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Russia to block G20 declaration if its views are ignored - Lavrov

Reuters
Fri, September 1, 2023 



MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will block the final declaration of this month's G20 summit unless it reflects Moscow's position on Ukraine and other crises, leaving participants to issue a non-binding or partial communique, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

Lavrov, who has served as President Vladimir Putin's foreign minister since 2004, is due to represent Russia at the Sept. 9-10 meeting of the Group of 20 leading industrialised and developing countries in New Delhi.

Putin is not known to have travelled abroad since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in March on suspicion of war crimes in Ukraine.

"There will be no general declaration on behalf of all members if our position is not reflected," Lavrov told students at the prestigious Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

The Kremlin casts the Ukraine war, which began when Russia invaded in February 2022, as an existential battle with an arrogant West that Putin says wants to dismantle Russia and take control of its vast natural resources.

The West denies any such intentions but says it wants Ukraine to defeat Russia on the battlefield and has imposed several rounds of sweeping economic sanctions in response to the invasion, which Russia calls a "special military operation".

Other leading powers such as China, India and Brazil have called for peace but also reserved the right to determine their own relationship with Moscow. China has accused the West of fanning the war by supplying Ukraine with weapons.

Lavrov said the West had raised Ukraine in meetings preparing for the summit, to which Russia had replied that "the issue is closed for us".

He accused the West of undermining international institutions by pushing its own agenda and suggested that, if consensus could not be reached at the G20 meeting, a non-binding communique could be issued by the G20 presidency.

"Another option is to adopt a document that focuses on specific decisions in the sphere of G20 competences, and let everyone say the rest on their own behalf," Lavrov said.

(Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Felix Light; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

TRUMP'S FIFTH COLUMN
Trump's Supporters Want To Help Him Crush Democracy. This Is What It Means For Black Folks

Candace McDuffie
Fri, September 1, 2023

Photo: Martin H. Simon (Getty Images)

Donald Trump may be drowning in a sea of legal problems that could land him in jail for the rest of his life, his staunchest supporters are keeping their eyes on the ball. The ball, in this case, is a second presidency in which Trump is the key to realizing some conservatives’ fever dream of dismantling what they call the ‘administrative state’ of the federal government.

In simple terms, the right is no longer cosplaying as a movement for limited government with less spending; it openly wants to erase much of the federal government itself, with a specific focus on departments that protect civil and voting rights and the environment or check abuses out of control police departments. It also sees no need for an Education Department or even the Justice Department. In other words, they want to do away with all the ways the government functions to help everyday people, especially Black and brown folks, and the conservative orgs who want this see Trump as the prophet who’s come to part the political waters that lead to their promised land.

This initiative is being led by Heritage Foundation, as well as former Trump administration officials, who plan on forming a makeshift government in the event that Trump returns to office. However, they will back any conservative who beats Biden.

Armed with their 1,000-page “Project 2025” handbook, numerous conservative groups are preparing to have the infrastructure ready to get rid of a “deep state” bureaucracy if the GOP takes over the White House. The first step to achieving this, according to the document, is by firing up to 50,000 federal employees.

Historically, Republicans have always wanted to limit the federal government by cutting federal taxes as well as federal spending. Now, Trump has inspired conservatives to get rid of federal employees who oppose their policies and beliefs altogether. Those workers would be replaced by yes-men, eager to fulfill the President’s wishes which would render the position a dictatorship.

This agenda has been endorsed by Trump’s GOP competitors Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy. Despite how demented it is, it could happen if Schedule F—a Trump executive order that makes thousands of federal employees at-will workers disposable—is reinstated.

Biden repealed the executive order when he took office in 2021, but GOP candidates are hoping to reverse it. The handbook also calls for an overhaul of the Department of Justice, getting rid of diversity and inclusion initiatives in the Pentagon and bolstering law enforcement officials.

Heritage released a similar book 50 years ago, as a precursor to the Ronald Reagan administration. That only illustrates how conservatives’ goal of an authoritarian society has always been their bottom line.

