SLAGGING SAINTE-MARIE

CBC Report raises questions about Buffy Sainte-Marie's Indigenous claim


© Provided by The Canadian Press


CBC says legendary musician and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie’s birth certificate, other documents and details from family members contradict her claim that she is Indigenous.

Sainte-Marie, 82, said ahead of the Friday report that she doesn’t know who her birth parents are or where she’s from. She called herself “a proud member of the Native community with deep roots in Canada.”

“To those who question my truth, I say with love, I know who I am,” she said Thursday in a statement.

CBC located her birth certificate, which says Sainte-Marie was born in 1941 in Stoneham, Mass., to Albert and Winifred Sainte-Marie. The document lists the baby and parents as white and includes a signature of an attending physician.

CBC said Sainte-Marie’s marriage certificate, a life insurance policy and the United States census corroborate the information on the birth certificate.

Sainte-Marie’s claim to Indigenous identity was forefront as her fame began to increase throughout the 1960s. Her debut record, “It’s My Way!,” featured several notable tunes, including "Now That the Buffalo's Gone," a protest song linked to the loss of Indigenous lands.

She brought First Nations culture to “Sesame Street” and is credited with being the first Indigenous person to win an Oscar. She won best original song in 1982 for co-writing “Up Where We Belong,” the ballad from the movie “An Officer and a Gentleman.

Related video: Buffy Sainte-Marie says identity questions hurtful (The Canadian Press) Duration 2:06 View on Watch

Sainte-Marie has also received many notable Canadian awards, including the $50,000 Polaris Music Prize in 2015 and its heritage award in 2020. The organization said it was not considering rescinding the awards in light of the recent report.But the story of her birth, childhood and identity shifted throughout her decades-long career in the public eye.

CBC cites news articles from the 1960s in which she identifies as Mi’kmaq, then as Algonquin and later as Cree.

Her 2018 authorized biography says there’s no official record of her birth. It says she was probably born Cree on Piapot First Nation in Saskatchewan in the early 1940s. Sainte-Marie was adopted through Cree traditions into the Piapot family in her early 20s.

The Aboriginal Peoples Television Network also obtained a copy of the birth certificate. APTN says Sainte-Marie’s team did not deny it was her birth certificate, but the document could not be relied on.

Sainte-Marie said Thursday that her “growing-up mom,” Winifred Sainte-Marie, told her she was adopted and may have been born “on the wrong side of the blanket,” meaning born out of wedlock.

Conflicting stories about her adoption have also been published, some saying she was an infant, others that she was a toddler when she was taken by an American family. Some say her birth parents died or her mother was killed in a car crash.

Sainte-Marie provided an affidavit from her former lawyer, who was tasked with looking into her Indigenous heritage. It says oral history from Saskatchewan explained Sainte-Marie was born north of Piapot to a single woman “who could not care for her.”

Family members in the U.S., including Sainte-Marie’s younger sister, told CBC that Sainte-Marie was not adopted and does not have Indigenous ancestry.

The CBC report includes an article from 1964, when a man claiming to be Sainte-Marie’s uncle told the paper that she is not Indigenous and specifically not Cree. CBC says family members did not speak out further about her identity because they feared the singer would take legal action.

Sainte-Marie maintained that she does not know her birth parents, where she’s from or “how I ended up a misfit in a typical white Christian New England home.”

“I realized decades ago that I would never have the answers," she said Thursday.

Sainte-Marie recently retired from touring, citing her health. She has received numerous accolades including a Gemini, a Golden Globe and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award. She was also named to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1995.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2023.

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

Argentina poll shows ruling party hopeful Massa leading Milei

Story by Reuters • 

A combination picture shows Argentina's presidential candidates Sergio Massa (L) of Union por la Patria party as he addresses the audience during a workers' meeting on September 29, 2023, Patricia Bullrich (C) of Juntos por el Cambio party as she attends a business event on August 24, 2023, and Javier Milei for La Libertad Avanza party as he gestures during a campaign rally, on September 22, 2023, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

REUTERS/Tomas Cuesta/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - The presidential standard-bearer for Argentina's ruling Peronists, Sergio Massa, has opened up a lead over his far-right rival Javier Milei with less than a month to go before the decisive run-off vote, according to a poll released on Thursday.


Argentina Presidential candidate Sergio Massa of Union por la Patria party and Javier Milei of La Libertad Avanza party interact during the presidential debate ahead of the October 22 general elections, at the National University of Santiago del Estero, in Santiago del Estero, Argentina October 1, 2023. 

Tomas Cuesta/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

The survey from pollster Analogias put support for Massa, the outgoing government's economy chief, at about 42% versus 34% for Milei, a combative self-described anarco-capitalist.

