CANADA

Young activists say this year’s climate strike is more important than ever


Mon., September 27, 2021,

Every week in 2020, 15-year-old Amelia Penney-Crocker wrote a letter to Justin Trudeau urging the prime minister to take action on everything from a just recovery for oil and gas workers to more investment in clean energy.

On Friday, Penney-Crocker voiced many of those same concerns to a crowd of cheering young people in Halifax, N.S., part of just one chapter of the latest worldwide Fridays for Future school climate strike, which brought hundreds of thousands of people in over 80 countries onto the streets for climate justice.

Several thousand people in Toronto joined the global protest too, converging outside the Queen’s Park provincial legislative building to hear speeches before marching past city hall and the Bay Street financial district. They and their peers around the world are demanding all levels of government, as well as banks and other corporations, do much more to keep fossil fuels in the ground, respect Indigenous sovereignty, make low-carbon transport more accessible, and invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Sigfried Niklavs Hemming, an 18-year-old organizer of the Toronto chapter, says it makes him angry and frustrated that political and business leaders are not viewing the climate crisis with the urgency it deserves.

“It can definitely get discouraging sometimes, especially when we see the same mistakes made by leaders over and over and over again,” they said, noting the COVID-19 pandemic had shown what can be achieved when those in power identify something as a crisis.

“You can do what we're asking you to do. You're just not,” he said.

The co-ordinated global event took place as world leaders meet at the UN General Assembly in New York City, and a little over a month before the UN’s 26th annual climate conference, or COP (short for Conference of the Parties), which seeks to set a global climate action agenda and provide a framework to hold countries accountable.

The strike’s theme was #UprootTheSystem — a call not only for wealthy countries to drastically reduce emissions, but for climate finance to be directed where it will help those people and places most affected, and for a reassessment of the broader systems of capitalism, colonialism, and patriarchy that have helped create our warming planet.

Climate finance is set to be front and centre at COP26. One of the event’s four goals is to complete a promise from rich countries to put forward at least $100 billion in climate finance per year by 2020.

“(These) are economic, social systems that cause climate change. But even if we stop climate change, they’ll still exist, and they could cause another crisis,” said Penney-Crocker, who helped organize the Halifax event.

“So what we’re saying is that we need to change our systems … to fix the massive humanitarian crises going on right now.”

The students who addressed the Nova Scotia crowd spoke often about pushing their provincial government to be more ambitious in its commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Nova Scotia’s 2019 Sustainable Development Goals Act, also known as Bill 213, seeks to reduce emissions to 53 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050, but environmental groups such as the Ecology Action Centre say those targets aren’t bold enough — pushing for 58 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030.

University students, high-schoolers, and children showed up at Halifax’s Victoria Park and marched through downtown to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly, then to Nova Scotia Power and back.

One of the ancillary demands of the Toronto protest was for the municipal government to end the forcible eviction of people living in encampments and to provide safe and dignified housing, a sign of the growing alignment of the climate movement with other social justice movements.

“If you are wondering why a climate movement is talking about housing justice, it's because we know that marginalized folks, including those without homes, are most at risk from the effects of climate change,” Chloe Tse, a 20-year-old organizer with Fridays for Future Toronto, told the crowd.

Another Toronto organiser, 16-year-old Aliya Hirji, first got involved with the group last summer and has enjoyed being part of a youth movement striving for a better future, even though it is not always easy.

“At times I have felt really upset and not listened to, especially throughout the pandemic where we can't gather together,” she said. “It does feel hopeless sometimes, but I always know that there are people around me fighting for the same cause, and we're always there to support each other.”

Editor's note: This article has been updated to fix the attribution of the quote in the 15th paragraph.

Morgan Sharp, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

THEY ARE PREPARING TO HIBERNATE
Alberta hiker, hunter mauled in separate bear attacks hours apart

Mon., September 27, 2021,

Two men are in hospital after encountering grizzly sows in Alberta's Rocky Mountains on Sunday. (Karine Genest - image credit)

Two men are in hospital after being mauled in separate grizzly bear attacks, roughly 70 kilometres apart in southern Alberta's Rocky Mountains.

At 12:47 p.m. Sunday, Kananaskis Emergency Services was notified of an attack on Storelk Mountain, south of Highwood Pass in Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park.

A 38-year-old man was hiking alone when it's believed a female grizzly, who was with two cubs, defensively attacked, a spokesperson for Alberta Environment and Parks said.

The man was airlifted from the backcountry to Foothills hospital in Calgary. He'd received multiple serious puncture wounds and lacerations and is in serious but stable condition.

About seven hours later, at 8 p.m., Blairmore RCMP received a call about a hunter who had been attacked by a bear.

Two hunters were searching for grouse in an area about 10 kilometres west of Highway 40, near the Alberta-British Columbia boundary and south of Gould Dome mountain, when they came across a grizzly sow and her cubs. The bear attacked one of the hunters, while the other shot the bear, scaring her off, officials said.

The injured hunter is in hospital in stable condition, according to Alberta Fish and Wildlife.

Areas closed while officials investigate

Fish and wildlife officers are searching for the bear, and the area of the attack is closed to the public. Fish and wildlife said a map outlining the boundaries of the closed area will be provided as soon as it's available.

Parks staff are also looking for the bear involved in the earlier attack.

A closure has been issued for Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park west of Highway 40 from the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park boundary south to an unnamed ridge south of Running Rain Lake off of Mount Odlum.

A bear advisory is also in place for the Highwood area, which includes Ptarmigan Cirque, Pocaterra Ridge, Lipsett, Mist and Picklejar Creek.

The two maulings happened more than 70 kilometres apart. Experts say fatal bear attacks are rare.

"Bear activity is currently high, and encounters between bears and people may have unfortunate consequences for both the bears and people involved," an Environment and Parks spokesperson said.

A list of bear safety tips can be found on the province's website, and bear sightings can be reported to 403-591-7755.

