FUNERAL TOONIE
New $2 coin honouring life of Queen Elizabeth goes into circulation this month

Story by CBC/Radio-Canada • 

The Royal Canadian Mint has released a new $2 coin to mark the passing of Canada's recently deceased head of state, Queen Elizabeth.


Five million of the coins shown above, commemorating the life of Queen Elizabeth, will go into circulation in Canada this month.© Royal Canadian Mint

The coin, which the mint unveiled on Wednesday, will be similar to the existing toonie coins, with the familiar polar bear design in the middle and an image of the Queen on the obverse side, but instead of the silver exterior around a gold circle in the middle, the exterior will be black nickel.


"Like a mourning band, the black outer ring surrounds the polar bear design at the centre of the coin's reverse," the mint said.

The Queen died in September after more than seven decades on the throne. Nearly five million of the coins will go into circulation this month and will begin appearing gradually as banks restock their $2 coin inventories.

"Queen Elizabeth II served as Canada's head of state for seven decades and for millions of Canadians, she was the only monarch they had ever known," said Marie Lemay, president and CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint. "Our special $2 circulation coin offers Canadians a way to remember her."

The mint is also hosting public coin exchanges at its Ottawa and Winnipeg boutiques on Wednesday and Thursday.

SNAFU

Visa issues exclude Indigenous voices from COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal

OTTAWA — The COP15 conference on biodiversity loss is underway in Montreal, but hundreds of delegates from developing countries are missing out due to visa issues.


Visa issues exclude Indigenous voices from COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal© Provided by The Canadian Press

This past summer, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada caused an uproar when it denied visas for multiple African delegates for the International AIDS Conference, also held in Montreal.

The department said it had procedures in place to make sure this month's UN summit goes smoothly, such as issuing special codes for delegates to get fast-tracked visas

Related video: Expert hopes nations will seize opportunity for biodiversity
Duration 1:21
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But environmental organizations say people in developing countries are telling them they have been denied, or their applications are still being processed as the conference gets underway.

They say the problems are particularly affecting Indigenous people in countries ranging from Pakistan and Peru to Indonesia.

Advocates say that leaves out the voices of people who are most impacted by the ongoing destruction of ecosystems.

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

The Canadian Press

Federal government awarded RCMP contract to firm with ties to China

Story by Marc Godbout, Richard Raycraft 

 
The federal government awarded a contract to provide and maintain RCMP communications equipment to a company with ties to the Chinese government, Radio-Canada has learned.

The contract has security experts raising concerns about potential Chinese access to RCMP communications and data.

On October 6, 2021, the federal government awarded Sinclair Technologies a contract worth $549,637 for a radio frequency (RF) filtering system. One of the system's purposes is to protect the RCMP's land-based radio communications from eavesdropping.

While Sinclair Technologies is based in Ontario, the company has been controlled by Hytera Communications of Shenzen, China since 2017, when Hytera purchased Norsat International, Sinclair's parent company.

The Chinese government owns approximately 10 per cent of Hytera Communications through an investment fund.

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) blacklisted Hytera in 2021. The FCC says the company is one of several Chinese firms that pose "an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons."

Sales and imports of Hytera equipment are banned in the United States as a result.

Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei also appears on the list. Canada banned Huawei from its 5G network this year.

Hytera Communications is facing 21 charges in an American espionage case. The United States Department of Justice has accused the company of conspiring to steal trade secrets from American telecommunications company Motorola.

The indictment alleges Hytera recruited and hired Motorola employees to obtain confidential business information between 2007 and 2020. Hytera Communications has denied all the charges in the indictment.

Sinclair Technologies' main competitor for the RCMP contract was Comprod, a Quebec-based communications technology firm.

Jawad Abdulnour, Comprod's vice-president of R&D and engineering, said Sinclair Technologies can make equipment cheaper than it did before because some of its components are now made in China, not Canada.

"It's very frustrating, disappointing and worrisome," Abdulnour said in an interview.

"How is it that a government agency just goes with the lowest bidder and will give contracts to companies like that when we're talking about national security?"


A sign outside the Sinclair Technologies office in Aurora, Ont. Since 2017, the company has been controlled by the Chinese telecommunications firm Hytera, which is partly owned by the Chinese government.© Marc Godbout/Radio-Canada

Radio-Canada has confirmed — through several sources with knowledge of the process who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter — that the difference between the Sinclair and Comprod bids was less than $60,000.