The Root

UCP DEREGULATION

Paramedics, tow truck drivers criticize Alberta's diluted safety legislation for roadside workers

NDP Transportation critic tells UCP  to put Friday's roll-out on hold and go back to the original set of rules, which are the norm in most Canadian provinces

CBC
Fri, September 1, 2023

Don Getschel, president of the Towing and Recovery Association of Alberta, stands next to one of his company's trucks on Friday. (Travis McEwan/CBC - image credit)

Tow truck drivers and paramedics are joining the voices criticizing the provincial government for walking back some of new traffic safety provisions intended to protect roadside workers.

The original version of the 2022 legislation, which amended the Traffic Safety Act, required drivers in every lane going in the same direction to reduce their speed to 60 kilometres per hour when passing a roadside worker's vehicle with its flashing lights on. Drivers on two-lane highways were required to slow to 60 in both directions.

Earlier this month, Transportation Minister Devin Dreeshen announced the speed limit change would come into effect on Sept. 1, but would only apply to drivers in the lane closest to the roadside worker.

Mike Parker, the president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, and Don Getschel, president of the Towing and Recovery Association of Alberta said Friday he thinks the new rules are dangerous for everyone on the road.

They said people driving 60 could be rear-ended by other drivers going nearly twice the speed when they change lanes.

"This creates unnecessary risk for the motoring public and for us as workers on the roadside," Getschel said at an NDP news conference in Edmonton, the same day the new rules come into effect.

Getschel, who owns a towing company with an office in Leduc, said his operators have seen 14 major collisions over 12 years. Two were so serious that the operators were taken to hospital in an ambulance, he said.

"We were hoping that this change would be a positive thing for our industry, but unfortunately that didn't happen," he said.

Jesse Furber, press secretary for Dreeshen, said in an email to CBC News that it was safer for vehicles in the outside lanes to keep a consistent highway speed.

"Some Alberta roads have up to five lanes, and having five lanes slow down to 60km/h will create a sudden bottleneck increasing the risk of sudden or improper braking leading to a higher risk of rear-end collisions," he wrote. "It is also the case that drivers in the far lane often cannot see that a vehicle is stopped on the shoulder multiple lanes across from them.

'In the winter, this becomes even more unsafe as it takes up to 10 times longer to stop on snow and ice than it does on dry pavement."

Furber said drivers aren't expected to change lanes away from stopped roadside vehicles if it isn't safe to do so. They are required to go 60 km/hr or the posted speed if it is lower.

The old rules required drivers in the adjacent lane to slow to 60 km/hr when passing an emergency vehicle, tow trucks and construction crews when vehicle lights were flashing.

In addition to requiring drivers in all lanes to slow down, the amendments to the Traffic Safety Act passed by the Alberta legislature in 2022 extended the rule to snowplows and maintenance crews.

The 2022 regulations were supposed to come into effect in March but were put on hold. At the time, the government said it needed to release a two- to three-month campaign to educate drivers.

Don Getschel, president of the Towing and Recovery Association of Alberta (left), Lorne Dach, NDP Transportation critic, and Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, want the province to require drivers in all lanes to slow to 60 km/hr when passing a roadside vehicle with flashing lights.

Don Getschel, president of the Towing and Recovery Association of Alberta (left), Lorne Dach, NDP Transportation critic, and Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, want the province to require drivers in all lanes to slow to 60 km/hr when passing a roadside vehicle with flashing lights. (Travis McEwan/CBC)

In early August, Dreeshen announced the Sept. 1 start date. It was only then that the media and groups like the Alberta Motor Association noticed the regulations were different.

Parker, whose union represents Alberta paramedics, said HSAA was not consulted about the change. He said the government needs to get everyone passing a roadside vehicle to slow to 60 regardless of what lane they're in.

"When there's an incident with the emergency lights on the side of the highway, everybody slows down," he said. "It's that simple .Now you've got multiple lanes doing 110 and 120, one lane trying to do 60. This is the chaos."

NDP Transportation critic Lorne Dach wants Dreeshen to put Friday's roll-out on hold and go back to the original set of rules, which are the norm in most Canadian provinces.

UNB 'condensing' nursing program into three-year degree

GOOD IDEA SAYS NORMAN BETHUNE

Local Journalism Initiative
Fri, September 1, 2023

A new UNB degree program is aimed at getting nursing hopefuls onto the job faster in order to address shortages in New Brunswick.