Watch a raven take out a Google drone mid-air as the tech giant is forced to ground its home delivery service due to bird attacks

Sophia Ankel
Sun., September 26, 2021

Muhammed Enes Yildirim/Anadolu Agency/Robert Alexander/Getty Images


Home delivery drones in Australia had to be suspended after they were repeatedly attacked by birds.


Delivery service operator Wing said it would wait while researchers assess the birds' behavior.


A man who filmed one of the attacks said "it's only a matter of time" until a drone is brought down.

A home drone delivery service in Canberra, Australia, was forced to temporarily shut down after its devices kept getting attacked by ravens guarding their nests, The Canberra Times reported.

Wing, operated by Google's overarching company Alphabet, has been delivering everything from coffee, medicine, and office supplies to Canberra residents since 2019.

But on Tuesday, it announced it would be pausing its services due to several reported incidents of ravens swooping down on the flying machines. This comes at a time where demand for drone deliveries is surging due to Canberra's ongoing coronavirus lockdown.

The latest attack was captured on video and posted online by Ben Roberts, a local resident who orders coffee every morning with the service.

He told The Canberra Times: "It's a matter of time before they bring one down. They think it's Terminator or something."

Magpies as well as other birds like hawks and wedge-tailed eagles have also been known to attack drones.

You can watch the video here.

In a statement to customers in the local area, Wing said: "We've identified some birds in the area demonstrating territorial behaviors and swooping at moving objects," according to ABC News Australia.

"While this is common during nesting season, we are committed to being strong stewards of the environment, and would like to have ornithological experts investigate this further to ensure we continue to have minimal impact on birdlife in our service locations."

A spokesperson for the company also said that contact with birds is very rare out of the many thousands of drone deliveries.

"In the unlikely event that a bird makes direct contact with our drone, we have multiple levels of redundancy built into our operations to ensure we can continue to fly safely," the spokesperson said, according to The Times.

"Service will be temporarily paused for a small number of our customers in Harrison during this time," a spokeswoman told the Canberra Times.

Ornithologist Neil Hermes told ABC News Australia that while ravens are very territorial, they have never attacked drones before.

"They will swoop dogs and activity around their nests, but attacking drones is new," Hermes said.

Wayne Condon, the chief pilot and instructor with UAV Training Australia, told the network that drone operators should avoid known nesting locations.

"At the end of the day, it's their sky, and we are the visitor. Fingers crossed, if you act fast enough, you'll be able to save your aircraft and not injure the bird!" Condon told The Canberra Times.

Last month, a 5-month-old infant tragically died in Brisbane, Australia, after the mother dropped it trying to dodge a swooping magpie.

Read the original article on Business Insider

Industrial plastic is spilling into Great Lakes, and no one's regulating it, experts warn

Mon., September 27, 2021

University of Toronto researchers analyze waste collected by Seabins in Lake Ontario to figure out what's getting into the water and where it's coming from. They do find post-consumer single-use plastics, but are also turning up plastic pellets spilled from industrial sites. (Inayat Singh/CBC - image credit)

As the people of Toronto flocked to the Lake Ontario waterfront to swim, paddle and generally escape pandemic isolation, Chelsea Rochman's students at the University of Toronto were throwing plastic bottles with GPS trackers into the water.

The research team's goal is to track trash that ends up in the lake, to figure out where it accumulates in the water and where it's coming from in the first place.

Using information from the tracking bottles, they chose spots to put in Seabins — stationary cleaning machines that suck in water all day and trap any garbage and debris — at marinas along the waterfront. They are emptied daily, and the debris collected in them is examined to ferret out what kinds of trash is getting into the lake.

Inayat Singh/CBC

The waste includes well-known single-use culprits like takeout containers and clear plastic packaging, but they also include something that gets less attention: pre-production pellets, produced by the plastics industry.

"They're the tiny little pellets that are later melted down into plastic and different plastic products," Rochman said.

"So we can trace them back to industry, they have a very distinct look. And then we are now working with industry to try to make sure that they capture them at the source so they don't come down into the lake."

An estimated 10,000 tons of plastic waste are getting into the Great Lakes every year, threatening one of the largest reservoirs of freshwater on the planet that supports nearly 50 million people in Canada and the U.S. A 2021 study on seven fish species in Lake Ontario and Lake Superior found "the highest concentration of microplastics and other anthropogenic microparticles ever reported in bony fish."

While the plastics industry says it's working on the problem through industry-led initiatives, advocates say there's a lack of government regulations to address this kind of pollution.

Industry initiative to clean up plastic

Last year, Rochman's Tagging Trash team collected about 85,000 pieces of microplastics (smaller than 5 millimetres), along with larger pieces of plastic in the Toronto harbour. About 13 per cent of the microplastics they were capturing were pre-production pellets, which can fly off transport vehicles or facilities and end up in the water.

Rochman has taken her findings to industry groups and companies.

"We are now working with industry to try to make sure that they capture them at the source so they don't come down into the lake," she said.

The research program is part of the larger Great Lakes Plastics Cleanup, supported by various government agencies and private organizations. There are now Seabins installed at marinas across the Great Lakes region to help tackle the plastics problem.

Inayat Singh/CBC

The Chemistry Industry Association of Canada represents about 75 plastics companies. Last year, it signed onto Operation Clean Sweep, a global program to prevent plastic materials from industrial operations ending up in lakes and rivers.

"We're working with our members to make sure they're putting in place the leading technology, policies and practices and training of their own staff to ensure that these plastic pellets don't end up in the environment," said Elana Mantagaris, the vice-president of the plastics division at the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.

"And if there is a spill because sometimes accidents do happen and we need to acknowledge that we have the appropriate processes to clean up those spills again, preventing the pellets from ending up in the environment."

The program starts with an assessment at their members' facilities, Mantagaris said, to pinpoint where plastics might be leaking or falling out. After that, the facilities would be required to bring in measures or equipment to capture that plastic.

For example, Mantagaris said one common spot for plastic pellets to fall out is during transport on trucks or trains, when they are loading their cargo into a facility. Screens can be placed on the rail tracks to catch the pellets spilling out and preventing them from ending up in the environment.

