Magna plans to expand manufacturing in North America to focus on EVs


Canadian auto parts company Magna International Inc. is planning to expand its global manufacturing capacity to North America as it focuses on electric vehicle production.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Aurora, Ont.-based auto supplier plans to become an industry leader in North America while aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030, Magna executives said Tuesday during the company investor call.


"We have indicated many times over the years, we are interested in establishing vehicle manufacturing in North America," said CEO Seetarama (Swamy) Kotagiri.

The company will partner with more overseas startups, including the recently announced collaboration with Innoviz Technologies, in its move toward electric vehicles, said Kotagiri.

The comments come a day after Israeli electric mobility startup REE Automotive announced its partnership with Magna to develop modular electric vehicles.

The agreement with Magna will bring full-fledged MEVs for tech companies and new electric mobility players under the "Powered by REE" brand, said REE on Monday.

"We see a growing demand for highly modular EVs from leading tech companies and new electric mobility players who have set their sights on entering the EV realm and building a brand in automotive," said REE co-founder and CEO Daniel Barel.

Late last year, Magna signed a deal with LG Electronics to create a joint venture called LG and Magna e-Powertrain JV to build components for electric cars.

The partnership will help manufacture electric motors, inverters and on-board chargers as Magna ambitiously expands into the fast-growing electric vehicle market.

The company expects its electrified powertrain business to have over US$2 billion in managed sales by 2023 and double by 2027, said Kotagiri.

The company also plans to electrify pickup trucks using its existing assembly processes and "eBeam" technology, he said.

In what he described as Magna's "solution for automakers to electrify pickup trucks without sacrificing their utility and functionality," Kotagiri said the company has received "significant interest from several (original equipment manufacturers) and expect(s) to bring this to market soon."

Kotagiri added that Magna will be launching its driver monitoring system, a safety feature that detects distracted driver behaviour, drowsiness and fatigue through an in-vehicle camera, in 2022.

Magna expects its sales to grow to between US$43 billion and US$45.5 billion in 2023, the company said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 13, 2021.

Companies in this story: (TSX:MG)

Denise Paglinawan, The Canadian Press

$291 Adobe Cancelation Fee Sees Twitter Users Argue it's 'Morally Correct' to Pirate Software

Adobe cancelation fee has provoked fierce criticism of the creative software company.

Aatif Sulleyman 

NEWSWEEK

4/13/2021

© iStock The Adobe logo at the company's HQ in San Jose, California. The creative software company is under heavy fire for charging customers a steep cancelation fee when they try to end their subscriptions.

A post from a customer has gone viral on Twitter, after he discovered that he would have to pay nearly $300 to bring his Creative Cloud subscription to an end.

It has sparked a discussion about Adobe's practices, with many others coming forward to say that they too have faced extremely steep cancelation fees when they've tried to cut ties with the company.

A screenshot uploaded to the micro-blogging site by Twitter user @Mrdaddguy showed that they faced a $291.45 fee to cancel their Adobe Creative Cloud plan.

At the time of publication the tweet has attracted more than 13,000 retweets, more than 4,000 quote tweets, and more than 70,000 likes.

Twitter users have been almost universally in agreement in their criticism of the company, with some describing the cancelation fee as "absurd", "disgusting," and likening it to being held hostage by the company.


Ah, I see Adobe is trending for absurd subscription fees. I thought this would be problematic back in 2014. pic.twitter.com/kM58I5i7HA— Jen Sorensen (@JenSorensen) April 13, 2021

"Adobe has been holding me hostage for the better part of a year on a free trial that magically converted to a yearlong subscription with a wild cancellation fee," wrote Twitter user Laura Hudson. "Blink twice if they have you too."

Some have weighed into the conversation by suggesting alternatives to Adobe's suite of products, such as Clip Studio Paint, Procreate, Blender, Krita, Paint tool Sai, many of which are either free to use or available as one-time purchases.

Others, meanwhile, are arguing that Adobe's penalty fees are so severe that it should be considered "morally correct" to pirate the company's software in revenge.


Watching people pirate older adobe versions and using viable alternatives instead of shoveling money over to a billionaire corp like adobe pic.twitter.com/9ec64zEOWR— Radar's Pet д̶͉̈р̴̙̅у̸̡̑г̶͎̓ Yote (@RadarCoyote) April 13, 2021

"Adobe on their hands and knees begging us to pirate their software," wrote Twitter user JoshDeLearner.

