Unilever faces calls to disclose Russian tax payments amid backlash over refusal to exit


Hannah Boland
Sat, 30 December 2023

Unilever Russia

Unilever is facing calls to be more transparent over its tax arrangement in Russia amid fresh scrutiny over its decision to remain in the country.

Campaigners are urging the Dove and Marmite maker to reveal how much it has paid to the Kremlin in the past year, saying it is the least it can do given its failure to abandon Russia.

It comes after the Russian government last month announced plans to remove requirements that force companies to publish information publicly.


President Vladimir Putin signed an order allowing certain businesses to “have the right to independently determine the content or scope of information to be disclosed or submitted”.

It is not yet clear which companies the order will affect, including Unilever.

However, the shift towards greater secrecy has sparked concerns among tax experts that it could become increasingly difficult to track how much companies are contributing to the Kremlin.

This has led to heightened scrutiny of the consumer goods giant’s tax payments given it is one of the largest Western firms still operating in Russia.

Companies such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s chose to exit in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, but Unilever retained its presence.

Unilever in 2022 condemned the war in Ukraine as a “brutal and senseless act by the Russian state” and suspended imports and exports into Russia.

However, the company – which has factories and employees in Russia – decided to continue selling what it deems “everyday essential food”, including its range of ice cream.

While Unilever typically publishes its own global tax report, there have been disparities between its figures and analyst estimates, which are compiled using Russian company data.

In its latest global tax report, Unilever says it paid 3.8bn roubles, or about £30m, in taxes in Russia in 2022.

It says it collected another 4.5bn roubles (around £39.5m) from employees and customers on behalf of the Russian government to account for things such as VAT and sales taxes.

However, experts at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) put Unilever’s total tax contributions in Russia at least $331m for 2022, alleging the company’s figures do not include all tax contributions.

KSE says it calculates its figures using local cashflow reports and official government data sources.

Valeriia Voshchevska, a campaigner with the Ukraine Solidarity Project, said Unilever needed to be transparent over the costs of staying in Russia: “They seem to think they can just sit this out, but every day the war goes on, Unilever’s complicity in it deepens.

“It’s an utter failure of leadership, and history won’t judge them kindly unless they do the right thing now.

“Unilever’s continued operations in Russia have seen the company fuel the war in Ukraine by paying millions into Putin’s war chest.”

Activists protested Unilever's continued presence in Russia outside its London HQ on Mr Schumacher’s first day as chief executive - Chris J Ratcliffe

Unilever has already been added to Ukraine’s list of international war sponsors over its decision to keep operating in Russia.

However, the company has said that staying in Russia to sell food and hygiene products is “the best option, both to avoid the risk of our business ending up in the hands of the Russian state, either directly or indirectly, and to help protect our people”.

The company, which has for years prided itself on its “social purpose”, has claimed that there is a risk that by selling the business, the Kremlin could potentially “gain further benefit”.

This position has come under scrutiny after it admitted it would allow thousands of its Russian workers to be conscripted into the Ukraine war.

After this position was revealed earlier this year, Unilever said it “always complies with all the laws of the countries we operate in”.

In October, new chief executive Hein Schumacher said Unilever was still considering all options. However, he added: “It is clear that the containment actions that we have taken minimise Unilever’s economic contribution to the Russian state.”

It is the latest in a series of ethical wrangles for Unilever.

In December, the UK competition watchdog announced it was launching an investigation into claims the consumer goods giant was involved in “greenwashing”.

This involves claims that shoppers have been misled about how environmentally friendly their products are.

Unilever responded to the inquiry by saying it was “surprised and disappointed” with the announcement, as it rebutted the claims.

When asked about its tax arrangement in Russia, Unilever declined to comment.

These Metro Vancouver organizations are helping redirect food headed for B.C.'s landfills


CBC
Sat, December 30, 2023 

Stuart Lilley, owner of ReFeed Farm in Langley, B.C., says there are solutions to reduce and repurpose food waste but they take time, effort and resources — which some retailers and manufacturers say they can't afford. (CBC News - image credit)

As huge amounts of food are thrown out every day, some Metro Vancouver organizations are helping recover that food and preventing it from going to waste.

"Throwing food in landfills is really the worst outcome for everybody, the people and the environment," Jessica Regan, CEO and co-founder of FoodMesh, said during an interview with CBC's BC Today.

The food rescue service in Vancouver helps farmers, manufacturers and retailers sell that food at a reduced price or donate it to food banks.

Regan says organic waste in landfills rots and produces methane — a greenhouse gas — that's more potent than carbon dioxide.

According to the province, organic waste makes up 40 per cent of materials in B.C. landfills.

FoodMesh says they want to bring that number down as much as possible.