Calls for government intervention

Yannick Beaudoin, the director of innovation at the David Suzuki Foundation in Toronto, says it's time to be acting more seriously on the plastics problem.

David Suzuki Foundation

"Do we know enough? Yes, we know enough. Things are bad," he said. "And the other part of it is there's no actual excuse for doing this, right?

"When it comes to things like pre-production plastic pellets, we know where it comes from. We know why it happens. And there's no real excuse for it to happen in the first place. "

Beaudoin says that while industry-led initiatives like Operation Clean Sweep do help, they do not solve the whole problem. Government intervention, along with pressure from consumers is necessary to cut down on these plastics and keep them out of the lake.

Figuring out which government agency or law should be applied can be a challenge. The issue crosses jurisdictional boundaries, with the federal government in charge of protecting transboundary waters as well as regulating chemicals and products that are toxic, Beaudoin said. However, it remains unclear if pre-production pellets are covered.

Provincial governments in theory have even more power over environmental protection, but Beaudoin says enforcement related to pre-production pellets is simply not applied.

Environment and Climate Change Canada referred CBC to its actions on achieving zero plastic waste by 2030. That effort is focused on single-use plastic products and "working with provinces and territories to make producers responsible for the plastic waste that their products generate."

The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks did not respond to CBC's request for comment by deadline.

Across the border in the United States, a bill was introduced this year to address pre-production pellets. The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act will require the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration to prohibit the discharge of these pellets into waterways from industry and transport sources. The bill is currently making its way through Congress.

"If you had an oil spill somewhere around here, you'd have to call a very specific government hotline and you have to get a process going because an oil spill is something that we deem quite visibly as toxic," said Beaudoin.

"Well, plastic pellets are oil. They're just a solid version of it. Why aren't we reacting in the same way?"

Synthetic Collective

Artists and scientists collaborate

A 2020 study by researchers at Western University also found these pre-production pellets on beaches all over the Great Lakes. The study found that the problem was worse in areas with a lots of plastics industry, such as near Sarnia, Ont., and Toronto.

Patricia L. Corcoran et. al 2020

A group of artists participated in the study to bring the issue to life at an exhibition in Toronto. Plastic Heart: Surface All the Way Through is currently ongoing at the University of Toronto Art Museum, with its central focus on the pellets found through the Western study.

Tegan Moore is one of the artists in the exhibition. Her piece used over 7,000 pellets found on just one beach in the study.

The pellets are strewn in a way to emulate a strand line — the line between the land and water on a beach, where debris is deposited. The pellets in her piece represent the actual density of pellets on that beach in a 1x10 metre area.

John Lesavage/CBC

Moore hopes her art will act as a sort of data visualization that can help people understand the pellet problem more vividly.

"I think that the piece can bring a visibility to this particular type of plastic pollution, which is just not known and it's really hard to see," she said.

"You know, next time someone goes to the beach, they might see them along a strand line and understand what they are."

John Lesavage/CBC

That understanding is what researchers like Rochman hope will get more people interested in — and concerned about — the Great Lakes, hopefully leading to more pressure on governments and industry to bring in change.

"I think there's been a lot more people using the parks and the beaches this year, absolutely, with the pandemic. So hopefully that creates more appreciation," she said.

"I think there's a lot of love for the Great Lakes and hopefully that continues. And yes, with climate change and drought and the issues we live in, we're very lucky to live here. So we should appreciate the resource we have."

Toni Hafkenscheid

Climate Change: Don't sideline plastic problem, nations urged

By Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst

Plastic pollution is washed on to beaches during storms

Scientists are warning politicians immersed in climate change policy not to forget that the world is also in the midst of a plastic waste crisis.

They fear that so much energy is being expended on emissions policy that tackling plastic pollution will be sidelined.

A paper from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Bangor University says plastic pollution and climate change are not separate.

It says the issues are actually intertwined - and each makes the other worse.

Manufacturing plastic items adds to greenhouse gas emissions, while extreme weather such as floods and typhoons associated with a heating planet will disperse and worsen plastic pollution in the sea.

The researchers highlight that marine species and ecosystems, such as coral reefs, are taking a double hit from both problems.

Hermit crabs mistake plastic pollution for food
Plastic from take-out food is polluting the oceans
UK criticised for dumping plastic waste in Turkey

Plastic big and small creates hazards for marine life

Reefs and other vulnerable habitats are also suffering from the seas heating, from ocean acidification, pollution from farms and industry, dredging, development, tourism and over-fishing.

And in addition, sea ice is a major trap for microplastics, which will be released into the ocean as the ice melts due to warming.

The researchers want politicians to address all these issues – and not to allow climate change to take all the policy “bandwidth”.

Professor Heather Koldewey from ZSL said: “Climate change is undoubtedly one of the most critical global threats of our time. Plastic pollution is also having a global impact; from the top of Mount Everest to the deepest parts of our ocean.

“Both are having a detrimental effect on ocean biodiversity; with climate change heating ocean temperatures and bleaching coral reefs, to plastic damaging habitats and causing fatalities among marine species.

“The compounding impact of both crises just exacerbates the problem. It’s not a case of debating which issue is most important, it’s recognising that the two crises are interconnected and require joint solutions.”


Wastewater plants release microplastics, but could manta rays hold the key to a solution?

Professor Koldewey added: “The biggest shift will be moving away from wasteful single-use plastic and from a linear to circular economy that reduces the demand for damaging fossil fuels.”

Helen Ford, from Bangor University, who led the study, said: “I have seen how even the most remote coral reefs are experiencing widespread coral death through global warming-caused mass bleaching. Plastic pollution is yet another threat to these stressed ecosystems.

“Our study shows that changes are already occurring from both plastic pollution and climate change that are affecting marine organisms across marine ecosystems and food webs, from the smallest plankton to the largest whale.”

