UK
Failure to deliver insulation and clean tech ‘cost households on energy bills’

Emily Beament, PA Environment Correspondent
Mon, 5 February 2024 



A lack of investment in home insulation and green tech cost households up to £1,900 on their energy bills last year, a report has suggested.

Greater investment and faster moves on insulation, solar panels, renewables, heat pumps and electric cars over the last decade could have delivered savings totalling £70 billion by 2023, the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said.

The UK would have saved £56 billion in the first two years of the gas crisis in 2022 and 2023, as insulation and clean tech would have reduced demand for expensive oil and gas, the study from the think tank said.


But successful policies for boosting home insulation and solar were scrapped over the past decade and there has been slow progress and delays on measures for new homes, heat pumps, electric cars and renewables, the ECIU said.

A household with all the available technologies would have saved £1,900 on their bills in 2023, the report calculates.

If Government support schemes for energy efficiency, which were cut in 2013, had been maintained, an extra 10 million homes would have received insulation upgrades, saving £12 billion on bills over the decade, it said.

The average property with a Band D energy efficiency rating would have saved £320 in 2023 if their home had been upgraded to Band C, reducing the impact of soaring costs of the energy crisis.

Almost three quarters of the extra cost hit households, and the remainder was paid by the Government’s price freeze, the report said.

Maintaining solar panel installation rates at their 2011 peak, and speeding up the deployment of renewables such as offshore wind, electric vehicles and heat pumps would also have saved billions of pounds in energy costs.

Dr Simon Cran-McGreehin, head of analysis at the ECIU, said: “Investment in these net zero technologies brings returns in the form of lower energy bills, reduced vulnerability to volatile international gas markets and the prospect of real energy independence for the UK.

“A lack of investment leaves families colder and poorer and has left the country in a real hole in the gas crisis at a cost of tens of billions of pounds.

“Had billions been invested in insulation and renewables, not only would huge savings have been made for the bill and tax-payer, but these savings would continue into the future at a time when the gas price is expected to remain high.”

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “We do not recognise these highly speculative figures, they ignore the fact the proportion of homes in England with an EPC rating of C or above has risen from just 14% in 2010 to almost half today.

“We are helping families to make changes, increasing the boiler upgrade scheme by 50% – making it one of the most generous in Europe. Our plan is working and applications are now up by nearly 50% compared to last year.

“The UK is also a world leading renewables sector – home to the five largest operational wind farms in the world, with renewables accounting for over 40% of our electricity, up from 7% in 2010.”

Around 400 jobs at risk as British electric van maker Arrival falls into administration

Guy Taylor
Mon, 5 February 2024 

FILE PHOTO: A fully electric test van by British bus maker Arrival Ltd, due to start production in 2022

A British-based electric van maker which aimed to become a leader in EV manufacturing has filed for administration, placing around 400 jobs at risk.

In a statement, joint administrators EY said they were now exploring options for a sale of the business and its assets, including its “electric vehicle platforms, software, intellectual property and R&D assets, for the benefit of creditors.”

“The Group’s liquidity position has been impacted by challenging market and macroeconomic conditions resulting in delays in getting the Group’s products to market,” EY said.

The formerly Nasdaq-listed company had been struggling for cash for months and received a notice in January from the exchange warning it was not in compliance with the listing rules.

Shares had fallen by over 95 per cent in the last year, with the company’s market capitalisation at around $20m, having been valued at around $5.4bn on its first day of trading.

EV firms that went public during the pandemic benefitted from soaring investor demand. However, they have since faced high interest rates, inflation, supply chain issues and problems down the production line.

Rival Volta Trucks filed for insolvency in October while Essex-based Tevva Motors has also struggled for cash and explored a move to the US.

Arrival, whose research and development facility is based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, had aimed to build cutting-edge electric vans, taxis and other vehicles. It slashed around 800 jobs in 2023 as it cut costs and increased its focus on US markets.

Lloyds and Santander accused of providing accounts for Iranian front companies

Kalyeena Makortoff 

Banking correspondent
Mon, 5 February 2024 

Santander and Lloyds could face penalties if they are found to have in any way helped Iran’s Petrochemical Commercial Company evade US sanctions.

Photograph: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters

Two of the UK’s largest lenders, Santander UK and Lloyds Banking Group, allegedly held bank accounts for front companies that helped Iranian entities evade US sanctions, according to reports.

The news has rattled investors, who sold off shares in the two banks on Monday morning, amid fears that the lenders could face penalties if they are found to have in any way assisted Iran’s state-controlled Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC).

The Tehran-controlled company has been accused by US officials of raising hundreds of millions of dollars for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards al-Quds Force, and working with Russian intelligence agencies. PCC and its British subsidiary have been under US sanctions since November 2018.

