Ottawa can't 'move on' from convoy protest without redress, people's commission finds


CBC
Tue, April 4, 2023

Ottawa residents send a message to protesters during a counter-blockade in February 2022 that became known as 'the Battle of Billings Bridge.'

 (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press - image credit)

The Ottawa People's Commission says the city can't move on from last winter's convoy protests until all levels of government take steps to regain residents' trust.

That conclusion is contained in the second part of the commission's report, which synthesizes the testimony of more than 200 local residents and businesses.

The grassroots commission, which is separate from federal and city reviews of what happened in Ottawa in January and February 2022, said it wanted to hear from community members about the impact of last winter's anti-COVID-19-mandate-protest-turned-occupation.

The commission's initial findings, released earlier this year, focused on the experience of residents and found the majority felt abandoned amid what they characterized as a violent protest that brought widespread human rights abuses to people in the city's downtown.

The second report, released Tuesday, looks at how the city, the province and the federal government can offer redress.

"While there are those who suggest the community should 'move on' and 'get over it,' [the commission] believes it is essential and urgent that the City of Ottawa and other governments provide a substantive — indeed transformative — response," the report reads.

The commission is offering 25 recommendations and a timeline for completion, but there's no obligation for governments to respond.

More than half of the recommendations are directed at the City of Ottawa, while others offer suggestions to all levels of government.

Preparing for future emergencies

The commission's advice for the city boils down to developing policies and putting committees in place to be prepared for future large-scale protests or emergencies.

The report also recommends the city revise its emergency management program with a focus on communication.

"Communication was intermittent and off-key. Telling people who live downtown to 'avoid downtown' was as vexing as describing the occupation as 'mainly peaceful,'" the report concluded.

It notes that Ottawa Public Health did not put out a statement of concern until the occupation had been underway for two weeks, and didn't mention the negative impact of diesel fumes for another four days, suggesting only that people avoid the area.

Justin Tang/Canadian Press

The report suggests the city create an advisory committee to help get a sense of residents' needs in times of crisis, and build a plan, backed by regular training, to get the necessary outreach to vulnerable people.

To that end, it suggests that public health and fire services work together to create a "needs map" that identifies neighbourhoods and households that would be particularly at risk in times of crisis. Such a guide would consider race, disability and gender identity among other factors.

The city must also ensure that "lifesaving services" including public transit, food programs, harm-reduction and emergency shelters remain accessible to residents at all times.

The commission also suggests that the city adopt its own human rights charter to hold itself to account in times of crisis, commit to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, and consult with Indigenous organizations to create a policy to work better with local groups.

Apology and compensation

The report also calls on all three levels of government to formally apologize to the people of Ottawa.

"Almost every person who testified … about the convoy's impact spoke — with a combined sense of disbelief, distress and outrage — of feeling utterly abandoned by the officials they count on to keep them safe," according to the report.

The commissioners suggest the city hold a series of town halls so officials can hear first-hand how residents were affected.

In addition to ongoing reviews, the commission also recommends an independent investigation into the actions of some police officers.

It says all three levels of government should look into reparations for human rights violations, and compensation for lost wages, business losses and other financial costs caused by the convoy occupation.

Charest wins lawsuit against Quebec over leaked information during UPAC investigation


CBC
Tue, April 4, 2023

Jean Charest, who served as Quebec's premier 2003 to 2012, was originally seeking $1 million in punitive damages.

 (Ivanhoe Demers/Radio-Canada - image credit)

The Superior Court of Quebec has awarded $385,000 to former Quebec premier Jean Charest in his lawsuit against the government for the unlawful disclosure of his personal information during an investigation by the province's anti-corruption unit.

The former premier had filed a lawsuit against the government after details of the Mâchurer investigation were sent to Quebecor media in 2017.

Charest was never charged once the investigation was completed, but the leaks mentioned that he was considered a person of interest.

Charest argued that the publication of this private information had tarnished his reputation. Lawyers representing the Quebec government countered by saying the publicized information was already in the public domain and that Charest could not expect significant privacy given his status.

Superior Court Judge Gregory Moore said divulging personal information contained in Unité permanente anticorruption (UPAC) investigations cannot be commonplace if prohibited by a series of civil statutes, by the police and commissioner's oath, and by the Criminal Code.

