Venezuela frees former spy chief who defied Nicolás Maduro

Sat, January 21, 2023

MIAMI (AP) — Venezuela's government has released a former spy chief for the late president, Hugo Chávez, and who spent nearly five years in prison for spearheading a movement of disgruntled loyalists that defied the rule of the leftist firebrand's handpicked succesor, Nicolás Maduro.

Miguel Rodríguez Torres departed his homeland on Saturday to live in exile in Spain, according to someone close to Rodríguez Torres who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the release hadn't yet been announced by the Maduro government. He was accompanied by former Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who had been working behind the scenes to secure Rodríguez Torres' freedom, according to the person.

Rodríguez Torres is a former army major general with deep ties inside Venezuela's military, which is the traditional arbiter of the country's political disputes. He cut his teeth as revolutionary stalwart by partaking in a failed 1992 coup led by Chávez, who was a tank commander at the time.

But he ran afoul of Maduro, by questioning the socialist leader's stubborn adherence to rigid foreign exchange controls blamed for soaring inflation and a cratering currency.

Never embraced by Maduro's traditionally conservative opponents, who despised him for leading a crackdown on anti-government protests in 2014 while serving as interior minister, Rodríguez Torres nonetheless galvanized a small if combative movement of onetime loyalists.

Maduro, who, unlike Chávez, never served in the military, immediately viewed him as a threat. In March 2018, he was hauled away by agents from the Bolivarian intelligence service he once commanded while delivering a speech at a hotel ballroom in which he called for free and fair elections.

Later, he was charged with multiple crimes, including treason and leading a barracks rebellion. But he never admitted his guilt and spent most of the past five years at a military prison in Caracas.

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Follow Goodman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APJoshGoodman

Joshua Goodman, The Associated Press

Public transit users concerned proposed TTC service cuts will increase safety risks


Sat, January 21, 2023 



TORONTO — Adrian Ruiz returned to his birthplace of Toronto five years ago after growing up in Mexico, but after an older woman was fatally assaulted near his home by a downtown subway station on Friday, he's considering moving.

"It's not the Toronto that I grew up in. I'm very worried about my wife and my kids walking at night, riding the TTC," he said.

"I hate driving, but now riding the TTC ... it's very, very dangerous. I think the city is going down the drain."

Other public transit users are speaking out against proposed Toronto Transit Commission service cuts that they say could further put riders' safety at risk at a time when violent incidents on subways and streetcars are on the rise.

The TTC recently proposed its 2023 operating budget with changes to address a $366 million budget shortfall, which includes a 10 cent fare hike and running 9 per cent less service this year compared to levels in place before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Subways will run at 6-minutes or better service levels and as low as 10-minute-or-better service levels in some cases, based on demand. The proposed budget says schedules and routes will be adjusted based on ridership demand at the busiest portions, directions and hours of service.

It also says streetcar service will be reduced to 87 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, bus service will run at 94 per cent and rapid transit service will fall to 75 per cent.

Shelagh Pizey-Allen is the executive director of TTCriders, an advocacy organization made up of volunteer transit users in Toronto which has been fighting the planned service cuts and fare hike. Riders waiting up to 10 minutes for a subway car could be "a recipe for less safety," she said.

"Safety is top of mind for some transit users right now, but less service makes use less safe because there's fewer people taking the TTC if they can't rely on it," said Pizey-Allen.

The TTC's 2023 operating budget and its proposed service cuts were being discussed among the city's budget committee amid a string of violent incidents on Toronto's public transit system in recent months.

Police said last week they were investigating after a group of up to 10 girls allegedly assaulted several people at five downtown subway stations randomly on Dec. 17 between 10 p.m. and midnight.

Last month, police laid several charges against a woman after six people were allegedly assaulted in a spree of random attacks on Dec. 19 on a streetcar, subway platforms and trains. Five were allegedly struck with a glass bottle.

Earlier in December, a woman was stabbed to death and another was wounded in a random attack on a subway train. Police have charged a man with first-degree murder and attempted murder.

And just this week, Toronto police said they were looking for a suspect after an alleged hate-motivated assault at a downtown subway station on Wednesday. Police alleged a man struck a person wearing a religious head covering. On Friday, police received reports that a man tried to push someone onto the tracks at a separate station downtown.

