Europe on the verge of water catastrophe as groundwater reserves dry up, scientists warn

IT'S NOT A CLIMATE CRISIS 

IT'S A CRISIS OF CAPITALI$M

Alice Clifford
Sun, January 29, 2023 

Europe on the verge of water catastrophe as groundwater reserves dry up, scientists warn


Europe is on the verge of a catastrophe as groundwater reserves dry up, scientists have warned.

During the summer months of 2018 and 2019, there was a severe water shortage in Central Europe.

Since then, there has been no significant rise in groundwater levels, which have remained constantly low.

The severe drought is damaging natural habitats, affecting agriculture and creating major energy shortages, a new study reveals.

The effects of this prolonged drought were evident in Europe during the summer of 2022.

Dry riverbeds and the slow disappearance of stagnant waters severely impacted both nature and people.

Numerous aquatic species lost their habitats, while dry soil caused many problems for agriculture.

The energy shortage in Europe also worsened as a result. Without sufficient amounts of cooling water, nuclear power plants in France struggled to generate enough electricity.

Hydroelectric power plants also struggled to fulfil their function due to the lack of water.

(NASA - JPL-Caltech / SWNS)

To gather their data, the team used satellite gravimetry to observe the world’s groundwater resources and document changes seen over several years.

They used twin satellites that orbit the Earth in a polar orbit at an altitude of just under 490km.

They provide readings of the total mass, from which the changes in the rivers and lakes are then subtracted. Soil moisture, snow and ice are also subtracted and then finally only the groundwater remains.

The distance between the satellites of around 200km was crucial to the project.

The one behind could not catch up with the one in front, leading them to be aptly named Tom and Jerry.

The distance between the satellites was constantly and precisely measured.

If they flew over a mountain, the satellite in front was initially faster than the one behind because of the increased mass under it.

Once it had passed the mountain, it slowed down slightly again, but the rear satellite accelerated as soon as it reached the mountain.

Once both were over the top, their relative speed was established once more.

These changes in distance over large masses were the main measurement factors for determining the Earth’s gravitational field and they were measured with micrometre precision.

As a comparison, a hair is about 50 micrometres thick.

These satellites speed around the earth at around 30,000 km/hr, orbiting the Earth 15 times a day.

They can cover the entire Earth’s surface after just one month, meaning they can provide a gravity map of the Earth each month.

Dr Torsten Mayer-Gürr, a professor at Graz University of Technology, Austria, and study author, said: “The processing and the computational effort here are quite large.

“We have a distance measurement every five seconds and thus about half a million measurements per month. From this, we then determine gravity field maps.”

However, these gravity maps cannot show the exact amount of groundwater on the planet, as the satellites do not distinguish between sea, lakes or groundwater.

To work out separate masses for each body of water, other partners in the EU G3P project had to help out.

While Tom and Jerry provided the total mass, the changes in mass of the rivers, lakes, soil moisture, snow and ice were subtracted, leaving only the level of groundwater.

The result of this cooperation shows that the water situation in Europe has now become very precarious.

Dr Mayer-Gürr said: “A few years ago, I would never have imagined that water would be a problem here in Europe, especially in Germany or Austria.

“We are actually getting problems with the water supply here – we have to think about this.”

The study was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

ChatGPT could help rather than hinder student learning, says B.C. professor

Mon, January 30, 2023 

When it comes to AI tools like ChatGPT and their usage in higher education, some university professors say it’s inevitable that students will turn to them. (The Canadian Press/AP-Peter Morgan - image credit)

While the launch of an artificial intelligence tool has some educators worried about a potential spike in student cheating, one British Columbia professor says we should not be so quick to write off the potential benefits of the new technology.

Since its public beta launch in November, ChatGPT has impressed humans with its ability to imitate their writing — drafting resumés, crafting poetry and completing homework assignments in seconds. Its competence is concerning for many Canadian teachers, but not everyone sees this as a threat.

George Veletsianos, a professor at Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C., and Canada's research chair in innovative learning and technology, says ChatGPT could not only help students improve their writing but also push institutions to develop better ways to assess student learning that go beyond just regurgitating facts in a written essay.

"Students who use ChatGPT are not automatically cheating," said Veletsianos, speaking to On The Island Monday.

According to Veletsianos, seeing what ChatGPT spits out on a certain subject can be very helpful for students whose first language is not the language they are studying in. It can help students expand their vocabulary and improve their grammar and sentence structure.

He said it could also help clarify the assignment for students if they have any initial confusion, as long as they don't try to pass that material off as their own.

"This reaction that focuses on cheating, and focuses on developing other tools to catch students that are cheating, carries a lot of baggage and is part of a larger problem that we have which is not trusting students."

OpenAI

The reality of ChatGPT's capabilities, though, has many wary.

New York City's Department of Education has banned ChatGPT in all public schools due to concerns about its impact on learning and its accuracy. The Quebec Ministry of Education is currently assessing the effects of the technology on student learning and teacher work, especially with regard to ministerial exams.

Jeremy Klughaupt, an English teacher at Collège de Maisonneuve in Montreal, typed some of his essay questions into the program and was horrified by the result.

In under a minute, the AI spat out responses comparable to the work some of his students might produce. Klughaupt said many of his colleagues are "pulling their hair out," unsure how to proceed with their course plans and evaluations.

"As teachers, a lot of us feel torn between these two roles that we have: to educate and, increasingly, to police students," Klughaupt said.

But Veletsianos says there is an opportunity here for educational institutions to come up with policies that frame ChatGPT as a helpful tool, not an enemy of the education system.

"It would serve us well to understand its possibilities and its limitations — it has a number of limitations — and figure out how we can use it ethically and responsibly," said Veletsianos.

He hopes the invention of ChatGPT will also spur educators to think outside the box when assessing student comprehension. This, he suggested, could include oral presentations, essays that reflect on personal lived experiences, and community-based projects.

Veletsianos also thinks ChatGPT technology could eventually be integrated into existing educational tools, likening it to the dictionary and thesaurus features available to Microsoft Office users.