ZSL is urging world governments and policy makers to put nature at the heart of all decision making in order to jointly tackle the combined global threats of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Follow Roger on Twitter @rharrabin   

THIS IS ALL KENNEY & UCP CARE ABOUT
Campaign by Alberta’s energy war room aims to promote Canadian oil to Americans

Phil Heidenreich 

The publicly funded entity created by Alberta's UCP government to wage an information war with critics of the province's oil and gas sector has launched a high-profile "awareness campaign," hoping to convince Americans their country should import more Canadian oil.

THE LARGEST FOREIGN FUNDED (US FUNDED) GREEN ORG IN ALBERTA IS DUCKS UNLIMITED!!!

© CREDIT: Canadian Energy Centre The publicly funded entity created by Alberta's UCP government to wage an information war with critics of the province's oil and gas sector has launched a high-profile "awareness campaign," hoping to convince Americans their country should import more Canadian oil.

"This includes informing Americans the U.S. has a choice from where it imports oil and that Canada is a better, closer, cleaner and friendlier option compared to countries like Russia and Saudi Arabia," the Canadian Energy Centre, referred to by many Albertans as the province's energy war room, said in a post on its website Monday. "The U.S. uses approximately nine-million barrels of oil per day beyond what is produced domestically."

READ MORE: Alberta premier opens war room to promote 'truth' about energy industry

The CEC said its "Cleaner, Closer, Committed to Net Zero" campaign features billboards in New York City and Washington.

IF TAR SANDS ARE NET ZERO EMITTERS THEN YOU KNOW NET ZERO IS GREENWASHING

The campaign will see two digital billboards up for four weeks in Times Square, a static digital billboard in Astor on New York's Grand Central Parkway for two weeks and three full-motion billboards on the exterior of Capital One Arena in Washington for two weeks.

"The approximately $240,000 initiative is a reminder to Americans that their friends and allies in Canada hold solutions to cleaner energy and lower gas prices -- and the key to a strong post-pandemic economic recovery."

READ MORE: Alberta's energy 'war room' planning broad new ad campaign to change oil & gas perceptions

Energy Minister Sonya Savage tweeted she was pleased to hear of the billboard campaign and that she too believes it will "remind Americans that their friends and allies in Canada have the solution to cleaner energy and lower gas prices."

The CEC said its new campaign will also "feature a grassroots component that calls on Canadians and Americans to respectfully advocate to the president and U.S. lawmakers about the benefits of Canadian energy."

The campaign's website asks visitors to enter their name and email address to be included in a "pledge" to "support cleaner, closer, Canadian oil."

Since the CEC's inception, Alberta's oil sector has seen a number of setbacks, including U.S. President Joe Biden revoking permits for the Keystone XL pipeline, essentially killing the project.

READ MORE: Alberta energy minister defends 'war room' petition against children's 'Bigfoot Family' movie

Opposition energy critic Kathleen Ganley issued a news release on Monday afternoon saying she believes the billboards are a waste of money, "particularly with no plan to measure results."

DECEMBER 2020 KENNEY ANNOUNCES (AGAIN) WAR ROOM REPORT
NOTICE NO ONE IS WEARING MASKS OR SOCIAL DISTANCING DURING THE PANDEMIC

Global News reached out to Savage's press secretary to see how her office plans to measure the campaign's success. While a reply was not received, Global News did receive an email from CEC CEO Tom Olsen on the matter, and he indicated the minister's office forwarded the request for comment to him.

"This is the first phase of a campaign that will be in various markets for several months," he said.

"During that time, there will be a number of performance indicators we track to enable us to understand the penetration of these types of campaigns. They include visits to the microsite and overall impressions, earned media stories throughout our full campaign and advocacy letters that are sent.

"The bottom line is we are speaking out for the many Canadians and Americans dismayed that the U.S. government asked OPEC+ countries for more oil to curb rising gas prices, rather than working with Canada.

"Americans should know that cancelling Keystone XL and putting the squeeze on safe, responsible and increasingly less energy-intensive crude from Canada that U.S. refiners need will continue to have a direct impact on driving up prices at the pump."

The CEC has made headlines over the past two years for its criticism of The New York Times and for scolding the makers of a children's film featuring Bigfoot for what it called an anti-oil message.

In her news release, Ganley questioned the CEC's ability to help Alberta's energy sector.

"Since its inception, the UCP's war room has been plagued by controversy, secrecy and incompetence," she said. "It has failed to get results for Albertans or our energy sector, and this latest ad campaign is just more of the same.

"The war room did absolutely nothing to help secure a single pipeline. It is a big part of the UCP's failed strategy that couldn't get Keystone XL across the line, costing Albertans at least $1.3 billion."

Ganley suggested she believes ad campaigns will not have much of an impact on people who are opposed to oil and gas development and said the provincial government needs to take more action on addressing climate change.

During the time the NDP spent as Alberta's government, at least $23 million was spent on the Keep Canada Working campaign, an advertising initiative aimed at convincing Canadians that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project was one that must be completed.

READ MORE: 'This is B.C. vs. Canada': Alberta has spent $23M on Keep Canada Working campaign

When asked how the NDP's Keep Canada Working campaign differed from the CEC's latest campaign, Ganley provided Global News with a statement that said her party's campaign was "fully transparent with measurable results for Albertans."

READ MORE: As Trans Mountain decision looms, poll suggests majority of B.C. still supports pipeline

"Polling showed we moved support for the Trans Mountain pipeline from four in 10 Canadians to seven in 10," her statement read in part.

"Our campaign was also paired with real action on climate change, as well as diplomacy and negotiations that ultimately succeeded in getting construction of Trans Mountain underway.

"The war room has already been reprimanded by the auditor general for handing out sole-source contracts without justification and is currently under investigation by the privacy commissioner for the possible mishandling of personal information."

READ MORE: Alberta auditor flags $1.6B in government accounting blunders, oversight problems

Lori Williams, an associate professor of policy studies at Calgary's Mount Royal University, noted that such advertising campaigns can be effective and the NDP's promotion of the Trans Mountain project, for example, did seem to increase support for the project.