Moore said it is wrong to claim Charest could not have had a significant expectation of privacy given he returned to private life after his 2012 election defeat.

Moore said the UPAC commissioner's failure to respect multiple privacy laws that protect personal information and investigation details was a "major mistake."

The judge wrote that a commissioner or a UPAC member that violates as many laws is showing "carelessness, a lack of prudence and a gross negligence of their obligations."

As for the allegations of abuse of process, Jean Charest will be able to add that to his lawsuit within the next 30 days, according to Moore.The court will then have to summon the parties again.

The lengthy investigation into allegations of corruption came to a close in February of 2022. No one was charged.

"This investigation weighed heavily on my personal life, on the life of my family, my colleagues in my political life and my current colleagues," said Charest at the time.

"The continuation of this investigation had become senseless, and was for me and my family, an injustice imposed on us for nearly eight years of our lives."

Charest, who was premier from 2003 to 2012, launched the lawsuit in 2020, before the investigation was concluded. He was seeking $1 million in punitive damages and $50,000 in moral damages.

The former premier had said that he was prepared to drop the lawsuit in exchange for an apology from the government, but that his offer was refused.

B.C. vertical farming company says it could produce up to 6 million bags of salad greens a year


CBC
Tue, April 4, 2023

Shahram and Bahram Rashti, co-founders of UP Vertical Farms.

 (UP Vertical Farms/Oppy - image credit)

A newly launched vertical farming enterprise in Pitt Meadows, B.C., is hoping to ease food security in the province, as it offers locally grown, environmentally sustainable produce.

The operation, called UP Vertical Farms, is growing baby leafy greens vertically — on shelves stacked atop one another, on a piece of land a fraction of the size needed for traditional farming. According to a news release, the company says it could produce 6.3 million bags of greens per year, which would be sold in grocery stores throughout Western Canada.

"As most people have noticed, our lettuce supply from California's been really hit and miss," said Lenore Newman, the director of the Food and Agriculture Institute at the University of the Fraser Valley.

"It's either been very expensive, or we've had supply chain disruption. We've had poor quality. This idea of producing lettuce locally … the time has come."

Bahram Rashti and his brother Shahram have been working on the project for nearly a decade but are just at a point where they're able to start supplying grocery stores with locally-grown produce.

"We always knew there was an issue with the adverse effects of climate change," Rashti said.

"The more we looked into it, we realized that there's something that we could do to help out, especially for Canada, because a lot of our produce in Canada is imported."

Production 350 times higher

Rashti estimates their production could be up to 350 times higher than that of traditional lettuce farming.

Mark Lefsrud, an associate professor of bioresource engineering at McGill University, says it takes 60 to 90 days to grow leafy greens outdoors on traditional fields. By growing indoors, he said that can be shortened. UP says it takes 13 to 31 days for its products to grow.

Nicholas Allan/CBC

While 350 times greater yield seems ambitious, Lefsrud says it is theoretically possible.

"NASA has been able to show you can get that high," he said. "I haven't seen a commercial company that's pulled it off. Most of the time, we say 30 [times], if you're really good, maybe 60 to 80, but 300 times, that's a bit of a stretch."

Lefsrud, who has worked with NASA in the past, says there is "huge potential" for vertical farms. Like Newman, he said the increasing cost of lettuce is cause enough for people to look for new ways to grow leafy greens.

'Hands-free' facility

UP Vertical Farms is one of the first hands-free vertical farming operations in Canada. It is fully automated and uses touchless technology for everything from seeding to harvest.

The greens are grown indoors, without the use of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, manure or genetic modification.

Because of all these measures, the end product is ready to eat right out of the bag, the company says.

Rashti said the facility uses 99 per cent less agricultural land, 99 per cent less freshwater and 99 per cent less fertilizer than traditional farming practices.

"It's good food for the people and the planet."

Nicholas Allan/CBC

Newman said that with innovative businesses like this, the quality of produce in B.C. grocery stores will go up.

"[With vertical farming], we're getting product the same day as picked or a day later, whereas when it's coming from California, it's eight or 10 days old before it even lands in our shopping cart."

"Be ready for much better leafy greens than we've ever been used to. And that's a good thing because maybe we can all eat a little more salad."

