The high cost of eggs could give us a taste of an expensive, ethical, and cage-free future, an eggspert says


Hannah Getahun
Sat, March 4, 2023 

Eggs.Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Egg prices have soared over the past year as a result of the deadly avian influenza.

However, prices will never really be the same, especially as the US transitions to cage-free eggs.

Some estimates say that in four years, 70% of hens could be laying eggs in cage-free housing.

Eggs — a tasty breakfast or, for the past year, a financial headache.

A highly pathogenic avian flu that killed 58 million birds bears much of the blame for record-high prices. High feed costs and inflation also played a part.

However, as flocks are recovering and egg price relief could be on its way, the days of $1 egg cartons could be over, as ethically sourced, cage-free eggs become a new reality in the US.

David P. Anderson, an extension economist at Texas A&M, told Insider the shift toward the new production system will come with production costs that will eventually reflect on supermarket prices.

"We're so focused on the short term, 'Oh, we got this disease,'" Anderson said. "But there's this underlying long-term portion in there, too. That's pretty important."
The trend toward ethical eggs

Most eggs in the country are produced by factory farms that stuff thousands of laying hens into battery-cages — stacked metal containers with little space to move. They live in one place, constantly producing eggs, eating and sleeping in their own feces and dust.

Animal rights activists say it's inhumane, and voters and businesses have responded.

In 2016, Massachusetts became the first state to mandate that eggs sold at stores need to come from farms that hold certain standards of care, including cage-free environments. Hundreds of businesses, like Walmart and McDonald's have also made pledges to move away from battery-cage eggs.

The changes in egg production among multiple states resulted in additional construction costs, higher feed costs, and higher labor costs. Cage-free methods could also result in lower egg yields.

CNBC estimated it would take farmers across the country at least $6 billion to build cage-free housing that would meet demand by 2027.

"It costs more money to produce a dozen eggs in a cage-free environment or any of these other methods," Anderson said. "So as more of the industry tries to convert to comply with those kinds of regulations and prices are going to be higher. "

During avian flu-induced price increases starting in February 2022, the price disparity became apparent. In states like California, whose cage-free mandate went into effect in January 2022, prices increased up to nearly $6 for a dozen eggs in December, while prices were $4 to $5 in many other states.

Other factors, like egg production being concentrated in the Midwest, resulting in higher transport costs, played a role as well, Anderson said.
Cage-free eggs are what consumers want, but 'sticker shock' could deter buyers

Despite the heftier price tag, cage-free is where the country is headed.

The percentage of hens in cage-free housing rose from 4% to 28% between 2010 and 2020, per the Associated Press. In four years, this figure could be 70%.

Fourteen states have already passed laws to ban cages and nine states have passed laws banning the sale of battery-cage eggs. The constitutionality of Proposition 12, the cage-free law passed in California, is currently being reviewed by the US Supreme Court.

However, higher prices can sometimes scare consumers from buying.

Consumer demand for eggs is currently lower than it was this time last year. This could be a case of sticker shock, Anderson said. It may also shed light on how consumers could react to egg price increases in the future.

"As prices have gone up people have become really cognizant of what it costs," Anderson said. "And they're changing what they're buying a little bit, like 'Gosh, you know, we'll buy fewer eggs.'"

I AM THE EGGMAN KOO KOO KA CHOO

The endless — and potentially harmful — debate over COVID’s origins

Mike Bebernes
·Senior Editor
Sat, March 4, 2023
“The 360” shows you diverse perspectives on the day’s top stories

What’s happening

The U.S. Department of Energy has determined that the most likely source of the coronavirus pandemic was an accidental leak from a Chinese virology lab, according to a recent report from the Wall Street Journal.

Debate over the origins of COVID-19 has raged since the earliest days of the pandemic. Two competing theories — one suggesting that it was a “lab leak” and the other that the virus was passed to humans from animals — have been the source of intense scientific scrutiny, media sniping and political posturing. But after three years of inquiry, there is still no clear answer.

The DOE’s determination, reportedly made with “low confidence,” only shows how much uncertainty there is, even at the highest levels of the intelligence community, about where COVID-19 came from. The FBI agrees that the “lab leak” theory is most plausible, director Christopher Wray said Wednesday. But four other government agencies and the National Intelligence Council have found that COVID-19 probably passed from animals to humans in an open-air market in Wuhan, China. The most rigorous scientific inquiries have also sided with the natural explanation.