TTC spokesman Stuart Green said the transit agency's leadership is in ongoing meetings with Toronto Mayor John Tory, police and union representatives to discuss safety issues on transit.

"We also know that there are bigger societal and systemic issues at play when it comes to the root causes of these incidents that require a multi-pronged response," said Green.

"We welcome being part of a broader discussion with all community and government stakeholders about what can be done to improve safety and security on the TTC."

Part of the TTC's proposed operating budget includes hiring 50 new special constable positions "to increase safety and security," a $4.4 million investment Pizey-Allen said is ill-considered.

"Adding a few special constables is not only the wrong approach, it's going to harm Black and Indigenous transit users. They've been grossly misrepresented in enforcement interactions," she said.

"It will make some transit users less safe and it doesn't tackle the root causes of safety issues on public transit."

Speaking on behalf of TTCriders, Toronto Metropolitan University student and daily transit user August Pantitlán Puranauth told Toronto's budget committee this week they were scared by the prospect of waiting for transit for long time periods at night.

"If we had more service, that means it's a reduced chance of people being in situations where they feel uncomfortable," said Puranauth

They noted the service cuts are of particular concern for women on transit and echoed fears that Black and Indigenous riders would be targeted by fare policing and special constables.

"We need to be an inclusive city and a safe city, and that's a city where transit is not overpoliced."

Shauna Brail, an associate professor at the University of Toronto's Institute for Management and Innovation, says there is a lot of research that suggests more policing will not improve the underlying conditions that can lead to violence on transit.

"It looks like a stopgap measure, but it isn't what you need for long-term prosperity for communities and for individuals," said Brail.

"Investments in communities, in public services, in affordable housing and other kinds of investments are far better at addressing some of the challenges that we're seeing in terms of violence spilling over to transit.

Tory will present the TTC's operating budget by the beginning of February for consideration at a special city council meeting on Feb. 14.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2023.

———

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

Tyler Griffin, The Canadian Press

Newfoundland and Labrador to hold emergency debate about ongoing ambulance strike


Sat, January 21, 2023



ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey is calling for an emergency sitting of the legislature to address an ongoing ambulance strike.

Furey issued a news release today saying the strike poses serious concerns for the safety and well-being of patients in affected areas.

Furey says he's asked the appropriate officials to reconvene the legislature on Monday to discuss making legislative changes that would make private ambulance services essential.

About 120 workers with seven private ambulance services owned by Fewer's Ambulance Service walked off the job early Friday afternoon, seeking higher wages and a better pension plan.

Mayors in the Newfoundland communities of New-Wes-Valley and Bonavista say the strike is already affecting patients.

Michael Tiller in New-Wes-Valley said a patient waited about 20 more minutes Friday night for an ambulance, while John Norman in Bonavista said a patient with a "severe, acute" condition waited an extra 90 minutes on Friday for an ambulance transfer to a larger hospital.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2023.

The Canadian Press

Beadwork brings peace to college student

Sat, January 21, 2023 

https://tinyurl.com/3fe5rj4j

Meghan Akiwenzie has found peace and healing in beadwork.

The Northern College student, workshop teacher and artisan says she dismissed a lot of the good her craft could bring into her life when she was younger.

She first started beading in high school when she attended an Indigenous focused secondary school program.

“I saw it as just something to do,” says Akiwenzie. “I didn’t see the therapeutic value in it, I didn’t see the spiritual or emotional or mental necessity behind doing something like that.”

Since reconnecting with the art and her culture, she says the confidence beading has helped her unlock and the peace it brings her isn’t always obvious.

“I can sit with friends and just bead for hours, and we don’t have to say anything,” says Akiwenzie. “We’re relational beings, it’s very simple and I like that.”

Akiwenzie says she always had access to ceremonies but it was never present in her family or her day-to-day life.

“It wasn’t something we did often,” she says. “I had danced when I was little.”

While she was born and grew up in Sudbury, her family is a part of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation which is located around Sarnia.

Her reconnection with beading happened when she moved to Timmins and attended a workshop at the Timmins Museum: NEC.

“The lady who gave the workshop, I saw her in passing at a powwow and was able to tell her that I was able to start my own business,” says Akiwenzie.

The museum workshops were a step on her path, she says, and their influence on her brought her to the point she’s at now.

