Energy industry, legal experts push back against Kenney’s B.C. pledge

JAMES KELLER
CALGARY
MAY 3, 2019 

Jason Kenney proclaimed the law, previously known as Bill 12, within hours of taking office this week, escalating Alberta’s attack on B.C. for its opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney’s decision to press ahead with a law allowing his government to cut off oil shipments to British Columbia faces two significant threats: a risky court battle and the possibility of inflicting pain on the province’s already struggling oil industry.

Mr. Kenney proclaimed the law, previously known as Bill 12, within hours of taking office this week, escalating Alberta’s attack on B.C. for its opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The B.C. government immediately responded with a constitutional challenge, which will have its first court hearing in Calgary on Tuesday.

Mr. Kenney has said he doesn’t intend to use the law immediately, insisting it would be a last resort.

Oil producers have been cautious about weighing in on the debate about Bill 12, though several have urged the two governments to avoid any disruption of shipments to B.C.

“We understand and share the frustration of the premier – and of Albertans,” wrote Mel Duvall, a spokesman for Husky Energy Inc., in an e-mail.

“We sincerely hope it will never come to needing to use the legislation. Any market intervention by government can have unintended consequences and shake investor confidence.”

Earlier in the week, the CEO of Suncor Energy Inc. told reporters in Calgary that Bill 12 represented a “fairly significant intervention” that would hurt the company.

“We’re hoping that through the government’s negotiations this can get sorted out, because the last thing we want to do is have an impediment in serving our customers,” Mark Little said.

And Parkland Fuel Corp., whose refinery in Burnaby relies on Alberta crude to produce gasoline and diesel, urged the provinces to find another way to resolve the conflict.

“Any measure that restricts the supply of oil to British Columbia would be negative for the economies of both B.C. and Alberta,” the company said in a statement.

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers declined to comment specifically on Bill 12. It issued a statement from CEO Tim McMillan that simply reaffirmed the group’s support for the Trans Mountain expansion.

Richard Masson, a former head of the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission who is now a fellow at the University of Calgary School of Public Policy, predicted that any interruption related to Bill 12 would be short-lived.

“The producers can survive a little bit of pain. It hurts them some, but it would be way more impactful on consumers,” Mr. Masson said in an interview.

“The impacts on the B.C. consumer and the economy would be felt so quickly and so sharply. I don’t think it would last weeks. I think it would last days.”

At any rate, legal experts have cast doubt on Mr. Kenney even getting the chance to inflict such pain on B.C.

Joel Bakan, a law professor at the University of British Columbia, predicted B.C. will get an injunction and Alberta will eventually lose in an “open and shut” case. He said that while provinces have the power to restrict natural resource exports in some circumstances, they can’t discriminate against other provinces – which is precisely what Mr. Kenney says he wants to do.

“Premier Kenney did not do himself any favours by directly targeting B.C. in his remarks, because that simply feeds the narrative that the whole purpose behind this law is to target British Columbians,” Prof. Bakan said in an interview.

Michael Hurst, whose Calgary-based law firm, Dentons, has argued that Bill 12 could withstand a legal challenge, said it could depend on what the eventual licensing system looks like.

"It is entirely possible that it would restrict the export of the controlled commodities in all directions,” he said. “The possibilities are actually quite broad.”

With a report from The Canadian Press

Israeli Soldiers Shoot Bound, Blindfolded Palestinian Teen Trying to Flee 

The minor was detained for suspected stone throwing in the West Bank, then shot in the groin. Palestinians managed to evacuate the suspect to receive medical treatment after arguments with the soldiers 

Yotam Berger
Apr 21, 2019

The next time someone complains about how poorly treated Israel is or how could those Palestinians have done something heinous, or worse

Share this with them

 Remember this is a daily occurrence in occupied Palestine 

This is illegal under international law and standards of Human Rights

https://bdsmovement.net/

For those you know who claim (falsely) 

That #BDS is anti Semitic (like our PM Justin Trudeau does)

Jan 17, 2019 - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reaffirmed his opposition to the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel

Apr 2, 2019 - Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met in Ottawa with Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and thanked him for our country's strong stance ...