For a period in 2020, the lab leak hypothesis was treated in much of the mainstream press as an unfounded conspiracy — in part because it was often raised by people who were also pushing genuine falsehoods, like the claim that COVID was a Chinese bioweapon. Prominent social media sites also blocked some posts discussing it. Over time, the lab leak theory has become more widely accepted as plausible, although no clear evidence to support it has been made public as of yet.

Why there’s debate

Experts widely agree that there’s a strong possibility the mystery of COVID’s origins won’t ever be solved and that the debate over where it came from may never die. Still, many observers believe the disagreement itself carries important lessons for science, politics and the way we tackle new challenges.

Republicans, many of whom have promoted the lab leak theory for years, responded to the DOE’s findings by accusing Democrats and the media of suppressing a potential truth about COVID, as part of a much broader campaign to stifle conservative points of view. Some centrist pundits also say the latest revelations show that the mainstream press was far too eager to block discussion of the lab leak because of the political profile of its main advocates. This error, they argue, is consistent with a trend that persisted throughout the pandemic, of invoking “trusting the science” as a rationale for smothering reasonable skepticism of COVID policies.

Others say the debate highlights how bad our society is at dealing with uncertainty. They contend that there’s no reason for such a basic question to become politicized or contentious at all, but that once it did, the critical scientific implications of discovering where COVID came from became an afterthought in the tribal fight over who got to say they were right.

Many scientists worry that intense focus on what may ultimately be an unsolvable problem is obscuring how critical it is to prevent the next major pandemic. Some people argue that part of the reason the debate has endured for so long is that once we move past it, we’ll have to face some really difficult realities about the way we choose to live and how it makes us increasingly vulnerable to deadly viral outbreaks.

What’s next

The Senate unanimously passed a bill on Wednesday that would require the intelligence community to declassify some of the material it has on the origins of COVID. It’s unclear, though, whether that bill has the votes to advance through the House of Representatives. House Republicans are likely to focus heavily on the lab leak theory at a hearing scheduled for next week as part of the party’s broad investigation into the Biden administration’s COVID response.
Perspectives

Far more attention should be paid to the dangers that are coming

“Tracing the roots of Covid-19 is still an important scientific and political task, but it’s far more urgent to halt the next pandemic before it ignites.” — Umair Irfan, Vox

Conspiracists made it tough to have a real discussion about the possibility of a lab leak

“The simple reason why so many people weren’t keen to discuss the ‘lab leak’ *theory* is because it was originally conflated by the right with ‘Chinese bio weapon’ conspiracies and continues to be conflated by the right with anti-Fauci conspiracies. Blame the conspiracy theorists. … It’s hard to have a good faith disagreement about a major issue if the issue itself has been hijacked by bad faith folks.” — Medhi Hasan, MSNBC host

Politicians and pundits should never have been involved in the debate in the first place

“The not-quite-solved mystery of exactly where this virus came from and how it found its way into humans … is a scientific question best left to scientists.” — David Quammen, Washington Post

Overzealous attacks on ‘misinformation’ undermine the people’s trust in government

“What’s ironic is that the measures taken by the Biden administration and the news media to ‘protect’ people from misinformation will backfire by erasing more trust in these institutions. There are still many unanswered questions about COVID-19, but it’s far better to admit this than force a narrative that later proves untrue.” — Ingrid Jacques, USA Today

During the pandemic, science became a matter of identity rather than truth

“The overt anti-science crankery on the right became a sort of cultural breaking point. For many liberals, following the science became not just a guide to developing sound policy beliefs, as it ought to be, but a tribal marker. … The temptation to use ideological criteria to settle scientific questions is one that ultimately poses a threat to science itself. The correct way to follow the science is to actually follow it — not to use it as a mascot or as a justification to place your own views beyond criticism.” — Jonathan Chait, New York

The debate shows the harm in acting as if there’s a clear answer to unsettled questions

“Health officials and intelligence experts may not have enough information to conclusively determine COVID-19’s origins. But the push to not merely decry the lab leak theory but to actively prohibit discussion of it—as was the case on Facebook—has not aged well. Let people discuss and debate all variety of coronavirus topics, without fear of sanction.” — Robby Soave, Reason

Mainstream media outlets don’t allow alternative viewpoints to intrude on their worldview

