UCP pays private contractor $160K a month to enforce K-Country pass: 'It's absurd,' says NDP 

$1,920,000 ANNUAL COST

The NDP is once again calling for Alberta's government to scrap the Kananaskis Conservation Pass

Author of the article:Dylan Short
Publishing date:Sep 09, 2022 • 

Hikers at Barrier Lake lookout in June 2020. In 2021, the Alberta government brought in a $90 annual pass for public access to K-Country. 

PHOTO BY MARIE CONBOY /Postmedia


The NDP is once again calling for the Alberta government to scrap the Kananaskis Conservation Pass after an invoice was made public showing a private company is being paid over $160,000 a month to enforce compliance with the user fee.

The official Opposition released a copy of an invoice from Global Traffic Group Ltd., received through a freedom of information request by a third party, showing it charged the Ministry of Environment and Parks $166,666.67 to enforce and monitor compliance with the conservation pass for the month of April 2022.

Environment critic Marlin Schmidt said the document shows that money Albertans are spending on the pass is not going into improving the Kananaskis region, but rather to a private contractor to enforce the pass introduced by the UCP government last year.

“This doesn’t mean additional conservation officers — we’re talking about a private firm driving around and scanning licence plates,” said Schmidt. “While the UCP enjoys a $13-billion surplus, they’re charging you $90 to pay someone to make sure that you paid your $90. It’s absurd.”


Rob Williams, press secretary for Environment and Parks Minister Whitney Issik, confirmed Friday the invoice is authentic.

The pass was first introduced in 2021 as the region saw a large rise in visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, then-environment minister Jason Nixon promised all funds raised through the pass would go back into Kananaskis Country. The pass raised approximately $12 million in the first year it was in place and the province began enforcing its use earlier this year.

Williams said more than 146,000 passes have been sold this year raising $7.1 million, with the government projecting a total of $15 million in revenue being paid over this year. He said taxpayers were funding 75 per cent of operational costs in the region prior to the conservation pass being introduced. Now they are on the hook for 25 per cent of those costs.

“The Kananaskis Conservation Pass is intended to be a more sustainable way of supporting the region,” said Williams.

Williams said the government has partnered with St. Albert’s Global Traffic Group for enforcement services through a three-year contract that is worth $2 million per year. He said that cost represents 13 per cent of the revenue raised from the pass while 87 per cent of that revenue supports conservation, outdoor recreation and public safety in the region.

“Enforcement needs to be a priority to manage high visitation and increased pressure on the landscape. Seventy-four per cent of licence plates scanned so far this year have been compliant,” said Williams. “Our approach is cost-effective, fair and efficient.”


Kananaskis Country user groups call for change to management around off-road vehicles

Since its inception, the pass has come under fire with the NDP stating many times it would remove the fee and replace it with a voluntary payment program if they were to form the government next year. Recreation groups that operate in the area have also questioned the pass’s usefulness in improving the region.

“An Alberta NDP government will abolish this absurd fee. Leave those $90 in your pocket and return ‘pay country’ back into K-country,” said Schmidt.

The conservation pass currently costs $15 for a day or $90 for an annual pass.

dshort@postmedia.com

British Columbia

First Nations Leadership Council calls on King Charles to renounce Doctrine of Discovery as first act

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Indigenous communities in B.C. want new monarch to play 

greater part in reconciliation in Canada

CBC News · Posted: Sep 10, 2022 

Queen Elizabeth talks with members of the Haida Nation at Sandspit, B.C., on May 11, 1971. (Bill Croke/The Canadian Press)

In light of the death of Queen Elizabeth, Indigenous organizations and communities in B.C. are hoping her successor will commit to bettering the relationship between First Nations and the Crown.

King Charles III was proclaimed Canada's new head of state on Saturday, following the death of his mother on Thursday.

The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC), which comprises the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs (UBCIC), B.C. Assembly of First Nations and First Nations Summit, is calling on Charles to renounce the Doctrine of Discovery as his first official act.

Originally created by the Catholic Church in 1452, the doctrine justified the stealing of land from Indigenous people. It was used by Great Britain and France to claim land in North America.

"The Doctrine of Discovery dehumanized non-Europeans while empires waged war and stole lands, resources and wealth that rightfully belonged to Indigenous peoples all over the world," the FNLC said in a statement.

