Oilpatch funds balloon for pro-Smith political group after she supports royalty break

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

Oilpatch support for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's agenda ballooned after she won her party's leadership and put the so-called RStar program — a plan to give tax breaks to energy companies for fulfilling cleanup work they are already obliged to do — high on the government agenda. 

Elections Alberta records and an analysis by The Canadian Press suggest donations to the Alberta First Initiative, a pro-Smith advocacy group, increased eightfold from companies associated with the energy industry after Smith became premier. While the Initiative says it does not support RStar, its founder previously worked with a group that promoted it. 

The Initiative also appears to have participated in Smith's successful campaign to win the United Conservative Party leadership, which she sought after leaving Alberta Enterprise Group, a business group that lobbied in favour of RStar. The Initiative is now funding attack ads against the New Democrat Opposition and supporting Smith as the province gears up for a spring election.

"Alberta, we can't afford the NDP," says one of the ads on the Initiative's website.

"Danielle Smith will make Alberta better for me and my family," says another.

It's an index of how close the governing party is to the province's dominant industry — a relationship that also carries risks, said University of Alberta political science professor Jared Wesley. 

"Entitlement is kind of the Conservatives' kryptonite in Alberta," he said. 

"To the extent that oil and gas gets seen as putting their finger on the scale in this election, the UCP runs the risk of losing votes." 

The founder of Alberta First said the group is exercising its rights.

"(Alberta First) has a mission to promote policies, educate activists and engage Albertans to participate in democracy," Mackenzie Lee said in an emailed response to a series of questions from The Canadian Press.

The RStar proposal, developed by an industry group, has been criticized by legal experts, energy economists and some of the province’s own internal analysts. It's been called a violation of the polluter pay principle, an incentive for companies to not fulfil their obligations and a reward for those who haven't.

For more than a year, Smith and her cabinet have been outspoken advocates of the plan, which would enable companies to use reclamation spending to gain credits against future royalty payments, despite that reclamation being a condition of their original drilling licence.

“I love it,” Smith said on a 2021 YouTube broadcast, when she was a lobbyist for the Alberta Enterprise Group. She also wrote a supportive letter that July as group president to then-energy minister Sonya Savage.

On May 19, 2022, Smith announced she would leave her job as president of the Alberta Enterprise Group and run for the UCP leadership. The Alberta First Initiative was incorporated six days later, timing Lee called "coincidental."   

Lee is also the co-founder with Kris Kinnear of Sustaining Alberta's Energy Network, which has long pushed RStar. 

Lee said he left the Network in late 2021 and hasn't spoken regularly with Kinnear since last spring. The Initiative does not promote RStar, he said.

"RStar is not a policy that Alberta First has ever or will ever advocate," he said. 

However, the Initiative supports Smith and Smith supports RStar.

Elections Alberta public reports show the Initiative received donations of $37,500 in the third quarter of 2022, which would have arrived during Smith's UCP leadership campaign. An analysis by The Canadian Press using public websites as well as corporate records searched  by the NDP suggest about two-thirds of that came from energy sector firms or firms providing services to them. 

Text messages sent by someone saying they represent the Initiative, captured by the NDP, suggest the group was active in Smith's campaign.

"Hi! This is Ann from Alberta First Initiative," reads one Aug. 12 text. "Alberta has a rare opportunity to select a premier who will put Alberta First. Only Danielle Smith has shown a willingness to stand up to Ottawa." 

"Alberta First!" was one of Smith's campaign slogans. Kinnear's LinkedIn profile also lists him as Smith's campaign co-ordinator.

Lee said the Initiative's work during that campaign was limited to general policy surveys "that had nothing to do with any candidate running at the time."

Smith became premier on Oct. 11 and soon after wrote RStar into the job description of her first energy minister. 

Oilpatch donations subsequently poured in to the Initiative. 

Compared to the $37,500 the Initiative received in July through September of last year, Elections Alberta records show the group picked up $330,000 in the last three months of 2022. Of that, $200,000 was from energy companies or those providing services to them. 

Maximum allowable donations to third-party groups such as the Initiative are almost seven times higher than limits for political parties or leadership contests. As well, corporations are allowed to donate.