An RCMP spokesperson told Radio-Canada in a media statement that installation work on the systems has started in Ontario and Saskatchewan.

"Most of the time, the RCMP radio support teams carry out the installation themselves," said Cpl. Kim Chamberland in an email.

But the contract's call for tenders requires that the contractor provide maintenance and technical support services after the system is installed.

Chamberland told Radio-Canada that the RCMP is confident the system will remain secure.

"All information, including radio frequencies, is shared securely and only with those with the appropriate level of security," she wrote.

"All contractors who have access to RCMP networks and locations must obtain a security clearance according to the work to be performed."

A spokesperson for Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC), the department that awarded the contract, said in response to Radio-Canada's questions that PSPC did not take security concerns and Sinclair's ownership into consideration during the bidding process.

Sinclair Technologies declined to answer Radio-Canada's questions about whether its equipment contains components made in China, and whether Hytera can access RCMP radio frequencies.

"Due to customer confidentiality, we are unable to provide comment and we respectfully decline your interview invitation," Wee Er, executive general manager of Sinclair Technologies, said in an email.

Experts concerned about security

Conor Healy is a Canadian now based in Washington who serves as director of government research at IPVM, a security and surveillance research group. He said he's concerned about giving a Hytera-owned company access to sensitive RCMP communications.

"If I worked for an intelligence agency, this is exactly the kind of system I'd want to have access to," Healy said.

Healy said the risks include eavesdropping, collection of communications data and jamming or shutting down the radio communications system.

University of Ottawa senior fellow Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, a former senior federal official and a specialist on China's science and technology, said the government should terminate the contract.

"You have to be naïve," McCuaig-Johnston said. "It's like giving the key to Canada's security to Chinese actors.

"It's not just about getting rid of the contract. It's also a matter of ripping out what has already been installed."

The October 2021 decision by the federal government makes Sinclair a preferred vendor for a three-year term. The agreement includes the possibility of a two-year extension option.

BC
Arresting library exhibition pays homage to Sḵwx̱wú7mesh / Squamish culture

Yesterday 

Nestled within the North Vancouver City Library, found among the rows upon rows of crisp books, lies a new exhibition that is at once humble and vivid in its showcasing of Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) culture.

The exhibit, put together in conjunction with the Museum of North Vancouver and running until Dec. 6, comprises a small collection of handcrafted Squamish regalia that have been handmade by Janine Salsi’miya Gonzales, spanning clothing, accessories and musical instruments.

“One thing the library has really tried to do in the last several years is honour the people whose land we’re on, and to make that a bit more visible with the kind of programming and work that the library does,” said Abigail Saxton, spokeswoman for North Vancouver City Library

“This is a great learning opportunity, to understand that this isn’t culture that happened several hundreds or thousands of years ago – this is alive and it is still fascinating, and we really are honoured to celebrate that.”

For years artist Gonzales has been working alongside the library on various projects and endeavours, but it wasn’t until they came together as part of the Semá7maka family – a small gathering of people who navigate the Squamish Nation’s canoe, Semá7maka – that the idea came about for an exhibit.

“Part of Janine’s role in the canoe family is making regalia for other members of the family,” said Saxton.

“We got talking about it one day, and she mentioned how she started doing regalia back in the '90s. When she showed me some of the pieces, I thought they were so beautiful and amazing that I immediately thought we had to find a way to display them at the library.”

Gonzales, who is hard of hearing, studied her craft later in life through a disability program at Capilano University. As a recovering alcoholic and survivor of the residential school system, the classes and the chance to immerse herself in creation provided a way to reconnect with her culture and heal from past trauma.

“It taught me to heal myself from the inside out. It gave me back my strength, my confidence, and my self-esteem to live life the best I can, one day at a time,” she said.

Gonzales said many people all over the world “have creative gifts and talents and potential,” and anyone can do anything once they set their mind to it, “in a very positive way.”

The display comprises many of Gonzales’ favourite pieces: the regalia, with crest designs made from felt, was one of the first she ever made, and the graduation hat presents a symbol of her Squamish Nation.

A hand-woven vest is adorned with a bear and a wolf, each representing family clans, and an eagle, which represents the “spirit which carries our prayers to the oneness,” she said. Sitting alongside them is a stole emblazoned with the symbol of BCANDS, the program that provides disability-related support to Indigenous communities, drums and rattles crafted from deer hide, and a medicine bag used to carry precious stones and tobacco.