“Rather than embracing an ethic of questioning everything — and especially authority — the legacy press in recent years has taken on the role of enforcer of various orthodoxies, whether based in fact or not. The origins coverage is Exhibit A.” — Rich Lowry, National Review

Nuance and uncertainty can’t survive in the modern information environment

“In our attention economy, overconfidence is rewarded, while honest uncertainty is drowned out.” — Faye Flam, Bloomberg

Focus on COVID’s origins blocks hard conversations about far more important issues

“Whatever the conscious intentions of the proponents of a lab leak as the source of COVID-19, their arguments and their insistence on playing and replaying the debate have become dangerous. They shift responsibility for [the United States’] disastrous handling of the pandemic away from the failures of our political system, our politicians, and our health and public health systems and to a geopolitical rival. They are a partisan political cudgel, diverting attention from the real sources of danger of future pandemics and delaying action on what could be an existential threat to humans.” — John Ehrenreich, Slate

The debate will never end, even though the known facts aren’t likely to change

“It's going to go back and forth, back and forth. This echo chamber will make it appear that those who believe it was a lab leak will have more and more evidence and those who believe it was a natural spillover will have more and more evidence. But in fact, there's not new evidence at all.” — Michael Osterholm, infectious disease researcher, to Axios

Is there a topic you’d like to see covered in “The 360”? Send your suggestions to the360@yahoonews.com.

Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Getty Images

UK
The Northallerton man who was a 1960s pioneer of the electric car

Chris Lloyd
Fri, 3 March 2023 

The Ford Comuta which was an electric prototype developed around 1967 in competition with the Carter Coaster

By 2030, all new cars sold in Britain will have to be electric, although if the nation had listened to a former leader of Northallerton Urban District Council in the 1960s, we would all already be switched on to green vehicles.

He was Alastair Carter, who grew up with his parents at Castle Hills Farm – they had a 1930s band called the Swingtimers, which sounds a little dubious today – and he went to Applegarth School.

He joined the RAF and flew bombers during the Second World War, and in peacetime he became a councillor and even council leader.

But early in the 1960s, Mr Carter gave it all up in Northallerton and moved to Tamworth, in Staffordshire, where he started a motoring and engineering business. He regained his pilot’s licence and would fly himself about the country on business making sure his flightpaths took him over the sites of rivals, like Ford at Dagenham.


Former president Donald Trump driving an electric golf buggy on his golf course at the Trump Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire - this buggy is apparently based on the Carter Coaster, a pioneering electric vehicle designed by a Northallerton man

Former president Donald Trump driving an electric golf buggy on his golf course at the Trump Turnberry resort in South Ayrshire - this buggy is apparently based on the Carter Coaster, a pioneering electric vehicle designed by a Northallerton man

Ford was pioneering a small, electric car, the Comuta, which looks like a cube on wheels.

So Mr Carter designed the Carter Coaster, which looked like a flat suitcase on wheels. It was slightly bigger than the Comuta in that it could seat two people side-by-side in a glass bubble perched on top of the suitcase.

His design featured a revolutionary “regenerative braking” system whereby the kinetic energy released by slowing the car down was pumped back into the battery.

In 1967, a short film on ground-breaking electric cars featured both the Comuta and the Carter Coaster. “Without about five years, Mr Carter expects to see a quarter-of-a-million on Britain’s roads,” said the narrator.

But only two Ford Comutas were ever built, and the Carter Coaster never took off. But it is believed that Mr Carter emigrated to the US where the Coaster became the basis for the electric golf buggy, and Mr Carter became extremely successful.

Can you tell us anything about Mr Carter and his Coaster? Please email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk

UK

Tens of thousands of elderly people have died without getting the care they need, charity says

Fri, 3 March 2023


Tens of thousands of elderly people have died without getting the care they need, according to a charity which is calling for more social care resources.

Age UK cited NHS Digital figures for England which show there were 28,890 support requests for people aged 65 and over in 2021/22 where the person died without any of those services being provided.

The charity said that equates to more than 500 deaths a week - more than 70 a day.

Age UK director Caroline Abrahams said: "There isn't enough social care to go round and so some older people are waiting endlessly for help they badly need.

"It is heartbreaking that on the latest figures, more than 500 older people a week are going to their graves without ever receiving the care and support to which they were entitled.

"Nor can the blame for this parlous situation be placed on the pandemic, for while it certainly didn't help, social care services were struggling to secure enough staff and funding in the years preceding it.

"Since then, all the evidence is that the position has not got any better and, on most measures, has continued to get worse."

