Brazil farmers bet on environmentally friendly cotton

AFP - Yesterday 

The road through Cristalina, Brazil is in the middle of the tropics, but the fields on either side look like they are covered in snow -- little white puffs of cotton stretching to the horizon.


A combine harvests cotton in a field at Pamplona farm in Cristalina, Brazil on July 14, 2022

The alabaster plants interspersed with the corn and soybean fields outside the central-western town are part of a silent revolution in Brazil: facing negative attention over the agribusiness industry's environmental impact, farmers are increasingly turning to cotton and adopting sustainable techniques to produce it.


Cristina Schetino, a researcher from the University of Brasilia, speaks about biological pest control in cotton farming during an interview with AFP on August 4, 2022

After increasing exports 15-fold in the past two decades, Brazil is now the world's second-biggest cotton supplier, after the United States -- and the biggest producer of sustainable cotton.

No less than 84 percent of the cotton grown in the South American agricultural giant is certified by the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), an international non-profit group to promote sustainable cotton farming.

"Consumers have changed. People don't want to buy products any more that don't respect nature and its cycles," says entomologist Cristina Schetino of the University of Brasilia, who specializes in cotton farming.


Workers take samples from cotton bales at Pamplona farm in Cristalina, Brazil on July 14, 2022

The industry is trying to improve the international image of Brazilian farming, tarnished by a history of slave labor, heavy pesticide use and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest for agriculture, a trend that has accelerated under far-right President Jair Bolsonaro -- an agribusiness ally.


Cotton bales in a field at Pamplona farm in Cristalina, Brazil on July 14, 2022

In 2005, the Brazilian Cotton Producers' Association (Abrapa) launched a sustainability training program for farmers and introduced protocols on efficiently using water and pesticides and phasing out toxic products in favor of biological fertilizers.

A new tracing program launched with Brazilian clothing brands, meanwhile, lets consumers check how cotton goods were produced.

Last season, cotton farmers in Brazil replaced 34 percent of chemical pesticides with biological ones, Abrapa says.

They have also started using drones to apply pesticides more efficiently.

Switching to sustainable techniques is "a re-education process," says Abrapa's executive director, Marcio Portocarreiro.

"At first, farmers tend to think mainly about the impact on their bottom line. But when they get past that phase... they realize that farming sustainably gives them a guaranteed market," he told AFP.

- Added value -

Located outside Cristalina, around 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Brasilia, the capital, Fazenda Pamplona is one of Brazil's biggest proponents of sustainable cotton.

The 27,000-hectare (67,000-acre) operation, run by agribusiness giant SLC Agricola, is like a small city in the middle of the countryside, with a banquet hall, a children's park, sports fields and housing for employees.

The farm aims to retain workers by creating a home where they will want to stay, says production coordinator Diego Goldschmidt.

He stands in front of two enormous bales of cotton, labeled with QR codes that detail their harvest.

"These are already sold," he beams.

The farm produced more than 600,000 tonnes last year, 99 percent of it for export.

Sustainable cotton sells for prices up to 10 percent higher than conventional cotton.

"Besides being the right thing to do for society and the environment, it provides added value," says Goldschmidt.

- Aiming high -

But cotton remains one of the most pesticide-intensive crops, using more than double that of soy per hectare.

The problem is the prevalence of pests such as boll weevils and the absence of organic products to stop them, says Schetino.

"There's still a lot of dependence on chemical products, which have a negative environmental impact," says the entomologist, who is researching alternatives.

Brazil cultivates around 1.6 million hectares of cotton a year. It is a key supplier for the global garment industry, exporting to the likes of China, Vietnam, Pakistan and Turkey.

Abrapa has set itself the ambitious goal of surpassing the US to become the world's biggest cotton supplier in 2030.

"Brazil may not have a good image on sustainable farming yet," says Goldschmidt.

"But we will soon. There's a lot of potential."

FOTOS © EVARISTO SA

In family law, biology no longer the ‘tiebreaker’ when a child’s best interest is at stake

Special to Financial Post - Yesterday 


As the make up of families changes, the resolution of parenting issues becomes more complex. The laws in each province and the federal laws set out a non-inclusive list of factors for the court to consider when deciding parenting issues. Included in those factors is the relationship between the child and the parent and with other family members. Two recent cases highlight how difficult it is to determine what is in a child’s best interests when biological ties are at issue.

The first case involved J and C , male same-sex partners who had been together for 10 years. They were friends with a woman, B and her new partner, A. As friends, B had discussions with J and C about acting as their surrogate. Both couples were of limited means, and while they tried to deal with the legal aspects of a surrogacy arrangement, no surrogacy agreement was signed. Circumstances changed when B inadvertently became pregnant with A’s child. Even though the initial plan had been that C would provide the sperm, once B became pregnant, plans for the baby did not really change. However, a formal surrogacy arrangement was no longer possible as the law requires that a legally binding agreement be made before pregnancy.

Throughout B’s pregnancy, J and C prepared their home for a newborn, contributed to B’s pre-natal expenses and organized their future work schedules so that between them, they would be full time caregivers for the baby.

B and A did none of these things.

When the baby was a day old, B and A handed her over to J and C in a coffee shop parking lot. But when the baby was four-months old — having not seen her at all since her birth — B and A demanded the baby back.

Predictably, litigation followed.

At trial, Justice Nathalie Gregson had to decide whether the child should continue to live with J and C; who should make major decisions for the child; and what arrangements, if any, there should be for contact with the non-residential couple. The judge decided that J and C —despite having no biological ties to the baby — should be the child’s primary caregivers and should make all major decisions for the child. Among other reasons, she found that the baby was flourishing in the care of J and C, and that they were also prepared to facilitate B and A’s relationship with the baby.

