OLDE FASHIONED CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Disgraced FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried 'orchestrated yearslong fraud' on investors and customers, SEC and criminal charges say

Story by Tim Stelloh and Rob Wile and Marlene Lenthang and Adam Reiss 


Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency giant FTX, defrauded investors by funneling money into his private hedge fund and conspired to commit wire fraud against customers and lenders, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Bankman-Fried, 30, the once-celebrated founder of FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday, following his indictment by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of New York on Friday, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams told reporters.

Bahamian Chief Magistrate Joyann Ferguson-Pratt denied Bankman-Fried's request for bail, saying she wasn't satisfied with his legal team's arguments. A hearing on his extradition to the United States is scheduled for Feb. 8.

The Manhattan panel indicted Bankman-Fried on eight counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, wire fraud on lenders, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the campaign finance laws.

"This investigation is very much ongoing, and it is moving very quickly," Williams said. "While this is our first public announcement, it will not be our last."

The federal prosecutor urged any business associates of Bankman-Fried to reach out to investigators sooner rather than later.

"I would strongly encourage you to come see us before we come see you," Williams said.

The indictment alleges Bankman-Fried knowingly devised the scheme to defraud customers of FTX by “misappropriating those customers’ deposits and using those deposits to pay expenses and debts of Alameda Research," his own privately held crypto hedge fund, to make investments.

$8 billion loss to customers

The wire fraud on lenders and customers started in or about 2019 and lasted through November, according to the filing.

Gretchen Lowe, acting director of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's Division of Enforcement, pegged customer losses at more than $8 billion.

But that number might pale in comparison to potential damage to public trust in the system, according to Lowe.

"The rippling consequences of defendant’s fraud are vast and have done significant damage to the integrity of the evolving digital asset market," she said.

The indictment also alleges Bankman-Fried duped lenders to Alameda by obtaining money and property by providing “false and misleading information to those lenders regarding Alameda Research’s financial condition.”

The indictment also accuses Bankman-Fried of campaign finance violations for conspiring with others and making campaign contributions to candidates and political committees above the federal donation limit.

His contributions to candidates for federal office, joint fundraising committees and independent expenditure committees aggregated to $25,000 and more in a calendar year, according to the filing. He also allegedly made corporate contributions to candidates and committees in the Southern District of New York “that were reported in the name of another person.”

Seeking influence on both sides of aisle, feds say

The "tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions" were made to "candidates and committees associated with both Democrats and Republicans," according to Williams.

“These contributions were disguised to look like they were coming from wealthy co-conspirators when in fact the contributions were funded by Alameda Research with stolen customer money," the federal prosecutor said.

"All of this dirty money was used in service of Bankman-Fried's desire to buy bipartisan influence and impact the direction of public policy in Washington."

Separately, the SEC charged him in a filing Tuesday also in the Southern District of New York, with defrauding investors and enriching his hedge fund Alameda Research LLC.

The SEC said in a press release that Bankman-Fried raised more than $1.8 billion from equity investors since he founded FTX in May 2019, based in the Bahamas, and he allegedly “orchestrated a yearslong fraud to conceal” the undisclosed diversion of FTX customers’ funds to Alameda.

He also allowed the undisclosed special treatment to Alameda on the platform, including a “virtually unlimited line of credit" funded by the platform’s customers and exempted Alameda from certain key FTC risk mitigation measures, the SEC said.

He then allegedly used FTX customers’ funds at Alameda “to make undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations.”

The SEC further alleged that Bankman-Fried concealed from investors “undisclosed risk” from FTX’s exposure to Alameda’s “significant holdings of overvalued, illiquid assets such as FTX-affiliated tokens.”

“We allege that Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said.

Officials said that investigations into other securities law violations in connection with the alleged misconduct are ongoing.

What's next for FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried following his arrest?
View on Watch    Duration 3:04


The SEC’s complaint charges Bankman-Fried with violating anti-fraud provisions of securities law and seeks injunctions against future securities law violations, meaning if convicted, he could be banned from future securities trading beyond as an individual.

