels is a lot of natural gas, he may wait to run the dishwasher, setting the time for 2 a.m. instead.
Independent Electricity System Operator/ieso.ca
Another tip: Plan ahead and defrost your food in the fridge.
"If you put it in there in the refrigerator the night before, the energy that you've used to freeze it in the first place goes into the refrigerator. So the refrigerator works less," he said. "When you take it out, it winds up being at refrigerator temperature as opposed to frozen."
He added people make their homes hot by cooking inside on hot days. He suggested people could get a single burner and boil water outside on a patio or back deck.
McDiarmid agrees with using an external burner and recommends people consider an induction burner.
"It uses far less energy than my electric coil cooktop does. It boils water way faster and compared to a gas, it has the same ability to go up and down in temperature really quickly, but I'm not burning gas in my home and therefore I get far better indoor air quality than I could ever get with gas," she said.
McDiarmid says people who have to replace their hot water tank may also want to look into a heat pump water tank. It looks similar to an electric one, and they often have an electric back-up in case the house needs a lot of hot water all at once, but it uses less energy to operate day-to-day.
Both Ferrari and McDiarmid suggest talking to people who have heat pumps or other green technology to get a better sense of how it works for them.
Groups like Reep Green Solutions or Emerge Guelph have information on their websites and they say by doing a little research, it will help people understand what's right for their home and their pocketbook.
WATCH | Reep Green Solutions posted this video to YouTube explaining how heat pumps work to heat and cool a home:
Myanmar charges Japanese journalist with spreading fake news
Thu, August 4, 2022
BANGKOK (AP) — A Japanese video journalist detained in Myanmar while covering a brief pro-democracy march has been charged with violating a law against spreading false or alarming news, the Southeast Asian country’s military government announced Thursday.
Toru Kubota, a Tokyo-based documentary filmmaker, was arrested Saturday by plainclothes police after taking images of the protest.
He is the latest of about 140 journalists arrested since the military seized power last year from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. More than half have been released, but the media remains under tight restrictions.
A military information office, the Tatmadaw True News Information Team, said in a statement that Kubota was charged with incitement, specifically causing fear, spreading false news, or agitating against a government employee. It carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. Most of Myanmar’s imprisoned journalists were charged under the same law.
Kubota is also charged with violating visa regulations The statement said Kubota arrived in Yangon from Thailand on July 1 with a tourist visa.
Kubota is the fifth foreign journalist detained in Myanmar, after U.S. citizens Nathan Maung and Danny Fenster, who worked for local publications, and freelancers Robert Bociaga of Poland and Yuki Kitazumi of Japan. They were all eventually deported.
The army’s takeover was opposed by widespread peaceful protests that were suppressed with lethal force. Opposition continues with peaceful flash protests in cities and towns, and armed resistance in the countryside.
According to a detailed tally by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, at least 2,148 civilians have been killed by the security forces and 14,970 arrested since the military took power.
The military statement said Kubota was detained in Yangon’s South Dagon township while taking pictures and videos of 10-15 protesters. It said he confessed to police that he had contacted participants in the protest a day earlier to arrange to film it.
The statement didn’t mention where he is being held. Two protesters in Saturday’s march were also arrested, according to the protest organizers, but there was no comment about them from the military.
Japanese Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seiji Kihara said on Monday that “a Japanese male citizen in his 20s” was arrested Saturday while filming a demonstration in Yangon and that Japanese Embassy officials have requested his early release.
Friends of Kubota in Japan on Wednesday called for his immediate release, and an online petition has collected more than 41,000 signatures demanding his freedom.
A graduate of Tokyo’s Keio University with a master’s degree from the University of the Arts London, Kubota, 26, has done assignments for Yahoo! News Japan, Vice Japan and Al Jazeera English.
His work has focused on ethnic conflicts, immigrants and refugee issues, including the plight of Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority.
The Associated Press
Solomon Islands takes tighter control over state broadcaster
Wed, August 3, 2022
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The government of the Solomon Islands has taken tighter control over the nation's state-owned broadcaster — a move opponents say is squarely aimed at controlling and censoring the news.
The government this week accused the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation of a “lack of ethics and professionalism” and said it was its duty to to “protect our people from lies and misinformation, especially when these very lies and misinformation are propagated by the national broadcaster.”
But in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press, Johnson Honimae, the SIBC's chief executive, said he was proud of the broadcaster's award-winning journalism. He said it was business as usual and there were no government censors vetting stories before they were broadcast, contrary to what was being reported by some news outlets. The government's move comes at a politically tumultuous time in the Solomon Islands.
The SIBC has been reporting those developments and including the views of Sogavare's opponents. The broadcaster, which began as the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service, has been a fixture for 70 years in the Solomon Islands.