In a different context, the Supreme Court of Canada also considered the importance of biological ties in B.J.T.v J.D. In B.J.T., the biological mother and father lived in Alberta and had a short but tumultuous marriage. The mother had mental health issues; the father had allegedly been physically violent. The mother returned to P.E.I., without the father knowing about the pregnancy. The mother’s mental health issues worsened after the baby’s birth, and ultimately the baby’s maternal grandmother moved to P.E.I. to help care for the child.

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The grandmother cared for the child for over two years. The mother’s mental health declined further and she refused to allow the grandmother to continue to care for the child. Child protection services apprehended the child from the mother, and the grandmother returned to care for the child. Meanwhile, the father, even though he had never met the child, decided that he should bring the child back to Alberta to live with him. After a period of integration between the child and the father, child protection services agreed that the father should have the child. The grandmother disagreed.

The P.E.I. trial judge decided that it was in the child’s best interests for the grandmother to continue to raise the child. The P.E.I. Court of Appeal set aside the trial judge, relying in part on the father’s closer biological ties with the child.

Justice Sheilah Martin of the Supreme Court of Canada, wrote for a unanimous court. In restoring the trial judge’s decision, Justice Martin considered the relevance of a biological tie when determining a child’s best interests. She noted that the institution of the family in Canada has undergone a profound evolution and found that a biological tie is just “one factor among many.”

As both the grandmother and the father had a biological connection to the child, the judge went further, commenting that “a biological tie may be intangible and difficult to articulate; it is difficult to prioritize over other more concrete best interest factors.” The Supreme Court agreed with the trial judge, who had decided that the grandmother was more inclined to facilitate the father’s time with the child than vice versa, and as such, the grandmother should be the child’s primary caregiver.

In B.J.T., Justice Martin recognized the changing nature the Canadian family, observing that children are increasingly being raised in families where biological ties do not define the family relationship. A mere biological connection to a child is no longer a ‘tiebreaker’ when the best interests of a child are involved.

Laurie Pawlitza is a senior partner in the family law group at Torkin Manes LLP in Toronto. lpawlitza@torkinmanes.com

Métis artist returned to a life of beading and now has her work on a new coin

Yesterday 

From the time Jennine Krauchi was a very young girl, she was always around beadwork. Her father sewed jackets, vests, moccasins, mukluks and other items of clothing, while her mother added beadwork designs to the garments.

“We lived really close to Sioux Valley, so I remember the women there coming into my mom and dad’s shop and doing beadwork. But it wasn’t until around ‘93, when I moved from Brandon to Winnipeg, that I really got back into my roots and got back to my culture.” At that time Krauchi met Lorraine Freeman, founder of the Métis Resource Centre, who was looking for a Métis beader to demonstrate beading and teach classes.

“And I thought, ‘Well, I’ll give it a try’, because I knew how to do it and I was Métis. She wanted to get all of these Métis cultural things back and have a rebirth of our culture. And it started from there. At that time [in Winnipeg], you would’ve been lucky to have enough Métis beaders to sit around a kitchen table.”

This month, Krauchi’s design for a new coin for the Canadian Mint was unveiled. The reverse of the 2022 $20 fine silver coin, called Generations: The Red River Métis, has her design engraved on it, which includes elements of the Michif language.

https://www.mint.ca/en/shop/coins/2022/1-oz-pure-silver-coin-generations-the-red-river-metis

La Rivyeer Roozh, meaning the Red River, is inscribed at the base of the design, above which roots represent the Red River Métis homeland and ancestry. From the infinity symbol, which speaks to the Métis Nation's eternal and unbreakable spirit, flows two bands that represent the Red River. They contain the words Taapweeyimisho and Taapweeyimik lii Michif, for "Believe in yourself" and "Believe in (the) Métis".

The fire in the centre of the design speaks to a period of repression and loss, but the Prairie Rose—a classic Red River Métis motif—represents the survival and cultural resurgence of the Nation. Long stems are characteristically adorned with two or three bead accents known as "mouse tracks", while leaves and flower buds fill the pattern with a sense of love and joy.

“When I found out that I’d won the competition, it was September 9, 2021,” Krauchi recalls. “So it’s been almost a year that all of this took place. And almost a year that I had to keep it secret. I couldn’t really tell anybody, and it was really hard at times. It was so exciting to think that our Métis beadwork is going to be on a coin.”

Krauchi says when she saw the first drawings and engravings, she was absolutely amazed that they had put what looked like little beads all over that coin.

“I so want to take it out of the case and touch it because when you see people’s beadwork you just want to touch it.”

Krauchi says the Manitoba Métis Federation has played a big part in her work through their support and encouragement over the years and the coin "was a collaboration with MMF, the Canadian Mint and herself."

Growing up, Krauchi’s parents were involved with the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg. They moved to just outside of Brandon when she was 14 years old. They built a log cabin themselves and lived off the land.

“I grew up in a very Métis household lifestyle, but we didn’t say it that way. We were just living that. Both my mom and dad—even though he wasn’t Métis he learned an awful lot from the Métis people in the Interlake region of Manitoba—they hunted. My mom loved hunting and fishing and trapping and snaring and doing all of those things. She would rather spend time outside than in the house and my dad was the same way. So we lived off the land and it was all wild game.”

When Krauchi moved back to Winnipeg in her 30s, she started spending time in the museum archives looking at old pieces of Métis style beadwork to begin her work teaching at the Métis Resource Centre.

