Critics claim Paris using 2024 Games to introduce Big Brother video surveillance

Issued on: 25/03/2023 

Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, France is considering adopting a law that would introduce AI video surveillance. © Eric Cabanis, AFP

Text by: Romain HOUEIX

France’s National Assembly is due to adopt a law on Tuesday ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Article 7 is the most controversial aspect of this law, as it will allow AI video surveillance to be used to detect abnormal behaviour. Human rights organisations and the French left have condemned the measure.

The all-encompassing law that France’s National Assembly is due to adopt on March 28, ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, will allow shops to open on Sundays, establish a health centre in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis (located northeast of Paris) and permit the French state to investigate future accredited persons. However, Article 7 of this law is particularly controversial, as it states that AI video surveillance may be used, on a trial basis, to ensure the safety of the Olympic Games. Human rights groups say the use of this technology will set a dangerous precedent.

During the preliminary phase, Article 7 was adopted by the presidential majority, France’s right-wing party Les Républicains and the far-right National Rally. The New Ecological and Social People’s Union (NUPES), a coalition of left-wing parties, opposed it. It will allow algorithm-driven video surveillance technology to be used to ensure the safety of large-scale "sporting, recreational or cultural events" on a trial basis.
'An all-out assault on rights to privacy'

"Algorithmic video surveillance is a new form of technology that uses computer software to analyse images captured by surveillance cameras in real time," explains Arnaud Touati, a lawyer specialised in digital law. "The algorithms used in the software are notably based on machine learning technology, which allows AI video surveillance, over time, to continue to improve and adapt to new situations."

Proponents of this technology claim to be able to anticipate crowd movements and spot abandoned luggage or potentially dangerous incidents. Compared to traditional video surveillance, everything is automated with algorithms in charge of analysis - which, according to those in favour of this technology, limits human errors.

"While France promotes itself as a champion of human rights globally, its decision to legalize AI-powered mass surveillance during the Olympics will lead to an all-out assault on the rights to privacy, protest, and freedom of assembly and expression," Amnesty International said in a statement after the article was passed.

A herald of future video surveillance across Europe?

Katia Roux, the NGO's technology and human rights specialist, explains that this technology can elicit many fears. "Under international law, legislation must respect the strict principles of necessity and proportionality. In this case, however, the legislator has not demonstrated this," she says. "We are talking about assessment technology, which has to evaluate behaviours and categorise them as at risk so that measures can be taken afterwards."

05:59TECH 24 © FRANCE 24

"This technology is not legal today. In France, experiments have been done but not within the legal framework that this law proposes to create," she said. "Nor is it legal at the European level. It is even brought up during discussions in the European Parliament about technology and the regulation of artificial intelligence systems. The legislation could therefore also violate the European regulation currently being drafted."

"By adopting this law, France would become the champion of video surveillance in the EU and set an extremely dangerous precedent. It would send an extremely worrying signal to countries that might be tempted to use this technology against their own population," she continued.

Discriminatory?

One fear is that the seemingly cold and infallible algorithm may in fact contain discriminatory biases. "These algorithms are going to be trained using a set of data decided and designed by human beings. They will therefore be able to incorporate the discriminatory biases of the people who conceived and designed them," says Roux.

"AI video surveillance has already been used for racist purposes, notably by China, in the exclusive surveillance of the Uighurs, a Muslim minority present in the country," says Touati. "Because ethnic minorities are under-represented in the data provided to the algorithms for learning-purposes, there are significant discriminatory and racist biases. According to an MIT study, while the facial recognition error is 1% for White men, it is 34% for Black women."

Touati, however, wants to see the glass as half full. "Using AI video surveillance during events of this magnitude could also highlight the algorithm’s discriminatory, misogynistic and racist biases by identifying, at too high a frequency to be accurate, people from minority ethnic groups as potential suspects," he explains.

When asked by members of the left-wing opposition coalition NUPES what kind of people AI video surveillance would be targeting, the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said, "Not [ones wearing] hoodies." The French government believes that the limits set by the law – the absence of facial recognition, data protection – will be enough to prevent discriminatory practices.