#BDS is not only fuelled by hatred, but is counterproductive to peace. Its' obsessive campaign against exclusively one country and one community can only be described as #antisemitic. Watch his full statement here: https://bit.ly/2FxfNng 

Justin Trudeau's pack of lies about BDS | The Electronic Intifada 2019

Justin Trudeau Conflating BDS With Anti-Semitism Is Dangerous ...

Nov 15, 2018 - As Canadian scholars, we urge Trudeau to retract his wrong-spirited comments that demonize the work students, community members and ...

TRUDEAU HAS BEEN CONSISTENT AS ALL WESTMOUNT LIBERALS ARE ON DEFENDING ISRAEL AS HE SAID SPRING 2015 WHICH WAS AN ELECTION YEAR

Justin Trudeau on Twitter: "The BDS movement, like Israeli Apartheid ...

Share this with them 

Then ask them to say two words; #FreePalestine 

Bet they can't

#Islamophobia is just the flip side of #Antisemitism 

The white supremacist & the right winger despite

their protestations to the contrary hates both equally

The average person whose ideas are those of the

Ruling class sides with Israel with no idea about

the Palestinians

Share this with them

FORD NATION 

Ontario terminates compensation for victims of violent crimesDeirdre McDade, CALC’s Co-Director of Legal Services, says the cuts are regressive, draconian and an attack on the province’s most vulnerable.

Published on: May 2, 2019 |

TIM MEEKS/THE INTELLIGENCER 

TIM MEEKS/THE INTELLIGENCER Dierdre McDade, the Community Advocacy and Legal Centre's Co-Director of Legal Services, says the Ontario government's plan to dismantle the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board will disproportionately affect women who are victims of crime and who account for two-thirds of CICB applications. JPG, BI

Dierdre McDade, the Community Advocacy and Legal Centre's Co-Director of Legal Services, says the Ontario government's plan to dismantle the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board will disproportionately affect women who are victims of crime and who account for two-thirds of CICB applications. 

Plans by the Ontario government to terminate the compensation program for victims of violent crime, currently administered by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB), will cause even more pain and suffering, say advocates.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board currently provides victims of violent crime with up to $25,000 to cover therapy, lost wages, medical bills, funeral expenses and intangible costs for pain and suffering. However, the province plans to cap awards for pain and suffering at $5,000 for all victims, even if they have suffered extensive childhood abuse, sexual assault, or were the target of domestic violence.

According to the board’s 2017-18 annual report, pain and suffering accounted for almost $33 million of the compensation claims it paid out in a year that saw 3,569 cases resolved at a hearing.

By comparison, if each of those cases had resulted in a maximum payment of $5,000, the board would have paid out less than $18 million.

Compensation for pain and suffering accounted for 95 per cent of the board’s payments in 2017-18.For 30 years the Community Advocacy & Legal Centre (CALC) has helped local victims, mostly women, to recover up to $25,000 to help compensate for pain and suffering they experienced at the hands of their abuser.

Deirdre McDade, CALC’s Co-Director of Legal Services, says the cuts are regressive, draconian and an attack on the province’s most vulnerable.

“We recover approximately $1 million annually for victims of domestic violence, child abuse and sexual assault. The average compensation received for pain and suffering is $20,000. These awards are life-changing and allow victims to receive trauma therapy, cover medical expenses, and move on with their lives after receiving official recognition that they were victims of crime and their recovery is recognized as important,” McDade said.

“Locally we represent about a hundred people a year and across the province they handle about 5,000 files a year,” she said.

“The really draconian thing about it is that in the past drastic changes to programs like this didn’t affect the people already in the system having their files dealt with. They just continued on through the process and it only affected new files. But this will actually change as soon as the Budget Bill receives Royal Asscent in probably in June or July. It’s really unusual to change the process for people who are already in the middle of it and who had a reasonable expectation that there would be a different outcome than there was,” McDade said.

