It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Sunday, August 27, 2023
Frogs in Fort Smith wetland still 'happily hopping about,' despite wildfire protection work, town says
CBC Sat, August 26, 2023 A Saturday afternoon post from Fort Smith Protective Services assured community members that the frogs in the beloved frog ponds are “happily hopping about” despite extensive thinning operations in the surrounding area. (Fort Smith Protective Services/Facebook - image credit)
An out-of-control wildfire continues to threaten Fort Smith, N.W.T., but officials took a moment Saturday to assure community members that the frogs in the beloved frog ponds are "happily hopping about" despite extensive tree-thinning in the surrounding area.
The frog ponds were surrounded by large, old jack pine and tightly packed black spruce that acted like a "fire wick," pulling fires from the south into the dense forested areas of the community, Fort Smith Protective Services said on Facebook.
They said extensive thinning operations, as well as a dozer guard with sprinkler lines, were put in place by crews in order to mitigate that risk.
"I want to assure everyone that this does not mean the low-lying wetlands of the frog ponds have been destroyed," reads the post.
"After a walk into the ponds this morning, I found many frogs happily hopping about in what little wet vegetation is left after a dry summer — but they are still there to croak folks to sleep!" The wildfire is approximately 3.4 kilometers from Fort Smith, according to a Parks Canada update issued Saturday. The post included a photo of a fire break cut through the forest near the town.
(Wood Buffalo National Park, Parks Canada/Facebook)
In an update on Saturday, Parks Canada urged evacuated Fort Smithers to stay put.
"Do not return," wrote Parks Canada from its Wood Buffalo National Park Facebook account.
A forecasted wind change has officials expecting fire growth toward the southeast of the town.
The forecast for early next week calls for hot, dry temperatures and southerly winds, which continues to threaten the community.
The wildfire is approximately 3.4 kilometers from Fort Smith, according to Parks Canada. Extensive thinning operations, as well as a dozer guard with sprinkler lines, were put in place by crews in Fort Smith in order to mitigate that risk. (Fort Smith Protective Services/Facebook )
Officials in Yellowknife are also keeping a close eye on the forecast.
N.W.T. fire information officer Mike Westwick said in an interview on CBC Radio that the "fire did not grow a huge amount yesterday."
"We're making good progress on reducing the threat to the capital," said Westwick.
More than 360 personnel including the Canadian Armed Forces, 17 helicopters, 4 air tanker groups, and heavy equipment are working the North Slave fire.
As of Saturday afternoon, the fire was still about 15 kilometers from the city, according to the territory.
Mayor Rebecca Alty asked Yellowknifers to be patient while officials work on a plan to get people home.
"We're still in the middle of actively fighting fires so very close to the edges of our community which means that we do not have a firm timeline to get you back home yet," said Alty.
"We do not have a firm timeline to get you back home yet."
Alty stressed that when it's time to return, "we won't all come back at once."
"A phased approach will be needed that balances the time required for services to be re-established with the urgency to get you back home and back to your life," said Alty.
A number of highway closures continue to affect the territory, with the N.W.T. government advising Highway 6 from Hay River to Fort Resolution closed Friday night due to wildfire.
Yellowknife Mayor Rebecca Alty says there isn't yet a plan to bring people back to the city. “We’re still in the middle of actively fighting fires so very close to the edges of our community," said Alty in a Facebook video.
University students struggling to find housing in Calgary and other cities The Canadian Press Sat, August 26, 2023
CALGARY — Luis Sanchez Diaz didn't win a lottery this year for on-campus housing at the University of Calgary, but he still considers himself lucky.
The international student, who's in his fourth year of a political science degree, studied online during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 from Cuernavaca,Mexico. He moved to Calgary in fall 2021 and lived in a campus residence until he lost his spot in April.
"It was a lottery, so it really didn't matter how early you applied, if you have paid your fees, how good of a tenant you were," said Sanchez Diaz, 24.
"So, whoever got it was offered a place to live in residence and whoever didn't was put on a wait-list."
Sanchez Diaz searched for a place to live off campus, which he said was stressful, and managed to find a small, shared apartment five minutes away from school with "pure luck."
Not everyone has been so lucky, however, as post-secondary students across the country struggle to find a place to live before school starts this fall.
The University of Calgary's Students' Union said it has heard from many students facing challenges, including some who are forced to live in the far corners of the city where they are poorly served by transit.
"They are seeing hour-and-a half, two-hour commutes, which makes it really difficult to work, let alone actually get to the classroom," said vice-president external Mateusz Salmassi.
"For those students who are able to find a place closer to campus, many of them are sacrificing safety for affordability and living in increasingly unsafe conditions — and then you've got students who are living in their cars because they don't have an alternative. "We're sounding the alarm. This is not OK."
Similar concerns have been raised across the country as vacancy rates go down and rents skyrocket in many cities.
In Halifax, an organization that helps women find shelter was recently asked by one of the local universities to support incoming students who could not find a place to live.
"I was shocked, really, that someone would come to an organization like ours," said Sheri Lecker, executive director of Adsum for Women and Children. "We're not the right people and we are also snowed under."
Lecker said all housing providers are struggling to find safe shelter for people who are staying in tents, on benches and in cars.
