FAKE SOVERIGNTY ACTS

Duty to consult legislation stands slim chance as private member’s bill goes to a vote in Saskatchewan

Story by The Canadian Press • Today

Legal action being taken by the Onion Lake Cree Nation against the provincial government for passing the Saskatchewan First Act underscores why duty to consult legislation is required in the province, says an Opposition member of the legislature (MLA).

“We wouldn’t be hearing of nations taking the provincial government to court had they been consulting in a way that’s meaningful to the nations or to the impacted groups,” said Saskatoon Centre NDP MLA Betty Nippi-Albright.

On Thursday, the Saskatchewan legislature votes on Nippi-Albright’s private member’s bill 610, An Act Respecting the Meaningful Implementation of the Crown’s Duty to Consult in Saskatchewan.

Bill 610 is a retread of Bill 609, which Nippi-Albright introduced last spring, but which died on the order paper in November.

It calls for consultation on all “Crown Conduct,” which is defined as “an action taken by the Crown or which is contemplated by the Crown which may adversely impact Treaty and Inherent Rights.”

Consultation is called upon for the disposition or auctioning of Crown lands, minerals and leases; for changes to regulations, policy or strategic plans; changes that would have an environmental impact on water; and changes to the allocations of quotas or licenses of fish and wildlife for recreational or commercial use, which may later impact the right of access to those resources protected by treaty and inherent rights.

“These court cases that are coming forward because (the government’s) process is flawed, does not work, and it was created from a Eurocentric perspective without input from impacted people in the creation of that policy,” said Nippi-Albright.

Onion Lake Cree Nation filed a statement of claim April 13 calling out Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government for not consulting with them before or during the creation of the Saskatchewan First Act, which received Royal Assent earlier in the month.

The Sask First Act asserts and confirms Saskatchewan’s jurisdiction in a number of areas, including the exploration of non-renewable natural resources, and the development, conservation and management of non-renewable natural and forestry resources.

The Act does not acknowledge that under treaty, the Crown agreed to share the land and resources with Onion Lake Cree Nation and other Indigenous peoples who first made treaty with the Crown, contends the Nation.

Nippi-Albright, alongside the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and the Meadow Lake Tribal Council, added her support to Onion Lake Cree Nation Chief Henry Lewis.

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“When I started on the duty to consult it was to amplify the voices of the communities,” said Nippi-Albright, who is Saulteaux and Cree.

“So I have been working with Onion Lake in helping them amplify their voices when it comes to the lack of duty to consult and the sale of Crown lands and leases that are still occurring.”

Consultation for the Saskatchewan government is guided by a First Nation and Métis policy framework adopted in June 2010.

“Policy…is just a document that says what we will do and what we won’t do, but it has absolutely no teeth. There’s no way of holding the government to account on that,” said Nippi-Albright.

Legislation means accountability, she says.

Nippi-Albright stresses that while her bill legislates duty to consult, it is up to the impacted communities as to how that process will be carried out. Government would not dictate that process.

But for Nippi-Albright’s private member’s bill to pass it means voting can’t take place along party lines. The NDP have only 12 of the 61 seats in the legislature. The Saskatchewan Party holds 45 seats and Saskatchewan United has one.

“This government is really not interested in true reconciliation, and they’re not interested in meaningful consultation. They only are there to allow the nations to let off steam, but the government will stay the course and they’re very focused on what they perceive as the best interests of the citizens of this province,” she said.

Even if the bill fails to get the required votes for first reading, Nippi-Albright says she will keep pushing the issue because legislation is needed.

Nippi-Albright has invited people to attend the legislature Thursday morning when the vote is held. However, a forecast for a major snowstorm in Regina has her doubtful too many people will be able to make the trip.

“I don’t know how many will show up because of the storm (but) when there hasn't been storms that were brewing or coming, we’ve actually had large turnouts at the legislature,” she said.

Windspeaker.com
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Onion Lake Cree Nation doubles down on legal action to now challenge Sask. First Act

Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday 

Onion Lake Cree Nation filed legal papers in court April 13 challenging the Saskatchewan First Act, which received Royal Assent last week.

“We will not allow Saskatchewan to run roughshod over our treaties, our rights and our jurisdictions, over our lands and resources in the name of advancing (its) economic agenda while putting us aside,” said Onion Lake Okimaw Henry Lewis.

And Onion Lake is not standing alone.

Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) have given their full support.

At the heart of the matter, said legal counsel Michael Marchen of Hladun and Co., is a law that asserts and confirms “Saskatchewan’s jurisdiction, but without any acknowledgement whatsoever that, under treaty, the Crown agreed to share the land and resources with Onion Lake Cree Nation and other Indigenous peoples who first made treaty with the Crown.”

Through the Act, Saskatchewan asserts and confirms the province’s exclusive jurisdiction over natural resources, including who can be licensed and where and how exploration can take place.

Since the Sask. First Act was introduced as Bill 88 by Premier Scott Moe’s governing Saskatchewan Party last year, Indigenous nations and organizations have been consistent in demanding time with him to speak about the Bill.

There has been no consultation on the Act from when it was introduced until it received Royal Assent April 6, said Lewis.

Treaties were signed between First Nations and Canada, said Onion Lake Vice Chief Richard Derocher of the MLTC, and not with the province.

“We have the relationship with…Canada, and every time that moves further and further away from us, it takes away our treaties. It makes our treaties a little bit smaller and weaker. And this is what’s happening with the Sask. First Act. The treaty intent is moving further and further and further away from the delegates that signed treaty,” said Derocher.

MLTC had voiced their concerns to Moe, he said. However, instead of receiving a response, three weeks later the Bill was passed and their concerns had not been addressed.

“Anytime we move further from the treaties, we become less as nations,” said Derocher.

Dutch Lerat, second Vice Chief for FSIN, said his organization would continue to fight for rights and treaty holders and ensure they are included in any resource developments.

“We will continue to seek certainty. Everybody wants certainty…We want certainty for our First Nations in terms of inclusion, inclusion of the resources from this province of Saskatchewan within our treaty areas,” said Lerat.

Saskatoon Centre MLA Betty Nippi-Albright stood with the First Nations and lauded Lewis and Onion Lake Cree Nation for being leaders and protecting their inherent and treaty rights.

Consultation must be meaningful, said Nippi-Albright, which means respectful dialogue.

Marchen described Onion Lake’s legal action as “both a response and a challenge to Saskatchewan’s purported exclusive legislative jurisdiction.”

