NASA’s Lucy mission went to visit an asteroid and got more than it bargained for

Ashley Strickland, CNN
Fri, November 3, 2023 

NASA/Goddard/SwRI/Johns Hopkins APL/NOIRLab

When NASA’s Lucy mission flew by its first asteroid this week, its cameras captured a surprise.

The Lucy spacecraft zoomed by the small asteroid Dinkinesh, located in our solar system’s main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. But what astronomers thought was one asteroid is really a binary pair of space rocks.

Hal Levison, principal investigator for Lucy at the Southwest Research Institute, said Dinkinesh, which means “marvelous” in the Amharic language of Ethiopia, “really did live up to its name.”

“This is marvelous,” Levison said in a statement. “When Lucy was originally selected for flight, we planned to fly by seven asteroids. With the addition of Dinkinesh, two Trojan moons, and now this satellite, we’ve turned it up to 11.”

Astronomers had their first hints that Dinkinesh might be a duo when Lucy’s instrument suite detected changes in brightness in the weeks leading up to the spacecraft’s close approach on Wednesday.

What the Dinkinesh duo could reveal

The Lucy team believes the larger asteroid is a half-mile (805 meters) wide and the smaller space rock is 0.15 miles (220 meters) across.

Lucy came within 265 miles (425 kilometers) of the asteroid’s surface during its closest approach Wednesday afternoon.

The close approach was designed to help the Lucy spacecraft test its suite of equipment, including its terminal tracking system, which allows the spacecraft to locate the space rock autonomously and keep it within view while flying by at 10,000 miles per hour (4.5 kilometers per second).

“This is an awesome series of images. They indicate that the terminal tracking system worked as intended, even when the universe presented us with a more difficult target than we expected,” said Tom Kennedy, guidance and navigation engineer at Lockheed Martin, in a statement. (Lockheed Martin is a NASA partner on the Lucy mission.)

“It’s one thing to simulate, test, and practice,” Kennedy added. “It’s another thing entirely to see it actually happen.”

The data collected during the flyby will also offer insight into small asteroids, providing a comparison with others that previous NASA missions have observed.

“We knew this was going to be the smallest main belt asteroid ever seen up close,” said Keith Noll, Lucy project scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, in a statement. “The fact that it is two makes it even more exciting. In some ways these asteroids look similar to the near-Earth asteroid binary Didymos and Dimorphos that DART saw, but there are some really interesting differences that we will be investigating.”

In September 2022, NASA’s DART mission intentionally slammed into Dimorphos, a small moon orbiting the near-Earth asteroid Didymos, to demonstrate the technology needed to alter the trajectory of a space rock.

Preparing for future flybys

The data collected during the Lucy mission flyby will continue to return to Earth over the next week. This information will help the mission team prepare for the spacecraft’s future asteroid flybys, including a close encounter with another main belt asteroid called Donaldjohanson in 2025.

Lucy’s main goal is to explore Jupiter’s Trojan asteroid swarms, which have never been explored. The Trojan asteroids, which borrow their name from Greek mythology, orbit the sun in two swarms — one that’s ahead of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, and a second one that lags behind it.

So far, scientists’ main glimpses of the Trojans have largely been artist renderings or animations because the space rocks are too distant to be seen in detail with telescopes. Lucy will provide the first high-resolution images of what these asteroids look like.

Lucy is scheduled to reach the Trojan asteroids in 2027. Each of the asteroids Lucy is set to fly by differ in size and color.

The mission borrows its name from the Lucy fossil, the remains of an ancient human ancestor discovered in Ethiopia in 1974. The skeleton has helped researchers piece together aspects of human evolution, and NASA Lucy team members hope their mission will achieve a similar feat regarding the history of our solar system.

There are about 7,000 Trojan asteroids, and the largest is 160 miles (257 kilometers) across. The asteroids are like fossils themselves, representing the leftover material hanging around after the formation of giant planets in our solar system, including Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

The mission will help researchers peer back in time to learn how the solar system formed 4.5 billion years ago and unlock how planets ended up in their current spots.

'Brace, brace, brace': Small plane makes emergency landing on narrow gravel road north of Winnipeg


CBC
Fri, November 3, 2023

Seven people, including the pilot, were aboard this twin-engine plane when it ran out of fuel. (Submitted by Bryon Cassie - image credit)

Bryon Cassie was on a charter flight Thursday evening as the sun was settling low over snowy fields north of Winnipeg, when everything fell quiet — and not in a good way.

First, the left engine cut out.

"I've never been on a plane where that happens, but I know they can fly with only one. So everybody kind of took pictures and was joking about it," said Cassie, who was aboard the small Piper Navajo with six others, including the pilot.