Nearly one-third of the Initiative's donations were for the $30,000 maximum. No donation was smaller than $5,000. 

Smith's office did not answer a request for comment. 

Lee said no UCP officials are involved with the Initiative, nor does he meet with government staff.

The Initiative may now be the wealthiest of registered third-party groups opposing the NDP.

Elections Alberta says the next wealthiest groups at the end of 2022 were Shaping Alberta's Future, which collected just over $224,000, Alberta Proud with almost $29,000 and Take Back Alberta with $22,300.

Meanwhile, Kinnear works in Smith's office with unspecified duties. And Energy Minister Peter Guthrie has announced a pilot program based on RStar called the Liability Management Incentive Program that would distribute $100 million in royalty credits.

Smith has said the program is needed to clean up wells left by companies that no longer exist.

Scotiabank recently concluded the four companies best placed to take advantage of the program were Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus, Paramount Resources and Whitecap Resources. Those companies reported about $5 billion in net income in the last quarter. 

"We also believe the program goes against the core capitalist principle that private companies should take full responsibility for the liabilities they willingly accept," Scotiabank said. 

Wesley said it's unprecedented to have a former lobbyist such as Smith running the provincial government and installing programs she used to advocate after a campaign assisted by those who would benefit from them. He said Smith and her industry supporters may find that's used against them in the coming election.

"These (political action committees) have to be careful of not crossing that line into being part of a narrative that there are these corporate forces at work and they're not in it for you."  

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

WAGE THEFT

CIBC agrees to settle overtime class-action lawsuit, will pay $153 million

The Canadian Press 

CIBC has agreed to pay a total of $153 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed more than a decade ago over the bank's overtime policies, lawyers for the plaintiffs say.

Dara Fresco, a former CIBC teller and class counsel, brought this case in 2007. 

The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed last year an attempt by the bank to overturn a lower-court ruling in favour of the class-action case on behalf of about 31,000 retail bank employees.

Fresco says the settlement is a fair compromise that will bring meaningful compensation to thousands of class members.

CIBC spokesperson Tom Wallis says the settlement will avoid further legal costs and allow the bank to put the matter behind it.

The agreement must be approved by the Ontario Superior Court before it will become binding. 

DIFFERENCE IS WE WELCOME THEM

Rep. Fallon blasts Biden as thousands of migrants flock to Canada: ‘It’s a flood’

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, discusses Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his decision to press President Biden on the New York-Quebec border as thousands of migrants flock to Canada.

Li-Cycle gets $375M Energy Department loan for New York recycling center

By Daniel J. Graeber

Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Lithium-ion developer Li-Cycle said Monday it had conditional federal support for what could be the first North American source of recycled battery-grade lithium.

The company has a $375 million conditional loan guarantee from the Department of Energy's Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program for a planned commercial materials center in Rochester, N.Y.

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the funding would go to what's expected to be the largest supplier of recycled materials for lithium-ion batteries in the region.

"That means the heart of hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles, which will soon dominate our roads, will be made with battery components from right here in Rochester," the senator said.

While the United States does contain the metals and minerals needed for the energy transition away from fossil fuels, just mining the resources is an expensive endeavor and only a handful of countries have proven success.

The Paris-based International Agency estimates that the Democratic Republic of Congo currently produces 70% of the world's cobalt, used in lithium-ion batteries, while Australia, Chile and China account for 90% of the total global production of lithium.

But developments are advancing quickly. Lithium company Ioneer secured a conditional $700 million federal loan in January to develop the Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mineral deposit in Nevada. The company believes the mine could support the development of enough batteries to power 400,000 electric vehicles per year.

Li-Cycle said it already has infrastructure in place to develop tens of thousands of tons of material used in batteries, but believes its hub in Rochester will help lay a foundation for a stronger domestic core.

"As a sustainable pure-play battery material recycling company, we expect the Rochester Hub will position Li-Cycle as a leading domestic producer of recycled battery-grade materials for accelerating electrification demand to address climate change and secure energy independence," Li-Cycle co-founder, president and CEO Ajay Kochhar said.

