Northern Alberta town still looking for government funding for evacuation centre

CBC
Tue, August 15, 2023

The Town of High Level welcomed evacuees from Fox Lake on May 4. Mayor Crystal McAteer said a multipurpose evacuation centre could replace the aging arena and better serve evacuees from northern Alberta and Northwest Territories. 

(Luke Ettinger/CBC - image credit)

A northern Alberta town that has supported thousands of evacuees continues to push for funding for a special facility to help those who are fleeing their homes due to wildfires and floods.

The Town of High Level has hosted thousands of evacuees in recent years, including many during Alberta's record-breaking wildfire season this year. The town is currently housing wildfire evacuees from Hay River, N.W.T.

The town would like to build a multipurpose evacuation centre designed to help with emergency response. The project in partnership with Dene Tha' First Nation is expected to cost around $90 million.

"We designed the facility with all the amenities that are not in other evacuation centres," High Level Mayor Crystal McAteer said.

McAteer said the facility design includes medical rooms, storage for goods, a place for pets and cultural spaces for evacuees. She said it would also replace the aging arena and serve as a recreation space for area schools.

"We've been applying for grants and thus far have not been successful in either lobbying the federal government or the provincial government. They believe that the cost is too high for a community of 4,000 people," McAteer said.

McAteer says that the town, 733 kilometres north of Edmonton, is a hub for the region and serves a population of 30,000.

Funding requests

Mackenzie Blyth, a spokesperson for municipal affairs, said the province is aware of a $35 million funding request, but added the town has not formally applied for any provincial funding. Blyth said the town could apply through through the Municipal Sustainability Initiative and the Canada Community Building Fund.

McAteer said the planned facility was also not a successful applicant to the federal Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program. A request by CBC News to Infrastructure Canada asking why the town was not successful was not answered.

McAteer said the town may have to shift strategies to get funding for the project.

"Maybe we build it in such a manner that it can be added to as more funding becomes available, sort of like Lego blocks."

Premier Danielle Smith toured northwest Alberta last week. She met with McAteer and Dene Tha' Chief Wilfred Hooka-Nooza separately, and both local leaders said they discussed ways to improve fire response.

Dene Tha' partnership

Kenneth Beaulieu, a Dene Tha' member, was one of 960 people who fled their community due to the fire spreading near Chateh. He said slept in a tent in nearby Bushe River because it offered more privacy than the evacuation centre at the High Level arena.

"When am I going to go home? "That's all I thought about when I was out there," Beaulieu said.

Kenneth Beaulieu, left, and his girlfriend Lucinda Meneen are camping in tents around Bushe River after a wildfire forced an evacuation of Chateh.

Kenneth Beaulieu, left, and his girlfriend Lucinda Meneen are camping in tents around Bushe River after a wildfire forced an evacuation of Chateh. (Rob Krbavac/CBC)

During the height of the wildfire season this summer, a temporary evacuation camp was set up for Dene Tha' First Nation in High Level. The camp is still there though not as busy as it once was.

"We only have a few people in there because most of the people went home and for now we just have it available in case another emergency happens," said Hooka-Nooza

Hooka-Nooza said Dene Tha' First Nation is still calculating the cost of the evacuation in 2023. Although not final, the figure is approaching $17 million he told CBC News.

"It's quite a substantial amount," Hooka-Nooza said.

"Looking at the history of what's happening in this region, particularly with our nation, we have been evacuated a number of times."

Residents in Chateh and High Level were evacuated in 2019 due to the Chuckegg Creek fire. Last year, Chateh was also evacuated due to flooding.

Hooka-Nooza said there are additional challenges to emergency management when evacuees are spread out between communities. He said the centre could help evacuees from across northern Alberta and into the Northwest Territories.

"The purpose of this is not to just service our region," Hooka-Nooza said.

CANADA

BRINGING ON AUSTERITY
Treasury Board demands cabinet ministers cut spending by $15 billion in new Oct. 2 deadline
By Quinn Patrick
-August 15, 2023




In an effort to save just over $15 billion in federal spending, newly appointed Treasury Board President Anita Anand has given cabinet ministers until Oct. 2 to make cuts to current spending plans.

Anand wrote a letter to federal cabinet ministers, many of who were assigned new portfolios in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent cabinet shuffle, telling them to make the cuts necessary to meet the Liberal’s 2023 budget promises.

“I am seeking your support to develop proposals to achieve these targets,” wrote Anand. “In particular, organizations should review their programming to identify where there might be duplication, programs with lower value for money, or programs that do not address top priorities of the government.”

In March of this year, the Liberals announced a budget goal of saving $7.1 billion over the next 5 years by cutting spending on things like consulting, travel and professional services by 15%.

The letter also included a 3% cut in spending from departments and agencies by 2026-27, the cut estimates a savings of $7 billion over the next 4 years. The planned cuts are hoping to see combined savings of $1.3 billion from Crown corporations.

Once the proposals are submitted, they will be reviewed by public servants from the Treasury Board.

Of the estimated $15.4 billion in savings, only $500 million will be saved this fiscal year, indicated the budget letter. Details regarding the $500 million are expected to be included in future Parliament spending reports and more details about the 5 year plan will be presented in 2024 budget reports.

The 2023 budget said its goal is not to reduce overall annual spending in Ottawa but rather to return the amount, “back to a pre-pandemic path.”

