NOT SO LUCKI

Brenda Lucki's retirement will not fix the RCMP’s structural problems


Eli Sopow, Associate Professor,

MBA Faculty of Leadership & People Management, 

University Canada West

Fri, February 17, 2023

RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki announced her retirement on Feb. 15. It is easy to make Lucki the scapegoat for almost five years of RCMP crises, debacles, collapsing public support and allegations of systemic racism and employee harassment. After all, the buck stopped at her desk. But there’s no point replacing the driver when the vehicle itself is rusted out, out of fuel and mechanically unsound.

We shouldn’t have hopes for an RCMP renaissance with Lucki’s retirement. The problems with RCMP leadership are not about the gender or identity of the person in charge.

The national RCMP structure is clearly befuddling. It has a multi-billion-dollar annual budget and about 30,000 police officer and civilian employees spread across Canada. It includes six levels of policing (rural, municipal, provincial, national, First Nations and international) and is subject to hundreds of federal statutes and agreements.

But the problem is not its spread and focus so much as its organization. The RCMP is a police service run according to the administrative rules and culture of a federal government bureaucracy. It is essentially a ministry of the federal government.

A challenging tenure

Lucki was appointed commissioner of the RCMP in April 2018. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

The RCMP’s challenges are also not about the gender of the commissioner. In 2007, the federal government appointed William Elliott, a federal civilian public servant, to run the RCMP. It was, by all accounts and personal experiences, a very uneven experiment based in part on having someone with zero policing experience and a less than stellar personality.

I have spent close to 20 years at the civilian executive level of the RCMP, at both the divisional and national level. I have reported to and closely observed women in major leadership roles — including the career of now Senator Beverley Busson, former commander of Canada’s largest RCMP Division in British Columbia and her fill-in role as national RCMP Commissioner. And a succession of women Divisional commanders in British Columbia, Alberta and across Canada.

Lucki is not solely responsible for many debacles and crises facing the RCMP, but she does have to take some responsibility for accepting the job in the first place.

The fact is Lucki was not the best qualified to replace the hardcore RCMP commissioner Bob Paulson, a tough major crime investigator and former military fighter pilot.

The reality is Lucki’s appointment was a political decision by Trudeau, trying to change the image of a macho national police force beset by widespread allegations of bullying, intimidation and harassment, from both men and women.

The series of sudden and major changes and reputation-threatening events under Lucki’s watch are widely publicized: Dealing with pipeline construction protests, managing a pandemic with the controversial actions of her own force, managing the first unionization of RCMP sworn police officers and the federal court’s 2022 approval for a $1.1 billion class-action lawsuit against the RCMP over allegations of bullying, intimidation and harassment.

There were also accusations of political interference in the chaotic deployment of RCMP officers during the Nova Scotia mass shooting. And then there was the controversy over the RCMP’s handling of the so-called “freedom convoy.”

Read more: Alleged political interference in the N.S. mass shootings means the RCMP must be restructured

Lucki is not solely responsible for the many crises facing the RCMP, but she does have to take some responsibility for accepting the job in the first place. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

In 2009, the national RCMP Change Management project provided a 168-page review of the culture, structure and workplace climate of the RCMP. The review offered dozens of recommendations — none of which were followed up on.

The review highlighted how RCMP culture is split between policing culture and the bureaucratic culture. The centralized model of bureaucratic administration is often at odds with the needs of operational policing. That has resulted in many of the RCMP’s governance difficulties.

To think that Lucki’s replacement will be able to wave a magic wand and bring order to chaos is to be blind not only to history, but to the trajectory of the RCMP’s organizational nature.
A change in culture

In 2007, the Task Force on Governance and Cultural Change in the RCMP was mandated by the federal government to review the governance and culture of the RCMP. In its report, the task force said:

“We heard more than once that the culture is one of fear and intimidation and that some who are in a position of command use their authority to intimidate others.”

The RCMP also commissioned management professor Linda Duxbury to write an independent report in 2007. The report, titled The RCMP Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow, found that RCMP culture was resistant to change and did not promote a healthy workplace environment. A more recent report by Duxbury also found that a significant majority of RCMP officers reported high levels of job stress.

In my research into RCMP leadership, I’ve found that the RCMP’s hierarchical command and control leadership model would be far better served through a boundary-spanning leadership model. Such a model encompasses many successful traits and actions of various leadership approaches including collaboration, communication, self-awareness, fairness, honesty, trustworthiness, empathy and accountability.

While many salute Lucki’s departure, the RCMP’s history suggests that it’s stuck in a feedback loop, repeating mistakes and expecting something new to emerge. In a statement announcing her retirement, Lucki said she did her best.

Probably so. But Canada needs better.

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

It was written by: Eli Sopow, University Canada West.

Read more:

Emergencies Act inquiry report should tackle the racist origins of national security

Alleged political interference in the N.S. mass shootings means the RCMP must be restructured

Maple trees get a jump on syrup season thanks to climate change

Fri, February 17, 2023 

Sugar bush tours are still weeks away, but recent warm temperatures have the sap already running on James Richardson’s Dunnville-area maple syrup farm.

“We tapped last Wednesday, which is a week earlier than we did last year,” Richardson said on Monday, referring to the 1,200 maple trees on his farm near the Grand River.

“And we had as much (sap) in the first two days last week as we did in all of February last year,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean anything as far as how good a season it’s going to be. It just means the sap’s running now, so we’d better be gathering it.”

The fast start to maple syrup season continues a trend of maple trees loosening their sap earlier and earlier.

“Part of global warming,” Richardson said. “Our seasons have really changed. We come to expect that we might have some earlier warm temperatures, and we expect now that we aren’t going to get frost until Thanksgiving.”

Whereas farmers used to count on frost by the first week of September, the mercury dropping that early would be “unheard of now,” Richardson said.

While staff at Richardson’s Farm Market have had to get busy gathering sap, there is hope in the long-range forecast that the trees will not run dry just yet as overnight temperatures stay below freezing.

“We want it to get cold every night and then the trees stop, and then run during the day,” Richardson explained.

“These are perfect temperatures, really. There’s lots of negative temperatures (overnight) and then getting up above zero (during the day).”

Being able to make syrup earlier does not necessarily mean the farm will produce more this year since warm overnight temperatures in March or April could curtail the operation.

“So it’s just moving the syrup season rather than expanding it,” Richardson said.