They were flying back from the remote community of Sachigo Lake First Nation in northwestern Ontario. Cassie was returning from a work-related day trip for operator training at the water treatment plant.

The jokes ceased about 10 minutes later, when the second engine quit.

"The pilot turned around and said, 'Make sure your seatbelts are fastened and brace, brace, brace,'" Cassie said.

RCMP, fire and ambulance crews line up in front of the plane. A helicopter was also circling for a bit and left when it was clear there were no injuries, Byron Cassie says. (Submitted by Bryon Cassie)

As the plane drifted, the pilot guided it under some power lines and onto Pigeon Bluff Road, a narrow gravel strip girded by snowy fields about 20 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

"It was actually very smooth — as smooth a landing as at the airport," Cassie said.

No one was injured and the plane was undamaged.

"As far as I understand it, we ran out of fuel. I don't know why, either a miscalculation or heavier winds than anticipated or something like that, but in a bad situation … he did an excellent job. He was very calm."

The pilot only had two options for his makeshift runway — the road or the adjacent field, Cassie said.

Bryon Cassie poses for a selfie with the Piper Navajo in the background on Pigeon Bluff Road. (Submitted by Bryon Cassie )

"He had to make the decisions very quickly. The field looked very bumpy, so I think there would have been a lot more damage and it would have been a lot harder to get the plane out," Cassie said.

With time to digest things and be flooded by gratitude, the jokes among the passengers started up again.

"We stopped in front of a house and a little kid came out and started taking pictures, so it was kind of funny that way. We were joking, 'Hey, your bus is here,' and that kind of stuff," Cassie said.

"We were all relieved and quite happy and in very good spirits. A plane going down without power on a road in a rural area, coming back from a remote northern location, having just flown over a lake — this was a very good outcome to what could have been a really bad situation."

Before long, emergency lights flashed in the distance as RCMP, fire and ambulance crews arrived.

"There was a helicopter circling overhead for a little while, too, I guess just making sure everybody was OK, and when they found out there was nothing really that required their attention, they just left," Cassie said.

RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre, in an email to CBC News, said a call came in at 4:55 p.m. of a possible plane crash after the aircraft lost contact with St. Andrews airport.

Photos shot by Bryon Cassie, one of the passengers on a small plane that was forced to make an emergency landing on a road in the rural municipality of St. Andrews, north of Winnipeg, on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023.
 (Submitted by Bryon Cassie)

Officers kept the road blocked off until the plane could be moved. It was towed to nearby Highway 67, where it was refuelled and took off again around 7:30 p.m.

Only the pilot was aboard that time. A couple of trucks had been sent out by the charter company to drive Cassie and the others, from other companies, back to Winnipeg.

"When we left, they were just getting ready to hook up a truck to the front of the plane to tow it," he said.

Cassie's work has taken him many places on many planes over the past 15 years. He's been as far north as Resolute Bay in Nunavut and delays once get him stuck in Rankin Inlet for four days.

But Thursday evening's experience was a first.

"But honestly, it was kind of pretty cool," Cassie said. "You always think, in the back of your mind, I wonder what would happen if this happened or if that happened. And in this case, I got to live out one of these experiences with no repercussions.

"[It] was sort of like a bucket list thing for me."

Cassie said he loves amusement rides and even jumped off the 350-metre tower at the Strat Hotel in Las Vegas.

"I don't usually get too nervous or anxious around things like that," he said.

He was ready to get back onto that Piper Navajo and take off from Highway 67, if given the chance.

"If they had fuelled up and were willing to take us back to Winnipeg, I would've. I love flying," he said.

"I ride motorcycles and honestly, it's a lot more nerve-wracking riding in traffic on a bike than this was."

A spokesperson with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada told CBC News in an email the agency is still gathering information and assessing the incident to determine whether a full investigation will be launched.

CBC News has also reached out to Eagle Air Enterprises, the owner of the charter company, but has not yet received a response.

Canada’s jobless rate rises to 5.7%, fuelling bets Bank of Canada rate hikes are done

The Canadian Press
Fri, November 3, 2023 



OTTAWA — Canada’s unemployment rate rose to 5.7 per cent last month as job opportunities became less plentiful in an economy weighed down by high interest rates.

Statistics Canada released its October labour force survey Friday, which showed the economy added a modest 18,000 jobs.

The gain was not enough to keep the unemployment rate from rising as the pace of job creation trails population growth.

Canada’s unemployment rate was 5.5 per cent in September.

October marks the fourth increase in the jobless rate over the past six months and adds another data point in favour of the Bank of Canada's rate pause, according to economists.

"While the headline job gain was uneventful, make no mistake that the underlying picture for Canada's labour market is softening," wrote Bank of Montreal chief economist Douglas Porter in a note to clients.