Political polling has been wildly off in Argentina in recent years, including ahead of last Sunday's first-round vote, when Milei led in nearly all polls but ultimately came in second to Massa by about six points.

The Analogias poll, one of the first to estimate support for the Nov. 19 run-off, follows Wednesday's shakeup when Milei won the key endorsement of last Sunday's third-place finisher, conservative Patricia Bullrich, who attracted almost a quarter of the vote.


 Argentine presidential candidates Sergio Massa, Patricia Bullrich and Javier Milei attend the presidential debate ahead of the October 22 general elections, at the University of Buenos Aires' Law School, Argentina October 8, 2023. 

REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/Pool/File Photo© Thomson Reuters

Bullrich's support for Milei should help him win over some of her more moderate conservative voter base that is opposed to the ruling Peronists, though her own coalition is deeply divided about backing the radical libertarian.

The new poll also shows nearly 18% undecided in the head-to-head match-up, while about another 6% said they will vote for no one.

Nearly 2,000 voters were surveyed from Oct. 23-35 for the survey.

It also estimates Massa is winning about a third of those who supported last Sunday's fourth-place finisher, as well as almost 15% of those who opted for Bullrich.

A couple other polls released this week showed mixed results, with one from CB Consultora giving Milei slightly more than a 1% lead over Massa, but another by Proyeccion Consultoras putting Massa ahead by about 10 points.

The run-off campaign takes place at a time of severe economic crisis in South America's second-biggest economy, with consumer prices surging by triple digits and the local currency steadily plummeting in value.

(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Editing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by David Gregorio)

CANADA

Senate Committee shocked by difficulties faced gathering residential school records from Catholic Church

Story by The Canadian Press • 

​Saskatchewan Treaty Commissioner Mary Musqua-Culbertson didn’t mince words when she spoke to members of the Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples Oct. 25 about the difficulty in accessing Catholic Church records for Indigenous residential schools.

Not only has her office come up against barriers in trying to acquire student records for four of the former Indian residential schools in the Prince Albert diocese, but staff had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for 21 years in order to access the diocese records they were told were housed at St. Paul University in Ottawa. However, she says, Prince Albert diocese records were never found there.

“Who specifically asks for a 21-year NDA? Who within their organization needs to die within that 21 years that is being protected?” asked Musqua-Culbertson, a lawyer who added that 21 years is not a usual timeframe.

“There is still people who are responsible for sexual abuse and deaths that are still alive that are still out there and they’re walking about within our institutions and in churches and in religious organizations. I do believe that religious organizations are there to protect religious organizations and the people within them,” she said.

Musqua-Culbertson drew the connection between persons of interest (POI) who were named by survivors during the Independent Assessment Process (IAP). The IAP was used as part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement (IRSSA), signed in 2006. Through the IAP, survivors had to recount how they were sexually or physically abused in order to receive compensation beyond what the base common experience payment was.

Musqua-Culbertson served as legal counsel during the IAP.

“So you have these vast lists of POIs. Where is that database? Could that be a database? Because POIs are still protected…Those are people who were named as abusers,” she said.

She also pointed out that the IAP records will be destroyed unless survivors state otherwise.

Musqua-Culbertson recounted numerous incidents where the diocese gave her staff difficulties as they tried to access residential school records, including promising to release records and then reneging on those promises.

“When we come back up against this (many) barriers when it comes to the graves of missing children, it’s very disheartening,” she said.

The Office of the Treaty Commissioner of Saskatchewan officially built its library and archives in 2020, although documents began to be collected in 1989. In the past few years, the office has started to collect documents and church records relating to the four Indian residential schools of Delmas (west of Thunderchild First Nation), St. Anthony’s (Onion Lake Cree Nation), Beauval (English River La Plonge Reserve) and St. Michael’s (Beardy’s and Okemasis and One Arrow First Nations).

Raymond Frogner, head archivist for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR), also recounted the frustrations involved with working with the Catholic Church. Centre researchers are combing through the oblate records housed at Société historique de Saint-Boniface (Manitoba) and Deschâtelets-NDC Archives (Quebec).

“We….are currently funding researchers to go into their archive, go through their records and tell them what records they have that they’ve been holding for decades. Tell them which ones are actually relevant to residential schools…They’re also asking us to pay for the digitization of those records because they aren’t digitized,” said Frogner.

“We all know the Catholic Church did not pay the compensation that they originally were assigned to pay up for the IRSSA.”

Four churches were signatories to the settlement agreement. While the Anglican, United, and Presbyterian churches have paid their agreed-upon negotiated amounts, the Catholic Church has fallen well short.