FoodMesh co-founder Jessica Regan, pictured during an interview over Zoom, says her social enterprise connects businesses who grow surplus food with charities and organizations that can use them. (Zoom Screen Grab)

To do that, Regan says, it's important to address a flaw in the supply chain.

"It is really the industrial, commercial and institutional businesses where the large volume of waste generates," she said.

A 2019 study by Seconda Harvest, a Canadian food rescue organization, found that around 58 per cent of all food produced in Canada — about 35.5 million tonnes — is wasted before they even hit grocery store shelves.

'A broken food system that needs to be fixed'

Some of the main problems, Regan says, is the lack of appetite for "ugly" fruit and vegetables.

"If something is too ripe for retail, oftentimes it gets discarded," she said.

"We built this B2B marketplace that allows manufacturers to connect and donate unpredictable ad hoc surplus food to other organizations."

Donating to food-relief organizations is a priority, while food that is no longer suitable for human consumption is used for compost or shared with farmers as farm feed for animals.

Waste containing contaminants such as glass and plastics are is eventually moved into a landfill. According to the province, 40 per cent of materials in B.C. landfills are organic. (Jon Hernandez/CBC)

A similar initiative is ReFeed Farms, which partners with grocery stores, food retailers, manufacturers and restaurants to rescue food headed for the landfill.

Last year, owner Stuart Lilley says, the Langley, B.C.-based company sorted 11 million pounds of discarded food to give to food banks and local farmers.

"We have a broken food system that needs to be fixed," Lilley said during a phone interview with CBC, adding that the linear, take-make-dispose food system is unsustainable and results in a high volume of waste.

"Food manufacturers are having to do everything. They are doing all the collecting, processing, grading at their facilities, which is very costly for them and thus it's cheaper for them to simply throw waste away," he said.

"We make things easier to recover those waste and build a supply chain to connect them with charities and other organizations."

The provincial government has also committed to diverting organic waste from landfills, launching the Organics Infrastructure and Collection Program in 2020, which supports projects that convert organic waste into energy.

While Lilley and Regan acknowledge the province's commitment to food waste diversion, they both say more needs to be done.

"Governments in other countries are forbidding the destruction of unsold food products," said Regan, "and we frankly need to step up a little bit."

B.C. Supreme Court pauses legislation banning drug consumption in public spaces, citing 'irreparable harm'

CBC
Fri, December 29, 2023

People gather at a Drug User Liberation Front rally in support of a safe supply of drugs in Vancouver in June 2020. In November this year, the B.C. NDP government banned illegal substance use in most public spaces. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC - image credit)

The B.C. NDP government's legislation to ban all drug use in a wide range of public spaces has been suspended by the province's Supreme Court.

The B.C. Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act, passed early November, has now been paused for three months pending a review.

The province had banned illegal substance use from all public parks to sports fields and beaches, as well as close to any workplaces, skate parks, pools, transit stops, residences or playgrounds — even within six metres of "a place to which the public has access" and "a prescribed place."

But B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson ordered the law paused until March 31, ruling it would likely result in more deaths, displacement and criminalization of people who use drugs (PWUD).

"Irreparable harm will be caused if the act comes into force," Hinkson wrote in his ruling, released Friday.

"... There is a high degree of probability that at least some of the harm set out by the plaintiff will in fact occur.

"Centrally, but not exclusively, the act will promote more lone drug use ... particularly dangerous due to an absence or a diminished degree of support in the event of an overdose. When people are isolated and out of sight, they are at a much higher risk of dying."

A man holds boxes containing cocaine, meth and heroin that was given out by Jean Swanson during a safe supply event in Vancouver, B.C. on Wednesday, July 14, 2021.
(Ben Nelms/CBC)

Hinkson granted a temporary injunction suspending the law, which had been sought by the Harm Reduction Nurses Association (HRNA).

Toxic, unregulated drugs killed at least 2,039 people in the province in the first 10 months of this year, according to the B.C. Coroners Service last month. That brings the total to 13,317 deaths since B.C. declared a public health emergency in 2016.

The HRNA said in a statement Friday that the act would "exacerbate many harms" to drug users, not only undermining efforts toward decriminalization, but endangering people's lives.

"The act would cause irreparable harm to people at risk of injury and death amid a public health crisis," the association said in a statement Friday.

"This proposed law would threaten the lives, health, and safety, and Charter rights of our clients, many of whom live in communities that lack safe, indoor locations where drug use is permitted."

In a statement following the ruling, B.C.'s public safety minister said the law was meant to protect families, children and "vulnerable community members," while also claiming to help substance users.

"While we respect the decision of the court, we are concerned that this decision temporarily prevents the province from regulating where hard drugs are used," Mike Farnworth said in a statement Friday.