Employment rose last month in construction and information and culture and recreation, but the increase was offset by declines in wholesale and retail trade as well as manufacturing.

Wages continued to grow quickly, but the pace slowed last month compared to September, with average hourly wages up 4.8 per cent to $34.08 from a year ago.

The Bank of Canada opted to hold its key interest rate steady at five per cent during its last two decision meetings, largely due to growing evidence that the economy is feeling the impact of higher rates.

Gross domestic product data showed the economy shrank in the second quarter and a preliminary estimate from Statistics Canada suggests another contraction in the third quarter.

The labour market has remained relatively resilient since interest rates started to rise in March 2022 as employers maintained their appetite for hiring post-pandemic. But job vacancies have been on the decline this year and Friday’s report suggests job prospects are continuing to dwindle.

Among those who were unemployed in September, a larger proportion stayed unemployed in October than 12 months prior, suggesting “job seekers are facing more difficulties finding employment than a year ago.”

Employment opportunities are expected to become even more sparse as the effect of previous rate hikes increasingly filter through the economy.

"In no way should the Bank of Canada hike again, given everything we know right now," said James Orlando, TD's director of economics. "We think they've done enough. And they should just ... hold steady right now and (let) the economy continue to slow."

The unemployment rate has already risen by 0.7 percentage points this year and Orlando says TD is expecting it to climb to 6.7 per cent in 2024.

"The 0.7 per cent adjustment is big, and it's moving in the right direction with respect to getting the economy into balance. But there's still more to go," Orlando said.

While the Bank of Canada has not fully closed the door to more rate hikes, governor Tiff Macklem has made it clear that the central bank doesn't want to raise rates more than necessary.

During a Senate committee meeting this week, Macklem said the bank opted to hold rates steady in part because it is anticipating a wave of mortgage renewals will further cool the economy.

Canadians who are renewing their mortgages with higher interest rates are forced to cut back elsewhere, slowing spending on goods and services.

The Bank of Canada is hoping this pullback will slow inflation and bring it back to its two per cent target.

So far, inflation has fallen considerably from a peak of 8.1 per cent, reaching 3.8 per cent in September.

But higher borrowing costs are posing a new challenge to families, while the cost of necessities continues to climb rapidly.

In October, Statistics Canada says one in three Canadians reported living in a household that found it difficult or very difficult to meet its financial needs when it comes to transportation, housing, food, clothing and other necessary expenses over the previous four weeks.

While that figure is down slightly from a year ago, it’s still up considerably from October 2020, when 20.4 per cent of Canadians reported the same thing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2023.

Nojoud Al Mallees, The Canadian Press

Windsor unemployment jumps to 7.1%, highest among cities in Canada


CBC
Fri, November 3, 2023 

Windsor's unemployment rate jumped to 7.1 per cent in October, the highest among major cities in Canada, new numbers from Statistics Canada show.

It's also an increase from last month — Windsor's unemployment rate was six per cent in September.

Tashlyn Teskey is the manager of research projects with Workforce Windsor Essex, a workforce and community development board.

She says the result was "a little more shocking than we expected it to be."

The rate "again puts us unfortunately at the the highest unemployment rate in Canada, which we had gotten away from for the last couple months," Teskey said.

But, Teskey says, it's not unexpected for October, when much summer seasonal employment ends and holiday employment hasn't yet started.

And, there's a local factor that might help account for the spike — the Stellantis Windsor Assembly Plant, a major employer, was shut down for retooling for the month.

"So it's nothing to be real concerned about as a long-term change," Teskey said.

Teskey said the organization is also seeing a bit of a decrease in job postings, noting the same thing happened last October.

"It might be due to the increase in minimum wage and maybe some employers that offer minimum wage positions maybe holding off with some of their hiring," she said.

If trends continue, Teskey said they'll likely seethe unemployment number dip in November and December with holiday hiring and as Windsor assembly workers head back to work.

According to Statistics Canada, the economy added about 18,000 jobs in October.

The agency released its October labour force survey Friday, which showed the economy added a modest 18,000 jobs. The national unemployment rate was 5.7 per cent in October, up from 5.5 per cent in September.

October marks the fourth increase in the country's jobless rate over the last six months.

Employment rose last month in construction and information and culture and recreation, but the increase was offset by declines in wholesale and retail trade as well as manufacturing.

Project gets $2 million to put sexual health services into local pharmacies


CBC
Sat, November 4, 2023 

Debbie Kelly, PhD, is one of the principal investigators in the project to bring sexual health services into local pharmacies in provinces such as N.L., N.S., and Alberta.

 (Submitted by Memorial University - image credit)

A project dedicated to making sexual health services accessible in pharmacies has received $2 million in funding from a federal agency.