“And that really inspired me because there weren’t too many people who had seen it or remembered what our work was really like. And it was absolutely gorgeous. The colours, the designs they used, which is a combination of French embroidery patterns and, of course, what they saw in nature, and combining the two to make our Métis style pattern. There’s other floral beadwork done by the Cree or the Ojibwe, but ours has a different look to it compared to the rest.”

Krauchi also started doing replica work for Parks Canada, which she says taught her an awful lot because of all the time spent with those old pieces.

“As we call them now, they are like our teachers, and they certainly were. I learned so much from those pieces. And even though there was no name assigned to the piece of who did it, I still felt almost like I was spending time with her.

“Rather than looking at something through glass, I got to see her stitches. We had lost an awful lot when you think about it. The workmanship, the style of the beadwork, the bead colours and the choices of the beads that they were using, almost the same way as they would be using embroidery floss where it would be a shading of reds down to pinks or vice versa. It was really a learning experience.”

That learning experience also included a journey to find the colours of the beads that were used during that time period, search out either replicas or antiques.

Krauchi says her father really wanted them to keep the Métis culture alive. After her dad passed away in 1991, Krauchi continued filling the orders for work he had received and had quite an established sewing business in Brandon. So, when she began beading again in Winnipeg, she knew she had found her true calling.

“With the beadwork it just took off and snowballed from there. It was the first time I really felt like, ‘Yeah, this is the direction I want to go and stay.’”

The process of designing sometimes has a meaning and sometimes it’s based purely on patterns that Krauchi likes.

“Not all of the old beadwork told a story. Beadwork is a very personal thing. It belongs to the person you’re doing it for, but it also has a big part of you in it too.”

Krauchi has many years of designing beadwork for clothing under her belt, including important work like the octopus bag (see Windspeaker May 2018 article Beadwork is an act of resistance) and a picture frame called A Hard Birth.

The frame is five foot by seven and about a foot wide and surrounds the picture of Louis Riel’s provisional government on display at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

“That was a year-long project and it finally brought me into an art gallery. And it brought the old Métis-style beadwork into an art gallery.”

And now she has the new coin. But Krauchi isn’t resting on her laurels. She says she’s excited to move on to new projects and help keep expanding the scope of Métis beadwork across Canada.

“I would say in the last 10, 15 years at the most, the beadwork has just exploded. Now there’s beadwork symposiums and you can fill up auditoriums now with bead workers.”

Windspeaker.com

By Rebecca Medel, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com

Bolivia accuses a sector of the coca growers’ union of paying «people» to confront the police

Daniel Stewart - Yesterday 


Bolivia's Minister of Government, Eduardo del Castillo, on Wednesday accused the leaders of the Departmental Association of Coca Producers (Adepcoca) of hiring rioters to confront the police, who in the last day arrested about twenty people during the protests.


Protests against the government of Jeanine Áñez

 (file image). - CHRISTIAN LOMBARDI / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO

Del Castillo has assured that "the great majority" of those who attended the last mobilizations do not belong to the coca leaf producers' sector, which is being "stigmatized" because of those "bad leaders who are hiring people from other places" to generate "terror and anxiety".

"This type of illegal acts will not be tolerated, wherever they come from", remarked Del Castillo, who accused the rioters of using weapons and homemade explosives against the agents, according to the Bolivian newspaper 'La Razón'.

"We have seen how a person was almost decapitated by a barbed wire placed by radicalized sectors and during the night a policewoman was kidnapped and beaten", denounced Del Castillo, who once again asked the parties in conflict to sit down to negotiate.

This Tuesday 24 people were arrested in confrontations with the police in the neighborhood of Villa El Carmen, in the north of the city of La Paz, during the sixth consecutive day of protests led by a sector of Adepcoca, which demands the closure of the coca market in this area.

The leader of the protests, Freddy Machicado, has warned that the beginning of any dialogue requires the closure of the "illegal post" of Villa El Carmen, under control of the other sector of Adepcoca led by Arnold Alanes.

"If the government wants to dialogue, first of all it should close that illegal coca stall (...) if it wants to put us in jail, it should put us all in jail, if it wants to put bullets in us, it should put bullets in us", said Machicado after the police used tear gas to disperse the protests.

The Mandela Effect—And Your False Memories—Are Real, Scientists Confirm

Tim Newcomb - Yesterday



© University of Chicago

Do you swear the Fruit of the Loom logo had a cornucopia? Totally sure it was called the Berenstein Bears? You, too, are a victim of the Mandela Effect.

In new research, scientists prove that the Visual Mandela Effect—a consistent, confident, and widespread false memory—occurs with famous icons.

University of Chicago scholars say this is the first scientific study of the internet phenomenon.

It shows a consistency in both what people remember and what they misremember.

We’re confident in what we remember. We’re also consistently wrong, and that doesn’t seem to impact our beliefs. Exhibit A: Try to pick the correct version of the logos or characters in the image at the top of this story. (The answer key is at the end of this story).

Got some wrong? Congratulations, you’re experiencing the internet phenomenon known as the Visual Mandela Effect—a consistent, confident, and widespread false memory. It’s named for Nelson Mandela, the first president of South Africa and an anti-apartheid activist. Mandela didn’t die until 2013, but plenty of people swore he died in prison in the 1980s, which was simply not true.

The Visual Mandela Effect recently took a scientific turn when a pair of University of Chicago scholars put together the first scientific study of the phenomenon. What they found furthers the theory that there’s a consistency in what people misremember. The study is available in preprint and forthcoming in the journal Psy

When asked to describe Rich Uncle Pennybags—we’re mind-blown that his name isn’t Mr. Monopoly—people often gave him a monocle (spoiler alert: that’s one of those false memories). Then you’ve got Pikachu, the Pokémon character, who is often described as having a black tip on the end of his tail. Also not true. How would you describe the Fruit of the Loom logo? If you add a cornucopia behind the fruit you’re not alone, but you’re also wrong.