The SEC said the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also charging Bankman-Fried.

FTX CEO pledges continued probe cooperation

Also on Tuesday, a congressional hearing on FTX’s collapse and missteps was underway during which the company’s new CEO, John J. Ray III, testified. Bankman-Fried was scheduled to appear at the hearing prior to his arrest.

During the House Financial Services Committee hearing, lawmakers shared harsh criticism of Bankman-Fried with Ranking Member Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., calling his arrest “welcome news.”

Ray spoke on the issues that led to FTX’s downfall and said his team is cooperating with the Southern District of New York and SEC officials.

“The FTX Group’s collapse appears to stem from absolute concentration of control in the hands of a small group of grossly inexperienced and unsophisticated individuals who failed to implement virtually any of the systems or controls that are necessary for a company entrusted with other people’s money or assets,” Ray told lawmakers.

Bankman-Fried was arrested after U.S. authorities filed criminal charges against him and he was taken into custody in the capital city, Nassau, shortly before 6 p.m. Monday.

In a statement Tuesday, a lawyer for Bankman-Fried said his client is "reviewing the charges with his legal team considering all of his legal options."

Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis said in a statement that the island nation is continuing a regulatory and criminal investigation into the company’s collapse.

FTX was once seen as the face of the industry, a company reported to be worth $32 billion that attracted celebrity endorsements and major sports sponsorships. Bankman-Fried was seen as a crypto wunderkind who graced the cover of Forbes and Fortune and had emerged as a major Democratic donor.

But last month, after a crypto-focused news site published the balance sheet of an investment firm also owned by Bankman-Fried, FTX experienced the equivalent of a bank run: Customers and observers questioned whether its loans and investments were worth more than its debts. They also questioned whether the company could pay people trying to withdraw funds.

In a matter of days, Bankman-Fried resigned and the company filed for bankruptcy protection. Speaking at The New York Times DealBook Summit on Nov. 30, Bankman-Fried said he didn’t “try to commit fraud on anyone.”

CORRECTION (Dec. 13, 2022, 7:55 a.m.): An earlier version of this article misstated how much Bankman-Fried raised from equity investors. It was $1.8 billion, not $1.8 million.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

Sen. Warren presses Defense Secretary about ex-Google CEO Schmidt's potential conflicts when he advised Pentagon on AI

Story by Eamon Javers • CNBC

Sen. Elizabeth Warren pressed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about former Google CEO Eric Schmidt's involvement in influential panels that helped shape policy in an industry where he was investing.

Warren, in a letter shared first with CNBC, expressed concerns about reports alleging Schmidt leveraged his positions on two federal advisory committees "to further his own personal financial interests."

Warren asked Austin to detail the Pentagon's conflict-of-interest policy for advisory board members and answer multiple questions about Schmidt's service on the panels.


Eric Schmidt, Co-Founder, Schmidt Futures, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference on May 2, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California.© Provided by CNBC

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday pressed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about his agency's enforcement of conflict-of-interest rules for federal advisory boards, zeroing in on former Google CEO Eric Schmidt after CNBC reported on his past involvement on influential panels in an industry where he was an investor.

"Federal advisory boards can provide valuable advice and insights to federal agencies, but without strong oversight and clear guardrails they can also provide their board members an unfair competitive advantage in winning government contracts and influencing agency policy," Warren wrote in a letter to the DOD head.

Warren said she was concerned about reports alleging Schmidt leveraged his positions on two federal advisory committees "to further his own personal financial interests." Those reports could suggest the Defense Department did not adequately apply federal conflict of interest rules "and therefore failed to protect the public interest" in Schmidt's case, wrote the Massachusetts Democrat.

Warren, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee and leads congressional subcommittees on economic policy and fiscal responsibility, asked Austin to detail the Pentagon's conflict-of-interest policy for advisory board members and answer multiple questions about Schmidt's service on the panels.