In the 2022-23 fiscal year, total government expenses were $470.4 billion and that number is estimated to climb to $555.7 billion by the 2027-28 fiscal year.

Outside of the historical spending made in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Liberal government’s current annual spending remains higher than what they had projected it to be prior to the pandemic occurring. In 2019, the budget was estimated to be a total of $402.2 billion for the year of 2023-24 however this year the budget was projected to be $490.5 billion.

In her fall 2022 economic statement, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland had said that the books would return to balance by 2027-28 with a surplus of $4.5 billion dollars. The latest projections however are not congruent with Freelands 2022 economic statement. The federal deficit currently sits at $40.1 billion and is expected to decline to $14 billion by 2027-28.

The new budget letter by Anand doesn’t have outright plans to cut jobs in the government sector however, it will involve some redeployment and could potentially result in some job losses.

THE SAME OLD BS
“This is about smarter, not smaller, government,” said Monica Granados, a spokesperson for Anand.


RIGHT WING THINK TANK OFFSHOOT OF THE FRASER INSTITUTE
A recent Ipsos poll by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI) found that most Canadians believe that the Trudeau’s government is spending too much, resulting in too high of taxes.

HOW WAS THE Q? ASKED

“Not only do Canadians find that the Trudeau government spends too much, but they also find that it spends unwisely,” said Renaud Brossard, senior director of communications for MEI.

“This seems to indicate a disconnect between the Department of Finance and the people whose money is entrusted in its care.”

55% of people respondents in the nationwide poll said that they believe Ottawa is overspending.

“The message Canadians are sending Ottawa is unequivocal,” said Brossard. “They are asking Ottawa to cut its spending, review its priorities, and reduce their tax burden.”

CATHOLIC NATION

Quebecers no longer seeing doctor-assisted deaths as exceptional, says oversight body

The Canadian Press
Tue, August 15, 2023 



MONTREAL — As the frequency of medical aid in dying continues to rise in Quebec, the head of the independent body that monitors the practice in the province says he worries doctor-assisted deaths are no longer being seen as a last resort.

Quebecers have stopped appreciating MAID as an exceptional procedure for people with incurable illnesses whose suffering is unbearable, Dr. Michel Bureau said in a recent interview.

"We're now no longer dealing with an exceptional treatment, but a treatment that is very frequent," said Bureau, head of Commission sur les soins de fin de vie, which reports to the legislature.

Quebec is on track to finish the year with seven per cent of all deaths recorded as doctor-assisted, Bureau said. "That's more than anywhere else in the world: 4.5 times more than Switzerland, three times more than Belgium, more than the Netherlands. It's two times more than Ontario."

Earlier this month, Bureau's commission sent a memo to doctors reminding them that only patients who have a serious and incurable disease, who are suffering and who have experienced irreversible decline in their condition can receive MAID. The memo reminded doctors that the procedure must be independently approved by two physicians, and that doctors shouldn't "shop" for a favourable second opinion.

"We see, more and more, that the cases receiving medical aid in dying are approaching the limits of the law," Bureau said. "It's no longer just terminal cancer, there are all kinds of illnesses – and that's very good, but it requires a lot of rigour from doctors to ensure they stay within the limits of the law."

Bureau said he's witnessed a slight increase in the number of cases that violate Quebec's end-of-life legislation.

In the commission's last annual report, which covered a period between spring 2021 and spring 2022, it said 15 out of 3,663 doctor-assisted deaths in Quebec didn't respect the law. The problematic cases involved one instance in which MAID was administered to someone who had an expired provincial health insurance card. In six cases, patients were not admissible for the procedure; in three other cases, patients were unable to consent.

Those 15 cases were reported to Quebec's college of physicians – Collège des médecins du Québec. In an email, the college said that none of the 15 cases were referred to its internal disciplinary tribunal. Spokeswoman Leslie Labranche said the self-regulatory organization doesn't have data about whether other disciplinary measures may have been taken against doctors who allegedly violated MAID rules.

The college declined to comment on the commission's memo.

Bureau said he worries doctors are being put in difficult situations by elderly patients who are ready to die but whose health problems aren't serious enough for them to qualify for MAID.

"Medical aid in dying is not there to replace natural death," he said.

Bureau said he hasn't heard of a single case in Quebec in which MAID was recommended by a doctor instead of a patient.

According to Health Canada's most recent annual report on MAID, published in July 2022, doctor-assisted deaths accounted for 3.3 per cent of deaths in Canada in 2021. In Quebec, which had the highest number of MAID deaths in the country, the number was 4.7 per cent of deaths that year, second only to B.C., where MAID accounted for 4.8 per cent of deaths.

Those numbers have continued to rise. In 2022, MAID represented 6.1 per cent of deaths in Quebec, according to the province's statistics institute. And in B.C., MAID deaths accounted for 5.5 per cent of deaths in 2022, according to the province's Health Department; as of June 30, MAID deaths represented 6.2. per cent of deaths in that province.

Bureau said he's not sure why Quebec has a higher rate of MAID than other parts of Canada, adding that he believes the province's framework for MAID is stricter than elsewhere in the country, and better monitored.

But even though there are tight rules around the procedure, MAID is deeply integrated into Quebec's health-care system, allowing patients to receive a doctor-assisted death from a physician that is already caring for them.