"We're determined to keep doing everything we can to save lives in the face of the toxic drug crisis … while recognizing that hard drugs should not be used in public places frequented by children and families, as well as vulnerable community members."

N.L.'s hydrogen companies want strict rules to avoid subsidies for 'adulterated' competitors

CBC
Sat, December 30, 2023 

Wind turbines could soon dot the horizons of Newfoundland, as several green hydrogen projects move toward final investment decisions. A big question mark remaining is how the federal government will structure its lucrative tax credits.

 (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader - image credit)

Billions of dollars hang in the balance as Canadian hydrogen companies await specific regulations from the federal government on how they can qualify for a lucrative tax credit.

Companies in Canada's most eastern province are hoping those rules are on the stricter side.

It's been more than a year since the Liberal government announced companies would be eligible for tax credits ranging between 15 and 40 per cent, but some significant details remain undecided.

Those details will essentially determine how green a green hydrogen project must be in order to score the top tax break.

"We've been promised them now for some time and of course they're working their way through the bureaucracy and we understand that," said John Risley, chairman of World Energy GH2, the largest proposed project in Newfoundand. "We would have hoped to see them in October, but we were told that we can expect to see them very soon and I'm not sure I could define 'very soon' for you."

John Risley is one of the directors of World Energy GH2, a company proposing more than 300 wind turbines on Newfoundland's west coast and a green hydrogen and ammonia production facility in Stephenville, N.L. (Patrick Butler/Radio-Canada)

At issue are concepts like additionality, deliverability and time-matching. What does that mean? Well, boiled down, strict rules on these issues would mean projects would have to ensure they're always using energy from clean sources within their operating area in order to qualify for a 40 per cent tax credit.

That means when the wind isn't blowing, projects can't rely on energy from fossil fuels as a backup to power their plants and still expect to be taxed as green hydrogen.

Risley believes that would benefit Newfoundland companies because their backup power source would likely be the provincial grid, of which 80 per cent of energy comes from renewable sources.

It would also give them a competitive advantage over companies in other areas, including neighbouring provinces. Any company requiring power from the grid in Nova Scotia, for example, would be drawing from a system that gets about 51 per cent of its power from coal and coke.

Risley said one his biggest concerns is the various "shades of green" that would emerge if projects that relied on backup power from non-renewable sources were treated the same as projects powered solely by clean energy.

Don't subsidize fossil fuels, says Sierra Club

Those watching the industry say the fine print for the tax credit is about more than just handing out money to corporations. It's about determining whether or not hydrogen will actually be a clean energy source.

Gretchen Fitzgerald, national programs director with Sierra Club Canada, said she doesn't want to see companies relying on non-renewable resources get the full tax credit.

St. Anthony native Gretchen Fitzgerald is a national programs director with the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, and is strongly opposed to any expansion to the Newfoundland and Labrador oil and gas industry.

Fitzgerald said the Sierra Club is supportive of "green hydrogen that is truly green," but warned against how that term can be manipulated when backup power is less than green.

"Our position is green should really be green," she said. "If you were allowing them to get that level of subsidy, like a 40 per cent subsidy, and then they're drawing electricity from coal or bunker C, or God forbid incentivizing new hydro, I think it would just be a big injustice."

American spat good news for Canadian companies

These concepts became hot-button issues in the United States when draft regulations were leaked to the media earlier this month, as first reported by Bloomberg and Politico. It appears the Biden administration is prepared to come down strict on the definition of green hydrogen, prompting a deep division within the emerging industry.

Companies dedicated to powering their projects with only renewable sources of electricity are cheering, while those who were hoping to rely on cheaper backup power from coal or fossil fuels say the regulations will destroy the industry before it ever begins.

Risley felt the leaked American rules were good news for Canadian companies, which will be competing in a global marketplace.

"The worst thing that could have happened to us would have been that the U.S. government set a very low bar and provided an enormously generous subsidy for product that was, let's say adulterated, if you like, by fossil fuel-generated electricity," he said. "So we like these rules and we would hope that Canada would adopt very similar rules."

Ravi Sood is the executive chairman of EVREC, a company bidding for a massive wind-to-hydrogen project anchored in Botwood.
 (Ryan Cooke/CBC)

Ravi Sood is also hoping for similar rules in Canada and beyond.

As executive chairman of the Exploits Valley Renewable Energy Corporation, Sood has a lot riding on a green hydrogen proposal in central Newfoundland that would see hydrogen exported to Europe.

Having universal standards across countries and continents would be a huge benefit to the development of the local industry, he said.

"We are encouraged to see that [the U.S. is] likely to be required to meet similarly strict standards," he said. "The more standardized the requirements are across geographies the more level the playing field for the economics of all projects."

The United States was expected to release its regulations by the end of the year. However, they still have not been unveiled. The European Union has also delayed decisions on the same issues.