He said the statement of claim lays out how the Saskatchewan First Act infringes upon Onion Lake’s rights to pursue traditional ceremonies, hunting, fishing and trapping and negates the “guarantees of livelihood and freedom.” It also was enacted without input or consultation with or consideration of Onion Lake.

Among the legal arguments Onion Lake is using to challenge Saskatchewan is that the Act is outside the province’s jurisdiction and the Act directly impacts and overlaps lands reserved for Onion Lake Cree Nation.

Onion Lake is asking for the court to declare that the Sask. First Act infringes upon treaty and falls outside of the jurisdiction of Saskatchewan and therefore is not in force. Onion Lake is looking for temporary and permanent injunctions.

Onion Lake Cree Nation, which straddles the Saskatchewan and Alberta border, has also taken legal action against the Alberta United Conservative Party government.

In December, Alberta enacted the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, also without consultation with First Nations. The Sovereignty Act infringes upon the rights guaranteed to Onion Lake Cree Nation through Treaty that was signed with Canada, said the nation in its statement of claim.

At that time, Lewis promised to take legal action against Saskatchewan if it enacted the Sask. First Act.

Windspeaker.com
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Conservative western premiers are feuding with Ottawa. Here’s what you need to know about the contentious natural resources law behind the fight

Local Journalism Initiative
Mon, April 17, 2023

Federal Justice Minister David Lametti set off a firestorm among conservative western premiers when he spoke at an Assembly of First Nations meeting last week in Ottawa.

At the meeting, Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte from the Prince Albert Grand Council asked the justice minister to rescind the Natural Resources Transfer Act, which gives Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan jurisdiction over natural resources within their borders.

Lametti told the chiefs he was committed to “looking at” the act, adding: “It won’t be uncontroversial is what I’ll say with a bit of a smile.”

The justice minister’s remarks did not go over well. Days later, the three conservative western premiers — Danielle Smith of Alberta, Scott Moe of Saskatchewan and Heather Stefanson of Manitoba — released a joint statement condemning Lametti’s comments and demanding the prime minister respond.

“The prime minister needs to immediately retract these dangerous and divisive comments by his justice minister,” the statement reads.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shot back, saying Lametti’s marks were about living up to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Canada has enshrined in law.

“[That's] something that, unfortunately, the Prairie premiers have not taken seriously, and they are instead trying to elevate fears that have absolutely no grounding in truth,” Trudeau said.

Here’s what you need to know about the Natural Resources Transfer Act and why it’s a point of contention for Ottawa, the provinces and Indigenous nations.

The Natural Resources Transfer Act is, in fact, three separate pieces of legislation passed in Ottawa in 1930. The acts handed over the control of natural resources like gold mines, lumber and oil and gas to Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

With these three acts, Ottawa gave up its power over Crown land in those provinces, which the federal government had retained since purchasing the Prairies from the Hudson Bay Company in 1870, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. Manitoba joined Canada in 1870 when the federal government bought the land, while Alberta and Saskatchewan joined in 1905.

Until 1930, the federal government retained its jurisdiction over the land and resources to accomplish the national goal of quickly populating the provinces with settlers.

“This became a popular grievance in the West, where federal control appeared to relegate the provinces to second-class status in Confederation and to result in the subordination of regional concerns to national goals,” according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Even today, the tension between the federal government and western provinces remains. Last year, Alberta passed its Alberta Sovereignty act, while the Saskatchewan First Act became law last month.

These laws give the provinces greater power to deem federal policies and initiatives harmful or unconstitutional to the provinces, according to First Peoples Law. The acts also give the provinces ways to fight Ottawa through measures like altering regulations, launching court challenges and issuing directives to provincial organizations to disregard federal legislation.

When Alberta’s version of the law passed, Trudeau said the federal government would not engage in the political fight Alberta was looking for.

Hardlotte’s question at the AFN meeting wasn’t unexpected. Western chiefs have been calling for a renewed discussion around the Natural Resources Transfer Act with increased urgency since the Alberta Sovereignty and Saskatchewan First acts became law.

Last December, the AFN passed an emergency resolution to oppose the two pieces of autonomy legislation seeking to reassert provincial authority over natural resources. The worry is that the provinces will override treaty rights, which remain a matter between the federal government and Indigenous nations.

“It’s unconstitutional; Alberta doesn’t have that right to change laws because we signed treaties with the Crown,” Randy Ermineskin, chief of Ermineskin Cree Nation in Alberta, said in an interview with Canada’s National Observer at the time.

Alberta didn’t exist when treaties were signed, which sets the stage for jurisdictional battles around the transfer acts, Ermineskin added.

Hardlotte echoed the concern last week when speaking to Lametti.

“It affects our treaty right, of course, and with the [Saskatchewan First Act] that we hear about,” he said, “it’s to do with natural resources, Indian natural resources.”

Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer / Local Journalism Initiative

Matteo Cimellaro, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

BC 

Spiritual land returned to rightful owners

Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday 

A century in the making, the Osoyoos Indian Band celebrated getting back a very special piece of its traditional territory. Over 100 people gathered Friday on the one-acre property located on Hawthorn Place which backs onto the Okanagan River in Okanagan Falls. The land has been an ancestral place of culture and sustainability for Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. While it is just a small part of the estimated 1,618 hectares (4,000 acres) of their original reserve, the OIB hopes to get back and for Chief Clarence Louie, at least it’s a start. “We’re going to get our land back and if it takes one acre at a time, that’s just the way it is,” said Louie at the end of the ceremony. “Our reserves were stolen from us and this reserve land right here was taken from the Osoyoos Indian Band in 1913. Now, after 108 years, we’re allowed back on this site. “Our people can come here from now on and nobody can say to them, ‘What are you doing here?’ Nobody can say to them, ‘Do you have permission to come here?’ We don’t have to climb over anybody’s fence.” The band had to use its own money to purchase the property earlier from a private seller. “Just a little bit it bothers me to use our money, but the owner of the property deserves to be paid. The land is more important than money,” said the chief. “You can’t just can’t kick somebody off their property without compensation. You can’t do what the government did to us, take our land away.”