Shifting the tourist season is a trickier proposition. The farm offers sugar bush tours in March, with maple taffy tasting and a maple-heavy brunch menu after an educational walk through the woods.

“People kind of expect it in March, and that’s when we are doing tours this year,” Richardson said.

At Westfield Heritage Village in Rockton, maple syrup season returns over eight days in March and April, with traditional syrup-making demonstrations and other maple-themed festivities during a two-hour experience.

Despite the pattern of milder winters, visitors may yet have a snowy troop through the sugar bush, Richardson said.

“We could still get minus-five and a blizzard during March break,” he laughed. “Winter isn’t over yet.”

Fruit crops ride out temperature swings

Fruit and vegetable farmers in Norfolk County hope the warmer weather does not inspire their fields to mimic the maple trees and start to bloom.

Sharon Judd of Meadow Lynn Farms in Simcoe said her strawberry plants are riding out the recent temperature swings underneath a protective layer of straw.

“They are still dormant,” Judd said. “We cover them up to hold the frost in and keep them insulated longer.”

Several more cycles of freezing and thawing could do some damage, she added, but so far the plants look to be in good shape.

Other perennial crops like rhubarb and asparagus are also likely fine, Judd said, since they start in the ground and can stay protected for now. But apple farmers like Simcoe’s Amanda Dooney are keeping a worried eye on their orchards.

“We don’t want the trees moving along at this point because winter is not over,” Dooney said. “And if they start moving along, we’re going to have more risk of frost (damage) when the blossoms are out.”

Ideally, she added, the buds “are staying dormant and sitting tight for a few more weeks.”

While quickly going from frigid to springlike temperatures is less than ideal, Delhi farmer David VanDeVelde of Wholesome Pickins expects the recent weather will have little effect on crop yield or quality.

“I don’t think it’s been cold enough to cause any severe damage, and I don’t think this warm, nice weather is going to be enough to get anything to come to life,” said VanDeVelde, who grows strawberries, asparagus, pumpkins and other veggie and grain crops.

“Ideally, if we had our way, we’d get six inches of snow in December and it would just stay all winter” to keep the ground temperature consistent and insulate the crops, he added.

“One extreme to the next is not the greatest way to go about growing crops.”

But climate change has shifted the definition of seasonal weather such that delayed winters, cooler springs and warm falls have become more common, leaving farmers no choice but to adjust.

“It’s better for it to not get too warm too early because it’s inevitably going to freeze in May,” VanDeVelde said.

“It always does.”

J.P. Antonacci, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Hamilton Spectator

Indigenous leaders and MMIWG families want movement on Calls for Justice

Fri, February 17, 2023

A memorial for Red Dress Day, raising awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls at City Hall in Vancouver on May 5, 2022. A national gathering held by the Assembly of First Nations wrapped up two days of meetings in Vancouver Thursday, with aims to outlining the next steps for action to end violence against Indigenous women and girls. (Ben Nelms/CBC - image credit)More

Assembly of First Nations Regional B.C. Chief Terry Teegee says families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) are frustrated with the lack of progress since the national inquiry ended nearly four years ago.

The AFN's National MMIWG2S+ Gathering wrapped up two days of meetings in Vancouver on Thursday. Families from across the country met with AFN regional chiefs and government officials to discuss a national action plan for MMIWG.

"The general temperature of what we're seeing here at this meeting and also in other events of this nature is that there is a sense of frustration," said Teegee.

"I certainly get it and I myself am frustrated in terms of the lack of progress."

The MMIWG inquiry's final report in 2019 outlined 231 calls to justice — recommendations to all levels of government, including Indigenous governments and institutions like the RCMP.

A national action plan to end violence against Indigenous women and girls was released in 2021.

Teegee said the momentum to implement these actions halted when the pandemic hit, and hasn't picked back up.

"There needs to be more accountability especially in terms of implementing the action plan and and the proper resourcing that we've heard time and again that ministers promise Indigenous peoples," said Teegee.

He said dedicated resourcing and likely millions of dollars still needs to come from the federal government.

"I think [the lack of progress] really speaks to the lack of support and or political will from the federal and … all levels of government."

No one from the office of the federal MMIWG Secretariat, which attended the gathering, was available for an interview.

In an emailed statement, the office said it "continues to monitor and track progress regularly to ensure accountability so that concrete differences in the lives of First Nations women and girls can be made."

The AFN national chief was unavailable for an interview. The AFN Women's Council and Justice Secretariat did not respond to a request for comment.

Data still needed, say families

Meggie Cywink, an MMIWG family member from Whitefish River First Nation, about 77 kilometres southwest of Sudbury Ont., said the discussions at the event were a good start, but she wants to see continued engagement from families while the calls for justice are implemented.

"Families are still printing their own posters, families are still paying their own gas, families are still struggling to find their missing loved ones," said Cywink.

"That is not acceptable."

To ensure the calls for justice are being implemented, Cywink said an oversight committee needs to be appointed.

She said the problem also needs to be quantified and that no one seems to have a clear answer about just how many women and girls are missing or murdered.

"How can you give money if you don't know how many there are?" she said.

Cywink has tracked MMIWG in Canada for about 10 years on her own and said she has roughly 1,825 people in her database going back to the 1800s.

"I've made it my life's work to … put a number to what the government is trying to do and they ought to do that themselves," said Cywink.

VANCOUVER

Downtown East Side fills shoulder to shoulder in memory of the missing and murdered Indigenous Women, girls, and gender diverse people.

Tue, February 14, 2023 

Tuesday, February 14th, marked the 32nd year that the streets of the Downtown Eastside flooded with remembrance of murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse peoples. Families from First Nations across Canada came to commemorate their missing and murdered loved ones.

At the corner of Main and East Hasting Street people began to gather in the morning, organizing for the day's events. The sky was widely blue, and the air was crisp with a coastal winter bite.

Signs hung from tents with the faces and names of missing and murdered women, girls, and gender diverse people. Repeating the phrase, “In loving memory of…”

The Women’s Memorial March in DTES began in 1992 after the murder of Cheryl Ann Joe on Powell Street.

In a press conference on Feb. 14, Melodie Casella, cousin of Cheryl Ann Joe spoke.

“The spark of this March is to continue to bring the awareness of the murdered and missing woman in Canada,” said Casella. “I think it's the families that have to be honored and acknowledged as well. And the ones that stand here with their broken hearts.”