"It's very easy to go from palliative care to medical aid in dying," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2023.

Jacob Serebrin, The Canadian Press

ONTARIO

Holland defends absence from Pride events

Local Journalism Initiative
Tue, August 15, 2023

Thunder Bay–Atikokan MPP Kevin Holland is pushing back against criticism over his absence from recent Pride events in his riding, specifically rejecting a claim that he ignored requests to meet with a local LGBTQ+ organization.

"I support all people in my riding, regardless of life choices, race, religion," he said in an interview. "I represent all people equally and I don't differentiate between any groups."

Scotia Kauppi, chair of the Thunder Pride Association, raised concerns last week over Holland's engagement during a virtual presser featuring LGBTQ+ organizations across the province hosted by the Ontario NDP.

Kauppi said the Progressive Conservative MPP has "ghosted" requests for meetings, while noting his absence from flag raisings and other Pride events in June.

The MPP pushed back, saying “I have never been contacted by [anyone with] Thunder Pride by email, phone or text to attend a single event. I had four other commitments that day.”

The Rainbow Collective of Thunder Bay, another local LGBTQ+ advocacy group that co-organized June's Pride events, has also questioned Holland's lack of participation.

The group put out a statement in June saying the MPP had been "noticeably absent" from Pride month events at a time of escalating hate against the LGBTQ+ community.

Holland said he had missed the Pride street festival, one of the month's central events, on June 17 only because he was attending the eighth annual Thunder Bay Mining Days at the marina, and noted he had sent a representative to the Pride event on his behalf.

“Mining days is very important to the [Thunder Bay–Atikokan] riding and all people in our riding," he said, adding he had attended Pride events in 2022.

Holland was elected in June 2022 in a riding that was held by the Liberals from its creation in 1999 until 2018.

He said he feels he's been unfairly grilled on his lack of attendance at community events, suggesting other elected officials in the region don’t face the same type of scrutiny.

Holland said his record in office thus far speaks for itself.

"I have been out in the community and I've met with all organizations, because I've never turned down a request to meet," he said. "I am more than happy to meet with the Pride group here in Thunder Bay. All they have to do is reach out to me."

Kevin Jeffrey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TBnewswatch.com

TRANSITION = CO$T$ OIL = PROFIT
Suncor has been too focused on energy transition, must get back to fundamentals: CEO

CBC
Tue, August 15, 2023 

Rich Kruger is the chief executive of Suncor Energy. He had retired from the same position with Imperial Oil in 2019. (Kyle Bakx/CBC - image credit)

The man hired to turn around the flagging fortunes of Suncor Energy Inc. said Tuesday he believes the company has been too focused in recent years on the energy transition and must get back to an oil-centred business strategy.

CEO Rich Kruger, who took the reins at the Calgary-based energy giant this spring, told analysts on a conference call that the company's board of directors agrees with him that a "revised direction and tone" at the company is necessary.

He said he believes Suncor must not neglect "the business drivers of today" in favour of future-focused, clean and low-carbon energy pursuits.

"We have a bit of a disproportionate emphasis on the longer-term energy transition," Kruger said, adding that while lower emissions energy is important, it is not what is going to make money for shareholders today.

"Today, we win by creating value through our large integrated asset base underpinned by oilsands."

Kruger, the former CEO of ExxonMobil's Canadian subsidiary Imperial Oil Ltd., was lured out of retirement this year to lead a restructuring at Suncor in the wake of a spate of high-profile operational and financial challenges at the company.

His stated goal to refocus Suncor's efforts on its oilsands assets comes even as the company has publicly committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

'Squeezing every last drop of oil out of the ground'

USING CARBON CAPTURE TO FRACK OLD WELLS 

His comments also come at the tail end of a summer in which global temperatures have soared to never-before-seen heights and wildfires exacerbated by climate change have wreaked devastation across the planet.

"It's good to hear a fossil fuel CEO being honest about their intentions — squeezing every last drop of oil out of the ground, even if it means cooking our climate and harming communities in the process," said Greenpeace Canada climate campaign head Laura Ullman.

But she added Kruger appears to be blindly doubling down on business as usual in the face of an increasingly urgent need to rapidly transition to renewable energy.

"It's hard to understand how anyone who has seen the absolute devastation of this summer's fires, floods and (oilsands) leaks could continue pushing for the expansion of fossil fuels," Ullman said in an email.

'Absolutely focusing on their short-term balance sheet'

Suncor is not alone in its strategy, said Duncan Kenyon, director of corporate engagement with shareholder advocacy group Investors for Paris Compliance. Ever since crude prices spiked in the aftermath of last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine, he added, energy companies have been laser-focused on maximizing profits from oil.

European energy giant Shell, for example, angered climate activists earlier this year by effectively abandoning its plan to cut oil production by 1 to 2 per cent per year until the end of the decade.

British energy giant BP has also scaled back its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in the wake of last year's record profits from oil, while ExxonMobil's CEO has boasted of "leaning in" to the petroleum products that are in demand today.

"(Suncor's move) is really consistent with where almost every major oil company globally is going," Kenyon said.

"They are all absolutely focusing on their short-term balance sheet performance."

Wind and solar assets sold off

Last year, Suncor sold off its wind and solar power assets, getting out of the renewable energy business it had been involved in for more than two decades.

