Labour relations board report recommends pay raise plan for 4 PSAC bargaining units

Fri, February 17, 2023 

Government office buildings, like these in Gatineau, Que., are filling back up with federal workers and many of their unions are currently negotiating with the federal government for a new collective agreement. 

(Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press - image credit)

The Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board's Public Interest Commission has published the final report for the four Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) bargaining units in the core public administration that declared an impasse in negotiations with the government last spring.

The report "provides a clear path forward" for the union and government to reach an agreement, said a news release from the Treasury Board Secretariat.

That report recommends wage increases over three years for all four PSAC bargaining units of 1.5 per cent in 2021, 4.5 per cent for 2022 and three per cent for 2023.

The report also recommends "increased allowances for many employees, as well as enhancements to shift premiums, flexibilities and family-related leave."

According to the news release, the federal government will be going into mediation with the union in April, with a third-party mediator.

The release also said the government is currently in negotiations with 26 of 28 bargaining units across the public service, and have signed one agreement.

"PSAC members provide important services to Canadians, from issuing work permits to processing tax returns, and the government values their work," the news release said.

"We remain committed to reaching a deal at the table that is fair to employees and reasonable for taxpayers."

Alberta government names five new members to Preston Manning-led COVID review panel
PRIVATIZE HEALTHCARE PANEL
Fri, February 17, 2023 



EDMONTON — The Alberta government has named five members to a COVID-19 review panel led by former Reform Party leader Preston Manning, one of whom was recently fired along with the rest of the governing board of Alberta Health Services.

Jack Mintz joins Dr. Martha Fulford, Michel Kelly-Gagnon, Dr. Rob Tanguay and Jack Major on the Public Health Emergencies Governance Review panel.

“Albertans can have confidence Alberta’s pandemic response will be reviewed by these medical, policy, legal and economic experts so our province can better respond to the next public health emergency,” Smith said in a statement Friday.

MR. NEOLIBERAL
Mintz is the president’s fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy and advises and writes on tax, business and health policy.

He and the board were fired by Smith in November. She said they failed Albertans during the pandemic by failing to scale up hospital capacity as promised, forcing the government to impose what Smith has termed freedom-busting health restrictions.

The board members were replaced by an administrator. In an opinion piece published in the Financial Post in November, Mintz wrote that he was OK with the firing because the changes represent a necessary jump-start to achieve true reform in health-care delivery.

Major is a former Supreme Court judge and Kelly-Gagnon is president of the Montreal Economic Institute. RIGHT WING THINK TANK LIKE FRASER INSTITUTE

Tanguay is a psychiatrist and University of Calgary professor focusing on disability and rehabilitation.

Fulford is chief of medicine at McMaster University Medical Centre in Hamilton and focuses on infectious diseases. She challenged the efficacy of some health restrictions during the pandemic.

The panel is not only looking at government decision-making, but also its effects on jobs, children, mental health and protection of rights and freedoms. It is to report back by Nov. 15.

The bulk of the panel's work will be reviewing legislation, regulations and ministerial orders, but it will also take feedback online.

The budget is $2 million. Manning, who was announced as chair a month ago, is to be paid $253,000.

Manning and Smith have been critical of government-imposed health restrictions such as masking, gathering rules and vaccine mandates during the pandemic.

Smith has questioned the efficacy of the methods and their long-term effects on household incomes, the economy and mental health. She has promised health restrictions and vaccine mandates would have no role in any future COVID-19 response in Alberta.

The Opposition New Democrats have labelled the panel a political sop to Smith’s far-right supporters angry over COVID-19 restrictions, and have promised to cancel it should they win the May 29 provincial election.

“This panel is a brutal waste of Alberta taxpayers’ money," said NDP health critic David Shepherd.

"Preston Manning has already reached his own conclusions, and based on the panellists, it looks like it’s headed toward whatever outcome Danielle Smith and the UCP are looking for. An Alberta NDP government will put an end to this sham panel."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2023.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

Fisheries Department says it will shut 15 salmon farms off B.C.'s coast to protect wild fish


Fri, February 17, 2023 

The federal government will not renew licences for 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms around British Columbia's Discovery Islands, Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray said. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press - image credit)

Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray has announced the federal government will not renew licences for 15 open-net Atlantic salmon farms around British Columbia's Discovery Islands.