"The cat's out of the bag. It's not going to go away."

ChatGPT is an interactive program trained by AI research lab OpenAI. It was launched on Nov. 30 and has already amassed more than a million users, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Ontario hospital nurses start contract talks, plan 'escalating actions'



Mon, January 30, 2023 

TORONTO — The Ontario Nurses' Association started negotiating a new contract Monday for hospital nurses and the union is planning to take its push for higher wages beyond the bargaining table.

The nurses, and other broader public sector workers, have been subject for three years to a wage restraint law known as Bill 124, which capped increases at one per cent a year.

Bernie Robinson, the interim president of the ONA, said the last contract left nurses feeling disrespected and devalued.

"Safe to say that we are looking for far more," she said during a break from negotiations.

"We're looking for respectful wage increases, and basically to be able to retain nurses so that we can have the staff there to improve working conditions and improve care for patients."

An Ontario court found Bill 124 unconstitutional late last year, but the government has filed a notice of intent to appeal.

As talks begin, the union is planning a series of "escalating actions," starting with having nurses wear stickers while at work that highlight the bargaining priorities of better wages, better staffing and better care.

Late next month, nurses will begin holding information pickets at hospitals as well as at offices of members of provincial parliament. ONA is planning a protest on March 2 outside the Toronto hotel where bargaining is taking place.

"You're going to see more protests, more pickets across the province as our nurses get louder," Robinson said.

The nurses do not have the right to strike and Robinson says they will not be engaging in illegal walkouts.

The Ontario Hospital Association has said it greatly values nurses and hopes to achieve a "voluntarily, mutually agreed-upon collective agreement."

Talks are set to take place all this week and the last two days in February. The two sides have agreed to take any outstanding issues beyond those days to mediation March 1 and 2, and if that doesn't produce a contract, they have agreed to arbitration on May 2 and 3.

Teachers are also currently in bargaining with the government for their first post-Bill 124 contracts. Education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees late last year negotiated a $1-per-hour raise each year, or about 3.59 per cent annually, for the average worker.

Hospital nurses currently earn $34.24 an hour as a starting salary, per their last contract, and are subject to a grid that goes up to 25 years, when they can earn $49.02 an hour. The current contract expires March 31.

Robinson is not divulging the specific proposals the ONA will make at the bargaining table, but said she will also be pushing for improved policies on vacation, workloads and work-life balance, as they will also help with staff recruitment and retention.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2023.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press

BC
Tussle over sea lice science unfolds as a federal decision on Discovery Islands salmon farms looms

Mon, January 30, 2023

Critics and supporters of West Coast fish farms are at odds over a recent Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) study suggesting sea lice infestations among juvenile wild salmon aren’t strongly tied to aquaculture operations.

Using industry-reported data, the aquaculture division of DFO analyzed the likelihood that sea lice from salmon farms are causing sea lice outbreaks in wild fish in four areas on the coast.

There’s a trend showing a positive relationship between the amount of sea lice on farms and on juvenile chum and pink salmon in those areas between 2016 and 2021, but it’s “statistically insignificant,” the study said.

This “insignificance” suggests sea lice on juvenile migrating salmon can’t be solely explained by the infestation levels on farms in Clayoquot Sound, Quatsino Sound, Discovery Islands, and the Broughton Archipelago.

The BC Salmon Farmers Association (BCSFA) hailed the study as proof that lice found on salmon in farms don’t impact levels found on juvenile wild salmon across B.C.

Fish farm opponents are critical of the timing of the report, its reliance on industry data, and its failure to reference numerous regional studies indicating strong links between farms and sea lice on wild salmon.

The report itself noted the research isn’t definitive but contributes to further assessment of the risk farmed lice pose to wild salmon. The report also concludes better health monitoring of wild salmon is needed along with more work to address key uncertainties and assumptions of the analysis.

DFO’s public release of the study on Jan. 19 is highly suspicious given federal Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray is expected to announce a final decision on fish farms in the Discovery Islands any day now, said activist and biologist Alexandra Morton.

Due to a court ruling, Murray was forced to review the ministry’s 2020 decision to phase out 19 fish farms in the waters near Campbell River.

The study was approved by DFO in August. By releasing the sea lice report now, it seems the fish farm industry and DFO’s aquaculture division hope to influence the public and minister about the pending decision, Morton said.

“The whole technique is extremely clumsy,” she said.

Morton insisted the study ignores a host of recent independent research in B.C. that shows strong relationships between fish farms and lice on wild salmon. The paper’s review panel involved DFO scientists and a single international scientist.

“These conclusions are opposite to the findings of a number of major universities in Canada that have been involved in this work for 25 years,” she said.

Most of the fish farm data used in the study isn’t publicly available and the reported lice counts on farms are conducted by its employees, Morton said, adding some research indicates companies undercount the lice.

When DFO is on-site, industry sea lice counts increased, on average, by 20 per cent for one species of sea lice and nearly doubled for other species, a Simon Fraser University study found.

While the DFO’s own study found a weak association between farm lice impacting wild salmon, it noted another paper in the Muchalat Inlet that used 10 years of data found a significant association between lice on farms and wild fish being infected.

And a study in the Broughton Archipelago found infestations on farmed and wild salmon were correlated within 30 kilometres.

The fish farm data it used offered researchers the opportunity to analyze four different areas from 2016 to 2021, numerous farms, lice counts and wild salmon sample locations, the DFO study said.

The average prevalence of lice impacting wild salmon varied by year and sampling area. But across the time frame, the average level of lice on wild salmon was highest on chum salmon in Clayoquot Sound and lowest on chum and pink salmon in the Discovery Islands.

The study is a confirmation that hard work by the fish farm Industry is paying off, BCSFA said.

Salmon farmers are subject to stringent DFO regulations and take measures to minimize sea lice transmission from farmed to wild salmon and employ a range of treatment tools to tackle lice in their operations, the association said.