"We call for this international law doctrine to be renounced by the King of England. With a change in Canada's head of state, it's time for a change in the Crown's approach to Indigenous sovereignty."

Holding the monarchy accountable

The relationship between Indigenous people and the monarchy is a complicated one. Many First Nations signed treaties with the Crown, which included pledges to share resources that the Crown later violated.

"It is important to keep that relationship alive," Diana Day, lead matriarch with Pacific Association of First Nations and a member of the Wolf Clan from the Oneida Nation, said on CBC's The Early Edition.

"It's important to hold [the monarchy] accountable, to hold them responsible and to have them take a greater part in reconciliation and truth-telling of the history of this country."

Queen Elizabeth, Canada's head of state and the longest-reigning British monarch, died age 96 on Sept. 8 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

Day said it's important to recognize the Queen's death and her long years of service, but it's also critical to think about the Indigenous people in Canada who are without housing or clean water.

Following the Pope's apology for the Catholic church's role in residential schools, some called for the Queen to make a similar apology — one that never came, despite her role within the Anglican Church, which ran dozens of residential schools in Canada.

A symbolic relationship

CBC Indigenous affairs reporter Wawmeesh Hamilton says the relationship between the monarchy and Indigenous people is purely symbolic.

"There are visits, there are diplomatic gestures and there are well wishes. It's an abstract relationship that looks good, and it reads well," he said, adding that the monarchy has no say or sway in Indigenous government. 

When news of the Queen's passing broke, Hamilton said Indigenous people took to social media to air their grievances with the monarchy, colonialism and residential schools.

A statue of Queen Elizabeth II is pictured in an art gallery in Vancouver, B.C. on Sept. 8. Adam Olsen, MLA for Sannich North and a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, says the monarchy has a responsibility to take part in reconciliation. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

"Her family lost someone they love," he said. 

"There are protocols among Indigenous communities about death. They differ, but one common denominator is respect for the grieving and the dead."

• Indigenous groups share condolences after death of Queen Elizabeth, but colonial past leaves some conflicted

Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and a member of the Tsartlip First Nation, said he believes this is the time to start conversations around Canada's relationship with the monarchy and reconciliation, as they pass the crown from one generation to the next.

"We have to recognize ... that the wealth and privilege that monarchs and the business of the monarchy is accumulated on the backs of Indigenous peoples. They have a responsibility."

Queen was asked to renounce Doctrine of Discovery

Kukpi7 Judy Wilson, secretary-treasurer of the UBCIC, pointed out that the Queen had also been asked to renounce the Doctrine of Discovery but did not.

"The Queen represented a sovereign relationship with many of our nations," Kukpi7 Judy Wilson she said Thursday.

• With Queen Elizabeth's death, Canada prepares for an official mourning period

• Why Pope Francis may be hesitant to rescind the Doctrine of Discovery

First Nations across Canada have also called for the Pope to renounce the doctrine.

Wilson said the renouncing of the doctrine is the "only way we can move forward with a true relationship."

With files from Courtney Dickson, Christina Jung and CBC Radio

Closing the Pickering nuclear plant has Ontario scrambling for new electricity. What if we keep it open?

OPINION: 

The government’s newfound relationship with trade unions could be the wild card that keeps Pickering online

Written by John Michael McGrath


Premier Doug Ford announcing the extension of Pickering's operating

 license shortly after his election in 2018. (CP/Nathan Denette)

Chris Keefer has spent years arguing that Ontario is careening towards an avoidable mistake: shutting down the Pickering nuclear generating station in the eastern GTA, he argues, will cause electricity shortages and increased greenhouse gas emissions — the natural and inevitable consequence of taking the plant’s 3,100 megawatts of power out of the provincial grid. The plant, which began operating in 1971, is currently scheduled to close in 2025. This combined with other nuclear reactors at Darlington and Bruce going offline as they’re refurbished to add decades to their lifespans has the province scrambling to find replacement sources of electricity.

Keefer is the president of Canadians For Nuclear Energy, which this week released a report fleshing out their most comprehensive case for keeping Pickering open and refurbishing it — similar to Bruce and Darlington. In a phone conversation with TVO.org this week, he acknowledged that there’s little appetite for that option right now. Not at Ontario Power Generation (which owns and operates the plant), nor in the boardrooms of OPG’s sole shareholder: the government of Ontario.