Instead, the company said at the time, it would focus on advancing the development of low-carbon fuels (including sustainable jet fuel) as well as the commercial-scale deployment of carbon capture technology.

The company also increased its presence in Canada's oilsands this year, acquiring 100 per cent ownership of the Fort Hills oilsands mine in northern Alberta by buying out previous partners Teck Resources and TotalEnergies.

Suncor is a member of the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of Canadian oilsands companies that have all committed to net-zero by 2050 and have proposed working together to construct a massive carbon capture and storage transportation hub in northern Alberta to help reduce emissions from oilsands production.

Kruger said Tuesday the company remains committed to Pathways, adding the group is hoping to finalize talks with the federal and Alberta governments about a fiscal framework for carbon capture projects as early as this fall.

However, Kenyon said he thinks Suncor's focus on oil ignores the "demand erosion" risk the company faces as the pace of electric vehicle adoption picks up and buyers seek out lower-cost, lower-emission barrels in the future.

"They're trying to cash in, in the short-term," he said. "But I don't see any acknowledgment of the risk of doubling down on 'business as usual.' "

Job cuts

WHILE ABANDONING ORDERS TO IMPROVE HEALTH & SAFETY

On Tuesday's conference call, Kruger said investors can expect to hear more on Suncor's new direction in the months to come. But he said already in the second quarter, the company has made "material progress" towards its new goal of focusing on the fundamentals.

In June, Suncor announced it would reduce its employee head count by 20 per cent, or 1,500 people, by the end of the year in order to eliminate unnecessary or "unaffordable" work.

As of Aug. 1, 535 of these job reductions have already occurred, Kruger said, resulting in a cost reduction of about $125 million so far.

"These actions, they aren't easy, and they certainly aren't taken lightly, but they are necessary for our competitiveness," he said.

$1.9B earned in Q2

Suncor said Tuesday it earned $1.88 billion in the second quarter of 2023, down from approximately $4 billion in the same period last year when oil prices were higher.

The Calgary-based energy giant says it took a $275-million restructuring charge in the quarter related to the previously announced job cut plans.

As a result of this restructuring charge, Suncor said its adjusted funds from operations for the three months ended June 30, 2023, amounted to $2.7 billion or $2.03 per share, compared to $5.3 billion or $3.80 per share in the prior year's quarter.

The company suffered a high-profile cybersecurity incident in June but said the breach did not have an effect on its financial results for the quarter.

Ruling out nuclear power 'would be irresponsible,' Quebec energy minister says

Hydro-Québec is evaluating the Gentilly-2 power plant and the potential of nuclear power to meet energy needs, but nothing is decided yet, Pierre Fitzgibbon says.

Author of the article:

La Presse Canadienne

Stéphane Blais

Published Aug 14, 2023  • 

Any new energy source must be "socially acceptable and economically profitable," Quebec Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon said Monday. PHOTO BY PIERRE OBENDRAUF /Montreal Gazette files

Article content

Quebec Energy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon is not closing the door on nuclear energy and says all renewable energy sources should be studied.

Closing the door to nuclear “would be irresponsible,” but projects for new energy sources must be “socially acceptable and economically profitable,” he said on the sidelines of a news conference Monday morning in Montreal.

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Hydro-Québec is evaluating the current state of the Gentilly-2 power plant, which closed in 2012, in order to “feed into its reflections on Quebec’s future energy supply.” The news has created strong reactions from experts who believe that nuclear power is not the preferred solution in Quebec.

But Fitzgibbon insisted on clarifying the intentions of the Crown corporation.

The new CEO of Hydro-Québec, Michael Sabia, “is currently looking at the imbalance” between energy supply and demand in Quebec, “and he said to himself that we have to look at the energy sources available, which includes nuclear, but we are far from having decided. No decision has been made, neither by Hydro-Québec nor by the government,” Fitzgibbon said.

The decision concerning nuclear “may be in a year or two, or three years, or never,” and “socially, if ever we went to nuclear, there is communication work to be done.”

A new nuclear technology

Fitzgibbon continued: “Sabia asked, ‘Is it possible to see if there are things we can do for Gentilly-2 on the site?’ but we are not talking about putting CANDU reactors from the ’60s. At this time, experts will look to see if there are any possibilities.”

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CANDU reactors produce a large amount of nuclear waste and their operations involve hazards related to radioactivity.

Fitzgibbon made more than one reference to small modular reactors (SMRs).

“Since CANDU, 60 years have passed, so are there new technologies?” he said, adding “there are 77 SMRs in the world that are in development, but there are none in operation, so it is premature to conclude that we can go nuclear at reasonable costs and for environmental purposes where people will be comfortable.”

However, Fitzgibbon added, the government will closely monitor the development of these new nuclear power-generation technologies.

“It takes more renewable energy if we want increased industrial development in Quebec,” he said. “The question is going to be: At what price can we create new renewable energies, and is this price acceptable to companies?”

Hydro-Québec mulls reviving province's nuclear reactor, 10 years after shutdown

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Public utility confirms assessment of plant's current condition is underway

Sabrina Jonas, Holly Cabrera · CBC News · Posted: Aug 10, 2023 

Gentilly-2, Quebec's only nuclear power plant, located near Trois-Rivières, was shut down in 2012. (Hydro-Québec)

In its quest to increase electricity production in Quebec, Hydro-Québec is contemplating a move back to nuclear power. 

