Conoco To Box Suncor Out Of Oil Sands Deal

By Julianne Geiger - May 26, 2023,

• ConocoPhillips will snap up TotalEnergies' 50% stake in the Surmont oil sands field.
• The deal keeps Suncor from buying into the project.
• ConocoPhillips said on Friday that it will purchase the assets for $3 billion and up to $325 million in contingent payments.

ConocoPhillips will snap up TotalEnergies' 50% stake in the Surmont oil sands field for more than $3 billion in a move that will prevent Suncor Energy from buying into the project.

"We look forward to leveraging our position as 100 per cent owner and operator of Surmont to further optimize the asset while progressing toward our overall interim and long-term emissions intensity objectives," ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said in a Friday statement.

ConocoPhillips said on Friday that it will purchase the assets for $3 billion and up to $325 million in contingent payments on a deal expected to close in the second half of 2023.

Last month, Suncor was said to be looking to make a $4.1 billion deal to acquire French TotalEnergies' Canadian operators, which included a 31.23% interest in Canada's Fort Hills oilsands project and a 50% working interest in Surmont. ConocoPhillips operates the Surmont site, and has the right of first refusal.

"This transaction represents a major step in securing long-term bitumen supply to our base plant upgraders at a competitive supply cost," Suncor CEO Rich Kruger said in a press release last month in reference to the deal. "These are valuable oilsands assets that are a strategic fit for us and add long-term shareholder value."

The deal was expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

Suncor could still go ahead with the Fort Hills portion of the sale, although technically, it could back out of the entire deal now that the terms of the deal have changed, as could TotalEnergies.

Each of the parties has the right to terminate the agreement under which Suncor would acquire TotalEnergies' Canadian operations and Suncor will be assessing the transaction in light of this change," Suncor said in a Friday press release.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

ConocoPhillips to buy rest of Canada's Surmont oil site, bumping Suncor

Reuters
Mrinalika Roy and Rod Nickel
Published May 26, 2023 • 1 minute read

ConocoPhillips said on Friday it was buying the 50% stake in the Surmont oil facility held by TotalEnergies’ Canadian subsidiary for about $3 billion, giving it full ownership and elbowing away rival Suncor Energy.

Canada’s Alberta oil sands hold some of the world’s largest crude reserves, which appeal to cash-flush producers looking to bolster production.

Suncor last month agreed to buy TotalEnergies’ Canadian operations for C$5.5 billion ($4.11 billion), including Total’s 50% stake in Surmont, which ConocoPhillips operates.

But ConocoPhillips, which held the other 50% stake, held right of first refusal to buy the rest of Surmont. Conoco’s decision to exercise that right is a setback to Suncor’s plans to boost its long-term bitumen supplies to replace its aging Base Mine.

Suncor, in a statement, said its deal with Total was conditional on ConocoPhillips waiving its right of first refusal, and it is now re-assessing the transaction.

Conoco’s pending decision had stirred speculation about whether it would exercise its option, but investors seemed to favor buying Surmont, given its returns, RBC Capital Markets said in a note.

Conoco shares eased, while Suncor stock was down 1.3%.

ConocoPhillips expects the transaction to add about $600 million of annual free cash flow in 2024.

The deal, expected to close in the second half of 2023, will be funded either through cash, short- and medium-term financing, or a combination, ConocoPhillips said.

($1 = 1.3372 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru and Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Leslie Adler)

Concern expressed about air quality in Sault arenas

Two councillors are asking for an air quality study comparing the Northern Community Centre to arenas that don’t have electric Zambonis

David Helwig
a day ago

Tyler Kennedy and the Stanley Cup ride an old-school ice resurfacer at the GFL Memorial Gardens in July 2009 at what was then known as the Essar Centre. Donna Hopper/SooToday

Days after the Sault's first electric Zamboni went into service at the new Northern Community Centre twin-pad arena, city council will be asked Monday to approve a second ice resurfacer for the same facility.

The recommended purchase is a Zamboni 552AC Li with 600-volt charger and customized accessories, the same model ordered 16 months ago from Zamboni Canada Ltd. of Brantford, Ont. at a cost of $158,508.

The price is higher this year: $166,220 including a three per cent discount.

Karen Marlow, the city's manager of purchasing, says we can afford to pay for the second machine using leftover cash from the Northern Community Centre's project contingency funds.

"The new twin pad would then be fully supported by two EV units with supporting charging infrastructure, and also ensure consistency for services and repair parts at one location," Marlow says.

"This facility would truly be green infrastructure in terms of having LED lighting, a full heat recovery unit, and EV ice resurfacers."

While city councillors consider that purchase, Ward 3 Coun. Stephan Kinach and Ward 5's Corey Gardi are thinking about the people who work and play in city arenas. 

They'll be pushing Monday for an air quality study to compare our arenas with electric Zambonis to those with traditional non-electric ice resurfacers.

Here's the full text of the Kinach/Gardi resolution to be presented on Monday.

Monday's city council meeting will be live-streamed on SooToday starting at 4:30 p.m.