"This thread is a great reminder of why it's morally correct to pirate Adobe products," wrote Dozing Starlight. A multitude of similar tweets can be found here.


by looking up "adobe cancel fee" you can instantly find numerous people talking about this everywhere. what essentially happens is that you usually sign up for the full adobe creative cloud programs or multiple programs as you so wish, and pay monthly for them.— asgore enjoyer 💖 (@MRDADDGUY) April 12, 2021


however when you enter the subscription, you are usually not given the terms of service to read over in detail at all! you are supposed to directly go and find this information that despite paying a monthly fee, you are actually in an annual one and if you try to cancel early,— asgore enjoyer 💖 (@MRDADDGUY) April 12, 2021


you will be charged a ridiculous amount to make up for the charges you "didn't pay" for the year. and the most infuriating thing about all of this is that you are not even shown this information when purchasing!— asgore enjoyer 💖 (@MRDADDGUY) April 12, 2021

Newsweek has asked Adobe for comment, and this article will be updated with the company's response.

There have also been widespread complaints from customers who say that they thought they had subscribed to one of Adobe's services on a monthly basis, only to find that they were actually on an annual contract.

Adobe's cancelation terms are not consistent across its various subscriptions and packages.

For instance, the firm's Subscription and Cancellation Terms for a Creative Cloud, Document Cloud and Acrobat annual contract, paid monthly, state that customers who cancel after 14 days will be "charged a lump sum amount of 50% of your remaining contract obligation and your service will continue until the end of that month's billing period."

However, the same product is also available on a month to month subscription plan, which states that "Should you cancel after 14 days, your payment is non-refundable, and your service will continue until the end of that month's billing period."

Twitter user @Mrdaddguy added that they managed to successfully swerve the cancelation fee after contacting Adobe's customer support team.

Living near a US Superfund site could shave a year off your life, study finds
Paola Rosa-Aquino 

THE GUARDIAN

4/13/2021

Superfund sites are scattered across America: they’re places like landfills and manufacturing plants so contaminated with hazardous waste that the federal government has designated them a national priority to clean up. And according to a new, large-scale study, living near one can shave months – and in some cases, more than a year – off how long you live.

Related: ‘They couldn’t care less’: plan to solve sewage crisis in Illinois town merely ‘a patch’

After Hurricane Harvey made landfall in south-east Texas in 2017, the University of Houston’s Hanadi Rifai began research along the 50-mile-long Houston Ship Channel, the petrochemical industry’s main artery. Rifai and her colleagues noticed how neighborhoods adjacent to hazardous waste sites, such as where the San Jacinto River meets the channel, seemed to have a lower life expectancy. “That got us interested in a more comprehensive [national] study,” Rifai said.

© Photograph: Matthew Brown/AP Water contaminated with arsenic, lead and zinc flows from a pipe out of the Lee Mountain mine and into a holding pond near Rimini, 

Montana, part of the Superfund site

In a first-of-its-kind study out Tuesday in Nature Communications, Rifai and a team of researchers found that living in a zip code in close proximity to a Superfund site may decrease average life expectancy by 0.2 years. It could be up to a year in socioeconomically challenged communities, says Rifai, who is a professor of civil and environmental engineering and the study’s lead author.


In places with an even higher concentration of waste sites, like Texas’s Harris County, where Rifai lives, “we’re not talking 0.2 [years] – we’re talking a few years.”

The study used data available for more than 65,000 of the 72,268 census tracts – defined geographical areas where census data is collected – within the contiguous US.

“It was a bit surprising and concerning,” Rifai says. “We weren’t sure [when we started] if the fact that you are socioeconomically challenged would make [the Superfund’s effects] worse” and would lower life expectancy.

What Rifai and her team found confirms that social and health-related disadvantages – such lack of higher education or limited income – could make those living in the vicinity of Superfund sites all the more vulnerable to contaminant exposure.

Currently, there are more than 1,300 Superfund sites in the US. The fight to rid the country of toxic waste sites begun in 1980 with the first – and most famous – Superfund site in Love Canal, a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York. The site was used as an industrial dump by the Hooker Chemical Company; over 22,000 tons of toxic waste buried by Hooker caused illnesses, miscarriages, birth defects, and death among residents.

Now, when the EPA labels an area a Superfund site, it’s added to the National Priorities List – a catalog that guides investigations and cleanup funding toward some of the nation’s most serious sources of contamination.