Murray says in a news release the Discovery Islands area is a key migration route for wild salmon where narrow passages bring migrating juvenile salmon into close contact with the farms.

She says recent science indicates uncertainty over the risks posed by the farms to wild salmon, and the government is committed to developing a responsible plan to transition away from open-net farming in coastal B.C. waters.

Open-net fish farms off B.C.'s coast have been a major flashpoint, with environmental groups and some Indigenous nations saying the farms are linked to the transfer of disease to wild salmon, while the industry and some local politicians say thousands of jobs are threatened if operations are phased out.

"I have to take into account the plight of wild salmon, which are in a state of serious decline,'' she said in an interview Friday.

Consultation with First Nations

She said the decision came after extensive consultations with First Nations, the industry and others, and the department is taking a "highly precautionary'' approach to managing salmon farming in the area.

Murray said she called First Nations and industry representatives Friday before announcing what she said was a difficult but necessary decision to protect wild salmon from the potential risks posed by farmed fish.

Jennifer Chrumka/CBC

"There have been some assessments from DFO that suggest minimal risk and there's also been science since that main assessment that has been suggesting that there may well be risk from the viruses and sea lice from the farms,'' she said.

In the news release she says there are multiple stressors on wild salmon, including climate change, habitat degradation and both regulated and illegal fishing.

Murray's mandate letter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tasked her with developing the plan to shift from open-net salmon farming in B.C. waters by 2025, while working to introduce Canada's first Aquaculture Act.

Fisheries and Oceans said last summer that open-net salmon farms may continue operating during a consultation process that's currently underway, with the final plan to transition 79 farms expected to be released later in the year.

The federal government announced in December 2020 that it would phase out 19 Atlantic salmon farms in the Discovery Islands area of Vancouver Island.

It also said fish farm licences would not be renewed.

Submitted by Alexandra Morton

Former B.C. premier John Horgan sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last March saying there is widespread concern the federal government is poised to make a decision that could threaten hundreds of jobs and the economies of coastal communities.

Horgan urged the prime minister to assure the salmon farming sector that an appropriate transition program will be implemented and must include First Nations and communities that rely on fish farms economically.

Murray said the federal government is committed to developing a "responsible plan to transition from open-net pen salmon farming in coastal B.C. waters.''

Fear over job losses

The B.C. Salmon Farmers Association has said an economic analysis concluded the province could lose more than 4,700 jobs and up to $1.2 billion in economic activity annually if salmon farm licences are not renewed.

It called Murray's decision "devastating'' for the coastal communities that rely on the aquaculture sector.

"Local communities have been hurting since the decision to remove the farms was announced in 2020, and thanks to this wilfully uninformed decision announced earlier today, these communities will continue to experience negative socio-economic impacts of an outcome that was based on politics rather than science,'' Brian Kingzett, the association's executive director, said in a statement.

Submitted by Mack Bartlett

Diane Morrison, the association's chair and managing director of Mowi Canada West, said the federal government has turned their backs on coastal communities.

"As a sector, we saw the elimination of nearly a quarter of our farms in a single announcement. This resulted in companies laying off hundreds of employees from well-paid careers – in a region of Canada that is struggling to attract and retain its youth," she said.

The Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance also said the decision will cut jobs in rural communities and increase food costs.

"This decision goes against First Nations Reconciliation, increases food costs for Canadians and undermines food security and has broad-reaching implications for employment and economic opportunity for people in rural, coastal and Indigenous communities, and our global trading markets,'' the alliance said in a statement.

But B.C.'s First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance says more than 100 First Nations support the federal government's plan to transition away from open-net salmon farms.

Alliance spokesman Bob Chamberlin said earlier wild salmon runs are suffering and decisions must be made to help stocks rebound.

Windsor Salt workers on strike

Fri, February 17, 2023 

Employees from Windsor Salt stand on the picket line Friday. 