Families of the missing and murdered women, girls, and gender diverse people stood in front of the mic at the corner of East Hastings and Main Street, sharing stories of grief and loss to the crowd of people, that grew larger and larger as the morning went on.

Around them, a sea of posters, filled with the faces of MMIWG2S+ were held above the growing crowd of people.

As family members spoke eagles took their turn flying overhead.

Among the families were Lee and Leah Desjarlais, mother and father of Jenaya who was murdered in 2019 in Regina, Saskatchewan.

“We're here to help the other families, as well to find some sort of peace to help us with our grieving,” said Leah Desjarlais.

She explained that despite not knowing anyone at the event, many people have come together and shown love.

For Regina and Carson Poitras, their daughter, Happy Charles, remains missing.

“I don't know where my daughter is and I still look around everywhere,” Poitras said to the crowd. “I'm hoping that we can get some action out there.”

After family members spoke, shoulder to shoulder, the crowds of people walked in song, down the streets of DTES, united in honoring their missing and murdered loved ones, and calling for justice.

Elders led the memorial march, stopping at locations where women, girls, and gender diverse people were last seen or found, murdered in the DTES. They pray in ceremony and lay a yellow rose for those who remain missing, and a red rose for those who have been murdered.

“The roses are getting more and more each year,” said Evelyn Youngchief, an organizer for the Women’s Memorial March Committee.

According to a census released in 2022, Vancouver is home to 63,345 Indigenous peoples, making the city the third highest population of urban Indigenous people in Canada.

The Downtown Eastside has been reported to have a disproportionately high population of Indigenous people.

“The women that live down here are not safe in their environment,” said Youngchief.

The neighborhood, one of Vancouver's oldest, is interwoven with high levels of addiction, sex work, homelessness, among other social issues that put its residents at risk of violence.

“The violence is getting worse,” said Youngchief. “It's like nobody cares.”

“After three decades the MMIWG2S+ continue… to increase, despite the National Inquiry,” said Chief Judy Wilson at the press conference.

The Squamish Nation matriarch, Kwákwaýel Simia Wendy Nahanee, has sat on the planning committee for the memorial walk in DTES for five years, and has been a resident of the area for over twenty. In an email to Ha-Shilth-Sa Nahanee notes that Indigenous women living in DTES are blamed for the violence that is committed against them because of their ‘high risk’ lifestyles.

The Downtown Eastside Women's Center sees over 1,000 women and girls through their doors seeking their supports each day, with 70 per cent of their clients identifying as Indigenous.

Nahanee said not only is this a walk to remember those who have been lost, but is a march “against class disparity, racism, inequality and violence.”

Coordinators of the walk publish a booklet annually which includes a list of names of Indigenous women, girls, and gender diverse peoples who are missing and murdered. Since 1992, the year of the first annual women’s memorial walk through DTES, over 1,500 Indigenous women’s names from DTES have been added to the list, wrote Nahanee.

“I was born Indigenous, I will die Indigenous, but I don’t want to die because I am Indigenous,” said Nahanee.

Alexandra Mehl, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa

BC

Surrey council endorses plan to protect 'unique' highly fertile farmland from development


Tue, February 14, 2023 

Ron Heppell pulls potatoes out of the ground on Campbell Heights farmland in Surrey. The city has decided to throw its support behind adding the land to the province's Agricultural Land Reserve. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC - image credit)

Surrey council is supporting the agricultural future of a large parcel of highly fertile farmland that was threatened by future development in the fast-growing city, but First Nations in the area say the protection is an unwelcome complication to land claims talks.

Council voted unanimously Monday to throw its support behind an Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) proposal to put 123 hectares of land in Campbell Heights into the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR).

"We've had a massive loss of productive agricultural land," said Coun. Mike Bose, ahead of the vote. "This land is unique. It cannot be replaced anywhere in Canada, and I would argue, in North America."

ALR land is protected from non-farm uses, with a number of restrictions on development and construction activities.

The land, at 192nd Street and 36th Avenue, has been highlighted for its fertility. Three generations of the Heppell family have farmed it since the 1970s.

They say it produces between 30 and 50 million servings of fresh vegetables like potatoes, carrots and cabbage yearly — enough for one serving on every Metro Vancouverite's plate for two to three weeks.

Maggie MacPherson/CBC

Proponents have said protecting the land for future agriculture use will help with local food security, especially as the cost of produce imports from the U.S. keeps growing, and as climate change impacts food production in coming years.

The federal government owns the land but has leased about two-thirds of it to the Heppells. It has declared the land as surplus and wants to divest.

Surrey city staff have noted that if the city, region or province were to put in an expression of interest in the land during the divestment process, taking steps to protect the land for farming could play into that process.

First Nations express concern

Kate Newman, a researcher with the University of the Fraser Valley's Food and Agriculture Institute, says while the decision to add the land to the reserve or not is fully for the provincial ALC to make, it does remove the possibility of a municipal-requested review of the decision, which could upend the process.

"And if [the city is] in support, it makes it very unlikely that any opposition to this decision is going to succeed," Newman said.

Maggie MacPherson/CBC

Newman says about the only groups that could make a substantial push to keep the land our of the reserve are First Nations. A group of three local first Nations — Katzie, Kwantlen and Semiahmoo, or KSS — have expressed objections to putting the land in the ALR.

A law firm representing the Nations say ALR restrictions on the land would infringe on their rights and the commission failed to adequately consult the Nations first as required by law.

"KKS ancestors have occupied, governed, stewarded, and used the land, waters, and resources of their territories, which include the [Campbell Heights] land, since time immemorial. The land formed part of a landscape that was vital to the socio-economy of KKS including with respect to travel, trade, and the harvesting of resources," reads a submission from a public consultation.

"The land continues to be culturally, spiritually, and economically important for KKS, and their members continue to exercise their rights in this area except where they have been restricted due to government regulation, displacement, and development."

A Katzie First Nation representative said Tuesday evening the chiefs of the three First Nations are presently in Ottawa meeting with MPs and federal ministers about the land.

They are looking for a solution that "respects the interests of the various stakeholders involved whilst recognizing the vital importance of this land to the three Nations and the Federal government's commitment to the implementation of Indigenous rights and UNDRIP."

The Katzie representative said the Surrey land is a "cornerstone" of Indigenous rights and reconciliation for the three First Nations and talks have been ongoing for over a decade.

Farmers pleased

The Heppells, for their part, are thrilled by council's support for preserving the land for crops.