Employing about 50 people and operating under the slogan “Voice of the nation," the broadcaster remains the main source of radio and television news for the nation's 700,000 people, and is listened to and watched from the capital to the smallest village.
In late June, the government moved to delist the SIBC as a state-owned enterprise and take more direct control, saying it had failed to make a profit, something which was expected of such enterprises.
Opposition Leader Matthew Wale said Wednesday the delisting was a scheme orchestrated by Sogavare as “a clear attempt to directly control and censor the news content of SIBC.”
“This will hijack well-entrenched principles of law on defamation and freedom-of-speech, thus depriving the public using SIBC to freely express their views, or accessing information on government activities,” Wale said.
Honimae told the AP that the broadcaster had been taking calls from Sogavare's office in recent months.
“They believe we've been running too many stories from the opposition side, causing too much disunity,” Honimae said.
Honimae said the broadcaster and its staff had won several recent journalism awards, including for newsroom of the year and journalist of the year. He said the broadcaster plays the national anthem when broadcasts begin each morning at 6 a.m. and again when they finish at 11 p.m.
“We believe we are a great force for unity and peace in this country,” Honimae said.
Honimae added that the broadcaster needed to “balance our stories more” and leave no opportunity for criticism. He said Sogavare — who is also the broadcasting minister — had said in Parliament that the government wouldn't tamper with the broadcaster's editorial independence.
“There is no censorship at the moment,” Honimae said. “We operate as professional journalists.”
Nick Perry, The Associated Press
Farmers reap research rewards
Wed, August 3, 2022
THUNDER BAY, ONT. — There hasn’t been too much rain this summer, but that doesn’t mean the Lakehead University Agricultural Research Station isn’t producing results.
The experimental farm to enhance farmers and their crops — which has been around in some form since 1991 — gave farm owners, their families and LU students a tour of their work Tuesday, showing off different varieties of wheat, barley, hops, oats, flax, canola and alfalfa amongst others which are being grown with environmentally-friendly fertilizers such as anvol and super urea.
Later in the day, the crew visited Jaspers Dairy Farm on Boundary Drive in Neebing to analyze two different strains of canola and how corn would stand up to being cloaked in biodegradable plastic and what it was like using none of the pliable material.
The mastermind behind the research facility is director Tarlok Singh Sahota. His relationship with the farms and the farmers — you might say — has grown quite nicely over the years.
“We believe seeing is believing,” said Sahota, who deals with approximately 50 farms in and around Thunder Bay. “If (farmers) see something happening here, they will try to apply that to their farms. . . . We keep in close contact with the farmers. I keep advising them, keep talking to them. We also consult with them, send them a list of the projects we’re doing and I’ll send them a list if they want to do anything else other than what we are proposing.”
The key to keeping the research facility around is funding. Currently, the Agricultural Research Institute of Ontario (ARIO) anted up more than $2.5 million in 2018 in a five-year plan that ends next year.
Sahota is hoping the funding continues to keep the agricultural-based research going.
“We had very strong public support,” said Sahota at the Little Norway Road facility. “People immediately (contacted) ministers, wrote letters . . . It was originally called Thunder Bay Agricultural Research Station (TBARS) and (the Ontario ministry of agriculture) gave us stop-gap funding of $200,000. Then (ARIO) gave $2.65 million for five years for the university (in 2018) to take over the research station.
“This is our last funding year. It will end in March 2023 and we hope we will get other funding . . . because we do good work and that good work shows because we supply the farms.
“My wish is that the research station continues to get funding. . . . The level of change for farmers in Thunder Bay, it’s hard to match elsewhere. Not only in Ontario, but Canada.”
Thunder Bay Soil and Crop Improvement Association chairman Andrew Brekveld is a believer. While his group studies LUARS research thoroughly each year, the Brekveld farm — Woodstar Farm in Murillo — has taken advantage of the knowledge provided by the research facility.
“Our affiliation with (LUARS) is that they are doing these trials, they’re doing these experiments and we would take them further,” said Brekveld. “We get excited when we can try them on our own fields.
“The last two years, (Woodstar Farm) actually grew a wheat variety that was a top-yielding variety recommended by Sahota. We found in our field that it was the highest yield we’ve ever had on wheat.”
In recent years, Sahota has been releasing the detailed LUARS annual report in late November or early December.
John Nagy, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Chronicle-Journal
MANITOBA Province announces annual funding for Bear Clan
Wed, August 3, 2022 at 11:40 p.m.·4 min read
The Bear Clan will start to receive annual government funding for the first time, Manitoba’s justice minister announced Tuesday — before he joined a pack of volunteers for an evening patrol of streets in the North End.
Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen, who oversees the justice file, visited the inner-city safety initiative’s Selkirk Avenue den to tout the province’s commitment to providing $100,000 annually to support operations and ensure the organization has predictable funding in the future.
Treasurer Brian Chrupalo said the core funding is a first of its kind for the Bear Clan.
The community organization typically relies on donations and grants from all levels of government in order to equip staff and volunteers with items ranging from sunscreen to sandwiches to hand-out to community members throughout patrols.
“This will help us go a long way,” Chrupalo told reporters, during an evening news conference.
“We are a small, grassroots group of volunteers. You’ll see our volunteers outside. Those people are here volunteering their time, for whatever reason — and bless their hearts for doing it, but the core dollars that we have (will) keep the lights on.”
Manitoba also announced an additional allocation of $100,000 from the Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund, bringing the tally to $200,000. This one-time sum is for the purchase of new safety equipment and other supplies for volunteers, including puncture-resistant gloves, naloxone, flashlights, multi-tool pocket knives and first aid kits.
Originally created by a trio of organizers in 1992, the Bear Clan aims to provide security to residents in and around the North End and downtown Winnipeg “in a non-threatening, non-violent and supportive way.”
The Indigenous-led initiative resumed patrolling city streets in 2014 after a hiatus. Since then, it has grown to encompass regular safety patrols across five Winnipeg neighbourhoods. There are approximately a dozen employees and roughly 275 regular volunteers at present.
Volunteers can often be seen walking in groups at night and on weekends, dressed in signature high-visibility vests with supplies in hand or in wagons. On Tuesday, nearly 20 volunteers — Goertzen included — walked down streets and alleys near Selkirk Avenue to greet area residents, distribute water bottles and clean up discarded needles, among other tasks.
Ahead of the photo-op walk, Goertzen acknowledged that violent crime has risen across Winnipeg and North America following the initial arrival of COVID-19 and related public health orders. Police are only part of the equation when it comes to both preventing incidents and ensuring Manitobans feel safe in their communities, he said.
“We need community members, who are able to outreach and connect with people in a different way than police officers are intended to do. Bear Clan does that exceptionally well,” the justice minister added.
A summer spate of serious crime involving random victims has both made headlines and prompted the union that represents frontline officers to criticize the chief of police for his categorization of the situation as typical.
The latest alarming incidents include: the Canada Day stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee who accidentally bumped into a group of men near The Forks; a random attack near Grant Park Shopping Centre that sent a senior to hospital in critical condition on July 12, and an attempted assault with a knife on a Winnipeg Transit driver, who narrowly escaped injury via bus window late last month.
While overall crime decreased last year, new police data show that violent incidents have been on the rise in Winnipeg.
There were nearly 11,000 more violent crimes — a category that encompasses sexual assault and uttering threats, among other incidents — reported to the Winnipeg Police Service in 2021 versus 2020. The total figure represents a five per cent increase from one year prior and a six per cent hike when compared to the five-year average.
In police Chief Danny Smyth’s opening remarks in WPS’ latest statistical report, he cited a resurgence in assaults as the driving force and called the number of violent crimes involving knives “notable.”
“Stabbings, across the board, are up, both for youth and adults,” said Const. Jay Murray, a public information officer, at a recent news conference during which he indicated it is difficult to pinpoint a specific reason for the trend.
“Knives are readily available, they’re something that you can get from any household, they can be bought relatively easily and I think that speaks to how common stabbings are in the city.”
maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca
Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press
NEW BRUNSWICK Ousted Horizon CEO pushed for COVID 'red phase' in hospitals
Thu, August 4, 2022 Dr. John Dornan, former president and CEO, Horizon Health Network
(Horizon Health Network - image credit)
The former CEO of Horizon Health wanted to move the province's hospitals back to the "red phase" of COVID-19 measures just days before he was fired from the job.
Dr. John Dornan said in an email on July 11 that "a seventh COVID wave is amongst us," with hospitalizations and staff outbreaks increasing.
A Horizon infectious disease and infection protection control committee was "recommending moving to Hospital Red phase next week if numbers continue to deteriorate," Dornan wrote in the email obtained by CBC News.
Dornan wrote that officials "could make that call collectively on Monday or Tuesday next week," referring to July 18 and 19.
The red phase move never happened, even though the numbers did continue to deteriorate.
The following Tuesday, the two health authorities reported an increase in weekly COVID-19 admissions, active hospitalizations, hospital outbreaks and staff infections between July 10-16.
But Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell said Wednesday she had no insight into why there was no move to red.
"I don't want to speak for the RHAs. They are the decision-makers in this case, so they're the authority on what happens in their own operations," she said.
Dornan said in the July 11 email it was "probable" Horizon would communicate the possibility of a move to the red phase "publicly this week as a heads up. It is good to be transparent."