Schmidt made more than 50 direct personal or indirect corporate investments in AI companies while he was serving as the chairman of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence, or NSCAI, she said, citing a CNBC article from October. The group, established in 2018, advised the Pentagon and White House on AI policy — even crafting legislative language that later passed word for word — and helped steer billions of dollars in spending toward the AI industry. The group wound down in 2021.

Walter Shaub, a senior ethics fellow at the Project on Government Oversight, told CNBC at the time that Schmidt's investments "absolutely" posed a conflict of interest. There was no indication that Schmidt broke any ethics rules or did anything unlawful while chairing the commission.

Warren's letter referenced Schmidt's work on the NSCAI and the Defense Innovation Board. Both advisory boards are subject to conflict-of-interest rules under the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

"These boards can exert significant influence in shaping government research and procurement priorities, making it essential that agencies prevent and mitigate conflicts of interest," the senator wrote. "I am concerned by press reports indicating the Department may not have adequately followed FACA conflict of interest rules and therefore failed to protect the public interest."

The NSCAI under Schmidt advocated for a major boost in government spending on AI. "But Mr. Schmidt has a clear conflict of interest in this issue: the NSCAI recommendations could direct funds to Mr. Schmidt and his business partners, who have invested more than $2 billion in companies focused on artificial intelligence," Warren wrote, citing reporting from Protocol.

"Mr. Schmidt's investment activities, and the lack of public disclosure, create the appearance that these boards are yet another tool for influence-peddling and profiteering at DoD, raising concerns about the ethics of their members and the utility of their recommendations," Warren wrote.

AFTER SCHMIDT ADVISED NKOREA

Facebook Accused of Discriminating Against African Users in Latest Lawsuit

Story by Queenie Wong 

Two Ethiopian researchers and a Kenyan rights group have sued Facebook's parent company, Meta, alleging the social media giant failed to pull down content that fueled violence and hate across Africa.


Nearly 3 billion people use an app owned by Facebook parent company Meta every day. 

Sarah Tew/CNET© Provided by CNET

Filed in Kenya's High Court on Tuesday, the constitutional petition accuses Facebook of profiting off of harmful posts because that type of content attracts the attention of users. The lawsuit also alleges that Meta engaged in discriminatory treatment of African Facebook users and violated human rights. It says the social media giant isn't investing enough resources in its content moderation facility in Kenya and failed to take steps like it's done in the US that would reduce the spread of dangerous posts in Africa.

"The result is that some communities are left to ruin while others are proactively protected," the petition said. "This amounts to discrimination."

One of the petitioners, Abrham Meareg, an Ethiopian citizen who resides in Minnesota, says Facebook played a role in the murder of his father, who was killed last year. Meareg reported Facebook posts that called for harm against his father, Bahir Dar University Professor Meareg Amare Abrha, but the platform failed to act quickly, the lawsuit said. Online hate was directed at his father because his family is Tigrayan, an ethnic group in Ethiopia that human rights organizations say has been targeted by a campaign of ethnic cleansing after a two-year civil war broke out in 2020. Some of the harmful Facebook posts are still online, the lawsuit said.



"I'm seeking justice for millions of my fellow Africans hurt by Facebook's profiteering -- and an apology for my father's murder," Meareg said in a statement.

Fisseha Tekle, a legal advisor at Amnesty International, and the legal group Katiba Institute are also suing Meta. Tekle has also dealt with hate speech and other harmful posts on Facebook and hasn't been able to return to visit his family in Ethiopia because he "lives in constant fear that harm may come to him even in Nairobi," the lawsuit said.

The case is the latest in ongoing scrutiny Meta has faced over how well it polices harmful content outside the US, Asia-Pacific and Europe. Meta was also sued last year for $150 billion over its alleged role in fueling a genocide in Myanmar.

Meta said that it doesn't allow hate speech on Facebook and its photo-service Instagram.

Hate speech and incitement to violence are against Meta's rules, "and we invest heavily in teams and technology to help us find and remove this content," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. "Feedback from local civil society organizations and international institutions guides our safety and integrity work in Ethiopia." The social network employs workers "with local knowledge and expertise" and continues to develop its "capabilities to catch violating content" in the most widely spoken languages in Ethiopia, the spokesperson said.