Tyler Heppell says with increasing public awareness about the importance of food security as grocery prices rise, keeping local farmland productive is the right call.

"There will never be another piece of land like this in British Columbia for farming," Heppell said. "We need to protect it and keep it in agriculture because that's its highest use."

The Agricultural Land Commission says the possibility of protecting the land will be considered "in early 2023."

POSTMODERN ROBBER BARON
Tesla fires dozens of workers one day after launching union campaign

WHICH IS ILLEGAL


Kirsten Korosec and Rebecca Bellan
Thu, February 16, 2023 at 8:45 AM MST·4 min read

Update: This article has been updated with Tesla's response to allegations that it fired workers in retaliation for unionizing.

Tesla fired more than 30 employees who work at its factory in Buffalo, New York, in retaliation for union organizing, according to a complaint filed with the National Labor Relations Board.

The firings and complaint were first reported by Bloomberg.

Tesla Workers United, a group of Tesla employees who work as data labelers on the Autopilot team at the company's Buffalo plant, announced Tuesday plans to organize a union. The workers said they're organizing for job security as well as better pay and working conditions with Workers United, the same group that helped form the country’s first unionized Starbucks.

Dozens of those employees were fired Wednesday, a day after their union efforts became public. In the complaint, the workers said they were terminated in retaliation for union activity and to discourage union activity. The union organizers are "seeking injunctive relief to prevent irreparable destruction of employee rights resulting from Tesla’s unlawful conduct," the complaint says.

Tesla has denied that it fired workers in retaliation for unionizing, and said its workers were let go after a routine performance review.

Tesla Workers United, in a statement emailed to TechCrunch, said it "wants to make their stance clear: These firings are unacceptable. The expectations required of us are unfair, unattainable, ambiguous and ever changing. For our CEO, Elon Musk, to fire 30 workers and announce his $2 billion charity donation on the same day is despicable. We stand as one."

The workers said they also received an email Wednesday evening updating them on a new policy that prohibits employees from recording workplace meetings without all participants' permission. Tesla Workers United said the policy violates federal labor law and also flouts New York’s one-party consent law to record conversations.

“We’re angry. This won’t slow us down. This won’t stop us. They want us to be scared, but I think they just started a stampede. We can do this. But I believe we will do this,” Sara Costantino, current Tesla employee and organizing committee member, said in a statement.

The workers trying to organize are part of the data annotation team working on Autopilot. Until last summer, Tesla had hundreds of data annotation employees working on the Autopilot team in San Mateo, California and Buffalo, New York. The San Mateo office had a headcount of 276. In June, the company laid off 195 staffers at the San Mateo office and shut down the location. About 81 workers were supposed to be relocated to another office.

The remaining data annotation employees, who label images to support the company's Autopilot advanced driver assistance system, work at the Buffalo, New York plant.
Tesla's response

On Thursday evening, Tesla published a blog post responding to what the company says are "false allegations." Tesla disbanded its communications team in 2020, so this post is the first official response from the company in relation to its Buffalo workers trying to unionize.

Tesla denied that the employees were terminated in response to a new union campaign, but rather as part of a routine performance review.

"The most recent performance review cycle was from July 2022 through December 2022. On December 13th, 2022, managers across the company received a communication regarding the review schedule. This included information noting that exits for low performers would start the week of February 12, 2023," reads the post.

Tesla said about 4% of its 675-employee Autopilot labeling team in Buffalo were exited as a result of the performance review, and that those employees had received prior feedback on their poor performance but never stepped up their game. The company had already identified the employees it wanted to let go on February 3, which Tesla says was well before the union campaign was announced.

"We became aware of organizing activities approximately 10 days later," said the company.

Tesla also addressed criticisms of how it monitors labelers while they work, which some employees have said led them to skip bathroom breaks. The company said it monitors key strokes in order to calculate how long it takes to label an image and "improve the ease of use of our labeling software," and that there is therefore nothing to be gained by delaying bathroom breaks.

Tesla Workers United did not respond in time to TechCrunch to confirm or deny this timeline or the existence of performance reviews.

Tesla denies firing New York workers in retaliation for union activity

It said the Autopilot employees who were let go were low performers.



Mariella Moon
·Contributing Reporter
Thu, February 16, 2023 

Tesla has denied that it terminated employees at its Buffalo, New York Autopilot facility in response to a new union campaign. Days after workers at the facility sent a letter to company chief Elon Musk stating their intention to unionize, the campaign's organizers accused the automaker of illegally terminating employees in retaliation. In a blog post, Tesla called their accusation a "false allegation" and said that those who were let go lost their jobs because of their own doing.

The company explained that it conducts performance reviews every six months and that workers are graded 1 to 5 for each cycle. It "helps them calibrate their work," Tesla wrote, and they will be let go if they fail to meet their performance expectations. These reviews are apparently conducted everywhere Tesla has a facility, with the most recent cycle covering July 2022 through December 2022. Tesla said it identified the people who will be let go on February 3rd, over a week before organizers sent their letter to Musk, and that managers were told way back in December that low performers will start exiting the company on the week of February 12th.

Moreover, the company explicitly stated that 4 percent of the employees on the Autopilot labeling team was let go due to their poor performance reviews. (Tesla said it only learned in hindsight that one out of the 27 impacted employees is part of the union campaign.) They received prior feedback, Tesla said, but "they did not demonstrate sufficient improvement." If you'll recall, the union organizers in Buffalo are in charge of labeling data for Autopilot. They previously told Bloomberg that they're fighting for better pay and working conditions that reduce production pressures.

The workers said Tesla monitors their keystrokes to determine how much time they spend on each task and how many hours they spend working in a day. They've reportedly been skipping bathroom breaks, as a result. But in Tesla's response, it said that time monitoring is only there "to calculate how long it takes to label an image," so "there is nothing to be gained by delaying bathroom breaks." The report that Tesla pressures its employees is "categorically false," it added. Tesla didn't mention anything regarding the employees' complaint about not having a voice in the company's though: Workers previously said that talks of forming a union began after management shut down an internal chatroom where they can air their grievances.

Federal government releases sustainable jobs plan



Fri, February 17, 2023 

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson speaks during question period, in Ottawa, in a file photo from 2022. Wilkinson led development of the government's sustainable jobs plan, which was released Friday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press - image credit)

The federal government on Friday released a plan to create sustainable jobs that aims to transition workers away from the fossil fuel industry and toward clean energy.