That never happened.
At the time of Dornan's firing, Premier Blaine Higgs said a change in leadership was needed to break a "bureaucratic stalemate" in the health system and push forward reforms to address long wait lists and clogged emergency departments.
Higgs made the changes after the death of a patient who was waiting for care in the emergency department at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital in Fredericton.
Dornan turned down an interview request from CBC News about his email. "I have no comments," he said Wednesday.
In a statement to CBC News, Melanson said Horizon has "gained more knowledge of the virus" during the pandemic and can now adopt "more targeted and flexible" measures while maintaining important services and allowing visitors.
The statement did not address why Dornan felt differently and favoured a full move to red phase less than four weeks ago.
Three days after his email, and one day before his firing as CEO, Dornan encouraged Horizon staff in an internal memo to "consider showing an example" by masking in indoor public spaces due to "escalating" COVID-19 transmission.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said on July 18 Dornan's firing was "not related" to that memo.
Dornan's July 11 email referred to a "seventh wave" arriving, even though the province's public health officials have been reluctant to use the term.
Russell told Brunswick News July 12 she might not define future increases in cases as waves.
"I don't want to call it a wave in a sense that everybody defines that differently. I'm saying it's an increased number of cases," she told the newspapers. "Whether it's a wave or not a wave, we're seeing an increased activity level in COVID cases."
Between July 10 and 16, the same week Dornan wrote the email and was fired, 30 people were newly admitted to hospitals because of COVID-19, up from 15 the previous week.
That number jumped again to 40 people between July 17 and 23.
The two health authorities had 209 staff out sick between July 10 and 16. That increased to 229 the week of July 17-23.
The number of weekly new cases dropped last week for the first time in weeks. Those numbers tracked infections from July 17-23 and officials said that could indicate that hospitalisation numbers, which lag behind cases by a week or two, would soon peak and start to come down as well.
In new numbers released Wednesday for July 24-30, the number of weekly new cases dropped again and the number of hospital admissions and active hospitalizations for COVID-19 decreased slightly.
Mary Two-Axe Early to get star treatment in Kahnawake as part of film fest
Thu, August 4, 2022
A Kahnawake icon will be brought to the big screen by a Kahnawake filmmaker as part of the International First Peoples Festival next week with a screening to be held in Kahnawake next week. Mary Two-Axe Early: I Am Indian Again – which is directed by Kahnawake community member Courtney Montour -- is one of five short films funded by the National Film Board of Canada to be featured at the festival, and one of the festival screenings will be held right here in Kahnawake August 15 at the Legion Hall at 6 p.m.
The Early film, which has won a handful of awards already – including Best Documentary Short at imagineNATIVE, Best Documentary Short at the American Indian Film Festival, and Best Director at the Weengushk International Film Festival – will tell the story of the Kahnawake icon, who fought for more than two decades to challenge sex discrimination against First Nations women embedded in Canada’s Indian Act, and became a key figure in Canada’s women’s rights movement, fighting for Mohawk woman who challenged sexist and genocidal government policies that stripped First Nations women and children of their Indian status when they married non-Indian men.
Montour speaks with Cree activist Nellie Carlson, Mary’s lifelong friend and co-founder of Indian Rights for Indian Women, and meets with three generations in Mary’s kitchen in Kahnawake to honour the legacy of a woman who galvanized a national network of allies to help restore Indian status to thousands of First Nations women and children. In the film, Montour uses never-before-seen archival footage and audio recordings, as she engages in a deeply personal conversation with the late Kahnawake legend.
The festival will run from August 9 to 18, with another film to be screened in Kahnawake August 15 at 1:15 p.m., also at the Legion Hall. Bill Reid Remembers is the story of the late renowned Haida artist Bill Reid, who despite spending his early life away from his nation’s culture, always kept Haida Gwaii close to his heart. While working for CBC Radio, he started learning how to make jewelry, then later sculpture, using Haida techniques and images, a move that would forever change his life and the Canadian artistic landscape. The film is a beautiful tribute from Alanis Obomsawin to her friend’s remarkable life and rich legacy.
For ticketing information and for more information on the entire International First Peoples Festival lineup, visit www.presenceautochtone.ca.
Marc Lalonde, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase
Video played in court shows Hamilton police officer 'stomp' on Indigenous man's head during arrest
Wed, August 3, 2022 Patrick Tomchuk's family, from left: his sister Dhelia Baldwin, cousins Jessica Oneill and Laura Erie, and mother Olga Tomchuk. Along with his two daughters, they came to his bail hearing to support him, they said. (Cara Nickerson/CBC - image credit)
WARNING: This story contains distressing details
Patrick Tomchuk was violently arrested in May, a video played in court and viewed by CBC Hamilton has shown. Hamilton Police Services (HPS) Const. Brian Wren has been charged with assault as a result of the incident.