“This effect is really fascinating because it reveals that there are these consistencies across people in false memories that they have for images they’ve actually never seen,” Wilma Bainbridge, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago’s Department of Psychology, and one of the authors of the new paper, says in a news release.

Related video: Mandela effect: A theory that proves alternate realities?

Duration 4:32  View on Watch

Using online discussions of the Visual Mandela Effect as motivation, the researchers grabbed 40 popular culture logos and icons and then added two false counterparts. The researchers often tweaked one of the two incorrect options away from what was commonly misremembered to help test theories.

They wanted to figure out how widespread and consistent the Visual Mandela Effect was and search for underlying causes, quantifying how common the false memory images were in the world and experimenting to see if people spontaneously produce the errors. For example, if asked to draw an image from memory, do they make the same errors as when picking out the proper logo through recognition?

“We found that there really is a strong effect where people are reporting a false memory for an image they actually have never seen—because you’ve never seen Pikachu with a black tip on the tail,” Bainbridge says. “What’s more is that people tend to be very confident in picking this wrong image. And they also report that they’re pretty familiar with characters like Pikachu, yet they still make these errors.”

The researchers don’t offer up a sole reason for the phenomenon, but they’ve eliminated some theories. First, they don’t believe people are looking at images differently, because even when viewing a correct version, people often gravitate toward the mistaken option. And they don’t think we’re simply filling in information that’s missing based on our associations, which is known as schema theory.

If you want to explain away us giving Rich Uncle Pennybags a monocle because we associated old richness with a monocle, that doesn’t help explain why we falsely give the Fruit of the Loom logo the not-so-common cornucopia.

“They could have picked the correct Fruit of the Loom logo, the Fruit of the Loom logo with the cornucopia, or the Fruit of the Loom logo with a plate underneath it,” Prasad says. “The fact that they chose cornucopia over plate, when plates are more frequently associated with fruit, is evidence against the idea that it’s just the schema theory explaining it.”

Eliminating some theories isn’t helping the researchers land on the actual reasons for the Visual Mandela Effect. “You would think that because all of us have our own individual experiences throughout our lives that we’d all have these idiosyncratic differences in our memories,” Bainbridge says. “But surprisingly, we find that we tend to remember the same faces and pictures as each other. This consistency in our memories is really powerful, because this means that I can know how memorable certain pictures are, I could quantify it. I could even manipulate the memorability of an image.”

That leads to the idea of manipulating the creation of false memories, which Bainbridge says has interesting implications in terms of logo design, photo selections for advertisements, and how we remember educational materials. “You don’t want them to misremember information,” she says. “And that actually relates a lot to some other important topics right now, including what images are used in the media.”

So, while Curious George not having a tail, C-3PO having a silver leg, and Waldo of Where’s Waldo fame holding a cane may not be all that important, understanding the deeper science behind this scientific phenomenon could be. Just remember, Rich Uncle Pennybags doesn’t need glasses. Or a monocle.

Answer Key:
Curious George: Left (no tail)
Where’s Waldo: Center (holding cane)
Fruit of the Loom: Left (no plate or cornucopia)
Mr. Monopoly: Right (no glasses or monocle)
Pikachu: Left (brown coloring at base of tail)
C-3PO: Center (silver leg)

New Brunswick cottagers get court order blocking fish eradication in Miramichi area


MIRAMICHI, N.B. — A controversial plan to use a pesticide to get rid of invasive smallmouth bass in New Brunswick's Miramichi watershed has hit a legal roadblock.



A cease-and-desist order was issued Tuesday by Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Terrence Morrison to the coalition of groups that want to conduct the operation involving a chemical known as rotenone.

The court order names Daniel Houghton, a cottage owner on Miramichi Lake, as one of three plaintiffs, and bars any action on that lake, Lake Brook and a portion of the Southwest Miramichi River until an injunction hearing on Aug. 17.

In an interview Wednesday, Houghton said he and at least eight other cottage owners sought the court injunction on Aug. 2 to block the spraying of the chemical to kill fish in the area.

“Why are we poisoning a 600-acre lake to kill everything in it when there is clearly not that large of a (bass) population — a population that can be easily managed by other methods,” he said.

Houghton said the court order was issued to the Working Group on Smallmouth Bass Eradication in the Miramichi after it emailed cottage owners on Tuesday informing them of their intention to move ahead with the use of the chemical within 24 hours.

The working group wants to destroy smallmouth bass because the fish can alter ecosystems by preying on native species such as Atlantic salmon and brook trout. It put the federally approved operation on hold last September after protesters refused to leave the affected areas.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the group composed of Indigenous and non-governmental organizations such as the North Shore Micmac District Council and the Atlantic Salmon Federation, said it was unaware that an emergency court hearing took place Tuesday and added that it was unable to present any arguments or evidence.

“As a result, the working group was forced to dismiss more than 130 personnel from around the world who were staged in Fredericton, ready to complete our legal conservation project,” the group said. “The working group intends to vigorously oppose the cottage owners' request for the injunction to be extended.”

Houghton said the injunction is about restoring peace of mind to people who enjoy the area and own property there.

“I’m never going to feel confident sending my kids and my dogs out in the water again while in the back of my mind I’m thinking whether there’s something that’s changed here that could create some long-term health effects,” he said.

In their court documents, the cottagers say rotenone would kill all of the fish in the lake and not just smallmouth bass. They contend they wouldn’t be able to swim or fish for at least a year and the rotting of fish killed by the chemical would cause “irreparable harm.” None of the claims have been proven in court.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 10, 2022.