“As a sector, we continue to improve and innovate to ensure that our operations have minimal impact on the surrounding ecosystem,” said Brian Kingzett, BCSFA executive director.

There is uncertainty tied to some of the assumptions of the analysis, the report said.

For example, wild salmon sampling sites may not be where farmed or wild fish lice infestations occurred. The study also didn’t include the influence of ocean water movement near farms and the occurrence of non-farm sources of sea lice.

The study did not elaborate on the level of uncertainty associated with its assumptions or how it may have influenced its conclusions.

Rochelle Baker / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer

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Rochelle Baker, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

Yazidis plead with Canada not to repatriate ISIS members

Mon, January 30, 2023 

Mourners carry the remains of Yazidi victims of ISIS following their exhumation from a mass grave near Kojo, Iraq on February 6, 2021. (Reuters - image credit)

The looming return of alleged ISIS members to Canada has brought trauma, worry and fear to people who were invited to Canada as a safe haven after the terrorist group all but destroyed their ancient community in northern Iraq.

"When I first heard the news, I felt the strength leave my body," Huda Ilyas Alhamad told CBC News in her Winnipeg apartment. She is one of 1,200 survivors of the Yazidi genocide who were resettled in Canada; she spent years as a slave of ISIS members.

"I had to sit down right away. I was heartbroken and terrified at the same time because on one hand they had promised to protect us and bring us here and give us safety, and on the other hand they're offering that same entryway for these very people who raped and tortured us on a daily basis."


The Yazidis are members of an ancient Kurdish-speaking farming community in northern Iraq who practice their own monotheistic religion. They were victims of one of the worst atrocities of the 21st century at the hands of the Islamic fundamentalist terror group, which set out to eradicate the Yazidi people in a brutal campaign launched on August 3, 2014.

'Heartbroken and betrayed'

Earlier this month, the federal government agreed to repatriate 19 Canadian women and children from northeastern Syria, where they have been held in Kurdish-run detention camps for suspected ISIS members and their families.

Advocates for the adult detainees say there is no proof tying them to ISIS, and no justification for allowing them to remain in Syrian camps.

"It's clear that the Canadian government has the ability to bring our Canadians home, and where there is evidence to believe they've committed an offence, charge them and prosecute them," lawyer Lawrence Greenspon told CBC News.

The agreement to assist women and children to travel to Canada was followed a day later by an order from the Federal Court, instructing the government to also repatriate four men currently held in Syrian prisons, accused of ISIS membership.

Neither the government nor the court has disclosed the names of the ten adults to be repatriated.

Jamileh Naso, president of the Canadian Yazidi Association, said Yazidis feel grateful to Canada. Many have settled in Winnipeg.

"Canada was one of the first countries to respond to the plight of the Yazidis," she said. "And they couldn't be any more happy or grateful that they would come to a country like Canada where they could feel safe and protected, in a country that stood for all these great values of freedom, of rights, of justice, of accountability and all these things the Yazidi community wanted to see."

Naso praised the work of Winnipeg's Jewish community to help reunify families and privately sponsor Yazidi refugees, but she said others in the city have helped as well.

Jaison Empson/CBC

"This has really been a grassroots local community effort to reunite these families and this is what Canada is about," she said.

The ISIS repatriation order, she said, has left Yazidi families feeling "heartbroken and betrayed."

"A lot of them just broke down into tears because they thought this news was completely unbelievable. It can't be true," she said.

"We have submitted applications for family reunification to reunite with our family members who were in ISIS captivity. And here they are bringing the perpetrators of these crimes of genocide to Canada. And they know in most cases that these folks will not face trial. The evidence is not here and the witnesses aren't here. They are giving a free pass for their part in genocide and terrorism.

"It's really disappointing, not just for those in the Yazidi community, but for those across Canada who believe in liberal values, and that we should be a country that's standing up for victims and survivors."

A peaceful community destroyed

"Before ISIS arrived, we were very happy. We had 13 people in my family," Huda Alhamad told CBC News at her Winnipeg home. She was 17 years old in August, 2014, when ISIS attacked.

"It was always loud and noisy in the house, but I loved it. We would go to work, we would come home, we would have dinner as a family."

As ISIS closed in, Huda's family and thousands of others sought refuge on the slopes of the Yazidis' traditional refuge of Mount Sinjar. But they were captured, along with thousands of other Yazidi civilians. ISIS members then began to separate them by age and gender.

Huda said she believes the gunfire she heard as she was driven away after the initial separation of family members was the start of the massacre of older community members.

ISIS had different plans for different segments of the Yazidi population. The youngest boys were taken from their families to be converted to Islam and raised as jihadi fighters and suicide bombers. Thousands of older boys and men were murdered. Young women and girls, like Huda and her three sisters, were separated for sale to ISIS members as slaves.

The ISIS slave market

"They went around taking down names, ages, family members, who was connected to who, and then they started separating by looks," Huda said. "They came in like we were cattle, what looked good, what didn't look good. Who was too old, who had kids, how many kids they had."

"My sisters and I were taken to a separate room with a lot of the other young women and we were all sold.

"About 100 ISIS members came into the room. There were about 200 of us, and they all came in and started just grabbing us for themselves. And I, along with another young Yazidi girl, was taken by one of the ISIS members."

Reuters

Girls as young as 10 were taken as slaves by ISIS members. After raping them for a time, members would often sell them on. Many girls were sold multiple times.

Huda's sisters were taken by other ISIS members. Years would pass before she learned they had survived.

Huda's parents and older brother were never seen again. "Other than the four family members I'm with here, and then my two sisters and my brother who are in a refugee camp now, I'm not sure what happened to the others," she said.

Yazidis told CBC News there is a misconception that the women of ISIS were less culpable or less violent than the men.

"The women were worse than the ISIS fighters. The women would beat us constantly," said Huda. "They would refuse to feed us. I would usually get beaten with a cable by the wives of the ISIS fighters, and they would laugh at me, they would spit at me, they would kick me, and that was on a daily basis. And then when their husband would come, he would rape me."