PCC is alleged to have moved money through a Santander UK business bank account by using a front company registered to a detached house in Surrey, according to documents seen by the Financial Times.

It also used a separate front company to move money through an account at Lloyds Banking Group, the newspaper claimed.

The report will raise fresh concerns about how the UK’s financial system could be being used to launder cash or hide illicit payments.

“This is, frankly, a shocking failure to act in lockstep with our allies to shut down the financing of a hostile regime,” said Liam Byrne, Labour MP and chair of the business and trade committee. “It beggars belief that a business sanctioned by the US is freely trading in London.”

He wrote on the X platform that MPs on the committee would be “cross-examining ministers, Companies House, National Crime Agency, HMRC & SFO [Serious Fraud Office] to explain how the hell this happened” when it holds an evidence session on economic crime on Tuesday morning.

The news took a toll on the share price of the two lenders, with Lloyds tumbling as much as 2% in morning trading, before recouping some losses to trade lower by 0.4% by early afternoon. Shares in Santander, which is listed in Spain, fell by more than 3%.

Santander said it had not broken any rules. “Santander is not in breach of US sanctions based on our investigation. We have policies and procedures in place to ensure we comply with sanctions requirements and will continue to engage proactively with relevant UK and US authorities.”

Lloyds is also pushing back against the claims outlined in the FT report.

“We believe we have met all legal and regulatory obligations and, based on our own investigation, we do not believe we have breached any sanction requirements,” the banking group said in a statement.

Santander and Lloyds reportedly helped Iran-backed oil firms evade UK sanctions

Chris Dorrell
Mon, 5 February 2024

The Financial Times reported that both Lloyds and Santander provided accounts to British front companies owned by Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC).

UK banks have provided bank accounts to holding companies linked to a state-backed Iranian petrochemicals company which has been under western sanctions since 2018, according to reports.

The Financial Times reported that both Lloyds and Santander provided accounts to British front companies owned by Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC).

PCC is a sanctioned Iranian petrochemicals company accused by the US of helping to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and of working with Russian intelligence agencies.

Both PCC and its subsidiaries have been under UK and US sanctions since 2018.

The company has continued to operate out of an office in Grosvenor Gardens by using a web of holding companies that are not sanctioned, the report suggests.

According to the FT, PCC has used these companies to receive funds from Iranian front entities in China while concealing their real ownership.

One of these companies, Pisco UK, used a business account with Santander UK. Another, called Aria Associates, has an account with Lloyds.

A Santander UK spokesperson said the bank was “unable to comment on specific client relationships” but stated the bank “abides by its legal and regulatory obligations, and we are highly focused on sanctions compliance.”

“Where we identify sanctions risks, we will investigate and take appropriate action,” they said.

A Lloyds Banking Group spokesperson said: “The group’s business activities are conducted to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions laws. We are committed to adhering to all legislative and regulatory requirements as they relate to economic crime.”

“We are not permitted to comment on individual customers. In addition, due to legal restrictions, we cannot comment on the submission of suspicious activity reports to relevant authorities when and if they occur,” they continued.

The revelations come as tensions continue to rise between the west and Iran. The US carried out further airstrikes against the Iranian-backed Houthis on Sunday.

The UK government has been approached for comment.

Santander, Lloyds' shares hit by report Iran used accounts to evade sanctions

Mon, 5 February 



By Jesús Aguado and Iain Withers

MADRID/LONDON (Reuters) -Santander and Lloyds shares fell on Monday after the Financial Times (FT) newspaper reported that Iran used accounts held at the banks in the United Kingdom to covertly move money around the world in a sanctions-evasion scheme backed by Iran's intelligence services.

Lloyds and Santander UK provided accounts to British front companies allegedly secretly owned by a sanctioned Iranian petrochemicals company based in London, the FT reported citing documents the newspaper had obtained.

Shares in Madrid-based parent Santander fell as much as 6.1% and were down 4.9% at 1503 GMT, wiping off around 3 billion euros in value from the euro zone's second biggest lender by market capitalisation, according to data from LSEG, while shares in Lloyds declined 0.5%.

Santander shares rose more than 6% last week following 2023 earnings that beat forecasts.

"The market must be realising that they may be fined," said Nuria Alvarez, an analyst at Madrid-based broker Renta 4.

Santander and Lloyds said in separate statements that they believed they were not in breach of sanctions, based on their own investigations.

"We have policies and procedures in place to ensure we comply with sanctions requirements and will continue to engage proactively with relevant UK and U.S. authorities," a Santander spokesperson said.

A Lloyds spokesperson said the group was committed to adhering to economic crime laws and regulations, adding it could not comment on individual customers.