Frogner said that the archive at the NCTR held approximately four million records largely focused on the daily administration and operation of the schools.

“There is not a single one of the 141 schools that were part of IRSS agreement …that has a complete set of admission records, discharge records or quarterly returns. This is because, partly, the quality of record keeping was abysmal, to put it lightly,” he said.

Frogner recommended moving away from the legal perspective set out for the records to start to search the more expansive Indian residential school experience.

He suggested documentation be collected from five different fields.

Education would document curriculum, development and staffing at the schools, along with a focus on evangelical curriculum development and projects undertaken by the protestant and Catholic missionaries.

He pointed to health care records, much of which fell under provincial jurisdiction. Disease and pandemics forced children from the schools to hospitals where many died.

He noted that records are being held up in the court system because of ongoing or pending legal action. While court proceedings prevented the release of the records, Frogner said, a file list could be requested and then the records acquired when they were no longer restricted by the court.

A list could also be made of where records are being held in semi-active disposition awaiting processing within government offices or Library and Archives Canada, which would eventually be acquired by the National Truth and Reconciliation Centre.

Frogner’s proposed wider expanse could get limited support from the new Residential School Documents Advisory Committee headed by former Cowessess First Nation chief Cadmus Delorme. The committee has been mandated to work with federal government departments and agencies to scope out their documents in order to identify which are to be transitioned to the NCTR.

Delorme told the Senate Committee there are “grey areas” when it comes to which records the committee can transition. Records that deal with the 141 Indian residential schools acknowledged through the IRSSA are the targets. Other documents, like hospital records or records in the justice system, both of which will identify children, are not included in the committee’s “main mandate.”

However, Delorme said, “we can identify on the sideline other things that are going on because there will probably be other mandates similar to what we are doing. So let’s make sure we identify those (other records).”

Healthcare records were part of the work undertaken by Anne Panasuk, who was mandated for two years by the Secretariat for Relations with First Nations and Inuit of Quebec, as special advisor for support for families of missing children.

Panasuk told the committee about Bill 79, the Quebec legislation adopted in 2021 that gave Indigenous families the ability to get information about their children who went missing from health institutions in Quebec in the 1950s to the 1980s. This included children who were sent from residential schools to healthcare facilities.

The bill, said Panasuk, “unlocks medical archives and religious archives and it forces institutions to provide medical files…It bypasses the act of protecting information for the health department. Some religious organizations managed hospitals in the past—the diocese, the parishes, the cemeteries. So all these institutions are now obligated to provide information requested by the family.”

However, she said, as the bill is provincial, families do not have access to the records of children who were transferred to health institutions outside of Quebec.

Panasuk suggested that similar bills be adopted by other provinces and territories.

Musqua-Culbertson also suggested legislation that could be useful in addressing “when there is protectionism and when there is barriers put in place.”

Senator David Arnot, former chief commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and federal treaty commissioner, referred to what the Senate Committee had heard as a “litany of frustration with the non-compliance truculent stonewalling purposeful barriers” that was being faced by those trying to gather records from the Catholic Church.

What the Senate Committee heard Oct. 25 was in direct contrast with what they were told on Sept. 27 by Father Ken Thorson, provincial superior of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) Lacombe Canada.

See our story here:

 https://windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/senator-digging-delay-residential-school-records-says-theres-disconnect

Thorson said that since the 215 unmarked graves had been identified at Kamloops Indian Residential School, the Catholic Church’s “commitment has been renewed and strengthened” to work with researchers and survivors.

However, Arnot called what they had heard from Musqua-Culbertson and Frogner of their interactions with the Catholic Church as “incomprehensible conduct.”

Other senators described the testimony as “disturbing”, “appalling”, and “shocking.”

The Senate Committee, chaired by Mi’kmaw Senator Brian Francis from Prince Edward Island, is holding a series of hearings as follow-up to recommendations included in their interim report, Honouring the Children Who Never Came Home: Truth, Education and Reconciliation, released last July.

That report was the result of hearings that took place in March where the Senate Committee heard from representatives from the Office of the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools, and the NCTR about the difficulty in accessing records that could be used to either identify children who died at Indian residential schools or locate where they were buried.

The Senate Committee has invited specific witnesses to answer questions on why all residential school documents have not been disclosed. 

​Windspeaker.com

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

Stornoway Diamonds to lay off 425 workers as operations halt at Quebec mine

 The Canadian Press

MONTREAL — Stornoway Diamonds Inc. says it is suspending operations at its Renard mine in northern Quebec.

The Montreal-based diamond company says 75 of the 500 workers will stay on board to maintain the mine's assets and facilitate a return to normal operations.