Tomchuk's lawyer Jennifer Steenbeek showed the video at Tomchuck's bail hearing, held Wednesday at John Sopinka Courthouse.
Tomchuck is an Indigenous man who was arrested for vehicle theft on May 26 at a gas station on the Mountain.
"He was unconscious and they still continued to stomp on his head," Tomchuk's sister Dhelia Baldwin said, adding that the video made her sick to her stomach.
In the video, several officers are seen tackling Tomchuk between the gas station pumps. The officers appear to forcibly manoeuvre the man, while yelling expletives at him, before an officer kicks Tomchuk in the head, then repeatedly holds his head down into the pavement with his foot.
Tomchuk appears to be unconscious for most of the video.
Before the video was played in court, Tomchuk's children were asked to leave the room. Tomchuk's family members who remained, including his mother, sister and cousins, cried when they saw the video.
Officer charged with assault
Wren was suspended after the incident, and was later charged with assault on June 16 after an HPS investigation.
The video was given to Tomchuk's lawyer confidentially by a bystander who witnessed the incident. The video cannot be released to the public yet, Steenbeek said.
After court, Baldwin told reporters she would like the person who filmed the assault to release the video to the family.
"I think it needs to be shown, and people need to know that it does happen. And we were just lucky that it was on camera," she said.
Baldwin said the family wants to share the video to raise awareness about police brutality against Indigenous people.
Bobby Hristova/CBC
At a press conference held outside the HPS central station Tuesday to raise awareness about the case, Hamilton Regional Indian Centre (HRIC) executive director Audrey Davis outlined recommendations for HPS officers to address police violence and discrimination.
Her recommendations include a third party investigation into the assault, for HPS to consider charging Wren with a hate crime, investigating past alleged assaults on Tomchuk by HPS and for police to wear body cameras, among others.
"This needs to stop. Education, prevention and accountability must be of the highest priority of law enforcement," Davis said.
Outside of court Wednesday, Olga Tomchuk, Tomchuk's mother, asked the person who took the video to come forward and contact Tomchuk's family.
"Your name won't be mentioned," Olga said. "I would like to thank you for taking that video."
Tomchuck granted bail
From the May incident, Tomchuk has been charged with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest and vehicle theft and Wednesday's hearing looked at whether he should be granted bail.
Crown prosecutor Brian Adsett argued Tomchuk has a "horrendous record," including multiple vehicle theft charges, fleeing police and a history of drug use, the latter of which Adsett said is a factor in his criminal activity. Arguing against granting bail, Adsett said Tomchuk has 27 convictions for breaches of court orders in his record.
Steenbeek, meanwhile, said she did not consider Tomchuk a flight risk, because of his family and community ties in Hamilton, and his quest for justice in his assault case against Wren.
By Wednesday afternoon, Tomchuk was granted bail by court Justice of the peace Linda Crawford. He will have to address outstanding charges in Niagara Falls and Barrie, Crawford said.
When reading her decision, Crawford said she took Tomchuk's identity as an Indigenous person and the effects of colonialism on Indigenous people into consideration. Such considerations are known as the Gladue principles, stemming from a 1999 Supreme Court decision.
Crawford said Tomchuk has been very fortunate to have his family's support throughout his history of arrests.
'I think he's just tired of it'
Tomchuk's mother Olga said the assault in the video isn't the worst assault Tomchuk has received from Hamilton Police Services.
According to Jessica Montana, the family's contact at the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre (HRIC), Steenbeek has more information about another assault, but is unable to comment on it at this time.
Steenbeek previously said an HPS officer had assaulted him at least once before. HPS Chief Frank Bergen told CBC Hamilton the service is reviewing its files but so far haven't found any documented cases of that happening. He also called the video "disturbing."
On Wednesday, Tomchuk's cousins Jessica Oneill and Laura Erie agreed to supervise Tomchuk while he is under house arrest. Oneill, Erie and Tomchuk will all be required to pay between $1,000 and $2,500 if Tomchuk breaks the conditions of his bail and flees.
Both cousins said they were aware of Tomchuk's issues with addiction prior to his arrest, and that they intend to get him "culturally appropriate help" through the HRIC.
When asked by the Crown why this arrest would be different this time for Tomchuk, Oneill said, "At this point, he has a lot to look forward to. He does have children, and I think he's just tired of it."
Tomchuk will be released into the joint supervision of Oneill and Erie. He will remain at Oneill's residence, where Erie will supervise him while Oneill is at work.