British regulator the Financial Conduct Authority said it was in contact with the banks and with the UK's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).

The U.S. Treasury Department and Britain's foreign ministry did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

European lenders, such as Unicredit and Standard Chartered, have been hit with large penalties over Iran sanctions in the past, with the Italian lender paying $1.3 billion to U.S. authorities to settle probes.

Standard Chartered agreed to pay $1.1 billion in 2019 to U.S. and British authorities over financial transactions that violated sanctions against Iran and other countries.

According to the FT, the Iranian state-controlled Petrochemical Commercial Company was part of a network that the United States accuses of raising hundreds of millions of dollars for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Quds Force and of working with Russian intelligence agencies.

Both PCC and its British subsidiary PCC UK have been under U.S. sanctions since November 2018, the FT said.

One of its alleged front companies, called Pisco UK, is registered to a detached house in Surrey and used a business account with Santander UK, the FT report said.

A person with knowledge of the situation said that Santander has closed Pisco's account.

Santander declined to comment on specific client relationships.

Alicia Kearns, chair of Britain's foreign affairs committee, said she had repeatedly raised concerns about the need to shut down "cut-outs" of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps operating in the UK, adding that the FT report suggested more needed to be done.

(Reporting by Jesús Aguado and Iain Withers, Additional reporting by Daphne Psaledakis in Washington; editing by Louise Heavens, Jason Neely and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Santander UK and Lloyds deny breaching US sanctions over links to Iranian firms

Anna Wise and August Graham, PA Business Reporters
Mon, 5 February 2024 

Lloyds and Santander UK have denied breaching US sanctions after new reports claimed the banks had provided accounts to British holding companies linked to an Iran-backed petrochemicals firm.

Petrochemical Commercial Company (PCC), which is linked to the Iranian state, used a web of front companies in the UK to discreetly move money around the world, according to documents seen by the Financial Times (FT).

Lloyds and Santander UK provided bank accounts to two of those companies, the report revealed.

PCC UK has been subject to US economic sanctions since 2018. Sanctions, which can include the restriction of exports, are a tactic employed by governments to stop other countries acting aggressively or breaking international law.

PCC UK has links to Aria Associates, a company registered to a residential address on the banks of the Thames in central London.

Documents first reported by the FT and also seen by the PA news agency suggest Aria Associates had a bank account with Lloyds.

Aria Associates is not itself subject to sanctions and PCC UK is not sanctioned by the UK Government.

The business is majority-owned by Mohammad Ali Rejal, Companies House filings show.

Mr Rejal has held a senior position at PCC UK and has had communications with company officials in Iran, in emails reported by the FT and also seen by the PA news agency.

Meanwhile, Pisco UK is a company registered in Surrey which documents suggest had a Santander bank account.

The company is majority-owned by British national Abdollah Siavash Fahimi, who the FT reported is running the company on behalf of PCC.

The FT reported that Pisco UK and Aria Associates are fully owned by PCC UK, although the PA news agency was not able to independently confirm this.

A spokeswoman for Santander UK said the bank is “not in breach of US sanctions based on our investigation”.

“We have policies and procedures in place to ensure we comply with sanctions requirements and will continue to engage proactively with relevant UK and US authorities.”

Lloyds also said it has not breached any sanctions, with a spokeswoman saying: “The group’s business activities are conducted to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions laws.

“We are committed to adhering to all legislative and regulatory requirements as they relate to economic crime. We are not permitted to comment on individual customers.

“In addition, due to legal restrictions, we cannot comment on the submission of suspicious activity reports to relevant authorities when and if they occur.”

Shares in Madrid-listed Banco Santander were down more than 4% on Monday and FTSE 100-listed Lloyds shares were down about 1%.

UNRWA
At the end of this month, we may have to stop our humanitarian aid operations.


Photo by Ashraf Amra.


With the announcement of funding suspensions, and as war rages on in the Gaza Strip, there is so much at stake:

Shelters for those who have lost everything;

Nutritious meals for empty stomachs;

Warm blankets to fight the cold

Medicines to cure, vaccines to protect;

This is what we do at UNRWA thanks to the unwavering support of many donors.

People in Gaza depend on UNRWA as their irreplaceable lifeline

No other entity can deliver the scale and breadth of assistance that 2.2 million people in Gaza urgently need now.

“Over 100 days of war, and we are still providing services to Palestinians...and we will continue.”   UNRWA worker in Rafah, south of Gaza

Did you know UNRWA supports millions of Palestine Refugees outside of Gaza, too? The suspension of funding will have significant implications in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan:

Education for 250,000 children;

Vocational training for 6,000 students;

Access to health care for almost 2 million patients;

Cash assistance for over 900,000 people.

