ALBERTA

Union negotiations stalled by ‘chaotic’ Chestermere government: CUPE

Mayor Jeff Colvin denies the city's administration has had any role in slowing negotiations with the union

Author of the article:Michael Rodriguez
Published Mar 19, 2023 •

The City of Chestermere town hall is shown on June 19, 2022. Jim Wells/Postmedia


Little progress toward a collective agreement has been made in the nearly 10 months since City of Chestermere employees voted to unionize as dysfunction within the city’s embattled government has thwarted attempts to get to the bargaining table, according to the Canadian Union of Public Employees.


The city is currently dealing with the fallout of a lengthy province-ordered investigation into its governance; provincial officials last week unveiled a 215-page municipal inspection report that found multiple instances of “irregular, improper and improvident” governance and handed the city a slate of 12 binding directives that, if not followed, could result in the dismissal of Mayor Jeff Colvin, city councillors or administrative officials. The report highlights issues with Colvin and his council that the union says are contributing to the drawn-out bargaining process.

“The report confirms that the paranoid, chaotic management practices from this mayor and his council supporters have left city employees in even more need of union protection and a legal collective agreement to safeguard their rights,” said CUPE Alberta spokesperson Lou Arab.

“But unfortunately, the very dysfunction at city hall that we need protection from is delaying the process of getting that contract in place. So nothing in the report was particularly surprising to us.”

Union says city’s top negotiator removed due to assault charge

Arab says Kim Wallace, one of the city’s three chief administrative officers (CAO), was removed as the city’s chief negotiator for talks with the union after she was charged with assault in relation to an altercation with an employee last month, and the city has not named a replacement. The unusual three-CAO model employed by Chestermere, splitting the typically solitary top administrative role into three positions, has added complications to the process, according to the union.

“We’re calling it the three-AO system,” said Arab. “We don’t know who to talk to; everybody’s got a different answer. There’s no sort of person who’s responsible for dealing with CUPE right now.”

Responding to Postmedia via email, Colvin denied that the city has had anything to do with the stalled negotiations, noting that the city’s recent correspondence to the union hasn’t been returned. He noted the city asked to delay a recent meeting because it wanted to hire an “expert union negotiator” and defended the city’s three-CAO model.

“All three CAOs are involved in the union negotiations, as all decisions are discussed thoroughly and agreed upon by the three CAOs,” he said. “Having three senior leaders involved in the negotiations demonstrates another benefit of the tri-CAO model as it exemplifies cohesive and comprehensive decision-making for the city.”

The inspection report, however, noted the three-CAO model as an irregular move, criticizing it for its removal of the buffer between elected officials and city staff and its “very real potential” to allow the mayor and council to improperly act as managers of the administration.

Among the many findings in the report, it outlines multiple instances of the mayor and some councillors’ disrespect toward staff members. The report highlights the perceived distrust the mayor and some councillors had of staff upon their election, which a former city official alleged led to some employees being fired at the direction of the mayor and his supporting councillors for being “disloyal.” Additionally, Coun. Mel Foat is reported to have told a senior official from another city that Chestermere’s departing employees were like “rats leaving a sinking ship,” the report states.

“That is contributing to the dysfunction of the city, these kinds of comments from the mayor and his supporters,” said Arab.

“These are your front-line workers who are being impacted by this dysfunction and I’ve never seen that before in another municipality. Different politicians come in with different political agendas and sometimes people at the top get shuffled around a little bit, but, generally speaking, the rank and file workers who are just trying to do their jobs don’t get impacted.”

The report states 62 employees left between October 2021, when Colvin and the new council took office, and September 2022, when the investigation came to a close. Four workers retired, 19 left involuntarily and 39 left “voluntarily,” according to the report, stipulating that much of that turnover came due to employees being perceived as non-supporters of the new mayor and council’s agenda and a number of staff members being uncomfortable with the “abrupt change in governance style.”

Arab says while he’s not sure how many of those 62 workers are members of the bargaining unit, “there are definitely some, and there are definitely some who left involuntarily.”

“We’re doing the best we can to put fires out but we don’t have the protection of a contract in place with a grievance procedure that we need to sort of put those fires out. So if somebody does get fired and we feel it’s unjust — when there’s a contract, there’s a grievance procedure,” Arab said.

“When you’re in a unionized environment without a contract, it’s much more difficult in any case. But, in particular, it’s more difficult when the administration is just a dumpster fire.”

Chestermere residents and observers packed the recreation centre in Chestermere on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 as the province presented a report on Chestermere’s city council. Jim Wells/Postmedia

Colvin says his city’s administration is not dysfunctional and the union is attempting to “take advantage of comments that were taken out of context by (municipal inspector) George Cuff well over a year ago.”