Quebec shipyard formally added to federal shipbuilding plan after lobbying, delays

The Canadian Press
Tue, April 4, 2023 


Ottawa and Quebec shipyard Chantier Davie finally have a deal, after years of lobbying followed by years of delays.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the agreement during an event at the shipyard in Lévis, Que., this morning.

The federal government is formally adding Davie as the third shipyard in its multi-billion-dollar ship procurement plan.

The deal is the result of a heavy lobbying effort by the shipyard and Quebec government after Davie was originally excluded from the shipbuilding plan in 2011.

It also follows years of missed deadlines, with the government originally hoping to have finalized an agreement adding Davie to the shipbuilding plan by the end of 2020.

Trudeau says negotiations will now begin around the construction of seven much-needed new icebreakers for the Canadian Coast Guard.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2023.

The Canadian Press

N.S., N.B. urged to apply for federal cash to protect land link from rising seas

The Canadian Press
Tue, April 4, 2023 



HALIFAX — Canada's infrastructure minister is urging Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to apply for federal funding to protect the land link between their provinces from climate change-related flooding.

Dominic LeBlanc says he’s written to Premier Blaine Higgs of New Brunswick and Premier Tim Houston of Nova Scotia to say money is available and the deadline to apply to the disaster mitigation fund is July 19.

LeBlanc says Ottawa can pay up to half the $301-million potential cost to protect the Chignecto Isthmus — a stretch of land that connects Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

The two premiers, however, are saying talks are still underway on how much each government should pay.

Higgs recently told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal that Ottawa should consider funding the project the same way it funded the Confederation Bridge — which links his province to Prince Edward Island — noting the megaproject was mostly paid for by Ottawa.

LeBlanc says the bridge represents a particular case because P.E.I. had been promised year-round transportation to the mainland as one of its conditions for entering Confederation.

The isthmus project is aimed at finding a way to protect the Trans-Canada Highway, the CN rail line and communications infrastructure from potential damage by major storms and flooding until 2100.

A study released last March said raising the height of the existing 35 kilometres of dikes would cost $200 million; building a new dike would cost $189 million; and raising the existing dikes and installing steel sheet pile walls in select locations would cost about $301 million.

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

The Canadian Press

SO CALLED MARKET ECONOMY

US chip controls threaten China's technology ambitions

The Canadian Press
Tue, April 4, 2023 



BEIJING (AP) — Furious at U.S. efforts that cut off access to technology to make advanced computer chips, China’s leaders appear to be struggling to figure out how to retaliate without hurting their own ambitions in telecoms, artificial intelligence and other industries.

President Xi Jinping’s government sees the chips that are used in everything from phones to kitchen appliances to fighter jets as crucial assets in its strategic rivalry with Washington and efforts to gain wealth and global influence. Chips are the center of a “technology war,” a Chinese scientist wrote in an official journal in February.

China has its own chip foundries, but they supply only low-end processors used in autos and appliances. The U.S. government, starting under then-President Donald Trump, is cutting off access to a growing array of tools to make chips for computer servers, AI and other advanced applications. Japan and the Netherlands have joined in limiting access to technology they say might be used to make weapons.

Xi, in unusually pointed language, accused Washington in March of trying to block China’s development with a campaign of “containment and suppression.” He called on the public to “dare to fight.”

Despite that, Beijing has been slow to retaliate against U.S. companies, possibly to avoid disrupting Chinese industries that assemble most of the world's smartphones, tablet computers and other consumer electronics. They import more than $300 billion worth of foreign chips every year.

The ruling Communist Party is throwing billions of dollars at trying to accelerate chip development and reduce the need for foreign technology.

China’s loudest complaint: It is blocked from buying a machine available only from a Dutch company, ASML, that uses ultraviolet light to etch circuits into silicon chips on a scale measured in nanometers, or billionths of a meter. Without that, Chinese efforts to make transistors faster and more efficient by packing them more closely together on fingernail-size slivers of silicon are stalled.

Making processor chips requires some 1,500 steps and technologies owned by U.S., European, Japanese and other suppliers.

“China won’t swallow everything. If damage occurs, we must take action to protect ourselves,” the Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands, Tan Jian, told the Dutch newspaper Financieele Dagblad.

“I’m not going to speculate on what that might be,” Tan said. “It won’t just be harsh words.”