Canadian company Li-Cycle secures conditional US$375M loan for new U.S. battery facility

Daniel Johnson , BNN Bloomberg 

Toronto-based battery recycling company Li-Cycle Holdings Corp. announced it will receive a US$375 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to create a battery facility near Rochester, New York. 

Li-Cycle said in a news release Monday it received a conditional commitment from the U.S. governing body as part of its Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program. The facility will produce recycled battery-grade lithium and is expected to be the first of its kind in North America. 

“The Rochester Hub is a cornerstone asset for Li-Cycle and its stakeholders and will be an important contributor to the clean energy economy,” Ajay Kochhar, the president and chief executive officer of Li-Cycle, said in the release. 

When running at full capacity, the release said the facility could produce up to 8,500 tonnes of lithium carbonate, 48,000 tonnes of nickel sulphate and 7,500 tonnes of cobalt sulphate each year.

“As a sustainable pure-play battery material recycling company, we expect the Rochester Hub will position Li-Cycle as a leading domestic producer of recycled battery-grade materials for accelerating electrification demand to address climate change and secure energy independence,” Kochhar said. 

The loan will have a term of up to 12 years and certain conditions will need to be met before closing, which the release said is expected to occur in the second quarter of this year.

The facility will meet the battery needs of around 203,000 electric vehicles (EVs) each year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The governing body said the facility will advance electrification efforts in the U.S., while enhancing the country’s EV supply chain. 

Support provided to EVs through the facility’s output will reduce emissions by more than 716,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. 

BP to expand LNG project off Mauritania and Senegal
By Daniel J. Graeber

British energy company BP said it was mulling its options for a second phase of operations for a major gas project off the coast of West Africa. Photo courtesy of BP.


Feb. 27 (UPI) -- British energy company BP said Monday it backed a development concept for a second phase of a giant liquefied natural gas project off the coast of Mauritania and Senegal.

BP and its consortium partners are considering a gravity-based structure (GBS) for the second phase of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project that will increase the capacity to the overall facility.

"GBS LNG developments have a static connection to the seabed with the structure providing LNG storage and a foundation for liquefication facilities," the company explained.

A floating production, storage and offloading vessel left a Chinese shipyard in late January for its 12,000-nautical-mile journey to the coast of Mauritania and Senegal for BP's project.

RELATED Italy's Eni posts decade-high profits, looks to natural gas for future growth

The eight production and processing components onboard the FPSO can process around 500 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day. That compares with the tens of billions of cubic meters of gas coming from U.S. shale basins each day, though BP sees it as a boon for West Africa.

Already under development, the first phase of operations will send offshore gas to a floating production facility for processing and refinement before sending it back to other facilities that can turn products into liquid form.

LNG is emerging as a vital component of the pursuit of reliable supplies against a backdrop of geopolitical risk emanating from the war in Ukraine. Gas-rich energy company Shell said in a recent report that the European and British economies took in 60% more LNG than they did in 2021, which allowed the region to tolerate the shortage of piped gas from Russia.

RELATED  Flex LNG is fully booked and expects a profitable year

Gordon Birrell, BP's executive vice president for operations and production, said West Africa could emerge as the next global LNG center.

"We aim to build on our strong collaboration with our partners, and the governments of Mauritania and Senegal, to further develop a long-term, successful energy hub in West Africa," he said.

BP made its final investment decision on the Greater Tortue Ahmeyin project in 2018.

FLOATING REFINERY SHIP

U.S. announces plan to reverse rising 'scourge' of illegal child labor
By Sheri Walsh

Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, along with the Department of Health and Human Services, announced a new interagency task force Monday to end "Child Labor Exploitation," following a 69% increase in illegal child labor in the United States over the last five years. 

File photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The Biden administration is taking new steps to end illegal child labor, following a 69% increase in the number of children employed illegally by U.S. companies over the last five years.

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services announced a new interagency task force on "Child Labor Exploitation" on Monday, in addition to a national enforcement initiative on child labor.

"We see everyday the scourge of child labor in this country, and we have a legal and moral obligation to take every step in our power to prevent it," said Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.