“What our community can learn from this exhibit is how we, as First Nations people, were taught to do everything by hand,” said Gonzales.

“It is the oldest teachings from our culture, that teaches us to have patience, compassion, understanding and learning.”

Mina Kerr-Lazenby is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

MKerrLazenby@nsnews.comtwitter.com/MinaKerrLazenby

Mina Kerr-Lazenby, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Shore News

ABOLISH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Bipartisan Electoral College reform, aimed to prevent another Jan. 6, passes U.S. House, splits Wisconsin reps by party

VESTIGIAL REMAINS OF SLAVEHOLDER RIGHTS

Story by The Badger Project • Yesterday 

Rep. Gallagher votes no with the rest of state Republicans, but signals openness to supporting the bill should the House vote on it again.


The U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C. Photo by David Maiolo from Wikimedia Commons.© Provided by The Badger Project
By Peter Cameron, THE BADGER PROJECT

By a vote of 229-203, the U.S. House approved a measure last week which would simplify and clarify the Electoral College Act of 1887, and proponents say would prevent another Jan. 6 from occurring.

The Presidential Election Reform Act would modernize the outdated Electoral Count Act to ensure that electoral votes tallied by Congress accurately reflect each state’s public vote for president, reads a one-page explainer released by Maine Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who is shepherding the bill with Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

“It would replace ambiguous provisions of the 19th-century law with clear procedures that maintain appropriate state and federal roles in selecting the President and Vice President of the United States as set forth in the U.S. Constitution,” the document says.

The lack of clarity in the law was what experts say former President Donald Trump tried to exploit when he asked Vice President Mike Pence and Congress to reject President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.


U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Allouez)

© Provided by The Badger Project

in the House vote last week, all three Democratic representatives from Wisconsin voted yes, while all five Republican representatives voted no.

Though he voted no, one Wisconsin Republican, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Allouez), suggested an openness to supporting the bill in the future, should the House get another chance at voting for it. He accused the bill of being “hastily rushed to the floor,” in a press release.

“We have an opportunity to finally clarify Congress’ role in certifying a presidential election. We shouldn’t waste it,” he said in the press release. “In the months ahead, the House and Senate must continue working together to build on the Senate framework and arrive at a final solution that will finally end the unconstitutional idea that Congress can overturn a presidential election.”

Only nine Republican representatives voted in favor of the measure, all of whom are either not seeking reelection or were defeated in a primary, including Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Nearly all of those voted to impeach President Donald Trump the second time, after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Every Democrat voted in favor of the bill.

In the Senate, the bill appears to have the support of all 50 Democrats as well as the 10 Republicans needed to break the filibuster, said UW-Madison political science professor David Canon.

In a show of the bill’s strength in the Senate, it easily passed a vote in the Senate Rules Committee Tuesday, with all Democrats and all but one Republican voting in favor. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel voted to support the bill in the committee vote, while Ted Cruz was the lone no vote.

Canon said the bill will pass eventually, the only remaining question being if the Senate will adopt the House version and send it to the president’s desk for signing, or require further changes, which would require a conference committee between the two bodies to reach a compromise on the final bill.

The Badger Project is a nonpartisan, citizen-supported journalism nonprofit in Wisconsin.

Apple is sued by women who say AirTag lets stalkers track victims

Story by By Jonathan Stempel • Yesterday 


FILE PHOTO: The Apple Inc. logo is seen hanging at the entrance to the Apple store on 5th Avenue in New York, U.S.© Thomson Reuters

(Reuters) - Apple Inc has been sued by two women who said its AirTag devices have made it easier for their former partners and other stalkers to track down victims.

In a proposed class action filed on Monday in San Francisco federal court, the women said Apple has been unable to protect people from unwanted trafficking through AirTag since launching what it called the "stalker proof" device in April 2021.

Starting at $29, AirTags are 1-1/4 inches (3.2 cm) in diameter, and intended to be slipped into or attached to keys, wallets, backpacks and other items so people can find them when they are lost.

But privacy experts and law enforcement have said some people use Airtags for criminal or malicious purposes.

The plaintiffs called AirTag "the weapon of choice of stalkers and abusers," and said it has been linked to murders this year of women from Akron, Ohio and Indianapolis.


Monday's lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for U.S. owners of iOS or Android-based devices who were tracked by AirTag or are "at risk" of being stalked because of Apple's alleged negligence.


Apple did not immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment.

The Cupertino, California-based company has acknowledged that "bad actors" have tried misusing Airtags.