The conflict has prompted warnings the world might decouple, or split into separate spheres with incompatible technology standards that mean computers, smartphones and other products from one region wouldn’t work in others. That would raise costs and might slow innovation.

“The bifurcation in technological and economic systems is deepening,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore said at an economic forum in China last month. “This will impose a huge economic cost.”

U.S.-Chinese relations are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes over security, Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong and Muslim ethnic minorities, territorial disputes and China’s multibillion-dollar trade surpluses.

Chinese industries will “hit a wall” in 2025 or 2026 if they can’t get next generation chips or the tools to make their own, said Handel Jones, a tech industry consultant.

China “will start falling behind significantly,” said Jones, CEO of International Business Strategies.

Beijing might have leverage, though, as the biggest source of batteries for electric vehicles, Jones said.

Chinese battery giant CATL supplies U.S. and Europe automakers. Ford Motor Co. plans to use CATL technology in a $3.5 billion battery factory in Michigan.

“China will strike back,” Jones said. “What the public might see is China not giving the U.S. batteries for EVs.”

On Friday, Japan increased pressure on Beijing by joining Washington in imposing controls on exports of chipmaking equipment. The announcement didn’t mention China, but the trade minister said Tokyo doesn’t want its technology used for military purposes.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Mao Ning, warned Japan that “weaponizing sci-tech and trade issues” would “hurt others as well as oneself.”

Hours later, the Chinese government announced an investigation of the biggest U.S. memory chip maker, Micron Technology Inc., a key supplier to Chinese factories. The Cyberspace Administration of China said it would look for national security threats in Micron’s technology and manufacturing but gave no details.

The Chinese military also needs semiconductors for its development of stealth fighter jets, cruise missiles and other weapons.

Chinese alarm grew after President Joe Biden in October expanded controls imposed by Trump on chip manufacturing technology. Biden also barred Americans from helping Chinese manufacturers with some processes.

To nurture Chinese suppliers, Xi’s government is stepping up support that industry experts say already amounts to as much as $30 billion a year in research grants and other subsidies.

China’s biggest maker of memory chips, Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp., or YMTC, received a 49 billion yuan ($7 billion) infusion this year from two official funds, according to Tianyancha, a financial information provider.

One was the government’s main investment vehicle, the China National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, known as the Big Fund. It was founded in 2014 with 139 billion yuan ($21 billion) and has invested in hundreds of companies.

The Big Fund launched a second entity, known as the Big Fund II, in 2019 with 200 billion yuan ($30 billion).

In January, chip manufacturer Hua Hong Semiconductor said Big Fund II would contribute 1.2 billion yuan ($175 million) for a planned 6.7 billion yuan ($975 million) wafer fabrication facility in eastern China's Wuxi.

In March, the Cabinet promised tax breaks and other support for the industry. It gave no price tag. The government also has set up “integrated circuit talent training bases” at 23 universities and six at other schools.

“Semiconductors are the ‘main battlefield’ of the current China-U.S. technology war,” Junwei Luo, a scientist at the official Institute of Semiconductors, wrote in the February issue of the journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Luo called for “self-reliance and self-improvement in semiconductors.”

The scale of spending required is huge. The global industry leader, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., or TSMC, is in the third year of a three-year, $100 billion plan to expand research and production.

Developers including Huawei Technologies Ltd. and VeriSilicon Holdings Co. can design logic chips for smartphones as powerful as those from Intel Corp., Apple Inc., South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. or Britain’s Arm Ltd., according to industry researchers. But they cannot be manufactured without the precision technology of TSMC and other foreign foundries.

Trump in 2019 crippled Huawei’s smartphone brand by blocking it from buying U.S. chips or other technology. American officials say Huawei, China’s first global tech brand, might facilitate Chinese spying, an accusation the company denies. In 2020, the White House tightened controls, blocking TSMC and others from using U.S. technology to produce chips for Huawei.

Washington threw up new hurdles for Chinese chip designers in August by imposing restrictions on software known as EDA, or electronic design automation, along with European, Asian and other governments to limit the spread of “dual use” technologies that might be used to make weapons.

In December, Biden added YMTC, the memory chip maker, and some other Chinese companies to a blacklist that limits access to chips made anywhere using U.S. tools or processes.