Louie added he understands the majority of the Indigenous land claims involve private property and are not on the table for negotiations, but there are other sites like the nearby provincial park and Crown land that should come back to the band. The single acre is part of a 71-acre parcel that was removed by the government from the reserve. Particularly upsetting to the chief is that after all this time very little has changed from the days of demonstrations and blockades. “You still have to force, we’re still having to kick in doors,” he said. “Our people didn’t start forcing the federal and provincial governments to resolve land issues until the 60s and 60 years later we’re still arguing and fighting about land. “Maybe we have to have another roadblock in OK Falls?” That reference was to the January, 1974 information road and rail blockade initiated at the time by OIB chief, Jim Stelkia. Many of the surviving participants of the blockade were in attendance at Friday’s ceremonies. “We didn’t know what we were going to face, but we knew this was the start of a series of demonstrations that were going to happen. It was time to take action to settle the claims,” recalled Penticton Indian Band hereditary Chief Adam Eneas, who took part in the blockade along with other chiefs. “The motorists in general were very courteous except for a couple that tried to run over us. We felt after that we should have security with us, to guard us.”

PIB elder Jack Kruger was also there and told the crowd, “All the leaders used to say we are tired of living on our knees, we want to stand on our feet and that’s how we approached this. “They (demonstrators) were going to stand on this land so that you children can have this land in the future. They did this all for you and I guess it worked, we are here today.” PIB knowledge keeper, Richard Armstrong, shared the story about the legend of the coyote snk̓lip who brought the salmon to the river that runs through the property prior to the arrival of humans. He spoke about the appointed caretakers, “beaver, musqaut and fisher” and the monuments the rocky outcroppings on the riverfront represent. At the end he left the young people with this message, “Do what you have to do to protect this legacy.” For Louie. the time for talk with governments is at an end. It is time for action. “Land acknowledgements are nice gestures, but they don’t build a house on my rez. I too want to see genuine reconciliation. It’s good to see the province is taking baby steps, but I want to see adult steps here. “It’s about truth and reconciliation and the truth is this is our land,” While there is still a long ways to go, the chief was still happy with the reason for Friday’s celebration. “Our people have gathered here, fished here, died here and gave birth here for thousands of years. Now this land is ours once again.”

Mark Brett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Penticton Herald

 

Alberta and its regulator get rough ride at Parliamentary committee for Kearl tailings pond seepage fiasco

Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday 

Representatives from First Nations and Métis communities in northeastern Alberta slammed the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the provincial government April 17 when they spoke to the House of Commons all-party Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in Ottawa.

Multiple leaks at Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands mine north of Fort McMurray was the reason for the hearing. And the company wasn’t spared criticism, but was also viewed as just the latest example in a system that is not working in Alberta.

“All trust with the Alberta government has been broken. It has been broken for a long time. It is clear that they cannot be trusted to oversee this mess. This mess has been going on since the 1960s,” said Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

Adam, who flew to Ottawa to present in person, called out committee chair Francis Scarpaleggia for saying all presentations were limited to five minutes. Adam threatened to walk out if he wasn’t given the time he needed. He spoke for almost 20 minutes.

In March, the committee made a motion to study the toxic leak of tailings ponds. That leak came to public attention after the AER issued an environmental protection order on Feb. 6. However, it was determined that Imperial had been having issues with containment since May of 2022 and had reported those issues to the AER back then. But Imperial never contacted any of the Indigenous communities downstream about the leaks.

“The Kearl crisis shows these failures on multiple fronts and we fear that Kearl is just the tip of the iceberg. We are bracing for even more catastrophic events unless there are real reforms,” said Mikisew Cree First Nation Chief Billie-Joe Tuccaro, who spoke virtually and also spoke uninterrupted past his allotted five minutes.

Lack of communication on the parts of both Imperial and the AER has eroded trust even further, and shows that the AER has put industry before people, said Daniel Stuckless, director for the Fort McKay Métis Nation.

He said federal approvals come with “hundreds of conditions” that must be met, while the AER limits restrictions which it allows the proponent to drive.

“It’s a baked system and nothing changes…It is “cookie cutter” day in, day out…type of approvals,” said Stuckless, who also spoke virtually.

"The regulator is constantly pulling the direction of the conversation in the interests of the regulated parties rather than the public interest," said Timothy Clark, principal of environmental consultancy at Willow Springs Strategic Solutions, which is working with the Fort McMurray Métis Nation.

The only way to address the issue, said Stuckless, was to “scrap it and build it back.”

“How do we build a regulator that is truly independent of the industry that it is regulating and is actually able to discharge the public interest and hold the public confidence?” said Clark.

However, correcting the system went beyond replacing the AER.

“Canada must also shoulder the responsibility of what is happening,” said Adam, who added that Canada was not fulfilling obligations it held under a number of federal Acts, including the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

“We can point to the lack of enforcement, lack of funding, lack of political will, but these are excuses and not solutions,” said Adam.

He called on the federal government to undertake a comprehensive audit of the structural integrity of tailings and pipeline infrastructure across the entire oilsands region.

Clark, who was in Ottawa, added that the duty to consult has been downgraded from the federal Crown to the provinces to industry, who in turn contract third parties to do that work.

“The psychological effects of feeling like you don’t matter, your voice isn’t heard, that’s a pretty clear indication to me of where the priority on Indigenous rights and Indigenous people rest in this process,” he said.

Both Adam and Tuccaro called for full assessments on the cumulative impact all industry is having on the environment in their region as well as the impact on their Section 35 treaty and inherent rights.

Tuccaro said his people were “asking for certainty” about their health and their ability to practise their traditions and culture.

“Certainty about the way our land will look and function in the future. Certainty that we will be able to continue our way of life on the land, that our rights be protected as promised to us in 1899,” he said.

Scarpaleggia said the questions and concerns raised by the Indigenous representatives will be taken to Imperial Oil when they appear in front of the standing committee on Thursday afternoon.

Windspeaker.com

By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com

First Nations blast Alberta Energy Regulator at hearing; Guibeault promises reform

The Canadian Press
Mon, April 17, 2023 



OTTAWA — Chiefs of First Nations affected by releases of wastewater from an oilsands mine excoriated Alberta's regulatory system at a House of Commons committee hearing, calling it a system that serves theindustry and not the public.

"The (Alberta Energy Regulator) has zero credibility outside Calgary's echo chamber," Daniel Stuckless of the Fort McKay Métis Nation said in Ottawa on Monday.

"They actively dismiss and downplay impacts of oilsands on communities and their aboriginal and treaty rights."

Chief Alan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation went further outside the committee room.

"The Alberta system, when it comes to the Alberta regulator, is completely broken and should be dismantled," he said.

Ottawa, too, shares culpability by failing to enforce environmental laws, he added.