However, she noted the NDP's efforts were centred around former premier Rachel Notley delivering her party's message, and the CEC may suffer from not being linked to a particular person who is an "effective communicator."

"It's possible that it could have a positive effect," Williams said of the CEC campaign. "Unfortunately, the legacy (of the CEC) so far has been controversial.

"There are potentially good bits of information (in the campaign), but it's likely to generate a few different reactions."

Williams said, for example, she believes some will challenge the CEC's assertion that Canadian oil is cleaner than other countries. Unlike campaigns targeting Canadians, "the further away you get, the harder it is to make this kind of message to connect," she said.

Olsen confirmed to Global News on Monday that the CEC's budget for the current fiscal year is $10.3 million.

 

Group of doctors say UCP MLA showed ‘abysmal lack of understanding’ about public health system in comments on AHS

POSTED ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 BY EDDY

A group of Edmonton doctors is calling for a UCP MLA to apologize and resign for his public criticisms of Alberta’s provincial health authority.

On Saturday, UCP backbencher Shane Getson took to Facebook to claim Albertans should be “getting more bang for our buck” from the health-care system when dealing with the current wave of COVID-19.

The MLA for Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland took aim at the salaries of “those who run AHS,” suggesting in posts the province had the capacity to increase ICU beds by more than 1,000, a number referenced by Premier Jason Kenney early in the pandemic.

As COVID-19 continues to put major pressure on the province’s intensive care units, dozens of doctors from the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association signed a Monday open letter to Kenney calling for an apology and adding that Getson’s resignation would be “an appropriate way” for him to show regret.

The physicians said Getson’s comments amounted to a “malicious” personal attack on AHS CEO and president Verna Yiu, showed “an abysmal lack of understanding about our health system and public health,” and spread harmful misinformation.

“MLA Getson stating 1,000 ICU beds is magical thinking. He does not understand that tripling the number of ICU beds to 1,000 ICU beds requires time, money, space, and an immediate tripling of experienced, well-trained personnel, which is wishful thinking,” the letter said, adding that Alberta Health did not direct AHS to get to 1,000 ICU beds prior to the fourth wave.

Defending the efforts of AHS, it also laid the blame for the surge in COVID-19 cases at the feet of the government, accusing Kenney of gambling the stability of the health system and people’s lives on the belief that its reopening plan would not lead to an increase in hospitalizations and ICU admissions.

“Your gamble, premier, resulted in rising cases and hospitalizations. Deflecting to AHS leadership for not being prepared for a disaster you created and refused to plan for is ridiculous.”

Spokespeople for the UCP caucus and the premier’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

While the Alberta Medical Association and Canadian Paediatric Society joined a growing chorus of calls for a stronger set of public health measures, Kenney rejected the idea of imposing major lockdowns at this stage of the pandemic, saying on Sunday it made no sense for those who have been vaccinated.

“I know that it’s easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize governments across the world for their response, but we’re all trying to do our best,” he said on the Roy Green show.

lijohnson@postmedia.com

twitter.com/reportrix

View original article here Source

Tensions high between vaccinated and unvaccinated in Canada, poll suggests

Mon., September 27, 2021



A new poll suggests tensions over COVID-19 vaccines in Canada are high as frictions grow between those who are vaccinated against the virus and those who are not.

The Leger survey, conducted for the Association of Canadian Studies, found that more than three in four respondents hold negative views of those who are not immunized.

Association president Jack Jedwab says the relationships between vaccinated and unvaccinated Canadians are also viewed negatively by two out of three survey participants.

The online poll surveyed 1,549 Canadians between September 10 and 12.

A margin of error cannot be assigned to online polls, as they are not considered truly random samples of the population.

The survey found vaccinated people consider the unvaccinated as irresponsible and selfish, a view contested by those who are not immunized.

Some members of the latter group have been staging demonstrations outside hospitals and schools in recent weeks to protest vaccine passports and other public health measures.

"There's a high level of I would say antipathy or animosity toward people who are unvaccinated at this time," Jedwab said. "What you are seeing is the tension played out among family members and friends, co-workers, where there are relationships between people who are vaccinated and unvaccinated."

The situation creates friction and it is persistent, he added.

The survey results, he noted, also suggest the tensions between vaccinated and unvaccinated Canadians are on par with some of the other social, racial and cultural issues that divide the population.

"My sense is a lot of negative sentiment people feel towards certain groups is getting displaced by their feeling of antipathy toward those people who are unvaccinated," he said.

Jedwab said the survey also found divisions among people who are not immunized, with about one in four unvaccinated respondents holding negative views towards others with the same inoculation status.

The survey findings suggest that unvaccinated people personally justify their reasons for not being immunized, but will reject others' decision to follow the same course, said Jedwab.

An earlier association poll suggested unvaccinated Canadians are more worried about getting the vaccine than contracting COVID-19, and most Canadians would refuse to allow unvaccinated adults into their homes.

Jedwab said he expected tensions between the vaccinated and unvaccinated to ratchet up even higher as governments and employers continue to push for more people to get their shots.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2021.

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press

‘We weren’t thinking about other people’: unvaccinated Alberta man on his time in ICU with COVID-19

By Kirby Bourne 630CHED
Posted September 27, 2021 


As hospitals in Alberta fill up to the brim with COVID-19 patients, fear is growing that medical staff are about to make on-the-spot, life-and-death decisions. One doctor says some triage measures are already in place. Chris Chacon has more.
An Alberta man who recently spent time in the ICU with COVID-19 is sharing his story and pleading with those who are unvaccinated to receive the vaccine.

READ MORE: 58 Alberta ICU doctors pen letter saying it’s ‘not too late to change course’ on COVID-19 crisis

2:16 Kenney rejects calls for ‘fire break’ lockdown as Alberta’s COVID-19 crisis deepens

Bernie Cook tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 31. He had the Delta variant and says his health deteriorated rapidly.
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“It was hitting me hard and I didn’t know what was going on, like whether or not I would live or not.”