"Too often, companies look the other way and claim that their staffing agency, or their subcontractor or supplier, is responsible," Walsh added. "Everyone has a responsibility here."

RELATEDCompany pays $1.5 million for breaking child labor laws in 8 states, Labor Department says

The Labor Department also announced plans to hold all employers accountable to ensure child labor is removed from supply chains. Many of the children are migrants from Latin America, who fled violence and poverty, and do not have a parent in the United States.

"Every child in this country, regardless of their circumstance, deserves protection and care as we would expect for our own child," said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.

"At HHS, we will continue to do our part to protect the safety and well-being of unaccompanied children by providing them appropriate care while they are in our custody, placing them in the custody of parents, relatives and other appropriate sponsors after vetting and conducting post-release services including safety and well-being calls," Becerra added.

Earlier this month, the Labor Department announced $1.5 million in civil penalties against Packers Sanitation Services for violating child labor laws in eight states.

The department said the company employed more than 102 children between the ages of 13 and 17 "in hazardous occupations and had them working overnight shifts at 13 meat processing facilities in eight states."

The Labor Department said it currently has more than 600 child labor investigations underway throughout the country.

In addition to the new task force and enforcement initiative, the administration also wants mandated follow-up calls for unaccompanied children who report safety concerns, expanded post-release services, increased funding and new training materials to educate unaccompanied children on their rights.

The Labor Department is also calling on Congress to increase penalties for child labor violations, which are currently $15,138 per child. The department argues the penalties are not high enough to deter large companies, while urging Congress to add protections for those who report child labor law violations.

"This is not a 19th century problem -- this is a today problem," Walsh said. "We need Congress to come to the table, we need states to come to the table. This is a problem that will take all of us to stop."

New species found in ‘magical ecosystem’ in Ecuador gets name inspired by Tolkien

2023/02/27

A new species of frog was recently discovered in the mountains of Ecuador and named after author J.R.R. - 

Juan Carlos Sánchez-Nivicela/Archive Museo de Zoología, Universidad San Francisco de Quito/TNS

Often referred to as the father of modern fantasy, author J.R.R. Tolkien created a larger than life world inhabited by goblins, giant spiders and fire-breathing dragons.

His namesake has now been given to a decidedly less terrifying creature, a l Zoo Keys.

“It would seem that it lives in a universe of fantasies, like those created by Tolkien,” the researchers wrote in a news release. “The truth is that the tropical Andes are magical ecosystems where some of the most wonderful species of flora, funga, and fauna in the world are present.”

Upon finding the frog, researchers named it Hyloscirtus tolkieni after the acclaimed English writer and scholar.

“All three authors are admirers of Professor Tolkien’s work,” Juan Sánchez-Nivicela, a biologist at the National University of Colombia and co-author of the study, told McClatchy News over email.

After immersing himself in the works of Tolkien, particularly “The Lord of the Rings,” Sánchez-Nivicela now sees parallels between the author’s fantastical creations and the mystical jungle world he traverses while on field expeditions.

The striking color pattern seen on the newfound species evokes the “magnificent creatures” that populate the world of fantasy, the researchers said.

The creature — also distinguished by its large body size, “robust” forearms and pale pink eyes — spends its life in the freshwater brooks of the Río Negro-Sopladora National Park, a protected area spanning 75,000 acres in southern Ecuador.

Because so little is known about Hyloscirtus tolkieni, researchers recommended elevating its conservation status and risk of extinction, and they called for further research and monitoring of the species.

Amphibians, which play a vital role in the stability of ecosystems, including as pest controllers, are in a precarious position in Ecuador, considered to be one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth.

The majority of the country’s amphibians, 57%, are imperiled by extinction, researchers said.

Habitat loss — often resulting from agricultural expansion and mining and oil activity — is considered one of the primary causes of the decline in amphibian populations, according to a 2021 study published in the journal PLOS One.

This “sad reality of the world we live in” also factored into Sánchez-Nivicela’s decision to name the new frog after Tolkien, whose fiction has a theme of environmental stewardship, according to the book “Ents, Elves, and Eriador: The Environmental Vision of J.R.R. Tolkien.”