“We’re very aware that this is an uphill battle, an underdog battle,” Keefer says. “It’s kind of funny — people say that we can become vegans or stop driving to protect the climate, and those are valid choices, but for an individual we’re talking about saving one or two tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.”

“We’re talking about offsetting millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide every year if we keep a nuclear plant operating.”

At the moment, there’s no sign of a change in policy at Queen’s Park: The Tories (like the Liberals before them) haven’t shown much interest in keeping Pickering operating, with the exception of a short extension of its operating license announced early in the Ford government’s tenure. Sure enough, contacted by TVO.org, the government reiterated that it is sticking with its plan to find a 2025 replacement for Pickering in the province’s electricity supply.

“As previously announced in 2020, our government is supporting Ontario Power Generation’s plan to safely extend the life of the Pickering Nuclear Generating Station through the end of 2025,” said Palmer Lockridge, spokesperson for energy minister Todd Smith. “Going forward, we are ensuring a reliable, affordable, and clean electricity system for decades to come. That’s why we put a plan in place that ensures we are prepared for the emerging energy needs following the closure of Pickering.”

Even if OPG changes its mind (or the province tells it to), keeping Pickering running is not a trivial matter: nuclear power plants are federally regulated, and OPG would need to ask the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission for permission to extend the operating license beyond the current date. Opponents of the idea would have substantial opportunity to make their case against it — either because they oppose nuclear power in principle, or for more mundane reasons: the people of Durham region might want to get back the substantial waterfront acreage that Pickering sits on. Mississauga is transforming the former site of the Lakeview generating station into a mixed-use community.

The report from Keefer’s group also acknowledges that refurbishing Pickering will not be as simple or economical as the work currently underway at the other Ontario-based nuclear plants. But it argues that relative to all of the real-world alternatives, it’s the least costly option Ontario has, despite its estimate that it would cost $10 billion (or $8.8 billion and a contingency in case of overruns.)

“There’s an economic case, there’s a climate case for doing something extraordinary here, and there’s even a ‘just transition’ case here,” Keefer says, arguing that Ontario should prioritize saving nuclear sector jobs.

The primary environmental concern has been that Ontario will fill the Pickering-sized hole in its grid with new natural gas plants, which will increase the province’s greenhouse gas emissions from electricity — a reversal of the last several decades’ worth of effort to shut down coal-fired power plants. Aside from the environmental harms, there’s also serious economic risks to the province: as the U.S builds more natural gas export terminals in part to meet European demand, natural gas is becoming a more globalized commodity, which makes it more vulnerable to serious price spikes depending on the vagaries of geopolitics.

There are cleaner alternatives, including new hydroelectric dams in northern Ontario (the Ontario Waterpower Association estimates there’s 4,000-5,000 megawatts of practical potential for expansion), but whether the province could realistically manage construction in the kind of timeframe required (navigating the politics of affected Indigenous communities is daunting enough) is an open question. Many environmentalists, including Green party leader Mike Schreiner, have advocated for importing electricity from Quebec, but the same policymakers who are skeptical about keeping Pickering running are also skeptical about locking Ontario into a relationship with Hydro Quebec to keep the lights on.

It's worth remembering that in any scenario, it’s not just Pickering’s loss we need to make up: electrifying large parts of the economy currently powered by fossil fuels will require huge amounts of new electrical capacity, one way or the other.

For better or worse, the window to keep Pickering operating is almost certainly closing soon, if it hasn’t already. The one remaining wild card in this debate might end up being some of the major building trade unions in the province’s energy sector. Premier Doug Ford and the Progressive Conservatives were just re-elected with an increased majority in part due to substantial outreach to building trades unions; similar unions exist both at Pickering itself and within the suppliers for the nuclear industry. The prospect of saving roughly 4,000 jobs at Pickering (and more throughout the supply chain) could be a tempting argument for a government looking for concrete ways to show that its election season words are matched with governing deeds.

“We’re at this fork in the road,” Keefer says. “The easy thing to do is to run our gas plants, and even build more gas plants… in my mind, it’s a perfect moment for organized labour to flex its muscles.”

(Disclosure: A family member of the author is employed by the IESO, which has been directed to address Ontario’s electricity needs with the closure of Pickering.)




John Michael McGrath is a staff writer at TVO.org covering provincial politics and policy.