The government-run utility confirmed Thursday that it is considering the revival of Gentilly-2, the province's only nuclear power plant, which was shut down in 2012. 

"An assessment of the plant's current condition is underway," a Hydro-Québec spokesperson said in a statement.

The company says it's hoping to "inform our thinking on Quebec's future energy supply," considering it's globally analyzing the various options for increasing electricity production to decarbonize Quebec.

"Given the anticipated situation of energy in Quebec in the next few years, it would be irresponsible at this time to exclude certain energy sources and premature to draw any conclusions," the spokesperson, Maxence Huard-Lefebvre, said.

The public utility confirmed that the assessment was requested by Hydro-Québec's new CEO, Michael Sabia, who in interviews after his appointment made it clear he was open to nuclear power in Quebec.

This assessment, first reported by the Journal de Montréal, comes more than 10 years after Pauline Marois's Parti Québécois government decided to mothball the plant, located near Bécancour, Que., about 150 kilometres northeast of Montreal. 

The reactor, with a power of 675 megawatts, had been in commercial operation since 1983 before it was decommissioned, following the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011.

• Quebec's Gentilly-2 nuclear plant shuts down after 29 years

The plant employed some 800 people and generated approximately two per cent of all the electricity produced in Quebec at the time.

Its closure was slated to cost $1.8 billion over a period of more than 50 years.

Gentilly-2 is one of five nuclear power plants in Canada. The other four are still in operation. Ontario owns three of them — in Bruce, Pickering and Darlington — and is considering building a new one.

The fifth, Point Lepreau, is in New Brunswick. However, the government is considering financing the construction of new, smaller reactors.

But at a moment when the world — and many Canadians — are sharply divided over whether nuclear power is an essential ingredient for solving climate change, reviving Gentilly-2 will likely stir up controversy.

The goverment faced intense pressure to decommission Gentilly-2 after the Fukushima accident in 2011. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

Surge in demand for electricity looms 

Quebec currently enjoys inexpensive power through the Churchill Falls contract with Newfoundland and Labrador. It pays 0.2 cents a kilowatt-hour and sells it to Quebecers for 7.3 cents.

That power accounts for about 15 per cent of Quebec's energy.

But with the contract ending in 2041, Premier François Legault is already setting his sights on alternative energy sources in the event that tariffs imposed in a new contract are no longer advantageous.

• After decades of resentment over Churchill Falls, N.L. hopes for a 'fair deal'

A week after Hydro-Québec CEO Sophie Brochu unexpectedly resigned in January, Legault repeated his intention to have Hydro-Québec build a new dam to meet the province's growing energy needs. 

But the social acceptability of building more dams is questionable. 

The La Romaine 3 dam at the Mista camp on the La Romaine 3 hydro-electric plant, the last dam built by Quebec. It's not clear if building another would be feasible but demand for electricity is rising. (Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press)

The province's latest dam construction project — La Romaine 4 — cost $7 billion and produces  power for more than 10 cents a kilowatt-hour.

• Quebec looks beyond hydroelectricity as last planned megaproject set to wrap

HEC Prof. Sylvain Audette, an associate member of the Research Chair in Energy Sector Management, thinks Quebec should evaluate harnessing nuclear energy, as other provinces have done, to meet the spike in demand for electricity, especially to heat households in winter. 

"I'm not for or against nuclear, but I think it's a good idea to look at it and see if it can solve some problems that we will have in the future," he said. 

Quebec must also look to find green energy sources if it hopes to reach its GHG emissions reductions targets. 

By 2030, the province needs to reduce its emissions by 35 to 45 per cent below the 1990 levels. It hopes to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Need for nuclear energy not proven, critics say

Jean-Pierre Finet, an analyst from the Regroupement des organismes environnementaux en énergie, says that Quebec and Ottawa labelling nuclear energy as clean is a misrepresentation. 

"It is completely dirty," Finet said. "Considering the potential for energy savings that we have, considering also the wind energy potential, the government hasn't done its homework about adding new renewable energy on the grid." 

Anne-Céline Guyon of Nature Québec emphasized that Hydro-Québec has done nothing to demonstrate a need for nuclear energy in the province.

"There is electrification to be done, but we know that there is first energy sobriety work to be done and energy efficiency work to be done before producing electricity from new sources," she said. 

Pointing to ongoing debate about a proposed waste disposal facility at Chalk River, Finet and Guyon are particularly concerned with nuclear accidents and radioactive contamination.

Martine Ouellet, who was responsible for Hydro-Québec as minister of natural resources at the time of the plant's closure in 2012, took offence at the company's use of the energy transition to justify a return to nuclear power.

"It's pure greenwashing," she said, when reached by email Thursday. 

"It's mind-boggling to see a Hydro-Québec CEO, [nine days after] taking office, wanting to relaunch nuclear power in Quebec. And all wrapped up in false pretences," said Ouellet, who has founded the Climat Québec party and will be a candidate in the upcoming byelection in the Jean-Talon riding.

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec president and CEO Michael Sabia speaks during a business luncheon in Montreal on Nov. 28, 2019. (Graham Hughes, The Canadian Press)

Haroun Bouazzi, the Québec Solidaire MNA responsible for energy, says it's high time the new Hydro-Québec CEO presents his vision of Quebec's energy future to a parliamentary committee, seeing as he has yet to propose an energy transition plan.