"While Alberta bears much of the blame, Canada must also shoulder responsibility for what has happened," Adam said.

The comments came as the House of Commons environment and sustainability committee held hearings to examine why it took nine months for First Nations and governments to find out what was happening with both tailings pond seepage and overflow from a containment pond at Imperial Oil's Kearl mine.

But the six First Nations leaders who addressed the committee quickly insisted their concerns go much deeper than a single incident.

"Alberta's reaction throughout is to simply say this is a communications issue," said Adam, who broke down in tears describing what it was like telling his people their water may be contaminated.

"The Alberta Energy Regulator is a joke. A complete joke."

The hearing was struck after two releases of toxic oilsands tailings water from the Kearl mine north of Fort McMurray.

The first release was spotted and reported in May as discoloured water near a tailings pond. It was found to be tailings seepage, but no further updates were provided to area First Nations until February. That's when it was disclosed to the public and federal and provincial environment ministers, along with news of a second release of 5.3 million litres of tailings-contaminated water.

On Monday, leader after leader said the problem is much deeper than a single delayed notification.

"There's a question around the neutrality of the regulator in Alberta," said Russel Noseworthy of the Fort McMurray Métis.

Timothy Clark, who is also working with the Fort McMurray Métis, said the regulator "is more concerned about protecting the image of the industry and the investment than it is about protecting the health and rights of the people who live in this area."

Melody Lepine of the Mikisew Cree First Nation said both Alberta and Ottawa have long ignored community requests for a comprehensive health assessment of people in Fort Chipewyan. Nor have governments acted on calls for an assessment of the cumulative impacts of all oilsands development or for a risk assessment posed by the tailings ponds, Lepine said.

Alberta Environment and the Alberta Energy Regulator did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Laurie Pushor, head of the regulator, is scheduled to testify Thursday. Imperial Oil officials are expected next Monday.

Just before the hearings began, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, announced the first step towards an improved reporting process for environmental emergencies.

Guilbeault said the committee testimony should help inform efforts of the new "notification and monitoring working group" to help design a better reporting system for the future.

The group is to be made up of representatives from federal and provincial governments, the Northwest Territories and Indigenous communities affected by the releases.

Jennifer Lash, a senior adviser to Guilbeault, said the goal of the working group is to develop a way to fix the notification process when something goes wrong, as well as to address ongoing concerns about the possibility of seepage from all oilsands tailings ponds, not just from Kearl.

"The notification system completely failed,” said Lash. “It failed for us, it failed for the (Indigenous) Nations, it failed for many people. And then there was no plan ... and everyone was sort of scrambling."

Lash said a letter was sent Monday to invite any Indigenous Nations in the affected areas to participate. She said the government is not being prescriptive about what the new policy would look like. The hope is that the working group will be running within two months.

She said the N.W. T. government has agreed to join and the government of Alberta has responded positively but not fully confirmed participation.

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

— With files from Bob Weber in Edmonton

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press

 

 

 

 

ANOTHER SPILL 

Canada's Suncor spills 5,900 cubic metres of water from oil sands site

Story by By Nia Williams • Yesterday 

: The Suncor Energy logo is seen at their head office in Calgary

(Reuters) - Canada's Suncor Energy has reported a spill of 5,900 cubic metres of muddy water from a sedimentation pond at Suncor Energy's Fort Hills oil sands mining project in northern Alberta.

The spill on April 16 was reported to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) because the total suspended solids in water exceeded the approved limits, Suncor said

The news comes as oil sands companies face intense scrutiny into how they manage their tailings ponds, which hold a toxic mixture of mining waste products and water. Imperial Oil said in February that ponds at its Kearl site had been seeping for months and another spill released 5,300 cubic metres of process water in late January.

"This is not a tailings pond, but a water run off pond that collects and discharges run off into Fort Creek (not directly to the Athabasca), in line with regulatory approvals," Suncor spokeswoman Erin Rees said in an email.

The AER said samples have been collected for analysis.

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Richard Chang)

FRACKING BY ANY OTHER NAME

For geothermal power, small earthquakes can cause a big headache

geothermal energy plants can add pressure into the subsurface,

Story by Doug Johnson • Yesterday
The Weather Network

Preventing earthquakes as geothermal gains steam

Duration 2:09
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The Weather Network   Preventing earthquakes as geothermal gains steam
2:09

India Today Did you know about earthquake lights?
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Alberta’s subsurface zone is getting a little crowded, potentially posing a challenge for geothermal energy operations in the province.

Companies in Alberta have been fracking, a form of waste water disposal in the oil and gas industry, since the 1950s. Carbon capture and storage projects have also been piping CO2 into subsurface formations like depleted gas reservoirs. More recently, plans to set up geothermal energy operations are poised to get involved as well, pumping geothermically heated liquid from and back to reservoirs deep underground.

All of these activities change the pressure and temperature in underground rock formations. If these get high enough they can cause earthquakes, though often small ones. The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) also offers a map of earthquakes, including so-called induced seismic activity. Factors like depth of the liquid, ground temperature, rock composition, and proximity to a fault line can increase the likelihood of induced seismic activity.

Recent research, which involved modelling Alberta’s subsurface, could be a tool to ensure geothermal operations steer clear from zones with a higher risk of seismic activity, and avoid inducing it themselves.

READ MORE: Fracking-induced earthquakes possible in these Canadian regions, study says

“We've learned over the years that either injection or production can give rise to induced seismicity. But it depends upon the initial conditions in the ground, and it depends upon the behavior of the materials involved,” Maurice Dusseault, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Waterloo and one of the paper’s authors, told The Weather Network.

In general, geothermal power involves pumping liquid — often salty water, sometimes with small amounts of petroleum products — from the subsurface from and back into the geological formation it came from, like porous rock. This liquid is usually heated either by the earth’s core or other processes like the friction between rocks. Once it is pumped up to the surface, the liquid, which can get hotter than 120 C, is used to heat water to produce steam which turns a turbine, producing electricity. The spent liquid is then pumped back into the earth to heat up again.

According to the AER, geothermal energy is expected to produce 294.6 GWh by 2030, enough to power 49,100 average Alberta homes (600 kilowatt hours) for a month. While the AER’s website notes that cheap solar and wind energy “could slow the pace of geothermal commercialization in the province,” it doesn’t rely on the sun shining or a windy day. As such, it can provide energy when solar and wind power can’t operate.

One upcoming development, the Alberta No. 1 geothermal project, is slated to open in the District of Greenview south of Grande Prairie, Alta. The recent paper was also provided to the AER as a risk assessment for their application.