UK rail, postal workers cancel strikes after queen's death

Friday

MOURNING IN THE UK FOR QUEEN ELIZABETH AHEAD OF HER FUNERAL.
Duration 1:29
UK begins 10 days of mourning after death of Queen Elizabeth II
View on Watch

British rail and postal workers on Thursday canceled scheduled strikes after Queen Elizabeth II died earlier that day.

The moves pause worker protests that in recent months have involved hundreds of thousands of workers and at times disrupted train and mail services across England.

The Communication Workers Union, or CWU, which represents 115,000 workers at the Royal Mail, called off a 48-hour strike that began on Thursday and was scheduled to continue on Friday.

"Following the very sad news of the passing of the Queen and out of respect for her service to the country and her family, the union has decided to call off tomorrow's planned strike action," the Communication Workers Union said in a tweet on Thursday.MORE: Queen Elizabeth's passing marks the end of multiple political eras: The Note

A strike by the postal workers late last month across 1,500 locations, the first of several strikes planned for the ensuing weeks, marked the biggest work stoppage in England since 2009.

Postal workers are seeking a wage increase amid the country's near-historic inflation, which reached a 40-year high of 10.1% in July.

CWU said its members would not accept an "imposed" 2% pay raise, the BBC reported. Royal Mail said that the workers rejected an offer with raises of up to 5.5%.


Royal Mail postal workers hold placards and chant slogans as they stand on a picket line outside a delivery office, in north London, Sept. 8, 2022, during a strike.© Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

Meanwhile, roughly 40,000 rail workers with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, or RMT, canceled a two-day strike set for Sept. 15 and 17

"RMT joins the whole nation in paying its respects to Queen Elizabeth," the union said in a statement. "We express our deepest condolences to her family, friends and the country."

The rail workers, who work at Network Rail and 14 train operators, have carried out intermittent strikes since June, when it appeared that their employers would reject a demand for a 7% pay raise.

Network Rail made an offer in July with raises worth more than 5%, but it depended on workers accepting "modernising reforms," the BBC reported. RMT rejected the offer, saying it amounted to a pay cut in inflation-adjusted terms and would require cutting a third of front-line maintenance roles.

In a statement, Network Rail confirmed that RMT had called off the strike, saying it would alert riders "when we receive more information on any confirmed or proposed industrial action."

Study finds possible link between stroke rates, refinery pollutants

Sharon Udasin - Thursday - The Hill

Residential exposure to pollutants emitted by petroleum refineries could be related to the prevalence of stroke rates across the southern United States, a new study has found.



Living near petroleum production sites and refineries was potentially linked to 5.6 percent of strokes among adults surveyed in seven states across the region, according to the study, published on Thursday in Environmental Research Letters.

The process of refining petroleum, a common industry in the U.S. South, releases multiple pollutants that researchers have previously connected to strokes.

But the authors of the new study sought to identify the direct relationship between residential exposure to petroleum refining and the development of strokes.

“The geographic concentration of economic sectors, and their associated by-products, is an underexplored, plausible risk factor for stroke,” lead author Honghyok Kim, who will be joining the University of Illinois at Chicago as an assistant professor this month, said in a statement.

“By-products of petroleum production and refining include a mixture of pollutants that may impact the quality of adjacent air, soil, and potable water in residential areas,” Kim added.

To draw their conclusions, Kim and his colleagues at Yale, Brown and Seoul National universities combed through data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Population Level Analyses and Community Estimates for seven Southern U.S. states.

They narrowed down the data to areas within 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) or 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) of petroleum refineries — zones strongly correlated with high levels of sulfur dioxide, a byproduct of the refining process.

Across these areas, the authors observed that the prevalence of self-reported stroke ranged from 0.4 percent to 12.7 percent, while people of lower socioeconomic status and of Hispanic ethnicity tended to reside closer to the refineries.

After analyzing the data, the scientists concluded that the percentage of strokes potentially explained by residential exposure to petroleum refineries was about 5.6 percent — a total of 2,200 cases.

The results differed by state, with Mississippi showing the highest percentage — 11.7 percent — of strokes possibly linked to such exposure, according to the study.

Zooming in much more locally, the scientists found even more dramatic variations in results based on census tract. One tract in Texas showed the highest prevalence of strokes potentially explained by petroleum refineries, at 25.3 percent, according to the study.