With your support, we will be able to continue our indispensable work to support the people of the Gaza Strip and all Palestine Refugees across the region.

Ours is an appeal for support from the heart. Please help us ensure that our lifesaving assistance continues. No amount is too small. Any contribution you can give will make a difference.


Keep UNRWA Working

#DonateToUNRWA Now


With immense gratitude,

UNRWA Digital Fundraising Team


I want to help now

UK
Reneuron issues administration warning as biotech firm puts jobs at risk

Jon Robinson
Mon, 5 February 2024

ReNeuron Group's shares have been suspended on the London Stock Exchange's AIM.

Biotech business Reneuron Group has warned it could enter administration and is preparing to make redundancies as its shares were suspended from trading.

The AIM-listed company, which is headquartered in Pencoed, Wales, is in a “highly constrained financial position” and that it requires additional financing “urgently, in order to continue as a going concern”.

Reneuron Group added that it has found itself in this position after not being able to secure a “validating, revenue generating industry partnership” or additional equity funding.

As a result, the company said it now needs to put staff at risk of redundancy, initiate discussions with its creditors and establish the precise solvency status of the business.

Shares in Reneuron Group were trading at 3.38p before they were suspended at 2.30pm on Monday, February 5, giving it a market capitalisation of just under £2m.

In a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange, Reneuron Group said: “As also announced in the interim results, potential corporate actions that were under consideration by the board included raising additional equity financing and/or securing a financing facility and/or entering into M&A discussions.

“The group also noted in the interim results that as at 30 September 2023, the group had cash, cash equivalents and bank deposits of £5.1m and that the group’s latest internal projections (assuming no new revenues or funding) meant there was a cash runway to April 2024, ahead of which point further revenues and/or a capital injection would be required.

“In the intervening period, despite great scientific progress having been made in further developing and exemplifying the CustomEX exosome delivery platform and progressing several ongoing third-party business development discussions, the group has not yet been able to conclude a validating, revenue generating industry partnership nor been able to secure additional equity funding.

“Accordingly, throughout the period the group has been carefully managing its working capital, but it is now in a highly constrained financial position and requires additional financing urgently, in order to continue as a going concern.

“In the absence of any additional financing being available in the immediate term, the group now needs to take steps to preserve and maximise value for its creditors.

“Whilst the group continues to explore a number of corporate options, including seeking to realise value for its physical and intellectual assets, the board recognises that in the absence of an immediate injection of capital and in view of the current financial uncertainty, it needs to put staff at risk of redundancy, initiate discussions with its creditors and establish the precise solvency status of the business.

“Should the company fail to achieve a solution in the short term, the board would have no option but to place the company into administration.

“Should administrators be appointed, it is not known how much, if any, value would be returned to shareholders.”

In Reneuron Group’s interim results, for the six months to September 30, 2023, its revenue stood at £157,000 while its pre-tax losses were £3.2m.

For the year to March 31, 2023, its revenue was £530,000 and its pre-tax losses were £6.6m. According to those accounts, the company employed 34 people during that financial year.

Self-proclaimed bitcoin inventor denies forging documents to support claim

Sam Tobin
Tue, February 6, 2024 

Australian computer scientist Craig Wright at the High Court in London


By Sam Tobin

LONDON (Reuters) -An Australian computer scientist who says he invented bitcoin told a London court on Tuesday he had never forged documents to try to prove his hotly-disputed claim, as he began his evidence in a legal battle over ownership of the cryptocurrency.

Craig Wright says he is the author of a 2008 white paper, the foundational text of bitcoin, published in the name "Satoshi Nakamoto".

But the Crypto Open Patent Alliance (COPA) has taken Wright to court, it says to stop him suing bitcoin developers and to preserve the open-source nature of the world's best-known and most popular cryptocurrency.

COPA is asking London's High Court to rule that Wright is not Satoshi. It says he has repeatedly forged documents to substantiate his claim, before changing his story when the alleged fabrications are spotted.

Wright, however, denies relying on fake records and has blamed others, including former lawyers and associates, for any inauthentic documents.

The 54-year-old began the first of six days of evidence on Tuesday at a high-stakes hearing which is the culmination of years of speculation about the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto.

COPA's lawyer, Jonathan Hough, asked Wright: "Have you ever forged or falsified a document in support of your claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto?" Wright replied: "No."

"Have you ever knowingly presented a forged or falsified document in support of your claim to be Satoshi Nakamoto," Hough asked. Wright replied: "I have not."

Hough put numerous alleged forgeries to Wright, including an academic paper with handwritten notes which Wright has claimed prompted his decision to use the name Satoshi Nakamoto.