Arena air quality 

Mover: Coun. S. Kinach
Seconder: Coun. C. Gardi

Whereas indoor air quality is one of the main factors in long term health effects; and

Whereas indoor air quality deals with a wide range of pollutants such as asbestos, carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, radon, particulate matter, etc.; and

Whereas with the introduction of the electric Zamboni we now have a major difference between arenas; and

Whereas the difference in air quality in arenas with electric and non-electric Zambonis should be compared; and

Whereas it is the city's goal to provide healthy indoor air quality in its arenas;

Now therefore be it resolved that staff be requested to report on the cost to implement an air quality study at all  city arenas for next season and provide a recommendation as to whether to undertake such a study.

Glencore’s shareholder opposition to climate report grows

Reuters | May 26, 2023 | 

Rolleston coal mine in Central Queensland, Australia.. (Image courtesy of Glencore.)

Just over 30% of Glencore’s investors rejected the company’s climate progress report at its annual meeting on Friday, demanding more clarity on how the global miner will meet its commitments to cut emissions.


Around 29% of shareholders also backed a shareholder resolution seeking more disclosure on progress in scaling back thermal coal production.

Many of the world’s biggest listed companies published their first climate action plans in 2020 to cut emissions in a bid to help with reaching the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of capping temperatures within 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Glencore mines and trades thermal coal, used to generate electricity, and has said it plans to run down its mines by the mid-2040s, closing at least 12 by 2035.

Its strategy to responsibly phase out the fossil fuel signalled a divergence from peers Anglo American and Rio Tinto, which had sold or spun out coal assets, and had been welcomed by shareholders in 2021.

But some have expressed concern this year over how much Glencore is disclosing about its thermal coal output plans.

Britain’s largest asset manager Legal & General Investment Management and the fund arm of lender HSBC were among investors to file a request for more information to assess the company’s alignment with global climate goals.

Shareholder advocacy body Australian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), which filed the resolution, said it had secured the second-highest vote ever at a London-listed company in favour of a climate-related resolution that was not supported by management.

“Glencore must recognize that neither the risks of its thermal coal business nor the concerns of investors are going away,” said Naomi Hogan, strategic projects lead at ACCR.

Deputy CEO Simon Rawson of co-filer ShareAction, said: “The scale of investor support for this resolution reflects the level of frustration at Glencore’s inactivity over a number of years to set out a credible plan for their coal business that meets the ambitions of the Paris Agreement to urgently address global warming.”

Glencore had said in a statement dated May 3 that it opposed the shareholder motion because it risked undermining the board’s responsibility for its climate strategy, given existing disclosures.

Opposition to its climate progress passing the 20% threshold constitutes material dissent among shareholders.

“We will continue to engage with shareholders so as to ensure their views are fully understood and to better understand the reasons behind these results,” Glencore said in its AGM results statement.

(By Clara Denina and Anchal Rana; Editing by Simon Jessop and Susan Fenton)

Glencore Loses More Support for Climate Plan as Coal Questioned

This content was published on May 26, 2023 - 

(Bloomberg) -- Investor support for Glencore Plc’s climate change strategy weakened, obliging the world’s top coal shipper to again consult with shareholders as it defends one of its most profitable businesses.

While many rivals have long retreated from thermal coal under pressure from investors, Glencore has continued reaping massive profits from mining the dirtiest fossil fuel. The company says the hydrocarbon is essential for the energy transition, but an increasing number of investors don’t want to own coal.

Glencore secured about 70% support for its climate progress report at its annual general meeting on Friday, less than the 76% backing it received last year. Almost 30% of shareholders also backed a resolution urging the company to explain how its thermal coal business aligns with efforts to limit the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 C. That means the commodities giant must engage with investors on both resolutions.

“We will continue to engage with shareholders so as to ensure their views are fully understood and to better understand the reasons behind these results,” Glencore said.

The vote comes as Glencore is in the process of trying to buy rival miner Teck Resources Ltd. in a $23 billion deal. Glencore — which has been rebuffed by Teck so far — wants to create two new companies, combining their respective metals and coal businesses.

While that would allow Glencore to hive off its thermal coal business, the company has said it has no plans to do so outside of a transaction unless the majority of its shareholders demand it.

A resolution put forward by shareholders with more than $2 trillion of assets under management, urging the company to explain how its thermal coal business aligns with efforts to limit the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 C, failed to get the 50% backing needed for it to be adopted. However, the support it did receive will force Glencore to engage with investors.

Glencore has already introduced a cap on its coal production and promised to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

About 10% of shareholders also voted against the reelection of the company’s chairman, Kalidas Madhavpeddi.