It's not known when Canada will release its regulations.

The environmental costs of EV batteries that politicians don't tend to talk about

CBC
Sat, December 30, 2023 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, right, and Ontario Premier Doug Ford, second from right, are shown during an announcement on a Volkswagen electric vehicle (EV) battery plant at the Elgin County Railway Museum in St. Thomas, Ont., on April 21.

 (Tara Walton/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Along with the massive recent manufacturing investments in electric vehicle (EV) technology and talks of a greener, decarbonized future, there are some not-so-green problems.

In its latest New Energy Finance report, Bloomberg News predicts there will be some 730 million EVs on the road by 2040. The year before, Bloomberg predicted half of all U.S. vehicle sales would be battery electric by 2030.

In Canada, too, there's talk of a big economic boost with the transition to EVs — including 250,000 jobs and $48 billion a year added to the nation's economy through the creation of a domestic supply chain.

Governments have already invested tens of billions into two EV battery manufacturing plants in southwestern Ontario. However, they come with the environmental dilemma of what to do with the millions of EV batteries when they reach the end of their life.

Dead battery dilemma

"The rules are non-existent," said Mark Winfield, a professor at York University in Toronto and co-chair of the school's Sustainable Energy Initiative. "There is nothing as we talk to agencies on both sides of the border, the federal, provincial, state levels.

The NextStar EV battery plant in Windsor, Ont., is shown under construction in the summer of 2023.
 ( Patrick Morrell/CBC)

"In the case of Ontario, the answer was actually that we we have no intention of doing anything about this."

When asked for its response, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks did not return a request for comment from CBC News.

Winfield said the fact there is no public policy on the disposal of EV batteries is concerning because a number of the chemicals and components used to make EV batteries, such as cadmium, arsenic and nickel are listed as toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) and simply can't be thrown into a landfill.

"You would think given the nature of of these products and also the scale of the potential looming problem, as you know, when the EV sales move into the tens of millions and every one of those ultimately is going to result in an end-of-life battery. One would have expected regulators to be a little bit of further ahead of the curve."

Critical minerals come with costs

The environmental costs of a greener future in transportation don't stop at dead batteries. If the country carries through on its plan to build a home-grown supply chain for the critical minerals needed to make EV batteries, it could mean the development of a vast tract of unspoiled nature in Ontario's north.

On a foggy morning, Neskantaga First Nation community members take their cedar canoes to check the fishing nets for sturgeon. The Hudson Bay Lowlands are a globally significant wetland that is home to a number of remote First Nations communities and species at risk, such as the lake sturgeon, seen being hauled into a canoe in this 2022 photo. 

(Logan Turner/CBC)

To get the critical minerals necessary to build EV batteries, Canada will have to develop the Ring of Fire, a deposit of minerals discovered in Ontario's far north in 2007 — one that happens to be in the middle of an environmentally significant area called the Hudson's Bay Lowlands.

"We're talking about a huge wetland," said Dayna Scott, a professor with the Osgoode Law School at York University and the school's research chair in environmental law and justice in the green economy.

"The largest intact boreal forest remaining in the world and also a massive carbon storehouse."

A lot of people who are interested in buying an electric vehicle don't want to see themselves as caught up in an ongoing process of Indigenous dispossession. - Dayna Scott

In the Hudson's Bay Lowlands, there are an estimated 35 billion tonnes of carbon, acts as a major stopover for billions of migratory birds and is home to wolverines, caribou and lake sturgeon — all considered endangered, or species at risk by the federal government.

For years, Scott has studied the social, environmental and legal implications of bringing development to the Hudson's Bay Lowlands and its effect on the rights and interests of remote Indigenous communities there.

"They hold the inherent jurisdiction to be the decision-makers for those lands. They also hold a right of free, prior and informed consent, which comes from international law. That means [governments] need to get the consent of all of the communities that are going to be impacted by this major irreversible change to their way of life."

The Indigenous communities fall under the James Bay Treaty, or Treaty 9 and while some favour development, others are opposed.

To curry their favour, those for and against development are both using climate and the environment to justify their cause, Scott said.

She said those who want to mine critical minerals in the area argue that would lead to a reduction in emissions and save the planet, while those who want to leave the area untouched argue destroying one of the world's largest carbon sinks by developing it would only undo all those emission reductions from EV batteries.

While it's impossible to tell who's right, Scott said governments need buy-in from every First Nation in the Treaty 9 area or any development would be open to litigation — some rarely mentioned at news conferences or funding announcements about the upcoming switch to Canadian-made EV batteries.

"A lot of people who are interested in buying an electric vehicle don't want to see themselves as caught up in an ongoing process of Indigenous dispossession," Scott said. "If people did have to confront at what cost we are going to get these minerals, do we want to do it over Indigenous People's objections?