UNB Saint John will be launching a three-year bachelor of nursing program starting in September 2024, said Arlene Dunn, the province's minister of post-secondary education, training and labour, at an announcement Friday afternoon at UNB Saint John.

Petra Hauf, UNB vice-president, Saint John, told the crowd it was "condensing a well-oiled machine" to offer a more accessible alternative to the school's four-year nursing bachelor program, with a three-terms-per-year model.

"It's extremely important that we build those avenues and pathways ... and expedite those opportunities, make it easier for them to get back out into the field quickly," Dunn told reporters after the announcement. "That helps with the shortage we have right now."

Dunn said the province will provide $412,000 up front for the first class of 21 students, with up to $1.2 million available over three years dependent on evaluation of results, including student graduation rate and continued enrolment and retention throughout the program.

Hauf told reporters some of that money would be used to pick up additional faculty.

"We will need more faculty to support the clinics, and that's why we're so happy to have PETL supporting us with the funds to be able to hire the additional staff that we need," she said.

Catherine Hamilton, chair of the nursing department at UNB Saint John, told the Telegraph-Journal that the program will have the same rigour but has some different scheduling.

While some nursing courses have to be taken in order because they "build off each other," others which can be moved will be done during the summer term, she said.

For years two and three of the program, what that ends up looking like is fewer courses per term, without a summer break.

"Students are going to get the same education, fewer courses per term, the same number of total courses," Hamilton said, noting that students can then recoup the extra pay from starting their career a year earlier.

Hamilton said the department has created a leadership position related to academic success who will monitor the program and whether there are issues with lack of a break or lack of extra time to work.

"When we have a new program like this, we're very interested in just this issue, especially when there are possible stressors," she said. "We're acutely aware of it, and we're just going to monitor them. We're aware of it, it's on our radar, we're supporting them."

For the first year, applicants would study alongside students in the four-year program, which currently has 56 seats, and once the schedules diverged they would look at opportunities to "maximize" having classes at the same time, Hamilton said.

For clinical placements, Hauf said that this enables trainees to go "off-cycle," taking advantage of placement spots that may have been filled during a regular term.

"Offering that off-cycle option allows us to have more access options for students because learning and learners have different needs now than they might have had 20 years ago," she said.

Dunn said that there would be opportunities to review the success of the program in March of 2025 and 2026.

"We would want to see that continuity of student attraction and retention through that entire process, and of course success rates as well," she said, adding that the funding may continue "as long as the partners are committed to doing what they signed up to do."

According to Horizon Health Network's nurse recruitment dashboard, there is a target of 708 new nurses by March 2024, with 376 of those positions filled. In June, the provincial nursing union said there were 1,200 vacancies, the Telegraph-Journal previously reported.

"We are working diligently to make sure that we're focused on what that gap is and filling that gap," Dunn said.

Andrew Bates, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Telegraph-Journal

Ecuador presidential front-runner dons bulletproof vest amid threats

Reuters
Fri, September 1, 2023 a

Presidential election in Ecuador


QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuadorean presidential front-runner Luisa Gonzalez said on Friday she will wear a bulletproof vest while campaigning, following threats against her life and the gunning down of another candidate last month.

She will also accept the government's offer of military protection, her party, Citizen's Revolution, said in a statement.

"I am forced to wear a bulletproof vest and to accept the government's offer to have security provided by the armed forces," Gonzalez said while speaking to voters in Otavalo city, in Imbabura province.

Security conditions in Ecuador have deteriorated in recent years, with soaring murder rates and growing levels of crime. Violence has accelerated during the elections, with candidate Fernando Villavicencio shot to death in Quito on Aug. 10 as he was leaving a campaign event.

The capital was even rocked by two car bombs on Wednesday night in acts of violence that officials said could be linked to disquiet over prisoner transfers between prisons.

Ecuador's attorney general's office has opened an investigation against a citizen who made threats against Gonzalez, the statement said.

"It's unfortunate to have to carry out a political campaign in a situation where a candidate was assassinated and in which today I received threats against my life as I am the candidate with the best chance of becoming president," she said.

Gonzalez, a protege of former President Rafael Correa who has promised to revive his social programs, won 33% support in a first-round election last month.

She will face off against Daniel Noboa, who came second in the first round, in a second vote on Oct. 15.