The authors also emphasized their observation that sociodemographic factors influenced the prevalence of strokes in each region, noting that those individuals of lower socioeconomic status were disproportionately affected.

This association with sociodemographic factors, they added, could “be relevant to understanding and addressing entrenched sociodemographic disparities in stroke outcomes.”

10 law professors join calls for more oversight of Newfoundland and Labrador police


ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A group of law professors in Nova Scotia is joining calls for more civilian-led oversight of police in Newfoundland and Labrador, as the force grapples with allegations of sexual misconduct against its members.



Ten professors from Dalhousie University's Schulich School of Law wrote an open letter to Newfoundland and Labrador Justice Minister John Hogan this week, echoing a St. John's-based Indigenous group's calls for a civilian-led board to oversee police.

"In most provinces in Canada — including Nova Scotia — police services are directly accountable to civilian-led police boards or commissions that are established by statute," said the professors' letter, released Tuesday.

"Ensuring the transparency and accountability of police through comprehensive oversight is critical to the rule of law."

As of last July, Newfoundland and Labrador has its own civilian-led police watchdog agency — the Serious Incident Response Team. Led by lawyer Mike King, the agency investigates injuries, death, sexual assault and domestic violence involving officers from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the RCMP, with whom the Constabulary shares policing duties in the province.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary also has an independent, civilian-led public complaints commission.

Justin Campbell of Indigenous coalition First Voice says a civilian-led oversight board would play a different role than those two authorities.

"Both of those bodies are reactive forms of civilian oversight," said Campbell, whose organization has a working group advocating for civilian-led police oversight in accordance with the Calls for Justice laid out by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

"The civilian oversight board that we're proposing would have the power to draft and enforce policies related to the way that policing is conducted here."

The board, Campbell added, would be proactive and aimed at establishing policies that better serve the public, rather than responding to complaints when existing policies fail.

Such a board is needed in Newfoundland and Labrador, he said, pointing as evidence to the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary's quiet introduction last year of a policy regarding the transport of members of the public. An access to information request showed that the force put in place new rules last September forbidding officers from offering people rides home unless the ride is part of a service call.

The rules were introduced after public complaints emerged alleging officers had acted inappropriately after offering women rides home from downtown St. John's. Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Chief Patrick Roche's note to officers emphasized that the force's policies are confidential.

Campbell said it was concerning that The Canadian Press had to submit an access to information request to find out about the policy — the force had otherwise refused to answer questions about it. "It raises all kinds of questions about transparency, how the policy was drafted, and who had input," he said. "Never mind how the policy is supposed to be enforced."

The issue of police offering people rides home came up in the trials of Const. Carl Douglas Snelgrove, who was convicted in May of 2021 for sexually assaulting a woman while on duty after driving her home from downtown St. John's. He is appealing that conviction.

Snelgrove first went to trial for the charge in 2017, and testified that it was not uncommon for officers to give people lifts home.

Campbell said a civilian-led board could have helped stop that practice. "Had we had a board in place … that certainly would have come to their attention, and they would have been able to act much more quickly to address that gap in policy."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 8, 2022.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press

Nearly 30% of Canadians report ‘chronic difficulty’ accessing health care: Poll

Saba Aziz - Wednesday- GLOBAL NEWS


Team of surgeons in operating room at a hospital. As Canada’s health-care system continues to grapple with staffing shortages, long wait times and emergency room closures, nearly 30 per cent Canadians report “chronic difficulty” accessing care, new polling shows.

© Tempura/Getty Images

Code Blue: Canada experiencing shortage of family doctors

As Canada’s health-care system continues to grapple with staffing shortages, long wait times and emergency room closures, nearly 30 per cent of Canadians report “chronic difficulty” accessing care, new polling shows.

The survey results published by the Angus Reid Institute on Wednesday found that an equivalent of nine million Canadian adults said that it was difficult or impossible to access key health services -- from emergency and non-emergency care to surgery, diagnostic testing and specialist appointments.

While 31 per cent of respondents said they faced some challenges, 15 per cent reported comfortable access to care.

“I think the results are quite depressing,” said Angus Reid, chairman of the non-profit institute.

Read more:
Code Blue: A Global News series delving into Canada’s health-care crisis

“What this study does is it just puts up some numbers behind a lot of the anecdotal evidence that's been coming out all summer about the horror stories that people are experiencing in accessing care in Canada,” he told Global News.