"I think that would give a lot of people in southern Ontario pause, probably."

Study forecasts challenges of electric vehicle chargers on northern power grids

CBC
Fri, December 29, 2023 

A Level 2 electric vehicle charger at a home in Yellowknife on Dec. 27, 2023. 

(Liny Lamberink/CBC - image credit)

A study is revealing some of the challenges that electric vehicles will pose to northern power grids — and it'll likely be revised now that Canada has a plan for phasing out the sale of gas-powered cars and trucks.

"At no point in our studies did we consider 100 per cent electric vehicle adoption," said Michael Ross, a researcher at Yukon University who is leading the study.

Ross, an industrial chair in northern energy innovation, said his research is looking at slow to high adoption rates of electric vehicles in Dawson City and parts of Whitehorse and Yellowknife. So far, it's showing some of the ways residential power grids will be strained if people in those neighbourhoods add Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations to their homes, he said.

But on the heels of Canada's announcement, he'll likely add case studies for very high adoption now. There's still time. Ross doesn't expect the study's findings to be published until November 2024.

Regulations announced by the federal government earlier this month give automakers the next 12 years to phase out the manufacturing of combustion engine cars, trucks and SUVs. There's also a requirement to gradually increase the proportion of electric models they offer for sale each year.

Ross said the study, funded by power utilities in all three territories, won't just outline all the challenges that may arise as interest in electric vehicles — and the means to charge them — grows. It'll also contain solutions or ways to mitigate those issues.

Faster charging needs more power

Jay Massie, the vice president of northern development and Indigenous relations for ATCO Electric, said ATCO already has a "good understanding" of what electrification will do to northern power grids.

"The fast chargers … are significant electrical loads on the grid, so it's just an increased demand and strain," he explained. "The faster they charge, the more electricity they need."

A common electrical outlet in a home supplies about 120 volts of electricity. It's compatible with a Level 1 charger, which can take up to 50 hours to fully charge an electric vehicle, and which may be suitable for the smaller batteries of plug-in hybrid vehicles.

The Yellowknife Car Share Co-op's Chevrolet Bolt plugged in at a Level 3 charger at the Northland Utilities office in Yellowknife in October 2023.

 (Yellowknife Car Share Co-operative Ltd./Facebook)

The study is looking at Level 2 chargers, which require a 208-volt or 240-volt wall outlet — the same as dryers, ovens and air conditioners. A Level 3, the fastest type of charger available, needs a 480-volt outlet. They're typically found in public places and businesses.

The challenge with electrification will be balancing the demand for power while keeping the supply on the rest of the system stable and reliable.

Transformers, the big green boxes you see in a neighbourhood, increase or decrease the voltage of electricity flowing through an energy grid. Ross said some transformers are "underrated," meaning they weren't designed to have a lot of electric vehicles integrated into them.

Chargers can also be a "very big power draw," he said, and some homes may experience an undervoltage while their vehicle is charging. That means the power on the system drops below the "acceptable voltage," which could damage equipment.

"We want to say with a certain rate of adoption, we anticipate this particular transformer to have capacity issues and here are some specific ways that could be addressed," Ross explained. "We want to be very specific and deliberate, but not prescriptive, on what needs to be done."

'There's going to be cost'

In order to keep up with whatever demand there may be in the future, Massie said utility companies will be looking at upgrading or building new infrastructure.

"There's going to be cost to the system," he said. Understanding what those costs will be, he said, will help utilities and governments figure out a way forward.

"For utilities, the only spot for us to recoup costs is from ratepayers," he said. He said utilities, like ATCO, will need to work with government to make sure that costs of upgrading the system and meeting peoples' power needs are not "unreasonably borne" on people who aren't buying electric vehicles.

Canada's plan to phase out the manufacturing of gas-powered vehicles, Massie said, came as a bit of surprise.

"We understand the need for electrification and for reducing greenhouse gas emissions for sure. We just want to ensure it's done in a measured and coordinated manner and I think this study is a really good step in that direction."

Quebec City newspaper Le Soleil ends print edition after 127 years

CBC
Sat, December 30, 2023 

René Dufresne, the director of publication at Le Soleil holds the last paper edition of the newspaper set to be published on Dec. 30. (Mireille Roberge/Radio-Canada - image credit)

The last print edition of Le Soleil newspaper is hitting the stands today — a whopping 96-pages taking readers down memory lane as the Quebec City-based publication goes completely digital after 127 years in business.

Editor Marc Gendron says it's a decision that's been a long time coming as more readers opt for digital subscriptions over print. The transition was always part of its business plan ever since the newspaper became a co-operative in 2019, he says.

"It's only a chapter that is closing and it's the beginning of a new one which is exciting," Gendron told CBC's Quebec AM.