The interim plan, which will guide the government's "just transition" approach from 2023 to 2025, includes the establishment of a new training centre for sustainable jobs and a new government advisory body. The government will develop a full sustainable jobs plan every five years starting in 2025.

"Canada has what it takes to become the clean energy and technology supplier of choice in a net-zero world," Jonathan Wilkinson, the minister of natural resources, said in a news release.

"With this plan, the federal government is taking yet another step forward to ensure that Canada's workers have the skills and support necessary to seize this generational opportunity."

The 32-page plan comes more than three years after the federal Liberals promised a strategy to protect jobs as Canada adjusts from a combustion-energy powerhouse to a clean-energy economy.

The plan does not set a job creation target or predict how many jobs it will create in the sustainable energy sector. The government news release points to a Royal Bank of Canada report that says Canada could add up to 400,000 clean energy jobs through its efforts to transition to net zero.

The plan comes after two years of government consultation with provinces and territories, industry, Indigenous peoples, unions and other stakeholders.

The government's plans to move to a clean energy economy have prompted criticism among some Alberta government officials, including Premier Danielle Smith. Smith has said the "just transition" plan will eliminate jobs in Alberta's oil and gas sector, and Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley has called on the federal government to drop transition legislation it plans to introduce later this year.

On Thursday, Smith wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau asking him to put the plan on ice because it poses "an unconstitutional and existential threat to the Alberta economy and the jobs of hundreds of thousands of Albertans."

But the plan says a labour shortage is more of a concern than unemployment among energy workers.

"According to numerous studies, rather than a shortage of jobs, in Canada we are much more likely to see an abundance of sustainable jobs with a shortage of workers required to fill them," it reads.

jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

The federal government has set targets of reducing Canada's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 40 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

"Around the world, financial markets are increasingly pricing climate risk into investment decisions. Smart money is flowing away from assets that are not compatible with a transition to a net-zero world, and towards opportunities that are," the plan reads.

"We need to skate to where the puck is going."

"What Canada needs now is a dedicated plan for workers in a net-zero future. A plan that outlines how we will keep workers at the heart of Canada's energy sector for decades to come. A plan to create jobs, to create prosperity."

The document says the government will introduce legislation later in 2023 which will lay out the government's plans on accountability, engagement and transparency on the transition to sustainable jobs.

"We're pleased that the Liberal government is recognizing the huge opportunity of embracing a clean energy future," Charlie Angus, the NDP critic for natural resources, said in a media statement.

"But the question is whether or not the government will back up these positive words with the massive investments required to kick-start a clean energy future."

Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

The plan says global demand for oil will be down 75 per cent by 2050, and demand for gas will be about half of what it is today. But it also says oil and gas will be needed for non-combustion uses, such as plastics, solvents, lubricants and waxes.

Amara Possian of 350.org, an environmental organization, said the plan doesn't go far enough.

"This plan leaves too much room for the fossil fuel industry to block progress. Taking the climate emergency seriously means no more public money for false solutions like carbon capture, utilization and storage that will only lock workers into the dying fossil fuel era," she said in a media statement.

"Canadians deserve a plan that aligns with climate science, guarantees a good, unionized, green job to anyone who wants one, and puts people first, not corporate profits."

Canada unveils sustainable jobs plan to prepare workers for future green economy


A construction worker passes a condominium site with a roll of cable in Toronto
Nia Williams

Fri, February 17, 2023 
By Nia Williams

(Reuters) -Canada on Friday released a long-awaited sustainable jobs plan, laying out how the federal government plans to help train workers for roles in the coming clean energy economy as the world aims for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The plan, to be followed by legislation later this year, includes steps such as setting up a sustainable jobs secretariat to coordinate government policies and a partnership council to promote consultation with provinces, labour unions and others.

Canada said it is also planning to improve labour market data collection and advance funding for skills development, although the document did not outline any new government spending. From 2025 the government plans to release a new sustainable jobs plan every five years.


"Canada has what it takes to become the clean energy and technology supplier of choice in a net-zero world," Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said in a news release.

Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been promising sustainable jobs legislation since 2019. But in Canada, the world's fourth-largest crude oil producer, the concept of retraining workers for clean energy jobs, also called a "Just Transition", became a lightening rod for criticism.

In the crude-producing province Alberta, conservative Premier Danielle Smith has accused Trudeau of wanting to phase out the oil and gas sector.

The Alberta government is "perplexed" by the jobs plan not mentioning a liquefied natural gas export strategy and has "grave concerns" about it not recognising the provinces' right to manage their own natural resources, Smith said in a statement on Friday.

"This kind of dysfunctional communication by the federal government with our province cannot continue if Canada is to have any chance of achieving its 2050 emissions reduction targets," she said.

The federal government said enormous clean energy opportunities are emerging in oil-producing provinces, from hydrogen to critical minerals. There will also be sustainable jobs in conventional energy industries as Canadian producers aim to lower the carbon intensity of their crude, according to the document.

"Rather than a shortage of jobs, in Canada we are much more likely to see an abundance of sustainable jobs with a shortage of workers required to fill them," the plan said.

Think-tanks Clean Energy Canada expects jobs in the sector will grow by 3.4% annually over the next decade, nearly four times faster than the Canadian average.

On Thursday, Smith wrote to Trudeau offering to collaborate with the federal government on developing carbon capture and storage incentives, but only if Ottawa secured Alberta's consent on climate policies that affect oil and gas, including clean energy jobs legislation.

(Reporting by Nia WilliamsEditing by Marguerita Choy and David Gregorio)

Alberta offers to work with Trudeau on carbon capture - with conditions



Thu, February 16, 2023 
By Nia Williams

(Reuters) -Canada's Alberta province on Thursday offered to collaborate with the federal government to spur carbon capture utilization and storage (CCUS) investments, but only if Ottawa secures Alberta's consent on climate policies that impact oil and gas.

In an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said those policies include a proposed oil and gas emissions cap, clean power regulations and legislation to help workers retrain for green energy jobs.

Canada, the world's fourth-largest oil producer, wants to cut carbon emissions 40%-45% below 2005 levels by 2030. The oil and gas sector is the country's highest-polluting industry, accounting for more than a quarter of all emissions.- ADVERTISEMENT -


The country's biggest oil producers, a group known as the Pathways Alliance, want to develop CCUS technology to store emissions underground, but have said they need more public money to help fund the multi-billion-dollar projects.