 

Why — after a decade — the controversial tower proposed for 105 Keefer in Vancouver seems likely to move forward It has been 2,028 days since the Vancouver Development Permit Board ruled against approving a tower at 105 Keefer Street.  And in 2 more days, they’ll have the debate all over again.  “Beedie Beedie, you can't hide. We can see your greedy eyes,” sang protesters at a rally of around 300 people on Thursday evening against the resubmitted proposal by the Beedie Group for the nine-storey tower, which the permit board will consider on Monday. Chinatown condo project is back on the table and dividing the neighbourhood In the decade since the proposal was first brought forward, dozens and dozens of news stories — and even a thesis or two — have been shared about 105 Keefer.  Admittedly, when you consider how many redevelopments happen across the province every month, those outside Vancouver could consider it overkill. But it’s been a powerful debate because of the confluence of issues the parking lot represents: across the street from the Chinese Cultural Centre, two blocks from the Downtown Eastside, owned by one the city’s most prominent developers. However, there are strong reasons to believe that this vote, unlike those in the past, will move the project forward. First, all the people involved in rejecting the original tower — first at the council table, then at the permit board — are no longer with the city. The only person on the permit board who voted against killing the project in 2017 is now Vancouver’s city manager, Paul Mochrie. The city has already lost one lawsuit on the issue and has been ordered by a judge to give better reasons should it reject the project again.  Next, Vancouver’s election brought a new ruling party in ABC Vancouver that has talked consistently about building more housing and has explicitly talked about a change in focus for Chinatown, with one councillor alleging “misinformation” and “misleading renderings” by opponents of the proposal.    Third, while in 2017, there were very few Chinatown groups explicitly supporting the proposal, this time around, seven of them have jointly lobbied for its approval.  Beedie also commissioned polling on the proposal, and in a sample size of 330 Vancouver residents contacted my phone, 43 per cent said they supported the project, vs. 22 per cent who said they had mixed feelings, 17 per cent who opposed it, and 18 per cent who said they didn't know. (The poll was done by Fairview Strategy and has a margin of error of 5.4 per cent 19 times out of 20) And so the odds seem in favour of the tower being approved. But whatever way the vote goes, the fault lines will remain. After all, next door to 105 Keefer, there’s a nine–metre-long neon sign saying “Let’s Heal the Divide.”  It was created by Toni Latour, who, on her website for the piece of art, says Chinatown is “a neighbourhood confronted with gentrification, class inversion, and the threat of cultural displacement from urban developers and city rezoning.” If the tower is approved, the sign will be blocked out.

 

Credit unions trending towards greater unity as tech pressures mount

CREDIT UNIONS' TECH PRESSURE

Ian Bickis, The Canadian Press - May 28, 2023 / 10:25 am | Story: 428985

Photo: The Canadian Press

 

From the Tobacco Workers' Credit Union in Guelph to the New Community Credit Union in Saskatoon, the names tell part of Canada's history even as they’re now history themselves.

The two credit unions are part of a growing number that have been bought, merged or shut down over the years as a combination of pressures push increasing consolidation in the sector.

While credit union numbers have been on the decline since the 1960s, insiders say rising technology demands, which ramped up during the pandemic, have led to a spike in the trend.

"Over the pandemic, we've seen a massive shift in use of digital technology, mobile technology, not just for younger people, but through all demographics," said Jeff Guthrie, chief executive of the Canadian Credit Union Association.

The increasing technology demands of customers, whether it's improved smartphone apps or faster money transfers, combined with rising regulatory expectations, have helped drive increased consolidation, he said.

"It is a scale business, where you need scale to make investments in future technologies."

The pressures have helped drive six credit unions to merge with Winnipeg-based Access Credit Union in the past two years or so. 

Access chief executive Larry Davey said consolidation started to pick up with the advent of smartphones, but has increased pace as credit unions look ahead and make tough decisions on whether they have the resources to adapt and survive.

"For the sake of their members, they're being more aggressive in those decisions and saying, you know, we want to pick our dance partner now."

Demographic trends and rising competition also mean some of the credit unions being absorbed are quite small.  

Amaranth Credit Union, which will complete its technical merger with Access in June, had 1,200 members and $18 million in assets when the deal was struck. The credit union was incorporated in 1960, back at the peak of credit unions in Canada, when they numbered around 3,200.

At the time, many credit unions were closely linked to employers or ethnic groups, but as that closed system largely wound down, institutions like the Peek Frean Employees’ Credit Union and the Latvian Credit Union have been folded into larger unions over time.

There are still some so-called closed bond credit unions linked to an employer, notably for teachers and police, but others continue to fall away. Airline Financial Credit Union, open to anyone in the airline industry, announced on May 14 that it had approval for its merger into Luminus Financial.

Affinity-based credit unions are also dwindling. New Community Credit Union was the first for Ukrainians in Canada when it opened in 1939, but it merged into Synergy Credit Union last year. 

The trend has meant that in the 10 years leading up tolate 2022 the number of credit unions fell by 129, or 37 per cent, to 219, according to a report last year from the C. D. Howe Institute.

As credit unions go beyond local communities, there are risks of lower member participation rate and board capture by management, said report authors Marc-André Pigeon and Murray Fulton, noting the need for clarity of purpose and good communication.

However, consolidation doesn’t have to mean a disconnect with members, even as smaller credit unions get absorbed into larger ones, said Annette Bester, national credit union leader at professional services firm MNP. 

"It just becomes a little bit more of a diversity of cultures," she said.

While consolidations can sometimes come with bad connotations around losing community roots, she said there’s still a local link and the alternative can be much more severe.

"If a credit union isn't sustainable, it closes its doors. If it closes its doors, there's no one that's supporting that community financially anymore by making those donations to the rink."

Credit unions have long co-ordinated on many aspects of technology without needing to merge, such as through a linked network of ATMs and pooling resources to secure online banking platforms, but there are still aspects that require individual bank resources, Bester said.