The lack of affordable housing for all Canadians, including students, was a major focus at this week's cabinet retreat as the federal Liberals prepared their agenda for the fall sitting of Parliament.
Politicians promised concrete action on housing, but didn't put any specific new programs on the table.
The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations has called on the federal government to spend $3.2 billion to build 15,000 residence units across the country within six years.
Some universities have tried to ease the crunch, but say it's difficult to keep up with the demand.
The University of British Columbia opened a new student residence in Vancouver earlier this month, which is to provide 316 additional beds for students this fall.
"The No. 1 challenge is the same challenge that we are facing across the country right now, which is the shortage of affordable housing," said Andrew Parr, associate vice-president of student housing and community services.
"There's very limited access for students to find affordable and proximal housing off campus. So, that puts a huge demand on what we're providing for students."
That demand grows every year, he said, despite having added 5,500 on-campus beds in the past 12 years.
In 2010, the wait list for student residences peaked at 3,200 students. It grew to 8,000 students this year.
"The wait list has grown by the same amount of beds that we've actually added," said Parr.
Shane Royal, senior director of ancillary services with the University of Calgary, said the Alberta school hadn't had a wait list for on-campus housing for almost a decade.
"Post-COVID, we've seen a dramatic increase in applications to stay in residence," he said.
The waiting list grew to 750 students this year, but Royal said it has been whittled down to 74 students, as most of those who were waiting found off-campus housing.
"What's pushing that now is the housing crisis in the city," he said. "The availability just is not there for students when our vacancy rate is below two per cent."
Salmassi said all orders of government need to do more to solve the housing crisis.
Calgary's city council, for example, has a chance to help this fall by moving forward with recommendations from an affordable housing task force, he said. Those recommendations include increasing and diversifying the housing supply and improving living conditions in rental housing.
"Every level of government points at the other and is telling them to jump first on affordable housing," Salmassi said.
"You can't do that in a housing crisis."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2023.
Colette Derworiz, The Canadian Press
Montreal should scrap developer's plan for old Canada Malting site, social housing group says
CBC Sun, August 27, 2023 at 6:38 a.m. MDT·3 min read
The future of the Canada Malting site, once used to malt barley, has been a topic of debate for years. Community members of Saint-Henri began mobilizing to turn the site into social housing a decade ago. (Rowan Kennedy/CBC - image credit)
David Grant-Poitras has spent two nights camped outside the crumbling buildings of the old Canada Malting Company in Saint-Henri, despite having a warm bed elsewhere in the city of Montreal.
He's one of a handful of members from the community collective À nous la Malting trying to block a condo development at the site and pitching their own proposal to residents passing by the Lachine Canal.
For the organization, anything short of a 100 per cent social-housing unit complex is simply unacceptable and they're camping out until Sunday morning to make that point.
"If there's more condominiums on this site, it's going to gentrify more the place," said Grant-Poitras who is also a researcher at the Université du Quebec à Montréal (UQAM) social sciences department. David Grant-Poitras is a member of the collective À nous la Malting. He has spent the last few nights camping outside the site and raising awareness around the gentrification of the Saint-Henri neighbourhood. (Rowan Kennedy/CBC)
Renwick Development is hoping to acquire the former malting factory and begin construction within a year. The company's president Noam Schnitzer says they're looking to build around 100 social housing units which would represent between 25 and 27 per cent of all units.
"From day one, the social housing component was an extremely important element and for us, [there] was no question as to whether or not this would be part of the project," Schnitzer told CBC News.
Grant-Poitras says Schnitzer's commitment isn't enough given the magnitude of the housing crisis in Montreal.
À nous la Malting's vision includes 200 social housing units, a daycare, a community kitchen and a greenhouse among other things. In March, 2020 the collective presented its project proposal — which was produced with the help of a $10,000 grant from the Sud-Ouest borough — to the city.
"After that we felt like the city's solidarity wavered a bit," said Grant-Poitras. "I don't know if it thought it was too ambitious of a project."
He says there's still time for the city to step in. However, that window is narrowing. Protesters gathered at the old Canada Malting site, demanding that no more condos be built along the Lachine Canal. (Rowan Kennedy/CBC)
In 2015, Renwick Development signed a $5.5-million purchase agreement with the current owner of the old Canada Malting Company site, Quonta Holdings. According to court documents, negotiations fell apart and delayed a final sale to Schnitzer's company. Last year, a Quebec judge upheld the purchase agreement — a decision that was then appealed by Quonta Holdings.
According to Schnitzer, they're due to appear in court again in November.
"It's unfortunate," he said. "In the end here it's those that are in need — that need this development for many reasons obviously social housing being a main part of it — it's those people that are sitting waiting for this."
He says the private sector is necessary for major projects like this that require expertise, especially where historical buildings are concerned, and a lot of funding.
The old Malting was erected in 1905 and quickly became one of the most important malteries in North America. It was eventually abandoned in the 1980s and has sat empty ever since, making the cost of a development project there "extreme," according to Schnitzer.
Grant-Poitras says he's worried at the thought of one of Montreal's last historic industrial sites falling into the hands of condominium developers.
"If we miss this opportunity to go ahead with an ambitious project for the community that responds to its needs, then it might be too late."
Schnitzer says that if the acquisition of the site is made possible after November, the Sud-Ouest borough would still have to authorize the project to proceed.