In her letter, Smith proposed coordinating a federal CCUS income tax credit with an expansion of Alberta's Petrochemicals Incentive Program (APIP) to include CCUS projects.

She also requested the immediate creation of a federal and provincial working group led by ministers that could work on reaching an agreement on a joint incentive program in coming weeks.

However, she said the invitation came with "one non-negotiable condition": that Ottawa holds back on passing legislation or policies impacting the oil and gas sector without Alberta's input and full agreement.

"Although Alberta is willing to work as an active partner with the federal government on a coordinated approach to reducing Alberta's and Canada's net emissions, under no circumstances will our province accept the imposition of arbitrary and unachievable targets or policies that spell the end of meaningful long-term investment in Alberta's energy sector," Smith wrote.

Ottawa already unveiled a CCUS investment tax credit worth C$2.6 billion ($1.93 billion) over the next five years in 2022.

Traditionally conservative Alberta has a testy relationship with the Liberal government in Ottawa.

Smith, who became leader of the United Conservative Party in October vowing to stand up to federal over-reach, is facing a provincial election in May and has accused Trudeau of wanting to "phase out" the oil and gas sector.

In a recent interview, Alberta's environment minister told Reuters tension over the proposed emissions cap was holding up progress on other issues such as CCUS support.

The federal government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Pathways Alliance said it was "encouraged" by Alberta considering an expansion to its petrochemicals incentive program and that Canada needed to compete with U.S. green energy subsidies.

"We look forward to hearing further details from both governments," said Mark Cameron, Pathways' vice president of external relations.

($1 = 1.3461 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Marguerita Choy, Christopher Cushing and Sonali Paul)

Discovery of 4,500-year-old palace in Iraq may hold key to ancient civilisation


Tobi Thomas
Fri, 17 February 2023 

Photograph: Asaad Niazi/AFP/Getty Images

It has been described by the director of the British Museum as “one of the most fascinating sites” he has has ever visited, but the archaeologist who led the discovery of a lost Sumerian temple in the ancient city of Girsu has said he was accused of “making it up” and wasting funding.

Dr Sebastien Rey lead the project that discovered the 4,500-year-old palace in modern-day Iraq – thought to hold the key to more information about one of the first known civilisations.

The Lord Palace of the Kings of the ancient Sumerian city Girsu – now located in Tello, southern Iraq – was discovered during fieldwork last year by British and Iraqi archaeologists. Alongside the ancient city, more than 200 cuneiform tablets were discovered, containing administrative records of the ancient city.

ANCIENT ORIGIN OF BUREAUCRACY

More than 200 cuneiform tablets were discovered at the site, 

containing administrative records of the ancient city.

Photograph: Asaad Niazi/AFP/Getty Images

Rey said that when he first brought up the project at international conferences no one believed him. “Everyone basically told me, ‘Oh no you’re making it up you’re wasting your time you’re wasting British Museum UK government funding’ – that’s what they were telling me,” he said.

Girsu, one of the earliest known cities in the history of humankind, was built by the ancient Sumerians, who between 3,500 and 2,000 BC invented writing, built the first cities and created the first codes of law. The ancient city was first discovered 140 years ago, but the site has been the target of looting and illegal excavations.

The discovery is the result of the Girsu Project, an archeological collaboration, established in 2015, led by the British Museum and funded by the LA-based Getty Museum.

Alongside the discovery of the palace and the tablets, the main temple dedicated to the Sumerian god, Ninĝirsu, was also identified. Before this pioneering fieldwork, its existence was known only from ancient inscriptions discovered alongside the first successful excavation of the ancient city.

The project follows the Iraqi scheme first funded by the British government in response to the destruction of important heritage sites in Iraq and Syria by Islamic State. Since its establishment, more than 70 Iraqis have been trained to conduct eight seasons of fieldwork at Girsu.

The first mud brick walls of the palace, which were discovered last year, have since been held in the Iraq Museum in Baghdad.

The Sumerians inhabited the ancient eastern Mediterranean region of Mesopotamia, and were responsible for many technological advancements, including measurements of time as well as writing.

An aerial view of the excavation site in Tello, Iraq. The Sumerians inhabited the ancient eastern Mediterranean region of Mesopotamia. Photograph: British Museum/PA

According to Hartwig Fischer, the director of the British Museum, the site of the ancient city in southern Iraq was “one of the most fascinating sites I’ve ever visited”.

He said: “The collaboration between the British Museum, state board of antiquities and heritage of Iraq, and the Getty represents a vital new way of building cooperative cultural heritage projects internationally. We are delighted that today’s visit could celebrate the recent discoveries that are the result of this collaboration, and continue the British Museum’s long-term commitment to the protection of the cultural heritage of Iraq, the support of innovative research, and the training of the next generation of Iraqi archaeologists at Girsu.

“While our knowledge of the Sumerian world remains limited today, the work at Girsu and the discovery of the lost palace and temple hold enormous potential for our understanding of this important civilisation, shedding light on the past and informing the future.”

The ancient Sumerians may not be as well known a civilisation as the ancient Egyptians or Greeks, but according to Dr Timothy Potts, the directory of the Getty Museum, Girsu is “probably one of the most important heritage sites in the world that very few people know about”.

The discovery is the result of the Girsu Project, an archeological collaboration established in 2015 and led by the British Museum and funded by the Getty Museum. Photograph: Asaad Niazi/AFP/Getty Images

He added: “Through its collections, exhibitions, research and publications the Getty seeks to promote the understanding and preservation of the world’s artistic and cultural heritage.

“The ancient world has been a particular focus of the museum’s programmes at the Getty Villa, and we are therefore delighted to have partnered with the British Museum on the Girsu Project in Iraq.

“This innovative programme provides critical support for the uniquely important archaeological site of Girsu, through the training of Iraqi specialists entrusted with its development for sustainable archaeology and tourism.”

Iraq’s culture minister, Ahmed Fakak Al-Badrani, said: “The British archaeological excavations in Iraq will further unveil significant ancient eras of Mesopotamia, as it is a true testimony to the strong ties between the two countries to enhance the joint cooperation between the two countries.”

The Sumerians explainer

Who were they?

The Sumerians were the inhabitants of Sumer, which is the earliest known civilisation in the historical region of Mesopotamia, located in modern-day southern Iraq. According to archaeological evidence, they built about a dozen city-states on the fourth millennium BC.