He will be required to wear a GPS monitor, will not be able to leave Oneill's home without supervision from Oneill or Erie, and is not allowed to operate motor vehicles or sit in the driver's seat of motor vehicles.
Tomchuk's next court date is Sept. 8, while Wren is due in court next on Aug. 18.
RIGHT WING SWING In protests and politics, Canada's 'Freedom Convoy' reverberates
A anti-vaccine protester poses at the National War Memorial in Ottawa
Thu, August 4, 2022 By Nia Williams and Anna Mehler Paperny
COUTTS, Alberta/TORONTO (Reuters) - In late January five friends, just a few years out of high school, piled into a rented camper van and drove 37 hours in the Canadian winter from southern Alberta to Ottawa to join anti-government protests led by a convoy of truckers.
"We were worried about vaccine mandates and our freedom, and it all just going to hell," said Ursula Allred, 22, from her small, rural hometown of Magrath.
Another member of the group, Justin Martin, excitedly phoned home to say the protest -- which occupied Ottawa with tractor-trailers, hot tubs, bouncy castles and scattered symbols of hate for weeks until it was broken up by police -- was "the best experience, ever," said his mother, Lynette Atwood.
"They wanted their freedom back. These were young men who wanted to date, hadn't been able to date, wanted to have a life," she said, referring to the impact of lockdowns and restrictions imposed by provincial and federal governments to curb infections during the coronavirus pandemic.
"They just felt that no one was listening."
Their excitement came to an abrupt end a few weeks later, when all five were arrested at another protest they had joined near the U.S.-Canada border in Coutts, Alberta.
But the reverberations from the so-called "Freedom Convoy" protests against mandatory vaccination policies had only just begun. The protests, featuring hundreds of trucks and thousands like Allred and Martin, had already paralyzed downtown Ottawa and international border crossings for more than three weeks.
Copycat protests featuring trailers and trucks followed in the United States and France. At home, the protests amplified anti-government sentiment among Canadians angry at COVID-19 restrictions and, less visibly, offered a hook for anti-establishment and far-right voices to draw a bigger audience.
Extremists used the convoy "as a pulpit to get their ideas across and, in that sense, it was a success," said David Hofmann, associate professor of sociology at the University of New Brunswick, who has been researching extremism in Canada for about a decade.
They did that directly, with talk of deposing and prosecuting the heads of Canadian government during the protests, as the convoy's organizers declared was their goal in a "Memorandum of Understanding" leading up to the blockade.
But they were also able to do that less directly, by talking up the merits of the convoy on social media and podcasts that also promoted more extremist rhetoric and conspiracy theories.
They were helped by a relatively high level of sympathy for the protesters' frustrations -- which stood at 46% in one Ipsos poll in February -- even if most Canadians did not agree with the convoy's main message of opposing public health measures.
Around 30% of Canadians agreed with the convoy's message in February at the height of the protests, a number that has since shrunk to 25% in July, according to polling research firm Ekos Research Associates.
"This has become a lightning rod, a magnet to kind of focus all of this insecurity, disaffection, anger which predated COVID but which has been reinforced and strengthened by COVID," Ekos President Frank Graves said of the convoy movement.
Its message has become: "You're not alone. You're not the only one who thinks vaccines are unnecessary... Come on out," Graves said.
Though most COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings, wearing masks and vaccine requirements have been lifted in recent months, smaller anti-government protests have continued, with some held as recently as the national holiday on July 1.
'GATEKEEPING ELITE'
Among the most prominent to tap into sympathy for the convoy is Pierre Poilievre, the frontrunner in a leadership race for Canada's opposition Conservative party, who dueled with rivals in a debate over who was first to support the movement.
Fashioning himself as an anti-establishment force determined to free Canadians from a "gatekeeping elite," Poilievre posted footage of himself supporting the convoy rolling into Ottawa.
He promises, among other things, to take on the "state media" by defunding the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the public broadcaster, and to sack the Bank of Canada governor.
He has also pledged to ban federal ministers from attending the World Economic Forum held annually in Davos, Switzerland -- a popular whipping boy for convoy participants and far-right supporters more globally.
Anger against the forum has been buoyed by viral videos falsely claiming the WEF used the pandemic to put in motion a plan by "global elites" to subjugate society in a "Great Reset" - a twist on the WEF's stated plan to identify solutions to major challenges facing the world.
"The gatekeeping elites will try to destroy anyone who threatens their power," Poilievre said on Twitter in response to criticism that he is pushing authoritarian populism.
"I want to become PM to give you back control of your life & make Canada the freest country on earth," he wrote in another post.
Poilievre's campaign did not respond to requests for an interview or to questions on his support for the convoy.