"They have to integrate it with their banking system, so that's where it gets costly for credit unions to do it themselves. That's where scale starts to matter."

The challenges of meeting the technological demands can be seen in the size of some of the mergers going on. 

Servus Credit Union and connectFirst Credit Union, Alberta’s two largest, announced in March that they would merge to create a single credit union with more than $31 billion in assets under administration. 

"They're two of the largest coming together. They're still looking at it and saying, you know, we still need more scale to be able to do everything we know we're going have to do for our members," Bester said.

In announcing the deal, board members emphasized the need to respond to competitive pressures, and to have the resources to invest in digital innovation and prepare for open banking.

The deal will leave the merged union with a similar level of assets to Vancity, while Desjardins, the first successful credit union in Canada after opening its doors in 1900, is the clear giant in the space with around 7.5 million members and $407.1 billion in total assets. 

But while the trend is towards larger and fewer credit unions, there are those pushing against it, finding such models don't always fit their needs. 

Lighthouse Credit Union launched in 2022 as one of the few new credit unions created in Canada in recent decades. 

Chairman Harley Gold said in a release announcing the launch that Lighthouse was grateful the provincial regulator approved the credit union and that it recognized the need for a Jewish credit union. 

"A credit union fits well within Jewish principles of community and giving back, and we hope that Lighthouse Credit Union can serve as a financial beacon for the community."

Toxins hidden in plastics are the industry’s dirty secret – recycling is not the answer
Charlotte Lloyd


We need to know more about what goes into plastics in the first place and better regulation of how recycled products are used

Dr Charlotte Lloyd is a researcher in environmental chemistry at the University of Bristol
Thu 25 May 2023

Sometimes it feels like we are simply drowning in plastic. Over the past five decades plastic products have found their way into almost every aspect of our daily lives. Global plastic production has reached a total of 8bn tonne – that’s 1 tonne for every person currently on the planet – with plastic pollution expected to triple by 2060.

Current best estimates are that only about 10% of plastic ever produced has been recycled. Despite this, the idea of circular economy in the plastics industry is often cited as the magic bullet: we will simply reuse the plastic we have already made and reduce the impact of plastic pollution. But new evidence points to the flaws in this plan. A report by Greenpeace has found that recycled plastic can be even more toxic, and is no fix for pollution.


Plastics cause wide-ranging health issues from cancer to birth defects, landmark study finds

It is now well known that plastic pollution is ubiquitous across the planet, with evidence of plastic particles being found in the deepest parts of the ocean, from the Mariana Trench to the peak of Mount Everest. There is justified concern about the impact of this pollution, both on ecosystems and human health. However, as an environmental chemist who has been studying plastic in the environment, I am increasingly concerned by a more hidden “invisible” threat posed by plastics: toxic chemicals.

It is estimated that more than 13,000 different chemicals are involved in the production of plastics, and many of these have never been assessed for their toxicity. Chemicals are used alongside the plastic polymer itself to create the desired physical properties for different applications: how bendy or rigid you want your plastic, whether it needs to be fire-resistant or resilient to the effects of sunlight, not forgetting dyes and pigments used to give the product the desired colour.


In food packaging or products designed for small children, there are stringent regulations of which chemicals can be included in order to reduce or mitigate the potential risk of exposure to toxins. However, this becomes problematic when you start to consider recycled plastics.

Plastics collected for recycling will have been made for a variety of different uses (just think what might be in your household plastic recycling bin) and contain a wide range of chemicals used in their manufacture. If you add to the equation the fact that plastics very easily absorb substances that they come into contact with (containers for pesticides, household cleaning products etc), then you have the potential for a cocktail of chemicals, none of which will be removed by the recycling process.

On top of this, studies have shown that other toxic chemicals can actually be produced during the physical process of recycling the material. As a result, these toxic chemicals can be transferred into products made from the recycled material, with evidence showing this includes food packaging and children’s toys.

Many of the chemicals routinely found in plastics have endocrine-disrupting effects: they can interfere with the way our body’s hormones work. This can cause a range of health problems, including cancer risk and fertility problems. These chemicals also impact on our natural environment, for example affecting the reproductive health of river fish stocks.

It would not be realistic to say that we should ban plastic production altogether (at least not in the short to medium term). Arguably, it makes sense to make some products from plastics where a lightweight, durable material is required. That said, substantially reducing our daily reliance on single-use plastics of course needs to be part of the solution.

The most important thing is that we control the use of toxic chemicals needed to manufacture the plastics and the first step in doing this is knowing what is actually in the materials in the first place. This information is difficult to obtain because it is commercially sensitive, but I would argue that increased transparency in the industry is needed.

I believe that recycling can also play an important role in solving the plastic crisis, but new regulation is needed to control the products that can be made out of recycled plastic where the impact of chemical risk is reduced, for instance putting it into construction materials or building foundations for new roads.

The other key aspect to this problem is innovation – we need to design new ways of making these materials where both the polymers and the chemicals used are more sustainable and, most importantly, non-toxic. Where the use of toxic chemicals is unavoidable then there should be more stringent controls over the end-of-life processing, and they should only be used when absolutely necessary.

The plastic problem is real and it is serious, but if scientists, industry, governments, and consumers all work together then we can overcome this crisis. We all have a crucial role to play.