That leaves some 425 workers temporarily laid off from the mine, which sits about 700 kilometres north of Quebec City as the crow flies.

The 37-year-old company attributes the shutdown to growing uncertainty around global diamond prices.

The price of rough diamonds — unpolished, uncut stones — has plummeted over the past 18 months, falling by nearly a third since March 2022 to lows not seen in years as post-pandemic consumers steer clear of new luxury goods.

Stornoway says it has begun to place itself under the protection of the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act in order to restructure its business and turn its finances around.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2023.

The Canadian Press

116-year-old S.S. Keewatin finds a new retirement home in Kingston

Story by The Canadian Press  •

Kingston’s shoreline was a scene from the history books as the Edwardian-era steamship called S.S. Keewatin floated serenely into its new home at the Great Lakes Museum to the applause of the eagerly waiting throngs.

Crowds chatted excitedly around the old dry dock on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, as S.S. Keewatin, one of only three Edwardian steamships left in the world, was manoeuvred into place by a Doornekamp Tug Boat, duck boat, ropes, and winches. At 116 years old, the Keewatin is five years older than the Titanic and certainly saw far more successful years on the water than the doomed "unsinkable" ship. Much of the design of the Keewatin was duplicated by the Titanic's designers, only on a larger scale.

Many members of “Friends of Keewatin” could be found in the crowd welcoming the ship, in what was a bittersweet moment for the group. The “Friends of Keewatin” is the popular name for The RJ and Diane Peterson Keewatin Foundation, named for the Michigan couple who saved the S.S. Keewatin from the wreckers in 1967. Between 2012 and 2019 the Friends leased the S.S. Keewatin along with the dock and bay at which it resided, and operated the ship as a museum in its home port of Port McNicoll, Ontario.

Susan Rudy was among the "Friends of Keewatin," wearing her S.S. Keewatin crew jacket and Canadian Pacific Steamships cap. Her husband Peter Rudy died in 2019, she said, at the age of 91. He was an exceptional model-builder, and many examples of his work are displayed in museums and public buildings, including seven aboard the Keewatin. A solid supporter of the S.S. Keewatin in Port McNicoll, Peter kept the ship’s short-wave radio alive and could often be found typing out messages from the wireless room on the Keewatin. 

“He spent his final 11 years volunteering with her, which really rejuvenated him,” explained Rudy with a tear in her eye. 

She said she was extremely happy that the "Kee," as the ship's friends call it, would be well looked after in its new home.

Built in Govan, Scotland, and launched on July 6, 1907, the vessel sailed on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, docking at Lévis, Quebec. There, the ship had to be halved, because the canals below Lake Erie, specifically the Welland Canal, could not handle ships as long as Keewatin. The ship was reassembled at Buffalo, New York, where she resumed her voyage to begin service at Owen Sound, Ontario.

Originally designed to complete the link in the Canadian Pacific Railway's continental route, S.S. Keewatin used to haul people and cargo across Lake Superior from Fort William (current-day Thunder Bay) and Port McNicoll, a small port town in Georgian Bay on Lake Huron, on behalf of the original owner, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company. It remained in service from Oct. 7, 1908, until Nov 29, 1965 when the Trans-Canada Highway was completed, essentially eliminating the need for this service. 

Also in the crowd of onlookers was Doug Cunningham of Bath. His family had a cottage in the Huronia area, where they summered when he was growing up. He was hired as a young man aboard the "Kee."

“I started as a cabin watch and became a waiter, and a night steward… on both ships, the Assiniboine and the Keewatin," he said.

Eric Conroy (left), the former President and CEO of "Friends of Keewatin," bumped into Doug Cunningham of Bath on the Kingston dock. The two were delighted to discover they had worked on the S.S. Keewatin as waiters at the same time in the 1960s. Photo by Michelle Dorey Forestell/Kingstonist.

“I would go around and do all the fire points and so forth, plus serving sandwiches to the crew at night," Cunningham explained. "The next year I became a waiter, so I was in the dining room. The funny thing about the dining room was we had to memorize everything. There were three main dishes on the menu each time, plus the desserts and the appetizers, and we kids had to remember this. We had an in-door and an out-door and we had to carry the trays left-handed… more people are right-handed, but it had to be left-handed because of the way the doors [worked], so it was quite physical and mentally demanding.”

Coincidentally, Cunningham bumped into Eric Conroy, the former President and CEO of "Friends of Keewatin," on the Kingston dock. The two were delighted to discover they had worked on Keewatin as waiters at the same time in the 1960s, and exchanged stories, promising to catch up after the fanfare had died down a little.