Based in Quebec City, the newspaper covers stories from the Beauce region all the way to eastern Quebec. Initially a daily, Le Soleil pared down its print editions to only Saturdays in March 2020 to help deal with a drop in revenue.

Valérie Gaudreau, the former editor-in-chief for Le Soleil and now a columnist, says that even printing once a week was becoming difficult financially. Plus, the younger generation doesn't really read the paper, she said.

"There's a little mixed feelings but I guess it's a good decision we have to make just to survive as media in our world," said Gaudreau.

Le Soleil newspaper was founded in Dec. 28 1896. In March 2020, it pared down its print edition to Saturdays only.

Le Soleil newspaper was founded in Dec. 28, 1896. In March 2020, it pared down its print edition to Saturdays only. (Mireille Roberge/Radio-Canada)

She suspects that in five years there won't be any more print newspapers circulating in Quebec.

There were 247 daily and community newspapers in the province in July 2022, according to the most recent data from News Media Canada. That was tallied before Métro Média folded shutting down its 17 publications in Montreal and the Quebec City region.

Magda Konieczna, an associate professor of journalism at Concordia University, says Le Soleil's move to digital is part of a global trend. However, reducing the visibility of a publication has to be accompanied by proper marketing, especially since Meta has blocked news shared on its social media platforms, she says.

"There's something about having a physical paper present in your life that's sort of harder to ignore or forget about than going online," she said. "People need to know that these publications are out there and that they're covering their communities."

"There's really a gap in local news information here and people have almost kind of accepted that gap," she says, adding that online publications can experiment with new ways of engaging with audiences that isn't available in print.

Gaudreau says what has made Le Soleil stand out since its finding in 1896 is the presence of its journalists in communities that aren't always covered by larger publications.

"That makes us different from the others," she said. "Why would [people] pay for us if it's not to learn things they won't learn anywhere else?"

The front page of the very first edition of the Le Soleil newspaper. It would publish its first photo three years later and become the first Canadian publication to do so.

The front page of the very first edition of the Le Soleil newspaper. It would publish its first photo three years later and become the first Canadian publication to do so. (Mireille Roberge/Radio-Canada)

Le Soleil became the first Canadian newspaper to print a photo in 1899. Almost a century later, in 1996, it became the country's first French-language newspaper to launch a website.

"We're relying on a really solid past with a good reputation but we're embracing a totally new mindset and new way of working and it's a new world for us that we're exploring," said Gendron.

He adds that there will be some job cuts, but that everyone leaving is doing so through a departure plan that was negotiated with the union.

The final print edition of Le Soleil is just short of 100 pages and will take readers back in time, showing them some of the paper's most famous front pages as well a deep dive into what makes Quebec unique.

Le Droit goes digital after more than a century in print

CBC
Sat, December 30, 2023 a

Pierre Bergeron, a retired editor at Le Droit, holds a copy of the Ottawa-Gatineau newspaper. The French-language paper published its final print edition on Saturday and is now available exclusively online. (Emilien Juteau/Radio-Canada - image credit)

After more than 100 years in print, Le Droit, a prominent French-language newspaper serving the Ottawa-Gatineau region, has published its last physical edition.

The final paper rolled off the presses Saturday, marking the last step in Le Droit's gradual transition to a digital publication. The paper had already switched in 2020 from printing six times a week to once a week on Saturdays.

According to editor-in-chief Marie-Claude Lortie, the decision to go exclusively online has been a long time coming.

"When I joined Le Droit [in 2021], it was already decided. The question wasn't, 'Are we going to stop?' It was when," she told Radio-Canada's Les matins d'ici.

Though some readers will be disappointed, the transition is "a necessary change from an environmental [and] financial perspective," Lortie said in the French-language interview.

The Groupe Capitales Médias, which owns the the Le Droit newspapers, is getting $5 million from the Quebec government.

The once-daily paper had already gone mostly online, publishing print editions only on Saturdays since 2020. (Maxime Huard/Radio-Canada )

In 2019, Le Droit's future was left uncertain after newspaper chain Groupe Capitale Médias, which owned it and five other Quebec newspapers, filed for bankruptcy.

According to Lortie, Le Droit joins those papers, now employee co-operatives, in making the move online.

"Personally, I don't see it as a time to mourn. I see it more as an evolution," said Pierre Bergeron, a retired Le Droit editor, in a French-language interview with Radio-Canada.

"I may be a little light-hearted in that regard, but I tell myself that journalists will find a way to do their jobs."

Lortie called the final 88-page edition a special one, dedicated to remembering the paper's impact in the community and filled with stories by writers and readers alike.