“Our current leaders and outstanding staff are highly organized and highly effective,” he said. “We have excellent leaders and managers and hard-working professionals on every team. The team our city directors have built is working hard and succeeding.”

City has ‘action plan’ to meet province’s directives

In a statement from Colvin posted to the city’s Facebook page on Friday, the mayor said the city has established a plan — not detailed in the post — that will guide it toward meeting the 12 directives it was handed by Municipal Affairs Minister Rebecca Schulz.

“We are committed to reassuring Municipal Affairs that we are, and have always been, top-notch, hard-working professionals dedicated to good governance,” reads the statement. “An action plan has been implemented, and our team is eager to complete the directives as requested. We will continue business as usual, striving for excellence for our residents and our city.”

Previously, the city had said it would seek legal advice regarding the report and the minister’s orders.

The full list of directives and the inspection report are available on the Government of Alberta’s website.

New Toyota CEO Still Wants To Prioritize Hydrogen Over BEVs
Koji Sato will officially take over from Akio Toyoda in April.


Mar 19, 2023 

Toyota's new CEO, Koji Sato, believes hydrogen is the way forward when it comes to carbon neutrality. While virtually every other automaker on the planet is focusing solely on battery electric vehicles, Sato reckons hydrogen will be the backbone of the Japanese marque's future.

Speaking at an endurance race on March 18, Sato gave an outline of what he aims to do when he takes over as Toyota CEO in 2 weeks time. He mentioned the importance of exploring non-BEV solutions (via Automotive News):

"We want to ensure that hydrogen stays a viable option. We need a production and transport supply chain. Unless we see evolution there, we cannot expect a volume increase in the energy's use."

However, Sato is not discounting BEVs. He believes they will also play a crucial role in Toyota's future alongside hybrid and hydrogen vehicles:

"We are making full-fledged efforts on everything. It is important to remain flexible in order to tailor products and energies to different carbon neutral needs in different markets."

Toyota's sole hydrogen offering, the Mirai, has been a mixed success so far. In the US, the Mirai is exclusively sold in California as no other state has the required fueling infrastructure. Revised for 2020, the second-gen Mirai is a sleek sedan - not a retrofitted Prius like the original model. It also now starts at $50,595 (it used to be closer to $60k) and has a range of up to 402 miles. Still, only 2,094 Mirais were sold in the US in 2022.

Meanwhile, Toyota only has one battery electric vehicle on sale in America, the bZ4X. The brand actually has a substantial BEV range in China, including the $27k bZ3. However, Americans have to make do with the bZ4X, a $42,000 crossover that's range and technology struggle to match rivals like the Tesla Model Y.

Source: Automotive News

H2 NO THANKS

Artificial leaf can produce 40 volts of electricity from wind or rain

This process of harvesting energy from rain is new.

Loukia Papadopoulos
Created: Mar 18, 2023

Plants covered in rain.

Researchers in Italy have engineered an artificial leaf that can be embedded within plants to create electricity from raindrops or wind.

It functions extremely well under rainy or windy conditions to light up LED lights and power itself, according to a report by IEEE Spectrum published on Wednesday.

Fabian Meder, a researcher studying bioinspired soft robotics at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa, Italy, told the science news outlet that the system could be practical for agricultural applications and remote environmental monitoring in order to observe plant health or monitor climate conditions.

In order for the device to work, it is added to the leaves of a real plant.

“When the [leaves] move in the wind, the two surfaces touch each other and separate again, creating static charges on the plant leaf cuticle and on our device,” told IEEE Spectrum Meder.

“These charges are induced into the inner cellular tissue of the plant, where they create a current. We can harvest this current by an electrode inserted into the plant tissue.”
Harvesting energy from rain

We have witnessed artificial leaves that use a similar technique to create electricity from wind, but the process of harvesting energy from raindrops is new.

The researchers proceeded to embed their artificial leaf system within the leaves of a living oleander plant, and evaluate its ability to produce energy.

The results indicated that single water drops could create voltage and current peaks of over 40 volts and 15 microamperes and can power 11 LED lights.

“The results revealed that wind and rain energy harvesting are possible with the device—either separately or simultaneously—making it a multifunctional energy harvester or self-powered sensor,” told IEEE Spectrum Barbara Mazzolai, associate director for robotics and director of the IIT’s Bioinspired Soft Robotics Laboratory, who also took part in the study.

She further explained that the main advantage of this energy-harvesting system compared to other similar models is that it can actually create more electricity in wet conditions. Other artificial leaves are bogged down when wet.

Now, the researchers are working on improving the performance of their artificial leaf through design modifications such as the shapes of the electrodes and the materials chosen.

“We have filed a patent application on the technology and are analyzing the potential markets,” concluded Mazzolai. “Still, some research is necessary before defining the final product—for example, we want to test the systems in detail under outdoor and strongly varying wind and rain conditions.”