The city of Montreal did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
Has theater really recovered from the pandemic?
WILL IT RECOVER FROM DANILLE SMITH AND UCP
CBC Sun, August 27, 2023 Oliver Armstrong, producer at One Yellow Rabbit, says around 50 per cent to two-thirds of audiences have returned post-pandemic. (One Yellow Rabbit - image credit)
After COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions closed the curtain on live shows, a new report from Statistics Canada found that 2022 was the first full year of recovery across performing arts industries.
With the return of live shows and touring, performing arts experienced significant revenue growth in both the not-for-profit and for-profit industries.
But some theater companies in Calgary said they're not seeing audiences come back to pre-pandemic levels — and the increased cost of living plays a huge factor.
Oliver Armstrong, producer at One Yellow Rabbit, a local ensemble company of theater artists, said around 50 per cent to two-thirds of audiences returned last year.
"People's spending habits changed during the pandemic," Armstrong said. "We are also seeing the cost of living go up too, so that was another factor changing people's minds on how to spend and what to spend on."
Ghost River Theatre's artistic director Eric Rose said those numbers are similar for his theater as well. They premiered two major works this season — Struck and Makambe Speaks — but Rose said they only got half the audience they were expecting. Some theater companies in Calgary are saying they’re not seeing audiences come back to pre-pandemic levels — and the increased cost of living plays a huge factor.
Some theater companies in Calgary are saying they’re not seeing audiences come back to pre-pandemic levels — and the increased cost of living plays a huge factor. (One Yellow Rabbit)
Although these theaters and others haven't seen a full audience return, other performing arts companies said they are seeing metrics of success: Arts Commons' president and chief operating officer Alex Sarian said their 2022 summer season was the busiest in the company's 40 year history.
Vertigo Theatre's artistic director Jack Grinhaus said although he also hasn't seen the audience come back in its entirety, season subscription sales are some of the highest he's seen in 10 years with almost 900 new subscribers. 'Dinner or a play'
But that success hasn't been the experience of some companies, many of which are smaller or lack resources. Grinhaus said he's also seen audiences become more selective with their spending.
"Even as a growing, looming recession comes into play, people still want to come out [to] the theater.
"It's just that they're being more choosy about what they come out for. Somebody said to me recently 'it used to be dinner and a play, and now they choose dinner or a play.'"
Research from Stone Olafson, a Calgary-based private research and consulting firm, showed that Albertans are spending a high portion of their income on basic living expenses. Their January 2023 survey of 1,002 Edmontonians and Calgarians showed 28 per cent of the market has reported a sustained decrease in household income.
Arts Commons’ president and chief operating officer Alex Sarian says their 2022 summer season was the busiest in the company's 40 year history.
Arts Commons’ president and chief operating officer Alex Sarian says their 2022 summer season was the busiest in the company's 40 year history. (Monty Kruger/CBC)
But that hasn't stopped live shows altogether. Sarian pointed out that the recent success of large-scale concerts and other shows point to a big audience demand for entertainment.
"It's interesting to watch how consumers and audience members are gravitating very quickly towards certain kinds of events but not to others," Sarian said.
"You take a look at events like Stampede, which just had its second busiest attendance in a hundred years. You look at things like Taylor Swift announcing her Toronto concert dates a year and a half from now and already getting sold out."
Sarian suggested arts companies have to adapt their strategies to meet the demands of a post-pandemic audience — one that's become more particular with the kinds of experiences they'll pay to have.
Cuts to funding for the arts
But consumer habits are only part of the story.
Both One Yellow Rabbit and Ghost River Theatre said the province's cuts to funding for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts over the past years isn't helping an already struggling arts scene.
The Alberta Foundation for the Arts provides funding to Alberta artists and art organizations. Since 2009, the province's budget has cut the foundation's funding by 27 per cent — almost $10 million dollars.
Rose said government funding is critical for struggling arts organizations to survive, especially given the high cost of living. He added that paying artists fairly and providing them with benefits is of utmost importance to him and more funding would help make that happen.
"What we need is actually a broader base of funding so that we can actually help audiences come back," he said.
Mermaid coins or sea biscuits: Here's the scoop on sand dollars
CBC Sun, August 27, 2023 Sand dollars look much different when they're alive in the water compared to when they're dried out in the sand. (Submitted by Andrea Hanson - image credit)
There's much folklore surrounding the small, fragile creatures known as sand dollars, but what is their life like before they wash up on the shore?
Jeff Clements, an aquatic biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, says the critter's coin-like appearance has led to many myths about the marine animal.
"Coins to humans are quite valuable, and so sand dollars are often captured in cultural folklore," said Clements. "For example, some people believe that dead sand dollars that you find on the beach are the coins lost by mermaids or the people of Atlantis."
Sand dollars look much different when they're alive in the water compared to when they're dried out in the sand.
When alive, they are reddish or purple in colour. In the water, they look more like small, flattened cookies rather than coins.
That's why they're sometimes called sea cookies or sea biscuits.
The creatures have thousands of short spines that move in all directions, Clements said.
Dead sand dollars are typically chalky white or tan, and have no spines. These dried-up sand dollars have a flower pattern on them.
Clements said that flower will always have five petals. The reason why they have this pattern? Sand dollars are echinoderms, a group of marine invertebrates that includes sea urchins and starfish.