In February, Apple announced planned upgrades to make it easier to find the devices, and warn users faster that unknown AirTags might be "traveling with them."

One plaintiff in Monday's lawsuit, Lauren Hughes, said her former boyfriend learned where she had moved to avoid him after placing an AirTag in her car's wheel well.

She said he later posted a photo online of a taco truck from her new neighborhood, and included a winking emoji with the hashtag "#airt2.0."

The other plaintiff, Jane Doe, said her estranged husband tracked her after putting an AirTag in their child's backpack.

The case is Hughes et al v. Apple Inc, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, No. 22-07668.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

French environmentalists file complaint against Apple for wasteful practices

PARIS (Reuters) -A French environmental campaign group filed a complaint against Apple Inc. over commercial practices restricting the use of spare parts for repairs, it said on Wednesday.


Apple logo at an Apple store in Paris

© Thomson Reuters

"In many of the cases documented in the complaint, malfunctions are found in cases where the device is repaired with a part, even an identical and original part, not authorised by Apple's software," the HOP association said in a statement.

This would compromise the possibilities to repair or refurbish some products, including iPhone smartphones, the group said.

Related video: It'll take years for Apple to diversify its production supply chain, says research firm
Duration 3:25
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Apple France was not immediately available to comment.

In a similar case brought before the French consumer watchdog by the group in 2020, Apple agreed to pay 25 million euros ($26.32 million) for failing to inform iPhone users that updates of the operating system could slow down the functioning of the device.

Under French law, it is forbidden to deliberately reduce the lifespan of a product in order to increase its replacement rate.

($1 = 0.9500 euros)

(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel, Editng by Dominique Vidalon, Kirsten Donovan)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

French watchdog orders Amazon to pay $3.5 million in penalties

PARIS (Reuters) - A French watchdog has ordered U.S. e-commerce giant Amazon.com to pay 3.3 million euros ($3.5 million) in penalties for failing to modify contractual provisions related to third-party sellers by the deadline it set, the watchdog said on Wednesday.


: A logo of Amazon is seen on a company's logistics centre

© Thomson Reuters

France's DGCCRF consumer fraud watchdog said in a statement Amazon had been ordered to make the changes, aimed at correcting imbalances in contractual terms between Amazon's online marketplace and third-party sellers, by March 22.

Amazon had complied with DGCCRF's orders a month later, on April 28, the watchdog said, which led to penalties equivalent to 90,000 euros per day of delay.

The DGCCRF's orders followed an investigation by the agency, placed under the authority of France's finance ministry, and led to the conclusion that Amazon didn't abide by the so called "platform-to-business" rules adopted by the European Union in 2019.

Amazon said it would appeal against DGCCRF's penalties.

"The DGCCRF has acknowledged that the changes we implemented in April are consistent with its injunction," Amazon said in a written statement.

"However, we continue to disagree with the DGCCRF on its findings, decisions and related penalty, and are challenging each of them in court."

($1 = 0.9527 euros)

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Washington DC sues Amazon over withheld delivery driver tips

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The District of Columbia attorney general's office on Wednesday sued Amazon.com Inc and its Amazon Logistics subsidiary alleging the biggest online retailer had withheld tips from delivery drivers.

Washington Attorney General Karl Racine said the company "tricked consumers into thinking they were increasing drivers' compensation when Amazon was actually diverting tips to reduce its own labor costs and increase profits" through its Amazon Flex service.

Amazon Flex drivers use their own vehicles to deliver goods and groceries ordered through programs like Prime Now and Amazon Fresh. The FTC alleged the company kept drivers' tips over a 2-1/2 year period and stopped the practice after learning of the FTC investigation in 2019, the FTC said in 2021.

Related video: Meet the Amazon warehouse workers paying the price for fast, free shipping   Duration 10:12   View on Watch

Amazon ordered to stop retaliation against employee organizers

The lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, seeks civil penalties for every violation and a court order to bar Amazon from re-engaging in the practice.

Last year under a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, Amazon paid $61.7 million to more than 140,000 drivers.

Amazon has "thus far escaped appropriate accountability, including any civil penalties, for consumer harm," Racine said in a statement.

"When a company is caught stealing from its workers, it is not enough for the company to repay the amount stolen. Stealing from workers is theft, and significant penalties are necessary to strongly disincentivize this unlawful conduct."

Amazon did not immediately provide a comment.