— By Keith Doucette in Halifax

The Canadian Press

Scientists from U of L working to bring rice to Alberta

With Alberta, and in particular southern Alberta, being home to a large amount of dedicated and hard-working farmers many crops have already been grown in this province.

However, this is not stopping Michele Konschuh, Irrigated Crop scientist at the University of Lethbridge, as she has partnered with several other businesses of interest to try and bring a new crop to the field. Those very same farmers may find it quite surprising that the new crop being considered is rice. Konschuh was able to provide more detail about this endeavour and what may soon come to southern Alberta.

“I can’t lay claim to the idea,” said Konschuh. “The university was approached by a company called Galaxy Ag Ventures and they were looking for someone to help them with some neat ideas they had. Se Hong Park, who is the principal of the company, came to us and said ‘You know we would really like to grow rice in Alberta.’ They approached me and I said ‘You’ve got to be crazy.’ The thing is that they also brought with them some technologies. I had to learn a little bit more about rice it’s certainly not something I grew up with, or something that has grown here. Now the rice that I picture being grown is what they call lowland rice where you flood fields and people transplant into those flooded fields and you grow rice that way. That’s not entirely necessary for rice. Rice is not actually an aquatic plant, but the water in that setting is used to suppress weed to prevent pests from getting the rice.”

Konschuh spoke about her scepticism of this project before doing more research into rice.

“I didn’t think that was going to be feasible here, but I found out there was also upland rice. Upland rice production is where they don’t flood the fields and where that rice is grown more like a regular crop. Rice is grown in the U.S., and the U.S. is number five in rice production in the world, which really surprised me and in the U.S. it is mechanized. I could see a fit here if we could grow it in upland conditions and if we could mechanize it.”

After this, Konschuh talked about some of the technology that could help facilitate the growth of rice in Alberta.

“One of the technologies they brought forward is called FSC film for seed film cultivation and that’s a Korean product,” said Konschuh. “It’s basically a biodegradable plastic layer that you can attach the rice to and the rice will grow up through flutes in the opening. The plastic is well served for several purposes. One, it will warm up our cold soil in the spring — another is it will trap moisture in the field, and the third it will prevent weed growth between the plants. With the technology, I thought, ‘well, you might be onto something maybe we can try it here.’ To explore the topic, we have approached Farming Smarter, they have wonderful skilled technical people, the wherewithal to make this happen, and they have irrigation. We need to work with someone to make that happen, so we partnered with Galaxy Ag, and Farming Smarter to try this project out. We started with a few approaches of seeding it, and two different styles of irrigation, and this year were really on the learning curve to see what can be done here.”

Konschuh then began to discuss the first steps of the project.

“It’s a great first. We have grown transplants in the greenhouse at the university and we transplanted some of them in the field. They seemed shocked to experience our environment after being in the comfort of the greenhouse. They seemed really horrified. Those plants haven’t really thrived or taken off yet. We also tried direct seeding some of those and they actually caught and we have small rice plants. Then we have some attached to the seed film and that probably has so far worked the best because the weed control is quite good and the rice took off a little sooner. I’d say we actually have plants growing in Alberta. I don’t know if they’re going to reach seed production and maturity this year — small steps first. One of the things I learned about rice is that it prefers a short day length, and of course, as you know in Alberta, at this time of year we have a long day length. We might have to find a variety that is photoperiod insensitive to grow here and also something that’s a little bit shorter season or more adapted to a cold start in the spring, but at least we have plants growing in so it’s been a modest success.”

Konschuh also spoke about selecting the right type of rice plant for this area as well as their next steps for the project.

“We also did some work with some germplasm (a term to describe certain parts of the plant that are used within crop breeding and research such as the seeds) evaluation in the greenhouse at the university and just getting our feet wet with how rice grows, what does it need to be successful,” said Konschuh. “I think there’s an opportunity to select varieties that can thrive in this area, but we need to work with a breeding program. Probably the next step and at this time it is just a one-year project with the company. I think our next steps will involve germplasm selection where we are looking for germplasm from different sources around the world to see what has a better fit in our environment, and this year we hope to figure out our best planting strategy, and best irrigation strategy. Then we can go forward with the best practices that we learn from this year and try some germplasm selection of those.”

Following the discussion of the initial progress with growing rice in Alberta, Konschuh spoke on how they are planning to go forward with this project, and if southern Alberta in particular will be a good location for growing rice.

“A couple of things, certainly irriga- tion is going to be key. In that sense, southern Alberta will be a great place. We have a little bit — I call it kind of a banana belt — but we have a little longer growing season here, we have access to irrigation, and we have some of the most skilled and progressive farmers in this area. In that sense, I think southern Alberta might be a good fit. There are other parts of the province that may have the moisture needed for rice maybe they’re lacking something else there. I think we’ll try to hear first. We do know that it’s been grown successfully in B.C. and in Ontario. I don’t think it’s going to be something that happens very quickly — I think we will need a few years to try and find good varieties and get a few people interested in growing very small plots.”

Konschuh also described the ultimate goal of bringing rice as a growable crop into Alberta.

“The ultimate goal for this company though is not to grow rice as a staple or a food product, it’s to grow rice as value-added ingredients because there are so many gluten-free products on the market that require rice starch, or rice protein, or rice oils that they would like to fractionate the rice crop into the high valley components. I think that they may be able to get to that goal sooner by importing rice and getting to that goal, and bringing along the production of rice alongside that.”

Finally, Konschuh touched on what farmers should do if they’re interested in participating in this upcoming project.