Ms Abrahams said long waits for social care cause "huge distress to older people" and place "intolerable pressure on their families".

Read more:
Weak link of social care is taking UK's health sector to breaking point

Care home capacity in UK shrinks for first time in three years

The charity has written to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt saying: "When you were chair of the health and social care committee, you expressed deep regret at being unable to fix the problems faced by social care during your time as secretary of state.

"Now, as chancellor, the Spring Budget is your opportunity to help the millions of older people, often unheard and feeling ignored, who are waiting for good, reliable care and support to live with dignity."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Everyone should have access to good quality social care when they need it, and our thoughts are with all those who have lost elderly relatives and loved ones.

"We are providing up to £7.5m in funding available over the next two years to support adult social care.

"This will put the adult social care system on a stronger financial footing and help local authorities address waiting lists, low fee rates, and workforce pressures in the sector.

"We are also tackling workforce pressures by promoting careers in adult social care through our annual domestic recruitment campaign and by investing £15m to increase international recruitment of care workers."

UK

Gone Fishing's Paul Whitehouse meets sewage campaigners in hard-hitting documentary

Miranda Norris
Sat, 4 March 2023 

Paul Whitehouse (Image: BBC)

Witney sewage campaigners feature in a hard-hitting documentary by comedian and keen angler Paul Whitehouse.

Paul, who has starred in Gone Fishing with fellow comedian Bob Mortimer since 2018, sets out to discover whether the water companies are illegally discharging untreated sewage into our waterways to cut corners and protect profits.

In Our Troubled Rivers, he learns that firms are ignoring the regulations to only discharge sewage during heavy rainfall.


In episode one, he meets the founders of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP), retired maths professor Peter Hammond and ex-police officer Ashley Smith who are trying to hold the water firms to account.

Oxford Mail:

A group of volunteers, they investigate the pollution of the River Windrush and her sister rivers.

They collect and analyse information on water quality and sewage discharges.

In 2020, Thames Water reported spilling untreated sewage for 3,644 hours on 228 occasions from four of the sewage works on the River Windrush.

Without the work of WASP, the scale of the pollution in the Windrush Valley would have stayed hidden.

And as this is happening to rivers across the country Ash Smith has become an influential voice on the subject nationwide.

He was also instrumental in pressuring Thames Water to produce an interactive map providing near real-time information about its storm overflow activity.

In the documentary, the duo say the claim that raw sewage is only discharged during stormy conditions is “complete rubbish”.

Ash Smith claims that since 1989, £72billion has gone from the industry, mostly to stakeholders in China, Canada and Abu Dhabi.

They say they believe that the solution is to return the firms to public ownership.

Paul, 64, also meets pop star-turned-campaigner Feargal Sharkey in the show,

He has raised concerns about sewage pollution from Thames Water's Sewage Treatment Works at Church Hanborough contaminating bathing waters at Port Meadow in Oxford.

Paul says: “I still find it astonishing that the water companies would put untreated sewage into our rivers.”

And he meets Mark Barrow who shows him a collection of wet wipes and sanitary products he has collected from the River Wharfe in Yorkshire.

Paul tells him: “You wouldn’t get me in there, not in a million years.

“Oh my God. It’s liquid death. That is deeply unpleasant.

"It’s obvious that if you show that to people they’ll be appalled.

"It defies belief.”

Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers, Sunday, BBC2, 8pm

Women's rugby 7s team shares the same stage as men for first time in regular Canada tournament


Fri, March 3, 2023 

Ireland's Stacey Flood, front right, fights off Canada's Alysha Corrigan, left, as Olivia De Couvreur, right, tackles her during HSBC Canada Sevens women's rugby action in Vancouver on Friday, March 3, 2023. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press - image credit)

For the first time in the history of Vancouver's Rugby Sevens tournament, women are sharing the same stage as their male counterparts, with the event at full capacity.

Canada Sevens is part of a multi-city set of tournaments around the world. In past years, the men's side has played its Canadian games in Vancouver, while the women played on Vancouver Island.

In 2021, the men and women played in the same venue, but the tournament was scaled back due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, both the men and women are playing at B.C. Place in Vancouver, and the tournament is back to full size, offering both sides access to the same size crowds.

Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

"It's how it should be," said Rugby Canada's managing director of revenue and fan engagement, Jamie Levchuk.

"We're proud to be a part of it."