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A health-care worker holds up a phone to facilitate a video call while Bernie Cook is in the ICU with COVID-19. Credit: Alberta Health Services

He lost 30 pounds, shed muscle mass and now finds simple tasks, like climbing the stairs, difficult. During his interview with Global News, he was often out of breath just from sharing his story.

Cook said he was in the ICU for 11 days. His condition progressed quickly and he was intubated just a few days after being admitted to the hospital.

What people don’t realize, he said, is when the intubation tubes have to be removed, the patient is awake for the unpleasant process.

“I had to be a part of the process and literally my body convulsed from having the tubes taken out of my stomach and lungs. I did not enjoy that experience at all. It was a physical trauma to have that,” he said.

“I’m like, ‘Holy frick, how much more am I going to take here?'”

READ MORE: ‘It’s scary’: nurse explains what it’s like to be redeployed to the ICU during COVID-19 pandemic

Cook wasn’t vaccinated when he caught COVID-19. He said he isn’t against vaccinations, he just thought he didn’t need this one, saying he is a healthy guy and felt he could fight the virus if he caught it.

As of Monday, 83 per cent of eligible Albertans over the age of 12 had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Almost 74 per cent were fully vaccinated.

A health-care worker helps Bernie Cook walk at the Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary. Credit: Alberta Health Services

Cook says he understands people have free will, but urged anyone who isn’t fully vaccinated to get both doses as soon as possible.

Cook said everyone in his ward at the Peter Loughheed Centre in Calgary was unvaccinated except for one person who had received one dose. He was in one of three COVID wards in that hospital and said the health-care workers are overwhelmed.

“I talked to the nurses. I wanted to know what the hell was going on around me. I wanted to know… I mean, I could hear it. I could see it,” he said.

“Sometimes I really saw the stress because I’m around the nurses. I get to hear what they’re saying and I get to see what they’re doing.

“They’re they’re just overwhelmed. It’s beyond comprehension.

According to chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw, of the people admitted to Alberta’s ICUs with COVID-19 between June 1 and Sept. 23, 88 per cent were unvaccinated, while six per cent had one dose. Six per cent of ICU admissions were fully vaccinated.

“We’re clogging up the AHS system. We’re clogging it up,” Cook said of the unvaccinated.

“I think that if people saw that side of AHS, of how overwhelmed they were, I think they really would change their mind about getting the vaccine.”

READ MORE: Alberta doctors plead with new health minister for ‘fire break’ lockdown amid 4th COVID-19 wave

Cook’s daughter got married last weekend, an event he almost missed because of his ICU stay. While he was being intubated, he said his focus was to make it to that day, to push through and be there.

“So much happiness to be there… It felt so good. It’s like when I got intubated, (I thought) I’m not missing that for the frickin world.”

Now Cook is working to get his strength back. He said he was able to do five pushups on his knees on Sunday and did some curls with a six-pound weight.

But mainly he’s grateful to the health-care workers who helped him in the ICU.

“Despite it all, they’re so kind and compassionate to all of us that are in the units, which is a testament to their character.

“It really is their character. I am I am so proud of our AHS system, of our nursing staff.”

Anyone looking to receive their first or second dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Alberta can do so online or by calling 811.

On Monday, Alberta Health confirmed an additional 5,181 cases had been confirmed over the previous three days. Alberta no longer provides COVID-19 data on the weekend.

There were 1,882 new cases confirmed on Friday, 1,541 on Saturday and 1,758 on Sunday. There were 1,063 Albertans in hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 265 were in the ICU.

  

KENNEY & UCP REFUSE

'Life and death': Alberta Medical Association calls for 'fire-breaker' COVID-19 public health measures

Author of the article:Anna Junker

Publishing date:Sep 27, 2021 

Alberta Health Services staff in Calgary work on patients in a crowded intensive care unit. 

PHOTO BY SUPPLIED /Alberta Health Services

The Alberta Medical Association is calling for a “fire-breaker” set of public health measures in order to get the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic under control as Alberta reports more than 5,000 new cases of COVID-19 since Friday.

Following a representative forum meeting over the weekend, the AMA is formally asking Premier Jason Kenney and Health Minister Jason Copping to implement the fire-breaker health measures, which physicians believe will aggressively control COVID-19 cases in order to protect the health-care system and keep Albertans safe.

“This is an immediate problem that needs to be acted on,” said Dr. Paul Boucher, AMA president, in a news release Monday.

“We are on the edge of a very dangerous cliff, one that will see physicians and other health-care workers making decisions on who does and does not receive care if case numbers continue on this path.”

Some fire-breaker measures could include the closure of nightclubs, casinos, bars and indoor dining at restaurants, the closure of gyms and indoor sports, and strictly limiting capacity at stores, malls and places of worship.

Boucher said the AMA recognizes there are negative consequences to hard lockdowns, but they see no other solution.

“It is now life and death,” said Boucher. “Albertans are tired and have been doing their part since this all started, and we do not make these statements lightly. These are indeed desperate times and we are disheartened that it has come to this. We need government to institute clear, decisive actions to immediately save our health-care system from collapse and protect Albertans.”

The letter comes as Alberta reported 5,181 new cases of COVID-19 since Friday, with 21,307 active cases across the province.

On Friday, there were 1,882 COVID-19 cases identified, while on Saturday there were 1,541 new cases and Sunday reported 1,758 new cases.

There are 1,063 Albertans hospitalized with COVID-19, an increase of two since Friday. Of those, 265 are in intensive care units, an increase of 22.

Twenty-three more deaths since Friday raised the provincial death toll to 2,645.

Meanwhile, in an open letter signed by 60 doctors from the AMA’s section of intensive care, the physicians say Alberta hospitals do not have the resources to properly provide care to the growing number of ICU patients.

The letter states as ICU capacity grows, staffing ratios per patient fall below the normal standard of care.