The study is published in the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

Study abstract:

Soft (bio)hybrid robotics aims at interfacing living beings with artificial technology. It was recently demonstrated that plant leaves coupled with artificial leaves of selected materials and tailored mechanics can convert wind-driven leaf fluttering into electricity. Here, we significantly advance this technology by establishing the additional opportunity to convert kinetic energy from raindrops hitting the upper surface of the artificial leaf into electricity. To achieve this, we integrated an extra electrification layer and exposed electrodes on the free upper surface of the wind energy harvesting leaf that allow to produce a significant current when droplets land and spread on the device. Single water drops create voltage and current peaks of over 40V and 15µA and can directly power 11 LEDs. The same structure has the additional capability to harvest wind energy using leaf oscillations. This shows that environment-responsive biohybrid technologies can be tailored to produce electricity in challenging settings, such as on plants under motion and exposed to rain. The devices have the potential for multisource energy harvesting and as self-powered sensors for environmental monitoring, pointing at applications in wireless sensor networks (WSNs), the Internet of Things (IoT), smart agriculture, and smart forestry.

Indigenous communities leading Canada's clean energy boom

Amanda Stephenson
The Canadian Press
Published March 19, 2023 

The 10 MW Awasis solar project which opened in November is seen on the Cowessess First Nation in an undated handout photo. 

(Cowessess First Nation, *MANDATORY CREDIT*)

CALGARY -

On a wintry day last November, Daphne Kay looked up at an expanse of gleaming solar panels located on Cowessess First Nation reserve land just east of Regina and and cried.

It was the mix of past and present that moved her, watching her fellow community members hold a traditional round dance to mark the grand opening of Cowessess' newly completed 10 MW solar farm.

"I thought about my grandfather, who has passed away, and how during his time he wanted us to live in a healthy way that honoured our traditions, but also brought prosperity for future generations," said Kay, who grew up on Cowessess and, in her role as community energy specialist with Cowessess Ventures Ltd., played an instrumental role in the development of the new solar farm.

"So I thought about him, I thought about my mom, I thought about all the people who were affected by residential schools. I thought about all the people who came before me, and all the people who will come after me."

Cowessess' $21-million Awasis solar project connects to Saskatchewan's electricity grid and is capable of powering 2,500 homes annually, on average. Over its 35-year estimated life, the solar farm is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 350,000 tonnes -- in total, equivalent to the emissions of over 70,000 gas-powered cars driven for one year.

The Awasis solar farm is also an example of many Indigenous-led clean energy projects blossoming right now from coast to coast.

Others include the First Nations-owned Meadow Lake Tribal Council Bioenergy Centre, also in Saskatchewan, which will generate carbon-neutral green power using lumber waste from nearby sawmills. In Nova Scotia, the Membertou, Paqtnkek and Potlotek First Nations are equity partners in what is expected to be North America's first green hydrogen and green ammonia project. And in Ontario, the recently-approved Oneida energy storage project, the largest battery storage project in Canada, is being developed in partnership with the Six Nations of the Grand River Development Corp.

A 2020 report by national not-for-profit organization Indigenous Clean Energy Social Enterprise identified 197 medium-to-large renewable energy generating projects with Indigenous involvement, either in operation or in the final stages of planning and construction.

While the group's 2023 data has not yet been released publicly, executive director Chris Henderson said many additional projects have come online in the last two-and-a-half years -- everything from solar and wind to hydro to geothermal.

In fact, he said Indigenous communities are so heavily involved in clean energy that they now own, co-own, or have a defined financial benefit agreement in place for almost 20 per cent of Canada's electricity generating infrastructure.

"They're the largest asset owners, outside of utilities," Henderson said. "Indigenous communities across the country right now are, quite literally, the largest change agents for clean energy."

As part of its pledge to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the Government of Canada has set the goal of achieving a net-zero electricity grid as early 2035.


Experts have said such a goal will require tens of billions of dollars in public and private investment, and it seems clear that Indigenous communities -- simply by nature of being landowners and treaty rights owners -- are poised to reap a significant amount of that economic benefit.

"We can't have a net-zero transition without continued and growing Indigenous participation," Henderson said. "If you're going to modernize the electricity grid, you're going to be using land, which means you're going to have to work with the Indigenous communities whose land it is."

Private companies have been partnering with Indigenous communities on energy infrastructure projects for decades. But early agreements typically involved guaranteeing construction jobs or other financial benefits for the community and fell short of offering Indigenous people a full equity stake.

That's changing, however. Canada's commitment to net-zero comes at a time when the federal government has also committed to reconciliation with Indigenous people, a commitment that includes the recognition of Indigenous people's right to economic self-determination.