Echinoderm bodies are radially symmetrical about a central point, just like a four-leaf clover — except that sand dollars have a five-fold symmetry.
There are many different species of sand dollars, but the scientific name for the ones found in the Maritimes is Echinarachnius parma.
Where to search for sand dollars
Dried-up sand dollars often wash up on sandy parts of the beach, but live ones live just beneath the sediment surface on the ocean floor.
When walking on tidal flats at low tide, you may be lucky enough to find a live one. Clements recommends digging just beneath the sediment, usually at the spot where the water meets the emerged sand.
If you're extra lucky, you might catch a glimpse of a sand dollar moving slowly just beneath the surface. Sand dollars feed on little bits of algae or other organic matter in the sediment, Clements said. Jeff Clements is an aquatic biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. He's based in Moncton, N.B. 'Coins to humans are quite valuable, and so sand dollars are often captured in cultural folklore,' says Jeff Clements, an aquatic biologist with Fisheries and Oceans Canada. (Submitted by Jeff Clements)
"Sometimes, they'll actually bury one side of their body into the sand — about half of their body — and tilt it upright," he said.
"They can extend their spines, which have these little hairs lining each spine, and capture organic matter or little bits of food that are floating around in the water."
If you end up picking up one of these creatures, be prepared to giggle.
"They might tickle you if you pick them up and put them in your palm," Clements said.
Sand dollars move around with thousands of little "tube feet" that they extend and retract by pumping water in and out of them, Clements said. These feet have little suction cups on their tips that stick to surfaces.
Coupled with the simultaneous movement of its spines, a live sand dollar is sure to give you a tickle.
Hidden treasure inside
If you crack open a dead sand dollar, there will be a special surprise waiting inside: little white trinkets that look like birds. Some people call them sand dollar doves, Clements said.
These bird-like tokens are actually the dried-up mouth parts of the sand dollar. Again, because of the five-fold symmetry of the creatures, a dead sand dollar will have five "doves" inside.
"For some people, these have spiritual significance and certainly culturally they're quite important in some regions," Clements said.
Sand dollars I found on a beach in Galveston Texas and the middle dove Pisces; If you crack open a dead sand dollar, there will be a special surprise waiting inside: little white trinkets that look like birds. Some people call them sand dollar doves.
(Shaunda Roberts/Shutterstock)
Despite the treasured nature of sand dollars, humans may be harming these aquatic creatures.
Clements said there is some research that suggests warming ocean temperatures may affect sand dollar reproduction.
Because sand dollar skeletons — called "tests" — are made of calcium carbonate, the animal is also vulnerable to the effects of ocean acidification, as acidic seawater can dissolve calcium carbonate.
Teachers turn to AI to make workload more manageable, chart lesson plans The Canadian Press Sun, August 27, 2023
Jessica Reid has thought about quitting the career she'd dreamed of since childhood hundreds of times.
Until recently, she was overwhelmed by her workload as an elementary school teacher— planning lessons for all subjects, creating behavioural support plans for students, grading, not to mention actual classroom time — while also raising three young kids of her own.
But then Reid turned to artificial intelligence, joining droves of other teachers who say the technology keeps their workload manageable, especially as they chart the course for a new school year.
"I really wanted to dedicate this summer to exploring some of these AI tools and how to help me in my planning and my administrative duties," she said from her home in Muskoka, Ont.
"Either I was sacrificing my family and using my evenings and weekends on hours and hours of planning, or I was dedicating more time to my family and ... didn't feel like I was doing my students justice," she said. "So on either end, I felt like I was sort of dropping the ball."
Now, she'll run Ontario's curriculum through an AI program called Eduaide.AI and ask it to spit out lessons for her. She doesn't rely on it for information — and what information it does give, she always fact checks. It just gives her a guideline of what to teach and when, she said.
"I was able to plan most of my school year in a really short amount of time this summer. And in the subjects that I'm not an expert in and don't feel as confident or passionate about teaching, the AI was able to fill in those blanks for me," she said.
Reid has been posting about her discoveries and sharing resources on social media, which she said has garnered both support and backlash.
Some commenters have accused her of setting a bad example, because if students were to do the same, it could be considered cheating.
Reid, however, dismisses those concerns.
"The role of the teacher and the student is very different. I earned my role as a teacher. I already have been through the education system," she said. "These kids are still on their academic path. I'm done mine."
Advancements in artificial intelligence are cause for skepticism and excitement alike, teachers say. While some students may use technology to cheat, those tools also have the potential to make education more efficient.
"I've been trying to figure out how to ride the wave instead of getting caught up in the wave and I really feel like this is a real disruption,” said Kasi Humber, a French teacher in Truro, N.S.
Humber began experimenting with artificial intelligence after the 2022 release of the application ChatGPT, an AI-powered language model that captured the public's attention because it could write essays, solve complicated math problems and write code in just seconds.
Humber, who teaches about 200 students across three schools, said she began to use the technology to put together report cards. It allows her to input information and build organized spreadsheets with grades and comments for students.
Humber has also used it to provide reading materials that caters to her students' level and interests. A student learning French who struggles with vocabulary can be given an AI-produced story that emphasizes the words they have trouble with, for example.
“That has really helped me with their reading comprehension, just by making sure that I'm providing them with things that they actively want to be reading,” she said.