COPA says the document contains a forged timestamp with numbers in visibly different fonts to make it look as if it pre-dates the bitcoin white paper.

Hough said to Wright: "This is a document forged by you as part of the origin myth."

Wright said he did not forge the document, adding: "If I forged that document, it would be perfect."

(Reporting by Sam TobinEditing by Ros Russell)

Ex-mayor Nenshi loathes partisan politics. He may run for NDP leader anyway

CBC
Tue, February 6, 2024 

Then-mayor Naheed Nenshi speaks while Patty Hajdu, the former federal health minister, looks on in 2020. He's currently sizing up a provincial run, to replace Rachel Notley as NDP leader. Notley announced last month she's stepping down.

 (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Former Alberta justice minister Kathleen Ganley kicked off her bid Monday to lead the NDP, stressing her Calgary roots. By this time next week, Edmonton caucus mates Rakhi Pancholi, Sarah Hoffman and David Shepherd will likely have joined her in the race to replace the departing Rachel Notley.

That lineup of leadership candidates has been reported publicly for some time now, and campaign teams have been quietly jostling for support since at least last autumn. With no clear front-runner, it's shaping up to be one of the most unpredictable and interesting NDP leadership contests anywhere in Canada in some time (they tend to be relatively sleepy affairs with little competition or none at all).

But the intrigue that seems to have gripped NDP-land and parts beyond is whether another figure jumps into the fray and injects even more excitement — one who just delivered his own head-turner of a political speech without formally saying a thing about whether he wants this job.

'We will fight!'

Naheed Nenshi, arguably Alberta's most compelling political speaker in recent memory, delivered the address that got folks talking at a Calgary rally against the Danielle Smith government's newly proposed restrictions affecting transgender people.

The former Calgary mayor's voice began with disappointment in the compassionate tone the premier used in her announcement, then he elevated it to a roar as he seethed at her promise to bolster child protection services in case parents react abusively to their outed teens.

"Let me tell you what that means — what that means is 'we'll deal with y'all later,'" he told some 1,000 protesters. "Later after you've been beaten up. Later after you've been kicked out of your house … later after you've died by suicide. Later is not good enough. We protect everyone, we protect every kid, and we protect them right now."

He closed his nine minutes by leading rally-goers in a chant: "We will fight! We will win!"

No less a figure than Nenshi's own sister suggested it should serve as prelude to an NDP leadership bid.

Helen Pike/CBC

He publicly states he's thinking about it, and that appears true. Nenshi and politicos from his municipal life have for weeks done meetings and phone calls with New Democrats and other progressives, gauging their interest in the idea of the politician with the purple trademark seeking the orange crown.

The rally could have galvanized his own interest in three more years of more rabble-rousing speeches full of Smith critiques, before the 2027 Alberta election. Then, if this leadership contest is as focused as it appears to be on setting the NDP on track to win that election, why wouldn't progressives flock behind a three-term mayor who would take on the job with instant name recognition and debating chops to take on Smith?

But behind the scenes, the questions determining if he runs will likely have two varieties: does the party want him, and does he want the party?

Nenshi's nonpartisan or post-partisan philosophy has embodied his purple branding, a mixture of Liberal red and Conservative blue (little thought was given to orange). Even when he endorsed Notley's party in the last election, it was a "loan" vote, and he offered praise mixed with much criticism of past NDP positions.

"I need to engage with politics and elections fluidly and based on the context of the moment, as well as who is running," he wrote last May in an endorsement column.

He revelled in the fluidity of city politics. As mayor, he wasn't leader of the 14 other councillors, and could variously appeal to the conservative members or liberal members for votes to ensure passage of his initiatives. (Or, sometimes, he wasn't persuasive or crafty a politician enough to win those votes.)

Were he to run and become NDP leader, he'd suddenly find himself at the helm of a 38-member caucus of elected partisans — some not much newer to the system than he would be, but many who are longtime and loyal New Democrats.

It's grown from the union-oriented party it used to be. The 2014 leadership race allotted 25 per cent of its votes to organized labour, but this spring's contest won't. There's still an unabashedly and consistently left-of-centre tradition that Nenshi would likely have to abide by.

Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press

There's policy consistency and message discipline a party leader must instill (and enforce) in his team, and he's previously enjoyed not even having that rigidity himself, sometimes on council arguing around both sides of an issue before eventually landing somewhere.

Four years ago, while he was still mayor and I wasn't at CBC, I asked Nenshi how he'd manage the expectations of a partisan political system at the federal or provincial level. He suggested he didn't need to change to fit that mould — maybe the combative system itself needed to change, and he could help forge a "new model" of politics.