CRT

Black Harbour: New book explores history of slavery in Newfoundland


CBC
Sat, December 30, 2023 

Heather Barrett and Xaiver Michael Campbell collaborated to write Black Harbour. (Mike Rossiter, CBC - image credit)

The history of Black slaves in Newfoundland and Labrador is not something that has been taught, and is rarely talked about, say two writers of a new book about exactly that.

Black Harbour: Slavery and the Forgotten Histories of Black People in Newfoundland and Labrador, reveals the history of Black slavery in the province, and the role merchant families played in promoting it.

The book came to be after authors Heather Barrett and Xaiver Michael Campbell's independent research started overlapping.



We're taught in school that we were settled by the English and Irish, that was all who ever lived here ... but that's not true. - Heather Barrett

Campbell, a writer originally from Jamaica, came to the province as a university student in 2008.

He quickly saw the parallels between Newfoundland culture and his own.

"That curiosity of, how did my culture and things that are part of my history make their way into the Newfoundland consciousness? And how is it that there is no direct mention to my culture and how it came to be?" he said.

Barrett, a CBC producer and host of Weekend AM, stumbled upon stories of the existence of Black people in the province from hundreds of years ago.

"Growing up, when we're taught in school that we were settled by the English and Irish, that was all who ever lived here, all who really ever came here for any reason. But that's not true," she said.

"There were people from many, many different places in the world that lived here, came through here, had something to do with the fishery here. Not all of them were doing it of their own volition."

Forgotten stories

The book explores some of the connections between Newfoundland and the Caribbean that Campbell noticed soon after arriving in Newfoundland.

"There's a lot of salt cod in this book," he said. "I grew up with it. It's part of our national dish in Jamaica, but I never thought about where it came from. I know we've been eating it for hundreds of years, but I didn't know there was that other connection between the two islands."

It's been assumed that Black people are only recently settlers in Newfoundland and Labrador. Black Harbour dives into their forgotten history in the province.

Black Harbour dives into the forgotten history of Newfoundland and Labrador. (Boulder Books)

That connection being that salt cod was what Newfoundland had to trade.

"Lower grades of salt cod went to the Caribbean, because it was cheap fuel for enslaved people," Barrett said.

The authors say the book is an introduction to new pieces of uncomfortable history being discovered.

"We're storytellers," Barrett said. "What we're doing is telling a lay person's introduction to this, and we're hoping that it starts a conversation."

QUEBEC
Teachers, students anxious to get back to class as unions reach tentative agreements


CBC
Fri, December 29, 2023 

Natalie St-Laurent is determined to make sure her son Nathan doesn't fall behind despite being out of school for a month due to the teachers' strike. 

(Kwabena Oduro/CBC - image credit)

When Montreal English teacher Reuben Ramsey read the news that the teachers' strike was over, he almost cried tears of joy.

Ramsey had been out of class since Nov. 21, and is itching to go back to teaching literature to high school students. But he says he'll have to drop some of his more fun projects from the curriculum as his students need to catch up on missed courses and prepare for ministerial exams.

"I don't think it will be dire for at least my students, and I hope for students in general," he said.

The Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE), which had been on unlimited strike, and the common front of unions known in French as the Front commun both reached tentative agreements with the government this week. The FAE ended its strike Thursday.

The strike has been tough on Ramsey, like most teachers, as the FAE didn't have a strike fund. But the working conditions were difficult, and he's hoping the new deal — which hasn't been presented to members yet — will ease that. Teachers had been negotiating collective agreements for almost a year.

"I still love teaching. I love the connection I have with kids, especially high school kids. I love hearing their ideas and seeing how these kids could potentially change the world," he said.

The main issues for teachers throughout the negotiations have been class sizes and salaries.

"If you have hundreds of students, the classes are overloaded. Can you really give each student the attention you want?" said Ramsey.

"You could burn out or fall under intense stress."

Carl Ouellet, president of the Association québécoise du personnel de direction des écoles (AQPDE), which represents school principals, said schools are already planning for students' return.

He said they are waiting for directives from the ministry but will do everything they can to make sure the year "goes smoothly for our students."

"We've been looking at what needs to be caught up, extra budgets for that catching up, hiring support staff. We also talked about exams — everything is on the table," said Ouellet.

More meetings are scheduled next week, he said.

Phillipa Parks, an assistant professor in the department of pedagogy at Université de Sherbrooke, says the best-case scenario would be for the government to cancel exams this year — one that is unlikely to play out.

A day after making progress with the Quebec government at the negotiation table, teachers with the FAE take part in a march in Montreal's downtown core on Dec. 12, 2023. Teachers with the FAE were on unlimited strike for over a month before an agreement in principle was reached Thursday. (Ivanoh Demers/Radio-Canada)

Teachers and students were already playing a sort of catch-up game after having to do school from home for two years during the pandemic, she said. Now, they will have to fit materials from the missed weeks of school within the time they already have.