Naso said Huda's experience with the women of ISIS is common among survivors.

"Almost all of them can tell you that when they were in captivity, the women played as much of a role as the [ISIS] fighters did in torturing them, in keeping them captive, in keeping notes on them and saying what they were doing, constantly beating them," she told CBC News. "The females had just as much to do with the inhumane treatment of the Yazidis as the men did."

Stolen children

Yazidis continue to arrive in Canada as individuals struggle to reunite the surviving members of families torn apart by ISIS.

Ayad Alhussein is just 13 years old. He spent five of those years in ISIS captivity and three more in a displaced persons camp. He arrived in Winnipeg only two months ago, rescued by two older sisters he had forgotten he even had.

Submitted by Layla Alhussein

"I've only been told now how hard my sisters worked with organizations here in Winnipeg like Operation Ezra (a reunification program sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg) and the Canadian Yazidi Association," he said. "How they submitted paperwork three years ago and went back and forth with the government and different people to try to get me here."

Ayad was young enough to be spared by ISIS when his family was captured. Twelve members of his family have not been seen since August 2014.

ISIS raised the youngest Yazidi boys to be jihadi fighters and suicide bombers. Ayad forgot his native Kurmanji and learned to live in Arabic. He doesn't remember his life before capture.

Forgotten identity

"I was five years old when I was captured, so I didn't really have an idea of who my community was or who my family was or anything like that," he said. "And like the other little boys around me, I just kind of did whatever they did. At first I was scared, but then it just became normal."

Normal, he said, included almost daily beatings (the boys were told they would make them tougher), military training, weapons drills and religious indoctrination.

"And that continued on until I met some others [slightly older Yazidi captive boys] who told me that I wasn't a part of this. I had family elsewhere," he said. "And then I started learning more and more as the years went by. And when I finally reached the camp after five years of captivity, that's when I started to learn my mother tongue."

Today, Ayad is in school in Winnipeg, learning English with the help of cousins. He said he's happy in Canada and hopes to become a doctor.

But recent developments have rocked the teenager.

"When I heard the news that they would be bringing ISIS members here, I was terrified. That had not been that long since I came here," he said. "The whole point of coming to a country like Canada was to be offered safety and security. If they're bringing those people here, those terrorists, how am I supposed to feel safe?"

'We don't believe the government understands'

Huda said the news has brought on anxiety and panic.

"If I see somebody who semi-resembles one of the [ISIS] members, my heart starts beating really quickly," she said. "Sometimes I cry, sometimes I just have to drop everything I'm doing and go home right away. And that's been the case for the past five years. This news has just doubled that and I feel that all the time now.

"I'm scared to send my kids to school. What if they recognize some of us?"

Huda said it hurts to see ISIS families being reunited while her own sisters are still living in dangerous refugee camps.

"That's all I could really ask for, if I could be reunited with my sisters here. We've worked on their paperwork, we've submitted for family reunification," she said. "But for the past almost three years now, we have yet to hear anything about how their file is going."

Like many Yazidis, Huda said she believes the federal government and rights organizations working on behalf of suspected ISIS detainees are naive about the nature of the people they're helping.

"We don't believe the government truly understands. I mean, we've tried to share our story multiple times. We told them about the atrocities we faced," she said.

"The government was the one who recognized it as genocide. They're the ones who said yes, what they were doing to the Yazidi community constitutes genocide. They are raping women. They are separating families. They're trying to annihilate this community off the face of the earth.

"And yet here they are, bringing these very members, these individuals who chose to leave this country, this security, these freedoms, and go there and join this group that is committing these crimes. And so it doesn't make sense to us."

'No repercussions'

Although talking about her captivity is wrenching, Huda said "it's more important than ever that people know exactly what types of monsters they are, and we're inviting them into the country with no repercussions."

"If the Canadian government or anybody has questions about what ISIS was doing in Iraq and Syria," she added, "you can come talk to me.

"If you have questions about what women and girls had to face, how they were tied up and treated like slaves, how were they were sold, how 10-year-olds were raped, how girls were ripped from their mothers' arms and taken into separate rooms and they could hear them being raped. If you want to hear about why we should keep people like that out, you can come talk to me.

"I feel like I could talk for days about what had happened to us and share stories of the horrors I saw. But with this decision to bring in those very people who caused all this pain and suffering, does it even matter if we tell our stories anymore?"

CANADA

Federal departments failed to spend $38B on promised programs, services last year



Mon, January 30, 2023

OTTAWA — The federal government failed to spend tens of billions of dollars in the last fiscal year on promised programs and services, including new military equipment, affordable housing and support for veterans.

Federal departments are blaming a variety of factors for letting a record total of $38 billion in funding lapse in 2021-22, including delays and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

They also say much of the money remains available for future years.

The unspent funds also played a big part in the Liberal government posting a smaller-than-expected deficit in the year ending March 31, 2022.

Canada rang up a $90.2 billion deficit — $23.6 billion less than had been projected in the budget.

The unprecedented amount of lapsed funding, much of which has been returned to the federal treasury, has one observer suggesting it is a sign of long-standing challenges delivering on big federal projects for the country.

The amount of lapsed funds across government is spelled out in the most recent iteration of the public accounts, a report on federal revenues and spending by every department and agency tabled in the House of Commons every year.

The $38.2 billion that was reported as lapsed in the last fiscal year marks a new record over the previous year, which was $32.2 billion. That was a dramatic increase over the previous record of $14 billion in 2019-20.

That compares to around $10 billion about a decade ago, when Stephen Harper’s Conservative government was accused by political opponents and experts alike of using large lapses to make cuts by stealth.

Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada reported the largest lapses of all departments and agencies, with nearly $11.2 billion of their combined $28.2 billion budgets going unspent.

Much of that had been set aside for COVID-19 initiatives that were not needed, said Health Canada spokeswoman Tammy Jarbeau. Those include vaccines, personal protective equipment and rapid tests.