"You're working out of a paradigm of the way it works now. Maybe it could work differently in the future," he said in that interview.

Nenshi had chafed against partisanship and ideological rigidity at city hall, and he couldn't fix that. Inserting himself into an established UCP-vs.-NDP slugfest and trying to transform it on the fly is a big ask. But would asking him to conform to it be equally daunting?

The former mayor would have to revive a political network that last sought votes and donations in 2017 — and features many moderate conservatives who might blanch at buying an Alberta NDP membership that includes a stake in Jagmeet Singh's federal party. He'd have to build an organization in Edmonton and elsewhere; and he'd have to get assurances that the MLAs would be comfortable with him as leader, whether or not they've already chosen another hopeful to support.

Nenshi would need special permission from the NDP to run for leadership if he has not been a card-carrying member for six months, but insiders expect that to be a formality, a rule more designed to keep out rogues who are further astray from the party's political core.

He might also want some guarantees that he'd be able to overtake Ganley as the ranking Calgary candidate, as well as Shepherd, Pancholi. Getting in this contest to risk losing in June's vote may be a disappointing political return.

Thinking, thinking

There's no indication from Nenshi's camp that he's racing into this decision, and almost definitely wouldn't launch anything this week.

As recently as Thursday, he was promoting an apolitical event in support of CBC's Canada Reads on Feb. 18, and has given no indication he's dropping that book debate series set in early March for a different sort of debate. The deadline to sell memberships for the leadership race is April 22 ahead of a June 22 vote, so waiting too long would dampen his chances.

Speaking of dampen, the party faces a dilemma on par with Nenshi's own: what if this outsider doesn't run?

While that decision may come down to his own personal considerations and comfort level, if the most high-profile potential candidate bows out, it might signal to the public that the NDP leadership isn't seen as an exciting political vehicle, or that the party isn't all too welcoming to outsiders.

If he bows out, the contest stands to appear as an all-MLA affair, a hunt for the most viable member of caucus whose name doesn't rhyme with Motley. If Nenshi's entry would bring some national-level sizzle to this race, his absence after much speculation could make it more lukewarm.

Quebec City sets sights on building 150-km cycling corridor by 2034

CBC
Tue, February 6, 2024 

Cyclists make their way down St-Denis Street in Montreal. Quebec City hopes to build a network of cycling paths within the next 10 years to offer more choice to commuters. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press - image credit)

In 10 years, 85 per cent of Quebec City will be served by a cycling corridor that will connect many of the city's 35 neighbourhoods.

Mayor Bruno Marchand unveiled the city's plan for the 150-kilometre cycling network on Tuesday.

He says the city hopes to achieve 60 per cent of its vision in five years — building 90 kilometres of the corridor with a budget of $29 million and starting with the most feasible paths, working section by section.

With a growing city and more commuters on the road, Marchand says this cycling corridor, also known as corridors Vélo cité (CVC) ,will be good for the economy and the environment.

"If we don't find alternatives to help people commute how they want to, we are done for. That means people driving will spend more time in their car," said Marchand.

"So the drivers who say when we announce a cycling project or active transport project that it's not for them, they're wrong. It is for them."

The city says it wants to ensure 48 per cent of residents are within a 400 metres of a path in the network, which will also connect 77 schools.

The city mapped out the planned cycling paths which will total 150 kilometres and stretch across the city. (Ville de Québec)

'It's really great to see': Vélo Québec

Magali Bebronne, director of programs with the cycling advocacy group Vélo Québec, says this project could encourage people living outside the city centre to turn to cycling.

"Traditionally the utilitarian bike lanes, the ones that really enable people to go places efficiently, were often concentrated in the downtown and in central boroughs," said Bebronne.

"So to have a vision that really allows for all the neighbourhoods to be connected is really a strong point of the plan."

Over the past few years, Bebronne says some municipalities have set up 50-kilometre cycling paths but "didn't offer any kind of security." She says even light infrastructure, such as bollards, can make a difference.

"It's an ambitious plan. It's really great to see," says Bebronne, adding she hopes the plans come to fruition.

"Of course, each time a plan is announced, it's great to see the announcement and then the devil is in the detail. It's about how fast the cities are able to implement it."

Pierre-Luc Lachance and Bruno Marchand presented the city's plan for the 150-kilometre cycling network at a news conference on Tuesday at city hall. 

(Alexandre Vallée-Roy/Radio-Canada)

Network will be for 'cyclists of all kinds': Mayor

Mayor Marchand says the goal is to offer choice, which will be a "win for all commuters on the road."

"To ensure that people can use this means [of transportation] it takes security and it requires comfort and that's what we're moving toward. The role of our city is not to force citizens or say we will choose for you," said Marchand.