China’s foundries can etch circuits as small as 28 nanometers apart. By contrast, TSMC and other global competitors can etch circuits just three nanometers apart, ten times the Chinese industry’s precision. They are moving toward two nanometers.

To make the latest chips, “you need EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) tools, a very complicated process recipe and not just a couple of billion dollars but tens and tens of billions of dollars,” said Peter Hanbury, who follows the industry for Bain & Co.

“They’re not going to be able to produce competitive server, PC and smartphone chips,” Hanbury said. “You have to go to TSMC to do that.”

China's ruling party is trying to develop its own tool vendors, but researchers say it is far behind a global network spread across dozens of countries.

Huawei said in a video on its website in December it was working on EUV technology. But creating a machine comparable to ASML’s might cost $5 billion and require a decade of research, according to industry experts. Huawei didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The day when China can supply its own EUV machine is “very far away,” said Hanbury.

___

AP researcher Yu Bing in Beijing and AP Writer Mike Corder in Amsterdam contributed.

Joe Mcdonald, The Associated Press

Amnesty International Canada head alleges discrimination after being barred from boarding flight


CBC
Tue, April 4, 2023 at 2:00 a.m. MDT·5 min read

Ketty Nivyabandi, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada, shows her government-issued refugee travel document with a stamp from a recent trip to Mexico. Nivyabandi said she was denied boarding the same Air Canada flight last week, despite showing the same document. 

(Nicole Williams/CBC - image credit)

The head of Amnesty International Canada is accusing Air Canada of racism and discrimination after she was denied boarding a flight to Mexico.

Ketty Nivyabandi, who is a permanent resident of Canada with official refugee status, was due to depart from the Ottawa International Airport on Thursday afternoon, but said when she went to check in, the Air Canada agent became confused by her travel documents. Nivyabandi said she was travelling to Mexico for a work conference.

I'm not the only one who has experienced this, it's a pattern. - Ketty Nivyabandi

Originally from Burundi, Nivyabandi uses a government-issued refugee travel document in lieu of a Canadian passport when she travels. According to the Canadian government, these documents are sufficient evidence of an individual's immigration status and should allow them to travel outside the country.

According to Nivyabandi, however, the first agent she dealt with didn't appear aware of that.

"He seemed to have never seen a travel document of the sort," she said.

About an hour and a half later, after speaking with the agent, his manager and then another agent on the phone, Nivyabandi said she was denied boarding. Their explanation — that she was missing a visa to enter Mexico.

Nivyabandi said there's no such visa requirement for permanent residents or refugees living in Canada. She said none of this was an issue when she took the same flight with the same airline back in October.

"I was simply stunned when I was told that I couldn't board and my luggage was returned to me. That is not a scenario that I expected at all," she said.

She inquired directly with Mexico's embassy in Canada, which confirmed she's right.

"Permanent residents of Canada must present their Permanent Resident Card and one of the following documents: valid Passport or Refugee Travel Document. [THEY] DO NOT REQUIRE A VISA," the embassy wrote in an email later that day.

The same information is also publicly available on the embassy's website.

"I was shocked. I felt humiliated," said Nivyabandi.

'Systemic pattern of racial profiling'

Nivyabandi said this is not the first time she's experienced problems trying to enter or leave the country, and she knows she's not alone.

"It's part of a pattern and a systemic pattern of racial profiling, of over-scrutinizing travellers who happen to be racialized, happen to be Black, happen to be from a religious minority, happen to be refugees who are immediately assumed to be in the wrong," she said.

Those sentiments were echoed by the Americas director for Amnesty International, who called the situation "outrageous and unacceptable."

"We demand a public apology from the airline and reparation for the harm caused, which must include immediately issuing her a new ticket to fly as soon as possible," wrote Erika Guevara-Rosas in a statement posted on the organization's website.

Rules 'complex,' says Air Canada

Nivyabandi was refunded the cost of her flight. She re-booked and was able to board a more expensive flight Friday afternoon.

The airline said it had since "obtained further clarity on the rules" and has apologized to Nivyabandi — though maintained it handled the situation appropriately.

"It is Air Canada's policy to treat every customer with respect and courtesy and this is how we responded to Ms. Nivyabandi's situation at Ottawa airport," the airline said in a statement to CBC on Friday.