But just because the site is added to the list doesn’t mean nearby residents’ lives are free from pollution. Often, the government relocates residents impacted residents out of harm’s way – at least temporarily. But even when Superfund sites have been designated as “remediated,” chemicals can still linger.

For others, the battle to remove toxic contaminants is still going on. Studies have shown sites without a remediation strategy can continue to leak their pollutants into surrounding areas, prompting billions in medical bills and lost productivity alone.

The perils posed by the nation’s industrial wastelands can be amplified with other natural hazards, Rifai says.

“We call them cascading impacts. We wanted to see, in the big context of these waste sites, how an event might bring toxic chemicals closer to people.”

Approximately 60% of Superfund sites managed by the EPA could potentially be affected by natural hazards; they’re vulnerable to hurricanes, flooding, sea-level rise, increased precipitation or wildfires, all of which are intensifying as the planet warms. Flooding, for example, can increase the chances that dangerous chemicals can be released and contaminate nearby land and water, putting communities at risk of adverse health effects.

Thus, the study’s authors write, it is essential to understand to what extent being located in a Fema-defined floodplain could influence the effects of Superfund sites on average life expectancy.

“You may think you’ve already built with an issue [in mind], but a natural hazard may change that picture. You may have to go back and rethink what you did and make sure that it’s hardened against natural hazards, so that you don’t have continuing exposure or any emerging exposure,” Rifai adds.

Too high, or not high enough? 

Study finds cannabis potency labeling is often wildly inaccurate

IN BOTH USA AND CANADA

Nicole Karlis 

SALON

4/13/2021

© Provided by Salon Marijuana
Getty Images


If you've bought marijuana products legally in the United States, you might be familiar with the regulatory labeling system, which features two three-letter acronyms accompanied by percentages: CBD and THC. Just as alcoholic drinks list their potency by denoting alcohol-by-volume (or ABV), both recreational and medicinal marijuana products list the amount of two different naturally-occurring chemicals, cannabidiol (CBD), and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as a means for consumers to gauge how high they do (or don't) want to get.

But while alcohol-by-volume is a fairly easy number to test, THC and CBD content aren't as simple. Now, a new study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests that this labeling system could frequently be way off — giving consumers radically different psychoactive experiences than what they might be expecting.

"People are buying products they think are THC-free but in fact contain a significant amount of THC," said Jodi M. Gilman, PhD, the study's lead author and an investigator in the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. "One patient reported that she took a product she thought only contained CBD, and then when driving home that day she felt intoxicated, disoriented and very scared."

The crux of the discrepancy relates to these two naturally-occuring chemicals, CBD and THC. Because CBD has a reputation for being a non-psychoactive, "soothing" chemical, while THC is its psychoactive cousin, the listing system theoretically lets marijuana consumers decide what kind of high they prefer. Those who prefer cannabidiol (CBD) instead of the psychoactive compound in cannabis, THC, are often looking to experience a more soothing "high." On the other hand, THC connects with cannabinoid 1 receptors in the brain and can sometimes create unwanted psychoactive effects — the glued-to-your-chair, immobilizing kind of high.

Indeed, the JAMA study from Massachusetts General Hospital researchers found that many consumers who are told that they are taking CBD to help with anxiety, depression, pain or insomnia, are often actually consuming products with unwanted THC in them.

Researchers analyzed urine samples from 97 patients who enrolled in a clinical trial to study the effect of using medical cannabis for anxiety, depression, pain or insomnia. The researchers wanted to see if the products were delivering the expected ingredients to patients or if they were mislabeled.

According to the results published in JAMA Network Open, there was no CBD in about one-third of the urine samples from patients who said they were using products that were mostly CBD or were roughly half CBD and half THC. In total, THC was detected in 80 percent of those samples — which included people who thought they were only consuming CBD.

The participants reported that they were using products from licensed dispensaries within 48 hours. Vaping was the most common method reported of consuming CBD, and yet nobody who reported vaping had measurable cannabinoids in their samples.

"A lot of questions about the content of the products and their effects remain," said Gilman. "Patients need more information about what's in these products and what effects they can expect."

The findings are consistent with previous ones that hint at mislabeling. For example, one study published in JAMA Network in 2015, found that only 17 percent of 75 edible marijuana products were labeled incorrectly.

Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter The Vulgar Scientist.