"Both Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada have rigorous internal financial management controls designed to prevent, detect and minimize errors and financial losses, and ensure the funding is spent in the best interests of Canadians," she wrote in an email.

The pandemic figured in the responses and explanations from many other departments and agencies, with many blaming COVID-19 for delays.

One of them was the Defence Department, which reported a lapse of $2.5 billion in the last fiscal year. Much of the money wasn’t spent due to delays in the delivery of new military equipment such as Arctic patrol vessels and upgrades to the Army’s armoured vehicles.

There were also delays on major infrastructure projects for the military, according to Defence Department spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande. Those include upgrading and rebuilding two jetties for the Navy in Esquimalt, B.C., and a new armoury in New Brunswick.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on many of our business lines," Lamirande said.

"The impacts of the pandemic on supply chain and industry capacity are causing manufacturing backlogs and delays."

Lamirande added most of the unspent funds are expected to be available in future years through a process called reprofiling, in which schedules are revised to reflect planned spending in future years due to those delays.

Former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page said the government’s handling of lapsed funding now is "a little more relaxed" than in previous years, when unspent funds were not reprofiled and even used to justify budget cuts in Ottawa.

But defence analyst David Perry of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute said the Defence Department’s lapse, which has been steadily growing in recent years, is a symptom of Ottawa’s continued difficulties purchasing new military equipment.

"If we're not getting those procurement projects through, we're not getting new equipment into the inventory, so we don't actually have the gear for our troops," he said, noting many of the delayed projects were launched under the Harper government.

Perry also noted the current rate of inflation, which is already naturally higher for military equipment and the defence sector than most other parts of the economy. Not spending money now means Canada will have to pay more for the same gear and services later, he said.

The Infrastructure Department, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp. and the Fisheries Department, which includes the Canadian Coast Guard, also reported delays with different capital projects, including on affordable housing and broadband internet.

"Due to the unprecedented circumstances over the last few years such as the COVID-19 pandemic, disbursing funds to proponents for many projects are expected to and will take longer," CMHC spokeswoman Claudie Chabot said in an email.

Perry suggested a bigger problem.

"The government of Canada's ability to actually deliver services to the public, especially when it comes to large projects, large capital projects, be it for equipment or infrastructure or IT projects, is struggling across the board," he said.

Other federal entities with large lapses included Indigenous Services Canada, which failed to spend $3.4 billion, and Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, which reported a lapse of $2.2 billion.

Spokesman Vincent Gauthier attributed much of the latter lapse to "the timing and progress of negotiations for specific claims and childhood litigations," adding that funds will available "in some instances" in future years.

Gauthier did not say why Indigenous Services, which is responsible for delivering federal services to First Nations, Inuit and Métis, failed to spend billions of dollars. He did say most of the money had been reprofiled "so that it will be available when recipients need it."

Veterans Affairs Canada also reported a nearly $1 billion lapse last year, which the department blamed on fewer ill and injured ex-soldiers applying for assistance than expected.

However, critics have described earlier lapsed funding as evidence of the challenges many veterans face in accessing benefits and services. In 2014, the Royal Canadian Legion demanded the Harper government explain why $1.1 billion went unspent over seven years.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2023.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

#FREEKASHMIR

Indian opposition's 'unity march' ends in disputed Kashmir

KASHMIR IS INDIA'S GAZA


Mon, January 30, 2023 

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — India’s main opposition Congress party ended a five-month cross-country “unity march” in disputed Kashmir on Monday with hundreds of members of various opposition groups joining in a public rally in freezing temperatures.

The march led by Rahul Gandhi, an opposition leader and scion of the influential Gandhi family, sought to challenge what the Congress party says is a “hate-filled” version of the country under the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party.

Members of different opposition parties, including Kashmiri regional groups that oppose Modi’s policies but are pro-India, joined Gandhi’s rally in Srinagar in snow and bitter cold.

Hundreds of police and paramilitary soldiers blanketed Srinagar’s Lalchowk area and restricted public movement, allowing only people with passes issued by the Congress party to enter the venue.

Dressed in a traditional Kashmiri tunic worn during the winter, Gandhi, 52, and other leaders stood on an open podium inside a cricket stadium.

The march was to “raise a voice against the hate” and “open shops of love in the bazaar of hate,” he said.

Gandhi accused Modi, the home minster and the national security adviser of stoking violence and said he wants to show that India is a “country of love.”

Gandhi began the “Bharat Jodo Yatra” or “Unite India March” in Kanyakumari, a coastal town at the southernmost tip of India, on Sept. 7. The march, which was live-streamed on a website, covered 3,570 kilometers (2,218 miles) and crossed 12 states before finishing in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Passing through hundreds of villages and towns, the march attracted farmers worried about rising debt, students complaining about increasing unemployment and activists who say the health of India’s democracy is in decline. Along the way, Gandhi abandoned his formerly clean-shaven look for a thick beard and slept in cabins made of shipping containers during the night.

Hindu nationalism has surged under Modi and his party, which have been criticized over rising hate speech and violence against Muslims. Opponents say Modi’s lack of criticism of the violence emboldens right-wing groups and threatens national unity, but his party has denied this.

Modi’s party dismissed Gandhi’s march and speeches as a political gimmick to regain his “lost credibility.”

In impassioned speeches during the march, Gandhi accused Modi and his government of doing little to address growing economic inequality, rising religious polarization and the threat posed by China.

Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a bitter standoff in the mountainous Ladakh region since 2020. Opposition parties and some experts say the Chinese army has occupied some Indian positions in Ladakh's cold desert.

In Srinagar, Gandhi told reporters that Modi “is almost frankly the only person in the country who is under the impression that the Chinese have not taken any land from India.”

Gandhi also accused Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party of “attacking the institutional framework of this country.”

“Whether it is Parliament, whether it is assemblies, whether it is the judiciary, whether it is the media, all institutions are being attacked and captured by the BJP,” he said.

He set a conciliatory tone in Kashmir, where New Delhi in 2019 ended the region’s semi-autonomy and took direct control of it amid a widespread crackdown and communication blackout.