S.S. Keewatin is 102.6 metres long, with a beam of 13.3 metres and a draught of 7.2 metres. In its heyday, it ran on a quadruple expansion steam engine with four coil-fired boilers and its maximum speed was 16 knots. It carried 288 passengers and 86 crew members.

After ending its runs across the Great Lakes in 1965, S.S. Keewatin passed several times to different owners, serving as a museum on Lake Michigan, and then returning to its home port of Port McNicoll in 2012. It was to be used as a museum and event centre. While at Port McNicoll, the ship was even used as a set for maritime-related movies and documentaries, and featured on an episode of CBC's Murdoch Mysteries, called “Murdoch Ahoy!”

The crowd heard words of greeting from Chris West, the Chair of the Board of the Great Lakes Museum (formerly the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes).

“Today is a truly extraordinary day," said West. "The end of the S.S. Keewatin’s voyage to Kingston marks the beginning of a new chapter in her life. And a new chapter for our museum. Typically here at the museum, we say we are in the business of preserving history. Today, we are making history.”

West celebrated the extensive restorative work that has already been done on the ship, and noted, “There's much more to be done. And it is truly fitting that the work will continue here in our historic shipyard dry dock, so that the Keewatin is looking her best for the grand opening in May, and for years to come.”

Next, Indigenous historian and former Great Lakes Museum employee Paul Carl addressed the gathered dignitaries and crowd. 

“My aunties and uncles, and our grandmothers and grandfathers here, we acknowledge that this vessel came here to visit Mississauga Pointe similar to how the original Europeans, the immigrants to North America, or Turtle Island came... when they visited with the Mississaugas here hundreds of years ago.”

“I was told that the name Keewatin means northwest wind… storm of the north, or the blizzard in the north, and that’s an Anishinaabemowin word... I also want to ask the staff, the board, the volunteers, and the Marine Museum to tell the whole story. For the original owners, CP Rail, also helped with the colonization and the opening of the west… I did speak to Chris and the staff here to say that they need to acknowledge the whole story, not just the good stuff, but also what the original owners did for this country that you call Canada and we call Turtle Island."

The story of the S.S. Keewatin and its sister ships, the Great Lakes Museum website points out, features significantly in the history of Canada and Turtle Island: "It is vital that the ship, which is the last of its kind, be preserved for current and future generations. The Marine Museum of the Great Lakes has both the expertise and funding to be able to do this. In fact, we’ve raised several million dollars from our generous supporters to fund refurbishments, renovations, and towing of the Keewatin. The ship will be integrated into our extensive transportation collection covering the past two hundred years of Great Lakes history and we look forward to sharing the story of the Kee and the people who worked aboard, who took trips, and the many other facets of its important history."

S.S. Keewatin will be "ship shape" and ready to welcome visitors in its new home in May 2024.

Michelle Dorey Forestell, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Kingstonist.com

Pope orders reopening of case of prominent priest accused of abuse

Story by By Philip Pullella • 

Pope Francis looks on, on the day of the weekly general audience in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, October 25, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane© Thomson Reuters

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis has ordered a review of the Church's handling of the case of an internationally known religious artist who was expelled from the Jesuit religious order after being accused of sexual, psychological and spiritual abuse of adult women.

A statement on Friday said the pope had asked the Vatican's doctrinal office to review the case of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik and had lifted any statute of limitations that would apply so that a complete process could take place.

It said the pope made the decision after a Vatican commission on the prevention of sexual abuse "brought to the pope's attention that there were serious problems in the handling" of the Rupnik case, as well as a "lack of outreach to victims".

About 25 people, mostly former nuns, have accused Rupnik, 69, of various types of abuse, either when he was a spiritual director of a community of nuns in his native Slovenia about 30 years ago or since he moved to Rome to pursue his career as an artist.

Allegations against Rupnik began surfacing in Italian media late last year, after which the Jesuit headquarters acknowledged that he had been banned in 2019 from hearing confessions and leading spiritual retreats.

He was expelled from the Jesuits in June. Victims expressed outrage after he was allowed to work as a priest in the diocese of Koper, in his native Slovenia. The diocese said he had been accepted because he was not convicted in either a Church or civil court.

Rupnik has never publicly responded to the accusations against him, which the Jesuits said last February were "very highly" credible.

One ex-nun told an Italian newspaper how he used what she called psychological control to force her into sexual acts, and deployed "cruel psychological, emotional and spiritual aggression" to "destroy" her, particularly after she refused to have three-way sex.

The reopening of the case and the lifting of the statute of limitations means that Rupnik could eventually be defrocked, meaning a dismissal from the priesthood.

The Jesuits, the Vatican's doctrinal department have come under criticism for their handling of the case. There has also been Italian media speculation that the Vatican bureaucracy gave him special treatment because the pope, too, is a Jesuit.