"Edible cannabis products from 3 major metropolitan areas, though unregulated, failed to meet basic label accuracy standards for pharmaceuticals," the researchers stated. "Greater than 50% of products evaluated had significantly less cannabinoid content than labeled, with some products containing negligible amounts of THC."

A more recent survey by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2020 yielded similar results. The FDA randomly tested 200 capsules, edibles, drinks, pet products, tinctures, and oils containing CBD; nearly 50 percent of them had THC, too.

"These preliminary data are from a limited sample size and cannot be used to draw conclusions about the marketplace and supports the need for the long-term study, which will capture multiple retail sources (on-line and brick and mortar) and a greater number of products," the report concluded.

The FDA at the time emphasized that more testing is needed. But some experts have previously stated that the FDA needs to step in and regulate such products.

"The big problem, with this being something that is not federally legal, is that the needed quality assurance oversight from the Food and Drug Administration is not available," Marcel Bonn-Miller, PhD, an adjunct assistant professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a press statement previously. "So, right now, if you buy a Hershey bar, you know it has been checked over; you know how many calories are in it, you know it has chocolate as an ingredient, you know how much chocolate is in there. Selling these oils without oversight, there is no way to know what is actually in the bottle."

USA

UFO sightings spiked dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic

Mark Serrels 

CNET

4/13/2021

In a year when many of us were stuck indoors, it turns out we had more time to look at the night sky. © Provided by CNET A faked UFO photo created by a small-town newspaper in 1970 to illustrate extraterrestrial visitations. Getty Images

A fascinating report by The New York Times uncovered that according to data from the National U.F.O. Reporting Center, UFO sightings surged across the United States. New York especially saw a dramatic rise, with sightings doubling year on year during 2020 to 300 total sightings.

Nationwide sightings increased by 1,000 to a total of 7,200, an increase of around 16%.

Why have sightings increased? Most likely because people had more time to scan the night sky with strict lockdowns in place, particularly in New York. But there was also a spate of UFO news throughout 2020 that pushed the topic to the forefront of the zeitgeist.

In fact it was predicted in early 2020 that, thanks to companies like SpaceX and OneWeb inspiring us to look up, we'd most likely see a rise in UFO sightings throughout the year. This combined with the Pentagon releasing three previously classified "UFO" sighting videos had people thinking about and discussing UFOs.

© Getty Images
A faked UFO photo created by a small-town newspaper in 1970 to illustrate extraterrestrial visitations.

In general 2020 felt like a big year for sightings. Oumuamua, the interstellar space object spotted travelling through our solar system was speculated as being alien technology. Not by kooks, but by people as informed as Harvard scientist Avi Loeb.

All this combined most likely contributed to an increase in sightings. Keep your eyes to the skies folks.

Jacques Vallee Passportto Magonia : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Messengers Of Deception UFO Contacts And Cults, Jacques Vallée ( 1979) : Jacques Vallée : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

MONOCULTURE &
Climate change makes it harder to grow potatoes used for French fries

Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline 
 Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Global warming is causing difficulty for American farmers who grow the potatoes which make the best chips, an expert has warned.

The Russet Burbank is a potato variety grown in North America which is widely used to make French fries, and is believed to be the spud of choice for McDonald's.

But farmers in the potato growing state of Idaho rely on water from melting snow in the mountains to irrigate the crop, and climate change is leading to less snow which melts quicker than in past years, affecting the growth of the tubers.

Scroll down for video

© Provided by Daily Mail The Russet Burbank (pictured) is a potato variety grown in North America which is widely used to make French fries, and is believed to be the spud of choice for McDonald's

WHY ARE RUSSET BURBANKS SO GOOD FOR CHIPS?

Russet Burbanks are revered for their tastiness when fried due to their high starch content.

But the key is to keep as much starch in the potato for as long as possible, and warmer temperatures speed up the conversion of starch to sugar.

In potatoes, higher temperatures can cause an uneven starch-to-sugar conversion which sees some parts of the potato having higher sugar content.

Russet Burbanks are particularly prone to this, which poses a commercial issue for farmers because when the potato is fried, the sugary parts go a dark colour while the starch-laden portions stay the usual beige.


Richard Novy is a potato breeder and plant geneticist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Idaho, a US state with a close relationship to the humble spud.

In 2019, the last year where annual statistics are available, Idaho grew more potatoes than any other US state, producing a whopping 14.6billion pounds.

Washington state was the second biggest producer with 11.8billion pounds, and Wisconsin was third with 3.2billion pounds — 4.5 times less than Idaho's output.