Doctors and researchers from across the country collaborated on a project looking at ways to make sexual health care more accessible to Canadians by getting more of it into pharmacies.

Dr. Debbie Kelly is the director of the School of Pharmacy at MUN, was the principal investigator in the project.

"What we're going to be doing is looking at the evidence across the board," Kelly said. "And how do we move it from our existing systems to make health care more accessible for Canadians in relation to sexual well-being."

Funding has been provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to be used over the next five years.

The project aims to collect research on education, prevention, and treatment resources for sexually transmitted and bloodborne diseases such as HIV and syphilis, and then translate this research into concrete changes in the health-care system. Kelly said the current capacity of the health-care system to provide these services is limited.

"We're losing people between getting tested and actually connecting them with care and treatment," she said. "So if we can make testing easier for people by using rapid tests at pharmacies and connecting them with a health-care provider like a pharmacist, we can provide that level of preventive care. And if somebody has a positive test, they can be connected with treatment."

Taking a community approach

Kelly said that with the funding, they can learn better how to integrate their model into pharmacies, and keep it there.

To identify best practices, they are talking to people involved in the process, such as pharmacists. They aim to understand their workflow and find ways to effectively manage their workload. Kelly said many pharmacists face resource and staff shortages in handling their regular workload.

Additionally, Kelly said they will speak with people in different communities to learn about their specific needs, as different areas have a higher rate of certain diseases and challenges than others.

It's important work, Kelly explained, because many people are not aware of the risks of catching a disease that could take months or even years to manifest outwardly in the body. With this model, local pharmacies would have the ability to help people become aware and connect them to healthcare providers when they find out they carry a disease.

"And so [we're] figuring out a lot of those pieces of the puzzle, so that at the end of the day, we can be nimble and respond to what the provinces need, when they need it, over the span of the next five years."

Copper wire theft leaves 900 Fredericton area customers without internet


CBC
Sat, November 4, 2023 

A copper wire theft in Fredericton left hundreds of Bell Aliant customers without internet service on Saturday. (CBC - image credit)

About 900 Bell Aliant customers are without internet following a copper wire theft in Fredericton.

A spokesperson for Bell Aliant said the cable theft is affecting internet, television and home phone services for customers in Fredericton North, Barkers Point, Pepper Creek, Lower St. Marys and Noonan.

According to Bell, the company has had 115 incidents of vandalism in New Brunswick since the start of 2022. They say each incident takes an average of 18 hours to repair.

CBC has reached out to Fredericton police for comment, but has not received a response.

Bell Aliant crews string new wire across the Nashwaak River following a copper wire theft that has left 900 customers without power.

Bell Aliant crews string new wire across the Nashwaak River on Saturday following a copper wire theft. (Lars Schwarz)

This is the second copper wire theft in Fredericton in the past week. On Wednesday, police responded to a call at Pine Grove Nursing Home, where thieves had taken the copper wire from the nursing home's Christmas display.

NEWFOUNDLAND

Bonfire Night could get a little wild back in the day

CBC
Sat, November 4, 2023 

In 2019, a large amount of community members gathered to watch the community bonfire and share food and drink on November 5 in Portugal Cove-St. Philips. This year, there will be less people with physical distancing requirements in place. (Submitted by Nicole Clark - image credit)

Communities across Newfoundland and Labrador mark Nov.5 as Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night, which dates back to the failed Gunpowder Plot of1605. (Submitted by Nicole Clark)

Whether you call it Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night, it's been celebrated across Newfoundland and Labrador for generations.

The event's origins date exactly to Nov. 5, 1605, when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up the House of Parliament, including the king and other high ranking officials, to protest how Catholics in England were persecuted.

The attack — dubbed the Gunpowder Plot — was meant to invoke a revolution, but Fawkes was caught and executed. Afterwards his death became a celebration, with bonfires lit across England to celebrate the strength of the Protestant majority.

But the event has markedly changed over the years in Newfoundland, the oldest of the English colonies. Over time, the tone of Bonfire Night has evolved to more of a community celebration — but one with a bit of a salty reputation.

Folklorist Dale Jarvis spoke with the St. John's Morning Show's Krissy Holmes, to trace the various ways people in the province have marked the fiery night. Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Traditionally, what has Guy Fawkes Night represented to people in N.L.?

A: I think it's interesting that we call it Bonfire Night. The Guy Fawkes bit of it has kind of been forgotten for the most part in Newfoundland. It certainly started off with Guy Fawkes, but we have had Bonfire Night for a very long time.

In England, there was kind of a shift, from it being a big public display, to something that was more kind of on the periphery, that was something that kids would participate in. And I'm sure there are lots of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians who have memories of starting to collect anything burnable back in September. Everyone had their favourite spots, like on a beach or sometimes on a high point of land. And they would gather all this stuff together for the big night when it would all go up in flames.