Ekos's Graves says his polling shows that Canadians who support the convoy have "an authoritarian, populist outlook" and could be "the strongest force in the Canadian political landscape" because they are energized and motivated to vote.
Not surprisingly, Canadian conservative politicians are trying to appeal to convoy supporters and tap into the rising populist sentiment, says Jared Wesley, political science professor at the University of Alberta.
"There's a group out there that conservative politicians want to bring back into the fold," Wesley said.
"That results in constant escalation of anti-establishment demands, that has the leading candidate for the Conservative Party promising to fire the Governor of the Bank of Canada."
SIMMERING RESENTMENT IN ALBERTA
The boldness of the convoy movement -- with days of honking in downtown Ottawa, border crossing blockades and the open display of a swastika and confederate flags -- took many outside Canada by surprise.
But those involved and people close to the protesters said it was a natural progression of frustration and disenfranchisement, especially in parts of western Canada, where resentment towards Ottawa has simmered for decades.
Researchers point to a history of anti-government sentiment in largely conservative, oil-rich Alberta. The province prides itself on a frontier spirit and has long felt alienated from eastern Canada, accusing the federal government of relying on its fossil fuels without offering respect or autonomy in return.
"Albertans see themselves as the people who pay for everyone else in Canada," said Peter Smith, a researcher for the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, a non-profit organization that examines hate crimes and hate groups.
In Magrath and the nearby town of Raymond, where Allred's four camper van companions lived, anti-government sentiment and worries about federal over-reach remain strong.
Shortly after Allred and her friends were arrested in Coutts in February, a large black flag reading "Fuck Trudeau," with a red maple leaf replacing the first word's "u," flew in a backyard along the main road into Raymond.
Another house bore "Hold the Line for Freedom" painted in red across a downstairs window, while many vehicles sported Canadian flags and symbols of support for the blockades.
There was widespread sympathy for Allred and her companions, who were each charged, along with five others, with possession of a weapon for dangerous purpose and mischief. They have since been released on bail.
In the most serious charges related to the convoy movement, four men from southern Alberta involved in a border blockade were arrested in February and accused of conspiring to kill police officers. They remain in custody awaiting trial.
Two weeks after the Coutts blockade disbanded, another protest camp remained on the side of the highway farther north in Milk River: a small encampment of trailers and a food truck in a large open field, monitored by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser parked a discreet distance away.
"That is waking the country up," said Elliot McDavid, one of the camp organizers, adding the protests had achieved their goal of forcing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke the Emergencies Act to disband them.
In the Ipsos survey in February, 58% of Albertans found convoy participants' frustration legitimate and worthy of sympathy, compared to the 46% national figure.
'A DANGEROUS TIME'
With broad support for policies like universal healthcare and gun control, Canada has long been viewed as more moderate than its southern neighbor. But analysts say right-wing extremism has long had a home north of the U.S. border -- and the "Freedom Convoy" movement and related anti-government protests against COVID-19 restrictions have given it new momentum.
A 2015 study identified about 100 far-right extremist groups. The number has tripled since then, Hofmann said.
Larger groups have splintered but the overall number of participants has also grown, Hofmann said.
He and his colleagues have identified about 1,200 visibly active participants who have either had contact with police or the media or have been active on social media, he said.
This is up from previous counts but changing methodologies make comparisons difficult, he said.
One group that has drawn the attention of analysts in recent months is the Hammerskins, an offshoot of a U.S. neo-Nazi organization. It had been quiet in Canada for nearly a decade but now has a presence in cities like Hamilton, Oshawa, and the Greater Toronto Area, with members also recruiting in British Columbia, said the Canadian Anti-Hate Network's Smith.
Attempts to contact the Hammerskins for comment were unsuccessful.
"The convoy was huge and significant and will be a propaganda tool for a long time," Smith said.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino in February alluded to the link between the convoy protests and extremism, saying: "We need to be clear-eyed about the seriousness of these incidents."
He said that some of those charged had "strong ties to a far-right extreme organization," which a source in his office said at the time referred to the Diagolon right-wing network.
Patches featuring Diagolon's flag were affixed to body armor police seized in connection with arrests at the Coutts border blockade in February.
Jeremy MacKenzie, the de facto founder of Diagolon -- a fictional breakaway state that has become a symbol of anti-government sentiment among right-wing Canadians -- has given prominent space to the convoy on his podcast and Telegram channel.
In an interview with Reuters, MacKenzie said Diagolon started as a joke and is a loose social network of "patriotic people", rather than a political movement. He says he is being unfairly targeted by Canadian authorities.
The convoy was a success for Diagolon "because it is part of their goal is to destabilize and to sow doubt, and to delegitimize the government and the state," a federal government source familiar with the matter said in February.