“A year later, after that workshop, I started teaching at the museum myself,” she says. “It was nice to see everything come full circle.”

When she moved to Timmins, she found a sense of community that helped her grow, including getting involved with Project Warrior, a fashion and style event through the Timmins Native Friendship Centre, with Tony Miller.

“We had met at school and we talked about his dream of modern fashion incorporated with Indigenous elements and bringing that to life,” she says. “It goes back to community and having a sense of community.”

That community gave Akiwenzie a push to expand what she was doing, and she opened commissions.

“Project Warrior really helped me find my style, and that was the push of confidence I needed to start doing one-of-a-kind pieces for people.”

She recognizes the effect generational trauma had on her life and her family, and she’s working to help herself and others heal from those experiences.

“I had family attend residential school, I think that’s a basic understanding of any Indigenous person you meet,” she says. “Either it’s the '60s Scoop, residential schools or just the experience with racism in general, and it was really painful for my family and because of that, they were doing the best with what they have.”

“It’s genocide. It’s colonialism,” she says. “When I began doing beadwork, I felt like an imposter because I didn’t feel like I was Indigenous enough, and it had a lot to do with my identity and the societal pressure of what it means to be Indigenous.”

Her hope to help those facing these issues has informed her education as well, as she is studying social service work at Northern College.

“I’m hoping to go on to Algoma University to do my personal support worker program,” she says. “The beauty of social service work is that you can make a commitment to the profession as a whole, but there are so many fields you can enter.”

Akiwenzie’s work continues as she gets set to teach another workshop with the Timmins museum in February on how to create beaded lanyards, as well as opening her commissions for unique beadwork pieces.

She says she never dreamed that something she started as a high school student would lead to her own business, and teaching others about the art form and the meanings behind it.

“Art is subjective, it’s for many different people.”

Akiwenzie stressed that her workshops are for everyone who is interested, as long as they are respectful of where and who the form came from, and of the importance of the materials that can be involved.

“A lot of people will come to me and say ‘well, I’m not Indigenous, can I bead?’ and there is a very clear difference between appropriating and creating,” she said. “The most important thing is to understand who they came from, to be mindful about the respect that has to come for those things.”

See Akiwenzie's creations on Facebook at Divine Noodiin Creations.

Amanda Rabski-McColl, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TimminsToday.com

$2.8-billion settlement reached in class-action lawsuit over residential schools

Sat, January 21, 2023 

A memorial outside the former Kamloops Indian Residential School in 2021. The federal government has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit over the loss of culture and language brought on by Indian residential schools for $2.8 billion. (Ben Nelms/CBC - image credit)

Officials announced Saturday that the federal government and 325 First Nations have agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit, seeking reparations for the loss of language and culture brought on by Indian residential schools, for $2.8 billion.

The agreement still has to be approved by a Federal Court before it can be disbursed to recipients, who filed the claim for collective compensation in 2012 as part of a broader class action known as the Gottfriedson case.

Canada agreed to pay the $2.8 billion of settlement money into a new trust fund that will operate for 20 years, if the court approves the deal. The fund will be run independent of the federal government, according to officials.

The fund organization will be governed by a board of nine Indigenous directors, of whom Canada will choose one, the agreement says.

"While settlements like those announced today ... do not make up for the past, what it can do is address the collective harm caused by Canada's past," said Marc Miller, the minister for Crown-Indigenous relations, at a Vancouver event Saturday morning. "The loss of language, the loss of culture and heritage."

Miller noted that this was the first time bands specifically were being compensated, with the funds set to support the four pillars of revival, protection, promotion and wellness of Indigenous languages and cultures.

Yasmin Gandham/CBC

Plaintiffs in the case, which was initially filed by the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc and shíshálh Nation in British Columbia, developed a disbursement plan for the funds, according to officials.

The Gottfriedson case is named after a former B.C. regional chief, Shane Gottfriedson, who filed it alongside shíshálh band councillor Garry Feschuk.

Ben Nelms/CBC

It initially consisted of the combined band reparations claim (known as the band class) and the residential school day scholars claim. Day scholars are survivors who were forced to attend the institutions during the day but went home at night, and were left out of the 2006 residential schools settlement.