“We're doing everything that we can to understand the risk before we build the facility,” Catherine Hickson, CEO of Alberta No. 1, president of the nonprofit organization Geothermal Canada, and an author listed on the paper, told The Weather Network.



For geothermal power, small earthquakes can cause a big headache© Provided by The Weather NetworkAn image taken from a 2023 paper which aims to predict the risk of seismic activity at Alberta geothermal operations. (Supplied)

In the research, Ali Yaghoubi, a researcher who was PhD student at the University of Waterloo’s department of earth and environmental sciences while writing the paper, developed a three-dimensional model of parts of Alberta near the site.

The team used data on several factors including stress and various material qualities such as strength using the analytics platform geoSCOUT. They paired this with data on the location of faults and past earthquakes. Yaghoubi explained that there’s a great deal of uncertainty in terms of these factors: temperature and material in the subsurface at different depths can vary from place to place, for instance. As such, the team developed statistical ranges to represent each factor in an area.

The team then ran different simulations in the model with various factors, including the pressure and temperature changes in the subsurface due to the geothermal plant’s operations. From there, the model can provide a probability of seismic activity in an area under certain conditions.

In all, the team found that the location, despite being located near an area with a lot of fracking, was not likely to see much seismic activity when the facility is up and running. Hickson noted that other geothermal operations could use this model as well when picking a site.

READ MORE: How a Supreme Court case could decide the future of Canadian climate policy

Dusseault said that seismic activity in Alberta, either caused or experienced by geothermal operations, are unlikely to cause damage to the facilities. Most of the subsurface activities in the province don’t happen deep enough, often between three and five kilometers, to cause large earthquakes.

Most likely, they’d be under magnitude four. Some of them could be felt, but would be unlikely to cause any damage. However, he noted, people nearby may find them unnerving.

“But if we were generating repeated earthquakes of magnitude, four, 4.1 … the people in the vicinity are not going to be happy campers,” he said.

Plus, Alberta has a “traffic light” system for seismic activity for developments like geothermal energy. Red, yellow, and green events all confer different magnitudes, which vary depending on the site, how close it is to infrastructure or communities, and other factors. Should a green seismic event occur at the site, nothing needs to happen. A yellow event means that the operation needs to change, for instance, how much pressure it’s producing in the subsurface. A red event (which is a magnitude 3.5 event or higher in the case of Alberta No. 1) means that the operation needs to cease operating altogether, and figure out what the problem is.

While earthquakes aren’t likely to cause any physical damage to a geothermal facility, it can represent a sizable practical and economic challenge. While this has yet to happen in Alberta, one 2009 case in Switzerland saw a geothermal project permanently closed its doors after a magnitude 3.4 earthquake occurred. Shutting down cost them, at the time, £5.35 million.

“Well, I mean, it’s financially catastrophic for projects to be shut down. So that’s a big financial incentive to avoid being shut down,” Dusseault said.

REAL VICTIM OF FBI

Biden urged to free Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier after decades in prison

Story by Nina Lakhani • Yesterday

Amnesty International has launched a new campaign calling on Joe Biden to grant clemency for Leonard Peltier, the Indigenous rights activist whose health is deteriorating after almost five decades in maximum security prison for crimes he has always denied.


Photograph: Mike Simons/AP© Provided by The Guardian

The international human rights group is urging Biden to release Peltier on humanitarian grounds – exactly 46 years after he was convicted for killing two FBI agents in a trial rife with irregularities and due process violations including evidence that the agency coerced witnesses and withheld and falsified evidence.

Related: Former Navajo Nation leader Peterson Zah dies at age 85

“No one should be locked up, let alone for over 40 years, when there are serious concerns about the fairness of their trial. President Biden should right this historic wrong and grant Leonard Peltier clemency,” said Zeke Johnson, Amnesty International US national director of campaigns.

Peltier, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe and of Lakota and Dakota descent, was convicted of murdering FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a shootout on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota in June 1975.

Peltier was a leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM), an Indigenous civil rights movement founded in Minneapolis that was infiltrated and repressed by the FBI.

Now 78, Peltier is currently held in a maximum security prison in Coleman, Florida, where his health and mobility have significantly deteriorated since contracting Covid-19.

Amnesty International, who had observers at the original trial, is among a long list of advocates to call for Peltier’s release since his conviction in 1977 – including a group of UN arbitrary detention experts and the US attorney James Reynolds, whose team led the prosecution and appeal of Peltier’s case.

Earlier this year, former agent Coleen Rowley became the first FBI insider to call for clemency, after claiming that the agency’s stubborn opposition to Peltier’s release was driven by vindictiveness. The agency has continuously campaigned and protested against his parole and clemency.

Peltier is not eligible for parole again until 2024; the most recent petition for clemency was submitted by his legal team in 2021, but remains unresolved.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian conducted via email in February, Peltier said: “Being free to me means being able to breathe freely away from the many dangers I live under in maximum custody prison. Being free would mean I could walk over a mile straight. It would mean being able to hug my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

FREE LEONARD PELTIER

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PELTIER 

PELTIER WAS ILLEGALLY ABDUCTED BY RCMP FROM INDIGENOUS AUTONOMOUS TERRITORY IN NORTHERN ALBERTA  AND DELIVERED TO VANCOUVER WHERE HE WAS ILLEGALLY HANDED OVER BY RCMP TO FBI 

Thousands of Canadians missed out on federal housing and dental benefits: report

The Canadian Press
Tue, April 18, 2023 


OTTAWA — A new report says hundreds of thousands of Canadians may have missed out on government money intended to help with the rising cost of living because the housing and dental benefits rolled out last year have had "atrocious" take-up.

The analysis by David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, assesses both benefits, as well as how much the federal government has actually spent on the measures.

He compares the federal government's estimates in the fall economic statement with updated figures provided on its website at the end of March.

Macdonald finds only 44 per cent of those who would have likely been eligible for the one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit actually received it, while just over half have received the Canada Dental Benefit.

"These are pretty atrociously low take-up rates. We should be learning lessons from this (so) the next time around we have much higher take-up rates," Macdonald said in an interview.

The housing benefit offered $500 to low-income renters. Applications closed on March 31.

The federal dental benefit was rolled out in the fall to provide families with up to $650 per child under 12 for dental care. It was the first step toward creating a national dental care program, a key promise in the Liberals' confidence-and-supply agreement with the NDP.