"The role we were given as politicians was to offer choices."

Following the construction of the first 90-kilometre network, the remaining 40 per cent of the cycling network will be made up of more complex projects, requiring heavier work, which will be completed by 2034.

He says right now, many people still take their cars, even if their destination is within five kilometres.

"It's not our citizens fault. We're not throwing blame on them. It's the contrary. We are saying to them we will create a city that will allow them to — should they want to — move around in a comfortable manner," said Marchand.

Councillor and vice-president of the executive committee of Quebec City Pierre-Luc Lachance insists that the cycling network will be for "cyclists of all kinds," not just those "with bikes costing several thousand dollars."

"We're focusing on people who go to the library, children who will be able to go to school [by bike]," said Lachance.

The municipal administration will announce at a later date which sections will be developed in 2024 but confirmed its intention to start with the corridor linking Charlesbourg to downtown, which was announced in December. This path will be constructed gradually, in six sections from 2024 to 2026.

Not 'a war on cars,' mayor insists

The city says the choice of corridors is based on analyses of active mobility needs. Feasibility studies will be carried out for each of the various paths in the network and the city says citizens and local stakeholders will be invited to participate to ensure that the project is carried out in a way that reflects the realities of the local population.

Marchand says this project is not "a war on cars" but he does not have information about how existing roadways or lanes will be affected by the cycling network.

"The goal is not to remove lanes and the goal is also not to say we won't get rid of them," said Marchand. "It's to say we will find the best route to maximize its use."

Following the news conference, Stevens Mélançon of Équipe Priorité Québec said there are still details missing.

"The parking lots, the impact on the streets, the impact on everything [relating to] the environment, the routes," he said. "The intention may be good, but there are a lot of unknowns.".

Jackie Smith, a municipal councillor and the leader of Transition Quebec, says this project will complement the public transport network.

"It was essential to have a long-term vision of a network covering the entire territory, and this has now been achieved," said Smith in a statement.

"There's no doubt in my mind that with this infrastructure, the number of four-season cyclists in Quebec City will grow rapidly, and the whole community will benefit."

Yukon skier makes history with 'sensational' upset win at world championship meet

CBC
Tue, February 6, 2024 

Sonjaa Schmidt of Whitehorse, after winning gold in the women's sprint event at the U23 Nordic World Ski Championships in Slovenia on Tuesday. Her win was considered the 'surprise of the meet so far,' said one commentator. 

(Borut Živulović/BOBO/Graeme Williams - image credit)

A young cross country skier from Whitehorse has been proclaimed a "star in the making" after she unexpectedly made history by winning gold at a world championship meet this week.

Sonjaa Schmidt, 21, was not favoured to win the women's sprint at the U23 championship — in fact, she barely qualified for the quarterfinal heats at the event in Planica, Slovenia.

Once in the quarterfinal, though, Schmidt was unstoppable — cruising to the semifinal, and then the final where she turned heads by powering her way to the front of the pack just before reaching the finish line.

"How about that! She's beaten all the favourites ... It's Sonjaa Schmidt who's sprung the surprise of the meet so far," proclaims the broadcast announcer, calling the race for FIS Cross Country.

"Suddenly the Canadians have a star in the making ... sensational!"

The surprise win marks the first time Canada has won gold in a U23 Nordic World Ski Championship women's event.

"I felt lucky to have qualified in the first place," Schmidt told CBC News later on Tuesday.

"Then I think I just told myself, you know, that I have the same amount of chances as everyone else to win. And I tried to stay calm and just race the way I normally do, make moves where I can, rest where I can. And I think I did a really good job in that."

Alain Masson, a Whitehorse ski coach who works with the national team, and was there to see Schmidt's win, and called it "probably the biggest surprise in cross country ski racing, maybe not ever, but in a long, long time."

"I mean, even the quarterfinal, and the semifinal — it's rare for Canada to have athletes going beyond the quarterfinals ... It's amazing. Like, I think people were shocked."

Masson credits Schmidt's success to "perseverance, self-confidence and just work ethic."

Whitehorse skier Sonjaa Schmidt raises her arm in victory as she cross the finish line in the U23 women's sprint event at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Slovenia, Feb. 6, 2024.

Schmidt raises her arm in victory as she crosses the finish line on Tuesday. (Borut Živulović/BOBO/Graeme Williams)

Schmidt had a challenging year, after being passed over for the national team last spring. That meant she lost some of her funding, according to Masson.

But that setback may have ultimately helped give her an edge. In order to afford to keep her ski career going, Schmidt worked for several months last summer as a tree planter.

"I guess tree planting is a very physical labour — so maybe that's what has paid off for Sonjaa," Masson said.