Air Canada wrote that several agents worked hard to help Nivyabandi, including consulting Timatic, a data resource maintained by the International Air Transport Association that airlines can consult on national entry requirements including a passenger's eligibility to enter a country.

"These rules can be complex and may vary from country to country, particularly in instances where a customer is travelling on a less-commonly used type of document, such as in this instance, a refugee document," Air Canada said, adding that airlines are subject to penalty if they allow passengers to fly without proper documentation.

"The information Timatic provided in this instance was unclear about the necessary documents to travel to Mexico," Air Canada said. The airline said it's working with the service to make sure its information is correct and updated.

Ben Nelms/CBC

Confusion rife, lawyer says

Immigration lawyer Jacqueline Bonisteel said she can sympathize with airlines that must navigate complex regulations involving multiple jurisdictions.

While a refugee travel document is a legitimate and accepted form of identification, "the reality is that that document isn't accepted by every country, and travel on that document does tend to be more difficult than it would be on a Canadian passport," she said.

Bonisteel noted she often hears about "confusion" among airline workers who are "making calls that we believe don't comply with the law."

"I think it's just another example of barriers that refugees face and something that we need to look at as best we can," she said.

"It's not Canada's rules, it's the rules that the countries that people are trying to travel to, but perhaps there's more that we could be doing to ensure that these issues don't come up."

Nivyabandi said she understands that airlines need to follow the rules, but felt what happened to her was an example of how those rules are subject to interpretation, which can leave people like her in a difficult position.

She has since reached out to Air Canada leadership for a conversation about wider reforms, including training for employees on racial profiling and compensation for travellers who are unfairly denied boarding a flight.

"I'm not the only one who has experienced this, it's a pattern. It happens across the board, and so it requires a robust and systemic response," she said.

DIY

B.C. truckers stop tractor-trailer making unsafe lane change on highway known for deadly crashes

CBC
Mon, April 3, 2023 

A southbound Manitoulin trailer is pictured illegally passing on Highway 5 by crossing the double solid yellow lines into the opposite northbound lane. (John Keating/Facebook - image credit)

Two truck drivers from B.C.'s North Thompson took matters into their own hands last month when they stopped a commercial vehicle making the type of unsafe lane change they say could have led to another crash on a stretch of highway that's already killed five people this year.

John Keating, who says he has been in the commercial trucking industry for more than two decades, captured the lane change on his dashcam video on March 24 around 7 a.m.: a southbound lowbed trailer illegally passed vehicles ahead of it crossing double solid yellow lines into the opposite northbound lane.

Keating, who lives in the Barriere area near where the maneuver occurred, says the trailer, bearing the name Manitoulin Transport, made the dangerous move when the passing lane ended near Darfield, about 74 kilometres north of Kamloops, B.C., on Highway 5.

"For no regard for oncoming traffic, he just went for it," he told guest host Doug Herbert on CBC's Daybreak Kamloops. "He had no idea what he was doing — if there wasn't room, he was just going to crash."

Keating says when he was approaching Barriere, he made radio calls to the truck driver ahead of him, asking whether they could box in the Manitoulin trailer and pull it over.

He says they managed to stop the vehicle and obtain additional information for the authorities. He posted the dashcam video and photos of the Manitoulin driver and his vehicle's licence plate on social media, triggering dozens of criticisms of the driver's behaviour.

Staff Sgt. Bryan Fedirchuk, the unit commander of the B.C. RCMP Highway Patrol, based in Kamloops, says police are investigating the incident and ask drivers not to take the law into their own hands.

"We get paid to do the enforcement. We have the proper tools in order to deal with pretty much any situation that arises," Fedirchuk said. "You just never know who that person is, and it's not worth it to put your life at risk."

3 fatal collisions kill 5 on Hwy 5 north of Kamloops

Keating's action, which he maintains wasn't vigilantism, comes after three fatal vehicle crashes involving commercial vehicles that have killed five people so far this year on the section of Highway 5 north of Kamloops.

Clearwater Mayor Merlin Blackwell has complained there aren't enough RCMP officers dedicated to enforcing traffic laws on that stretch of highway and has called for B.C. Highway Patrol officers to be stationed in Clearwater and Kamloops — instead of having them come from Kelowna or elsewhere.

Some trucking industry professionals are calling for the mandatory installation of dashcams on commercial vehicles.