The Trudeau government reached an out-of-court settlement with day scholars in June 2021, agreeing to pay cash compensation to survivors and their descendants, settling part of the Gottfriedson case.

But Canada initially refused to negotiate with the remaining band reparations plaintiffs. Their case was heading for trial until it was abruptly adjourned to pursue negotiations last fall.

As part of the agreement, the band class members agreed to "fully, finally and forever" release the Crown from claims that could conceivably arise from the collective harms residential schools inflicted on First Nations, as alleged in a previous court filing.

This legal release would not cover or include any claims that may arise over children who died or disappeared while being forced to attend residential school, the agreement says.

Yasmin Gandham/CBC

First Nations to decide how to use funds

Gottfriedson said on Saturday that the agreement couldn't make up for Canada's "policy of attacking our language and culture," but that Indigenous nations would now be able to lead their own cultural revival efforts with the funds.

"Garry and I decided with our councils that we would stand together for our own day scholars and also for all of the Indigenous people in Canada who live with Canada's racist legacy," he said.

More details of how funds will be disbursed are expected in the months to come. Under the agreement, there will be an initial payment of $200,000 to all 325 First Nations, which will allow them all to create a 10-year plan for how they want to revitalize their language and culture, under the four pillars.

David Horemans/CBC

Peter Grant, lawyer and class counsel for the plaintiffs, said that as that plan is brought forward, there will be an initial "kick-start fund" of $325 million.

"Although that looks like an equal amount ... there will be a base rate, and then there will be a rate based on population," Grant said.

"Some nations are remote, so the cost for them to implement is much higher ... that will be determined by the board, but that will be an additional to the $325 million."

Grant says that it is entirely up to the nations how they wish to spend the settlement money, including on projects like cultural centres or language teachers. They are expected to report back to the non-profit board regularly, but there are no strict requirements for how funds are used, according to Grant.

"There's been a lot of thought in these four pillars that I think gives us that that ability in our leadership, the ability to be dynamic and create ... what's important to us as Indigenous people," Gottfriedson said.

Officials and claimants will appear before a Federal Court judge in Vancouver on Feb. 27 to seek approval for the settlement.

Feds fund cultural awareness teacher, community-based services to tackle high rates of Inuit in justice system

Sat, January 21, 2023 

Ottawa is providing $1.16 million to help the Nunatsiavut government address the overrepresentation of Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador’s justice system.

The funding, announced by Justice Minister David Lametti on Thursday, will create an Inuit cultural awareness educator position, fund a family violence prevention program and provide money to expand access to needed community-based justice services.

Johannes Lampe, president of the Nunatsiavut government, says Labrador Inuit are targeted in the justice system, not just by police but as cases move through the courts.

Lawyers appointed by legal aid don’t understand the circumstances of Inuit in Labrador today, and there is no community-based help, he said. “It should not be that way.”

At a news conference announcing the funding, Lampe explained the history of Labrador Inuit and how trauma has contributed to their current disproportionate numbers in the criminal justice system. He points to residential schools, impoverished communities and the history of relocation in the 1950s when the province removed Inuit from their homeland to areas farther south, often without the homes they were promised.

“Some Inuit didn’t have any choice but to look for something to help them to live,” Lampe said.

Labrador Inuit hold solutions that can better their well-being, their health and their culture while speaking their own language, he added.

The Inuit cultural awareness educator role will be funded over four years and teach criminal justice professionals in the province about Inuit culture, history and social conditions.

Nearly half the funding will also be allocated to support Inuit-led engagement to inform the development of the federal government’s Indigenous Justice Strategy. Plans for the strategy were unveiled in 2021 but contained no established timeframe, according to reporting by CBC News.

Lori Idlout, MP for Nunavut and the NDP critic for Indigenous-Crown relations, says there have been enough studies and inquiries that the government should know what to do. It’s time for Ottawa to act on what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and others have recommended, Idlout said.

“What the government needs to do is take better stock on what these reports have said… What they need to do is act on those recommendations that have been made for years now,” she added.

Still, Lametti maintains his government is undertaking “a major shift,” pointing to partnerships with Indigenous nations and leadership.

Lampe spoke to the importance of self-determination at the news conference, pointing to laws passed in St. John’s that didn’t fit the Inuit way of life.