As the school year begins, Humber said she's excited to use it more.
“I'd much rather learn how to do it and stay ahead of it," she said.
Denis Tanguay, a high school computer science and shop teacher in the Ottawa French Catholic School Board, said he is still processing the use of the technology in his classroom. And while he hasn't used the technology yet for his own course planning, he will allow students to use ChatGPT to improve their presentations.
“We don't need to be afraid of the tool, but we need to teach the students how to use the tool properly,” he said.
Tanguay said he would like to see more direction from education officials on how teachers might be able to use the technology.
“I think we're looking at the first year where we're going to be dealing with AI in the classroom,” he said.
“It's a reality, and we can't ignore it.”
However many educational institutions have not yet formalized their policies on the use of AI, which for some has created uncertainty.
Karen Littlewood, president of the Ontario Secondary Schools Teachers' Federation, said some teachers use AI to determine whether work has been plagiarized.
“Our world's kind of changed in April last year when ChatGPT came out,” Littlewood said.
"I think the responsibility lies first with the Ministry of Education and secondly with the administration at school boards to be sharing information and making sure that they have the best informed staff possible."
Sarah Eaton, an associate professor at the University of Calgary and an expert in AI education, says school boards and provincial education ministries should consider professional development for teachers to learn about AI and recognize when it is being used for cheating.
“It can also be scary because you're going to have a whole different range of uses,” she said.
Eaton, who has adopted AI technology in her own classes with an AI platform that can identify gaps in existing research, said teachers should try to embrace the new reality kids are living in.
“Children who are five years old or younger ... they will never know school without artificial intelligence as part of their daily lives,” she said.
“I think it's kind of irresponsible for us as educators to turn a blind eye to that.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2023.
William Eltherington and Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press
Governments talk big about child care, but the struggle to find a spot is real, parents say
CBC Sun, August 27, 2023 Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland sits with children at a child-care centre in Ottawa on March 29, 2023. The federal and provincial governments have touted the benefits of early childhood education for years, but a shortage of spaces persists. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press - image credit)
When Julie Jones, 46, had her daughter five years ago, she assumed she'd eventually enrol her in a licensed daycare centre.
Jones, a librarian at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., felt that a group setting with other kids and trained adults would be the best option for her daughter.
She thought it might be tricky to secure a spot but figured her research skills would come to use.
"I have always thought, 'Oh it'll work out," she said. "I'll be able to figure it out."
Once her parental leave was over, reality set in. Despite putting her daughter on multiple wait lists, nothing was available.
"It was a really, really stressful time," she said. Julie Jones, 46, and her husband, Jared Wiercinski, 48, say they struggled to find child care for their daughter, and are now struggling again to find after-school care. (Submitted by Julie Jones)
In recent years, both the federal and provincial governments have frequently touted the benefits of licensed group child care and early childhood education.
Yet today in B.C., there are only enough licensed child care spaces for 25 per cent of children under 12, according to the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of B.C., with the toughest ages to serve being those under three, and school-age children who need before- and after-school care.
For countries that provide universal early childhood education, nearly all children age three to five are enrolled in formal child care.
CBC News heard from parents who commuted an additional two hours a day to take their child to daycare, others who feared bringing up safety concerns for fear of losing their daycare spot, and others still who paid for months of care they didn't need to secure a place for their kid.
Sharon Gregson, provincial spokesperson for the $10-a-day child care campaign, says the difficulty of finding child care isn't new. What has changed in her 30 years as an early childhood education advocate is parents's expectations.
"Senior public health officials and senior government officials, both provincially and federally, talk about child care as an essential service," Gregson said.
The disparity between government talk and the availability of licensed child care, Gregson says, can be a harsh reality for parents when it comes time to start looking for care for their kids. Thousands of new spaces
And yet there has been some improvement.
In a written statement, the B.C. Ministry of Education and Child Care said it has funded the creation of almost 32,000 licensed spaces since 2018, with more than 11,800 of these new child-care spaces now operational.
"There is still more work to do, but we are making progress on building access to child care as a core service that people can depend on because affordable, quality, inclusive child care is good for families, communities and the economy," said the ministry. Child with puzzle. Early childhood education experts say there is ample research to support the need and benefits of quality, affordable child care. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)
Gregson agrees there has been progress.
But she also points to countries like Germany, where all children age 12 months and above have a legal right to child care, which is subsidized. Children between age three and six are entitled to a place at preschool.
"We would never, ever expect that a child in British Columbia couldn't attend kindergarten or Grade 5 because there were no spaces or that their families couldn't afford a space," she said.
"That's how some countries look at early childhood education, look at child care as well, and that's where we need to move to."
Clear data
Laurie Ford, director of the early childhood education program at the University of British Columbia, agrees.
Ford says there is ample research to suggest that early childhood education helps young children with their emotional, cognitive and social skills.
"The data is quite clear that it is a foundation that launches you for success in life," she said.
Kids are pictured playing at a child care space in Burnaby, British Columbia on Friday, September 23, 2022. In B.C., there are only enough child-care spaces for 25 per cent of children under 12. For some age groups, according to the OECD, the need is as much as nearly 90 per cent. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Although the province continues to invest in creating new child-care spaces, Gregson worries that progress may be stalled because of a lack of qualified early childhood educators.