Fatal crashes on Highway 5 in 2023

Keating says mandatory dashcam installation is a good idea but isn't foolproof, as the camera can run out of power. He says it's far better to address the root cause of traffic violations, which he attributes to how the trucking industry currently operates.

"You got a lot of third-party tractor services that the bigger carriers are hiring — they have very poor safety records, and it all comes down to the almighty dollar," he said.

In an emailed statement to CBC News, Ontario-based Manitoulin Transport said after looking at Keating's dashcam video and photos, it determined that the driver isn't its employee, and it doesn't own the semi-truck that was pulling its trailer.

SPOILER ALERT
Breakaway candidate could give Erdogan a lifeline in tight Turkey election

Orhan Coskun and Daren Butler
Tue, April 4, 2023

FILE PHOTO: Muharrem Ince, then-presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), holds a news conference to assess election results in Ankara


ANKARA (Reuters) - A second-time presidential candidate who lost out to Tayyip Erdogan in a 2018 vote could push Turkey's May election to a second round, potentially boosting the president's prospects of winning, according to analysts and polls.

Muharrem Ince, formerly of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), joined the fray last month and secured a spot on the ballot at the weekend, fuelling concerns among Erdogan's opponents about a split in the opposition vote.

Some surveys put Ince's support at more than 5%, with one by Panoramatr giving him 10% last month.

Pollsters and analysts say his backers would mostly otherwise vote for CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who is the main opposition candidate seen as the biggest electoral challenge to Erdogan in his 20 years in power.

"The fundamental consequence of Ince's (candidacy) is sending the elections to a second round," Panoramatr research director Osman Sert told Reuters.

He said Ince's support could slide from 10%, where it has mostly held over the last month, as the vote approaches. "But even if there is such a meltdown it would not prevent the election going to a second round," Sert said.

Some analysts say Ince might agree a deal with Kilicdaroglu and withdraw before the vote to boost the opposition which, polls suggest, retains an edge over the incumbent Erdogan.

But Ince indicated he would not bow to such pressure.

"There is no situation that would require us to withdraw and technically this isn't possible," he told broadcaster Haberturk on Monday, noting that an official draw on Saturday formalised his spot on the ballot.

Ince, whose blunt speeches and impromptu dances have drawn social media attention, resigned from the CHP two years ago and formed the Homeland Party after twice failing to become CHP leader.

"They are saying, 'Muharrem Ince, withdraw'," he said on Haberturk, referring to opposition critics. "Their only concern is, 'We'll lose the election, let's declare the guilty party now'."

A senior opposition party official, declining to be named due to the issue's sensitivity, said Ince's candidacy would make it difficult to defeat Erdogan in the first round but this can be overcome if, as the opposition alliance expects, his support and that of the fourth candidate Sinan Ogan drops to near 5% by election day.

A senior official from Erdogan's AK Party said its internal polls put Ince's support at some 8-9%, but did not provide the data.

POLITICAL STABILITY

If no presidential candidate gets more than 50% in the May 14 vote, the top two would compete in a second round two weeks later. Voters will also select parliamentarians.

Analysts say that whichever alliance - ruling or opposition - controls parliament will be well placed for its candidate to win a second presidential round given they could campaign on stability. Polls indicate the AKP will remain the largest party in parliament.

Data from closely-watched pollster Metropoll showed Ince and undecided voters would determine the presidential vote, its head Ozer Sencar said.

In its March survey, 44.6% of respondents said they would vote for Kilicdaroglu and 42.0% for Erdogan, if just given a choice between the two, while nearly 6% planned a "protest" vote.

GRAPHIC: Turkey presidential election scenarios - Metropoll (https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/zgpobaqlyvd/MetropollTurkey.PNG)

Erdogan was 2.9 points ahead in a similar January survey by Metropoll.

Support for Erdogan dipped after February's devastating earthquake amid perceptions of an initially slow response. More than 50,000 people were killed and millions left homeless.

Among voters opposed to Erdogan, some voice dissatisfaction with the diverse main opposition alliance, partly as it includes parties led by former Erdogan allies and an Islamist party.

"The fact that these people would be ministers and come to positions of authority bothers me," said 28-year-old student Seckin Yetkin, saying he will vote for Ince like in 2018.