Outgoing President Guillermo Lasso - who dissolved the legislature and called early elections to avoid an impeachment process - has repeatedly blamed the spiraling violence on drug trafficking gangs operating in the country.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Ecuador vote shows contrasting roles of political parties and social movements

August 31, 2023 

 BY W. T. WHITNEY JR.

An electoral official shows the ballot for a presidential election in Ayora, Ecuador, Sunday, Aug. 20, 2023. The election was called after President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the National Assembly by decree in May to avoid being impeached. | Dolores Ochoa / AP

On Aug. 20 in Ecuador, 45-year-old lawyer Luisa González of the Citizen’s Revolution movement political party (RC) gained 33.6% of the votes in first-round balloting for eight presidential candidates. Second-place candidate Daniel Noboa of the National Democratic Action, a 35-year-old businessman and political neophyte, took 23.4% of the vote. González and Noboa will be competing in second-round voting on Oct. 15.

As for the elections to the National Assembly, the RC accounted for 39.4% of the votes, three other parties for 45% of those votes, and five smaller parties for the remaining ballots.

The voters also considered referendums, one on halting oil extraction from Ecuador’s huge Yasuní National Park and the other on prohibiting mining activities in a biosphere region northeast of Quito. The referendums were approved by 59% and 68% of the voters, respectively.

The circumstances were unusual. Two processes played out on parallel tracks and culminated together. These were political parties taking part in elections and social movements pursuing referendums. Contradictions emerged along with the promise of troubles ahead and signs of commitment and hope.

The new president will serve only the 18 months that remain in the term of Guillermo Lasso, elected in 2021 for a five-year term. When confronted with impeachment proceedings in May 2023 on corruption charges, Lasso dissolved the National Assembly and thereby, as provided by the Constitution, set in motion preparations for a new election and his own departure.

Nationwide Indigenous protests in 2022 accelerated the transition now taking place amidst violence attributed to narco-trafficking that took 4,671 lives during the past year. The election campaign itself provoked killings, those of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, a legislator, journalist, and labor leader; the mayor of Manta, Agustín Intriago, and others.

The Citizen’s Revolution movement political party, represented by presidential candidate Luisa González, defends policies of social assistance and national development introduced under the leadership of former President Rafael Correa during his tenure from 2007 to 2017. The CR took shape in reaction to the neoliberal turn taken by the government of Lenin Moreno, Correa’s former vice president and successor.

Its predecessor party, under Correa’s democratic-socialist leadership, managed the national economy so as to preserve funds for social programs through reliance on petroleum exports and foreign credit. The RC led left-leaning forces in opposing the neoliberal government of Guillermo Lasso, in power since 2021.

With his second-place finish in the recent voting, candidate Daniel Noboa surpassed expectations, due in part to a stellar TV debate performance. He represents wealth and power. His father, a five-time presidential candidate, and his uncle preside over an agro-export and real estate conglomerate made up of 200 business entities. They owe the government $1 billion in back taxes.

Now campaigning for the second round of presidential elections, RC candidate González would seem to differ greatly from the prince of such an empire. “We are going to deal with the basic causes of violence and criminality which are hunger, poverty, lack of education, and the absence of opportunity,” she noted as she was accepting her party’s nomination.

But all is not as it appears. The positions taken by the various presidential candidates on the referendums were revealing. Only four of the eight candidates unambiguously supported the Yasuní referendum; three of them represented right-wing parties. Noboa justified leaving oil underground based on his conclusion that the financial yield is low and that over-reliance on oil exports impedes diversification of the economy.

The Correa-inspired RC movement and its candidate Gonzalez rejected the Yasuní referendum. Previous governments, governments headed by Correa in particular, took the position that income from oil exports is crucial to continued funding of social advances.

The contrast between approval at the polls shown for the candidates of political parties and for approval of the referendums was striking─33.6% and 23.4%, respectively, versus 68% and 59%, respectively. One set of the voting results testified to activists’ enthusiasm and commitment.

Approval of the two referendums reflects the advocacy and hard work of environmentalists, Indigenous activists, and supporters of women’s rights. According to NACLA.org: “The vote marks a triumph for the country’s grassroots anti-extractivist, ecological, and Indigenous movements, whose road to victory comes from a decade of social and political conflicts over extractive industry policies.”