"By fiscal 2027/28, 40,000 new spaces aren't going to happen. Even if they're built, there is nobody to work in them," she said.
The province said it has invested $540 million since 2018 to expand the number of training seats and bursaries for early childhood education students, fund professional development and peer mentoring supports, and increase wages by $4/hour.
According to WorkBC, the median income for an early childhood educators and assistants is about $20/hour, not including the province's $4/hour wage enhancement.
N.S. has work to do on child-care action plan required to access millions in federal funds
CBC Sun, August 27, 2023 Nova Scotia is grappling with a chronic shortage of child-care spaces. (Jean Laroche/CBC - image credit)
Nova Scotia has not submitted an action plan that would give it access to $123 million in federal funds for child care and early childhood education this year.
Under a 2021 agreement with Ottawa, the province agreed to submit an action plan and progress report at the beginning of the fiscal year in April in order to access federal funds to achieve a goal of a $10 a day child-care fee for parents by 2026.
That agreement, officially called the Canada–Nova Scotia Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, was signed by then premier Iain Rankin in July 2021.
Federal funding under the agreement would amount to $123 million this fiscal year, $143 million for the next fiscal year and $169 million for the 2025 to 2026 fiscal year. Minister of Education Becky Druhan couldn't tell reporters whether the province plans to ban wait list fees for daycare.
Becky Druhan is the province's minister of education. (Galen McRae/CBC)
Speaking on CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia, Becky Druhan, the minister of education and early childhood development, said the province is not "leaving any money on the table."
Druhan said wages for early childhood educators have been increased from 14 per cent to 43 per cent, which helps in retaining and attracting workers.
"We still have funds available to do all the work that we're undertaking and that will continue to be available until the new action plan is created and until additional funds flow from the federal government," Druhan said.
"It's not impacting our work at all." Working on plan
She said the PC government inherited a plan and is trying to create a more resilient system to ensure that Nova Scotians have child-care spaces in their communities that are affordable.
Druhan said the province is working with Ottawa to develop a plan that meets federal and provincial objectives.
Interest in licensed daycares is expected to rise now that the province has reached it's $10 a day child care goal.
Nova Scotia aimed to create 1,500 new child-care spaces last year but only created 400. (Laura Sciarpelletti/CBC)
Kenya Thompson, the co-ordinator of the Nova Scotia chapter of the national organization Childcare Now, which advocates for a publicly funded non-profit child-care system, isn't as enthusiastic about the Houston government's performance.
The province has made progress in fee reductions but not on creating more spaces, Thompson said. Fell short of target According to Thompson, the province had a target of achieving 1,500 new regulated child-care spaces last year but only created 400.
She said that goal has now been pushed to the end of this year. Thompson said she hears government officials say to the media that they inherited a plan and they're working to improve it.
"When we see spaces not being created, when we see a wage grid that's insufficient for ECEs [early childhood educators] to support themselves and it's insufficient to attract workers to the sector, that raises concerns about what that action plan will look like."
Thompson said the bilateral agreement calls for a central organization to be set up to ensure there is inclusive, culturally appropriate and high-quality care provided.
No such organization has been set up, Thompson said, which means a layer of accountability is missing.
Nova Scotia NDP Leader Claudia Chender at Province House on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. Chender said she thinks all nurses deserve the $10,000 bonus.
Nova Scotia NDP Leader Claudia Chender says while parent fees have decreased and wages have increased modestly, there has not been a significant increase in child-care spaces in the province.
Nova Scotia NDP Leader Claudia Chender shares Thompson's view. No significant increase in spaces
Chender said while parent fees have decreased and wages have increased modestly, there has not been a significant increase in child-care spaces in the province.
This has been challenging for children who don't have access to early childhood education and to parents who are unable to return to work because there is no child-care space for their children, Chender said.
She said there is a significant amount of federal money to help alleviate the problem that can't be released because the province hasn't submitted an action plan.
"It is deeply confusing and upsetting that the government would not be accessing that funding," Chender said.
"Regardless of the number of interviews that the minister has done, some of which I've heard, she has yet to address this question head-on of why they have not filed the action plan in order to receive the money to use that money to create more child-care spaces."
An Employment and Social Development Canada spokesperson said by email that Ottawa is providing $605 million to Nova Scotia over five years to achieve agreed-upon targets and objectives.
Those targets include reducing fees to an average of $10 a day for licensed child-care and creating 9,500 new licensed spaces by March 2026, according to the email.
'In discussions'
"The Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia are in discussions regarding the action plan," the email states.
"The first instalment for 2023-24 will be provided to Nova Scotia once the requirements outlined in the agreement are met, including the finalization of the Action Plan for 2023-24 to 2025-26."
Thompson said many children in Nova Scotia are missing out on development opportunities in the meantime, and parents are forced to stay home with them and missing out on income.
"It creates a lot of instability and chaos when you don't have access to child care for your child. A lot of parents across the province are really struggling."
Nisga'a memorial pole about to start journey home to B.C. from Scottish museum The Canadian Press Sun, August 27, 2023
A memorial totem pole belonging to members of the Nisga'a Nation in northwestern British Columbia is about to begin its journey home from the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, where it has been on display for nearly a century.