Masson said Schmidt's surprise win was celebrated by more than just the Canadian contingent in Planica. He said after the race, lots of people from other teams — including those typically more favoured to win — were coming to offer congratulations.

"People were excited. I mean, it's good for the sport to have people from different countries doing well. So I think the Scandinavian countries were quite happy to see a North American on the top of the podium," Masson said.

Schmidt plans to now go visit her grandparents in Germany before getting back into competition at World Cup races in Finland, Norway and Sweden.

She's expecting her performance on Tuesday will earn now her a spot on the national team, meaning she's unlikely to spend another summer tree planting.

"Or maybe I will be — it seems to be the trick!" Schmidt said.

Cree chief pleads for help to end community's wave of violence in open letter to Sask. premier, PM

CBC
Tue, February 6, 2024

Pelican Narrows has been under a state of emergency since last October because of high crime rates. It's among the communities in northern Saskatchewan that struggle with substance addiction and violent crime. (Dayne Patterson/CBC - image credit)

Leaders in a remote Saskatchewan community are calling out for help.

They say residents in Pelican Narrows are living in fear daily because of drug-fuelled violence, stabbings, shootings and suicide, which are the result of historical injustice and geographic isolation.

Registered nurse Sarah Van den Broeck described what it's like to live and work in the remote Saskatchewan community, which is about 420 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, during a news conference Monday.

She says nurses are exhausted from the constant exposure to trauma, oftentimes looking after patients who are victims of gunshot wounds, attacks from machetes, hammers and knives, and domestic violence.

"We feel like we're sitting targets ... we feel that the weapons used — the sawed-off shotguns — cause enough damage, but should a higher-calibre weapon be used for these shootings, we would be seeing murders every day," Van den Broeck said.

"We're trying to call for help before it comes to that."

Registered nurse Sarah Van den Broeck increasingly worried about violence:

Van den Broeck says it's difficult to sleep due to noise from drug houses across the street and continuous blaring. And when she and other residents manage to fall asleep, fireworks celebrating fresh batches of meth usually wake them up.

She adds that nurses don't feel safe going for walks, taking their dogs outside, or even standing on their decks because of stray bullets that might come their way.

Clinic shutting down-non urgent care

John-Michael Stevens, a doctor in Pelican Narrows, said the local health clinic is no longer providing non-urgent care because staff are too busy dealing with emergencies.

He added that fear is increasing among staff because there isn't enough security at the clinic and the number of intoxicated patients — many of whom are using crystal meth, which could lead to them being violent and unpredictable— coming into the clinic are increasing.

"There have been instances where staff have been threatened and staff involvement has been increasing and I know there's a mounting fear among staff of being victim to something," Stevens said.

"We wouldn't want people to think that we're closing down as a statement. It's certainly for the safety of the staff and so that we can continue to provide emergency services to the community."

Stevens has worked in Pelican Narrows for seven years and has felt safe for the majority of that time. He said gun violence started to rise in the community in mid-2022.

"Fairly recently was the first time I actually [felt unsafe], when I left the clinic to walk up to my suite, which is not a very long walk, I felt compelled to look around, " Stevens said.

"I really felt a strange sensation of I better just hurry because who knows there might be a bullet that's just that flies at the wrong time in the wrong place."

Calls for help

In an open letter to Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation Chief Karen Bird called for a multi-pronged approach around enhanced community safety and mental health supports, as well as additional nurses.

After a year of remaining in a state of emergency, Bird said that the people of Pelican Narrows, which is one of eight communities that comprise Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN), continue to feel vulnerable.

The nation covers more than 50,000 square kilometres and has more than 12,000 members.

"We need the right tools and gear to keep our health-care heroes and everyone else safe. We need law enforcement that's not just showing up after things go wrong but is really part of our community, keeping an eye out and keeping us safe," Bird said.

"We've reached out time and time again with plans and pleas detailed and clear, but the echoes of our cries for help have been met with silence."

Submitted by Matthew Hildebrandt

On Tuesday, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health said the health centre and EMS services in Pelican Narrows are not operated by the SHA but that Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation is contracted to operate and manage the services in the community.

"The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health and the SHA are aware of the ongoing violence within the community of Pelican Narrows and are working with [Indigenous Services Canada] and PBCN to support the community and residents in the area," said an emailed statement to CBC.

Bird says the community is at a critical juncture that will determine its future, well-being and safety of residents.

A proposal to develop a community safety officer program in Pelican Narrows is still waiting provincial approval, but Bird says everything that's being done toward that is being paid for by the nation, including pulling resources from other places.

"Our ancestors, our people, our future generations, they're all watching children — waiting, hoping that this call for help gets answered," Bird said.