The sustainable agrarian lifestyle of Tolkien’s hobbits is put in stark contrast to Sauron and Saruman’s environmental degradation in the name of greed, the book’s authors write.

Tolkien “deserves proper recognition through a species that evokes this entire world and that is so fragile,” Sánchez-Nivicela said.

SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE TO CALL TO DEFUND THE MILITARY

New age author Marianne Williamson announces new 2024 Democratic presidential run
2023/02/27

New age self-help author Marianne Williamson says she will run for the Democratic 2024 presidential nomination, adding her quirky spiritualism to the mix as the first official challenger to President Joe Biden from within his party.

“We are not living in easy times,” Williamson said in an a statement. “But the times will change when we are willing to change them.”

Williamson, 70, said she she will formally announce her long shot run in a speech in Washington, D.C., this weekend and will visit early voting states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Quoting Albert Einstein, Williamson said the world’s problems won’t be solved unless leaders raise their level of thinking.

“It’s time for a new beginning,” she said. “This will only happen if we’re willing to look at the world in a different way.”

Political pundits give Williamson next to no chance of winning even though she is the first candidate to jump into the race.

Biden hasn’t formally announced he will run for reelection but insiders say he plans to do so in the next several weeks.

First Lady Jill Biden recently suggested there is “pretty much” no doubt Biden will run for four more years in the White House.

Williamson, who occasionally livened up staid debates with wacky pronouncements, spent about a year vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination as part of a sprawling field that eventually came down to a battle between Biden and progressive favorite Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

One of Williamson’s signature proposals was a plan to create a U.S. Department of Peace. 

She also advocated that the federal government pay reparations to Black Americans as atonement for centuries of slavery and discrimination.

Williamson once credited “the power of the mind” with keeping a dangerous hurricane offshore.

She pulled the plug on her campaign in the weeks before the first Democratic voters made their voices heard in the leadoff Iowa caucus and later endorsed Sanders.

© New York Daily News

Consumer advocates say Supreme Court must rebuke 'harebrained' attack on CFPB
Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams
February 27, 2023

The United States Supreme Court building. (Shutterstock.com)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear arguments in a case challenging the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding, a move that was welcomed by some advocates as an opportunity for the nation's highest court to protect American consumers from a lower court ruling.

The justices will take up the case, Community Financial Services Association v. CFPB, after a panel of three U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals judges appointed by former President Donald Trump last year sided with the payday lending industry in the ruling by questioning the federal agency's funding model and thereby its authority.

At issue is whether the CFPB's annual funding via the Federal Reserve and not Congress violates the Appropriations Clause of the Constitution. Critics of the October ruling argued that the CFPB's funding mechanism was designed to ensure the agency's independence.

The Biden administration, backed by Democratic attorneys general in 21 states, argues that the 5th Circuit Court's ruling "threatens the validity of all past CFPB actions."



First proposed by then-Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, the CFPB was established in 2010 under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in the wake of the 2007-08 global financial crisis. Consumer advocates warn that the 5th Circuit's ruling threatens the constitutionality of the Federal Reserve, as well as agencies including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Farm Credit Administration, and the Office of Financial Research.

Consumer advocates reacted to Monday's news by saying the U.S. Supreme Court now has an opportunity to correct what they say is the mistaken logic of the lower court ruling.

"There is no judicially cognizable limiting legal principle that distinguishes between the 5th Circuit's harebrained assault on the CFPB and potential challenges to Social Security or other financial regulators which are funded outside of the annual appropriations process," warned Jeff Hauser, executive director of the watchdog group Revolving Door Project.

Maria Langholz, communications director at the online advocacy group Demand Progress, welcomed the high court's acceptance of the case.

"We are pleased to see that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear this important case and expect a correction of the 5th Circuit's misguided attacks on the CFPB," she said in a statement. "In the past twelve years, the CFPB has proven itself as a fierce defender of consumers against unscrupulous creditors that decimated our economy and wreaked havoc on people's lives. The Supreme Court should reject the Fifth Circuit's unprecedented ruling, restoring stability to the marketplace and preserving the CFPB's ability to protect the American people."