"We have put safeguards in place so that tenders are only reserved for companies that respect a certain number of rules, including hosting data on national territory, respecting the CNIL [National Commission on Informatics and Liberty; an independent French administrative regulatory body responsible for ensuring that data privacy law is applied to the collection, storage and use of personal data] and the GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation ; a data protection law introduced by the EU]," says MP Philippe Latombe, a member of the pro-Europe and centre-right political party Democratic Movement. He co-signed an amendment with the National Rally so that the call for tenders would give priority to European companies. "Clearly, we don't want it to be a Chinese company that does data processing in China and uses the data to do something else."

"We are not reassured by the government’s guarantees. In reality, no real amendment is possible, and this technology is, in itself, problematic and dangerous for human rights," says Roux. "It will remain so until a serious evaluation has been conducted, the necessity and proportionality of its use has been demonstrated, and a real debate has been held with civil society’s different actors on this issue."
Sports events and tech experiments

Although the Olympic Games are clearly the target event, this technological experiment can begin as soon as the law is implemented and will end on December 31, 2024, four months after the Paralympic Games finish. It could therefore be applied to a wide range of events, starting with the Rugby World Cup from September 8 to October 28.

Opponents of AI video surveillance fear that its initially exceptional use will eventually become commonplace. After all, sports events are often used as a testing ground for policing, security and new technology. The 2012 London Olympics, for example, led to the widespread use of video surveillance in the British capital.

"We are afraid that this exceptional period will become the norm," explains Roux, who adds that voice recognition technology, which was deployed on an experimental basis during the 2018 World Cup in Russia, has since been used to repress the opposition.

Finally, Amnesty International is concerned that video surveillance will eventually lead to biometric or voice surveillance. "Facial recognition is just a feature waiting to be activated," says Roux.

The law on the 2024 Olympic Games has not yet completed its legislative journey. Following Tuesday’s formal vote in the National Assembly, the text will undergo several changes and make multiple trips between the Assembly and Senate, which had previously amended it, until the two chambers agree to adopt it.

Tech 24’s Peter O'Brien contributed to this article.

This article has been translated from the original in French.

Israelis protest ahead of crunch week for justice reforms

Issued on: 25/03/2023 -

The latest mass protest in Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv comes days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press on with a controversial judicial overhaul despite mounting international alarm © AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP


Tel Aviv (AFP) – Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv Saturday against a controversial judicial overhaul by the hard-right government, ahead of a key week expected to see more legislative steps and mass protests.

The latest demonstration to hit Israel's commercial hub came days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press on with the changes despite mounting international alarm.

"We're here today to show up and add our voice to the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Israelis that support the values that this country was founded on," said high-tech worker Daniel Nisman, mentioning democracy and tolerance.

"This is all we can hope for, that he (Netanyahu) brings us back from the edge of the abyss," the 36-year-old told AFP.

Demonstrations erupted in January after the coalition announced its reform package, which the government says is necessary to rebalance powers between lawmakers and the judiciary.

Rallies have repeatedly drawn tens of thousands of protesters, according to Israeli media estimates, and an AFP journalist saw thousands already gathering in Tel Aviv early on Saturday evening.

"More Israelis are waking up," said Josh Drill, a spokesman for the Umbrella Movement of protests.

"We're not going to live in a dictatorship. Even if they do pass the judicial coup, this protest is not going anywhere," the 26-year-old told AFP ahead of the rally.

'End the rift'

Plans to hand more control to politicians and diminish the role of the Supreme Court have been questioned by Israel's top allies including the United States.

 

Israeli demonstrators have announced a "national paralysis week" for next week, including countrywide rallies, protests outside ministers' homes and on Wednesday outside parliament © AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP

US President Joe Biden has expressed "our concerns over these proposals, these proposed judicial reforms", White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday.

Netanyahu was also met by hundreds of protesters in London, where he met his British counterpart Rishi Sunak on Friday.

During the talks, the British premier "stressed the importance of upholding the democratic values that underpin our relationship, including in the proposed judicial reforms", a spokesperson said.

Israeli lawmakers are due to vote on a central part of the government's proposals next week, which foresees changing the way judges are appointed.

Netanyahu said Thursday that the legislation "does not take control of the court but balances and diversifies it".

A parliamentary committee has amended the draft law with the aim of making it more palatable to opponents, but the opposition has ruled out backing any part of the reform package until all legislative steps are halted.

In response, demonstrators have announced a "national paralysis week", including countrywide rallies, protests outside ministers' homes and on Wednesday outside parliament.