Another group, Veterans 4 Freedom, emerged from the protests and aims to protect anti-establishment protesters and opposes COVID-19 restrictions, said Andrew MacGillivray, a military veteran who is part of the group.
"The rights and freedoms of Canadians are eroding and we are going to work to sustain lawful civic action in order to restore those fundamental rights," MacGillivray said in an interview.
"We just want to make sure that if there's any sort of protest and counter-protest that our volunteers can help keep the peace."
The group helped organize a June 30 protest in Ottawa featuring a veteran who walked thousands of kilometers to protest vaccine mandates and who now faces a court martial for criticizing vaccine policies while in uniform.
Other anti-establishment voices have also been galvanized.
Outspoken Calgary pastor Artur Pawlowski, who reckons he racked up about 40 tickets for violating pandemic restrictions, was charged with inciting people to damage or obstruct essential infrastructure during a speech at the Coutts blockade.
Out on bail, he told Reuters he is fighting the charges and that the convoy had "awakened" people to fight for freedom.
"The truth is I have become a symbol of freedom," he said, later adding he is considering running for office.
"I would clean your swamp. That’s what I do."
His son Nathaniel Pawlowski said he worries about what will happen if people angry at government restrictions are pushed too far: "If you study history, you know this is a dangerous time."
(Editing by Deepa Babington)
OTTAWA
Some community advocates want city to step in on sale of St. Brigid's church
Thu, August 4, 2022 The United People of Canada are in the process of acquiring St. Brigid's Church in Lowertown, Ottawa. Community advocates want the city to stop the sale. (Dan Taekema/CBC - image credit)
An Ottawa community association says it wants the city to intervene on the impending sale of a local church to a group with suspected ties to the Freedom Convoy.
The previous owners of St. Brigid's Church, located in Lowertown, recently agreed to sell it to The United People of Canada (TUPC) — a group that describes itself online as a "diverse, intergenerational fraternal organization." In social media posts it refers to the building as The Embassy.
But since the group moved in, its colourful redecorating, which includes painted red doors and white tree insignias, has raised eyebrows from members of the local community. Some have pointed to social media posts from some of TUPC's members, which suggest ties to the Freedom Convoy.
Corporate filings for TUPC show three directors: William Komer, Kimberly Ward and Diane Nolan.
In a video posted on March 7, Ward described herself as an adviser for Dwayne Lich, the husband of Freedom Convoy leader Tamara Lich.
On Nolan's Facebook page, several posts appear to be associated with the Freedom Convoy and the movement the winter occupation inspired, such as sharing the Canadian Convoy Rally Song.
TUPC leadership has outright denied any connection to the movement, saying members' actions don't reflect the larger group's beliefs. Diane Nolan/Facebook
Now members of the Lowertown Community Association are pointing to pictures of what appear to be two vehicles parked in front of St. Brigid's. One has "Freedom Express" painted on the side. The other is marked with a "F*ck Trudeau" sticker. Both are adorned with Canadian flags, a popular symbol among convoy protesters.
"We, as well as the Centretown residents, lived through a very difficult time, and it's certainly not something we want to revisit," said Sylvie Bigras, president of the Lowertown Community Association. "That close association is extremely concerning."
Now the Lowertown association and other local advocates are calling on the city to step in to ensure the building is either acquired by the city itself or sold to someone local. A petition has been started that had more than 500 signatures as of Wednesday afternoon.
Group continues to deny association with Freedom Convoy
Komer, TUPC's director, said he was not aware of the petition until CBC informed him of it, but that a conditional sale of the church has already been agreed upon by the previous owners.
Despite continued accusations, Komer insisted TUPC was not associated with the Freedom Convoy.
Dan Taekema/CBC
"The United People of Canada is in no way whatsoever affiliated with the Freedom Convoy. We've been abundantly clear with that despite what seems to be continuing misinformation being spread online," he said.
The impending owners have broken no rules, but have been the subject of themselves of criminal activity, Komer said.
He said "malicious actors" have committed several offences against TUPC, including death threats, harassment and vandalism on the church steps.
Ottawa police said they have received four calls in the past week related to the former church, but would not comment on the nature of the calls or provide details on investigations into the reports.
City not taking action
A statement from Court Curry, the city's manager of heritage and urban design services, did not comment on whether or not the city would or could eventually get involved in the ownership of St. Brigid's. It only said that "no activity has been initiated to acquire the subject property."
Curry wrote that as a heritage building, any modifications to the interior or exterior of the church would require a permit from the city.
"If the owner of the building plans to readapt the property for any new use, city staff would work closely with the proponent on how to do so," he said.
In a post to its Facebook page, TUPC said it's open to a conversation with its neighbours and it intends to join the Lowertown Community Association's monthly meeting on Monday.