"We made the collective choice to get out of nuclear power in Quebec," Bouazzi said in a statement. "It is worrisome that Michael Sabia and Pierre Fitzgibbon want to reopen the file today without having demonstrated that it is necessary to meet our ecological transition objectives, without the slightest public debate." 

Rather than an energy transition plan, Finet added the province needs an "energy revolution," which would entail the government updating the construction code and implementing a home energy rating system to optimize the energy performance of buildings. 

"Quebec is not an all-you-can-eat buffet where you can come and just take all the resources you want," he said. "We don't have to say yes to every request for energy, and we also have to better manage what we have at the moment."

Apuiat, a joint venture between three Innu communities and Boralex Inc., would generate 200 megawatts of electricity. But a final agreement with Hydro-Québec to buy the energy has been put off until after the Quebec election. (Radio-Canada)

No preference, says Ottawa

Canada's minister of the environment and climate change, Steven Guilbeault, unveiled Ottawa's draft net-zero electricity regulations on Thursday, which include nuclear power, and with which electricity producers will have to comply as of 2035.

Asked about Hydro-Québec's possible move back to nuclear power, Guilbeault, a former Greenpeace activist, said he found no problem with it.

• Federal net-zero electricity regulations will permit some natural gas power generation

"The federal government has no technological preference in terms of non-emitting [greenhouse gas] technology," he said.

"We don't dictate to the provinces or territories what type of non-emitting technology they should use. It's up to the provinces and territories to decide." 

That said, Guilbeault noted there are less expensive technologies that can also be considered, such as solar and wind power.

with files from Steve Rukavina and Radio-Canada's Alexandre Duval

THE COLONY  VS.  THE COLONIZER

A Women's World Cup semifinal is the here and now for the Australia-England rivalry, not the Ashes

The Canadian Press
Tue, August 15, 2023 



BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — This is Australia’s Matildas against England’s Lionesses. The Women’s World Cup semifinals. The here and the now.

Both teams want to be clear, it’s not one of those clashes for the Ashes that have come to represent an intense international sporting rivalry dating back to the 1800s.

That began with the burning of some bails — small wooden pegs that sit atop cricket stumps — after a team of English gentry lost to a squad of colonial upstarts from Australia.

This is about an Australia team led by superstar striker Sam Kerr — who has been injured for most of the tournament but will play some part in the game — against England defender Millie Bright and her European champions.

Kerr and Bright are teammates at Chelsea and have combined to win titles for the London-based club, but they're playing off here for a spot in the World Cup final against Spain.

England lost semifinals at the 2015 and 2019 Women’s World Cups. Australia is into the final four for the first time, and aiming to be just the second host to win the title on home soil.

Women’s soccer has been making its own history in England, where the Lionesses’ run to the European Championship title in 2022 captured the nation’s attention. And it’s making history in Australia, where the Matildas have twice attracted crowds exceeding 75,000 in this tournament and will again on Wednesday night.

The 7-6 penalty shootout win over fifth-ranked France last Saturday in Brisbane was the highest-rating program on Australian television in 2023. Local media reported that the shootout pulled the biggest domestic audience for a sports event since the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

As much as fans and the media have tried to frame it a fresh chapter in the Ashes, an England squad with a Dutch head coach and a Matildas roster with a Swedish head coach have repeatedly said their biggest rivalries in women’s soccer extend well beyond these two countries.

As soon as England had clinched a 2-1 comeback win over Colombia in the quarterfinals to ensure a match against Australia, coach Sarina Wiegman was asked what she knew about the Ashes rivalry. She said she’d check with the team and staff.

On Tuesday, at a pre-match news conference in Sydney that ran into the 21st minute of Spain's 2-1 semifinal win over Sweden in New Zealand, Wiegman said the feedback related to cricket and rugby and netball, and “we didn’t feel that rivalry that much.”

Bright said she couldn’t think of a previous England vs. Australia encounter, in any sport, sticking in her memory. What she's looking forward to is playing in front of a capacity crowd at Stadium Australia, despite knowing her opposition will have overwhelming support.

“As an England team there’s always pressure and it's something you embrace,” she said. “We've experienced moments like this, tense environments, big stadium, big crowd. We do thrive in those moments."

Bright recalled the extra lift big crowds gave England in the European Championship.

“It’s the semifinal. It’s the World Cup,” she said. “You want that environment, you want it to be intense, you want it to be noisy.”

England's only loss under Wiegman, who guided the Netherlands to the final in 2019, was against Australia in a friendly in April.

For 10th-ranked Australia, that 2-0 away win was part of a sequence that also included wins over Spain and France that boosted confidence.

While England went through the group stage with wins over Haiti, Denmark and China, and then beat Nigeria in a penalty shootout, the Australians had to rebound after losing 3-2 in the group stage and then having to beat Olympic champion Canada for a place in the knockout rounds.

The Matildas beat Canada 4-0, and then Denmark and France.

Tony Gustavsson, who was an assistant coach with the title-winning United States team in 2019, said No. 4-ranked England would probably start as the favorite with the bookmakers.