In his televised address on Thursday, Netanyahu said he would do everything "to calm the situation and end the rift in the nation".

Even so, the premier said his administration remained "determined to correct and responsibly advance the democratic reform that will restore the proper balance between the authorities" by ploughing on with the overhaul.

Netanyahu came under fire a day later from Israel's attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, who said his public intervention was "illegal" due to his ongoing corruption trial.

The top legal official cited a previous court ruling that an indicted prime minister has no right to act on a matter that could place him in a conflict of interest.

© 2023 AFP

France protests: Demonstrator in critical condition and 16 officers injured as French police clash with people opposed to reservoir plans

Sky News
Sat, 25 March 2023


A protester is in a critical condition and an injured officer has been flown from the scene by helicopter as police clash with thousands of people opposed to plans for a large water reservoir in France.

Several people have been injured in the clashes, which have taken place in the western rural district of Sainte-Soline.

Two protesters were seriously hurt, including one who is in a critical condition after suffering a head injury, as well as

16 police officers, the local prefecture said.

One officer was evacuated by helicopter.

Police fired tear gas to repel some protesters who threw fireworks and other projectiles as they crossed fields to approach the construction area in the district.

At least three police cars caught fire, television footage showed.

Read more:
Emmanuel Macron criticised after slowly taking off expensive watch during interview

Analysis - postponed state visit is embarrassing for Macron

The demonstrators, who have come together despite a ban on gatherings, are opposed to a large water reservoir for farm irrigation.

Around 3,200 police were deployed for the demonstration, said Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said, who blamed far-left groups for the violence.

The heavy police presence included helicopters and officers riding quad bikes.

Emmanuelle Dubee, the prefect of the surrounding region, said around 1,000 radical protesters were expected among an estimated 6,000 demonstrators.

France's worst drought on record last summer - which was also felt across the UK and Europe - sharpened the debate over water resources in agriculture.

Supporters say artificial reservoirs are a way to use water efficiently when needed, while critics argue they are outsized and favour large farms.

Similar protests erupted last October and resulted in injuries.

The unrest over the irrigation project comes after weeks of demonstrations in France against a pension reform that sees the retirement age rise from 62 to 64.

The protests have turned violent since the government pushed through the legislation without a final parliamentary vote, with piles of rubbish set alight on the streets of Paris, riot police firing tear gas and more than 300 arrests.

The King's state visit to France, which was due to begin on Sunday, has been postponed amid the ongoing violence and unrest.

Violent clashes erupt over agro industry water megabasins project in western France

Issued on: 25/03/2023 

A protester throws a mortar at riot mobile gendarmes during a demonstration called by the collective "Bassines non merci", the environmental movement "Les Soulevements de la Terre" and the French trade union 'Confederation paysanne' to protest against the construction of a new water reserve for agricultural irrigation, in Sainte-Soline, central-western France, on March 25, 2023. - More than 3,000 police officers and gendarmes have been mobilised and 1,500 "activists" are expected to take part in the demonstration, around Sainte-Soline. The new protest against the "bassines", a symbol of tensions over access to water, is taking place under thight surveillance on March 25, 2023 in the Deux-Sevres department.

 © Thibaud Moritz, AFP

French security forces again clashed with protesters Saturday as campaigners sought to stop the construction of reservoirs for the agricultural industry in the southwest of the country, AFP correspondents said.

The violent scenes in Saite-Soline in western France came after days of violent protests nationwide over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform that prompted the cancellation of a visit by King Charles III of the UK.

A long procession set off late morning, comprising at least 6,000 people according to local authorities and around 25,000 according to the organisers.

More than 3,000 members of the security forces were deployed, with "at least 1,000" potentially violent activists, including some from Italy, present, officials said.

Around the construction site, defended by the police, violent clashes quickly broke out between the security forces and radical militants, AFP correspondents said.

Multiple projectiles and improvised explosives were thrown by protesters, with police responding with tear gas and water cannon.

"While the country is rising up to defend pensions, we will simultaneously stand up to defend water," said the organisers gathering under the banner of "Bassines non merci" ("No to reservoirs, thank you").

Eleven people were already detained after police seized cold weapons, including petanque balls and meat knives, as well as explosives.

The protest movement against the pension reform have turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second mandate, with daily clashes in the streets of Paris and other cities between police and protesters.