Journalist Gabriela Barzallo surveys collective efforts toward restraining oil extraction. Highlighting the persistent participation of social movements, she quotes Ecuadorian sociologist Gregorio Páez:


“This upcoming referendum … serves as an inspiration for all Ecuadorians to have the agency to decide over our natural resources, and to empower people to see that grassroots activism really can have changes in policies.”

Páez sees activism in Ecuador as “inspiring social movements on a global scale.”

Analyst Santiago Kingman explores the impact of social movements on the elections:


“The triumph of the social movements is understood as a positive response from cities and areas far removed from the oil-producing world. At least 59% of Ecuador’s citizens…are alienated from the electoral system and political parties and say they have another way of doing politics. Those who voted for Noboa [who favored the referendum’s approval] are against politics, but they are not anti-capitalists. The social organizations behind the referendums are anti-capitalists and are anti-political parties.”

Social movements have shaped political resistance throughout Latin America, in some countries more than others. They flourish, it seems, in situations of grief at the hands of international capitalism. Resonating there is contention over control of land and sub-soil resources, provision of energy, debt owed to foreign creditors, and prescriptions for domestic economies from abroad.

Capitalist-oriented political parties, often enablers of foreign predators, offer little resistance. Social movements active in Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, and now Ecuador have partially filled the void. Social movements operating in conjunction with anti-capitalist governments have different job descriptions.

Imaginings lead to speculation about an expanded role for social movements in the capitalist powerhouse nations. One recalls U.S. labor uprisings in the 1930s and the civil rights movement that peaked a few decades later.

CONTRIBUTOR

W. T. Whitney Jr. is a political journalist whose focus is on Latin America, health care, and anti-racism. A Cuba solidarity activist, he formerly worked as a pediatrician, lives in rural Maine. W.T. Whitney Jr. es un periodista político cuyo enfoque está en América Latina, la atención médica y el antirracismo. Activista solidario con Cuba, anteriormente trabajó como pediatra, vive en la zona rural de Maine.

ST. JOHN, NB

City's inside workers set strike vote


Local Journalism Initiative
Fri, September 1, 2023 

The union that represents about 140 workers in 911 dispatch, customer services, recreation and financial services is planning a strike vote amid negotiations with the City of Saint John.

Negotiations between the city and CUPE 486, the union that represents the city's inside workers, have been stalled since Aug. 12, according to Mike Davidson, national servicing representative for CUPE's national office.

Davidson said the union is requesting cost of living increases, but negotiators have not brought forward an offer that matches the city's wage escalation policy, which was passed in 2019 and provides for increases on a three-year rolling average reflecting tax base growth.

"The city isn't even coming to the table with its own policy numbers, so ... members are forced into a strike vote now," Davidson told Brunswick News Thursday. "It's unfortunate, we feel it's a needless situation. Mayor and council have set a directive at the bargaining table, and they're completely ignoring it."

The city declined comment Thursday through a spokesperson, but on Friday issued a statement saying it has made a "fair and reasonable offer," adding "we believe it is in the best interests of everyone to finalize an agreement."

The statement lists both the city and the Police Commissioners of the City of Saint John as employers. Davidson said some court services staff with the commission are members of CUPE 486.

Employees would vote this coming Wednesday. Voting for a strike does not necessarily mean job action is imminent, but authorizing a potential strike gives negotiators extra options as part of the bargaining process, Davidson said.

He declined to provide specific numbers on the proposed increases.

Employees last received an increase in 2021, Davidson said, and have been impacted by inflationary pressures since then. He said the city had been in tough financial straits for years and workers "rolled up their sleeves and tried to be the solution," but that provincial and regional governments have been enjoying record revenues thanks to higher tax assessments.

The City of Saint John's proposed budget for 2024 represents $184 million, which is a four per cent increase over last year, and assumes a 3.35 per cent increase in property tax revenues.

In the city's statement, it says it is committed to reaching an agreement "that reflects our commitment to financial sustainability and enables us to continue working together to deliver quality services."

Davidson said the city had offered non-union employees salary increases according to the wage escalation policy. He said the union's cost-of-living request was not "too far apart" from what the policy would have recommended, and that wages were the last remaining sticking point.