Indigenous communities are also asserting that right, increasingly seeking to get involved in clean energy projects as full owners. Cowessess, for example, owns 95 per cent of the Awasis solar project with the opportunity to become full owners after five years. Kay said it was able to become involved because of a First Nations Opportunity Agreement between the First Nations Power Authority (FNPA) and SaskPower, the provincial utility. The agreement gave FNPA the responsibility of securing First Nations-led solar generation projects to add capacity to the grid.

"Jobs are nice, but equity ownership is nicer," said Kay. "Because it allows us to really steer the ship, and bring forth our own sovereignty in the energy sector."

Henderson said Canada's energy and electricity sectors have historically been dominated by large oil and gas companies, large utilities, and governments.

But new technology allows for more diversification of ownership," he said. "Moving to a clean energy future requires us to decolonize the energy system."

There is significant federal funding support available for Indigenous-led clean energy projects. The Awasis solar project on Cowessess received $18.5 million from the federal government. But Henderson said many other clean energy projects in Canada are the result of joint ventures between Indigenous communities and private companies, and are fully funded with private capital.

For Cowessess, being a leader in clean energy is a way to ensure the long-term economic sustainability of the community, Kay said. But it's also about the long-term sustainability of Mother Earth, which is another reason Indigenous communities are attracted to the opportunity.

"Renewable energy fits really well with our traditional values," she said. "There's a saying that we have that is 'seven generations.' You're always supposed to think seven generations ahead, and that's integral to our world view. Even though we won't ever be able to sit in the shade of the tree, it's imperative that we plant the seed in our lifetime."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2023.

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UAlberta astronomers uncover the first steps of how galaxies form stars

By Tracy Nagai 

 Global News
Posted March 18, 2023 

Erik Rosolowsky a physics professor at the University of Alberta joins Global News Calgary with details on a recent discovery involving the James Webb Telescope and what it tells us about the universe.

 

Fossil site is 'Rosetta Stone' for understanding early life

by University of Edinburgh

A small piece of Rhynie fossil plant with fossil fungi colonizing the ends, viewed through a

 microscope. Credit: Loron et al.

Leading edge technology has uncovered secrets about a world-renowned fossil hoard that could offer vital clues about early life on Earth.

Researchers who analyzed the 400 million-year-old-cache, found in rural north-east Scotland, say their findings reveal better preservation of the fossils at a molecular level than was previously anticipated.

Fresh scrutiny of the exquisitely preserved treasure trove from Aberdeenshire has enabled scientists to identify the chemical fingerprints of the various organisms within it.

Just as the Rosetta Stone helped Egyptologists translate hieroglyphics, the team hopes these chemical codes can help them decipher more about the identity of the life forms, that other more ambiguous fossils represent.

The spectacular fossil ecosystem near the Aberdeenshire village of Rhynie was discovered in 1912, mineralized and encased by chert—hard rock composed of silica. Known as the Rhynie chert, it originates from the Early Devonian period—about 407 million years ago—and has a significant role to play in scientists understanding of life on Earth.

Researchers combined the latest non-destructive imaging with data analysis and machine learning to analyze fossils from collections held by National Museums Scotland and the Universities of Aberdeen and Oxford. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh were able to probe deeper than has previously been possible, which they say could reveal new insights about less well-preserved samples.

Employing a technique known as FTIR spectroscopy—in which infrared light is used to collect high-resolution data—researchers found impressive preservation of molecular information within the cells, tissues and organisms in the rock.

Since they already knew which organisms most of the fossils represented, the team was able to discover molecular fingerprints that reliably discriminate between fungi, bacteria and other groups.

These fingerprints were then used to identify some of the more mysterious members of the Rhynie ecosystem, including two specimens of an enigmatic tubular "nematophyte."

These strange organisms, which are found in Devonian—and later Silurian—sediments have both algal and fungal characteristics and were previously hard to place in either category. The new findings indicate that they were unlikely to have been either lichens or fungi.

Dr. Sean McMahon, Chancellor's Fellow from the University of Edinburgh's School of Physics and Astronomy and School of GeoSciences, said, "We have shown how a quick, non-invasive method can be used to discriminate between different lifeforms, and this opens a unique window on the diversity of early life on Earth."

The team fed their data into a machine learning algorithm that was able to classify the different organisms, providing the potential for sorting other datasets from other fossil-bearing rocks.

Dr. Corentin Loron, Royal Society Newton International Fellow from the University of Edinburgh's School of Physics and Astronomy said the study shows the value of bridging paleontology with physics and chemistry to create new insights into early life.

"Our work highlights the unique scientific importance of some of Scotland's spectacular natural heritage and provides us with a tool for studying life in trickier, more ambiguous remnants," Dr. Loron said.