“If you look at rankings, they’re favorites. If you look at where their players play, they have starting players in top clubs and top leagues all over the world — not just 11, they have like 15, 16,” Gustavsson said. "If you look at resources financially, obviously they are a massive favorite going into this game.

“One thing that we have that they don’t have is the support and the belief from the fans," he said, "and that itself is going to be massive tomorrow.”

What Australia also has is an energized Kerr, who missed the group stage because of calf muscle injury she sustained on the eve of the tournament, and a team that has grown in stature because of her absence.

“The way she pushed through was fantastic and impressive both from a mental and physical aspect," Gustavsson said of Kerr's role as a second-half substitute against France. “She trained today, so she’s available.”

The Matildas have also played down the Ashes context of the showdown, but goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, the star of the shootout win over France, eventually responded after a repeated line of questioning about how it might feel being knocked out by England.

“Being knocked out by anyone is kind of unthinkable,” Arnold said. “There’s probably a lot of English people that would love to see us knocked out by England, but I think there’s more Australians that would love to see England knocked out by us.”

Spain beats Sweden 2-1 with last-minute goal and advances to its first Women's World Cup final

The Canadian Press
Tue, August 15, 2023



AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Spain will play for its first Women's World Cup championship after Olga Carmona's goal in the 89th minute lifted La Roja to a 2-1 victory over Sweden in the Tuesday semifinal.

Spain, which overcame last year's near mutiny by its players against coach Jorge Vilda, will play the winner of tournament co-host Australia and England on Sunday in the final in Sydney.

The controversy surrounding Spain dates to last September, when 15 players signed a letter complaining about Vilda and the conditions for the the national team. Three of those players are on this World Cup team, and Vilda a day before the game against Sweden praised the Spanish federation for its support.

Now, La Roja has a chance to become a first-time World Cup champion.

“This is a historic day,” said Vilda. “We’re in the final, that’s what we wanted.”

He again thanked the federation and its leadership for the support that has Spain one win away from the World Cup.

“The end result is a learning process which has made us all stronger in my opinion, and to leave it archived in the past and think about the future,” Vilda said through a translator. “And to think that we’re here because we deserve it.”

Carmona's goal capped a flurry of late scoring that saw Sweden tie the game, then Spain win it 90 seconds later on the surprise score.

Salma Paralluelo, the 19-year-old super-sub who also scored the game-winner in Spain’s 2-1 extra-time quarterfinals victory over the Netherlands, scored in the 81st minute to put Spain up 1-0. She gestured for the crowd to cheer, and the crowd thought it was celebrating Spain's decider.

But the celebration was brief. Rebecca Blomqvist tied it for Sweden in the 88th.

Then, just 90 seconds later, Carmona beat Sweden goalkeeper Zecira Musovic with the game-winner.

“It was really, really really crazy," Spanish defender Irene Paredes said. “After scoring the first one it was like, ‘OK, this is the end, we have to keep this score.’ But they scored quite fast and I was like, `What the hell happened?' But we had confidence that we could create something else."

Sweden has now lost in four of five semifinals and will try to finish third for a fourth time.

“I have to watch the game, I really do, before I can make any assessments,” said Sweden coach Peter Gerhardsson. “Right now I am full of emotions. It is is the third loss in the semifinals. I think everyone just feels sadness and huge disappointment.”

Paralluelo became just the second teenager to score in a Women’s World Cup semifinal after Kara Lang of Canada in 2003, also against Sweden

“It was a magic moment. It is something very unique when I scored the first goal. To be able to repeat is really incredible," Paraluello said.

Spain is playing in only its third World Cup. Four years ago, La Roja advanced to the knockout round but lost to eventual champions the United States.

“Now it’s the final. I think we have to do what we’ve done in every match,” said Paralluelo. “We’ve overcome every challenge and now we face the ultimate challenge, the big one”

The Swedes have never won a World Cup. They were the 2003 runner-up and have finished third three times. Sweden won silver medals at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago, and at the 2016 Games in Brazil.

“I’m tired of crying big tournament tears,” said Kosovare Asllani. Sweden also lost in the semifinals of the Euros last September.

The Swedes swept their opponents in the group stage before knocking out two-time reigning champion the United States on a penalty shootout after a scoreless draw.

Sweden then got by previously unbeaten Japan 2-1 in the quarterfinals.

Spain fell to second in its group after a blowout loss to Japan, but rallied to beat Switzerland 5-1 and the Netherlands 2-1 to reach the semifinals. It was La Roja’s first appearance in a major semifinal since the 1997 European Championships.

Spain’s two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas made her third start of the World Cup. Putellas ruptured her ACL last summer and has been working her way back to full fitness. She came off the bench in the team’s last two matches.

Putellas, who replaced Esther Gonzalez in the starting 11, was subbed off in the 57th minute for teenage Paralluelo, who has now scored in two straight games.

Spain dominated possession and had the better chances in the first half. Carmona’s blast from the top of the box was a low shot went just wide. Sweden’s defense, which had allowed just two goals in the tournament, held.

Putellas nutmegged Filippa Angeldal before delivering a cross in the 35th minute but Magdalena Eriksson was there to clear it away.

Spain goalkeeper Cata Coll dove to save Fridolina Rolfo’s shot late in the half, then punched the ball away on a corner kick to keep the game scoreless at the half.

Sweden had energy to start the second half but Spain still had chances. Paralleulo’s header in the 63rd minute sailed over the goal.