Meta said last year in a blog post that protecting users in Ethiopia has been one its highest priorities, but researchers say the company is doing a poor job of pulling down hate speech in that country. Leaked internal documents also showed that Facebook employees have raised concerns about how the social media platform is used in developing countries.

The petitioners say Meta violated the Kenya constitution and want the court to order the company to demote content that incites violence and not promote viral hateful posts. They're also asking the social network to hire more workers in its content moderation center in Nairobi, Kenya, who are equipped to review posts in more languages. Meta should create a $1.6 billion fund for victims of hate and violence incited on Facebook and contribute $400 million for harm caused by sponsored posts, the petitioners say.

SHE SOUNDS LIKE RISHI SUNAK
Italy's Meloni says EU must do more to halt migrant flows

ROME (Reuters) - The European Union must do more to protect its borders and to halt the departure of migrant boats from north Africa, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Tuesday.

Confidence vote for Italy's new government at the upper house of parliament© Thomson Reuters

Meloni was speaking to the Italian parliament ahead of an EU summit this week. Italy, which has vowed a tough line on immigration, took in more than 500 migrants on Sunday when two charity rescue ships were allowed to dock.

Later in the debate Meloni said the EU relocation policy for migrants was not working for Italy which was being left to shoulder too great a burden.

"I don't think it's a solution to say that Italy should be the only port of disembarkation in the EU and then for every 100,000 people who come in, other countries take 30."

"I do not think Italy should do alone what others are not willing to do."

But other EU states are also under pressure from migration via other routes.

In September alone, France received around 15,000 asylum applications, Germany almost 21,000, Austria around 15,700 and Spain more than 11,000 compared to 8,500 for Italy, data from EU statistics agency Eurostat shows.

Tensions flared with neighbour France last month after the French took in a rescue boat carrying around 230 migrants that had been turned away by Italy.

More than 98,000 migrants have arrived in Italy by sea in the year to date, up from around 63,000 in the same period of 2021, interior ministry data shows.

(Writing by Keith Weir, Francesca Piscioneri editing by Gavin Jones, Alvise Armellini)

'Enough is enough': Rishi Sunak gets tough on migration as he unveils new laws

Rishi Sunak insisted "enough is enough" as he laid out tough new plans to stop migrants illegally entering the country.

By SAM LISTER
Tue, Dec 13, 2022 

Rishi Sunak announces plans to tackle illegal migration

The Prime Minister vowed to turn away Albanians more swiftly, clear the backlog of asylum claims by the end of next year and make the Rwanda deportation plan work. He also promised to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers at a cost to taxpayers of £5.5 million a day by switching to disused holiday parks, former student halls and unoccupied military sites.

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A new small boats operational command unit made up of the military, civilian staff and the National Crime Agency to stop the crossing.

Mr Sunak insisted the crackdown is about “fairness” and admitted the public is right to be angry about exploitation of the system.

He said: “It is unfair that people come here illegally. It is unfair on those with a genuine case for asylum when our capacity to help is taken up by people coming through, and from, countries that are perfectly safe.

It is unfair on those who come here legally when others come here by cheating the system.
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“And above all, it is unfair on the British people who play by the rules when others come here illegally and benefit from breaking those rules.

“So people are right to be angry because they see what I see, which is that this simply isn’t fair.

“It is not cruel or unkind to want to break the stranglehold of the criminal gangs who trade in human misery and who exploit our system and laws…

“Enough is enough.”

Rishi Sunak vowed to make the Rwanda deportation plan work (Image: PA)

A judicial review on the government’s plans to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda is expected before Christmas but no date has been confirmed.

The number of Albanians, mainly young men, heading to the UK illegally has surged over the last two years and now the nationality now accounts for 35 per cent of arrivals compared with three per cent in the whole of 2021.

Under the reforms, Border Force officers will be stationed in Tirana airport in the Albanian capital “helping to disrupt organised crime and stop people coming here illegally”.