It's become more common for the federal government to administer benefits directly through the CRA in an effort to get money to people faster, but Macdonald says his analysis suggests changes are needed.

Macdonald attributes the low numbers to several factors, including a more "invasive" application process when compared to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. The housing benefit, for example, asks applicants to submit rent receipts or a letter from their landlord.

He says the federal government could have eased the requirements for applying, or at the very least, better informed Canadians about the programs.

"We could email people below a certain income threshold and say, 'Hey, you're likely eligible for this program,'" Macdonald said, noting the CRA has tax filing data that could guide this work.

In a written statement, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said it and the CRA launched a range of communications and outreach activities to make people aware of the benefit. It also said that estimates of how many people would be eligible, presented when the program was announced, were "an upper range" and that reaching that number would be challenging "given the voluntary nature of the program."

The low take-up means the federal government spent less than it allocated for the measures.

The fall economic statement estimated that the housing benefit would cost about $1.2 billion, but the final figure was just under $400 million, meaning only one-third of the allocated funds went out to low-income renters.

The dental benefit was estimated to cost $352 million for the 2022-23 fiscal year, but only $156.3 million had been disbursed by the end of March, amounting to about 44 per cent.

The federal government estimates 500,000 children will benefit from the support, which is available in two periods until June 30, 2024.

The federal government has advertised both measures as part of its affordability plan and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has touted the benefits as help that is targeted to those who need it the most.

But the updated figures suggest many Canadians may have been left behind amid a cost-of-living crunch.

"The government is failing to move this money to the people who need it most, that are going to have the most difficulty in affording higher prices due to inflation. And that's a shame," Macdonald said.

Freeland's office did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2023.

Nojoud Al Mallees, The Canadian Press

Trudeau urges caution to ensure foreign influence registry doesn't target diasporas

The Canadian Press
Mon, April 17, 2023

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited the internment of Japanese- and Italian-Canadians during the Second World War on Monday as he urged caution in the face of growing calls for Canada to adopt a registry to track foreign influence efforts.  HE FORGOT UKRAINIAN INTERNMENT IN WWI

The comments came as authorities in the United States launched criminal proceedings against dozens of alleged Chinese government agents operating in that country.

Speaking at a news conference in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Trudeau acknowledged the federal government must find better ways to protect Canadians following reports of alleged interference by China in recent Canadian elections.

But the prime minister insisted a balance must be struck to ensure any new measures are not too broad and do not target certain diaspora groups such as Chinese-Canadians or others whose governments are at odds with Canada.

"Canada has had difficult historical experiences that we need to learn from when it comes to creating foreign-agent registries or registries of foreigners in Canada," he added.

"One has to only think of the internment of Japanese citizens, or Japanese-Canadians or Italian-Canadians during the past world wars to know that we must be very, very careful with these things."

Some 22,000 Japanese-Canadians were stripped of their belongings, forced from their homes and relocated into internment camps starting in early 1942, even though the vast majority of them were Canadian citizens.

About 600 Italian-Canadians faced similar treatment and another 31,000 were declared "enemy aliens" after Italy joined Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The federal government has since apologized to both communities.

The issue of foreign interference has been under debate amid media reports citing unnamed security sources and classified documents that allege China tried to interfere in the last two federal elections, as well as the recent municipal election in Vancouver.

On Monday, Trudeau said Chinese-Canadians are often the "first targets" of interference efforts by Beijing, and that any measure adopted by Canada must ensure vulnerable diaspora communities are not unduly hurt or affected.

He added that other groups, such as Iranian-Canadians, have been similarly targeted.

"That's why we're taking the time to consult appropriately on the foreign agent registry, and making sure that we're using it in the right ways."

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino announced last month that the Liberal government was beginning consultations on setting up a registry as part of its response to allegations of Chinese interference in recent Canadian elections.

The registry would require people who act on behalf of a foreign state to advance its goals to disclose their ties to the government employing them. It would be another tool, Mendicino said, to prevent other countries from meddling in Canada's affairs.

The idea of a registry, which exists in Australia and the United States, is to make those dealings more transparent, with the possibility of fines or even prison time for failing to comply.

The consultations run until May 9, including through a virtual portal on the Department of Public Safety's website.

In an interview with The Canadian Press last week, Mendicino said he met with a "robust cross-section'' of Chinese-Canadian community members who reinforced the need for a registry of agents acting on behalf of foreign governments in Canada.

Trudeau would not say whether it could be in place before the next federal election. The timing of that vote depends in part on the minority government's supply and confidence agreement with the federal New Democrats.

Canada isn't the only country grappling with allegations of Chinese interference.

Prosecutors in New York City took a big swing Monday at what they described as "audacious and illegal" efforts by Chinese government operatives to harass and threaten dissidents and suppress free speech on U.S. soil.

In three newly unsealed criminal complaints, Justice Department officials levelled charges against a total of 46 defendants, two of whom were living in the U.S. and operating a secret police station in lower Manhattan.

Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, were to appear in court later Monday. They are charged with conspiring to act as agents of the government of the People’s Republic of China, and with obstructing justice — allegedly for destroying evidence of communications with officials in China's Ministry of Public Security, or MPS.

On at least one occasion, the police station was behind an effort to locate a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent who was living in California, said Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for New York’s Eastern District.

"The Chinese national police appear to have been using the station to track a U.S. resident on U.S. soil," Peace told a news conference.

"The defendants' actions under the direction of the Chinese government are flagrant violations of American sovereignty. ... And the MPS is on notice that we will not tolerate similar threats to our national sovereignty."

Comparable Chinese police operations have been identified in dozens of countries around the world, including in Canada, where RCMP investigators are looking at two community groups in Quebec that are alleged to be MPS outposts.

Those groups have denied the allegations, vowed to co-operate with police and insisted they stand opposed to all forms of intimidation and harassment.

The other two U.S. cases are focused on alleged efforts by Chinese operatives living overseas to harass Chinese nationals living in the U.S. whose political views and actions were "disfavoured" by the government in Beijing.

A "task force" of 34 MPS officers operated as an internet troll farm, Peace said, using fake online profiles and official PRC disinformation to "harass, disparage and threaten" dissidents and activists living all over the world.

"The official PRC disinformation suggested the weakness of U.S. democracy and foreign policy, sought to sow political divisions in U.S. national elections and convey conspiracy theories regarding the U.S. government’s alleged responsibility for the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic."