Those who report challenges are more likely to say their health had deteriorated, the study said.

The online survey included 2,279 Canadian adults and was conducted last month.

According to the poll, over the past six months, two in five people in Canada said they had a difficult time getting either emergency care or a specialist appointment.

Residents of Saskatchewan and Ontario were more likely to say they had some challenges, while people in British Columbia and Atlantic provinces had a more difficult time accessing health care, the poll found.

Read more:
‘Mind boggling’: ERs big and small across Canada struggle amid staffing crisis

Video: Code Blue: Emergency rooms across Canada struggle with staff shortages

At least 58 per cent of respondents said it was very difficult or impossible to see a specialist, while 48 per cent seeking surgery said the same.

Emergency departments, in particular, are bearing the brunt of the many issues plaguing Canada’s ailing health system, with many ERs across Canada having to close intermittently in recent weeks and months.

The strain is being felt in small and big ERs from coast to coast, with patients in need of urgent medical care facing extended wait times.

Experts say what’s happening in emergency departments is due to a number of complex factors, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented shortage of health-care practitioners and lack of beds in long-term care homes.

The situation has dented trust in the health-care system among Canadians, with three in five respondents saying they are not confident about timely access to emergency care, the Angus Reid poll found.

But two in five are more optimistic they will receive urgent care without delays, the survey showed.

Separately, an Ipsos poll in August 2022 found that 16 per cent of Canadians rated the quality of health care in the country as “poor or very poor”

Only half the respondents said they trust the country's health-care system to provide them with the best treatment -- a drop of 11 percentage points from 2020.

The current “crisis”, as described by many front-line workers, has also reignited a longstanding debate over privatization of the Canadian health-care system, with several provinces weighing their options.

Institutional rules and laws of the health-care system are holding Canada back, said Dr. Michael Rachlis, public health physician and adjunct professor at the University of Toronto.

“There are all sorts of rules and laws that deeply influence these dysfunctional behaviours that we see in our health system that need to be changed,” he told Global News in a previous interview.

Compared to the United States, where health is largely covered by private insurance, accessing health care in Canada was “about twice as difficult”, Reid said.

According to a parallel survey of 1,200 Americans also done by ARI, 70 per cent said they were confident of receiving emergency care in a timely fashion, compared to 37 per cent in Canada.

“We’ve always prided ourselves in being number one in relation to the U.S., but certainly in terms of the access that our citizens have to health care, we've slipped badly into second place,” Reid said.

-- with files from Global News’ Teresa Wright and Jamie Mauracher

UN’s Xinjiang report: Canada must stop Uyghur forced labour imports, advocates say

Heidi Lee - Tuesday

The release of a long-awaited United Nations report on China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang should spur Canada and international partners to stop products made with Uyghur forced, advocates say.


Protesters hold placards expressing their opinion during the demonstration. Uyghurs and UK Muslim organizations gathered opposite the Chinese embassy in London to protest against the Chinese government's involvement in ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities.

© (Photo by Thomas Krych/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

On Aug. 30, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) released a report on the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China.

The UN report stated that China‘s detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the region “may constitute crimes against humanity,” the Associated Press reported. In addition, the report calls for an urgent international response over allegations of torture and other rights violations in Beijing’s discriminatory action.

Read more:

China furious over UN report on Xinjiang. What’s going on?

All of that should serve as a push for Canada to block Chinese products made using Uyghur forced labour said one leader with the Canada-based Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP).

“Because at the end, as Canadians, we end up paying and subsidizing the ongoing genocide indirectly,” said Kayum Masimov, project manager for the project.

“So, unless we have the pockets of the perpetrators, this genocide won’t stop you if you go into any shops in Canada and buy groceries made in China with a very suspicious origin.”

The United Nations report did not call the Chinese treatment of Uyghurs “genocide,” which carries a specific legal definition in international forums — though parliamentarians in countries like Canada have acknowledged it as one.

Masimov said calling it such “could be a good step in a good direction.”

“We have to name the crime by its name,” he said.

Video: China furious over UN report accusing it of “crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang

Although Canada’s House of Commons recognized that genocide is taking place in Xinjiang, many Uyghur advocates said it is concerning that the Canadian government “has not officially recognized it yet.”