"We've been waiting for the employer," he said.

The city said since bargaining started in June 2022, it has met with the union 26 times, including twice in July with a provincial-appointed conciliator.

"We are optimistic an agreement can be reached, but we are also taking prudent steps to have contingency plans ready to minimize the disruption to public services should a labour disruption occur,” the statement reads.

Andrew Bates, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Telegraph-Journal

Canadians want urgent climate action, but cost of living stands in the way: poll

 

 Sep 1, 2023  #GlobalNews #Canada #climate

The unprecedented wildfire season in 2023 has shown Canadians just how urgent it is to address the climate crisis, and new poll numbers show the majority of people want to see Ottawa move more quickly on environmental policy.

Ipsos polling, conducted on behalf of Global News, found nearly three in five Canadians agree that Ottawa will fail Canadians if it does not act urgently on climate change. But that also comes with 35 per cent of Canadians agreeing now is not the time to invest in climate change due to tough economic circumstances brought on by inflation. 

The survey comes weeks after Alberta placed a six-month moratorium on wind and solar energy project approvals, with only about one in four in Alberta agreeing with the stance that Canada has to do more to address climate change.

With more than 15.6 million hectares burned across the country so far this year, Kyle Benning has more on what might be ahead for green investments.

Gerald Taiaiake Alfred confronts reconciliation in new book


Local Journalism Initiative
Fri, September 1, 2023 

Gerald Taiaiake Alfred’s methods and temperament have evolved over the years as his roles have changed, but the spirit of his thinking has been consistent across his career.

At a time when the Canadian government is embracing reconciliation rhetoric, Alfred has compiled two decades of interviews and speeches he has given to make an urgent case for why this approach undermines – rather than reinforces – Indigenous rights and sovereignty.

The resulting book, It’s All About the Land: Collected Talks and Interviews on Indigenous Resurgence, hits store shelves September 12.

“Basically what I’m arguing in this book is that reconciliation is a flawed concept because it’s window dressing on continued colonization,” said Alfred.

“It’s being promoted as a solution to the problem when in fact it’s building on our defeat as nations and convincing many of us that being participants in the colonial project is the best that we can do. I disagree with that, and I think our ancestors disagree with that.”

The goals of reconciliation run contrary to the historic goals of Kanien’kehá:ka and Kahnawa’kehró:non activism, he said, noting this has always been about restoring nationhood, autonomy, freedom, and land.

“Reconciliation doesn’t offer any of that,” he said.

Instead, reconciliation – which he calls “Canadian citizenship with the flavour of Indigeneity to it” – subverts the cultural and political resurgence of Onkwehón:we by accepting the framework of Canadian authority and envisioning First Nations within that, he said.

“It’s not radical in terms of challenging the pillars of what Canada is and the policies of Canada,” he said of reconciliation. “It just advocates making them more open to our participation.”

He said it’s a crucial time, especially with social technologies that help cement a moderate view of the place of Indigenous communities in Canada.

While the material in the book hearkens back to a consistent theme, the tone shifts because his words come from engagements with different kinds of audiences.

“Each section is a slightly different take on it because I’m trying to persuade a different audience in every interaction that I’ve had.”

Alfred’s editor, Ann Rogers, who is not Indigenous, found her perspective shifting as she wrestled with the text, she said.

“Every time I went back into it, I always came out with something else. It’s like you don’t stand in the same river twice,” Rogers said. “I could tell my own thinking was changing because I was reacting differently. For me it was very transformative.”

The biggest challenge in editing the book was that it was hard to cut anything, she said. “His thinking is very nuanced,” she said.

This is particularly impressive, she said, given that he does not rely on notes when speaking, preferring to engage with audiences “without a net,” in his words.

“I just think there’s so much people have to learn from him,” said Pamela Palmater, a Mi’kmaq lawyer, professor, activist, and politician who contributed the book’s foreword.

“His message is even more important now because we’re really at risk in this whole phase of reconciliation of just softening everything, watering everything down, and making it look like everything’s okay and just passively assimilate into society,” she said.

“(Alfred’s) message is ‘don’t do that.’”

For Alfred, the book’s title – It’s All About the Land – was an easy decision.