“Well, rice it’s a cereal crop, so very similar in some ways to wheat or barley, so as long as they have a direct seeder — some type of planting equipment, a drill or an air seeder, or something like that — then they could potentially get into rice production,” said Konschuh. “They could contact me at the university, they can find me on the website, or they can contact me at m.konschuh@uleth.ca. If they would like to reach out, they can either reach out to me or through Galaxy Ag, and if they’re interested in being a host site we might be able to go to the next step and go to slightly larger plots in the future.”

Ian Croft, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Taber Times

'You only heard about the Pope. The focus should be on survivors'

Gerri Sharpe, president of the Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada. 

Photo: Submitted by Pauktuutit

Gerri Sharpe's encounter with the Pope went viral. Roy Fabian compared this papal tour to the first one he witnessed, in 1987. They shared their experience of Pope Francis' trip to Canada.

While visiting Edmonton, Quebec City and Iqaluit, the Pope delivered an apology many had been waiting for and eventually acknowledged the Church's role in the genocide of Indigenous peoples in Canada, asking in a talk the following week for "forgiveness in the name of the Church."

That new phrasing was important for many survivors, even if it was not delivered in Canada, as his initial address stopped short of a broad apology on behalf of the Catholic Church as a whole.

Hundreds of residential school survivors and Elders travelled vast distances to see the Pope in person and hear him speak. For many, showing up at those events was not just about listening, but a personal and radical act of resilience and power.

When Gerri Sharpe, president of Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, met with the Pope, her message and the image she posted to Facebook were shared by thousands of people.

She recounted to Cabin Radio the story behind the photo.

Gerri Sharpe: The meeting was held at a school — on purpose. You need to remember that right across both territories, the centres of every single community are the schools. From your point of view, maybe a school is where children go to learn. From the community's perspective, it is where everything happens.

When he first arrived at the school gym, there was a parade of people that came before him. I will tell you that to watch that entourage of ministers, priests and bishops with their black robes come in was traumatizing. When they passed, that was when the audience saw the Pope being wheeled into the gym.

There were Elders that immediately started crying. It wasn't quiet. And they were speaking in Inuktitut. I don't know if what they said was being communicated to the Pope, but it ranged from 'How could you do this to us?' to 'You love us' to 'Why is it only now that this is happening?'

That initial moment — many felt it — was like a splash of cold water to the face. And as four survivors told their stories, you could almost see and feel the heaviness in the room. A few times I did look towards the Pope. I was sitting very close to him. When I looked at the interpreter, he had tears in his eyes as he spoke.

I knew, when I spoke to him, that I wanted to show him my tattoos. I knew it was something that I could talk about calmly, that would ground me, that I would not be upset about. I had already resolved that I wasn't going to feel that anger when I spoke to him, I wasn't going to be angry. Because I already had an idea of what I wanted to say, and if I had gone anywhere near the topic of my mother, in that moment, I would have burst into tears.

In my generation, the abuses that I suffered, I suffered from other students. It wasn't from teachers or supervisors. I was the victim of victims. In my mother's generation, she was the one who would protect the other children. She was the oldest in her family. I was told stories of how she would offer herself up to protect those that were younger, the rotten food she was given, the cold rooms she was left in, the amount of beatings she would take, the names she was called, the amount of brainwashing that she went through. She relived it for the rest of her life, not even able to numb it with alcohol. Having to relive all that continuously is not what I experienced. That is what my mother and her generation experienced.

She attended many schools from the age of 4-19, including in Aklavik, Inuvik and Yellowknife.

She died in 2005, from cancers that she refused to see doctors about because of her trauma. It was a month before the announcement that the TRC would be formed. Her experience in residential schools is why she did not have any parenting skills. That's what I had to gain back for my children. And that's what was important for me to show: that I still have my culture, that I am a strong Inuk woman.

I really don't even think that it has to do with him, in a way. It has to do with being Inuit, and being able to show where we still are and what we almost lost. And that's what I told him: that we almost lost the meaning of the tattoos, because the Church tried to say it was evil. Even 15 years ago, traditional tattooing was still frowned upon, even by Inuit who are very grounded in their own culture. The Church had played such a role in their lives that religion and culture got mixed up in ways it never should have.

That was the significance of showing my tattoos: not as a way of penance or punishment, not to get an apology, but as vindication. This is what we've done. This is how we're still moving forward.

He had interpreters talking in his ears, one male and one female. They were all listening intently to what I was saying. And I felt that he understood. He smiled at me, he looked at my hands, at my tattoos, and I do think that it impacted him.

Many people had very different expectations as to what this visit would look like. And regardless of what those expectations were, these are fresh steps towards reconciliation. That's what we need to remember.



Related video: Indigenous people share what they want to say to Pope Francis





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But as we reflect, I want to emphasize that the focus from media and from others should not be on the Pope — it should be on survivors. There are so many residential school survivors that are still alive, that have stories that they didn't get to share. You only heard about the Pope. This is where I hope there isn't going to trauma re-opened as a result. This is a moment for worldwide attention to be focused on those survivors, for reconciliation to take a giant leap forward, and for the rest of the world to know why it was important that he came here.

For Roy Fabian, the delegation from the Kátł'odeeche First Nation to Edmonton brought back many old memories.

Almost 35 years earlier, on September 20, 1987, he had been part of the security team in Fort Simpson, holding back crowds that had gathered to see Pope John Paul II. He had mixed feelings about the Papal visit then but was assigned to stand near the podium, where he was able to see and listen closely to what was said.

Roy Fabian: Back then, I still hadn't done any work on myself, so there was still a lot of anger and resentment towards the Church. So I was confused about the whole visit, but I also knew it was an important event, because the Elders were the ones requesting that the Pope come to the people.