(Darryl G. Smart/ CBC News - image credit)

Windsor Salt employees with Unifor Locals 1959 and 240 began striking at midnight, saying their contract demands have not been met.

The unions are bargaining with Windsor Salt for the first time since the company was bought by U.S.-based holding company Stone Canyon Industries in 2021.

Eric Brown is a member of the maintenance committee, as well as a certified health and safety representative on the bargaining committee. He said standing in solidarity on the picket line is important for the present and future of every employee.

"We don't take it lightly standing on the picket line by any means," Brown said. "But when a company is coming after job security, for a younger employee like myself and some of these guys that have 20-plus years to go here, and you're going to cut my job and outsource it to non-unionized labour and have the potential to unilaterally contract out my job, among other concessions."

A Unifor news release says Stone Canyon representatives are refusing to talk about financial requests until the union agrees to give the go-ahead for the company to contract non-union employees to fill jobs in its salt mine.

Negotiations between the company and union have come to a standstill.

"Talks have not gone well since Jan. 16," said the president of Local 1959, Bill Wark. "These people worked through a pandemic. They were essential workers in a pandemic. They gave everything they had to continue the operations and provided an essential service. And the company came with unilateral concessions regarding job security and contracting out.And that's why we're standing on the picket line."

"We will not allow the company to weaken union protections in the workplace."

In a statement to CBC News, Windsor Salt said that it has been negotiating in good faith.

"Unfortunately, at midnight this morning, our union employees at these sites walked out on strike. We remain committed to negotiating agreements that are competitive, fair to both our employees and our company, and will help position our company for long-term growth in the Windsor community."

Unifor represents the mine's office workers, workers in the Ojibway Mine and workers at the evaporation processing fields, with a total of 250 employees.

Unifor National President Lana Payne said, "Workers at Windsor Salt have the full backing of our union."

OTTAWA
Eastway Tank has 1st day in court over charges tied to deadly blast

Fri, February 17, 2023 

Eastway Tank, Pump and Meter had its first court appearance in provincial offences court on Friday. (Patrick Louiseize/Radio Canada - image credit)

The business accused of failing to keep employees safe in Ottawa's deadliest workplace incident in decades had its first court appearance on Friday.

On Jan. 13, 2022, five employees — Rick Bastien, Etienne Mabiala, Danny Beale, Kayla Ferguson and Russell McLellan — were killed at Eastway Tank, Pump and Meter on Merivale Road after a blast and fire. A sixth employee, Matt Kearney, succumbed to his injuries in hospital the next day.

Last month, just shy of the incident's one-year anniversary, Ontario's Ministry of Labour charged Eastway Tank owner Neil Greene and the tanker-manufacturing company with three identical charges each under the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In the first charge, the Ministry of Labour alleges Eastway Tank failed to ensure the process of loading and "wet testing" a truck was carried out in an area free of potential sources of ignition. Wet testing is a common procedure that involves loading a tanker with diesel or gasoline in order to calibrate equipment within the tanker

Submitted photos

The second charge alleges Eastway Tank failed to take "one or more" precautions, which includes ensuring the tank of the same truck "did not contain and was free of gasoline or any other flammable liquid or substance while work and/or testing capable of being a source of potential ignition was taking place on or near the truck."

An industry expert has told CBC this allegation accuses Eastway Tank of working on a "hot truck" — an allegation previously made by several former Eastway employees who spoke to CBC after the explosion.

Those employees also alleged other examples of an unsafe work environment, including improper storage of flammable chemicals and earlier fires. Greene at the time called those allegations "unfounded."

The third charge alleges Eastway did not properly instruct workers on safe fuel storage and handling procedures.

Crown opting for criminal court judge

The Eastway Tank matter was heard briefly by a justice of the peace in Ottawa provincial offences court on Friday at 9 a.m.

Lawyers Don Bayne and Kirstin Macrae are representing Greene and Eastway Tank. They appeared virtually on Friday. Greene was physically not in the courtroom.

"We have received disclosure [from the Crown]. It's substantial," Macrae told the courtroom.

The ministry has assigned Crown prosecutors Daniel Kleiman and Daniel Guttman to the case.