“I think statehood and restoration of the democratic process in Jammu and Kashmir is fundamental and very important and I think that would be a first step,” Gandhi said on Sunday. “I am not happy with what I see in Jammu and Kashmir. In fact, I am saddened.”

Kashmir is claimed by both India and Pakistan, which each control part of the region.

Gandhi called the march a “vision” and said it was “not just a walk” but “an idea of how India should move forward.”

With a national election about 15 months away, the march could help determine whether the beleaguered opposition can put up a fight against the electoral juggernaut of Modi’s party, which won majorities in 2014 and 2019.

Aijaz Hussain, The Associated Press

SEE HINDTUVA IS FASCISM

CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

Picketing and cancelled classes begin, as deadline passes on MUN labour dispute

Mon, January 30, 2023 

Members of Memorial University's Faculty Association were on the picket line Monday morning. (Patrick Butler/Radio-Canada - image credit)

Members of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty Association were not in classrooms Monday morning. Instead, they were on picket lines.

The university and the association reached an impasse on Sunday, and no deal was struck as the deadline of Sunday at midnight came to pass.

MUNFA president Ash Hossain said the association submitted its final offer on Sunday morning. By noon, he said, the university walked away from the table.

"Then they didn't move from there at all," Hossain said Monday morning. "Yesterday, we were ready to be there until midnight. They just walked out."

Faculty association members began picketing at eight locations around the St. John's campus at 8 a.m. Monday. Hossain said they won't prevent students or staff members from other unions from crossing the picket lines to get to classes that are still going ahead.

"That is totally fine. We are not hooligans. We are not going to be violent and stop them from doing that," Hossain said.

What's the hold up?

The university released its latest offer to the public Sunday, pleading with MUNFA to take it to its membership for a vote.

MUN's offer includes a 12 per cent salary increase over four years, 20 additional weeks of supplemental parental leave, a 24 per cent increase in pay for teaching additional courses, and extra pay and a signing bonus for those on term appointments.

With the salary increase, MUN said the average tenured professor would go from making $137,300 to $164,084 by 2026.

But Hossain said the impasse wasn't about compensation.

"We are fighting for principles. It's not about money," he said.

Terry Roberts/CBC

Two key issues are the use of lesser-paid contract employees without tenure, as well as the involvement of faculty members in making decisions on the future of the university. Hossain said they don't want to end up like Laurentian University, which ended up insolvent in 2021. Ontario's auditor general said the school's governance structure was a critical part of poor financial decisions.

MUN is governed by two branches: the board of regents, and the senate. MUNFA wants a paragraph added to their collective agreement asserting their right to participate in key decisions.

The university said it's open to giving the faculty association a dedicated seat on one of the school's two governing bodies, but that sign-off has to come from the province.

"Faculty members are currently involved in all aspects of academic matters including the hiring of all academic staff from their peers to senior leaders," reads a statement from the university. "Additionally, the university has requested that faculty representation be added to the board of regents when the provincial government updates the Memorial University Act."

In a statement to CBC News, the Education Department said the university and the faculty association have both asked the provincial government to review legislation that would change the governance and administration of the university.

"The province is pursuing amendments to the Memorial University Act that include the addition of faculty representation on the board. Other governance-related matters suggested by the university and the faculty association may be considered after the auditor general review of the university has concluded," the statement reads.

Neil Bose, the interim provost and academic vice-president, said talks stalled Sunday after the association submitted a proposal that included items the university couldn't budge on.

"We haven't been able to close that gap because it goes into areas where it's very difficult for the university to go," he said.

To cross or not to cross?

Despite the faculty association allowing students and staff to cross picket lines, Hossain took issue with the university sending guidance on how to do so.

"Nobody in a position of power like the administration should ever tell people to cross the line," he said.

Bose, meanwhile, said that wasn't the intention of the guidance sent to students.

"We're not forcing anyone to cross a picket line," he said. "That is the decision of the individual in each case. And in the case of students who don't wish to cross, there will have to be a discussion later."

Henrike Wilhelm/CBC

Bose said any "academic amnesty" has to be decided by MUN's senate after the strike is over but he thinks everyone would support the motion to excuse students for missing classes during the strike.

The expectation is different for staff, however.

"We expect all employees who are not on strike to come to work and take on their duties, of course. That's the normal expectation."

Students feel like 'pawns,' says MUNSU

Isabel Ojeda, an executive director with MUN's students' union, says they're calling for academic amnesty for all students.

Ojeda said she has made the decision not to cross, but understands students will feel pressure to continue their studies.

"I think this time around the university is absolutely trying to use students as pawns," she said.

Jawad Chowdury, also with the students' union, said he supports the faculty association on several issues — especially the idea of collegial governance. He said a lot of students understand why their professors want a greater say in decisions that will affect the future of the university.

"We understand what it feels like to be presented with a raw deal from this university," Chowdury said, referencing MUN's raise of tuition and fees in recent years, and the subsequent drop of undergraduate enrolment.

Chowdury, who has two courses that will be cancelled during the strike, said he's worried he will have to pick up extra courses next semester to graduate on time.

Strikes at two Atlantic universities tied to chronic underfunding: unions

Mon, January 30, 2023 



ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Leaders of faculty unions say ongoing strikes at two Atlantic Canadian universities are a sign of growing frustration among instructors and staff, driven by persistent underfunding of public post-secondary education in the region.

Members of the faculty association at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador spent Monday on the picket line, after a strike was called at midnight. Faculty at Cape Breton University walked off the job last week, and spent the day outside hoisting signs in support of their demands — and of their striking colleagues at Memorial.

Both associations represent professors, librarians and other faculty at their respective schools.

Josh Lepawsky, president-elect of Memorial's faculty association, said the strikes at both schools are a sign of a "long, chronic process of actively dismantling quality, public higher education."

"We all work at public universities that should be appropriately supported with public money," the geography professor said in an interview Monday. "And yet, we've all experienced chronic cuts to operating budgets."