In February 2021, the Canadian House of Commons passed a motion calling China’s treatment of Uyghurs “genocide,” with 266 votes to zero while the Liberal cabinet abstained from voting.

Masimov said in the past, the Liberal Party’s argument was that the world “genocide is very heavy and we don't use it lightly.”

“Now, there is a UN report which alleged crimes against humanity might have taken place. So, I'm wondering what other proof Trudeau needs to go ahead and recognize this is a genocide,” he said.

Read more:

Canadian posts on UN Xinjiang report censored on Chinese social media: embassy

Shortly after the UN report was published, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly issued a statement on Sept 1., saying that Canada has repeatedly expressed concern “with the ongoing gross and systemic human rights violations occurring in Xinjiang affecting Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities.”

Joly said Canada urges the Chinese government “to uphold its international human rights obligations and respond to the concerns and recommendations raised in the High Commissioner’s report.”

She said Canada will continue to collaborate with its international partners to hold the Chinese government accountable.

Video: Hostage Diplomacy: The forgotten Canadian imprisoned in China

On Sept. 2, Canada tweeted that the country’s embassy in Beijing said its posts about a United Nations report on human rights in Xinjiang were taken down from two Chinese social media platforms.

In June, Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi submitted a motion calling for Canada to resettle 10,000 Uyghurs across the globe. Debate on the motion will begin in October.

Masimov said even though it is impossible to rescue Uyghurs directly from concentration camps in China, there are Uyghurs who have fled to neighbouring countries.

“We have people in Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey,” said Masimov. “These people are stateless, and they might be deported to China because these governments cooperate with China because they depend on Chinese money very much.”

Raziya Mahmut, who is a scientist and an activist with the International Support for Uyghurs, said Canada should stop funding Chinese companies that are linked to the allegations of crimes against humanity.

She said Canada should also facilitate the immigration process of the Uyghurs coming to settle in Canada, and make it easier for those seeking to come to do so.

“For example, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is asking Uyghurs to provide police checks from China, which is just impossible for them to obtain,” she wrote.

She added that Canada doesn’t easily issue visas to Uyghurs with a Chinese passport. She also urges IRCC to expand the family reunification or family sponsorship eligibility for Uyghurs.

Read more:

Document reveals China’s attempt to stop UN rights chief from releasing Xinjiang report

Mahmut said countries should also work together to build a program to find missing Uyghur family members in China.

At the same time, China remains Canada’s second-largest trading partner.

Mahmut said Canada is “too dependent on China in manufacturing, which impacts us negatively when they cut off the supply chain for their own agenda.”

“Canadians need to recognize China’s deeply regressive governing ideology and act accordingly,” she said.

URAP’s policy and advocacy Director Miri Teich said China “weaponizes the issues of trade and climate change” to ensure countries like Canada continue to be partners with them.

Teich said Canada needs to evaluate its trade with China more critically going forward.

“There are areas where we think it benefits Canada to continue to cooperate with China when in reality it doesn't,” said Teich.

Major telecoms agree to emergency outage deal: Minister Champagne


VANCOUVER — Canada's major telecom companies have reached a formal agreement to "ensure and guarantee" emergency roaming and other mutual assistance in the case of a major outage.



"Going forward, should one of these providers be faced with a major network outage, the other companies have committed to provide the support and assistance necessary so that Canadians can reach loved ones, access 911, and conduct business transactions," François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, said to reporters during a cabinet retreat In Vancouver Tuesday.

"As part of this agreement, the companies also commit to providing clear and timely communications to keep Canadians and appropriate authorities informed about response and restoration during major network outages."

The deal comes after a massive Rogers Communications Inc. service disruption on July 8 that affected millions of Canadians.

In the days after the outage, Champagne directed the CEOs of Rogers and other telecom companies to develop a backup plan to prevent a similar scenario, giving them 60 days to do so.

Rogers was unable to transfer customers to competing carriers during the unprecedented service outage, despite offers of assistance from Bell and Telus.

It was also unable to shut down its radio access network, which would have automatically connected customers to another carrier for 911 calls.

And in a letter requested by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in August, Rogers said it does not have the necessary data to determine the exact economic losses caused by the outage.

Many businesses were impacted due to the disruption.

Champagne noted that the agreement is only a first step in his network resiliency agenda, which involves strengthening accountability and preparedness.