Idaho is also the state that provides more potato farmland than anywhere else in the US, with around 300,000 acres dedicated to the plants.

Dr Novy told the Yale Climate Communications website that mountain snowpack was an essential resource for the cultivation of the Russet Burbank variety in Idaho.

Traditionally, the snowpack is well established by the start of April, and it melts slowly throughout the summer, providing a source of water.

But a 2018 study found the amount of snow atop the mountains has dropped by between 15 and 30 per cent since the middle of the 20th century.

Idaho has also suffered some of the most extreme warming in the contiguous US, with temperatures in potato-producing parts of the state soaring by more than 1.5°F per decade.

In July, at the height of potato season, temperatures were more than two degrees Fahrenheit warmer than they were in 1990.

'If we have less snowfall up in the mountains or earlier melting of that snowpack, that can impact our irrigation going into the future,' Dr Novy said.

Hot, dry weather can influence the way the potato grows and ultimately how it tastes and looks when served up.

Russet Burbanks are revered for their tastiness when fried due to their high starch content.

© Provided by Daily Mail Fast food chains, like McDonald's are thought to prefer the Russet Burbank potato variety due to its high starch content which makes it a good spud to fry. But it is prone to 'sugar ends' which result in undesirable black pats of fries

But the key is to keep as much starch in the potato for as long as possible, and warmer temperatures speed up the conversion of starch to sugar.

In potatoes, higher temperatures can cause an uneven starch-to-sugar conversion which sees some parts of the potato having higher sugar content.

Russet Burbanks are particularly prone to this, which poses a commercial issue for farmers because when the potato is fried, the sugary parts go a dark colour while the starch-laden portions stay the usual beige.

Farmer and retailers want to avoid these so-called 'sugar ends' because the black parts are 'not desirable by most consumers,' Dr Novy says.

To combat the swelling issue, Dr Novy and other plant experts are working on creating hybrid potato varieties which are more resistant to climate change.

© Provided by Daily Mail In Russet Burbank potatoes, higher temperatures can cause an uneven starch-to-sugar conversion which sees some parts of the potato having higher sugar content. When the potato is fried the sugary parts go a dark colour while the starch-laden portions stay the usual beige. Farmer and retailers want to avoid these so-called 'sugar ends' (pictured)

The Burbank Russet, held up as America's favourite potato, is the focal point of many of these hybrid attempts, including the Blazer Russet, which has been in development as hybrid A8893-1 since 1988.

It was released in 2005 and is seen as a replacement for the Shepody variety which is resistant to tuber external defects, sugar ends and some disease while also producing a higher percentage of premium potatoes.

The Blazer Russet and the Clearwater Russet are hybrids descended from the Burbank variety and were accepted for use by McDonald's in 2016, the first new varieties the fast food giant had accepted into its supply chain since 2000.

Washington State University (WSU) potato researchers Rick Knowles and Mark Pavek were involved in the production of these two varieties.

Professor Knowles, horticulture professor at WSU, said: 'McDonald's has expert tasters, kind of like with fine wine.

'Their gold standard potato for french fries is a Russet Burbank, which makes a great fry but is really inefficient from a production standpoint.'

Dr Pavek, an associate professor and potato specialist at WSU, adds: 'Burbank has disease issues and requires high soil fertility and water.

'And it has a lower yield of the highest-grade tubers because it's susceptible to so many stress-related disorders.

'We need something to replace it that still makes fries McDonald's will accept.'

Clearwater Russet, also known as AOA95154-1 variety, is also resistant to sugar ends and has a third more protein than the traditional Russet Burbank.

Carbon dioxide made when brewing beer can be used to help make crisps


Going out for a pint of beer could help save the planet, as crisp firm Walkers uses CO2 produced from brewing beer to create fertiliser for potatoes in a new trial.

The firm, owned by PepsiCo, has tested a technique developed by UK-start up CCm, that involves taking CO2 captured from beer fermentation and mixing it with potato waste to create a fertiliser that can be spread on the next year's potato crop.

The CO2 can come from any source, not just brewing, and when rolled out at scale, it could cut crisp manufacturing emissions by as much as 70 per cent.

Creating fertiliser from beer and crisps doesn't generate any CO2 and puts CO2 that would otherwise have gone into the atmosphere into the ground, CCm said.