Dr. Nick Fraser, Keeper of Natural Sciences at National Museums Scotland, believes the value of museum collections for understanding our world should never be underestimated. He said, "The continued development of analytical techniques provides new avenues to explore the past. Our new study provides one more way of peering ever deeper into the fossil record."

The research is published in Nature Communications.

More information: Sean McMahon et al, Molecular fingerprints resolve affinities of Rhynie chert organic fossils, Nature Communications (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37047-1. www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-37047-1

Journal information: Nature Communications 

Provided by University of Edinburgh Earth's oldest known environmental clean-up was 400 million years ago, finds fossil analysis

America’s timeline for development of domestic battery metal supply chain may be unrealistic – research

Staff Writer | March 19, 2023 | 

Evaporating ponds at Albemarle’s Silver Peak lithium mine in Nevada. (Reference image by Ken Lund, Flickr).

By 2027, for an EV to be tax-credit eligible in the US, 80% of the market value of critical minerals in its battery must be extracted or processed domestically or by US free-trade partners (FTPs), Northwestern University researchers say.


In a commentary published in the journal Nature Sustainability, Jennifer Dunn and Jenna Trost wrote that while this goal – part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act – is well-intended, there are reasons to believe the mandate is unreachable and could create new problems.

According to Dunn and Trost, the 80%- target could be achievable for some types of batteries for plug-in hybrid vehicles, but meeting demand for fully electric vehicles with batteries that meet IRA criteria would be challenging. Instead, a mass-based target could avoid some of the challenges posed by a market-value target, such as pinning down a consistent market value for each mineral when market prices are volatile.

The researchers also concluded that the approach taken by the IRA discounts the environmental effects of mining, non-critical minerals supply, and definitions that avoid gamesmanship.

In their view, to meet the demands of the bill, a steep increase in domestic mining would be needed. This could pose environmental issues, including water pollution, in addition to creating greenhouse gas emissions from burning fuel to operate mining equipment.

Building mines also takes time. Permitting processes to protect the environment and worker safety can create delays and extend that timeline. Communities may also resist new mines because of the potential environmental impact. This means that establishing a domestic supply of minerals is unlikely to meet the IRA’s aggressive timeline.

“There’s a lot of interesting social and political dynamics. Some people don’t want new or expanded mines, and others welcome the economic activity and the opportunity to become more energy independent by building out a domestic minerals supply chain,” said Dunn, who is the director of the Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience. “It’s fascinating to watch how this is going to play out.”

She believes that much of the mineral supply chain will continue to be international. As a result, there’s also the issue of labour laws in countries that are not FTPs, raising the question of responsible sourcing.

The researcher pointed to Argentina as a case study. The South American nation is a non-FTP country that provided 59% of the 2,618 tons of lithium mineral the US imported in 2019. Argentina does not offer the labour and environmental protections the US requires of FTP partners, but any minerals acquired from the country would still count if they were processed domestically.

Dunn and Trost argue that guidance should be provided regarding what constitutes processing, and what are allowable sources for the minerals that would be processed in the US or an FTP.

“We have ostensibly good labor protections for miners, but that’s not the case everywhere. What are the ethical implications of using minerals from other places?” Dunn pointed out. “And then, are we going to be really serious about recycling? because we’re clearly not with plastics. We have to be really serious. Investment in battery recycling is growing, but it still needs to be larger.”

Market value target

Dunn and Trost also raised concerns about the use of a market value-based target.

A market value-based target can be met before all the critical minerals in a battery are acquired from a secure source such as the US or an FTP, depending on the battery chemistry.

The environmental effects of critical minerals acquisition are physically tied to the amount of mineral produced rather than its market value.

Market values fluctuate. The researchers noted that prices for cobalt and nickel, for example, have increased by about $13,000 and $4,000 per metric ton, respectively, since 2019.

Many non-critical minerals central to batteries are mainly produced outside the US, raising supply risks.

Instead, the authors suggested using a mass-based standard. Using a mass-based target, they wrote, would reduce uncertainty and hold all automakers to the same standard in the interpretation of market value.

“Given the fluctuations in mineral market values, using a mass-based target in the policy could improve its transparency but may not incentivize production of high-value minerals domestically, which is important for mineral security,” Dunn and Trost said.

Fossil fuel ad campaign misled Canadians, claims Competition Board complaint

Greenpeace has filed a complaint with Canada's Competition Bureau against Pathways Alliance — an industry group made up of the biggest oil sands producers — in what the environmental group hopes will set a precedent against 'greenwashing.'

The tar sands upgrader plant at the Syncrude mine north of Fort McMurray, Alta.Ashley Cooper / Corbis / Getty Images

Stefan Labbé
about 15 hours ago

The environmental group Greenpeace has filed a complaint with Canada’s Competition Bureau against a coalition of the country’s six largest oil sands producers for running what they allege is a “misleading” and “anti-competitive” advertising campaign.