 

'Sustainable' ventless dryers may contribute to waterborne microfiber pollution

by Public Library of Science

Examining microfibers collected on the dryer lint filter. Credit: Procter & Gamble, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Fibers lost during the wear and care of textiles may pose a risk to the environment and human health when released into air and water. A study published in PLOS ONE by Neil J. Lant at Procter & Gamble, Newcastle Innovation Center, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, and colleagues suggests that while condenser dryers may reduce airborne microfibers compared to vented dryers, they are a significant contributor of waterborne microfiber pollution.

Recent studies have suggested that transitioning from vented tumble dryers to condenser dryers with no exhaust outlet could reduce airborne microfiber pollution. However, their impact on waterborne microfiber pollution is unknown. To evaluate the environmental impact of condenser dryers, researchers tested loads of new, clean garments as well as dirty laundry sourced from volunteers in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. They collected and analyzed microfibers from several components of each type of dryer.

The researchers found that both dryer types produced microfiber pollution, including water pollution from rinsing lint traps in the sink. While condenser dryers are ventless and do not exhaust microfibers into the air, the lint filter, condenser, and condensed water are all significant sources of microfiber water pollution.

Future research is needed, however, to replicate the study using a larger sample size, as well as to explore strategies to sequester, dispose of, or eliminate laundry-based microfiber pollution.

According to the authors, "The appliance industry, its trade associations and legislators should recognize that all types of tumble dryer can be significant contributors to the problem of environmental microfiber pollution and begin efforts to mitigate this issue through revised usage instructions and improved appliance design. Current plans to introduce microfiber filtration systems into washing machines are expected to reduce the environmental impact of that stage in the laundering process, suggesting that reapplication of similar approaches to tumble dryers is a logical next step."

Neil Lant, of Procter & Gamble, adds, "Our recent work in collaboration with Northumbria University has recognized, for the first time, that the most important tumble dryer types used in Europe (condenser and heat pump) can also be significant contributors to aquatic microfiber pollution, especially if users wash lint filters in a sink. We do over 2 billion dryer loads in the U.K. each year, generating around 2,000 tons of microfiber. We can prevent around 90% of that from causing water pollution by cleaning lint filters into household waste, but to deal with the rest we'll need to redesign the air filtration systems in all types of dryers."

John Dean, of Northumbria University, adds, "By working collaboratively with the Procter & Gamble Newcastle Innovation Center's Dr. Neil Lant, and his colleagues, we have for the first time focused on microfiber release from vented and condenser dryers using real consumer laundry loads. It was found that the vast majority of microfibers released from dryers is collected in the lint filter, thereby preventing release into the environment. You realize that some manufacturers, however, then recommend regular washing of the lint filter under a running tap, which contributes directly to an increase of waterborne microfiber pollution.

"After considering the environmental impact of current domestic household practices, a simple remedy is proffered. Instead of washing the lint filter under the tap after use in the tumble dryer, simply clean the filter either by hand, a light brush, cloth, or vacuum cleaner, and dispose of the collected fibers, as dry waste, in household waste. This simple and effective procedure can reduce microfiber release from tumble dryers and contribute to the protection of the global natural water environment."

More information: Impact of vented and condenser tumble dryers on waterborne and airborne microfiber pollution, PLOS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285548

Journal information: PLoS ONE 

Provided by Public Library of Science 

Tumble dryers release microfibers into environment at levels comparable to washers

B.C. government offering e-bike rebate of up to $1,400

Social Sharing

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Email
• Reddit
• LinkedIn

Rebates will be available in June and will be based on a person's income

CBC News · Posted: May 25, 2023 

A cyclist rides an e-bike on the Galloping Goose Trail in Victoria, B.C. The province is offering cash rebates on eligible e-bikes to British Columbians over the age of 19 starting June 1, 2023. (Ken Mizokoshi/ CBC)

British Columbians looking to buy a new electric bike will soon be able to get some cash back for their purchase, according to the provincial government.

In a media release issued Thursday, the B.C. government announced that rebates will be available to residents older than 19 starting next month. Rebates will be based on a person's income and range from $350 to $1,400.

To be eligible, the e-bike must cost more than $2,000 before taxes and be purchased from a participating e-bike retailer after June 1. The province has yet to publish a list of those retailers but says it will do so on this website on June 1.

Unlike past programs, people no longer need to scrap a car to get the rebate.

"E-bikes add a new dimension to everyday travel, even in rural communities," Michael Koski, executive director of the B.C. Cycling Coalition, said in a statement.

"For those struggling with the cost of a car, this funding will provide wider access to a transportation option that is affordable, efficient and eco-friendly."

Rebates will be based on a person's income and range from $350 to $1,400. (Shutterstock/moreimages)

The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure says it is investing more than $6 million in the rebate program, which will help up to 9,000 British Columbians lower the cost of their e-bike.

"E-bikes are becoming commonplace in B.C. as a convenient alternative to motor-vehicle trips, but their price can put them out of reach for people," Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said in a statement.

"By making rebates available and basing the rebate amount on income, we can make e-bikes and clean transportation more affordable and accessible for everyone."