Team captain Olivia Apps said it's a good opportunity for her teammates to play in front of a bigger crowd on the same stage as the men's teams.

"I think it's a really great representation of the growth of rugby sevens and the equality of men's and women's sports internationally," said Olivia Apps, captain of Canada's Rugby Sevens senior women's team.

Murray Titus/CBC

Despite the team's 28-7 loss to Ireland on Friday, she said it was "amazing" to play in front of a home crowd.

Apps' teammate, Keyara Wardley, says being able to play at B.C. Place has been good exposure for the women's game in general.

"When I was growing up, I didn't really have that much rugby to look up to," she said.

"To see how much it's grown is really inspiring."

While it's a step forward as far as equality between men's and women's sports, Apps said there's still work to be done, particularly when it comes to being paid to play professionally here in Canada. She said those conversations need to include both rugby sevens and 15s.

"I think that that is a really big step that needs to be taken."

WATCH | The Canadian women's national rugby team tangles with Ireland in Vancouver

'A dire situation': Regina Symphony Orchestra at financial risk due to dwindling audiences

Fri, March 3, 2023

The Regina Symphony Orchestra performing at the Holy Rosary Cathedral. (Chris Graham - image credit)

Things are not looking good for the Regina Symphony Orchestra.

Audiences at RSO concerts have been much smaller than they were pre-pandemic — so much so that the orchestra has had to cancel three of its April shows, including one that was to feature a choir.

"This is sort of our plan to mitigate some of the financial risk that we are feeling very acutely," said Gordon Gerrard, musical director of the RSO.

"But I would say that if people don't start supporting us — both in terms of attending concerts and also if we don't find other means of support — then we are in a dire situation and we are at great risk, certainly."

At the beginning of the season in September, Gerrard says, the orchestra took a conservative view of ticket sales.

Even so, he said, "we haven't got anywhere close in terms of audience. We're seeing halls that are 20 per cent full, which, you know, just is heartbreaking for us."

"We know that we have lots of folks who love the RSO in our community, but we're just not seeing people returning in the way we expected."

gordongerrard.com

Before the pandemic began, Gerrard says, the RSO could expect to fill 1,200 to 1,500 seats in the 1,900-seat Conexus Arts Centre.

"Now, we're seeing as low as 400 people so it's really a different world now, for sure. That much has become clear through the course of this season," Gerrard said

Gerrard says he believes the pandemic has changed people's habits, influencing many to stay home and get their entertainment online or through apps.

"I think we're now in a position where we need to change people's habits back," he said, "and to encourage people to come out to remind people what we can offer them."

That means the RSO will work to increase its social media presence and find new ways to reach potential audience members.

However, Gerrard added, low ticket sales are not just a problem in Regina.

"I do know that most of my colleagues across the country are experiencing what we're experiencing in that [there's] a huge downturn in ticket sales to the point where organizations are at risk," he said.
Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra sees uptick in sales

It's a different story in Saskatoon: The Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra is doing just fine, according to management.

Mark Turner, CEO and creative producer of the SSO, says ticket sales since September have exceeded their expectations.

"This year we are actually seeing a return to pre-pandemic levels, which has been really great for us. We've had a number of full sellouts of TCU Place and other venues … so we've been very fortunate," Turner said.

Julie Isaac Photography

The SSO is hosting a special Disney in concert program, featuring the music of Frozen, on March 18 at TCU Place. At first, Turner says, ticket sales for the event were slow, but now the production is on track to sell out.

"When we built this season, we were sort of rolling the dice — particularly, you know, we had two Disney shows. We had a big pop show [Dancing Queen] and those come at big price points, and so they were kind of calculated risks," Turner said.

The SSO scheduled that lineup with the assumption it would break even financially. Instead, it made a profit.

"We are seeing a lot of new people in our audience," Turner said. "When we live-streamed throughout the 2020/21 season, we were able to attract a different group of people — people who had been maybe symphony-curious but hadn't come out."

Over the weekend, Turner says, 25 per cent of an SSO concert audience of 1,300 were people under the age of 25.

Julie Isaac Photography

Montreal neo-Nazi found guilty of promoting hatred seeks appeal

Fri, March 3, 2023 

Gabriel Sohier-Chaput, seen here at the Montreal courthouse last year, is seeking to appeal his guilty verdict. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press - image credit)

A Montreal neo-Nazi who was found guilty of wilfully promoting hatred is seeking to appeal the verdict.