Most Albanians have claimed they were victims of modern slavery but they will now have to have evidence to back up their claims.

Other European nations return almost all Albanians arriving illegally because their home nation is a “safe country”.

Mr Sunak told MPs 400 new specialists will work in a dedicated unit expediting asylum claims from people from the Balkan state, with plans for weekly removal flights to take people back to their home country.

The Prime Minister and Home Secretary Suella Braverman have been meeting up to three times a week for more than a month to find solutions to the growing problem.

Mr Sunak has made the small boats crisis his main priority alongside restoring the country’s economic fortunes.

New laws will make it “unambiguously clear” that “if you enter the UK illegally you should not be able to remain here”.

“One of the reasons we have struggled to remove people is because they unfairly exploit our modern slavery system, so we will significantly raise the threshold someone has to meet to be considered a modern slave,” Mr Sunak said.

Contractor fined $2.8 million for spills that killed hundreds of fish in Coquitlam, Surrey creeks

A construction contractor has been fined $2.8 million for releasing contaminated water into salmon-bearing creeks in Coquitlam and Surrey in 2017.

Michels Canada Co., a construction contractor based out of Nisku, Alberta, was ordered to pay the sum on Dec. 6, after pleading guilty to two charges under the Fisheries Act.

“These creeks are inhabited by salmonids year round, and the presence of juvenile salmonids in these creeks during the summertime low flow period and hot weather emphasizes the importance of this habitat,” stated Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) on Dec. 8.

The company was conducting horizontal direction boring operations in both cities, which drills tunnels underneath waterways, roads and rail when other methods are not possible.

Sediment-laden water, a byproduct of the boring process, was released through the storm sewer system in Coquitlam on Aug. 17, eventually flowing into Cape Horn Creek.

Less than two weeks later, the same spill occurred in Surrey’s sewer system, which flowed into Quibble Creek.

Twenty dead fish were later discovered in Coquitlam’s creek, while 533 dead fish were discovered in Surrey’s creek.

Federal environmental officers collected samples from the water, dead fish and other evidence related to the spills and found drilling fluids deposits in the water that were deemed harmful.

Both creeks are inhabited by coho salmon, rainbow trout, and cutthroat trout, the latter of which is considered a species at-risk.

Cape Horn Creek flows into the Coquitlam River, before entering the Fraser River; Quibble Creek flows into the Serpentine River, before entering the Georgia Straight.

The company will be added to the Environmental Offenders Registry, which lists convictions of corporations who have committed offences under federal environmental law.

“Canadians value clean water and a sustainable environment,” ECCC stated. “Enforcement officers strive to ensure that businesses and individuals comply with the laws and regulations that protect Canada’s natural environment.”

The fines will be used to support projects with a positive impact on the environment, according to the ECCC.

Patrick Penner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Tri-Cities Dispatch

Amnesty condemns Spain, Morocco over Melilla border tragedy
Story by By Joan Faus • 

The border fence between Morocco and Spain's north African enclave Melilla is seen along a road

© Thomson Reuters

MADRID (Reuters) - Moroccan and Spanish authorities used "unlawful and lethal force" during a mass border crossing by migrants in June in which at least 23 people died, and their response "smacks of a cover-up," Amnesty International said on Tuesday in a report based on eyewitness testimony, video footage and satellite imagery.

The handling of the mass border crossing attempt on June 24 between Morocco and Spain's North African enclave of Melilla remains a high-stakes political headache for the Spanish government. It has been heavily criticised by Spain's ombudsman and U.N. human rights experts. The country's interior minister has been repeatedly grilled in parliament and has faced calls to resign from opposition parties.

Morocco has said that 23 people died in the incident, while Spanish authorities have argued that no deaths occurred in their territory. Amnesty said at least 37 people died and 77 others remain missing.

Related video: Migration crisis in the Sahara: Algerian police accused of violence at Niger border (France 24)   Duration 4:49  View on Watch

Moment migrant paraglides into Spain across border with Morocco

The report said that "many of the injured continued to be beaten and kicked as they lay on the ground, semi-conscious, unresponsive or struggling for breath."