(AFP)

New violent clashes rock France in water protest

Issued on: 25/03/2023 -

The violent scenes in Saite-Soline in western France came after days of violent protests over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform 

© Thibaud MORITZ / AFP


Sainte-Soline (France) (AFP) – French police again clashed with protesters Saturday as campaigners sought to stop the construction of reservoirs in the southwest, the latest in a series of violent standoffs as social tensions erupt nationwide.

The violent scenes in Sainte-Soline in western France came after days of violent protests nationwide over President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform that prompted the cancellation of a visit by King Charles III of the UK.

The protest movement against the pension reform have turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron's second mandate, with daily clashes in the streets of Paris and other cities between police and protesters.

Several protesters and members of security forces were wounded in the clashes around Saite-Soline as campaigners sought to stop the construction of reservoirs for the agricultural industry, according to the authorities.

A long procession set off late morning, comprising at least 6,000 people according to local authorities and around 25,000 according to the organisers.

More than 3,000 members of the security forces were deployed, with "at least 1,000" potentially violent activists, including some from Italy, present, officials said.

Around the construction site, defended by the police, violent clashes quickly broke out between the security forces and radical militants, AFP correspondents said.

'Simultaneously stand up'

Multiple projectiles and improvised explosives were thrown by protesters, with police responding with tear gas and water cannon.

Two protesters were seriously wounded, including one who was hospitalised with a brain injury, the authorities said.

Sixteen members of the security forces were wounded, six of whom were hospitalised regionally and one of whose injuries were so serious he was evacuated by helicopter.

"While the country is rising up to defend pensions, we will simultaneously stand up to defend water," said the organisers gathering under the banner of "Bassines non merci" ("No to reservoirs, thank you").

Eleven people were detained after police seized cold weapons, including petanque balls and meat knives, as well as explosives.

While not directly related to the anti-pensions reform campaign, the clashes over the water reservoir construction have added to tensions in an increasingly challenging situation for the government.

Potentially violent activists, including some from Italy, were present, authorities said 

SHOWED UP ARMED WITH RACQUETS FOR THE ANARCHIST GAMES TEARGAS TENNIS

The cancellation of Charles' state visit -- which was to be his very first abroad as monarch -- was a major embarrassment for Macron and acknowledgement of the seriousness of the situation.

After the worst clashes yet of the three-month movement on Thursday night, protest activity has been less intense in the last 24 hours.

But the government is bracing for another torrid day on Tuesday when unions are due to hold another day of strikes and protests.

This would have been the second full day of Charles' visit, which now must find a new date in his packed calendar. Instead, Germany will be his first foreign destination as monarch.

The scenes in France have sparked astonishment abroad. "Chaos reigns in France," said the Times of London above a picture of rubbish piling up. "Macron surrenders to the mob," said the mass-circulation Daily Mail over the cancellation of the king's visit.

'I will not give up'

Uproar over legislation to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 was enflamed when Macron exercised a controversial executive power to push the plan through parliament without a vote last week.

The streets of the capital have also been strewn with rubbish because of a strike by waste collectors.

Despite the protests, President Emmanuel Macron has remained defiant 

© Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

But there has also been controversy over the tactics used by the French security forces to disperse the protests.

The Council of Europe -- the continent's leading human rights watchdog -- warned that sporadic acts of violence "cannot justify excessive use of force by agents of the state" or "deprive peaceful protesters of their right to freedom of assembly".

Macron has defiantly refused to offer concessions, saying in a televised interview Wednesday that the changes needed to "come into force by the end of the year".

The Le Monde daily said Macron's "inflexibility" was now worrying even "his own troops" among the ruling party.

"I will not give up seeking to convince," Borne told a conference on Saturday.

"I will not give up on building compromises. I will not give up on acting. I am here to find agreements and carry out the transformations necessary for our country and for the French."

© 2023 AFP

'Some officers think everything is allowed': CNRS researcher deplores French police brutality

Issued on: 25/03/2023 - 

02:54 Interview with Chistian Mouhanna 

© FRANCE 24

Text by:FRANCE 24

Video by:FRANCE 24

Tensions are rising in France after President Emmanuel Macron in his first public interview refused to compromise on the government’s controversial pension reform bill. As peaceful demonstrations turn to social unrest, police forces are picking up their batons and using them on protesters.