Amy Parent, a member of the nation and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous education and governance, said she expects to feel a deep sense of peace when the pole that's alive with the spirit of a relative returns to the Nass Valley.
The pole is set to make its journey in the belly of a Canadian military aircraft as a result of what Parent described as an unexpected moment of reconciliation.
While the Scottish museum initially planned to transport the 11-metre pole by ship, Parent said she felt moving it by plane would reduce the risk of damage.
"I'm so grateful that we have some strong negotiators who happened to be in Ottawa," she told The Canadian Press on Thursday as she prepared to leave for Scotland the next day as part of a delegation of Nisga'a community members.
"I jokingly texted them and said, if you're talking to some senior Canadian officials, tell them ... I want our totem pole to be sent home on a plane."
Parent said her message "led to a conversation with the right person," and a brigadier general came forward to support the pole's return.
A representative from the Department of National Defence was not immediately available to comment on the military's role in returning the artifact.
The hand-carved pole was commissioned in 1960 to honour a member of the House of Ni’isjoohl, who was next in line to be chief but died protecting his family and nation, the Nisga'a Lisims government said in a statement earlier this month.
The pole was taken without the nation's consent in 1929 by an ethnographer researching Nisga'a village life, who then sold it to the Scottish museum.
The negotiations over what Parent calls the "rematriation" of the pole have taken a year. A Nisga'a delegation travelled to Scotland to ask for its return in August 2022, and the museum's board of trustees approved the plan later last year.
A previous Nisga'a delegation made the trip to Scotland to request the pole's return two decades ago but an official at the time indicated it was too old to be moved, said Parent, who is a professor in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University.
This time, Canadian experts assessed the pole's condition and expressed confidence that it could safely be transported home, she said.
"That also galvanized us to go there and start our discussions with the museum around repatriation last summer," Parent said.
A statement from Chris Breward, director of National Museums Scotland, said museum staff have been planning for the "complex task" of carefully lowering the pole in what is the first return of its type by an institution in the United Kingdom.
Parent is among those who have returned to Scotland, where a ceremony is to be held Monday to ask the spirit within the pole to rest while it's transported, she said.
The process to remove the pole from the museum could take nearly two weeks, she said. Canadian Forces will then pick it up from a Scottish military base.
Nisga'a community members are "ecstatic" at the pole's return, Parent said.
A ceremony and a feast for as many as 1,000 people is being planned to mark its expected arrival on Nisga'a lands on Sept. 29, she said.
Parent said they've achieved something she felt would be "impossible" in orchestrating a successful repatriation at the international level.
The basic first steps any institution can take is finding the rightful owners of artworks and other cultural treasures held in its collections and sharing the items' history in a way that accurately and respectfully reflects their origins, she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2023.
Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press
Ten-hut Time Machine? West Point to open time capsule possibly left by cadets in the 1820s The Canadian Press Sat, August 26, 2023
A long-forgotten time capsule at West Point recently discovered inside the base of a monument and believed to have been left by cadets in the late 1820s is expected to be pried open Monday.
The contents of the small lead box could possibly provide a window into the early, more Spartan days of the storied U.S. Military Academy.
It's not certain exactly when the box was placed in the monument's marble base or who chose any items inside, though a committee of five cadets that may have been involved with the time capsule included 1829 graduate Robert E. Lee, the future Confederate general.
The box will be opened during a livestreamed event.
“It’s a mystery, right? A mystery of history,” said Jennifer Voigtschild, the academy’s command historian.
The container was discovered in May during restoration to a monument honoring the Revolutionary War hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko. A construction manager made the surprise find and carefully pulled out the hefty box, which is about a cubic foot.
“After I shut the job down and we roped off the area, then I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, what did we find?’” manager Chris Branson said.
Cadets in the 1820s honored Kosciuszko, a Polish military engineer, with a column near where current classes march and play soccer. As an officer of the Continental Army, he designed wartime fortifications at the location along the Hudson River, before the military academy was established there in 1802.
A plaque indicates the monument was erected by the corps of cadets in 1828. Other evidence suggests it wasn't completed until 1829. That includes a July 1828 letter from a committee of cadets involved in the dedication, including Lee, seeking advice on lettering for the monument.
It’s also possible the capsule dates to 1913, when the Polish clergy and laity of the United States donated a statue of Kosciuszko to sit atop the column. West Point officials, though, think the capsule more likely dates to the late 1820s, well before the academy grew into the sprawling post producing more than 900 Army officers annually.
In the early 19th Century, cadets lived in wooden barracks without running water. Around 40 graduated each year. Sylvanus Thayer, considered the “father of the military academy,” was superintendent in the 1820s.
X-rays indicated there is a box inside the container, but there are few clues whether opening it will produce a historical bounty or a bust reminiscent of Geraldo Rivera’s televised unsealing of Al Capone's vault in 1986.
There could be monument blueprints, class lists or a message from the cadet committee. There could be everyday military items like uniform buttons or musket balls. There could be papers, a medallion or other items related to Kosciuszko.
“So lot's of possibilities,” Voigtschild said. “It could be Revolutionary. It could be from the cadets from the time period of the 1820's. Or both.”
Lee's involvement with the monument is coming up just as West Point reckons with his legacy. Lee graduated second in his class and later served as superintendent at the academy before he resigned from the U.S. Army to lead Confederate troops during the Civil War.