The Jesuits disclosed under media pressure last year that the Vatican had investigated Rupnik and ruled that some of the alleged abuse fell beyond the statute of limitations.

The order disclosed that in 2020 the Vatican's doctrinal department excommunicated Rupnik for "absolution of an accomplice," referring to when a priest has sex with someone and then absolves the person in confession. Rupnik repented and the sanction was lifted after only a month, an unusually short period.

Rupnik specialised in mosaics and came to prominence when the late Pope John Paul II commissioned him to redesign a chapel in the Vatican between 1996 and 1999. He later designed chapels around the world.

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

Gulf oil lease sale postponed by court amid litigation over endangered whale protections

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A sale of federal Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases that had been scheduled for Nov. 8 was delayed Thursday by a federal appeals court, pending court arguments that focus on protections for an endangered whale species.

The Biden administration announced the sale in March and originally scheduled it for Sept. 27. But, in August, the administration reduced the the area available for leases from 73 million acres (30 million hectares) to 67 million acres (27 million hectares), as part of a plan to protect the endangered Rice's whale. The changes from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, also included new speed limits and new requirements for personnel on industry vessels in some of the areas to be leased.

Oil and gas companies sued, resulting in a Lake Charles-based federal judge's order throwing out the changes. The administration appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The appeals court initially set the sale for Nov. 8 while the appeal proceeded. On Thursday, however, the court issued an order that delays the sale until some time after the case is argued on Nov. 13.

BOEM had adopted the reduced area and new rules for the lease sale as part of an agreement the administration reached with environmentalists in efforts to settle a whale-protection lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland.

Chevron, Shell Offshore, the American Petroleum Institute and the state of Louisiana sued to reverse the cut in acreage and block the inclusion of the whale-protecting measures in the lease sale provisions. They claimed the administration’s actions violated provisions of a 2022 climate measure — labeled the Inflation Reduction Act — that provided broad incentives for clean energy, along with creating new drilling opportunities in the Gulf.

Among the environmental groups involved is Earthjustice.

“We look forward to the opportunity to present our arguments to the Court of Appeals. We’ll continue to press for restoring basic measures to prevent harm to the critically endangered Rice’s Whale,” Earthjustice attorney Steve Mashuda said in an emailed statement.

Thursday's court delay came as critics of the administration policy sounded off at a Senate hearing. Sens. John Barrasso, a Wyoming Republican, and Joe Manchin, the West Virgina Democrat who was a key player in passing the Inflation Reduction Act, both said the administration was too slow to implement the act's required lease sales.

Manchin said the administration “capitulated” in the settlement with environmentalists. And Barrasso said the administration “is working to choke off all future offshore lease sales.”

The administration has come under criticism from the energy industry and environmentalists as it contends with competing interests. A five-year plan announced Sept. 29 includes three proposed sales in the Gulf of Mexico — the minimum number the Democratic administration could legally offer if it wants to continue expanding offshore wind development under the 2022 climate bill.

Kevin Mcgill, The Associated Press

Mysterious jaguar makes an appearance in Southern Arizona’s Huachuca Mountains

Story by Jeppe W • 

This photo of the "jaguar" was shared with Center for Biological Diversity which got it through a public records request

© Provided by Dagens.com (CA)

In a thrilling turn of events for wildlife enthusiasts and conservationists alike, a mysterious jaguar has been captured in photos prowling through the Huachuca Mountains in Southern Arizona.

The images, obtained through a public records request by the Center for Biological Diversity, were shared exclusively with Arizona Luminaria, providing a rare glimpse into the elusive life of these majestic big cats.

This marks the first sighting of a jaguar in the Huachuca range since 2017, sparking excitement and curiosity amongst the scientific community.

The jaguar was captured by U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s remote trail cameras in March and April of this year, with the border agency duly noting the big cat’s presence in a public database dedicated to tracking jaguars.

Russ McSpadden, the southwest conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, was the first to notice this new entry into the jaguar database, quickly moving to secure the photographs for further analysis. “We have no idea who this jaguar is.

It’s a mystery jaguar,” McSpadden stated, highlighting the challenges posed by the dark, grainy nature of the photographs which prevent scientists from conducting a detailed “spot analysis” to identify the jaguar based on its unique coat markings.

Despite these challenges, the sighting has generated a wave of optimism regarding the connectivity of jaguar habitats.

Cholla Duir, the assistant director of the Northern Jaguar Project, expressed her happiness at seeing a jaguar that has managed to navigate past or around the border wall, affirming that their “top person is working on the spot analysis.”

The jaguar in question could potentially be one of the known local males, “El Jefe” or “Sombra,” who have been known to wander into the Huachuca range from nearby mountains.