The complaint, submitted this week, targets the six companies forming the Pathways Alliance  — Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL), Cenovus Energy, ConocoPhillips Canada, Imperial, MEG Energy and Suncor Energy — and their “Let’s clear the air campaign.”

Greenpeace claims the Pathways Alliance misled Canadians in several advertisements representing its plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Those ads ran across television, major Canadian newspapers, their website, podcasts, social media and at least one billboard in Vancouver, B.C.

“They're claiming to tackle the climate crisis. But in reality, their plan doesn't work. And so they're misleading both the public and the politicians because of that,” said Salomé Sané, a climate campaigner with Greenpeace’s investigation team.

Fossil fuel companies misled Canadians through major advertisement spending, alleges complaint

The 46-page complaint to the Competition Bureau turns on four claims. In the first, Greenpeace says the advertising campaign fails to include Scope 3 emissions — those produced when you burn fossil fuel.

“Their plan doesn’t account for more than 80 per cent of their emissions. Even without a full emissions accounting, their own calculations do not result in them achieving net zero,” writes Greenpeace in its complaint.

Pathways Alliance has spent money widely to get its message out in recent months. According to the complaint to the Bureau, the six oil and gas companies ran television ads during the FIFA World Cup, the Australian Open and the 2023 Super Bowl.

“From November 2022 through January 2023, the 30-second Pathways Alliance ad aired 929 times on the TSN Network, totalling more than 7.5 hours of air time,” says the Greenpeace complaint.

The six companies forming the Pathways Alliance account for 95 per cent of Alberta’s oil sands production — Canada’s largest single human source of carbon emissions. But the companies' footprints don't stop there. 

Cenovus, ConocoPhillips Canada and CNRL all say they have significant existing natural gas operations or plans to develop drilling in the Montney Play, a geologic formation traversing the Alberta-B.C. border and ranked by one recent study as the world’s sixth largest “carbon bomb.”

On B.C.’s coast, Suncor owns the Burrard Products Terminal in Burnaby and Port Moody, a facility that has the capacity to export 40,000 barrels of fossil fuel per day. And Imperial Oil has several retail locations across B.C. and three distribution terminals in Burnaby, Nanaimo and Port Moody.

So perhaps it's not surprising, said Sané, that the ad campaign targeted Canadians from coast to coast. Over three months ending in January 2023, the alliance spent $325,025 on Facebook and Instagram advertisements, making the group Meta’s third-highest ad buy in Canada during that period after YouTube and the  Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

In at least one instance, the industry group placed an ad on an electronic billboard lit up outside of Vancouver’s BC Place in November 2022.

“Let’s clear the air,” suggested the Pathways Alliance ad.

A net-zero promise through new tech

The subtext of the ad often pointed to the companies' plans to become net-zero carbon producers by mid-century.

In one full front-page ad in the Feb. 18, 2023, edition of the Toronto Star, the industry alliance claims, “We’re making clear strides to net zero.” Three days later, a banner ad on the CBC News website states, “Oil sands are on a path to net-zero emissions.”

Such statements, the Greenpeace complaint alleges, suggest the companies have a “transparent and concrete plan” to achieve net zero emissions when they are expanding oil production.

“We know that to limit the worst effects of climate change, we actually need to reduce production of fossil fuels and not extend them,” said Sané.

The complaint to the Competition Bureau also cites “speculative future technologies” such as Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS), one of a handful go acronyms used to describe machines that scrub carbon from the smokestacks of coal power plants, steel makers, or other fossil fuel-heavy industries. 

“This technology, there's a lot of questions that hang around us. We're not really sure if it's going to be ready on time. We're not really sure how efficient they're going to be,” said Sané. “And yet they're an essential part of their net-zero plan.”

A screenshot from Greenpeace's complaint to Canada's Competition Bureau shows examples of recent ads placed by the Pathways Alliance, an industry group made up of Canada’s six largest oil sands producers with the stated aim of reducing CO2 emissions to net-zero. Greenpeace

Companies positioned themselves as 'Climate leaders' while pushing for more fossil fuel production

On several occasions, Sané says the Pathways Alliance has positioned oilsands producers as “climate leaders.” But that doesn’t align with the group’s industry affiliations and the lobbying they have done more widely in Canada, she said.

“We recorded that at least four of the Pathways Alliance companies have been opposing emissions reduction, and they've been advocating for fossil fuel expansion,” said Sané.

“That kind of behind-closed-doors lobbying that they're doing doesn't match with the image that they're trying to present to the Canadian public.”

Mark Cameron, Pathways Alliance vice-president of external affairs, said the group is taking time to review the complaint and won’t directly comment on it until it is finished.