“That phrase has been in my head since 1992, and it’s been something I’ve been repeating to myself over and over as a professor, giving speeches, and in my own life, personally, too.”

He is concerned the modern Land Back movement can be too focused on social media rather than on-the-ground action.

“What are they actually doing compared to what our uncles and parents and grandparents did in the 70s and 80s? We’re talking about people that uprooted their whole lives to go reoccupy land and defend that with guns,” he said, adding those people went on to start schools, raise families, and defend territory for future generations.

“Compare that to putting out a hashtag – #LandBack – and going to the coffee shop. It’s something we really need to think about in terms of what exactly is a movement.”

He emphasized he is not dismissing online activism, which he sees as necessary. “But I think too much effort is put into that,” he said.

Kahnawa’kehró:non will be able to buy the book at Iron Horse, and a local book launch is planned for Kahnawake on September 18 at 5:30 p.m. at Tóta Ma’s Café.

Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Eastern Door

Quebec ophthalmologists question low prices offered by LASIK MD for outsourced cataract surgeries


CBC
Fri, September 1, 2023 

LASIK MD specializes in eye surgery. 

As several health-care institutions in the Montreal area prepare to award millions in contracts to the private sector when they outsource eye surgeries, Quebec's association of ophthalmologists is raising concerns about the quality of care.

An analysis of the bids submitted shows that one of the biggest players in the industry, Vision Group/LASIK MD, is offering its services at less than $600 per procedure.

But professionals in the ophthalmology industry argue that is below cost and could interfere with patient care.

"We don't want to impugn anyone's intentions, but we have to ask ourselves questions and ensure that the quality is good," said Dr. Salim Lahoud, president of the ophthalmologists association, AMOQ.

Other bids ranged from $850 to over $1,000 per procedure.

In the province's public health network, cataract surgery costs $1,573.

Those amounts, whether in the public or private sector, do not include the doctors' pay, which is covered by Quebec's health insurance board (RAMQ).

Over the next five years,185,000 cataract operations — expected to cost at least $115 million — will likely be outsourced, according to data compiled by Radio-Canada.

Dr. Lahoud says he shared his concerns with the Health Ministry and the Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec.

But Vision Group/LASIK MD president Dr. Mark Cohen denies offering below-cost prices for cataract surgeries. He says his business' cost structure allows the group to make a lower bid.

Dr. Mark Cohen, President and National Medical Director, Vision Group/LASIK MD
Dr. Mark Cohen says LASIK MD has significant purchasing power given that it performs more than 100,000 ophthalmic surgeries every year in Canada. (Submitted by Lasik)

"It's a little lower than $600 and we would never bid at a price where we would lose with each surgery. That I can guarantee," said Dr. Cohen, who explained that LASIK MD rooms are typically used one day per week."We have four days when it's empty, but we already have all the infrastructure and all the equipment, so we don't have any fixed costs to add."

Dr. Cohen says that his business has significant purchasing power, particularly for intraocular lenses, given that it performs more than 100,000 ophthalmic surgeries every year in Canada, while a typical hospital in Quebec will do 3,000 cataract surgeries a year.

The Health Ministry said by e-mail that it has "no reason to believe that the company that wins the call for tenders would not offer quality services, since the MSSS and the institutions have all the necessary leverage if the services are not up to standard."

Competition questions

Under Canada's Competition Act, it is illegal to charge below cost with the aim of squeezing out competition only to charge high prices later. But prices that are legitimately low can benefit the public purse.

Université de Montréal competition law Prof. Pierre Larouche says it's in the best interest of the public health network to maintain competition among its private sector suppliers. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)

"In the short term, if bidding at a low price allows the public to have a better price, and it affects competition without eliminating it, that's OK," said Prof. Pierre Larouche, who teaches competition law at the Université de Montréal

He also says it's in the best interest of the public health network to maintain competition among its private sector suppliers.

"If we take a long-term perspective, we must make sure to have competition during the first round of public contracts, but also for the second and third rounds," he said. "I don't know if the network has the foresight to do that with five-year contracts here [with options].

For its part, the Health Ministry said in an email that the call for tenders helps create competition with the hope of improving the performance of the health and social services network."