• City of Kelowna offers new adaptive bike program

• District of Saanich launches new e-bike rebate program to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions

News of the rebate was welcomed by Alex Alvarez, manager at The Bike Kitchen, a cycling repair shop located at the University of British Columbia's Point Grey campus. 

"I'm always a fan of more bikes on the road," said Alvarez.

He did, however, warn that some entry-level e-bikes purchased at department stores can be hard to service. In his experience, he says some of those e-bikes are outfitted with brakes that are not sufficient for such fast, heavy models.

"They are being sold as these great solutions to get rid of your car, get on a bike, but then when people have to come in for constant repairs and adjustments they end up spending more money than they expected to," he said.

Alvarez hopes the rebate program could help people pay for higher-end models that have a higher sticker price but are less likely to need continuous tune-ups.

CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|About CBC News

No cellphone? No problem! The vintage radio enthusiasts prepping for disaster

Ham radio users, from teenagers to eightysomethings, are ready to communicate in the next crisis – be it a wildfire, pandemic or ‘the big one’

Glenn Morrison, president of the Desert Radio Amateur Transmitting Society, a Palm Springs-based club dedicated to everything ham radio. 

Photograph: Adam Amengual/The Guardian


by Amanda Ulrich in Palm Springs
THE GUARDIAN

Sat 27 May 2023 

There’s an ancient fable that Glenn Morrison, a pony-tailed, 75-year-old who lives in the California desert, likes to tell to prove a point. As the lesson goes, one industrious ant readies for winter by stocking up on food and supplies, while an aimless grasshopper wastes time and doesn’t plan ahead. When the cold weather finally arrives, the ant is “fat and happy”, but the grasshopper starves.

In this telling, Morrison is the ant, and those who don’t brace themselves for future emergencies – they’re the grasshoppers.

Morrison is in the business of being prepared. He’s the president of the Desert Rats (or the Radio Amateur Transmitting Society), a club based in Palm Springs that’s dedicated to everything ham radio.

The old-school technology has been around for more than a century. In lieu of smartphones and laptops, ham radio operators use handheld or larger “base station” radios to communicate over radio frequencies. The retro devices can range from the size of a walkie-talkie to the heft of a boxy, 20th-century VCR.

Generations after its invention, one of ham radio’s biggest draws for hobbyists is its usefulness in an emergency – think wildfires, earthquakes or another pandemic. If disaster strikes and internet or cellular networks fail, radio operators could spring into action and help with emergency response communications, and be able to keep in contact with their own networks.

Left: Glenn Morrison standing with a U-band vertical antenna in his backyard. Right: Morrison’s main ‘rig’ in his home radio room. 

Photograph: Adam Amengual/The Guardian

And the historically fringe world of ham radio is having a moment. In California, there are now nearly 100,000 licensed amateur radio operators, often simply called “hams”, and more than 760,000 across the country. That total greatly surpasses the number of hams from 40 years ago, even as newer technology has left radio in the dust.

In an era of climate crisis with more intense storms and more frequent wildfires, and other disasters such as global pandemics, ham radio is becoming a tool for some who want to regain a modicum of control.

“Ham radio,” Morrison said, “is like the original social media.”

“People aren’t prepared. And they keep thinking, ‘Well, that’s not going to happen in my lifetime.’ And it may not, but you never know.”

‘I’ve always wanted to be ready for what’s next’

On a balmy Saturday morning in Palm Springs, the thermostat already creeping its way towards 80F (27C), a few dozen people trickled into a local gymnasium, finding seats at folding tables set up below the basketball hoops. Volunteers with the Desert Rats, who had organized the makeshift radio testing day for new hams, handed out a stack of exams. If the hams passed the 35-question test, they could become licensed as entry-level amateur operators by the Federal Communications Commission.

‘Ham radio is like the original social media,’ Morrison says. 

Photograph: Adam Amengual/The Guardian


One prospective ham was a high school student, a 17-year-old in a gray sweatshirt named Boaz, who took the course with his dad. Boaz first got into amateur radio through YouTube videos, he said, a year before the pandemic started.

“I’ve always wanted to be ready for what’s next,” he said. “If something happens and there’s no cell service, how am I going to talk to people?” Getting his driver’s license, his dad added, is Boaz’s next major goal.

Another newly christened ham, a college professor named Skip Fredricks who sported a black bandanna, tinted aviator sunglasses and a Star Wars T-shirt, said he was hoping to use amateur radio in the classes he teaches about drones. In disaster areas, where drones are sometimes used for search and rescue missions, the radios could help drone pilots communicate better, he said.

Skip Fredricks, a college professor, recently obtained his radio certificate.

 Photograph: Amanda Ulrich

“In very remote areas, communication is a problem,” he said. “The ham radio support is better than just walkie-talkies – and cellphones are useless in the mountains.”

Fredricks held up his new radio certificate, proving he had passed the exam, printed on a bright yellow sheet of paper. “Pretty cool, huh?” he said, looking it over. “My students will probably be impressed.”

Ham radio and ‘the big one’

Since the early 1900s, ham radio has been used as a lifeline during storms, disasters, wars and other emergencies.