Kleiman has elected to have the Eastway Tank case heard by a provincial criminal court judge.

"The ministry prosecutor has the discretion to make this decision to ask that a judge, who is legally trained, and not a justice of the peace, who ordinarily hears these cases, but is not usually legally trained, to hear the case," said Cheryl A. Edwards, a former prosecutor with the ministry who is not tied to the Eastway Tank case.

"Sometimes this is because they believe there will be a significant delay in the provincial offences court. Sometimes it's because they plan on seeking a severe penalty, potentially a jail term, from the court, and it is generally believed that judges are more inclined to impose such severe penalties."

The case will be heard again at the Ottawa courthouse on Elgin Street on March 8.

Ottawa Police Service

If convicted, Eastway Tank would face a maximum fine of $1.5 million and Greene would face a maximum fine of $100,000, jail time of up to 12 months, or both.

The act does not lay out minimum fine amounts or jail sentences.

Soon after the ministry announced its charges, the Office of the Fire Marshal — the provincial agency focused on determining the cause, origin and circumstances of the explosion — told CBC it was waiting on test results from evidence samples as it continues to work toward a conclusion.

The Ottawa Police Service is also still conducting its own investigation to determine whether criminal charges are warranted.

Court amends injunction against striking City of Yellowknife workers

Fri, February 17, 2023 

Normally one of the more active picket lines in Yellowknife, this location outside the construction site for the new aquatic centre was free of striking workers Friday. 

(Walter Strong/CBC - image credit)

An injunction against striking City of Yellowknife workers was amended Friday. There is no longer any limit on the number of workers who can be on picket lines in the city.

But it appears to have had no effect on the number of people actually on picket lines. Instead they were largely, if not completely, empty Friday morning for the first time since picketing began on Feb. 8.

A temporary injunction was granted earlier this week after the city brought the action to N.W.T. Supreme Court. The 10-day injunction was granted Tuesday.

It imposed limits on worker action at strike locations including a six-person cap on the number of protesters allowed at some locations, and imposed a 10-minute limit on how long union members could delay traffic from accessing city run facilities or construction locations.

In a statement Friday, Union of Northern Workers president Gayla Thunstrom said, "We are very pleased with this ruling, which reaffirms our members' rights to peaceful and lawful protest."

The emailed statement did not address the absence of picketers in Yellowknife.

Both the city and the union are scheduled to speak to the injunction Tuesday in N.W.T. Supreme Court.

Union Fears Robots Will Kill Jobs in Controversial Port Expansion

Fri, February 17, 2023 

The B.C. dockworkers’ union wants the federal government to block the $3.5-billion Roberts Bank container port project to protect members’ jobs.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union says the port expansion will introduce technology and automation and set the stage for job losses at other West Coast ports.

The union wrote a letter to the federal cabinet last week urging it to reject the Roberts Bank Terminal 2. The controversial project would transform more than 1.7 square kilometres of subtidal and tidal waters into a container port capable of handling 260 ships and more than 2.4 million containers a year. It would be connected to the current Deltaport terminal just north of the Tsawwassen BC Ferries terminal.

In the open letter, ILWU Canada president Rob Ashton said he shared concerns with environmental groups on how the project’s environmental impact would harm fish and seabirds.

But he also worries the new terminal would replace workers with machines.

The Port of Vancouver, proposing the project, is a federal government agency. It says decisions on automation would be left to the private company selected to operate the new port.

But Ashton believes the new port could bring a level of automation that would force competing container ports to also automate their operations.

“It’s going to force the rest of the terminals to automate faster than they were doing it otherwise. That’s what we want the Canadian government to understand,” Ashton said. “This is going to destroy a lot of people’s livelihoods.”

The port has described Roberts Bank Terminal 2 as “semi-automated,” just like the two other major private container ports in B.C. Those are Deltaport, operated by Global Container Terminals, and DP World’s Fairview Container Terminal in Prince Rupert.

A number of jobs — like gantry crane operation — would still be done by humans.