Hundreds of people have been arrested since Thursday, which saw one of the largest demonstrations so far this year, since protests broke out against Macron's pension reform bill.

Many were wounded due to clashes with police forces, who also count numerous injuries among its officers.

“The problem is, the police forces are used in France when there is no room for negotiation, so they are pushed by the government to be aggressive...that’s why some of the officers think that everything is allowed and they can beat or aggress some people”, CNRS-CESDIP research director Christian Mouhanna told FRANCE 24.

Click on the video player to watch the full interview.

Federal decision to shut down B.C. salmon farms prompts company court challenge

An Atlantic salmon is seen at a fish farm near Campbell River, B.C. Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2018. A British Columbia salmon farming company is seeking to challenge in court the federal government's decision not to renew the licences for its open-net Atlantic salmon farms off Vancouver Island. (THE CANADIAN PRESS /Jonathan Hayward)

A British Columbia salmon farming company is going to court to challenge the federal government's decision not to renew the licences for its open-net farms off Vancouver Island.

Documents filed in Federal Court in Vancouver by Mowi Canada West apply for a judicial review of the decision last month by Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray to shut down 15 salmon farms.

Mowi's application seeks an order quashing or setting aside Murray's decision to shut down the company's 11 open-net salmon farms located off the Discovery Islands, near Campbell River.

It asks the court to have the matter referred back to Murray and a declaration the minister's February decision was "unreasonable, invalid and unlawful."

The federal government has not responded to the application, but as she announced the decision last month Murray said recent science indicates uncertainty over the risks fish farms pose to wild salmon and government was committed to transition away from the open-net farms. 

The farms off B.C.'s coast have been a major flashpoint with environmental groups and some Indigenous nations saying the farms are linked to disease that transfers to wild salmon, while the industry, local politicians and other First Nations say they are safe and the closures threaten thousands of jobs.

"Prior to the decision to eliminate aquaculture in the Discovery Islands region, Mowi had 645 employees in B.C., a significant number of whom were Indigenous," says the court application. "Since the minister's decision to prohibit aquaculture in the Discovery Islands, Mowi's workforce has been reduced to 312 employees.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2023.

FOOD NOT FUEL

Shortage of cooking oil looms as biofuels gain global appeal

Anuradha Raghu, Bloomberg News

Various sample fuels used in road test of 40% palm-based biodiesel in Central Java, Indonesia. 

Photographer: Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg

A global biofuel boom is set to drive a shortage of vegetable oils — used for cooking and now increasingly to power trucks and planes — intensifying a debate over food versus fuel. 

From the U.S. to Brazil and Indonesia, governments are embracing energy made from plants like soybeans or canola, or even animal fat, to move away from fossil fuels and cut emissions. This has created opportunities for vegetable oils, especially palm oil, an ubiquitous but controversial ingredient found in products like pizza dough, instant noodles, chocolate and shampoo.

Demand is so hot that producers are hunting for used cooking oil and sludge, a waste product from processing palm oil, as feedstocks for biofuels. 

These lofty ambitions may face challenges. War and extreme weather are limiting vegetable oil supplies. A severe drought has devastated production in Argentina, the top exporter of soybean oil. In Europe, restrictions on using bee-toxic pesticides will curb planting of rapeseed that relies on the pollinators, while Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine will slash sunflower oil exports.

With growth in vegetable oil production expected to slow, biofuels could push the global market into a deficit in the second half of the year, according to Thomas Mielke, executive director of Hamburg-based Oil World.

Biofuels account for a large share of the vegetable oil market but only a fraction of energy demand, Mielke said. He’s concerned that combined biofuel targets are overdoing what the global market for oils and fats can satisfy.

The U.S., Europe, Brazil and Indonesia are responsible for most of the biodiesel, renewable diesel and biojet fuel consumption growth. The U.S. uses a mixture of feedstocks such as soybean oil, rapeseed oil, used cooking oil and animal fats. Europe is producing from wastes, residues and rapeseed oil. Indonesia mainly uses palm oil to produce biodiesel, while Brazil relies on soybean oil.

This trend is widely expected to benefit palm oil, a product that’s come under scrutiny in recent years amid reports of deforestation and forced labor. With rival oilseeds and vegetable oils being used increasingly in biofuels, some of the demand will spill over to palm, according to James Fry, chairman of Oxford-based agriculture consulting firm LMC International Ltd.