The budget also proposed increasing the total available funding for one victim to $30,000, however, McDade said that is to cover potential expenses for victims.

“The maximum is now $5,000 and the maximum is usually set aside for children of murder victims, the most catastrophic incidents. So who knows, people could get $500.

“They’re only going to put $16 million into the new system, so they know they’re going to save money. They’ve probably over budgeted on the $16 million, I don’t think that will actually get spent because the $30,000 maximum they said they would give people is for expenses and nobody has $30,000 in expenses. We have people who had a prescription for a hundred bucks or physio for $500, nobody is going to get $30,000 in expenses because they’re probably not going to incur it. The pain and suffering reduction is the big loss,” McDade said.

McDade, who also co-chairs the government’s CICB Practice Advisory Committee, said the provincial committee was not consulted about this change or any other threatened changes, including dismantling of the CICB.

“Under this new proposed system, victims will now get significantly less compensation and will no longer have an opportunity to have their case heard before an impartial adjudicator,” she said. McDade, also observed that hearings provide victims with a sense of justice they have often been denied, noting these hearings help provide an opportunity for victims to heal.

“The CICB’s current victim-centered trauma-informed approach will soon be replaced by a bureaucratic system that reduces compensation for the most vulnerable,” she said.

The dismantling of a system that has worked well since 1971 will disproportionately affect women who are victims of crime and who account for two-thirds of CICB applications.
CALC has met with Bay of Quinte MPP and Government House Leader Todd Smith, and asked for further information about the proposed changes, and asked him to ensure that the voices of victims and their advocates are heard about these unjust changes.

“If the government cares about victims, their rights, and fair treatment and compensation, why are they making these regressive changes?” asked McDade.

The next big hit McDade is expecting comes May 14 when they find out how much is being slashed from Legal Aid.

“The government said they’re cutting 30 per cent, but we don’t know how much that is to the clinic side and we’ll find that out. We cover all of Hastings, Prince Edward and Lennox and Addington, we’re already stretched, we’re not a big bureaucracy with hundereds of staff,” she said, adding it will result in reduction of services.

The Community Advocacy & Legal Centre (CALC) is a non-profit community legal clinic principally funded by Legal Aid Ontario. The clinic was founded in 1980 and provides poverty law services to low income residents of Hastings, Prince Edward and Lennox & Addington counties. The clinic’s main office is in Belleville, with satellite locations in Trenton, Picton, Tyendinaga, Napanee, Amherstview, Tweed, Madoc and Bancroft.

For more information, visit CALC’s website at www.communitylegalcentre.ca.

FORD NATION BRING BACK THE GUILLOTINE

John Clarke

5/5/2019

At the risk of running into guillotine fatigue, I must offer one more comment on the matter. The use of this symbol of popular retribution on the lawns of the Ontario Legislature has sparked 'controversy' and, for that reason, has assumed some importance. The point is that the Tories have seized on this little incident because it gives them an opportunity to test the vulnerabilities of those who oppose them. They must have been pleased to see Andrea Horwath offer an apology for being photographed with someone whose protest sign included the words 'Fuck Ford.' The fake blade gesture offered a means to apply a bit more pressure and see how it worked. When Ford denounced the guillotine as if it were a serious threat to his life, he wanted to see who would dutifully fall in line and issue denunciations. He could not have been disappointed with the results. In the unlikely event charges are laid in this matter, the accused will count themselves lucky that NDP MP, Charlie Angus, won't be the judge because he sent out a tweet presenting their actions as an evil attack on 'civil society' itself. He was not alone in this kind of reaction.

The whole point here is that Doug Ford can't be allowed to set the boundaries for the movement of opposition against him. If it wasn't the guillotine, it would have been something else. Any union leader who talks of strike action, any social activist who makes a militant speech will breech the highly restrictive Tory rules on respectable dissent. If we are going to stop their austerity attack, we're going to have to build a movement that acts in ways that has Doug Ford gnashing his teeth and the editorial boards foaming at the mouth. We'll need to unleash social action that empties the workplaces and fills the streets and that makes a guillotine replica look like a friendly gesture.