Walkers hasn't said when the first crisps will be released that have been made from potatoes grown with the new fertiliser - but they expect to use it in the 2022 crop.

CCm, a 14-employee team, received a grant from the UK government to develop the novel process and trialled the beer-based fertiliser on potato seed beds this year.

The test on a small batch of seed potatoes was dubbed a 'promising trial of the fertiliser' by PepsiCo, who will next work to roll out production on a wider scale.

They said once the equipment is installed and fertiliser produced at scale, it will reduce CO2 emissions generated from potato production by 70 per cent.

The final source of the CO2, to produce the fertiliser for potato crops, hasn't been confirmed - but it could come from within the PepsiCo supply chain to create a more cyclical system - and reduce overall emissions within the business.

Seven European countries to halt export finance for fossil fuels

PARIS (Reuters) - Seven European countries, including Germany, France and Britain, will commit on Wednesday to stop public export guarantees for fossil fuel projects, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday.

© Reuters/SARAH MEYSSONNIER FILE PHOTO: Launching of the 2020 income tax campaign in France

Coal, oil and gas infrastructure have traditionally made up a large share of the portfolios of many countries' public export finance agencies, which support exports through state-backed financing guarantees and insurance against losses abroad.

Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden are the other four countries to back the initiative.

Britain, France and Sweden have already laid out plans to halt export guarantees for the fossil fuel sector while the other countries in the group have yet to decide how fast they will phase out their support.

"We are totally determined to stop all export guarantees financing fossil fuels while taking into account each country's industrial specifics and the impact on jobs," Le Maire said.

Speaking before a meeting on Wednesday where the pledge is to be formalised, Le Maire added that he hoped U.S. President Joe Biden's administration would join the group, which together accounts for 40% of export finance among OECD countries, following an upcoming review of U.S. export finance.

Le Maire also said the seven countries would commit to supporting climate-friendly projects and transparency in their export finance policies.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas. Editing by Mark Potter)

ALBERTA

NDP Opposition bill against coal mining in Rockies can proceed to legislature: committee

By Bob Weber The Canadian Press
Posted April 13, 2021 

View image in full screenIn this March 28, 2017, file photo, a dump truck hauls coal at Contura Energy's Eagle Butte Mine near Gillette, Wyo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Mead Gruver, File

An Opposition bill that would preserve Alberta’s Rocky Mountains from open-pit coal mines could be debated in the legislature after a government-dominated committee on Tuesday gave unanimous consent for it to move forward.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley, the bill’s sponsor, immediately challenged government members to approve a motion to debate the bill next Monday instead of letting it die on the order paper.

“Are they just going through the motions or are they really prepared to do what it takes and stand up for and represent the views of their constituents?” Notley asked after a meeting of the committee that screens private members’ bills and decides which of them goes ahead.

READ MORE: Alberta Opposition says private member’s bill would protect mountains from coal mines

Earlier in the day, the committee voted unanimously to send Notley’s proposed Eastern Slopes Protection Act to the legislature for further debate. All six United Conservative members and four New Democrats supported the recommendation.

Committee clerk Warren Huffman confirmed it’s the first Opposition-sponsored private member’s bill the committee hasn’t rejected since the UCP came to power.

1:52 Alberta government cancels some coal leases after public outcry – Jan 19, 2021

The bill calls for the cancellation of leases issued after the government scrapped a policy last May that once protected a vast swath of summits and foothills down the western spine of the province.

If passed, the bill would also stop the province’s energy regulator from issuing development permits. Open-pit mines would be permanently prohibited in the most environmentally sensitive areas and mines elsewhere would not receive the go-ahead until a land-use plan for the region was developed.

The government has already sold coal exploration leases for vast tracts of the area, a landscape close to the hearts of many Albertans and the source of much of the province’s fresh water. Public backlash forced it to reinstate the policy and stop sales, but drilling and road-building continue on leases already sold.

5:29 Red flags and mistrust flare up over Alberta government coal flip-flop – Feb 9, 2021

Notley said that backlash was probably behind Tuesday’s recommendation.

"EVEN UCP MEMBERS HAD TO UNDERSTAND THE DEGREE TO WHICH THEIR OWN CONSTITUENTS DON'T WANT TO SEE THIS HAPPEN."

But she said that under current scheduling, the bill wouldn’t come before the house before the end of the sitting and would quietly disappear.

She said the NDP will ask for a unanimous vote to move the bill up for debate.