“What I can say is our campaign acknowledges the oil sands represent a significant share of our country’s emissions and that we must work collaboratively, including with governments, to achieve our goal of net zero from operations and deliver the world’s preferred barrel of responsibly produced oil,” Cameron said in a written statement.

“We will continue to speak on behalf of one of Canada’s most important industries and show how we’re addressing the climate challenge.” 

Latest complaint flurry of 'greenwashing' allegations

Sané says that in submitting the complaint of “greenwashing” to the Competition Bureau, Greenpeace is asking the industry watchdog to consider the general impression of the advertising.

It comes on the back of a number of complaints filed with the Competition Bureau alleging false and misleading statements in which several companies — including banks, oil and gas companies, and forest certification programs — have been called out for alleged greenwashing.

The Bureau itself has warned that companies falsely alleging green credentials have significantly increased in recent years. But few big complaints against large fossil fuel companies or their financiers have been decided on yet.

Sané said she hopes the latest case against the Pathways Alliance will set a precedent to deter other companies from evading meaningful action on climate change and engaging in tactics that might mislead Canadians about their green record. That’s especially important, she said, when it comes to complex climate pathways heavy on jargon and data that non-expert would struggle to decipher without significant effort.

“A lot of companies are actually presenting an image that doesn't reflect their action once the mic is turned off,” she said.

“It shouldn't fall on the public to question whatever companies are telling us. Normally, they should be telling them the truth.”

Great white sharks slowly making recovery in Canadian oceans: researcher


Jayson Baxter
CTV News at 5 co-host and producer for CTV News Atlantic
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Published March 15, 2023 

After decades of decline, the ocean's apex predator appears to be making a recovery.

Great white sharks were one of the first species listed as threatened in both Canadian and international waters.

In 2003, marine conservation biologist Boris Worm and his research partners published their watershed research paper on the collapse of sharks in northwest Atlantic – setting off alarm bells in the scientific community.

In the United States, 400 great whites were getting caught each year due to longline fishery alone.

"We're not even trying to kill them. But they are so good at finding prey that they find hooks and longlines before other species do."

According to Worm, the current population of white sharks in the Atlantic region is estimated to be about 2,000.

"This is a really slow growing species that matures typically older than humans, at 25 or 30 years of age," he said.

"It has few pups in its lifetime and is very slow to reproduce."

Now, it's illegal to land white sharks or trade their body parts. If caught on a longline, they must be released alive.

"And it's really brought the number of mortalities down and the numbers we see in the wild up," said Worm.

According to Worm, tagging and public awareness campaigns have also helped.

As an experienced diver, Worm swims with sharks around the planet, drawing him further into the world.

"White sharks are one of the most fascinating fish on the planet. It's the largest predatory fish we have," he said.

"They are so ancient and you feel that when you're in their presence. And they've been here for 400-million years, longer than dinosaurs have and they're still here."

Worm says it is still possible to escape our destructive tendencies.

"We can bring these species back within my lifetime and the next generation's lifetime. The ocean could be a lot more abundant than what we are used to," he said. "We've made a big dent in it. But it can recover and it does recover if we give it a chance."


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A white shark found in Canadian waters is shown off the coast of Nova Scotia in this file photo. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO - Ocearch, Robert Snow)

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In 2003, marine conservation biologist Boris Worm and his research partners published their watershed research paper on the collapse of sharks in northwest Atlantic – setting off alarm bells in the scientific community.

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 New Brunswick

Endangered right whales can be found in Gulf of St. Lawrence all year, study finds

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Recent study shows North Atlantic right whales travelling often, potentially raising risk from human activity

Vanessa Moreau · CBC News · Posted: Mar 17, 2023 

Researchers from Dalhousie University have mapped the northern-most points of right whales' distribution in Canadian waters. This March 11, 2021, photo shows a mother and calf in waters much farther south, near Cumberland Island, Ga. (Georgia Department of Natural Resources/NOAA Permit #20556/The Associated Press)

North Atlantic right whales are spending more time in Canadian waters, according to a recent study, information that could help save the species from extinction.

A group at Dalhousie University looked at acoustic data from the distinctive whale calls, from 2015 to 2017, in the hope of mapping the northern-most points of the whales in Canadian waters. 

Scientists say the more they are able to learn about the movement and preferred habitats of the whales, the more they will be able to prevent right whale deaths from human activities, such as entanglements in fishing equipment or ship strikes.

Organizations in the United States and Canada have taken extensive measures over the past few years to try to protect the whales from further harm, but 2023 has already been a tough year for the endangered mammals, with four new entanglements and two deaths.