Gabriel Sohier-Chaput, 36, authored articles in a far-right publication under the pseudonym "Charles Zeiger." He was found guilty in the Court of Quebec on Jan. 23.

The case hinged on a single article written in 2017 for a far-right online publication, the Daily Stormer, which Sohier-Chaput claimed was satire.

Using antisemitic memes and editorial comments, the article entitled "Canada: Nazis Trigger Jews By Putting Up Posters On Ch--k Church," celebrated neo-Nazi posters pasted on a bus stop in British Columbia.

It also mocked a Holocaust survivor who had been interviewed about the incident, calling him an "oven-dodger," and called for "non-stop Nazism, everywhere, until the very streets are flooded with the tears of our enemies."

Sohier-Chaput's lawyer submitted his request for an appeal last week.

His lawyer wrote in the request that Judge Manlio Del Negro created an appearance of partiality in the courtroom.

The lawyer also claims the judge committed errors of fact and law in his analysis of Sohier-Chaput's credibility when he compared the accused to Machiavelli and implied that he had rallied his readers around the virus hatred. The lawyer said the judge didn't provide proof supporting that.

When Sohier-Chaput was found guilty, the judge described him as "extremely dangerous to the public" and ordered he be handcuffed immediately.

Sohier-Chaput is scheduled to be sentenced on May 11.

CRIMINAL COLONIALISM AND CAPITALI$M

Eight people arrested, charged in Norval Morrisseau art fraud investigation

Fri, March 3, 2023 


Eight people have been arrested in an investigation into alleged fraudulent art sold for years under the name of famous Indigenous artist Norval Morrisseau, Ontario Provincial Police said Friday, noting some works were bought for tens of thousands of dollars.

More than 1,000 allegedly fake paintings, prints and other artworks were seized in the probe that has gone on for two and a half years, OPP said, adding they had worked closely with police in Thunder Bay, Ont.

"These are not small, victimless crimes," OPP Det. Insp. Kevin Veillieux said at a news conference. "These are people that took advantage of one man's legacy in order to turn a profit for themselves."

Morrisseau, also known as Copper Thunderbird, was a self-taught artist of Ojibwe ancestry who is considered a trailblazer for contemporary Indigenous artists across Canada.

Police have said allegations began to emerge of people creating and selling art under Morrisseau's name, and made in his distinctive Woodland School of Art style, before his death in 2007.

On Friday, OPP said one of the suspects arrested was "the architect" of a group in Thunder Bay that created the false paintings. Veillieux alleged that began around 1996.

The suspect forged some paintings himself before growing his organization into a full assembly line of painters, police said.

"(This suspect) orchestrated all aspects of this operation," said Veillieux.

"He was responsible for selling and consigning these fakes across Thunder Bay, Ontario and into Alberta, where they were then purchased by unsuspecting members of the public."

Another of the eight individuals charged also started a Thunder Bay-based group, this one around 2002, and recruited two Indigenous artists to create the fake artwork, one of whom was Morrisseau's nephew, said Veillieux.

The artwork was then often sold online to buyers around the world, police said.

A third group is alleged to have started around 2008, said Veillieux, operating in southern Ontario and allegedly providing false information regarding the authenticity and origin of the artworks.

"It was through technology and witness evidence that we have been able to identify much of the fraudulent art," said Veillieux.

Police said they made their arrests on Wednesday in Thunder Bay, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Simcoe County and a community near Markham.

Those arrested face a combined 40 charges, including forgery, defrauding the public over $5,000 and uttering a forged document.

"The arrests marked the dismantling of three distinct groups, groups that we believe exploited Mr. Morrisseau's name and his art legacy," Veillieux said.

Five of the eight suspects are residents of Thunder Bay, said Dan Taddeo, police chief of the northern Ontario city.

"The scope of this case is extraordinary," said Taddeo. "When the Thunder Bay Police Service began this investigation, we realized that it wasn't just local or even provincial or even national. It was international."

Morrisseau was from the Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek, also known as Sand Point First Nation, and was the first Indigenous artist to have his artwork shown in a contemporary Canadian art gallery.

His official website said he was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1978 and was also awarded a posthumous lifetime achievement award in 2008.

"His contributions to Indigenous art and culture are incomparable," said OPP interim deputy commissioner Kari Dart. "These contributions and his global success may have made him an easy target for fraud."