Girsu, which is located in Tello, Iraq, was first discovered 140 years ago, and was significant in that it first revealed to the world of the existence of the Sumerian civilisation, as well as bringing to light some of the most vital monuments of Mesopotamian art and architecture.

The first site that alerted the world to the existence of the Sumerian civilisation was discovered 140 years ago.

What did they invent?

The Sumerians were ancient pioneers, having advanced the craft of writing, writing literature, hymns and prayers. They built the first known cities as well as creating the first known code of law. They also perfected several existing forms of technology, including the wheel, the plough and mathematics.

The epic of Gilgamesh, considered the world’s oldest surviving piece of literature, derives from five Sumerian poems.

They were also notably one of the first civilisations to brew beer, which was seen by the ancient people as a key to a healthy heart and liver.

A United Airlines flight took a steep dive to just 800 feet above the Pacific Ocean

A United Airlines plane taxis at Newark International Airport in New Jersey on Jan. 11.
CREDIT: AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

BY Joe Hernandez

FEB 14, 2023

NPR

A United Airlines flight that took off from the Hawaiian island of Maui late last year made a steep dive shortly after takeoff and came within 800 feet of the Pacific Ocean before regaining altitude.

The harrowing incident was first reported on Sunday by The Air Current, an aviation news site.

On Dec. 18, United Airlines flight 1722 left Kahului Airport bound for San Francisco and reached 2,200 feet before experiencing a precipitous descent that brought the aircraft just 775 feet above water, the website reported.

The plane was able to regain altitude quickly and ultimately completed its journey to California. The incident lasted about 45 seconds.

"There were a number of screams on the plane," passenger Rod Williams II told CBS News. "Everybody knew that something was out of the ordinary, or at least that this was not normal."

United Airlines spokesman Josh Freed said in an email to NPR that the pilots filed a safety report after landing in San Francisco.

The two pilots, who together have roughly 25,000 hours of flying experience, are now receiving additional training following an investigation involving the airline, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Line Pilots Association, a pilots' union. Pilots typically need a minimum of 1,500 flight hours to be certified as first officers at commercial airlines.

United said there were no injuries related to the incident. "Safety remains our highest priority," Freed said.

It's unclear what caused the drop. United told The Air Current that the incident wasn't related to any problem with the plane. The publication reported that there were clouds and heavy rain in Maui that day.

In a statement, the FAA confirmed that the United Airlines flight crew voluntarily reported the incident to the agency. The FAA said it reviewed the incident and took "appropriate action" but gave no additional details.

The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates civil aviation accidents, said it was gathering information about the incident but had not initiated an investigation. [Copyright 2023 NPR]

Did pilots forget to update autopilot and cause jet's terrifying 1,400ft dive towards ocean?

 Expert says United pilots may have failed to program autopilot with correct altitude - causing the nose-dive when they switched it on after take off

The cause of the dive taken by a Boeing 777 on December 18 is underway

The United Airlines flight plunged 1,400 feet shortly after taking off from Hawaii

One aviation safety expert believes that pilot error may have been a factor

By PAUL FARRELL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 14 February 2023 

The mysterious 1,400 foot plunge taken by a United Airlines Boeing 777 shortly after taking off from Hawaii en route to San Francisco may have been the result of the pilots failing to program the autopilot correctly.

Officials are currently investigating why the plane plummeted to just 800 feet above the Pacific Ocean.

Aviation consultant Kit Derby told DailyMail.com that considering the slightly rough weather conditions, the National Weather Service reported heavy rains in the area on the day of the incident, it's likely the pilots wanted to engage the autopilot.

'So one of the things that pilots do is a set an altitude, which is a target for the autopilot. If that altitude was set lower [then the current altitude] then the autopilot would descend,' Derby said.

Derby added that when pilots receive airspace clearance prior to takeoff, typically they would then set the autopilot to the necessary altitude. He added: 'If that step didn't occur, then it could still be at the airport elevation, which would be below you at this point.'

The only other theories that Derby offered were a possible malfunction of the autopilot system, something that is 'extremely rare.' He also said that it would be extremely unlikely that the airplane itself suffered some kind of malfunction.

'They weren't very high. And they came very close to the water. But they didn't really lose that much altitude, I mean, 500 feet or so is not a lot of altitude in the big picture unless you're close to the ground,' Derby added.

The pilots at the helm of the flight had a combined 25,000 hours of flying time between them.

Aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University told DailyMail.com that he would be curious to look into whether the autopilot was engaged but that he would need to wait until all of the data was in before offering a concrete theory.

Brickhouse went on to say that investigators will likely study the weather systems in the area at the time as well were all of the other systems on board the aircraft working correctly.

'Like the rest of the world, I literally just learned about this yesterday. And there's so many questions, because this is not a typical movement that you would see an aircraft making at any point in a flight, so it's just a really interesting situation,' Brickhouse continued.

He went on to describe the pilot's decision to continue on the flight to San Francisco as 'very concerning.'

'So speaking purely from a safety perspective, I would have preferred to seeing that aircraft, you know, turn around and land back at Maui, and make sure that the aircraft was was in good condition,' Brickhouse continued.

The United Airlines flight from Hawaii to San Francisco plummeted in the air during the previously unreported December incident, coming within 775 feet of the Pacific Ocean


Rod Williams II was sitting near the back of the plane with his wife and kids when it came down. Williams, who studied aviation in college, said he tried to keep calm for the sake of his children

Kim Derby, however felt that unless the pilots knew about an issue with the plane, they were under no obligation to return to the airport.

He added that the pilots would need to have done a significant fuel dump in order to land.

'When nothing else is broken or not working on the airplane, if it was pilot error, then they know what's wrong. They fix that and know no reason not to continue,' Derby said.

Brickhouse also said that it was unusual that we hadn't heard about the plunge until this week.

'I haven't seen anything from passengers and, and that's pretty odd in this social media era that we live in. You know, the passengers on board would have definitely felt for that aircraft.'

Father of two Rod Williams II who was sitting at the back of the plane described the horror of the plunge in an interview with CNN saying, 'It felt like you were climbing to the top of a roller coaster,' Williams said, telling the outlet the he noticed the plane had dipped at a 'concerning rate' for several seconds.

It was at this point, Williams said, that passengers who at first tried to remain calm began to panic.

Williams, who is the first passenger to provide a personal account of the incident, which only came to light after a report Sunday from the outlet Air Current

'There were a number of screams on the plane,' the Columbus, Ohio, realtor recalled. 'Everybody knew that something was out of the ordinary, or at least that this was not normal.'