The academy said in December it would comply with recommendations from a commission to remove honors to Lee and other Confederate officers. The recommendations, which included renaming buildings and removing a portrait of Lee from a library, were part of the military’s broader efforts to confront racial injustice.
A reconstructed and refurbished monument to Kosciuszko is expected to be in place next summer.
Michael Hill, The Associated Press
An abundance of mushrooms to forage and study thanks to N.B.'s wet summer
CBC Sun, August 27, 2023 Some samples of the newly named species of hedgehog mushroom - hydnum atlanticum. (Submitted by Alfredo Justo - image credit)
While all the wet weather this summer has resulted in challenging times for some New Brunswick farmers, it's been the opposite for people foraging or studying mushrooms.
Heading into the peak season for mushrooms, there's an abundance of them in New Brunswick.
Alfredo Justo, head of botany and mycology at the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John, confirmed the recent wet weather has helped.
"It has been a really good year ... for example, chanterelles started fruiting this year in early July," said Justo in an interview with CBC's Shift.
"Whenever you have a year like these with lots of rain, you're going to see a lot of the summer edibles, before the fall season, fruiting in July and August, and that's what we're seeing this year."
Be careful what mushrooms you eat
Justo said there's a growing interest in mushrooms in general, and he sees it when he's out in the field. But he cautions enthusiasts to make sure they know what they're picking. Alfredo Justo is the curator of botany and mycology for the New Brunswick Museum in Saint John.
'Whenever you have a year like this with lots of rain, you're going to see a lot of the summer edibles, before the fall season ... and that's what we're seeing this year,' says Alfredo Justo, curator of botany and mycology at the N.B. Museum in Saint John. (Submitted by Alfredo Justo)
"If you're foraging for mushrooms for eating, you always have to be 100 per cent certain of what you are collecting," he said. "You have to have basic knowledge of the most common edibles and also the most common and more dangerous toxic species that occur in your area."
Jessika Gauvin is president of the MycoNB Society, and said her mother taught her to forage for mushrooms from a very young age when she was growing up in Moncton.
She agrees there has been a surge in interest over the past few years, especially during and after the pandemic.
"It's really cool to see all of the excitement around mushrooms," she said. "I go out now and people no longer look at me like I have three heads. They're like, 'Are you after chanterelles?' It's cool to see more awareness around it.'" Jessika Gauvin said foraging for mushrooms is becoming more popular in New Brunswick.
Jessika Gauvin, president of the MycoNB Society, says foraging for mushrooms is catching on in New Brunswick and 'it's cool to see more awareness around it.' (Submitted by Jessika Gauvin)
Gauvin also runs a company, Enchanted Mushroom Forest, which offers guided foraging tours or coaching.
She said New Brunswick has a rich diversity of mushroom species, and it does take some dedication to learn to tell them apart.
"We have hundreds of mushroom species here," said Gauvin.
"Our really popular mushrooms have got to be the chanterelles, the hedgehog mushrooms, lobster mushrooms. Those are probably the most common ones here but we have meadow mushrooms, horse mushrooms — those are the ones related to the ones you get at the store."
Mycoblitz project
Justo said there is also a very active citizen scientist community in the province, who often help gather mushrooms for further study. A large matsutake mushroom found last year by Jessika Gauvin, who said they smell like cinnamon.
A large matsutake mushroom found last year by Gauvin, who says they smell like cinnamon. (Submitted by Jessika Gauvin)
He and other researchers, including some of the citizen scientists, are taking part in the Maritimes for Mycoblitz, a North American research project spanning Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and New Brunswick for the first time this summer.
Together, they hope to assemble 1,000 collections of mushrooms.
"That seems like a lot, but it's actually just a small grain of sand in the study of biodiversity," Justo said. "But it's a good number."
N.B. scientists name new mushroom species
A good year for foraging has also meant a good year for scientific study.
Justo and his colleagues recently published a paper naming a new species of hedgehog mushroom, which was found and identified as part of a project in 2021 to study chanterelles and hedgehog mushrooms in New Brunswick. Examples of the newly described species of hedgehog mushroom, Hydnum atlanticum.
Justo says hydnum atlanticum mushrooms are very similar in appearance to other hedgehog mushrooms — small-to-medium sized with brown and orange colours on the cap. (Submitted by Alfredo Justo)
"One of the finds was this species," he said. "We have over 30 collections of it. When we got the DNA sequencing back, it was a species that was not formally described."
He described the mushroom, which they dubbed hydnum atlanticum, as very similar in appearance to other hedgehog mushrooms — small-to-medium sized with brown and orange colours on the cap.
Is the new species rare?
The next step after naming the mushroom species is for scientists to study how rare or common it is, and where it can be found. So far, according to Justo, it has been found in New Brunswick, Labrador and parts of New York. According to Justo, the next step after naming the mushroom species is for scientists to study how rare or common it is, and where it can be found.
According to Justo, the next step after naming the mushroom species is for scientists to study how rare or common it is, and where it can be found. (Submitted by Alfredo Justo)
He said the classification means the data is available to researchers throughout North America.
"Now they have the morphological data available, they have the DNA data available to them," he said.
Justo said researchers can compare their hedgehog mushroom finds to this one, to see if it's widespread or if it's going to be a rare species.