Many Dynalife physicians unhappy with new contracts offered amid transition: AMA

FIRST THEY CENTRALIZE IT THEN THEY PRIVATIZE IT NOW THEY BRING BACK IN HOUSE

CBC
Fri, September 1, 2023 

The Alberta Medical Association says a majority of Dynalife physicians being transferred to Alberta Precision Labs believe the process has been unfair to date. (Submitted by Biohubx - image credit)

A number of laboratory physicians being transitioned from the private provider Dynalife to the government-owned Alberta Precision Labs believe the process has been unfair in advance of their contracts expiring effective Sept. 1, according to the Alberta Medical Association (AMA).

In a letter sent to Alberta Precision Labs (APL) and Alberta Health Services from the AMA on Aug. 29, the doctors' association wrote that it held a town hall the prior week with 52 of the laboratory physicians currently employed or contracted to Dynalife.

"The overwhelming majority of [Dynalife] physicians believe that an unfair process has been undertaken by APL to provide new terms of an agreement on a 'take it or leave it' basis that are inferior to the agreement that is currently in place with [Dynalife]," the letter reads.

"As such, the vast majority of [Dynalife] physicians will not be signing the new proposed APL contract as requested by Aug. 31."

It was unclear how many physicians signed the new contracts. In a letter sent by the AMA to Dynalife physicians Sept.1, the doctors' association wrote that it understood via polling that "most Dynalife pathologists have not signed the new APL contracts" despite the Aug. 31. deadline.

In a file photo, Alberta Minister of Health Adriana LaGrange speaks at the opening of the emergency room at Peter Lougheed hospital in Calgary on Aug. 22. Earlier this month, LaGrange announced that Dynalife ownership was transferring all staff, operations and physical labs to Alberta Precision Labs. (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

There are around 75 lab physicians who work for Dynalife as contractors, which represent around a third of all lab physicians in Alberta, according to Dr. Christopher Naugler, president of the section of laboratory medicine with the AMA.

Despite the midnight deadline, AHS said that physicians may take until Sept. 25 to review the contract and decide whether they wish to sign.

"Whether Dynalife physicians choose to sign the [contract] or not, APL will compensate them for the work that they perform between Sept. 1 and Sept. 25," the health authority wrote in a statement.

The main question of the AMA at this stage, according to Naugler, is what happens to the employment of those who don't sign the contracts on Sept. 26.

"AHS doesn't say one way or another, so the doctors are left under this big cloud of uncertainty," Naugler said, adding he would have concerns about health impacts to Albertans should service be impacted.

CBC News reached out late Friday afternoon to AHS to inquire what would happen to physicians who don't sign their contracts by the deadline.

Earlier this month, Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange said AHS had signed a memorandum of understanding that will see Dynalife transfer all of its staff, operations and physical locations to APL by the end of 2023.

That followed months of concerns over waits that sometimes ranged as long as a month to book appointments for routine tests, particularly in Calgary and southern Alberta.

Contracts expired at midnight

In a letter sent to Dynalife contractors on Aug. 28, Dynalife CEO Jason Pincock thanked employees for their services while confirming their contractual agreements would expire at midnight on Aug. 31.

"Given the timing of the operational transfer between AHS/APL and DynaLIFE there has been little time to prepare in advance for this change," he wrote.

In its letter sent Aug. 29, the AMA wrote that the key differences between the existing Dynalife contract and the proposed new APL contract that it wanted included were:

An acknowledgement of a workload limit.


Extra pay if one works over that workload limit, along with the right to refuse extra work.


Pool funds for unfilled full-time equivalent positions that are retained by the medical staff.

Christopher Naugler, president of the AMA section of laboratory physicians.

Christopher Naugler, president of the AMA section of laboratory physicians. (Submitted by Christopher Naugler)

Naugler, the president of the section of laboratory medicine with the AMA, said lab physicians often are invisible in the health-care system, but are highly trained specialists that oversee all lab tests across Canadian jurisdictions.

But in Alberta, these doctors have faced constant change with different entities operating, especially the public lab systems, Naugler said.

"So doctors, really, are left in a position of not knowing where their jobs will be, who their employer will be," he said. "And there's such competition for lab doctors among provinces, that a concern certainly that my colleagues and I share is that we need to be able to retain and recruit physicians.

"With the amount of uncertainty in the lab system right now, we're worried there may be challenges with that."