In an August presentation, the port said it was making the decision to limit automation “despite the trend towards greater container port automation over the last two decades” — something the ILWU has resisted.

But the presentation says some automation decisions would be left up to the private company that eventually runs the port.

Port authority spokesperson Alex Munro said in an email that “semi-automated terminals are becoming increasingly common in OECD countries like Canada.”

“In line with most large, recently constructed container terminals, the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2 Project is expected to include some automation,” Munro wrote.“The level of automation is subject to final terminal configuration, which would be determined by the terminal operator.”

But Ashton fears the result will be lost jobs.

“Their version of semi-automated and my version of semi-automated must be completely different — in different realms, in different galaxies,” he said.

Ashton’s letter to federal ministers comes weeks before a final decision on the decade-long project is expected from the federal Impact Assessment Agency, charged with “delivering high-quality impact assessments that look at both positive and negative environmental, economic, social and health impacts of potential projects.”

Stéphane Perrault, a spokesman for that agency, said the legislated deadline for a decision is April 29.

Ashton said he expects it will come before that date.

If approved, the port says construction could be completed within six years.

The authority, a federal agency, says the project is vital to accommodate growing Pacific trade, which it believes will outstrip capacity at existing container ports.

In 2021, the authority says Vancouver’s ports processed a total of 3.7 million “TEUs,” a measurement unit equivalent to one 20-foot-long container box.

But by 2040, the authority and its consultants estimate the region’s ports will need to handle between six million and 9.8 million TEUs, depending on how quickly trade with Asian markets grows. The authority says failing to build the port will cripple the supply chain and force more of that commerce to flow through competing ports in the U.S.

The port authority says the expanded port could support thousands of jobs across the supply chain.

Munro said the development would support 850 “direct long-term” jobs at the terminal itself. The authority believes the downstream effects of the port would create more than 17,000 jobs in the economy as a whole.

But the project has faced opposition from some environmental groups, local governments and now the ILWU, who have long feared robots could claim their members’ jobs.

In 2019, a lockout at the docks ended in a five-year collective agreement that, among other things, guaranteed the ILWU membership on a committee to discuss further automation projects. ILWU Canada commissioned a report that year, arguing that pursuing automation in British Columbia’s ports could cost thousands of jobs on the docks.

Ashton says the ILWU is instead backing two different container port expansion proposals.

Deltaport, the operating name of Global Container Terminals Ltd., is awaiting a federal decision on whether it can build a fourth berth at its existing container port on Roberts Bank. And DP World, which operates the Fairview Container Terminal in Prince Rupert, has applied to expand that worksite to increase its capacity.

The difference, Ashton said, is that those operators have made assurances to dockworkers their jobs won’t be affected.

“They’ve actually put levels of automation in, but they brought us along with them. They heard our concerns, we’ve made adjustments and we’ve protected jobs,” he said.

“A real friction point in these conversions is always what this will mean for existing jobs,” said Sunil Johal, a University of Toronto professor studying automation. Some argue robots could take over dangerous or time-consuming repetitive tasks, which might make the worksite more efficient and ultimately generate more jobs. Others, though, argue robots will simply replace workers.

“That benefit-cost calculus is particularly stark in an area like a port,” Johal said, because of the downstream effects its operations have on sectors that depend on those goods.

Ports across the world have automated a growing number of jobs in recent years, including the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in California.

“It seems that the trend, especially with new ports and new facilities, those are much more likely to be automated or semi-automated,” Johal said. “I think it’s a fair assumption that as the ports that Vancouver engages with automate and digitize their operations, there’s going to be more pressure on Vancouver and Canadian ports to do the same.”

But there has also been debate on whether automating ports is even worth it. A study released by the Center for Innovation in Transport in Spain, which was commissioned by unions representing dockworkers, argued there were no productivity improvements brought by automation.

A 2018 study from the consulting firm McKinsey & Co. found automated ports were safer, but also found productivity actually decreased, and that automation required significant upfront capital investment.

“There have not been as many productivity gains from automating ports as was first thought, at least in the past several years,” Johal said. He suspects that if the expansion goes ahead, a private operator will think carefully about how much they want to spend on automation.