He also said additional steps were being taken, including directing the Canadian Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (CSTAC) to come up with further measures within six months to ensure robust and reliable telecom networks across the country.

"We're not going to rest. Trust me. We're going to hold them accountable and take any measures we can to strengthen resiliency," he said to reporters.

Champagne also reiterated that the outage will be on the back of his mind as he considers and reviews Rogers' $26-billion proposed takeover of Shaw Communications Inc.

When asked if he would use his powers to step in as Rogers navigates the Competition Bureau's concerns about the deal and to prevent the whole process from dragging on, he indicated he would not.

"My job is to protect the interest of Canadians and when it's my turn, certainly, we'll make that clear," he said to reporters.

One telecom industry analyst recently predicted the process going in to mid-2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2022.

U.K. PM Liz Truss's B.C. school days — pink jumper, big fringe and a sense of humour


VANCOUVER — Brenda Montagano, a teacher at Parkcrest Elementary School in Burnaby, B.C., had a special item for show-and-tell on Tuesday — her own class photo from the same school 34 years ago, with new British Prime Minister Liz Truss in the second row.



Truss, who attended Grade 7 at Parkcrest in 1987-88, is remembered by Montagano as a bright and funny student with a "cool British accent."

"I would sometimes sit with her in the hallway doing work and she had this witty sense of humour,” said Montagano.

"You know, she would tell a joke and then have a little bit of a half-smile after she told the joke."

Montagano, who teaches Grades 5 and 6 at Parkcrest, had her pupils guess which classmate in the photo was Truss.

Truss had shared the same photo on Instagram and Twitter to mark Canada Day in 2018.

"30 years ago, I spent a year in Canada that changed my outlook on life," wrote Truss, who included the hashtags "CanadaDay," "maplespirit" and "pioneercountry."

Asked to identify herself, Truss had said: "Pink jumper. Big fringe."

Montagano — flipped collar, red hair — said it was "a bit surreal" to hear of her former classmate's new job.

On Monday, Truss, 47, succeeded Boris Johnson as the Conservative leader and became the U.K.'s third female prime minister.

Truss lived in Canada when her mathematician father taught at Simon Fraser University.

Montagano, a teacher for almost 25 years, recalled that Truss was also interested in mathematics and "settled in very quickly” during her brief time at Parkcrest, “no small feat” for a little girl from a different country.


“Sometimes it takes a while for kids to settle in and make friends .… She was only here for a year, but everybody remembers her, that she fit in very quickly, made friends quickly and was part of the community,” said Montagano.

Montagano used Truss as the basis for a class activity on Tuesday in which she invited students to write down their goals and dreams for this semester and the future.

“We talked about how you never know where the person beside you is going to end up. And we also talked about how your actions and your words really carry forwards with people,” said Montagano.

Truss's former teacher at Parkcrest, Bill Chambers, who has been retired for 15 years, said he doesn’t recall any “vivid details” of what exactly happened in Truss’s class.

Chambers said he almost dropped his phone when a reporter called to ask if he remembered the would-be prime minister was in his class 35 years ago.

“I’ve had lots of kids in my career, and they are all successful in whatever they choose, but I think that this is the only prime minister I think I’ve ever taught,” laughed Chambers.

After Googling Truss’s journey and seeing her Instagram post with all his students’ faces, the memories came back for him, said Chambers.

“That was a really, really good year and we did all kinds of great stuff,” said Chambers.

Chambers, who had spent at least 35 years in education, said it’s nice to be recognized for the work he did, but this is another level of recognition for him.

Andrew Lee, principal of Parkcrest Elementary, said there was excitement in the hallways as news spread of the connection to Truss at the start of the school year.

"To know that a student who walked these same halls as them went on to become prime minister of Britain is inspiring to students," said Lee in a written statement.

"It’s something tangible to show that they, too, can dream big and succeed — no matter what their interests and aspirations. We are proud of all of our students and staff — both current and former — and it is very nice to hear that Ms. Truss remembers her time so fondly at our school."

Truss became prime minister after winning the Conservative leadership race, beating former treasury chief Rishi Sunak in a party vote.

Truss has vowed to press ahead with the tax cuts and action to tackle Britain's energy crisis and heavily burdened health service.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 7, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Nono Shen, The Canadian Press