Alba Redondo was on the ground in front of the goal but got a foot on the ball and appeared to score in the 71st minute, but she was just wide and the ball was caught up in the side netting.

There were a few tense moments when Paralluelo’s goal was checked by video review, but it was awarded.

After Carmona's goal, Spain's players piled on top of her near their bench.

There were 43,217 fans on hand for the match at Auckland’s Eden Park.

___

AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup

Anne M. Peterson, The Associated Press

Canadian corporate ethics czar launches China forced-labour probe into Ralph Lauren

The Canadian Press
Tue, August 15, 2023 



Ottawa's corporate-ethics watchdog has announced an investigation into fashion company Ralph Lauren over the alleged use of forced labour in its supply chains.

Sheri Meyerhoffer, who is the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, says it's not clear whether the company is doing enough to weed out components linked to the mistreatment of China's Uyghur minority.

Her report says that in response to her inquiries, Ralph Lauren insisted it's an American company that isn't subject to a Canadian probe before detailing its measures to prevent mistreatment.

Meyerhoffer has also asked Toronto-based mining company GobiMin to improve its policies to prevent the possible use of forced labour in its supply chains.

All four of the initial assessments the ombudsperson has announced so far relate to China's Xinjiang region, where most of the country's Uyghur population lives and where Beijing insists it has never allowed the use of forced labour.

Today's reports mark the third and fourth initial assessments by the ombudsperson, all of which relate to China's Xinjiang region.

Meyerhoffer's office was opened in 2018, and critics say it lacks the tools it needs to be effective, such as being able to compel documents and testimony.

The Canadian Press has reached out to Ralph Lauren and GobiMin for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 15, 2023.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press

Ontario elementary, secondary teachers to hold strike votes

The Canadian Press
Mon, August 14, 2023 



TORONTO — Public elementary and high school teachers in Ontario are taking a step toward a strike, with their unions announcing Monday that they will be asking members to vote in favour of walkouts.

The president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario told members at the union’s annual general meeting that the union has come to the bargaining table with proposals on special education, class sizes, violence in schools and wages that keep up with inflation.

In response, she said, the government has “refused to meaningfully engage” and has put forward proposals that are tantamount to cuts to salaries, benefits and working conditions.

“We have reached a tipping point,” Karen Brown said in a speech.

“ETFO’s patience has run out. Our members’ patience has run out. We now need to pressure this government to come to the table and start to bargain with us seriously.”

Brown said ETFO will be holding meetings starting mid-September for central strike votes and that the union will be asking members for a strike mandate.

“Based on what I have been hearing from members across the province recently, there is no doubt in my mind that the delegates at this annual meeting and that our 83,000 members want to send this government a strong and united message – enough is enough,” Brown said.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation said it, too, will hold strike votes this fall.

The union told its members in a memo obtained Monday by The Canadian Press that the government has shown "little interest in engaging in substantive negotiations" and little progress has been made.

"It is well past time for this government to come to the table willing to conclude a deal to ensure students in Ontario can learn and grow in a world-renowned public education system," the union wrote in a memo.

"A strong strike mandate will demonstrate our unity and determination to achieve fair and favourable terms for our members and students."

Education Minister Stephen Lecce criticized the steps taken by the unions, saying they rejected private mediation in order to reach deals.

"Threatening another strike and creating anxiety for parents and students just weeks before the start of the school year is unnecessary and unfair," he wrote in a statement.

The union representing teachers in the French public system said it is focused on negotiations to get the best possible deal, but also expressed frustration with the process.

"Like our colleagues in other teaching unions, we find it unacceptable that the pace of negotiations is so slow and that our members are starting the new school year without a work contract," AEFO president Anne Vinet-Roy wrote in a statement.

"We are therefore constantly evaluating all possible options to move negotiations forward more quickly. AEFO members and our school communities deserve no less."

ETFO filed a complaint last week with the Ontario Labour Relations Board accusing the province of failing to act in good faith during bargaining because of new requirements for student early reading screenings the government announced this summer.

ETFO argues that a memo requiring elementary school teachers to conduct mandatory early reading screenings twice a year for students in year two of Kindergarten through Grade 2 violates good faith duties because early reading screening is a subject of central bargaining.

The Ministry of Education has said the new instructions were developed with feedback from all unions and the education sector.

Brown said members are asking questions such as: what does the screener look like, who created it, how and when will training happen, and who will input the data?

All four major teachers’ unions have been in bargaining with the government and school boards since last summer, and now with just a few weeks before the start of a new school year, none have indicated they are close to a deal.

OSSTF has just one more day of talks scheduled so far.

President Karen Littlewood has said it seems like Lecce just wants the teachers to sign the same deal that education workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees received last year.

CUPE said the deal came with a $1-per-hour raise each year, or about 3.59 per cent annually, for the average worker.

The government's original offer to CUPE contained raises of two per cent a year for workers making less than $40,000 and 1.25 per cent for all others.

This will be the first contract for teachers since being subject to a wage restraint law for three years known as Bill 124. That law capped salary increases for teachers and other public sector workers to one per cent a year for three years.

It was ruled unconstitutional by an Ontario court, but the government has appealed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2023.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version suggested the elementary teachers' union was urging a strike. In fact, they are urging votes in favour of a strike mandate.