And I listened to the Elders as they spoke to the Pope in their own language. Because I was fluent in Dene, I really understood what the Elders were talking about, and I heard them talking about how we could begin to relate to one another in a good way.

That, to me, was quite significant. And the Pope's message at that time kind-of surprised me. He didn't apologize, like this Pope did, but what he did say was: 'No culture should be put down and oppressed. That is not the Christian way.' He encouraged Indigenous people to begin to uphold our culture and our customs. To be strong Indigenous people. For me, that was new.

At that time, I was just starting to think about what was happening with me as an individual, and I was quite early in my healing. But I thought about that message.

In 1988, the Elders nominated me for chief. At that time, being the way that I was, I didn't even think of asking my wife, I just accepted the nomination. I went home for supper that day and told her I had been nominated. She asked me, 'Are you going to run?' and I said yes. We sat there and ate for a while. Then she said, 'Roy... you're not ready to be chief.'

I was a little bit shocked. But I was also determined. So I ran for chief and I did get elected. Back then, the term for chief was two years. By the end of that two years I found out what my wife was talking about. I wasn't ready. And I began to realize that I wasn't a healthy person. I talked to the Elders that had asked me to run and I told them that I needed healing. And I asked them if they would support me to go for treatment. They supported me. I had been a falling-down drunk and all on my own, I managed to quit drinking. Then I went to treatment.

It really was an eye-opener... how sick I really was, you know? My way of thinking was that of a colonized Dene, but at the time I didn't know that's what it was. I was racist, angry and resentful. I thought I was right all the time. Deep down, I had so much shame about being who I was, about being Dene.

It wasn't an easy journey. Being colonized, being a colonized person, you don't know that there's any other way to think. You have to challenge your way of thinking and replace it with Dene concepts. And those concepts are simple: love, kindness, respect and caring for one another.

When you're colonized, your heart might be in the right place, but you don't know how to follow it. You might learn in your head to start thinking differently, but in order to learn in your heart, you need Dene ceremonies. It's there that you learn that the opposite of love is fear. The opposite of kindness is cruelty. The opposite of respect is contempt. And the opposite of caring is neglect.

I worked as executive director of a treatment program, and then at the Dene Cultural Institute as a training coordinator, passing on those lessons, becoming more and more Dene.

That's what I've been doing in the many years since that first visit in 1987. So this time around, being present for the Pope's visit was really special. Because I'm a little bit more Dene than I was then. I'm a little bit more humble, more in harmony with things. I honour people, and I'm humane. And those are Dene ways.

So when I went there, I didn't go with any real purpose. I just wanted to be there and listen to the Pope. And being a former chief, I knew all the chiefs across Canada. They were going to have a grand entry with all the chiefs, and one of them recognized me and invited to me join them.

I hesitated because that wasn't my purpose. But at the same time, it was a honour, and I didn't want to reject that. So I agreed, and walked with all the other chiefs. And it was a really humbling experience for me. But at the same time, I just felt that I belonged there. I showed up with humility, with honour, with humanity. I felt the blessing the Pope offered.

To me, it wasn't important that I shake his hand or anything. Just being there in his presence was enough.

One of the things I learned from my Elders is that Dene people believe that God manifests through creation, and God is in everything. In the air, in the fire, in the water, in the land, in the trees and everything, including you and me. We're all God's spirit.

The Pope is a great man from his own world. Every culture out there, God gave them certain gifts, certain ways of relating. And there's nobody that's right or wrong. Nobody is more or better. And to me, that's where the Pope made his apology. He talked about how supremacy was applied to try to make us succumb. To take away our culture and our language, our way of knowing.

Because for the Dene, our way of relating is with the land. Through the land, we gained our beliefs, our values, our knowledge and our skills. And we thrived on the land. So that's who we are. That's what we lost. I don't think many people know how much we lost because what they know is the colonized way. They know oppression. They know concepts that keep us colonized. That's what I've learned from the Elders, since that first visit.

In 1987, I was confused. But this time, I knew why I was there. I had fulfilled the Pope's message, to uphold our culture and our customs.

It still hurts, when you see your people suffering, and the sad thing is that they don't even know that they are suffering. We've got a lot of work to do, still. But for me as an individual, the Pope's visit was a kind of crowning... of what I accomplished over the past 35 years.

The National Indian Residential School Crisis Line is open for 24 hours a day, seven days a week for those needing to talk. Call 1-855-925-4419. The Dene Nation also has a list of supports available.

Caitrin Pilkington, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Cabin Radio

Metis advocate discusses why he did not attend any component of the Papal Visit

(ANNews) – Joshua Morin is part of a new generation of Indigenous Advocates who did not see the value in attending the Pope’s Visit to Canada but instead focused on rebuilding their Indigenous ideology, belief systems, language, and community.

He is also an example of why several advocates chose to give surviving Indigenous elders respect and waited until the Pope left Canada to express their thoughts on why they don’t accept the pope’s apology.

The Pope’s apology came too late for many Indigenous people, including the Morin family.

Many indigenous people such as Morin are left picking up the pieces or living through the pain caused by intergenerational trauma from family members who attended residential schools.

“To me, the apology will come when we see what the Catholic church does after this.” – Joshua Morin.

Morin currently works with three non-profits within the Edmonton region that serve the local community: Bent Arrow, Centre for Race and Culture, and Michif Cultural Connections Society.

He decided to focus on the Metis Nation of Alberta’s most significant event called “Back to Batoche” which took place July 21-24 at the historic Batoche site where the Metis Nation had its last militarized battle against the Canadian Government.