Hams, a term thought to have originally been a smear targeting unskilled amateur operators, were deployed to the Caribbean in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Shortwave radio also became a way for Ukrainian citizens to get news after Russia attacked communication towers last year, and Taiwanese ham radio enthusiasts have used it to prepare for potential war with China. Astronauts have even used ham radio to chat with people back on Earth.

The astronaut Mamoru Mohri, wearing a headset to communicate with students and other ham operators during a mission in 1992. 

Photograph: Space Frontiers/Getty Images

The radios have even cropped up in disaster movies and TV shows – most recently in scenes from HBO’s The Last of Us that show a clandestine radio operator sending messages across a zombie-ravaged country.

Living in southern California and considering the region’s web of fault lines, Morrison, the club president, often thinks about earthquakes.

“If ‘the big one’ hits, we’re not going anywhere,” he said. “You have to be self-reliant. You’re going to need food supplies and all that stuff. But also if you want Aunt Marge in Portland to know that you’re OK, then we can send her a radio gram.”

More specifically, if organizations such as hospitals, fire stations and emergency command centers call for communications assistance, qualified amateur operators can mobilize to help; many hams have “go kits” for just that purpose, with supplies including handheld radios and portable antennas.

One such emergency response took place this year, as winter storms pummeled California. In Big Bear, a remote, mountainous community that saw an onslaught of heavy snow over the past few months, amateur radio operators frequently went on the air to broadcast road closures and other local news to their networks. “I knew the roof on one market had collapsed before it was on the news because I heard it on the radio first,” Morrison said.

As an informal slogan for the American Radio Relay League, a national association for amateur radio, promises, ham radio is the ultimate backstop for “when all else fails”.

Left: Dorothy Strauber, member of the Young Ladies Radio League of Long Island, uses earphones to listen to her ham radio receiver in 1954. Right: Early radio ham operators circa 1919. 

Photograph: Tom Maguire/Newsday RM/Bettmann Archive/Getty

Richard Norton, director of the league’s south-western division, first got hooked on ham radio in high school because he was drawn to the hobby’s technical side. Decades later, he’s seen newer hams’ interest shift to emergency preparedness. In the little town of Topanga outside Los Angeles, where Norton lives, many residents have thought about what they would do during an earthquake or wildfire if cell signal was lost, he said.

One answer? Get a ham radio.

“Even when cellphone systems go down, our ham systems generally are working and we can communicate,” he said.

‘Working the world’

From a hushed neighborhood tucked into the base of desert mountains, about 10 miles down the road from downtown Palm Springs, Morrison took a seat at his desk and “worked the world”. Spinning a large black dial on the face of a bulky base station radio, he tuned into a realm of static and distant, garbled voices. He strained to listen, parsing faint words, then pulled forward a gold microphone.

Morrison listening for contacts at his home. 

Photograph: Adam Amengual/The Guardian

“Uh, Whiskey, Bravo, six, Romeo, Lima, Charlie,” Morrison said into the static, adopting the upbeat lilt of a radio DJ. The illogical string of words represents WB6RLC, his call sign, or the unique signature assigned to each ham that inevitably becomes as important as a name. Morrison’s sign was printed in bold letters on his hat, and the back of his T-shirt proudly displayed the Desert Rats club logo: a grinning rodent, its tail wrapped around a radio antenna.


Still spinning the radio dial, Morrison stumbled into a perfunctory conversation between someone around the general Nevada and Utah “call area” (the designation for where a radio license was issued) and a man in Barcelona.

“That’s how you just tune around and find somebody,” Morrison said happily. “And oh, look, he’s in Barcelona.”


‘Everyone should prep’: the Britons stocking up for hard times

On a computer monitor connected to his radio, Morrison pulled up a comprehensive list of 215 countries, territories and other areas he’s “worked”, or contacted, from this small town in southern California: Argentina. Australia. Algeria. American Samoa. “And those are just the A’s,” he said.

Around Morrison’s one-story home, everything revolves around radio. Desert Rats sketches and maps adorn the walls. A tangle of antennas sprouts from the corner of his roof. The camper van parked in his driveway is equipped with a “mobile station” radio for any necessary on-the-go calls. There are radios in every room of his house, save for the guest bathroom.

And Morrison’s main radio room, where he overheard the Barcelona conversation, is the crown jewel. The small space attached to his garage has a command center-style feel, with an entire wall devoted to dozens of vintage radios, some over a hundred years old, that Morrison sources from flea markets and friends.

“Sometimes they just find me,” he added.

Morse code keyers and cables in Morrison’s home. 

Photograph: Adam Amengual/The Guardian


Beyond using the radios for emergency communications, hams find meaning in the hobby for its own sake, and in the almost-instant network it provides. Every Monday night, the Desert Rats host a radio “net”, similar to a public conference call, where amateur operators check in and go through a simple verbal roll call of names and call signs. That type of basic welfare check was particularly important three years ago, during the very first isolating, stay-at-home phase of the pandemic.

“It gave me something to do,” Morrison said. “I’d go to my radio shack in the garage, flip on the radio and find somebody, God knows where, to talk to.”
More than an ‘old guys’ club’

Back in the Palm Springs gymnasium, volunteers with the Desert Rats graded exams, their own handheld radios holstered at the hip. Annie Larson, head of membership for the club, buzzed around the room’s periphery, glancing at some of the complex test questions about signal frequencies and the properties of radio waves. “I don’t know if I would pass today,” she joked.