Still, the dutiful dad - scared-stiff himself - tried to keep his cool in the presence of his wife and children.

'You're trying your best to maintain your composure – there's obviously kids on the flight. nobody really knows what's going on,' Williams said, before adding, 'but at the same time, you're concerned. You don't know if this is an issue.'

'It was certainly out of the ordinary.'

Williams proceed to provide new on the panicked states of passengers, as well as insight into his own state of mind during the harrowing ordeal - which only came to light after a report Sunday from the outlet Air Current.

'It's tense, you don't really have a chance to speak or to conjure up words, you're just kind of gripping the seat and praying under your breath,' he recalled of the thoughts going through their heads at the time.

'I asked her later and sure enough… we were praying for a miracle, because we felt like this could be it.'

Soon enough, the scare was over, Williams said, at which point flight attendants came out to comfort some passengers who were especially distraught,.

About ten minutes later, and there was an announcement that assured the passengers the event had passed.

'Someone from the cockpit got on the intercom and said, 'Alright, folks, you probably felt a couple G's on that one, but everything's gonna be OK,' said Williams, who is the first passenger to provide a personal account of the incident.

'We're gonna be alright,' Williams credited the United staffer saying.

Williams also said that he did not realize how close the plane had come to the water until he read about it in various news reports nearly two months after the incident.

Despite the stormy conditions seen during takeoff, the rest of the flight went smoothly, Williams said. After landing in San Francisco, the family took another flight home to Ohio.

A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that the investigative agency is still seeking information about the Dec. 18 incident.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees airlines, said the United crew reported the incident under a voluntary safety-reporting program. The FAA said it reviewed the incident 'and took appropriate action' without providing further details.

A former spokesman for American Airlines, Ross Feinstein, told the New York Times that the voluntary reporting system has been a great success.

'Safety issues through this program are usually resolved through corrective action rather than through punishment or discipline and, as a result, it continues to enhance aviation safety,' Feinstein said.

United said it worked with the FAA and the pilots’ union on an investigation that led to additional training for the two pilots, which is still going on.

The airline did not explain why the pilots chose to continue the long, overwater flight to San Francisco instead of returning to Kahului Airport on the island of Maui.

Trump's plan for a 2nd term reportedly includes firing squads, hangings, and group executions

RAFI SCHWARTZ

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

Photo by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images

As Donald Trump's second re-election bid begins to pick up steam in the new year, details about the former president's plans for his return to the White House have begun to emerge — including a new report from Rolling Stone, which alleges Trump has begun polling his advisers on whether he should bring back firing squads, hangings, and even the guillotine should he win in 2024.

According to two sources, the former president has even begun exploring the possibility of group executions, with a third person claiming Trump has expressed interest in a government ad campaign to highlight the administration's lethality and, per Rolling Stone's source, "help put the fear of God into violent criminals." A Trump campaign spokesperson denied the former president had plans for an execution ad campaign in a statement to Rolling Stone. 

Trump's fascination with the death penalty has long been on public display, stretching back to his call to execute the "Central Park Five," five young Black and Latino men accused of rape and assault in the late 1980s (all were later exonerated). As Rolling Stone had previously reported, Trump had ended his first term by executing more than four times as many convicted persons in his final six months in office as the federal government had killed in total over the prior half-century. He also signed an executive order in those last weeks in office that expanded the federal government's ability to conduct hangings and firing squads as methods of execution.  And during his campaign launch in November, Trump made a special point to highlight a call to execute "everyone who sells drugs [or] gets caught selling drugs" if given a second term. 

This latest report has earned harsh rebukes from some, including journalist Oliver Willis, who called it the "kind of fascist s--t Republican primary voters love." Citing a 2016 campaign event in which Trump enthusiastically lauded the disproven myth that U.S. General John Pershing summarily executed dozens of Muslim prisoners in the Philippines with ammunition "dipped [...] in pig's blood," Semafor Washington Bureau Chief Benjy Sarlin wryly noted that now Trump was "moderating his stance ahead of 2024, before he just favored summary executions while defiling the bodies."

Dominion Has The Receipts For Fox Election Lies!

POSTED BY ELLEN -7842.60PC ON FEBRUARY 17, 2023 · 

 https://www.newshounds.us/

Dominion Voting Systems has produced evidence that Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Rupert Murdoch and plenty more at Fox all knew the smears about Dominion Voting Systems were a lie but perpetuated them anyway.

A nearly 200-page legal brief from Dominion seeking summary judgment in its $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News is full of jaw-dropping information about how top people at the network knew that it was pushing lies about the 2020 election. 

From The New York Times:

Newly disclosed messages and testimony from some of the biggest stars and most senior executives at Fox News revealed that they privately expressed disbelief about President Donald J. Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, even though the network continued to promote many of those lies on the air.

The hosts Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, as well as others at the company, repeatedly insulted and mocked Trump advisers, including Sidney Powell and Rudolph W. Giuliani, in text messages with each other in the weeks after the election, according to a legal filing on Thursday by Dominion Voting Systems. Dominion is suing Fox for defamation in a case that poses considerable financial and reputational risk for the country’s most-watched cable news network.

…

The messages also show that such doubts extended to the highest levels of the Fox Corporation, with Rupert Murdoch, its chairman, calling Mr. Trump’s voter fraud claims “really crazy stuff.

…

On Nov. 12, in a text chain with Ms. Ingraham and Mr. Hannity, Mr. Carlson pointed to a tweet in which a Fox reporter, Jacqui Heinrich, fact-checked a tweet from Mr. Trump referring to Fox broadcasts and said there was no evidence of voter fraud from Dominion.

“Please get her fired,” Mr. Carlson said. He added: “It needs to stop immediately, like tonight. It’s measurably hurting the company. The stock price is down. Not a joke.” Ms. Heinrich had deleted her tweet by the next morning.

I plan to read the brief this morning and will post more as warranted.

Meanwhile, you can read the entire brief here, courtesy of The Times. There are many redactions in the brief which, The Times says, "contain more revelations about deliberations inside the network" that Fox wants to keep sealed. One can only imagine how much more damning those might be. The Times and National Public Radio are challenging those redactions in court.

2/17/23 update: I'm still reading and digesting the brief. Boy, does it have the receipts! I hope to post more tomorrow. 

(image via screen grab)