But the palm oil market may not be able to keep pace. Production in Indonesia and Malaysia, which together account for 85 per cent of world supply, are plateauing due to the slow replanting of old and unproductive trees, erratic weather, and as deforestation curbs limit landbank expansion.

Threats to supply, particularly from climate change, will push up agricultural prices and slow the world’s efforts at converting food into fuel, said Dorab Mistry, an influential trader who’s worked in the industry for four decades.

The International Energy Agency has warned that swelling demand for biofuels and a looming feedstock crunch, if not addressed, will undermine the potential for biofuels to contribute to global decarbonization efforts. 

Biofuel mandates should be flexible and provide room for temporary adjustments in the event of supply shocks, according to Oil World’s Mielke. Given the importance of those policies to the entire oils and fats complex, any changes must be moderate as they can have a devastating impact, he said.

Last year, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted global sunflower oil trade and boosted demand for palm and soybean oil, sending prices to record highs. Even then, most countries did not ease their biofuel policies, leading to demand destruction in some vegetable oil consumers, mainly from developing nations.

“In periods of supply shortages, the necessary rationing of demand must not take place only on the shoulders of the food consumers,” Mielke said. “This is a lesson we have to learn from last year.”

St. Lawrence Seaway shippers eye EV materials, but grain and ore remain the staples

Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press 

Mar 22, 2023

Shippers who ply the St. Lawrence Seaway view critical minerals for electric vehicle batteries as key to their future — but it could be a while before the floodgates open on Canada's largely untapped reserves.

Until then, grain and iron ore remain the staples, comprising nearly half of the 36.3 million tonnes of cargo that traversed the seaway last year.

Terence Bowles, who heads the management authority overseeing the system of locks, canals and channels that stretches for more than 300 kilometres between Montreal and Lake Erie, said he expects a million more tonnes of Canadian grain will float down the St. Lawrence River from Thunder Bay and other Ontario ports in 2023.

"It's in the silos ready to come ... so we're expecting quite a bump-up," he said in an interview Wednesday after the opening ceremony for the seaway's navigation year.

The war in Ukraine will likely extend the spike in demand for grain as well as potash, said Chamber of Marine Commerce CEO Bruce Burrows. Ukraine and Russia are major exporters of wheat, corn, sunflower oil and fertilizer products, but Ukrainian shipments were hampered by a months-long Russian blockade last year, since lifted for the time being.

Iron ore traffic will also pick up as car makers "get back on their feet" and construction activity remains sturdy, Burrows predicted, pointing to the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in particular.

"The GTA is still the biggest, fastest growing part of the North American economy. It's a great sucking sound of special projects, all of which have to be sourced with resource materials that we move by ship," he said.

Behind him, the Algoma Central shipping company's Captain Henry Jackman freighter issued a horn blast before disembarking along the St. Lawrence River, hauling iron ore en route to Hamilton's ArcelorMittal Dofasco mill to be transformed into steel.

Jet fuel shipments bound for Toronto's Pearson airport will also ramp up in 2023 as the airline industry takes off after more than two years of aviation downturn due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Burrows said.

Coal cargo may decline further after a 16 per cent drop in volume last year, he added. "None of us are banking on coal as part of our future."

In the long term, shippers and ports hope to see critical minerals make up a growing chunk of bulk freight to feed the fast-growing market for electric cars.

"There's an abundance of critical materials needed for battery and electric vehicle production in Canada, and many of these will be transferred from mine sites and facilities by the marine mode," Bowles told industry representatives in a speech at the St. Lambert Lock across the St. Lawrence River from Montreal.

The timeline is hazy, however.

Canada remains "in the early throes" of lithium and rare earth metals development for electric car batteries — minerals Bowles sees playing a crucial role in establishing the seaway as a "green corridor."

"We don't have it really well evaluated yet," he said in an interview. The "big challenge for Canada" remains getting hydraulic mining shovels in the ground.

The country has deposits of most of the 31 critical minerals listed in a strategy laid out by Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson in December, but the government aims initially to focus on the six with the greatest potential for growth.

Those include lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and the group of 17 metals and minerals known as rare earth elements.

There are already significant mining operations in nickel, copper and cobalt, as well as smaller graphite operations.