“The demand for ICU nurses is currently so high that we need to increase the number of patients assigned to each nurse.”

Alberta’s ICUs are running at well over double our normal capacity, driven by a growing number of severely ill COVID-19 patients, the AMA said.

“As intensive care physicians, it is our duty to ensure that we continue to help the critically ill at any time and any place within our province,” ICU section president Dr. Clinton Torok-Both said in a news release.

“Unfortunately, our ability to equitably provide intensive care to all Albertans remains under threat.”

As of Monday, there are 370 ICU beds open in Alberta, including 197 surge spaces. Of those, 38 have been opened in the last week.

Health-care systems in Alberta, Saskatchewan 'broken' by COVID surge, doctors say

Sep 27, 2021

CBC News

Dr. Aisha Mirza, an ER physician in Edmonton, and Dr. Hassan Masri, an ICU and critical care physician in Saskatoon, share how the provinces' hospitals and medical professionals are struggling amid a fourth wave of COVID-19. 

ICU capacity is at 84 per cent across the province, with 312 patients. The overwhelming majority of them have COVID-19. Edmonton ICUs are at 86 per cent of current capacity, the Central Zone is at 93 per cent, and the North Zone is at 100 per cent.

Calgary and the South Zone are operating at 80 and 81 per cent of current capacity, respectively

The Canadian Paediatric Society is also calling on the province to do more to protect children during the fourth wave of COVID-19.

In a letter, Ruth Grimes, CPS president, and Raphael Sharon, the board representative for Alberta, say while they support the latest public health measures announced on Sept. 16, they do not go far enough.

“Not only are we extremely worried about the direct health impacts of Alberta’s COVID-19 crisis on children and youth, we are anxious about the threat posed to their access to education, community supports and essential services,” the letter states.

The society is calling for mandatory vaccination for all adults working in schools or child care settings, or mandatory regular COVID-19 testing for those who cannot be vaccinated.

The society is also advising that indoor masking requirements be expanded to include all those over the age of two, including when seated at a desk or table, with limited exceptions including for eating/drinking, health conditions, or if they are unable to remove the mask without assistance.

They also advise mandatory testing, reporting and contact tracing of all COVID-19 cases in schools and child care settings.

Alberta’s fourth COVID-19 wave is the result of politics: Notley

‘The West Block’ host Mercedes Stephenson is joined by Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley to talk about the COVID-19 situation in Alberta. With ICUs operating well above capacity and the military offering help, Notley critiques the government response and is asked whether she thinks Premier Jason Kenney should step down.

Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley, meanwhile, says the province should be partnering with community groups and health-care professionals to go door to door to help those who are not yet vaccinated due to health, work concerns or a language barrier.

Those groups could be “having conversations and offering Alberta vaccines right there on people’s doorsteps,” Notley said.

As of end-of-day Sunday, 83 per cent of Albertans aged 12 and older who are eligible for a COVID-19 have received one dose, while 73.8 per cent are fully vaccinated.

— With files from The Canadian Press

ajunker@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/JunkerAnna

Sask. human rights code won't accommodate people refusing vaccination due to 'personal preference'

Sask. Human Rights Commission not accepting complaints based on objection to vaccinations

CBC News · Posted: Sep 27, 2021 

The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code does not protect those who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19 just because they don't want to, according to the province’s human rights commission. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

Refusing to get vaccinated against COVID-19 due to "personal preference" doesn't have protection under the province's human rights code, according to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission (SHRC).

"An individual who chooses not to be vaccinated based on personal preference does not have the right to accommodation under the Code," the SHRC says.

The Saskatchewan government's proof of vaccination or negative test requirement is set to take effect across the province starting Friday. It applies to all provincial and Crown corporation employees, along with anyone looking to enter certain businesses, event venues and other establishments.

Ahead of the implementation, the SHRC wrote a post on its website last week reminding people that vaccine mandates requiring proof of immunization or negative testing are "generally permissible" under the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code — "so long as individuals who are unable to be vaccinated due to a Code-protected characteristic are reasonably accommodated."

The code prohibits discrimination based on the following characteristics:
Race/perceived race or colour.
Place of origin, nationality or ancestry.
Religion or creed.
Family or marital status.
Sexual orientation.
Gender identity.
Sex, including sexual harassment or pregnancy.
Disability (physical or mental).
Receipt of public assistance.
Age (18 or more).

People who are not able to receive the COVID-19 vaccine — such as those with certain disabilities — are required under the code to have reasonable accommodations from their employers and service providers, the SHRC said, noting that's when testing requirements could come into play.

"Reasonable accommodation will differ on a case-by-case basis," it said.

Those who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons should be prepared to show a supporting doctor's note, the SHRC added.

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The commission said it plans to investigate any complaints of discrimination based on the code's "protected characteristics," but will not be accepting any that cite a personal objection to vaccinations or vaccination mandates.

Collecting information about a person's vaccination status is also not protected by the code, the commission noted. However, it said such info needs to be gathered and stored according to privacy legislation.

Ontario human rights watchdog says anti-vaxxers don't deserve special treatment

If you don't believe in getting the COVID-19 vaccine, Ontario's human rights law says you don't have the right to special accommodations.

A statement put out last week by the Ontario Human Rights Commission explains that anyone who "chooses not to be vaccinated based on personal preference does not have the right to accommodation under the Code."

In the province, human rights code prohibits discrimination based on creed, such as religious beliefs or practices; however, singular beliefs do not amount to creed, as stated in the code.

"Even if a person could show they were denied a service or employment because of a creed-based belief against vaccinations, the duty to accommodate does not necessarily require they be exempted from vaccine mandates, certification or COVID testing requirements," the statement says.

As of last Wednesday, Ontario implemented vaccine requirements for high-risk indoor settings. People must show proof that they're double vaccinated in order to be inside restaurants, nightclubs, concert venues, gyms and more.

Many people who don't believe in getting the vaccine have argued that not having access to these spaces is an infringement on their human rights.