In 2019, a Canadian musician was awarded tens of thousands of dollars by Ontario's top court, which said a Toronto gallery was deliberately elusive in proving the authenticity of a painting he purchased that was alleged to be done by Morrisseau. The Ontario Court of Appeal sided with Kevin Hearn, a member of the rock band the Barenaked Ladies, in his legal battle against the Maslak-McLeod Gallery and the estate of its late owner, Joseph McLeod.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2023.

Jessica Smith, The Canadian Press

Jordan's Principle explained: Canadian Human Rights Tribunal needed to make government accountable


Fri, March 3, 2023 

“Jordan could not talk, yet people around the world heard his message. Jordan could not breathe on his own and yet he has given the breath of life to other children. Jordan could not walk, but he has taken steps that governments are now just learning to follow.” — Cindy Blackstock, executive director, First Nations Child & Family Caring Society

Jordan’s Principle is a child-first, needs-based approach named in memory of Jordan River Anderson, a First Nations boy from Norway House Cree First Nation in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Jordan was born with a rare multifaceted disorder and was hospitalized from birth. He died at the age of five, in the hospital, while provincial and federal jurisdictions argued for over two years and could not agree as to who was responsible for paying for his at-home care, services available to any other child in Canada without dispute.

Jordan’s Principle, a legal rule, ensures that First Nations children aged zero to 19 receive the same access to health, social and educational programs, services and supports as all other children in Canada.

In 2007, Jordan’s Principle received unanimous support in the House of Commons and was passed as legal rule. In the years following, from 2007 to 2016, the federal government did not adhere to the ruling and Indigenous children were unable to receive assistance through Jordan’s Principle. In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled in favour of First Nations children and ordered Canada to immediately do the following: cease its discriminatory practices regarding First Nations child welfare, reform the First Nations child welfare program, cease applying a narrow definition of Jordan’s Principle and take measures to implement the full meaning and scope of Jordan’s Principle for all First Nations children living on or off reserve.

Jordan’s Principle has created positive, transformative change, but the government’s implementation of the tribunal’s orders has been inadequate, including service gaps, delays and denials; these shortcomings seriously impact Indigenous children with disabilities and special needs. The level of service provided by the province or territory is the minimum standard. Service supports under Jordan’s Principle are based on what the child needs, not what the province or territory normally offers. The province normally delivers health care “off reserve,” while the federal government funds health care “on reserve.”

Despite changes to child welfare, First Nations children continue to face systematic barriers when it comes to education, health and social supports. The fact that Jordan had to be put in the child welfare system to be considered for services is tragic. Jordan’s Principle ensures that Indigenous children receive the care and support they need, at home.

Requests are based on the needs of the child on a “substantive equality basis.” Substantive equality means that First Nations children may need services and supports above what is ordinarily provided by the provinces and territories. The tribunal ruled that substantive equality is needed to address the impacts of Canada’s colonial history and discrimination against Indigenous peoples.

First Nations children on and off reserve experience challenges and barriers accessing care and services. Many First Nations communities do not have early intervention services available, impacting the development of a child with special needs. A 2013 study by Woodgate noted, “First Nations families have unique perspectives of disability and are more focused on what children with disabilities can do, and not what they are unable (to do).”

Research indicates there are disabling environments both on and off reserve, conditions or barriers that prevent families from having a life, which include structural (infrastructure, physical environments, transportation), social (lack of disability awareness), economic (poverty) and other barriers due to historical trauma and colonialism. Services and supports received through Jordan’s Principle should not be regarded as benefits but rather rights under the orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

Jordan’s Principle is included as the third of the 94 Calls to Action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Jordan River Anderson’s legacy initiated change and the need for Canada to move beyond the standard of basic survival for First Nations children, to a human rights level of equality and inclusion. Jordan’s Principle is not a substitute for systematic reform, but a stepping-stone toward it. Government and community organizations must build capacity and create space across all sectors to ensure Indigenous children are no longer left behind.

To submit a request for services through Jordan's Principle, call the 24-hour line at 1-855-JP-CHILD (1-855-572-4453) or visit canada.ca/jordans-principle. If you have any difficulties accessing services through Jordan's Principle, contact your provincial child advocate or ombudsperson.

Joyce Jonathan Crone is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter. She is Mohawk, born on the Six Nations Reserve. A retired teacher, she now makes Huntsville her home.

Joyce Jonathan Crone, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Parry Sound North Star