He invited federal and provincial justice ministers to “come and see the poverty that Inuit are living in today, and at times where you are so poor, you have to do what it takes to feed your family.”

Food insecurity and high prices are other examples squeezing the Inuit way of life, and many can’t even afford the equipment to hunt or get out onto the land to find peace, Lampe explained.

“If our communities are going to make life better for its residents, the Labrador Inuit have to be given that self-determination, that ownership, to run the affairs themselves.”

Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer / Local Journalism Initiative

Matteo Cimellaro, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

‘Significant increases’ in mental health hospitalizations for First Nations youth,

StatCan says

Sat, January 21, 2023 

First Nations youth were twice as likely to be hospitalized for mental health issues in 2011 as they were in 2006, according to a report published by Statistics Canada on Wednesday.

The study is the first to investigate changes in patterns of hospitalization among Indigenous children and youth over time in order to “more comprehensively report the health-care use of Indigenous populations,” the report said.

Though they were less likely to be hospitalized for injuries or other diseases, there were “significant increases” in mental health-related hospitalizations for nearly all youth groups over that time, including those on and off reserve, the report’s authors wrote.

“Follow-up into the future could evaluate these patterns for emerging trends,” the authors wrote.

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission called on the federal government to identify the gaps in health care between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, including long-term trends like hospitalizations. The government has reported disproportionate morbidity for children and youth, mortality and shortened life expectancy among Indigenous Peoples, but there is no information available on changes to the number of hospitalizations beyond the years examined in the current report, the authors explained.

Mental health hospitalizations were also “underestimated” in the report, with gaps in both Quebec and Ontario. Quebec’s hospital data is not available to Statistics Canada and not all youth mental health records were available in Ontario.

The report counted a jump of nearly 400 more mental health hospitalizations in 2011 compared to 2006, while physical ailments like respiratory and digestive system diseases dropped by roughly 150.

Overall, First Nations children on reserve were four times as likely to be hospitalized in 2011 compared to non-Indigenous children, while off-reserve youth were two and a half times as likely to face hospitalization, the report added.

The researchers of the report point to “disadvantaged social conditions” such as the history of residential schools, discrimination and greater physical distances to health services that Indigenous Peoples disproportionately experience.

There is also a complex relationship between Canadian governments and Indigenous Peoples’ access to care, the authors wrote. Reservations and Indigenous services fall under federal jurisdiction, health care is provincial, and hospitals are predominately a municipal responsibility. This means there can often be disputes and gaps in care for First Nations.

For example, Jordan River Anderson died without receiving the home care he needed because of a payment dispute between federal and provincial governments. His death spurred a government policy, Jordan’s Principle, that is intended to give First Nations youth access to care at all times, while avoiding the government disputes that create barriers to health care.

Mistrust is also a significant barrier for Indigenous Peoples, as well as cultural and language differences, the authors explained.

Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer / Local Journalism Initiative

Matteo Cimellaro, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

MY SUMMER VACATIONS WERE SPENT HERE

Price hike for Radium Hot Springs in southeast B.C. has residents steaming

Sat, January 21, 2023

Radium Hot Springs is pictured in fall. Most visitors come to the park during the summer months, with a drop-off during the fall. (Bram Rossman/Parks Canada - image credit)

A soak in the sun at Radium Hot Springs in B.C.'s Kootenay region has become much pricier since the year began.

The pools, part of the Canadian Rockies Hot Springs that include Banff and Miette, are a popular attraction run by Parks Canada.

It's not just for B.C. visitors, over 140,000 of whom were recorded from April 2022 to Jan. 19: it's also a community pool for locals of the east Kootenays, in the province's southeast.

Since Jan. 1, however, entry fees to the federally-run park went up, prompting complaints from residents. The cost of a single adult-entry ticket has doubled from $8 to $16.50, with an annual adult pass going up 47 per cent to $220.50.

Natasha Schorb says she's worried about having a safe, affordable place for her young children to learn how to swim.

"I understand that Parks Canada is not in the business of providing municipal pools," said Schorb, who lives in Invermere near Radium Hot Springs, during a protest with other locals against the fee hike on Saturday.

"But we don't have an alternative."

Radium Hot Springs fee increase on January 3, 2023

It's led some residents to pitch a cost-sharing arrangement between the local community and Parks Canada, so tax dollars can be used to subsidize the cost of entry at the Kootenay National Park, where the hot springs are located.