Larson, who recently turned 80, has been a licensed ham for more than a decade, but she doesn’t think of herself as a “tech-y” person. “I’m just interested in being able to take care of myself in an emergency,” she said.

Larson grew up in Idyllwild, a small town lodged in the mountains that loom above Palm Springs. The community, heavily wooded and right on the doorstep of Mount San Jacinto state park, is often threatened by wildfires. A few years ago, as one blaze moved closer and closer to the town, Larson ignored local evacuation warnings and stayed behind with a few park rangers. Having her radio with her was a great reassurance.

Annie Larson has been a licensed ham for more than a decade. 

Photograph: Adam Amengual/The Guardian

“I could listen to it at night and just leave it on,” she said, instead of needing to constantly check her phone. “If something came up, I was available.”

While amateur radio used to be something of a boys’ club (and “it still is a little bit”, she added), Larson said she sees more female operators today; about a quarter of those at the Palm Springs testing day were women. And with the wide-ranging impacts of the climate crisis, Larson thinks the hobby is relevant for all.

“People used to think it was like this old guys’ club, guys just putzing around,” she said. “But it really is important, because the population is increasing and there are many more disasters.”

Fortunately, within the Desert Rats club, hams remain a tight-knit bunch. As the latest batch of radio operators received their certificates after the testing day, some were emotional as they walked out into the desert heat. Morrison stood by the exit, congratulating and shaking hands with each person.

“We’ll catch you on the air,” he called behind them.

UK Rail strikes: Hopes of a resolution have been indefinitely delayed

After a year of walkouts and failed talks, the unions, ministers and operators are as far apart as ever

Gwyn Topham

THE GUARDIAN

Transport correspondent
Sun 28 May 

Almost a year since the first national rail strike was called, another series of stoppages loom. Passengers who have been spared the usual round of disruptive bank holiday engineering works this weekend won’t be so lucky in the second half of the half-term break. Strikes by drivers and crew will more or less wipe out services on Wednesday and Saturday, shred schedules on Friday, and add a bit of scattergun disruption in between.

This time in 2022, the mere prospect of the biggest rail strike in decades was causing consternation. Now, though, the latest guaranteed upheaval has not even produced a round of talks between unions and industry – let alone ministers – to try to head off the disruption.

A gloomy stalemate has taken hold in recent months, and it is hard to see from where any imminent change will come. The one tectonic shift in a year of attrition was the settling of a 9% pay deal with staff at Network Rail in March: a moment that both deprived the biggest union, the RMT, of its greatest leverage in strikes, and also fuelled belief in government and the industry that a similar deal could be done at train operators.

Instead, a pay offer that the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) negotiators made to RMT general secretary Mick Lynch crumbled, whether due to duplicitous legalese in the written detail (as the union maintains) or because Lynch could not persuade a hardline union executive (as the train companies maintain).

The RDG and ministers have refused to budge, and demand a referendum of union members. But the deal in detail holds even less for the train operators’ staff, and union members have voted for another six months of potential strikes, starting with Friday’s.

Since then, some informal contact is understood to have taken place between industry and union – but Lynch’s recent call for a summit with government was met with a scathing RDG rejoinder that the only summit the RMT needed was “between its negotiating team and its executive committee”.
This is a political dispute created by the Tories. Any chance of resolving it may only come from a change of governmentDave Calfe, Aslef

Aslef, meanwhile, may now prove even harder to reconcile. The train drivers’ union was offered even less in percentage terms by the RDG, on behalf of the English firms contracted to the Department for Transport. And unfortunately for passengers – not least those Mancunians who might have taken the Avanti intercity train to next Saturday’s FA Cup final at Wembley – an Aslef strike means no trains at all on most of the network.

The union is likewise reballoting for another six months of strikes in England – while announcing a whopping deal for drivers in Wales, a 20% rise over the next two years to £71,000, when a further guaranteed inflation-linked increase applies.

The Welsh bonanza, according to the union, delivers what the government claims to want – changes to terms and conditions, extra productivity and “modernisation”, not just gold-plated pay.

But while driver delegates in Cardiff this week for Aslef’s annual assembly will have been toasting their hosts, it’s hard to see any kind of similar resolution elsewhere.

At Westminster, ministers have freely admitted that any pay deal is now seen in the context of wider public sector pay disputes with nurses and teachers – even if the rail staff are employed by private firms. For some in government, the £1bn-plus in lost revenue is worth it to cap wider pay; for others, some suspect, in latter-day Thatcher versus the miners mode, victory over the unions is all.

The irony in the ideological dispute is that train drivers, backing renationalisation, have seen pay soar under privatisation. And in normal times, with their own money at risk, private train operators would rather shell out for drivers than face them down and lose much more in stoppages.

In Cardiff, Aslef’s president Dave Calfe told drivers to “keep the faith”, adding: “This is a political dispute, created by the Tories, and any chance of resolving it may only come from a change of government, which is still 18 months away.”

Both sides might want to be careful what they wish for. Much-needed passengers, meanwhile, might simply be careful not to rely on the train for a long time yet.