Another education sector labour conflict looms in the region: in Halifax, faculty at Saint Mary's University could go on strike as early as Feb. 24.

About 800 faculty members at Memorial University's campuses in St. John's, Corner Brook and Labrador were on strike as of 12:01 a.m. Monday after negotiations with Memorial's administration stalled the day before.

The faculty association is looking for more say in university governance, including representation on the school's board of regents. They are also seeking improved job security for the school's contract employees, who Lepawsky said must reapply for their positions every four or eight months when their contracts end.

The university administration says the union is refusing its offer of a 12 per cent wage increase over four years and instead demanding 14 per cent over the same period. The school says its offer would translate to a salary of $164,084 by 2026 for the average tenured professor currently making $137,300.

In a news release Sunday, the university said it has taken steps to include faculty representation on the board of regents.

"We value our faculty highly," Neil Bose, interim provost and vice-president academic, said in the release. "We encourage (Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty Association) to come back to the negotiating table so that we can minimize disruption for students."

In Cape Breton, about 200 striking faculty members are seeking pay raises to deal with the soaring cost of living. The administration says the union is seeking a 14 per cent raise over the next two years. The university has offered wage increases of eight per cent over three years, in addition to existing annual step increases.

Rod Nicholls, a member of the school’s bargaining team, said Monday the offer is comparable to what teachers make at other universities in Nova Scotia.

“We have distinctive challenges as a regional university located in Cape Breton. There’s an ambitious expansion of programs that are in demand,” Nicholls said, noting that the university is planning to create a department of social work and a medical school.

Heather Sparling, a music professor and spokeswoman for the Cape Breton University Faculty Association, said the school's offer is not enough. "They are offering us less than inflation, and so for us that’s a loss — that’s a pay cut — and at the same time the university has increased its population very significantly," Sparling said in an interview.

She, too, sees common threads in the Cape Breton and Newfoundland and Labrador disputes. “I think there is a general effort by universities to limit the salaries of faculty in this region. And there’s a general sense of frustration and disrespect there as well."

Meanwhile, Memorial's student union says it stands behind striking faculty. "I think students are definitely stressed, they're anxious, but overall, we have seen an overwhelming amount of support for faculty," said Isabel Ojeda, the union's director of campaigns.

The strike at Memorial comes after the school substantially hiked tuition rates in 2022, more than doubling tuition for new students from Newfoundland and Labrador.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2023.

— With files from Michael Tutton in Halifax.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press

Tamil groups ask Ottawa to bring Sri Lanka officials to global courts



Mon, January 30, 2023 

OTTAWA — Tamil diaspora groups are praising Ottawa's sanctions on Sri Lanka officials, while asking Canada to bring that country to international tribunals.

"The Tamil diaspora has been calling for a new Nuremberg-like tribunal to prosecute the leadership of government of Sri Lanka," Vel Velautahpillai, a board member with the Federation of Global Tamil Organizations, said Monday on Parliament Hill.

Ottawa sanctioned four high-ranking officials earlier this month for alleged human-rights breaches during Sri Lanka's bloody, 26-year civil war with Tamil separatists.

The asset and travel ban included Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his older brother Mahinda Rajapaksa, who are both former presidents.

The pair oversaw the victory of Sri Lanka's majority Sinhalese population over Tamil groups, which came after widespread bloodshed and massacres.

Gotabaya temporarily fled his country last summer after mass protests over living costs, while Mahinda resigned from his post as prime minister last spring.

In reaction to the sanctions, the Sri Lanka government summoned Canada's envoy over the move, accusing Ottawa of caving to Tamil diaspora politics.

Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Ali Sabry called the move arbitrary and harmful to both relations with Canada and to his country's reconciliation process.

But Tamil groups say Ottawa has set an example for other countries, and they are asking the Liberals to start a process to bring senior officials to the International Criminal Courtover alleged crimes against humanity.

They also want Canada to bring Sri Lanka before the International Court of Justice, which handles disputes between countries. Velautahpillai said his group made that request to Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly nearly three weeks ago.

The U.S. has previously sanctioned senior Sri Lanka officials, but Human Rights Watch says Canada is the only country to list the Rajapaksa brothers.

Velautahpillai's federation, which largely consists of grassroots groups in Canada and the United States, is calling on G7 countries to follow suit.

He said the group is not aware of any Canadian property held by the Rajapaksa brothers or the two military officials Canada also sanctioned last month.

They are Sunil Ratnayake, whom a court sentenced to death for his role in a 2020 massacre of Tamils but who was later pardoned, and navy commander Chandana Prasad Hettiarachchi, who has been accused of abducting civilians who were later killed.

Washington sanctioned both officials in 2021, but has not brought similar action against the Rajapaksa brothers. The Trump administration also sanctioned Sri Lankan army chief Shavendra Silva in 2020, but Canada did not follow suit.

The Federation of Global Tamil Organizations argues that Sri Lanka has committed a genocide and needs to be held to account.

Last May, MPs passed a motion to create a day to recognize the genocide of Tamil people in Sri Lanka annually. Cabinet ministers supported the motion, but the Liberal government has steered clear of formally accusing the country of genocide.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2023.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

What the Free Alberta Strategy gets wrong about Canada's banking system

Robert L. Ascah, Research Fellow, The Parkland Institute, University of Alberta

THE CONVERSATION
Mon, January 30, 2023 

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith speaks at a news conference in Edmonton in November 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

What is the Free Alberta Strategy, the co-creation of two lawyers and a Calgary political scientist? And with a provincial election on the horizon this spring in Alberta, what will the sovereignty strategy mean for voters?

Bill 1, the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, is the centrepiece of the Free Alberta Strategy. It was introduced late last year by Premier Danielle Smith in another salvo in the ongoing constitutional battle between Alberta and the federal government.

Let’s review the concept’s origin and focus on one of the least examined components of the Free Alberta Strategy — the proposed Independent Banking Act.