“They can absolutely do that if they truly want to give voice to their constituents’ concerns.”

READ MORE: Lethbridge man faces $600 fine for trespassing while filming anti-coal video

A government spokesman was not immediately able to say if the New Democrat request would be granted

The government is asking Albertans to complete a survey on how, or if, they want development on the land in question. It has also struck a committee to seek input. It is expected to report in November.

2:07 Alberta government appoints independent committee for coal policy feedback – Mar 29, 2021

That’s not quick enough, said Notley.

“While that so-called consultation is winding its way down whatever road it may take, development and exploration is ongoing, jeopardizing the very integrity that so many Albertans are desperate to see us protect.”

While some coal companies have said they will suspend this summer’s exploration program, others have not, saying their leases require them to complete work within two years.

Cabin Ridge Project Ltd. plans to drill 96 holes in its leases north of Coleman, Alta., near the British Columbia boundary. That work is to begin in May.

Resistance to Alberta's COVID-19 health restrictions is growing, experts warn


Premier Jason Kenney, now facing an unprecedented revolt within the ranks of his UCP caucus over the current restrictions

© Jason Franson/The Canadian Press Supporters try to tear down the fence as police struggle with them outside GraceLife Church near Edmonton on Sunday. The church has been fenced off by police and Alberta Health Services in an effort to enforce COVID-19…

A church west of Edmonton, the scene of a large protest Sunday after it was forcibly closed by Alberta Health Services last week, has become emblematic of a widening fissure in Alberta.

Law enforcement and health officials say defiance of public health restrictions intended to contain the spread of COVID-19 is growing in the province.

On Sunday, hundreds of protesters gathered outside GraceLife Church in Parkland County. RCMP officers stood guard as the crowd shouted, sang and prayed. Police made arrests as part of a chain-link fence erected around the property was pulled down.

Some prayed for the church to reopen. Others shouted that the pandemic was fake — made up by the government — or held signs calling for the province to "end the lockdown."

Premier Jason Kenney, now facing an unprecedented revolt within the ranks of his UCP caucus over the current restrictions, has repeatedly warned that rule-breakers have become a stubborn obstacle in Alberta's bid to contain the virus. Further enforcement measures may be necessary, Kenney has said.

After a protest Monday at the legislature, Kenney said on Twitter it is "increasingly clear" that many people involved in protests are "unhinged conspiracy theorists."

"Their words and actions are unacceptable," Kenney said. "Reasonable people can disagree about the best way to respond to the threat of this pandemic. But spreading misinformation, conspiracy theories, and making threats is beyond the pale."

Compliance problems have plagued the Alberta government's response to the pandemic since the beginning in March 2020. There have been illegal parties and crammed church services. Shoppers have marched through malls unmasked.

Alberta has been contending with a surge in infection rates driven by variants of concern. On Monday, the province recorded 1,136 new cases, including 679 cases of variant strains. There were 14,849 active COVID-19 cases and 390 Albertans in hospital, including 90 in intensive care.

And yet, signals of resistance have become more visible as the third wave takes hold.

Some restaurants ordered to close dine-in service have refused to comply. Some gyms are flouting the rules, ignoring restrictions on capacity, masking and distancing.

Last Thursday, four vehicles rented by AHS workers visiting the northern community of La Crete were pelted with eggs, prompting a warning from the mayor about the dangers of misinformation around the pandemic and growing hostility toward health workers.

'Brunt of the frustration'

The union that represents RCMP officers says members faced unfair backlash over enforcement at GraceLife, but that the Alberta controversy is part of a concerning trend across the country.

"Against the backdrop of increasingly challenging conditions and varying degrees of public health orders, RCMP members continue to uphold the law, including enforcement of public health orders intended to combat the spread of COVID-19, too often under unfair criticism," Brian Sauvé, president of the National Police Federation, said in a statement Friday.

"We ask those with concerns to direct their attention and protest to relevant lawmakers or policy-makers — in this case, Alberta Health Services and the Alberta Health Act — rather than toward our professional, dedicated members."

RCMP Sgt. Kevin Halwa, an Alberta director for the police federation, said it's been a difficult year for officers on the front lines, and the situation is worsening.

"Unfortunately, the membership sometimes gets the brunt of the frustration of the public because they're the faces that they see," Halwa said.

"No matter where you are in the country, people are getting, for lack of a better word, COVID fatigue."

Alberta RCMP declined to be interviewed.