"Prices have doubled and people who live in remote areas like Invermere and Radium, we don't have rec centres," said Rob Morrison, the Conservative MP for Kootenay-Columbia.

"That's just putting it over the top for them to be able to take their families and be able to go and have some fun."

Greg Eymundson/insight-photography.com

Julian England, chief operating officer for the Canadian Rockies Hot Springs, says prices at the park have been frozen since 2004.

"[They] have not substantially increased over the past 18 years and during this time, operational costs have obviously increased significantly," he told CBC News.

"The fees are used to cover operating, maintenance and capital repair costs that are required to ensure the long-term operation of the Hot Springs for current and future generations to enjoy."

Fee hike unrelated to infrastructure upgrades: COO

Mike Gray, mayor of the Village of Radium Hot Springs, says community members love having the national park nearby to enjoy.

"We think we still offer a great package and the pools, even with the change in price, is still part of that incredible value package," he said.

"That impact is significant when you're looking to take your family out and keep them active. That's why we make sure we're trying to keep our other activities low in cost."

Parks Canada recently announced a $13-million investment to restore facilities at the park, include erosion protection "to safeguard nearby fish habitats," foundation improvements and hand rail improvements.

England says the fee hikes were not related to the infrastructure investments, adding the last time there were significant upgrades was in the 1990s.

Cost-sharing proposals

England adds the multi-entry passes offer the best value.

"The annual pass … is comparable in price to other community facilities, and that price did not increase as much as the overall entry fee," he said.

The official says operating pools was expensive, with community pools only recovering around 30 per cent of their costs through fees — the rest made up for through taxes.

He adds he would be "very happy" to have a conversation with local officials about a cost-sharing arrangement to subsidize fees for local users.

Olivia Robinson/Parks Canada

The local MP says doing so would help locals access the springs for a lower price.

"Maybe we can work with the regional districts and some of the smaller rural communities to lower the prices," Morrison said.

"Everybody can chip in [within] that area for locals to be able to have a lower price."

Meanwhile, the mayor says there is currently no mechanism to operate a cost-sharing system under the regional district model of park and facility governance.

"We're open to hearing anything they have to say and want to make sure it's something that's feasible for our community," Gray said.

ALBERTA'S SHORTEST PREMIERSHIP
Alberta premier orders review after CBC reports of emails over Coutts cases between her office, prosecution


Sat, January 21, 2023 

Premier Danielle Smith said Saturday she has ordered the independent public service to do a review of emails sent by her office. (Samuel Martin/CBC - image credit)

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she has called for a review that she says will examine emails between her office and Crown prosecutors.

Smith said Saturday — on Corus Entertainment's Your Province, Your Premier radio program — that she has ordered the independent public service to do a review of emails sent by her office, which will be conducted alongside the IT department.

CBC previously reported that a staffer in Smith's office sent a series of emails to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service, challenging prosecutors' assessment and direction on cases stemming from the Coutts border blockades and protests.

The emails were sent last fall, according to sources whom CBC has agreed not to identify because they fear they could lose their jobs. CBC has not seen the emails.

Smith said there are hundreds of Crown prosecutors and she has 34 staffers in her office, which means it is likely the review will take the entire weekend.

"As soon as we see if the emails exist, then we'll make sure that we have a presentation to the public. We'll know next week," Smith said.

The premier also confirmed that she had called an emergency caucus meeting to take place Saturday.

"I want my caucus to understand the nature of the story," she said.

CBC News

Last week, Smith's office issued a statement saying she used "imprecise" language after two instances when she said she had contacted Crown prosecutors — once during an on-camera interview with Rebel News, and a second time during a press conference in Edmonton.

At that time, the premier's office said that she had actually contacted Attorney General Tyler Shandro and the deputy attorney general, and denied contacting Crown prosecutors.

On Saturday Smith said that during her leadership campaign she had many people ask her if there was an avenue for amnesty for people who had violated COVID-19 public health orders.

"I probably used imprecise language, but all of my dealings with the department have been appropriate and it's been through the Attorney General and department officials."

Alberta NDP MLA Rakhi Pancholi issued a statement following Smith's comments, saying that Smith is "hiding the truth behind IT processes and a caucus presentation meant to shore up her chaotic leadership."