History

Alberta separatism in the 21st century began to rear its head when Ralph Klein was premier. The so-called firewall letter, a two-page missive to Klein, was published in the National Post in January 2001.

It was signed by future prime minister Stephen Harper, then the president of the National Citizens Coalition, a well-funded conservative advocacy group, and other signatories that included University of Calgary political scientists Ted Morton, Tom Flanagan and Rainer Knopff, Andrew Crooks of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and Ken Boessenkool, a former policy adviser to Stockwell Day, leader of the Canadian Alliance.

Stephen Harper, then the president of the National Citizens Coalition, speaks with media in Calgary in October 2000. (CP PHOTO/Jeff McIntosh)

Many of the letter’s recommendations would reappear almost identically in 2020, in the Fair Deal Panel findings under Premier Jason Kenney. It proposed setting up a provincial police force, withdrawing from the Canada Pension Plan and effectively expanding the mandate of Alberta Revenue to collect personal income taxes.

When Harper was elected prime minister, western separatism died down. But the election of Justin Trudeau’s Liberals and Rachel Notley’s NDP in 2015 seemed to fuel dissent among some conservative elements in Alberta.

This resulted in the amalgamation of right-wing forces with the establishment of the Kenney-led United Conservative Party. Kenney easily won the 2019 election because the conservative vote wasn’t split.
Buffalo declaration

In February 2020, the Buffalo declaration was released. The 13-page letter argued that Confederation isn’t working for Alberta. It was signed by four Alberta MPs, led by Michelle Rempel Garner. It opened with a list of alleged historical injustices imposed on Alberta and its sister province, Saskatchewan.

Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner asks a question during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in 2020. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

The alleged causes of the crisis included the National Energy Program of 1980 to 1985 — a “malicious” attack against Alberta’s resource sector, according to the declaration.

Policy recommendations included the recognition of Alberta as “a culturally distinct region within Confederation,” improved representation in Parliament and an acknowledgement of the “devastation” of the National Energy Program.

It also demanded changes to the equalization program and approval of the Teck Frontier mining project.

Meanwhile, Kenney was proving unable to control anti-Ottawa sentiment in Alberta, and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic threatened party unity. He ultimately lost a leadership vote in 2022 and resigned.

A year earlier, the Free Alberta Strategy was launched by former Wildrose MLA Rob Anderson, libertarian Derek From and Barry Cooper, a political scientist at the University of Calgary.

The strategy, with the Alberta Sovereignty Act as its centrepiece, was championed by Smith in her successful leadership campaign. Kenney and many of Smith’s leadership opponents, meantime, were heavily critical of the concept.

Kenney and Travis Toews, the Alberta finance minister, expressed concerns about a flight of capital from the province.

Jason Kenney shakes hands with Travis Toews after swearing him in as finance minister in Edmonton in 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

Alberta’s Independent Banking Act

Largely unnoticed in the Free Alberta Strategy’s recommendations is the creation of a provincial independent banking system.

Given my experience as an executive with ATB Financial, the government’s wholly owned full-service “bank,” I understand the difficulties of creating a private Alberta-regulated financial system.

A functioning banking system is critical to Alberta’s economic well-being. Banking, however, is under exclusive federal jurisdiction, including currency and the issuing of paper money.

The Free Alberta Strategy, however, purports to allow Alberta to incorporate and regulate banks, which is clearly unconstitutional. There’s no mention that this proposal is beyond the powers of the provincial legislature.

William Aberhart, premier of Alberta, is pictured at a rally in Calgary in 1937.

 (CP PHOTO/National Archives of Canada)

Few Albertans probably remember the attempts of onetime Alberta premier William Aberhart during the Great Depression to tax and regulate banks in an effort to forestall foreclosures that were disrupting the lives of thousands of Albertans.

These efforts failed due to the courts siding with the federal government, and by the federal government’s use of the rarely used powers of reservation or disallowance.

The idea of using a provincial banking system to thwart federal agencies or federally regulated banks therefore is nothing new. Aberhart tried it, including by using provincial powers over property and civil rights, taxation and judicial procedures. These laws were ultimately overturned.

When Alberta couldn’t fight the banks, it decided to join them. Alberta Treasury Branches — now ATB Financial — is the main surviving relic of Aberhart’s commitment to help Albertans during the Depression.

Cut off from Payments Canada

The Free Alberta Strategy’s authors, however, are failing to recognize the impracticalities of Alberta going ahead with its own banking system.

All banks — or quasi-banks like credit unions, ATB Financial and trust companies — participate in the neural network of the Canadian financial system known as Payments Canada. All banking institutions transfer value for their customers by dispensing cash and offering debit and credit card services.

In the unlikely event that Smith introduced legislation to incorporate banks, Canada’s federal finance minister would quickly point out that ATB and credit unions would be cut off from access to the payments system if the bill were to proceed.

ATB Financial CEO Curtis Stange is pictured at the ATB Financial offices in Edmonton in June 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

This would also mean that ATB or credit unions would not be able to access the lender-of-last-resort services at the Bank of Canada. The lender of last resort can provide liquidity or cash resources to troubled financial institutions to stave off a run on the bank.

Without access to the payment systems and the central bank, ATB and credit unions would fail to meet customer needs for cash, payroll services or to close real estate or securities transactions.

The Free Alberta Strategy is in fact a road map for Alberta sovereignty, touching on the most essential compartment of sovereignty — banking and currency.

Canadian bankers and finance ministers need to understand that the inner workings of banking and central banking are well known to some Alberta sovereigntists in positions of influence — and that the constitution is only an obstacle if Alberta remains part of Canada.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts.

It was written by: Robert L. Ascah, University of Alberta.

Read more:

In Danielle Smith’s fantasy Alberta, Indigenous struggle is twisted to suit settlers

How Danielle Smith won in Alberta and what it means for Canada

Robert (Bob) L. Ascah is affiliated with Alberta NDP.

SEE

 LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for SOCIAL CREDIT 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: A History of Canadian Wealth, 1914.