Ince won 30.6% of that vote, behind Erdogan on 52.6%.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer and Ezgi Erkoyun; Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Jonathan Spicer, William Maclean)

Most medical cannabis users aren't going the prescription route, raising safety concerns: Manitoba-led study

CBC
Tue, April 4, 2023 

In Canada, cannabis can be legally accessed recreationally or through a medical cannabis licensed seller with a medical authorization, similar to a prescription. However, over half of the 5,744 Canadians surveyed for the study obtained their cannabis without medical authorization. (John Einarson/CBC - image credit)

A new report led by the University of Manitoba suggests the majority of Canadians who consume medical cannabis aren't being prescribed the drug, but rather are getting it through the recreational market, raising some health and safety concerns.

In Canada, cannabis can be legally accessed recreationally or through a medical cannabis licensed seller with a medical authorization, similar to a prescription. Among people who use cannabis for medical needs, rather than for recreational purposes, two-thirds of people use it for chronic pain, mental health or sleep issues, the report said.

Over half of the 5,744 Canadians surveyed for the study published on Tuesday obtained their cannabis without medical authorization.

"This raises real concerns around safety," said principal investigator Lynda Balneaves, a professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Manitoba, who says she intends to publish the report in peer-reviewed journals.

The people who consumed cannabis without a medical authorization were 20 per cent less likely to speak to or seek information from a health-care professional and 16 per cent more likely to rely on unqualified sources of information, including social media and staff at the recreational cannabis store, the study found.

Shutterstock/Victor Moussa

These people without a prescription were also 14 per cent more likely to report not knowing how much cannabis they were taking and seven per cent more likely to experience side effects.

Balneaves says some survey respondents got their cannabis products from family or friends or from unregulated sellers online.

"It raises concerns in terms of has that product gone through good manufacturing processes? Could there be a potential for contamination? Is the labelling on that product accurate in terms of the amount of THC, the cannabinoid that makes people feel high, it may not be accurate and then that potentially could lead to people experiencing more side effects," she said.

Most survey respondents reported minor side effects like a cough and feeling tired, but some reported very severe nausea and vomiting, dizziness and even experiencing falls because they had taken more THC than expected, Balneaves added.

Dr. Paul Daeninck, a palliative care physician out of Cancer Care Manitoba, wasn't involved in the study, but has been prescribing cannabis for 20 years. Daeninck wonders whether people rely on the expertise of salespeople at recreational pot shops, who aren't medical professionals.

"That's a little scary," he said.

Financial burden of medical cannabis

There's also a financial barrier for people who have gotten an authorization from their doctor to buy medical cannabis, the study found.

Less than six per cent of people with a medical authorization said they received insurance coverage for the cost of their medical cannabis, and they reported spending 25 per cent more for cannabis than those without medical authorization, the study found.

Nearly half of those who stopped taking medical cannabis did so because it was too expensive, the report said.

"People are telling us that they're either stopping using medical cannabis or they're walking away from the legal market because they just can't afford it," Balneaves said.

When non-medical cannabis was legalized, she thought the underground market would disappear, but cracks in the regulated system has left room for people to access the drug that way.

"I was kind of shocked that the market hasn't stabilized in a way that's supported people to use a safe supply of medical cannabis."

Recommendations to improve access

The report, developed with McGill University and in consultation with the patient groups Medical Cannabis Canada, SheCann Cannabis and Santé Cannabis, made a number of recommendations to improve the medical cannabis system and its users during the federal government's current review of the Cannabis Act and regulations.

The report's recommendations include:

A formal evaluation of the medical cannabis framework in consultation with patients.


Changes to reduce out-of-pocket costs associated with medical cannabis.


To add community pharmacy dispensing.


To maintain reasonable access to cannabis through a dedicated medical framework.


To maintain a federally-run hub that provides updated information and resources about medical cannabis.


To create healthcare professional education training focused on medical cannabis.

Daeninck believes training for health-care professionals will help reduce stigma about the drug, which he thinks is part of the issue with people not going to their health-care providers for medical marijuana.

He also thinks health-care professionals are unfamiliar with prescribing it because they aren't taught to do so in their training.

"Because they don't have that knowledge, they don't have that experience. I think that's where some of the biggest barriers are happening," Daeninck said.

The physician hopes the study will help highlight the deficiencies in the medical cannabis system for those in power.