Parks says it's unrealistic that students will perform well on standardized tests this year, all things considered, and the two weeks usually dedicated to them could be used for lessons. She pointed out that the school year started with an acute shortage of qualified teachers and staff, and says the government drew out negotiations for too long.

"This government hasn't shown a lot of sympathy for teachers and it hasn't shown a lot of concern for the quality of education in Quebec," said Parks.

"It's important to keep in mind that we need to consult the teachers and see what is even possible. A lot of them are burned out, and people are considering leaving the profession."

But parents like Natalie St-Laurent will do everything they can to make sure their kids have a quality education in the public school system.

Her son Nathan has dyslexia and has been working overtime to make sure he doesn't fall behind this year. She says she has been paying for weekly tutoring sessions, and increased them to two sessions a week when the strikes started.

"What stresses me the most is the fact that he's going to have, again, to step it up another notch to keep up," said St-Laurent.

She said Nathan will start seeing his tutor three times a week when classes resume.

"I'm very eager for him to get back to class because we're very worried about the impact of the strike on children, although we totally support the movement," said St-Laurent.

St-Laurent says she understands the teachers' frustration and she's seen first-hand how little resources are available for students with special needs in public schools. She says she hopes the latest agreement will sweeten the deal for everyone.

"The teachers in school, we see them being very tired and overworked," she said.

"The services are lacking and the support is lacking for families and hopefully the government will finally hear what's going on and be reactive and step it up and help the kids."

As for Nathan, he can't wait to see his friends and get back to crunching numbers in math class.

Winter storms close the Yukon's Highway 3 for six days and counting

CBC
Sat, December 30, 2023 

Conditions on an unspecified section of Highway 3 in the Yukon on December 28 released by Yukon Highways and Public Works. (Yukon Highways and Public Works - image credit)

Heavy snowfall has shut down Haines Road Highway 3, the road connecting Haines Junction, Yukon, to B.C. and Alaska. The highway has now been impassable for six days, and the closure is expected to continue through the weekend.

According to the Government of Yukon'shighway information website, the highway first closed on December 24 from kilometre 71 to kilometre 245 because of strong winds, and snowy and icy road conditions.

Haines Residents are still able to travel out of the community through Whitehorse via Highway 1, although conditions may be poor – Yukon Highways and Public Works has indicated the road is covered in loose snow.

Bobby Milnes is the director of transportation maintenance for Yukon Highways and Public Works. He told CBC's Brenda Barnes on Friday that he could not give an estimate of when the highway would reopen.

"We're doing the work as best we can and as quickly as we can but it's just challenging conditions right now," he said.

A map from Yukon Highways and Public works shows road conditions as of Saturday, December 30. Closed roads appear in red, sections with covered loose snow appears in blue and partly covered roads appear in yellow. (Yukon Highways and Public Works)

Some commercial traffic has been allowed to pass through a single lane into the territory through Highway 3 earlier this week. The village's one grocery store, The Little Green Apple, reported no shortages in product.

Milnes described snowbanks on the road up to10 feet tall, and said crews are seeing additional snowfall of 3 to 4 feet each day. He also noted that avalanches and snow slides on the road are a concern.

"What we don't want is people driving through a tunnel," he said. "We actually need to create enough space for vehicles to pull over to pass and things like that."

While highway closures around Haine's Pass in Yukon aren't uncommon in the winter, Milnes acknowledged that this was a "long closure" for the highway.

A spokesperson from the Haines Junction RCMP detachment said blowing snow has often led to significant accumulations of snow on the pass, but reported that rumours circulating on social media of 30 feet of snow on the pass that have been attributed to the RCMP are unfounded.

They strongly discouraged motorists from attempting to pass barricades closing off Highway 3 and to drive safely and follow the guidance and direction of pilot car operators once the road reopens.

Yukon Highways and Public Works is urging anyone from outside the area who was considering driving out to the back country to camp for the long weekend to stay off the road, and deemed any non-essential travel on the closed highway unsafe.

Small earthquake gently rocks western Quebec


CBC
Sat, December 30, 2023

The 3.6-magnitude earthquake was reported overnight in western Quebec, according to Earthquakes Canada. (Earthquakes Canada - image credit)

Several hundred people reported being rocked by a small earthquake that hit western Quebec overnight.

The 3.6-magnitude quake occurred just before 4:30 a.m., according to Earthquakes Canada.

Its epicentre was approximately 70 kilometres northeast of downtown Ottawa, the agency said.

As of late Saturday afternoon, more than 370 people had alerted Earthquakes Canada that they'd felt some rumbling.

It's the second small earthquake in the region this month, after a 3.9-magnitiude quake was reported more than 100 kilometres northwest of Maniwaki, Que., on Dec. 17.