The partnership with the fire department makes the annual bonfire night in Portugal Cove-St. Philips possible, Nicole Clark said.

In Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, the town has teamed up with the fire department for an annual community bonfire night. (Submitted by Nicole Clark)

Is there a bit of a dangerous undertone to the night too, especially for firefighters?

It's kind of part of that tradition of Mischief Week. We talk about Devil's Night — the night before Halloween — when people play tricks. But it was really a full week of mischief and mayhem. A time when all kinds of things could happen. It was sort of a time where you could maybe get back at a neighbour who had been annoying you.

You might do something like steal their outhouse, a very popular item to burn on Bonfire Night. You would go and just knock the outhouse over and they'd wake up in the morning ready to have their morning ablutions and the outhouse would be on fire somewhere out in the distance.

What other notable things have come up over the years to burn?

I think the one thing that I kind of associate in some ways with Bonfire Night in Newfoundland is the burning of tires. And I know all the environmental agencies every year are all worried about, 'you know, you shouldn't be burning tires.' And they are correct. But it really was a tradition.

There's a great video that was shot in the 1980s from Brigus. It was done by a folklorist, from the folklore department at Memorial.

And there's a great scene of boys out in Brigus harbour jigging for tires. At that time, if you had an old tire, you'd just throw it in the harbour if you didn't need it anymore. So the boys were jigging up these tires. They'd take them up to the top of the hill for the Bonfire Night, light the tires in the fire, and then roll these burning tires down the hill into the ocean.

There were also cautionary stories, telling people to keep their cats indoors?

I don't know how many cats ever actually perished in a bonfire. But yeah, it was one of those things like, 'Oh, you got to keep your animals in on Bonfire Night, because who knows what might happen.' Anything remotely flammable, I think would have a chance of ending up in a bonfire.

So there's another interesting dynamic because N.L. was an English colony, but there's a lot of Irish Catholics and Bonfire Night isn't a thing in Ireland?

It did have its start as a kind of a semi-religious holiday, in some ways. It was a state holiday as early as 1605, 1606... Over the years it really did acquire an anti-Catholic kind of flavour. And I know some communities in Newfoundland never had bonfires on Bonfire Night. Some Roman Catholic communities would have their own Bonfire Night around St. John's day, so they would have bonfires in the middle of the summer.

But other communities in Newfoundland that were kind of more mixed Protestant and Catholic, they would have bonfires just the same.

This time last year I was out on Fogo Island and we heard great stories in Tilting, which is an Irish Catholic community, of what they called Torch Night.

Dale Jarvis, a folklorist and author, says in the past Bonfire Night was a way for people to poke fun at people people in power, and sometimes to play tricks on others. (Kelly Jones)

The boys would get old tar barrels or they would get galvanized buckets and put stuff in the buckets that they could light on fire. And then they would kind of string the handle of the bucket over a pole. And then a boy would carry each end of the pole with this flaming bucket. And then they would swirl the pole around so that these flaming buckets would make big circles and flankers and sparks would go everywhere, which must have been quite the sight to see.

We don't have the giant parades and ceremonies that we see in places like England, where what you're describing was basically playing out: buckets of fire and giant crosses on fire and effigies. What's going on here?

This was something that kind of evolved over time and quite often people would have an effigy of Guy Fawkes and put it on top of the pile and then burn him along with the bonfire.

But then whoever was kind of out of favour in the moment might also find themselves in effigy. So that might be the Pope or a particular king or even a local politician or local leader of some kind who had been unpopular that year.

You know like we now have [Rising Tide's annual] Revue. We don't burn people in effigy in Newfoundland. But you know, there's that tradition of poking fun of of people in power — and that was always part of it.

Is the tone different today?

I've heard anecdotally from nurses that they always dreaded Bonfire Night because they knew kids were going to end up at the Janeway children's hospital with all kinds of serious burns.

In a lot of communities, the volunteer fire departments have really kind of taken over Bonfire Night. And they're the ones that are running these events in a lot of communities, which is kind of an interesting evolution. Maybe it's coming back more to that kind of public celebration and not so much a family celebration.

What do you think it all represents today? Why do you think we still do it?

I mean, it's fun! Who doesn't love a bonfire? And you know, there is this kind of old tradition of bonfires having an important part in various world cultures.

I don't think there's a direct link to that, but I think there is something, you know, maybe maybe harkening back to when our ancestors gathered around fires.

You know, there's something about fire that's really exciting. It's not something in our daily lives these days. We don't cook on open fires all the time.

So bonfires are kind of a special thing and they are certainly nostalgic and they bring people together. Everyone loves to sit around a bonfire.