“Before they start making multibillion-dollar investments, they’re going to take a hard look at it,” he said.

Zak Vescera, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Tyee

UCP MINISTER IN CONFLICT SAYS NO CONFLICT HERE

'Nothing unusual': Loewen sees no conflict of interest in taking over wildlife rules

Fri, February 17, 2023 



EDMONTON — An Alberta cabinet minister said Friday he's working with lawyers and the province's ethics commissioner over concerns possible changes to his department's responsibilities could put him in a conflict of interest.

However, Todd Loewen, minister of Forestry, Parks and Tourism, said it's normal government practice to have someone with a vested interest in an industry oversee its regulation and he doesn't see an issue.

"There's nothing unusual here," he said. "This is regular business when it comes to the government."

Concerns were raised earlier this week when observers noted that the United Conservative Party government was considering shifting responsibility for wildlife stewardship to Loewen's ministry. That would put him in charge of allocating all wildlife harvest rules in the province, including sport fishing regulations, the distribution of hunting tags to outfitters and private citizens and issuing trapping licences.

Loewen's Dec. 31, 2022, disclosure statement on the website of the Office of the Ethics Commissioner indicates that he receives dividends of at least $5,000 a year from a business called Red Willow Outfitting, based in Valleyview, Alta. Red Willow's website says it offers guided hunts for bears, deer, moose, elk, wolves, coyotes and waterfowl.

That just means he has expertise, Loewen said.

"We want to have the most experienced people we have in charge of the ministries."

Loewen said it's routine, even expected, for agriculture ministers to come from a farm.

"Agriculture ministers over the past decades have almost always came from the agriculture industry."

Still, Loewen said he has hired lawyers and is working with the Ethics Commissioner's office to guard against conflict of interest.

"With the additional part of fish and wildlife possibly coming into my ministry, there has been some additional work done," he said. "There may be some people that have a concern about this."

Those concerns are part of broader worries over coming changes to Alberta's Fish and Wildlife department.

Critics say crucial expertise within Alberta Environment and Protected Areas is being broken up and dispersed, weakening Fish and Wildlife programs that should be working together and putting responsibility for conservation within ministries where that concern may not be central.

Alberta Agriculture and Irrigation is to take over provincial fish hatcheries, which stock dozens of lakes, streams and ponds with sport fish. Alberta Environment and Protected Areas is to keep responsibility for species at risk.

New Democrat Opposition environment critic Marlin Schmidt, among others, has said splitting up those different functions will make it harder to have a co-ordinated approach to fish and wildlife protection. Schmidt said the government has offered no notification or justification for the changes.

Lorne Fitch, a much-awarded longtime Alberta biologist, has said the changes could open the door to further commercialization of the province's wildlife.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2023.

— Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960

Dean Bennett and Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

MINING IS NOT SUSTAINABLE

So long Milne Inlet: After expansion rejection, Baffinland turns to Steensby rail

Fri, February 17, 2023 

A ship is loaded at Baffinland's Milne Inlet port on North Baffin Island. (Baffinland Iron Mines Corp. - image credit)

Baffinland Iron Mines is reviving a plan put on the backburner years ago, to ship ore from its Mary River mine in Nunavut using a railway south to Steensby Inlet.

The announcement follows a decision in November from Northern Affairs Minister Dan Vandal to reject the company's Phase 2 expansion proposal. That plan would have seen a 100-kilometre railway built from the mine north to Milne Inlet. Right now, the company uses a tote road to bring ore to that port.

Baffinland CEO Brian Penney announced the new plan at a conference in Ottawa earlier this month.

"Our focus over the next 18 months is to begin the transition to a southern railway operation. At this moment — we are passionately working to secure the financing need to get the Steensby Project up and running," Penney said, at the Northern Lights conference and trade show.

"This has been our plan all along and the Phase 2 expansion was a step toward this plan."

The proposal to build a railway south to Steensby Inlet was approved a decade ago when the mine was given the green light. It would have included an all-season deep-water port, and ice-breaking ore carriers travelling through Foxe Basin.