Canada is not a commercial producer of rare earth elements, though it does have some of the largest-known deposits. The Tanco mine in Manitoba is the only lithium mine operating now, but at least one more is on tap to reopen in Quebec this year.

The strategy and the $3.8 billion investments in last year's federal budget aim to encourage new exploration, expedite regulatory and environmental reviews, build infrastructure to support discovery of new deposits and build equity partnerships with Indigenous people.

Less than a week before the federal government unveils its new budget — and on the eve of U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to Canada — the Chamber of Marine Commerce also called on Ottawa to follow America's lead on major funding for transport infrastructure.

The massive U.S. Inflation Reduction Act targeting climate change includes US$3 billion to reduce air pollution at ports by installing zero-emission equipment. Separately, the U.S. Department of Transportation has earmarked US$662 million for port infrastructure development this year.

"You see the Americans jumping ahead of the Canadians," Burrows said. "Where's Canada? We really are missing in action."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2023.

HIP CAPITALI$M

Field Trip Health & Wellness enters creditor protection, lays off staff

The Canadian Press

Field Trip Health & Wellness Ltd. says it has entered creditor protection and is exploring a sale of its business.

The Toronto-based company which operates four psychedelic therapy clinics says the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted it a creditor protection order today under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act.

The order came after the company said its board of directors carefully considered the business's cash position and available alternatives only to determine creditor protection was in its best interest.

Field Trip now intends to conduct an expedited sale and investment solicitation process with the goal of reaching a deal that enables it to emerge from creditor protection.

It also says it carried out a "companywide" reduction impacting an unspecified number of corporate and clinical staff, and chairman and chief executive Ronan Levy stepped down.

Trading in the company's securities has been suspended and its common shares are being transferred to the NEX Board of TSX Venture Exchange during the suspension period.

Canada’s population grows by over 1 million for first time

Randy Thanthong-Knight, Bloomberg News 

Mar 22, 2023

Canada’s population grew 2.7 per cent in 2022, the fastest expansion among advanced economies and on par with many African nations.

The country added a record 1,050,110 people over a one-year period to Jan. 1, bringing the total population to 39,566,248, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday in Ottawa. International migration accounted for 95.9 per cent of the growth.

It marks the first time the immigrant-friendly northern nation grew by more than a million people in a year. If sustained, that growth rate would lead to Canada doubling in size in about 26 years, the statistics agency said.

The record-setting population growth is the result of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s plan to add about half a million new permanent residents annually. The government has consistently raised its immigration target to expand the workforce and boost economic growth, but that also threatens to worsen shortages of housing and health-care workers.

Still, recent polling by Nanos Research Group for Bloomberg News shows 52 per cent of respondents say Trudeau’s plan will have a positive impact on Canada’s economy. That compares with 38 per cent who see the increase as a negative.

While there is broad public support for the open-door policy, rapid population growth in urban centers has sent rents soaring and forced many people to leave major cities to search for affordable housing elsewhere.

With assistance from Erik Hertzberg.

Liberals introduce legislation to create a corporate ownership registry

Nojoud Al Mallees, The Canadian Press Mar 22, 2023

The federal Liberals are moving ahead with plans to create an ownership registry after promising to increase transparency about who owns and controls corporations.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne has tabled legislation that would create a corporate beneficial ownership registry. 

The prospective registry is expected to have the goal of making it easier to identify owners of corporations who launder money, commit financial crimes or evade taxes. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's mandate letter to Champagne after the last federal election included instructions to create such a registry.

The Liberals' 2021 budget dedicated $2.1 million over two years "to support the implementation of a publicly accessible corporate beneficial ownership registry by 2025."

But the Liberals' supply-and-confidence agreement with New Democrats, signed a year ago, required a quicker timeline. 

In that deal, which sees the NDP supporting the government on key votes in exchange for movement on NDP priorities, the federal government committed to implementing the registry by the end of 2023. 

In a statement, NDP finance critic Daniel Blaikie said his party has been pushing for the creation of the registry "to make it harder for wealthy tax dodgers, corrupt businesspeople and sanctioned Russian oligarchs to hide their assets in Canada."

The federal government held public consultations in 2020 with a range of stakeholders — including law enforcement, tax agencies and industry associations — and found nearly all agreed with the idea of creating a registry.