Delphine Durette-Morin of the Canadian Whale Institute in Nova Scotia said the whale habitat extends from Florida to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and before 2015 there was a lack of monitoring efforts in those waters. (Gina Lonati)

One of the most surprising findings, said Delphine Durette-Morin, who completed the study as a master's student at Dalhousie, is how active the right whales are in the Gulf of St. Lawrence almost all year — from May until December, not just in the summer months.

"This continuous presence is really important because it suggests the whales are using ... the Cabot Strait as the migratory corridor in a more continuous fashion," said Durette-Morin, now an assistant scientist at the Canadian Whale Institute. That has implications "for their conservation because that area is an important bottleneck for basically the whales and large ships that are crossing that area."

The habitat, according to Durette-Morin, generally extends from Florida to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, and before 2015 there was a lack of monitoring efforts in those northern waters. There have also been sightings as far north as Greenland.

A North Atlantic right whale calf was found dead under a pier in North Carolina in January. It was no more than a couple of weeks old. (Submitted by Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute)

Her study used a vast network of underwater microphones called hydrophones from four different Canadian organizations to gather sound recordings of right whales over the two-year period.

Durette-Morin told Information Morning Moncton those hydrophones were on a series of 67 moorings and 13 acoustic glider deployments that ranged from the Bay of Fundy to the coast of Labrador.

The passive recording of the right whale's calls, known as upcalls, was not meant to track how many whales were in the area, but instead find migratory corridors or patterns. 

The study involved analyzing audio recordings equivalent to over 20,000 days and was done with some digital assistance from an automated detector.

"When we hear an upcall in a recorder," said Durette-Morin. "We know that there was at least one right whale present at that time, in that location, and that can give us an idea of the distribution through time and space. That can be used as the minimum presence of right whale occurrence."

Jedi was named for his callosity pattern, which resembles a Star Wars spaceship battle. The breadth of habitat, and its constant changes, is a challenge for organizations trying to protect the whales. (New England Aquarium under NOAA research permit #19674)

The population of the North Atlantic right whale, according to the North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium, is estimated to be 340. They generally move south to the coasts of Georgia and Florida during the winter, and further north, along the east coast of the United States and Canada during the summer months. 

The breadth of their habitat, and its constant changes, is a challenge for organizations trying to protect the whales.

"It's important to have characterized distribution information about a population," said Durette-Morin. "Especially to know or to identify areas where there's potential overlap with human induced risk."

Various fisheries, shipping lanes and even tourism are all human activities that potentially pose a risk to the right whales. 

Managing Risks

Jean-Francois Gosselin, a biologist at Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said that based on research showing an increased presence of the North Atlantic right whales in Canadian waters, particularly in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Fisheries and Oceans Canada has started a "systemic surveillance program" of Canada's east coast in an effort to track the whales.

He said of the approximately 340-350 North Atlantic right whales left, around 130-140 individual whales have been detected in the Gulf of St. Lawrence since 2018.

Amy Knowlton,a senior scientist at the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium, hopes that broadening the use of technologies can keep the North Atlantic right whale from extinction. (Submitted by Amy Knowlton)

Fisheries and Oceans Canada sends aircraft to do aerial surveillance of right whales over the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence around 10 times a year, from April to November. They then extend the search across the rest of the east coast, doing one of two regions on alternating years in order to see whether they can find more aggregations of right whales.

Gosselin also said the aerial surveillance is done in combination with acoustic detection methods, and submitted sightings from research vessels or the coast guard, and the data is gathered to add to a database shared among other research and conservation groups.

The detection of right whales near shipping lanes or fishing areas can also trigger management strategies in real time.

"All of these right whales sightings are reported in there like in the central database that is used to identify the areas where sightings have been detected, and then management measures are put in the following day."

If a fishing area is temporarily closed because of the detection of right whales, DFO will do aerial surveillance for the following 15 days in order to ensure the whales have left the area. If they are detected between days nine and 15, Gosselin said, the area could be closed for the remainder of the season.

• The wrong news about North Atlantic right whales: How human noise affects the animals

• Right whale off southern U.S. freed from Canadian lobster fishing gear

Amy Knowlton, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium, said acoustic monitoring of right whales is only one of the tools used by scientists to try to gauge the presence of the whales, but still an important one, and this study highlights the importance of not relying entirely on visual detection, which are often only a snapshot of much larger scale right whale activity.

"Maybe we need to broaden our scope of management," said Knowlton. "So we're not just focused on these aggregation areas for putting in measures, but we're recognizing that the threats are broadly distributed and try to develop ways to sort of tackle that in a more comprehensive fashion."

She gave the example of the Canadian snow crab fishery in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which she said has started to use on-demand gear or rope-less fishing to avoid having a buoy line in the water all the time, lessening the risk of the whales becoming entangled.

Knowlton hopes that broadening the use of technologies like that can keep the North Atlantic right whale from extinction.