CANADA

'I will never return to Moxies': Restaurant chain criticized for firing employees after pro-Palestine march

A video on social media showed workers cheering during a rally on the steps of a Moxies location in downtown Toronto.


Katie Scott
Updated Sat, November 4, 2023

Moxies is being criticized for dismissing four employees who openly expressed their support for the National March for Gaza on Oct. 21 by cheering on the steps of a restaurant in Toronto.

Following a two-week deliberation period, the company said the employees in question "are no longer working at Moxies," according to B'nai Brith Canada, an independent Jewish Human Rights organization.

Journalist Caryma Sa'd posted a video on X, previously known as Twitter, showcasing the employees cheering in solidarity with the protest. In the clip, workers from the downtown Toronto Moxies location on the corner of University Avenue and Wellington Street West can be seen supporting the rally from the restaurant's front steps.

"Restaurant workers show solidarity with National March for Gaza," the Sa'd captioned the post, which has since been viewed more than 890,000 times.

Moxies issued a response to the video, asserting "the conduct of our employees does not align with our company's values." It emphasized that "participating in demonstrations while in uniform or on our premises is strictly prohibited and does not reflect our corporate culture."

"We sincerely apologize to anyone impacted negatively by these actions. We ask that our team behaves respectfully and demonstrate empathy and sensitivity and can assure you that a formal investigation has been launched and appropriate disciplinary actions will be taken for all involved," the company added on Oct. 22.

"Moxies also condemns any forms of violence, and our hearts are with the innocent civilians who are suffering and those in our communities who are hurting."

According to Toronto-based employment lawyer Muneeza Sheikh, Moxies' initial course of action should have entailed discerning whether the event in question was explicitly anti-Israel or a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian civilians.

"In reviewing the footage, it would appear that the employees themselves state nothing more than 'Palestine.' They did not attend the rally, even if it was an anti-Israel rally, but cooperated, albeit to a nominal degree during working hours," Sheikh told Yahoo Canada.

Sheikh raised concerns about the extent to which Moxies verified whether the employees had a clear understanding of the rally's purpose.

"If the rally was hateful towards a specific group, in this case, Jewish individuals, then it would be reasonable for Moxies to take the position that such attendance would be in violation of the human rights, not only of its Jewish employees but Jewish patrons," she elaborated.

Under those circumstances, Sheikh stated Moxies' apology would have been reasonable, and some level of disciplinary action against the employees would have been warranted.

Muneeza Sheikh is a Toronto-based lawyer who's partner at Levitt Sheikh Employment and Labour Law. She says employers like Moxies should not terminate harshly in these incident. (Courtesy of Muneeza Sheikh)

"If employees are attending anti-Israel/anti-Palestine/anti-Muslim/anti-Jewish rallies, the assumption is that there will be individuals inciting hatred towards a group. That could lead to a termination," Sheikh explained. "However, employers should not terminate rashly or else they will not be able to insulate themselves from liability in the face of wrongful termination cases that are sure to ensue."

Sheikh also clarified the "employees do have the right to peacefully protest, and employers cannot assume that all gatherings of protestors are a 'hate fest.'"

"In taking that position and terminating employees as a result, the onus will be on the employer to demonstrate that the actions of their employees were discriminatory and hateful," she said. "Inciting hatred towards any group could be cause for termination, as long as it qualifies as hateful and discriminatory.

"Attending an event that makes your employer uncomfortable is not the same as attending an event that spews hatred towards any one group. Employers should educate themselves objectively on the difference, or they run the serious risk of a slew of wrongful termination actions."

As a result, a growing number of social media users are advocating for a boycott of Moxies in response to the termination of the four employees.

Others on social media expressed their support for Moxies' decision to let go of the employees.

Rogers to lock out unionized technicians in Metro Vancouver on Monday as contract talks stall

CBC
Sat, November 4, 2023 

A drone shot of Rogers Communications headquarters in Toronto. The company says it will lock out unionized technicians in Metro Vancouver on Monday, after the union said it planned a full work stoppage for that day. (Patrick Morrell/CBC - image credit)

Rogers Communications says it plans to lock out nearly 300 unionized technicians, formerly with Shaw, after their union issued a strike notice for Monday.

The United Steelworkers (USW) union represents Rogers workers who support homes and businesses for internet, phone and television services in Metro Vancouver under their Local 1944, Unit 60 chapter.

It says that 99.6 per cent of workers voted in favour of strike action on Sept. 22, with USW saying that the company plans to increase the role of outside contract workers and erode union members' jobs.

However, the company has pushed back against these claims and says its latest offer actually promises job growth for unionized employees. It says the proposed lockout will ensure there is no impact on consumers.