Alternatively, it could be a previously unidentified jaguar that has been residing in Arizona for some time, or even a new visitor from Mexico.

“No matter where that jaguar came from, it’s a good sign of connectivity,” McSpadden commented, highlighting the importance of such sightings in illustrating the mobility of jaguars across regions and the potential for a healthy population in Mexico.

Threats from border wall constructions, major mining projects, ongoing development, and climate change continue to loom large, posing significant threats to the jaguars and the broader ecosystem.

The sighting of this jaguar in the Huachuca Mountains thus represents a beacon of hope and a symbol of resilience for conservationists and wildlife biologists dedicated to ensuring the survival of these incredible creatures and the overall health of the ecosystem.

Myles Traphagen, borderlands program coordinator of the Wildlands Network, aptly summarized the significance of this event, stating, “The jaguar symbolizes wildness. It’s the last representative of free-ranging wildness we have in this part of the world. It’s nature at its apex.”

Melanie Culver, a University of Arizona geneticist who specializes in big cats, echoed these sentiments, asserting that the photographs serve as a promising indication of somewhat complete habitats in the region. “

The presence of a jaguar is really important for the health of the community,” Culver concluded, underscoring the critical role these apex predators play in maintaining ecological balance.

B.C.'s new fossil emblem an 80-million-year-old marine reptile called elasmosaur

© Provided by The Canadian Press

VICTORIA — British Columbia has officially designated a large, fierce-looking marine reptile that swam in waters off Vancouver Island 80 million years ago as the province's official fossil emblem.

The government adopted the long-necked, sharp-toothed 12-metre elasmosaur as the fossil emblem on Thursday, adding to the list of provincial symbols.

The designation follows a five-year recognition effort by paleontology enthusiasts and a provincewide public poll in 2018 where the elasmosaur received 48 per cent of the votes.

Tourism Minister Lana Popham says in a statement the elasmosaur designation raises awareness that B.C. has a fossil heritage worthy of celebration and stewardship.

The first elasmosaur fossil was discovered in 1988, along the Puntledge River on Vancouver Island, marking the first fossil of its kind found west of the Canadian Rockies.

The elasmosaur lived along the coast of B.C., dating back to the Cretaceous period.

Other official B.C. emblems include the Pacific dogwood, Stellar's jay, spirit bear, Pacific salmon, jade and the western red cedar.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2023.

The Canadian Press

Smith says Alberta's CPP exit campaign to continue despite questions over key number

HEAD STRONG & BAT SHIT CRAZY

THIS IS THE CHILEAN PRIVATIZATION OF STATE PENSION PLAN PROMOTED BY THE OLD REFORM PARTY

EDMONTON — Premier Danielle Smith says Alberta will continue its $7.5-million pension-exit advertising and survey campaign, despite acknowledging the key dollar figure is disputed and likely headed to court.

Smith says her government stands by its assertion that Alberta deserves $334 billion if it leaves the Canada Pension Plan — a figure that represents more than half of all CPP assets.

Smith says the number stands because it’s the only number out there.

“We've asked the federal government to give us their interpretation. They declined,” Smith told reporters in Calgary on Thursday.

“We've asked the CPP Investment Board to give us their interpretation, it declined. 

“So maybe the next step is to go to court to see if the court supports our interpretation.” 

Related video: Finance ministers to meet on Alberta's proposal to leave Canada Pension Plan (The Canadian Press)  Duration 2:57  View on Watch

cbc.ca  'Many provinces' concerned about Alberta's CPP exit proposal: Trudeau

0:34

Smith reiterated comments she made a day earlier in Edmonton that until that transfer number is nailed down, she will not ask Albertans to vote in a referendum on leaving the CPP.

“We will have a firm number before we go into a referendum,” Smith said.

“Albertans want to know what the number will be.

“The amount of the asset transferred will then determine how much we can reduce premiums or it will determine how much we can increase benefits.”

Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley said it’s time for Smith’s government to stop altogether with its yo-yo messaging. 

“Two days ago, the premier and I think (pension engagement panel chairman) Jim Dinning were completely confident that the ($334-billion) number was a good number,” Notley told reporters Thursday in Calgary.

“Yesterday, they started to show what all the rest of us know, which is that it's a ridiculous number. 

“Today it's back to being a good number.”

Notley added, “At the end of the day, what is happening is Albertans’ money is being spent in a campaign full of misinformation and lies in order to persuade Albertans to let Danielle Smith and the UCP (government) have access to their retirement savings.”