"If Danielle Smith doesn't know what the staff in her office are doing, she shouldn't be premier," Pancholi wrote in the emailed statement.

"These allegations are extremely serious and yet, her story keeps changing. Albertans know the UCP cannot be trusted to investigate themselves."

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University in Calgary, said the emergency caucus meeting taking place Saturday could be an attempt to "smooth the waters" with caucus.

He said emergency meetings of this type on a Saturday are rare.

"The reason that this is significant is we have video of Danielle Smith … saying that she had contacted Crown prosecutors about COVID cases," Bratt said.

"There's a lot of questions about what did the premier know, when did she know it? And just the relationship between the Government of Alberta and Crown prosecutors as it relates to COVID."

He said he thinks Smith is working to reassure caucus that appropriate action will be taken.

"We don't really know what the state of caucus relations is."

UCP FAUX OUTRAGE PRE ELECTION

Canada's energy jobs transition bill sparks discord in oil heartland


Sun, January 22, 2023 
By Nia Williams and Steve Scherer

(Reuters) - In Canada's western oil patch, controversy is raging over federal government legislation intended to help the fossil fuel labour force transition to a greener economy, but union and community leaders are warning politicization of the Just Transition bill obscures the needs of workers.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government is expected to table its long-awaited workforce transition bill this spring, ahead of economic changes expected as they pursue ambitious goals to slash climate-warming emissions.

The government of Alberta, Canada's main crude-producing province, says the legislation will dismantle the oil and gas industry that makes up 5% of Canada's GDP.

"When I hear the words "Just Transition" it signals eliminating jobs and for Alberta, that is a non-starter!" Alberta's Conservative Premier Danielle Smith wrote on Twitter last week.

The oil and gas sector employs around 185,000 workers, making the bill a hot topic in Alberta ahead a provincial election in May. Smith is using the threat of job losses to attack Trudeau and rally her conservative base, although she has been criticised for misinterpreting how many jobs may be at risk.

The Trudeau government is trying to soothe concerns about the bill, first promised in 2019. A government source familiar with the file, who is not authorized to speak publicly, said the legislation will be about principles to guide decisions and creating jobs.

Trudeau told Reuters in a recent interview that the sooner Alberta's "political class" understood the future is not to be feared, the better.

"This shouldn't be a political issue, this is an issue about what's really happening in the global economy," said Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL).

COAL PHASE-OUT LESSONS

The focus should be on helping communities adjust to sweeping industrial changes and economic diversification, McGowan said, pointing to Alberta's recent coal phase-out as a case study.

Later this year, Alberta's last coal-fired power station will convert to natural gas, part of an accelerated energy transition first announced in 2015 that will wrap up seven years ahead of schedule.

More than 3,100 people worked in the province's thermal coal industry in 2015. Some workers took early retirement, others went north to the oil patch or moved to other industries, while others found work in mine reclamation or the newly converted gas power stations.

The Parkland Institute research centre estimated in 2019 that up to 3,500 new jobs would be created in renewable energy and coal-to-gas power station conversions, but lead author Ian Hussey now says that number was far too low.

"Renewable investment has taken off in Alberta in a way that was never even dreamed of when we did that research," he said.

The oil and gas sector is currently experiencing a skills shortage amid tight labour markets globally, but the current workforce is 18% smaller than the 2014 peak of 225,900, according to Energy Safety Canada. Think tank Clean Energy Canada estimates there could be 200,000 clean energy jobs created by 2030.

If done right, the bill could incentivise technologies like carbon capture and hydrogen and be Canada's answer to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, the $430-billion green energy subsidy package passed last year, the AFL's McGowan added.

Ex-coal miner Len Austin, who now runs a government-funded Just Transition centre supporting former coal workers, said policymakers made a "really good effort" with programs such as retirement bridging, relocation packages and C$12,000 ($8,945.21) retraining vouchers.

But there was insufficient funding for economic diversification and infrastructure projects within coal communities to create new jobs, and governments need to understand not everyone can work in renewables, he added.

"It's 100% not that simple...to go from making C$100,000 to C$40,000 plays a big part in the decision-making that comes with the idea of losing your livelihood," Austin said.

($1 = 1.3415 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Denny Thomas and Josie Kao)