Jayson Little, a staff representative for USW, said that former Shaw workers were cautiously optimistic for their jobs once a huge merger was approved earlier this year.

"Rogers made the commitment to the government ... to ensure that not only jobs would be maintained, that there would be an increase in jobs," he told CBC News.

"The message that we've heard loud and clear from the employer in this round of bargaining, is that they're really interested in expanding contracting out — and eroding the jurisdictional boundaries that we used to have between us and contractors."

Rogers and Shaw applications are pictured on a cellphone in Ottawa on Monday, May 9, 2022. The Competition Bureau says is seeking to block Rogers Communications Inc.'s proposed $26-billion acquisition of Shaw Communications Inc.

A huge Rogers-Shaw merger was approved earlier this year, with Rogers promising to add 3,000 jobs in Western Canada as part of the terms. (The Canadian Press)

The union had already issued an overtime ban earlier this week, and was planning a series of rotating strikes following a full work stoppage on Monday.

Little says that unionized workers feel "disenfranchised and very disappointed" with their new employer, especially after Rogers said they would create 3,000 jobs in Western Canada under the terms of their large merger.

The two sides had been at the bargaining table since February as the union's members worked under the terms of their previous collective agreement, which expired in March. Little says that the union wants to get back to the table and get a fair deal for its members.

Rogers says consumers not affected

In a statement, Rogers said the Monday lockout was a "reluctant step" that came after the union refused to clarify its strike notice on Friday.

"Our goal has always been to achieve a negotiated settlement that meets the needs of our employees and our customers, and we've presented a fair and balanced proposal that would grow the units and protect jobs," wrote Rogers spokesperson Cam Gordon.

Gordon's statement said that the company was not looking to replace workers with contractors, and that its latest offer includes language to add 15 workers to the combined bargaining units, as well as backfill vacancies with full-time workers.

He added that Rogers' use of contractors has remained the same over the last few decades, and they are primarily used during seasonal shifts, resource shortages and new construction projects.

"We've activated our contingency plans so we can continue to carry out our critical work for our customers and meet their needs without interruption," he wrote of the upcoming lockout. "We remain ready and willing to get back to the negotiating table and work on a settlement agreement in good faith."

Rogers to lock out former Shaw technicians Monday after contract talks break down

The Canadian Press
Sat, November 4, 2023

A breakdown in contract negotiations has prompted plans by Rogers Communication Inc. to lock out nearly 300 former Shaw technicians on Monday after the union issued a 72-hour notice of workers' intent to walk off the job.

United Steelworkers union Local 1944 Unit 60, which represents the workers in Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey and Langley, B.C., said it notified Rogers it planned to begin a series of rotating strikes at noon on Monday.

That came after rejecting a deal from the company that the union called "a shameful attack on our members, their families and the communities Rogers serves."

But Rogers said it will lock the employees out on Monday instead, describing the move as a reluctant step to ensure the company can continue to provide service for its customers without interruption.

" Following the union’s notice of rotating strikes, they declined to further clarify, so we were left with no choice with this uncertainty," Rogers spokesman Cam Gordon said in a statement.

"Our goal has always been to achieve a negotiated settlement that meets the needs of our employees and our customers, and we’ve presented a fair and balanced proposal that would grow the units and protect jobs. It’s really disappointing the union took this step and is misrepresenting facts."

The former Shaw technicians, who were absorbed by Rogers when the companies merged earlier this year, support homes and businesses for internet, phone and television services throughout B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

Their concerns largely centre on job security amid accusations the company has been increasing its reliance on contractors to perform their duties.

USW spokesman Jayson Little said Rogers hasn't moved off its bargaining position of trying to contract out "some of the long-established jurisdictional work" of unionized members and expand the scope of what contractors would be permitted to do.

He said the planned rotating strikes would have minimized the effect any labour action would have on customers, but Rogers' move to lock workers out will keep them off the job entirely.

"The workers are being forgotten in all these conversations about mergers and acquisitions and competition and things like that," Little said. "The workers are really the ones that are being disenfranchised here."

The union has said that recent job losses associated with the merger, meant to reduce overlap following Rogers' $26-billion takeover of Shaw in April, call into question the company's commitment to creating 3,000 new jobs in Western Canada over five years.

"They make commitments publicly and then behind the scenes, they pull the rug out from under their employees and our members," said Little.

"It's unfortunate because our members were optimistic that this could be a good opportunity to really help Rogers reintroduce themselves to the West."

The two sides had been at the bargaining table since February as the union's members worked under the terms of their previous collective agreement that expired on March 23.