In 2021 the company disagreed that the way it reported pay to drivers was unclear. "We added additional clarity in 2019 and are pleased to put this matter behind us," an Amazon spokeswoman said at the time.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Richard Chang)

+4 MAKE SCOTUS A COVEN OF THE LEFT

The Frightening Implications of Gorsuch’s Angry Questions About State “Reeducation”

Story by Mark Joseph Stern • Yesterday

During oral arguments in 303 Creative v. Elenis at the Supreme Court on Monday, Justice Neil Gorsuch cornered Colorado Solicitor General Eric Olson with an unforeseeable question. After noting that a state “can’t change” someone’s “religious beliefs,” Gorsuch brought up Jack Phillips, a Christian baker who was sanctioned for discriminating against same-sex couples.


Justice Neil Gorsuch Olivier Douliery/Getty Images© Provided by Slate

“Mr. Phillips did go through a reeducation training program pursuant to Colorado law, did he not, Mr. Olson?” Gorsuch asked. Olson began to reply, but the justice cut him off, pressing him again: “It was a reeducation program, right?”

“It was not a reeducation program,” Olson said. Gorsuch asked him what he called it. Olson told him: “It was a process to make sure he was familiar with Colorado law.”

“Someone might be excused for calling that a reeducation program,” Gorsuch retorted. Olson stood his ground, responding: “I strongly disagree.”

In the moment, this exchange came out of nowhere: The justice was harking back to Masterpiece Cakeshop, a 2018 case in which the Supreme Court sided with Phillips (albeit narrowly). And it really wasn’t fair for Gorsuch to ambush Olson with a hostile left-field question about a previous case in which he wasn’t involved. But this grievance is not a new one. The justice has previously signaled his belief that mandatory training for businesses that engage in unlawful discrimination violates the First Amendment. It seems this conviction has only grown stronger. What’s most notable is that today, there may be four or five other justices who agree with him.

To hear Gorsuch tell it, Colorado put Jack Phillips through Soviet-style brainwashing, forcing him to abandon his deeply held beliefs at pain of punishment and embrace the state’s orthodoxy. (He appears to have lifted the “reeducation” language from a brief by Alliance Defending Freedom, the far-right organization representing the discriminatory business in 303 Creative.) The truth is far more banal. For about as long as the law has restricted employment discrimination, it has also provided various tools to ensure compliance with those rules. Among other things, civil rights laws often require employers to inform their workers about what conduct, exactly, crosses the line into illegal discrimination.

Consider, for instance, a department store in which employees rush to help white customers while blatantly ignoring Black customers. A state might order the store to train its employees in the importance of serving all customers equally, regardless of race. Or imagine a hotel whose receptionists falsely claim they have no vacancies when Muslims try to book a room. A state might order the hotel to train receptionists not to turn away customers because of religion. If the discrimination is especially blatant or severe, a state might order employers to provide periodic updates about these corrective measures.

And that’s pretty much what the Colorado Civil Rights Commission did after it found Phillips in violation of the state’s nondiscrimination law. As the Supreme Court itself explained in Masterpiece Cakeshop, the commission told Phillips to “cease and desist from discriminating against” same-sex couples. It ordered “comprehensive staff training” in Colorado’s civil rights law and told Phillips to update company policies “to comply with” its order. The commission also directed Phillips to file “quarterly compliance reports” for two years documenting “the number of patrons denied service,” the reasons why, and the business’ response.

This mandate perturbed Gorsuch so greatly that he brought it up during oral arguments with Olson’s predecessor, Colorado Solicitor General Frederick Yarger. “As I understand it, Colorado ordered Mr. Phillips to provide comprehensive training to his staff—and it didn’t order him to attend a class of the government’s own creation or anything like that, but to provide comprehensive staff training,” Gorsuch said. “Why isn’t that compelled speech and possibly in violation of his free-exercise rights? Because presumably he has to tell his staff, including his family members, that his Christian beliefs are discriminatory.”

When Yarger responded that “a training requirement is a common remedy that is used in many civil rights cases,” the justice was not placated. “But this isn’t attending your training, Mr. Yarger,” he said. “This order was ordering him to provide training and presumably compelling him to speak, therefore, and to speak in ways that maybe offend his religion and certainly compel him to speak.”