Before that, the Metis Nation of Alberta hosted a grassland ceremony with Maskwacis Cree at Elk Island Park to bring the Metis and Cree ceremony back to the land and the bison.

“I felt these events and the ceremony were my top priority, despite the papal visit. I am also not a follower of Catholicism or Christianity, so it would be tough for me to connect to the Pope’s visit on the religious level,” said Morin

He noted that one of his current roles is Vice President for the St. Albert Sturgeon Metis Local 1904 and Pearson’s Publishing Indigenous advisory circle.

The United Nations declared 2022 – 2032 the decade of Indigenous languages and Morin says that relearning Indigenous languages is paramount for all Indigenous cultures. It is also what makes Nations a distinct culture, and if we lose our language, we lose our culture.

According to the website, “The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the period between 2022 and 2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL 2022-2032) to draw global attention to the critical status of many Indigenous languages around the world and to mobilize stakeholders and resources for their preservation.”

Morin explained, “From my knowledge of what my Grandma and Mother have told me, my family is impacted by residential schools, and we deal with forms of intergenerational trauma.”

He said his Great Grandmother Julia Boucher attended residential school and was baptized by Father Lacombe in St. Albert.

“When she entered the school, she was technically under Treaty, but as soon as she went into the school, the Indian agent wrote that my Great Grandmother ceased to be Indian,” said Morin.

His Great Grandmother applied for what they called Metis scrip, so the church could attain her land since scrip was a form of land fraud created by the Canadian Government.

“My Great Grandfather Paul Villeneuve attended residential school and spoke a variety of languages including Michif, Cree, Blackfoot, English, and French. After that, we started as a family mainly speaking English at home when my Grandma was born.”

Related video: Indigenous people share what they want to say to Pope Francis
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His Grandma did not attend residential school but participated at an early public school in the Calgary area when she had kids.

“Canada’s mission to assimilate children during the 60s scoop directly impacted my family aggressively,” said Morin. “When my Grandmother was in her adult years, the Government scooped her kids, my older Aunts, and Uncles and placed them into residential school and after they went into children services.”

“My Grandma advocated to see her kids again, and eventually she got them back, and thankfully my Mom and her two younger siblings did not attend Residential school,” said Morin.

“We are still working as a family to relearn our Michif language and find the rest of our family who were taken through colonization. One Auntie I didn’t discover until I was in Grade five.”

“I firmly believe that apologizing means you have to change what you are doing.” – Joshua Morin

“Will churches consult with Indigenous Nations that uphold the standards of UNDRIP to begin genuine healing?”

Morin said questions need to be answered about whether the churches across Canada will return artifacts obtained legally from former residential school survivors.

He explained, “Researcher Gloria Bell questions if the artifacts were not gifted but rather taken from kids in residential schools. A way to move forward following the apology would be to create a plan so we can return these relatives home to our communities.”

He said he believes that recognition involves giving land back.

“The Catholic church owns a ton of land within Canada,” said Morin.

“Many Indigenous communities across Canada are starting to look for unmarked graves located near former residential school sites. One of the hurdles they run into is private land owned by the church, which they have trouble accessing for ground scanning.”

“Catholic Churches within Canada should allow us to scan their properties openly where residential school sites were located and they should open full access to their records, collection, and archives so we can cross reference data.” – Joshua Morin

“Speaking for myself, I feel that the Church has done this in an attempt to say they are resolved now and that people can follow Catholicism again, without acknowledging the long history of Residential schools and oppression they have created,” said Morin.

A genuine apology comes with action, he added.

“Also, there have been questions raised by the fact that the Pope got a paved road in Lac St Anne and important roads closed off in Edmonton while Indigenous communities across Canada still struggle with infrastructure, clean drinking water, access to education, and inherent rights and much more.”

“I have to acknowledge that this apology wasn’t for me but for the living Residential school survivors across Canada, such as my Aunts and Uncles who have passed away now.” – Joshua Morin.

“If this apology has helped anyone who is a survivor during this time, it is important for me to recognize that and be grateful that it did help that person, or it has helped people across what is now Canada.”

Morin acknowledges that every Indigenous nation and every culture has its different ideologies of gifts given to public figures.

He said, “I would have gifted the Pope a letter from Bishop Grandin in 1880 to the Saskatchewan Herald, where he requested up to 1000 First Nation and Metis kids so they could refill Residential Schools in the prairies and that they would be “civilized.”

Morin ends the interview by concluding, “I hope we (Indigenous people) do see a roadmap of action, so the survivors across Canada can see that there is a roadmap in place for healing, so they know future generations won’t have to endure Residential Schools again.”

Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News

Russia to investigate removal and demolition of Soviet monuments in Europe
Daniel Stewart - Yesterday 

The Russian Investigative Committee has reported that it will look into cases of removal and demolition of Soviet monuments in several European countries, especially in recent months after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.


Statue of Lenin in Grutas Park, in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius - 

HANS VAN RHOON / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO

In the last week, the removal of a Red Army monument in Mariemburg, Denmark; a Soviet-era tank in Narva, Estonia; or a peace monument in Helsinki donated by the Soviet Union to Finland in the late 1980s has been publicized.

Also, the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrikin, has urged the body to investigate the causes of the desecration of a Soviet military cemetery in Weneuchen, Germany, allegedly by a neo-Nazi fanatic, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

"These illegal actions are directed against Russia's interests in the field of preserving the historical memory of the Soviet Union's activities during World War II and the decisive role in the victory over fascism," the Investigative Committee has stressed.

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine at the end of February, several Soviet monuments and memorials throughout Europe, especially in the former Soviet republics and in Germany, have been vandalized in protest against the invasion or directly removed or demolished by the authorities