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

Lee Berthiaume and James McCarten, The Canadian Press

It's not the end of privacy yet in Canada, but the threat remains

Robert Diab, Professor, Faculty of Law, Thompson Rivers University

THE CONVERSATION
Mon, April 17, 2023 

Changes to Canadian law will affect how data can be collected and distributed. (Shutterstock)

Despite early predictions that the internet would spell the end of privacy, it continues to be vital to who we are. Without privacy, we couldn’t sustain relationships or maintain our dignity or sense of self.

Yet our privacy is constantly threatened by ubiquitous surveillance and data collection by tech platforms, retailers, the police and other state agencies, as well as hackers and criminals.

Does privacy law in Canada do enough to protect us from these threats?

To help you decide, it may help to clarify the main features of the legal landscape — when public and private entities can infringe your privacy and what happens when they do.

A constitutional right to privacy

Canadians receive protection from police and other government institutions under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And while the word “privacy” appears nowhere in the document, Section 8 still gives Canadians the right to be “secure against unreasonable search or seizure.”

Our highest court drew upon the Fourth Amendment case law in the United States to hold that police engage Section 8 when they search or seize something over which we have “a reasonable expectation of privacy.”

Courts have held that we have a privacy interest in anything that reveals intimate information about us, our lifestyle choices or our “biographical core.” This includes obvious things, like the content of our pockets, homes and digital devices – but it also includes less obvious things like our DNA, breath samples or subscriber information attached to our internet service provider accounts.

Where we do have a reasonable expectation of privacy in a place or thing, police generally need a warrant to search or seize it. In many cases, however, they don’t. They need only be authorized by law to carry out the search. The law, in turn, must be reasonable in striking an appropriate balance between law enforcement interests and personal privacy.

When police obtain evidence without a warrant, or act without authority, a court can exclude the evidence at that person’s criminal trial — though, in some cases, it may decline to do so.

Privacy in the private sphere

The Charter sets limits on what government officials and agencies can do to infringe on our privacy, but more often our privacy is threatened by private entities that gather data or information from us. What are the guardrails in place here and what are the consequences for violating them?

We have federal and provincial statutes to deal with privacy incursions by commercial entities. In some cases, we can sue civilians or businesses in court for breach of privacy.

Read more: Explainer: what is surveillance capitalism and how does it shape our economy?

The most important of these tools is the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which contains rules about collecting, using and disclosing personal information by private sector entities in Canada.

PIPEDA applies to a wide range of commercial activity across all provinces, from large retailers to online platforms. British Columbia, Alberta and Québec have their own privacy laws that cover matters to which PIPEDA does not apply.

The main obligation in PIPEDA is that a company may not collect, use or disclose information about us unless they have our informed consent and use, or share it, for an identified purpose. The act empowers individuals to access information about themselves and to correct inaccuracies.

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada enforces the act, but has often complained of the weak tools at their disposal for doing so.

A better future for personal privacy?

Currently, parliament is debating the passage of Bill C-27, which would largely replace PIPEDA with the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA).



The new act will impose more stringent penalties for breaches and give authorities more enforcement tools. But it may also expand the scope of what private entities can do with our data by permitting with benefits “proportionate to” the impact on, or loss of, privacy.

At least one commentator believes the Privacy Commissioner of Canada will continue to permit data collection by social media companies and search engines for advertising purposes under the CPPA. But the act will require companies to be more explicit with us about how they intend to use our data.

The CPPA also includes a novel “right of deletion” for information obtained in violation of the act or where consent is withdrawn. Yet this would not amount to a “right to be forgotten,” given an exception in the act for search engines acting with a legitimate interest.

This covers only some of the many tools in Canadian law for protecting personal privacy. But if this survey makes one thing clear, it’s that for Canadians, privacy is far from dead.

This article is republished from The Conversation, an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. 

It was written by: Robert Diab, Thompson Rivers University.

Read more:

To protect our privacy and free speech, Canada needs to overhaul its approach to regulating online harms

Consumer Privacy Protection Act could lead to fines for deceptive designs in apps and websites

'Done and dusted': Liberals' controversial online streaming bill back before Senate

Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday 

OTTAWA — The Liberal government's controversial online-streaming bill was back in the upper chamber on Tuesday, with one senator who had earlier opposed it saying she expected it to pass.



After more than a year of debate and revisions, Alberta Sen. Paula Simons said she would really like to see Bill C-11 "done and dusted" this week, and not because she wants to ram it through.

"For all the cynicism about the Senate, I think the Senate showed its merits with this bill," Simons said in a recent interview. "And I think we did a really good job of debating and discussing it."

Quebec Sen. Marc Gold, the Liberal government's representative in the Senate, said "the finish line is in sight" after he introduced a motion Tuesday that asked the Senate to adopt the bill so that it can become law.

"For Canada’s cultural sector, it has been a long road and a long wait, but the finish line is in sight," Gold said.

"For many in the industry, an important source of their income is inextricably linked to the passage of this bill."

If passed, Bill C-11 would update broadcasting rules to include online streaming and require tech giants such as YouTube, Netflix and Spotify to make Canadian content available to users in Canada — or face steep penalties.

Last month, the House of Commons adopted most of the Senate's amendments, which included measures to highlight the promotion of Indigenous languages and Black content creators and a change that sought to "reaffirm" the independence and freedom of expression of creators.

Senators also tweaked the bill to ensure that funds collected from tech giants would go toward promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

The bill was subject to especially lengthy debate in the Senate and has sparked criticism from special-interest groups and content creators who feared the bill would cause the government to over-regulate the internet.

"All the debate about this bill has been completely polluted and very well-organized by bot campaigns," said Simons, adding that she still gets hundreds of emails weekly from automated campaigns that spread false information about the bill.

"People are being sold that this is a censorship bill, or that it's like 1984. It's like Stalin. It's like Hitler. It's like the Chinese government. It's all silly," she said.

"There were significant flaws in this bill, and we've made them better."

The Liberal bill is supported by the NDP and Bloc Québécois, but the Conservatives have called it a "censorship" bill, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre even holding up George Orwell's "1984" science-fiction novel about Big Brother in the House while discussing the bill.

Simons, who said she sought to quiet the firestorm of disinformation surrounding the bill, had endorsed an amendment that would have added further protections for individuals who post content online, from comedy acts to instructional videos.

She said she wanted Canadians to actually talk about what's in the bill, as opposed to giving in to "fear-mongering."

Ultimately, the House of Commons rejected the amendment, which was also endorsed by YouTube, because MPs felt it would create a loophole for tech giants to avoid contributing to Canadian content.