Morgan Harper, director of policy and advocacy at the American Economic Liberties Project, called the 5th Circuit's decision "a direct attack on the nation’s economy."

"Now that it has taken up the case, SCOTUS must move swiftly to overturn this dangerous opinion that could prevent financial regulators, including the Federal Reserve, from doing their jobs to protect American businesses and consumers." 

Revolving Door Project researcher Vishal Shankar called the 5th Circuit's ruling "a naked attempt by corporate fraudsters to destroy the only cop on the beat protecting consumers.

Shankar continued:

The case was originally brought by predatory payday lenders and is being supported by giant lobbying groups like the Chamber of Commerce, whose members and executives have a shameless history of breaking the law and ripping off consumers. Multiple Republican lawmakers who have praised the 5th Circuit's ruling—and the far-right judge who wrote it—have taken large financial contributions from these corporate rip-off artists and lobbying giants.

"Following the money confirms what we all know to be true: this case has nothing to do with the constitutional separation of powers and everything to do with destroying an overwhelmingly popular law enforcement agency that has already returned over $13.5 billion in relief to consumers from corporate fraudsters," Shankar added.

"If the Supreme Court has any respect left for the rule of law," he said, "it should overturn the 5th Circuit's radical act of right-wing judicial activism."

Leftist Elly Schlein—'Italy's AOC'—elected to confront far-right Giorgia Meloni

Julia Conley, Common Dreams
February 27, 2023

Elly Schlein (AFP)

Calling her victory "a clear mandate for real change," left-wing Italian politician Elly Schlein on Sunday was named the new leader of her country's Democratic Party after winning against a centrist supported by the political establishment.

Schlein, a member of Parliament who temporarily defected from the Democratic Party (PD) in 2015 due to her opposition to a jobs act that made it easier for employers to fire workers and give them less job security, won with 54% of the vote to become the party's new secretary.

Stefano Bonaccini, president of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, won just 46% of the vote after being projected to win easily. His support was mainly concentrated in the conservative southern regions of the country

Schlein will now lead the PD in opposing the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose Brothers of Italy party has neofascist roots and who has been condemned for pushing discriminatory education policies and penalizing humanitarian groups that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.

The new PD leader addressed the latter issue on Sunday, as her victory came the same day dozens of refugees, including 20 children, died when their overcrowded boat capsized in the sea—days after Italy's parliament passed a new law imposing restrictions on rescue boats, making it more difficult for charities to save asylum-seekers.

The refugees' deaths weigh "on the conscience of those who only weeks ago approved a decree whose only goal is to hinder rescues at sea," said Schlein on Sunday, calling for migrants to be permitted to legally apply for entry into all European nations and for the E.U.'s government to strengthen search-and-rescue efforts in the Mediterranean.

Schlein promised that under her leadership, the PD "will be a problem" for Meloni's government.

"She's a force to be reckoned with," said journalist Andrea Carlo. "I imagine Meloni & Co. won't be sleeping too well tonight."



The 37-year-old former member of European Parliament has been called "Italy's AOC"by some news outlets—referring to U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez(D-N.Y.)—for her support for a minimum wage law and a Green New Deal to create jobs and help the country drastically reduce its fossil fuel emissions.

Last year, she announced her campaign to lead the PD as one that would be "progressive, environmentalist, and feminist."

Schlein's victory represents "a genuine moment of hope in the fight against the far right in Italy, and across Europe," said socialist activist Michael Chessum.

At one point Schlein was polling 18 points behind Bonaccini. Her surprising margin of victory was secured largely thanks to the support of women and young voters, according to the Associated Press.

"The Democratic Party is alive and ready to stand up," said Schlein. "We did it, together we made a small big revolution, even this time they didn't see us coming."

Schlein's victory came as trade unions across Italy demanded better safety protections and job security for port workers, holding a nationwide maritime port strike Saturday. In December, the PD and unions organized street protests over Meloni's proposed budget, which they said targeted the poor by cutting the country's "citizen's wage" for unemployed people and not addressing rising costs of essentials.

"We will put the battle against every type of inequality and precariousness center-stage," said Schlein on Sunday.