Workers voted 99.6 per cent in favour of a strike mandate in September, around two months after entering into a 60-day conciliation process with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

Last week, the union asked workers to limit overtime in an attempt to pressure Rogers to move off its position at the bargaining table. But Little said Rogers retaliated by using "scab labour" to fill overtime needs.

Gordon said Rogers "took immediate steps to redeploy employees and contractors," adding the union's move made it harder for the company to fix services if customers experienced a service interruption.

"Our customers rely on us to stay connected, including reaching emergency services," he said Saturday.

"We’ve activated our contingency plans so we can continue to carry out our critical work for our customers and meet their needs without interruption. This includes redeploying employees and contractors.”

Gordon rejected the characterization that the company is "replacing technicians with contractors" and said Rogers' latest offer included language "to grow the combined bargaining unit by 15 members and backfill vacated roles with full-time employees, which would provide job security and further reduce the use of contractors."

Rogers said its practice of using contractors is meant to support seasonal shifts in work and alleviate resource shortages.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2023.

Companies in this story: (TSX:RCI.B)

Sammy Hudes, The Canadian Press

More than 100K Canadians sign petitions urging Trudeau to 'demand an immediate ceasefire' in Gaza

Canadians are calling on the federal government to push for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East as the war in Gaza rages on.

Joy Joshi
·Writer, Yahoo News Canada
Updated Sat, November 4, 2023 

A House of Commons petition addressed to the prime minister of Canada is demanding Justin Trudeau calls for the bombing to stop in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war that has killed several innocent civilians.

The petition, started by Maëva Gaudrault Valente of Montreal, had the backing of more than 123,000 Canadians by Nov. 4 and lists the "creation of a humanitarian corridor" as one of its top demands.

The appeal insists the Canadian government meets its commitments under the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law while taking all steps necessary to building lasting peace by protecting both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.

Yahoo Canada reached out to Valente for a comment but did not receive a response by deadline.

After opening on Oct. 24 for signatures, social media users widely circulated the petition online, with Canadians urging for an end to the human catastrophe following the tragic events that began on Oct. 7.

"Canadians who support a ceasefire in Gaza — please take a moment and sign this House of Commons petition. ... I refuse to believe that only 0.3 per cent of Canadian adults support this!" a Facebook user penned in a post sharing the petition.

Another Facebook user emphazised how "helpless" they felt for not being able to do much for the civilians caught up in the middle of the war on the other side of the world.

"As a Canadian, I feel so helpless with what is going on in the Middle East. It might not be much, but I will use my voice every way I can, and that means signing this petition to demand our government act and demand a ceasefire. Opting out of voting was such a huge act of cowardice from our government on the heels of their standing ovation and honouring of a Nazi war veteran calling him a hero," they posted.

On Reddit, several communities shared the petition calling on the Canadian government to act faster while also sharing their disappointment at the lack of initiative from the country.

"It's 2023 and we have to petition our prime minister to not support genocide," said a user.

"We suck as a nation, with our own justifications, ideologies and ignorance of our own genocidal and settler colonial past and present. To call these things into question is to question your own identity as a Canadian/Westerner — and for many, this is too much," commented another user in a different community group.

The House of Commons petition has the most signatures from Ontario (more than 62,000), then British Columbia (16,539) and Quebec (15,510). The least number of signatures come from Nunavut (37) out of all Canadian territories and provinces.

Accompanying it are petitions from Oxfam Canada and Amnesty International Canada, demanding the same from the Canadian government.

The Oxfam Canada petition has also gathered more than 40,000 signatures from Canadians who are urging the Trudeau government to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Oxfam Canada Director of Policy and Campaigns Diana Sarosi said while the parliamentary petition carried significant weight, it is important for Canadians to keep pushing the government towards a quicker action.

"We need more and more people to call out and sign these petitions to let the government know what Canadians really want," Sarosi told Yahoo Canada.

Trudeau recently vocalised the need for humanitarian pauses in Gaza to allow for aid to reach those in dire need of it.

Sarosi told Yahoo Canada while relief organizations like Oxfam welcome the Canadian government's support, "pauses" — as pushed for by different governments — aren't much help.

"The pause is not enough," Sarosi shared emphatically. "Firstly, what does that even mean? A few hours a day? A couple of days? So it's really impossible to prepare for a response when the roads are bombed and there is no water or fuel. We really need a ceasefire.

"There are a lot of civilians who have already died. Many are injured and too many on the brink of starvation. Every day counts. We can't wait any longer."

The Oxfam official said relief organizations must be given access for the sake of civilian lives that are being lost every minute.

"There has been some help going in the last few days but it's only a drop in the ocean," Sarosi added. "With the continuous bombardment, it's impossible to provide help.

"There is no access for organizations like Oxfam, plus it's also not safe to deliver the basics given the current circumstances. A pause is just not enough."