"Bill C-11 does not and will not apply to user-generated content because, simply put, using a social-media service does not make you a broadcaster," Gold said Tuesday.

"Rest assured, the legislation will not interfere with or stifle the expression of Canadian voices."

While the bill isn't something she agrees with, Simons said she will support its passage.

"At the end of the day, the government ran on this bill. It was part of their election platform," Simons said — the Liberals had promised similar legislation during their previous minority-government mandate.

"I think there's also an understanding that there are limits to how much the Senate can push back if this is a hill to die on, or if this is profound public-policy disagreement. And the government at the end of the day has to be responsible for its choices."

When the bill is passed, a policy directive will be issued to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which will be tasked with enforcing the bill's provisions.

The CRTC is also required to consult with the public, and its reports must be made public, thanks to another Senate amendment that was accepted by the House.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2023.

Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version misspelled the first name of Sen. Paula Simons.

Federal Court sides with Facebook in privacy case tied to Cambridge Analytica affair

The Canadian Press
Mon, April 17, 2023 


OTTAWA — A judge has dismissed the federal privacy watchdog's bid for a declaration that Facebook broke the law governing the use of personal information in a case flowing from the Cambridge Analytica affair.

In his ruling, Justice Michael Manson said the privacy commissioner had not shown that the social media giant, now known as Meta, failed to obtain meaningful consent from Facebook users or neglected to adequately safeguard their information.

A 2019 investigation report from Daniel Therrien, federal privacy commissioner at the time, and his British Columbia counterpart cited major shortcomings in Facebook's procedures and called for stronger laws to protect Canadians.

The probe followed reports that Facebook let an outside organization use a digital app to access users' personal information, and that data was then passed to others.

The app, at one point known as "This is Your Digital Life," encouraged users to complete a personality quiz but collected much more information about the people who installed the app as well as data about their Facebook friends.

Recipients of the information included British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, which was involved in U.S. political campaigns and targeted messaging.

About 300,000 Facebook users worldwide added the app, leading to the potential disclosure of the personal information of approximately 87 million others, including more than 600,000 Canadians, the commissioners' report said.

The commissioners concluded that Facebook violated Canada's privacy law by failing to obtain valid and meaningful consent of installing users and their friends, and that it had "inadequate safeguards" to protect user information.

Facebook disputed the findings of the investigation and refused to implement its recommendations.

The company has said it tried to work with the privacy commissioner's office and take measures that would go above and beyond what other companies do.

In early 2020, Therrien asked the Federal Court to declare Facebook broke the law governing how the private sector can use personal information, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, known as PIPEDA.

In turn, Facebook filed its own action, asking the court to toss out the privacy watchdog's finding that the social media giant's lax practices allowed personal data to be used for political purposes.

Facebook said the commissioner's office improperly embarked on a broad audit of the company's privacy practices in the guise of an investigation into complaints about a specific breach of the law.

In a companion ruling, Manson dismissed Facebook's application.

But the judge also rejected the privacy commissioner's arguments about the social media company's practices.

The commissioner had contended that Facebook failed to obtain meaningful consent from users before disclosing their information to the "This is Your Digital Life" app.

The watchdog said while Facebook verified the existence of privacy policies, and its Platform Policy and Terms of Service required third-party applications to disclose the purposes for which information would be used, it did not manually verify the content of these third-party policies.

The commissioner also said that Facebook provided no evidence of what users were told upon installing the "This is Your Digital Life" app.

Facebook argued that its network-wide policies, user controls and educational resources amounted to reasonable efforts under PIPEDA. It also criticized the commissioner's suggestion that it manually review each app's privacy policy as impractical, as it would require legal staff to examine millions of documents.

Manson said the court was left to "speculate and draw unsupported inferences from pictures of Facebook's various policies and resources as to what a user would or would not read; what they may find discouraging; and what they would or would not understand."

As a result, the commissioner failed to meet the burden of establishing that Facebook breached the law concerning meaningful consent, he wrote.

Manson also agreed with Facebook's argument that once a user authorizes it to disclose information to an app, the social media company's safeguarding duties under PIPEDA come to an end.

Meta said in a statement Monday it was pleased with the ruling. "In the last few years, we have transformed privacy at Meta and built one of the most comprehensive privacy programs in the world."

Vito Pilieci, a spokesman for the privacy commissioner, said the office initiated the court application to protect Canadians' privacy. "With this in mind, we are reviewing the court's decision to determine the next steps."

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

———

Meta funds a limited number of fellowships that support emerging journalists at The Canadian Press.

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press

Antisemitism festers in current US political and social climate, report says

Kanishka Singh
Mon, April 17, 2023 

Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida


By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The social and political climate in the United States has become fertile ground for antisemitism in recent years, according to a report released on Monday by advocacy group Anti-Defamation League and the Tel Aviv University.

Expressions of hatred against Jews have become "mainstreamed and normalized," and incidents of violence, vandalism, and harassment of Jews have increased, the report said.

The report linked the rise of antisemitism to trends such as growing populism, political polarization and an increase in hate crimes nationwide.

It said that conspiracy theories and hate that were once relegated to the fringes of the far-right "have seeped into the mainstream of the political right."

A version of the "great replacement theory" cloaked in "more moderate and not overtly antisemitic language" has broadly spread in segments of the Republican Party, the report said, adding that Fox News host Tucker Carlson also gave voice to the conspiracy theory on his show.

The conspiracy theory fosters the belief that leftist and Jewish elites are engineering the ethnic and cultural replacement of white populations with non-white immigrants. According to this belief, the cabal of political and business elite would be kept in power by the masses of indebted non-whites.

Carlson has denied being antisemitic, and the Republican National Committee passed a resolution earlier this year condemning antisemitism.

The report released Monday also mentions recent events such as former President Donald Trump hosting white supremacist Nick Fuentes at his private club in Florida late last year.

Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, said the encounter with Fuentes happened inadvertently while he was having dinner with Ye, the musician formerly known as Kanye West. Ye was banned from social media last year for antisemitic remarks.

RIGHT WING CONSERVATIVE & ZIONIST BOTH SIDES TROPE

The report also said that the political left wing has pushed antisemitism as well by falsely stating Jews have too much power and wealth to face racism and discrimination. 

More than 3,600 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the United States in 2022, more than in any year since the Anti-Defamation League began tracking the issue in 1979.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Frank McGurty and Lisa Shumaker)