Last week, People's Party of Canada candidate Darryl Mackie was arrested after he entered into a Tim Hortons in Oshawa and refused to show proof of a vaccine.

Mackie compared his actions to civil rights icon Rosa Parks and inspired others who share his beliefs to also refuse the new vaccine mandates.

In the same week as Mackie's sit-in, a mob of unmasked patrons sat-in at the food court inside of Toronto's Eaton Centre, also refusing to show proof of vaccination, as a way of pushing for their rights.

Canada Starts Cracking Down on Fringe Medical Groups

— Much like America's Frontline Doctors, groups up north are spreading misinformation

by Sophie Putka, Enterprise & Investigative Writer, MedPage Today September 24, 2021

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In his Twitter profile picture, Patrick Phillips, MD, poses with a stethoscope. He tweets about how ivermectin could end the COVID-19 pandemic, encourages his over 36,800 followers to seek vaccine exemptions, and compares getting vaccinated to what Jewish people endured in Nazi Germany. Sound familiar? He wouldn't be out of place in America's Frontline Doctors, the group that's garnered much attention for their similarly provocative stances -- but the small maple-leaf flag by his name says otherwise.

Doctors and nurses casting doubt on COVID vaccination, masks, and other medical guidance aren't limited to the U.S. -- they're quickly amassing their own followings in Canada. Foremost among these collectives is perhaps the Concerned Ontario Doctors and Canadian Frontline Nurses, who a number of contrarian clinicians have aligned themselves with.

"I have the perception that subset, the very right-leaning political fringe, is more sizable in the U.S. than it is in Canada, but we have it here too," said David Juurlink, MD, PhD, a pharmacologist and internist in Toronto.

"To be quite honest, we've never really dealt with medical professionals until the pandemic," said Elizabeth Simons, deputy director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network. "Typically they will keep a distance from the hate angle, but they're still standing shoulder to shoulder with hate-promoting groups and individuals."

"It's a growing problem for sure, [and] it's getting worse" with the introduction of proof of vaccine requirements for various events and businesses, she added.

Provincial professional medical regulators are starting to respond formally in an effort to combat misinformation spread by physicians, whose honorary MDs lend them and their associated fringe groups a veneer of credibility.

"When it comes to misinformation being spread by healthcare professionals, obviously it leads to bigger consequences," said Krishana Sankar, PhD, of ScienceUpFirst, an organization that works to combat misinformation in Canada and is partly funded by the Canadian Association of Science Centres. "That's because these are the trusted voices that we usually tell people to get their information from, to follow their guidance."

According to reports this week, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA) confirmed that it had spoken directly to seven doctors after receiving complaints that they had been spreading misinformation about COVID-19 online. The Canadian Press reported that the regulatory body had also spoken with physicians who gave vaccine exemption letters to patients without clinical evidence.

"Spreading misinformation does not align with a physician's professional responsibility to their patients, and CPSA takes this very seriously. While we are unable to speak to individual cases, CPSA has a responsibility to Albertans to investigate regulated members who are sharing inaccurate and potentially harmful information," the group said in a statement.

Alberta has the highest number of past-week COVID cases in Canada, according to their government website, and one of the highest rates of infection.

Two other professional regulatory groups, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC) did not respond to requests for comment.

Concerned Ontario Doctors, perhaps the Canadian equivalent to America's Frontline Doctors, have amassed over 23,400 followers on Twitter; the group is led by Kulvinder Kaur Gill, MD, who has over 117,600 followers on the platform. Phillips also appeared in one of their videos, entitled "Medical Censorship and the Harms of Lockdowns."

Gill has been disciplined by the CPSO. Their records show that she had a "caution-in-person" in front of a College panel following an investigation of her practice and shows three separate "cautions." Her tweets from June and August 2020 alleged that lockdowns were harmful, testing and tracing were ineffective, and vaccines weren't necessary.

The medical community has criticized Gill in the past for promoting the use of hydroxychloroquine, which has been shown to be ineffective for the treatment of COVID-19.

Gill has also retweeted pro-hydroxychloroquine sentiments from Simone Gold, MD, JD, the founder of America's Frontline Doctors, CBC News reported.

In May, the CPSBC disciplined a family practice doctor, Stephen Malthouse, MD, according to CBC News. Malthouse sued the regulatory body after he received a letter from them stating he had been the subject of complaints from other doctors and would be investigated and prevented from speaking about issues related to COVID-19.

As for Canadian Frontline Nurses, they gained a degree of notoriety for their role in organizing protests outside Canadian hospitals for what they called "medical freedom" and "informed consent," i.e., their position against vaccines and immunization records. But Simons said the group is less expansive than they appear. "There are, like, two nurses that are actually involved in that," she said. "They often present themselves as being this massive number of people, but the reality is that it's quite a small fringe group."

The group has also retweeted Gold's tweets. One expert said he wasn't surprised by the overlap between the far-right groups. "The information that is typically trending or top on social media platforms comes primarily from the United States," said Aengus Bridgman, a PhD candidate in political science at McGill University in Montreal, who leads the Canadian Election Misinformation Project there. "A lot of the conspiratorial thinking -- fake cures like hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin -- has flown north. We are very exposed in Canada to that."

Simons said that medical professionals peddling in misinformation plays a part in real-world consequences of COVID conspiracy thinking. "They're held to such a standard. And they have such a responsibility to what's happening."

Juurlink said he's exhausted by fielding misinformation and debunking what patients have read or heard. "Some of those doctors have very, very sizable followings, they've got big megaphones and people listen to them," he noted. But he thinks that people inclined to believe medical professionals who align themselves with "Frontline"-like groups would have already harbored those views in the first place.

"They're kooks, they're outliers, they do not represent the consensus medical opinions," he added. "But they've got large followings and the reason they've got large followings is because people who share their beliefs of a political nature typically follow them."

• 

  Sophie Putka is an enterprise and investigative writer for MedPage Today. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Discover, Business Insider, Inverse, Cannabis Wire, and more. She joined MedPage Today in August of 2021. Follow