Baffinland soon changed plans, though — saying it couldn't raise the money to build the Steensby railway — and opted for a road and port at Milne Inlet.

CBC

Penney says the railway south to Steensby is about five times more expensive than the one Baffinland had proposed to build to Milne Inlet.

Now, Penney says, things have changed. He says the company has now demonstrated the size of the resource and the mine's potential lifespan — making it easier to raise capital.

Penney also says the mine's high-grade iron ore requires less processing, and so that makes it vital in light of "the world's need and growing willingness to reduce its carbon footprint."

"While other metals are also vital, green steel is required in virtually every aspect of that shift. And green steel is critically dependent on high grade ore. Which puts Nunavut at the centre of it all."

Baffinland Iron Mines Corp.

Baffinland spokesperson Peter Akman said the Steensby plan is already approved under the company's existing project certificate and water licence. He said the company would now need to apply for some additional permits for the railway and port infrastructure at Steensby.

A statement from Minister Vandal's office confirmed the earlier approval of the Steensby plan.

"The southern route through Steensby Inlet has previously received approval through the appropriate review process and we are encouraged by Baffinland's continued engagement with local communities and Inuit partners," the statement reads.

Lori Idlout, Nunavut's MP, predicts there will be a lot of concern among nearby communities about the new plan.

She said the rejection of the Phase 2 proposal should have been a signal to Baffinland "that they need to work better with Inuit."

"And obviously with this announcement, it sounds like they're not planning to do that."

Strategy targets Indigenous housing



Fri, February 17, 2023 

A national housing advocacy organization has launched the public engagement phase of a new urban, rural and northern Indigenous housing strategy on behalf of the federal government to address systemic housing issues facing Indigenous people.

Improving the quality, supply and affordability of housing for Indigenous peoples is the motivation behind the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s strategy, for which Ottawa earmarked $300 million in Budget 2022.

The corporation is undertaking the first phase of the plan in conjunction with the National Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and strengthening the social and non-profit housing sector, according to a release issued by the CMHC this week.

In 2021, more than one in six Indigenous peoples lived in crowded housing that was considered unsuitable for the number of people who lived there, according to Statistics Canada. That year, just over 16 per cent of Indigenous peoples lived in a dwelling that needed major repairs, three times the rate of non-Indigenous people.

Kim Beaudin, vice-chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, which represents Métis, status and non-status Indigenous people and southern Inuit people living off-reserve, hopes the strategy will find a way to address housing-related issues facing Indigenous people, such as homelessness and access to clean and safe rental spaces.

Nearly three per cent of Canadian adults have experienced periods of homelessness, StatCan says. That number is closer to 15 per cent when it comes to “hidden homelessness,” which means the experience of having to temporarily live with family or friends for lack of other options.

First Nations people living off-reserve are 12 per cent more likely to have experienced homelessness than the country’s non-Indigenous population. Similarly, Métis people are six per cent more likely, and Inuit people are 10 per cent more likely.

Housing issues have long beleaguered Indigenous people in Canada, a byproduct of colonization and displacement caused by residential schools, Michael Yellow Bird, dean of the University of Manitoba’s social work faculty, wrote in a report.

Forced relocation, a loss of sovereignty and decades of underfunding have also contributed to the housing crisis facing Indigenous people. Poor housing, in turn, is connected to major mental and physical health issues, poor education outcomes and higher rates of suicide, Yellow Bird wrote.

Home affordability is something both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people struggle with, yet the federal government has failed to prioritize this issue, Beaudin said.

“There hasn’t been a whole lot of focus on … home ownership [for] First Nations people and Métis people … especially within urban areas.”

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will gather ideas for its housing strategy in an online survey that will be open for submissions until March 31, as well as through written submissions via email or mail.

The corporation will also consult Indigenous groups that represent people living in urban, rural and northern areas, including advocacy and non-profit organizations. Engagements are expected to wrap up in spring, with a summary available later this year.

According to a spokesperson, the CMHC has engagement agreements with the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Métis National council, Manitoba Métis Federation, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples as well as Native Women’s Association of Canada and is in the process of finalizing others.

Miranda Leybourne, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Brandon Sun