'Harassment, threats and disrespect'

In an emailed statement, AHS said it was aware that some Albertans are "actively disobeying public health measures" but reiterated that enforcement remains a last resort.

"The demands on our teams have grown significantly since the beginning of the pandemic," reads the statement.

"Our inspectors have often been the targets of harassment, threats and disrespect while carrying out their duties."

AHS said its public health officers work in co-operation with police and peace officers, but issuing tickets, fines and criminal charges is under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement and revoking business permits falls under the jurisdiction of local governments.

"It is only when significant risk is identified or continued non-compliance is noted that AHS resorts to enforcement action."

The political revolt

Lorian Hardcastle, an associate professor in the faculty of law and Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, said Albertans are breaking the rules for different reasons.

Some feel their personal freedoms have been violated. Others — driven by misinformation — are skeptical of the health threat posed by the virus. A third group, Hardcastle said, is desperate to protect their livelihoods.

But there is a new threat to compliance, she said: The political revolt within the Kenney government will further erode confidence in the public health system.

After the province announced last week that it would reinstate harsher pandemic restrictions, 16 MLAs signed a letter of protest.

Speaker Nathan Cooper apologized Monday for signing the letter but almost half of the party's 40 backbenchers continue to publicly condemn the return to stricter health restrictions.

"Seeing other people breaking the rules emboldens others to do the same," Hardcastle said.

"If I live in a town and my own MLA is speaking out against the restrictions, then I think compliance is likely to be lower in those areas.

"The effect of those MLAs speaking out against the restrictions will be to undermine them."
'Particularly dangerous'

The growing defiance against the rules is driven by a "toxic stew of misinformation," said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an associate professor of infectious diseases at the University of Alberta.

Saxinger said politicians casting doubt on the pandemic response will only further strengthen a growing mistrust of the provincial health response.

There is no easy solution to overcoming these doubts and half-truths, but the fractured messaging and growing divide in public opinion comes at a particularly distressing time, she said.

"It's emblematic of the polarization that we've seen all along. It just seems to be very exaggerated right now in a time that it's particularly dangerous."

Variants, now dominating Alberta's surging infection rates, are more transmissible and possibly more harmful. With front-line health care at risk, increased enforcement may be the only answer, Saxinger said.

"Enforce the rules so that even if people aren't agreeing with them, they have a reason to obey them."

Enbridge opens 10.5-megawatt solar facility near Burdett, Alberta

© Courtesy: Enbridge Alberta Solar One entered service earlier this month.

One of Alberta's major energy transportation companies has officially opened a new 10.5-megawatt solar facility in southern Alberta, after work started in 2017.

Alberta Solar One is a $20-million project located near the village of Burdett, made possible through a partnership between Enbridge and Morgan Solar.

"It will produce the equivalent energy needs of about 3,000 homes, and it will offset emissions equivalent to about 12,000 tonnes of carbon (per year)," said technical manager of commercial development Lauren Andre.

But the energy won't be used to power homes -- Enbridge will be using the power generated through Alberta Solar One to offset its pipeline projects.

"Since we have significant pipeline operations in the province, we obviously consume quite a bit of energy, and so the energy that's produced from this facility is offsetting a portion of that power load with clean, renewable, emission free energy," Andre explained.

Peter Casurella, executive director of the Southgrow regional initiative, says they have been pushing for more renewable energy in southern Alberta since 2007.

"Everybody in the world who works renewable energy know southern Alberta is a good destination for investments. We have all the natural advantages, we've got very, very high solar potential."

Casurella said an influx of solar projects such as Alberta Solar One is good news.

"There's over $2 billion worth of projects being built right now in our area," he said. "That $2 billion is for (approximately) a dozen projects, and there's another hundred being applied for."

Read more: Edmonton city council votes 7-6 to allow large solar farm project to go ahead

Casurella added going solar is a benefit to municipalities that have been dealing with government cut-backs and abandonment of taxation by oil and gas companies.

"All of our rural municipalities are dealing with huge revenue shortfalls right now," he said. "This is a very timely set of investments that are replacing that lost revenue."

As for Enbridge, it plans to use this recent project as a stepping stone to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, and plan on expanding its operations.

“We have two small solar projects in the United States, there’s one in New Jersey and one in Pennsylvania,” Andre explained.

“Those projects are directly connected to gas-compressor stations. We’re looking at doing more of these types of projects along our crude pipeline and gas pipeline operations as well.”