Gorsuch’s comment reflected a misunderstanding of how civil rights law actually works. The justice appears to believe that states force discriminatory employers to attend “a class of the government’s own creation.” Perhaps he envisions some kind of community college–type course (How to Interact With Gays for Beginners). In reality, though, states frequently outsource compliance training to private businesses; indeed, many law firms specialize in helping companies develop nondiscrimination training to stave off future lawsuits. Gorsuch seems to believe that when the state orders an employer to conduct this kind of training, it has violated the First Amendment.

The consequences of this theory would be vast and severe. As I wrote in 2018, a hotel supervisor who thinks interracial relationships are sinful could refuse to tell employees to let mixed-race couples book rooms. A restaurant manager with spiritual objections to interfaith marriage could decline to train employees in their duty to serve customers without regard to religion. Gorsuch’s theory would extend beyond public accommodations into the realm of employment. Right now, a supervisor can be held liable when they do not stop employees from discriminating. Under Gorsuch’s theory, supervisors could refuse to educate their workers about illegal discriminatory behaviors by claiming that such instruction would violate their beliefs. Imagine, for example, a manager who says he holds the religious view that women belong in the home. He could claim a First Amendment right not to tell workers they must treat their female colleagues equally, citing his faith-based convictions about women’s inferiority.

In truth, a vast amount of unlawful discrimination involves speech. Workplace harassment is speech. Passing over a qualified Black employee for promotion is speech. Firing a worker for becoming pregnant is speech. Giving a student an F because she’s Muslim is speech. Which is why an absolutist interpretation of the First Amendment would destroy broad swathes of modern civil rights law.

It might seem strange that Gorsuch would wish to be the author of this destruction. After all, he wrote the landmark decision in Bostock v. Clayton County recognizing that federal law bars employment discrimination against LGBTQ people. But the justice has a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde quality: His occasional progressive rulings are countered and undermined by his extremism on issues like religion. And now, unlike in 2018, there is a real chance that a majority of the court shares his belief that nondiscrimination training requirements amount to an unconstitutional “reeducation program.” The court can wreak a lot of havoc with 303 Creative, most obviously by freeing companies to turn away customers on the basis of their identity. As Gorsuch’s angry tangent indicated, however, the conservative bloc has even more options at its disposal—including an assault on the remedies necessary to make civil rights laws more than an empty promise.

B.C. court rules forestry company must pay $343,000 cost of 2016 wildfire suppression

Yesterday


VANCOUVER — A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has upheld more than $343,000 in cost-recovery fines that were handed to a forestry company for starting a wildfire in 2016.


B.C. court rules forestry company must pay $343,000 cost of 2016 wildfire suppression© Provided by The Canadian Press

A decision posted Monday says the wildfire near Nazko, in central B.C., burned about four square kilometres after escaping from a debris pile that a contractor set on fire at a Tolko Industries cut block.

The court heard that four so-called holdover fires were reported by Tolko to the BC Wildfire Service for starting active fires in the spring of 2016.

The fires burned under the snow-covered ground for periods ranging from six weeks to five months after they were thought to have been put out, but the wildfire near Nazko was the only one that escaped the cut block.

Tolko initially won an appeal through the Forest Appeals Commission, which overturned the pay order saying the company was exempt under the Wildfire Regulation because it didn't intend to start the fire and it found the blaze was a result of forestry activity.

However, Supreme Court Justice Michael Brundrett says in his decision that the commission made a mistake when it interpreted "fire" to mean "wildfire," separating the intentional act of starting the burn pile from the wildfire that resulted from it.

"The language does not require the person to intend to start a wildfire that accidentally spreads from a wilfully lit controlled fire," he says in his decision.

"If one were to limit the cost recovery scheme to wilfully caused wildfires only (e.g., cases of arson), and to exclude roadside debris pile fires deliberately lit by industry participants that accidentally result in wildfires, the resulting cost recovery scheme would be so marginal in scope as to have almost no practical application."

The Supreme Court decision says in general, timber harvesting results in a significant amount of debris piled along forest roads for subsequent disposal by burning, usually in winter.

Occasionally, it says "holdover fires" occur when debris piles continue to smoulder underground after a debris pile fire appears to be put out.

Tolko burned about 65,000 debris piles in the 2015-16 harvesting season, the documents say.

Tolko was initially handed a $15,000 administrative penalty plus a cost recovery order that included more than $343,000 in firefighting costs under the Wildfire Act, before challenging the cost recovery portion.

However, Brundrett says the cost recovery scheme does not give a free pass to those engaged in debris pile burning who accidentally start wildfires.

"In fact, the scheme appears designed to ensure the opposite."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 6, 2022.

The Canadian Press