For the past month, Smith’s government has been expounding in ads and an online survey the benefits that could come to Albertans with a $334-billion transfer from the CPP. That would include lower premiums, higher pensions and perhaps thousands of dollars in bonus payments to seniors.

Economists and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board say the amount Alberta would get would be, at best, half that amount and likely lower.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board pegs Alberta’s share of the CPP at 16 per cent. 

University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe, whose research on this topic has been cited by Dinning, puts the figure at about 20 per cent.

Alberta represents about 15 per cent of the people who contribute to CPP.

The advertising campaign and the online survey have come under fire from the NDP, the Canada Pension Plan board and from some callers on Dinning’s two recent telephone town halls.

They note the survey doesn't ask Albertans if they want to leave the CPP, but instead only asks them how they would like an Alberta plan structured.

The advertising trumpets the benefits of a government-commissioned report from analyst LifeWorks — which computed the $334-billion figure — but avoids mentioning the potential risks and downsides also flagged by LifeWorks.

Smith is slated to get a report from Dinning next spring on what Albertans think about a provincial pension plan.

She is then tentatively slated to make a decision on whether there is enough public interest in an Alberta pension plan to take it to referendum, with that vote possibly coming in 2025. 

In recent days, the issue has garnered national attention.

On Wednesday, federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland agreed to convene a meeting with provincial and territorial finance ministers to discuss Alberta's CPP-exit proposal.

The decision came after Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy called for a meeting in a letter to Freeland, saying Alberta's withdrawal could cause "serious harm over the long term to working people and retirees in Ontario and across Canada.''

Last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government will fight to retain the stability and integrity of the CPP, while Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre encouraged Albertans to stay in the federal nest-egg fund.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2023.

Dean Bennett, The Canadian Press

The Evolution of the Canadian Pension Model - World Bank Doc...

https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/780721510639698502/pdf/121375-The-Evolution-of-the-Canadian-Pension-Model-All-Pages-Final-Low-Res-9-10-2018.pdf

to the Canada Pension Plan and ongoing reforms to improve the governance and ... larger public sector plans, offering third-party asset management services ...


Ontario Pension Policy Making and the Politics of CPP Reform, 1963–2016

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 November 2019
Benjamin Christensen[Opens in a new window]
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Abstract


After years of pension policy drift in a broader context of global austerity, the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) was enhanced for the first time in 2016 to expand benefits for Canadian workers. This article examines Ontario's central role in these reforms. The deteriorating condition of workplace plans, coupled with rising retirement income insecurity across the province's labour force, generated new sources of negative feedback at the provincial level, fuelling Ontario's campaign for CPP reform beginning in the late 2000s. The political limits of policy drift and layering at the provincial level is considered in relationship to policy making at the national level. As shown, a new period of pension politics emerged in Canada after 2009, in which the historical legacy of CPP's joint governance structure led to a dynamic of “collusive benchmarking,” shaped in large part by political efforts of the Ontario government, leading to CPP enhancement.

Canada: Manitoba enacts Pension Benefits Act reforms

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Jared Mickall
Principal, Mercer Wealth


Contributor
Stephanie Rosseau
Principal, Mercer’s Law & Policy Group


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Fiona Webster
Principal, Mercer’s Law & Policy Group

August 31, 2021


Reforms to Manitoba’s Pension Benefits Act and accompanying regulations (Bill 8 and Regulation 63/2021) with a proclamation date of 1 Oct 2021, modernize the law, create a framework that protects individuals in times of financial hardship, and provide greater and easier access to locked-in funds.

Highlights

Plan participation after normal retirement. Pension plans may permit an active member who has reached the plan’s normal retirement age to stop contributing to the plan and accruing benefits. At actual retirement, for defined benefit pension plans, the member will be entitled to receive at least the actuarial equivalent value of the defined benefit pension that would have been paid if the member had retired at the normal retirement age.

Division of pension assets in event of relationship breakdown. Parties will be able to divide pension assets up to 50%, rather than choosing between the currently mandated 50-50 split or no division.
Unlocking fundsIndividuals who have reached age 65 will be allowed to fully unlock their Manitoba locked-in accounts held by a financial institution, subject to certain limitations.

A one-time 50% unlocking of a person’s pension funds after age 55 and prior to age 65 is still permitted; however, the Superintendent will no longer be required to approve such requests.

Individuals undergoing prescribed hardship will be able to unlock all or part of their Manitoba locked-in accounts held by a financial institution, subject to certain limitations.

Other changes. The legislation also addresses the filling of a nonactive voting representative on a pension committee, allows for specified multiemployer plans, clarifies the application of specific provisions, and includes other housekeeping changes.
Related resourcesNews release (Government, 17 Aug 2021)

Bill 8 (Government)

Regulation 63/2021 (Government)