It also decried the lack of information concerning the identity of the deceased and the fate of the missing.

Asked about those allegations, Spain's Interior Ministry reiterated that police acted "lawfully and proportionally with an absolute respect for human rights," and said that accusations Spain had failed in its duty to assist were false.

Moroccan authorities declined to comment.

"Moroccan and Spanish authorities failed to provide prompt and adequate medical assistance to the injured, including by denying a Red Cross ambulance team access to the area, while dozens were left unattended in the full glare of the sun for at least eight hours," Amnesty said.

One interviewee said that Spanish police forced injured people back across the border to Morocco. A 17-year-old Sudanese citizen said people arrested by Moroccan police were "beaten by hammers in their head until they passed away" in jail.

(Reporting by Joan Faus; Editing by David Latona, Aislinn Laing and Mark Porter)

Hawaii's 'last princess', 96, dies with her wife, 69, by her side



 Joe Pacheco / Bishop Museum

An elderly Hawaiian heiress who was the islands' so-called final princess has died at the age of 96. Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa (pictured) died Sunday at her Honolulu home with her wife Veronica Gail Kawānanakoa, 69, at her side. She was worth an estimated $215 million. The late royal's lineage included the royal family that once ruled the islands and an Irish businessman who became one of Hawaii's largest landowners.



'Abigail will be remembered for her love of Hawaii and its people,' her 69-year-old wife (pictured left) said in a statement, 'and I will miss her with all of my heart.'

IMAGINE HOW MUCH IT WOULD SAVE AB

Sticking with RCMP would save Surrey, B.C., $235 million: report

SURREY, B.C. — City council in Surrey, B.C., has voted to send a plan to the province to keep the RCMP as its police force, saying it would save $235 million over five years.


Sticking with RCMP would save Surrey, B.C., $235 million: report© Provided by The Canadian Press

Mayor Brenda Locke, who campaigned on a promise to retain the RCMP, says that saving for Surrey taxpayers is enormous and the city must stick with the Mounties because it can't afford to continue with the change to a municipal force.

The report says the cost of 734 officers with the Surrey Police Service would be $249,460 per officer, while each Mountie would be $205,990.

A statement from the service, which is well into its transition, says the report overestimates how many of its officers would join the Surrey RCMP and doesn't consider $100 million in costs that have already been incurred.

The city says the plan will be sent to Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth by Dec. 15 for his final review and approval, with Locke saying a prompt decision is essential to prevent any further unnecessary spending.

A statement from Farnworth says it's his responsibility to ensure the city's plan meets the requirements of the Police Act and public safety continues to be the "core driving principle" for all decisions about policing in Surrey.

Farnworth says he expects to receive the city's plan this week and he'll review it with B.C.'s director of police services.

Locke says she expects an answer from the government by early in the new year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2022.

The Canadian Press

At least 100 killed as sinkhole opens swallowing roads and entire neighbourhoods in Congo

Story by Barney Davis 

Devastating floods in Congo have killed at least 100 people with roads struck by landslides and neighbourhoods swallowed up by sinkholes.

Dozens more were injured on Tuesday after heavy rains sparked devastation across Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.

Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde said officials were still searching for more bodies.

“We came to assess the damage and the primary damage we see is human,” Lukonde said on state television Tuesday.

Some 12 million people live in the 24 neighbourhoods of Kinshasa hit by the floods, according to three local officials who told The Associated Press that people were killed, houses submerged and roads ruined.


People stand watch after heavy rains caused floods and landslides (REUTERS)© Provided by Evening Standard

In the Ngaliema area more than three dozen people died and bodies are still being counted, said the area’s mayor, Alid’or Tshibanda. In another part of town five members from one family were killed, some by electrocution.

Related video: DR Congo town set to 'disappear' as Chinese mine swallows it up (AFP)
View on Watch


“It is a just calamity,” said Pierrot Mantuela. The 30-year-old lost his mother, nine-year-old daughter and three brothers. “It’s sad to lose all the members of my family,” he said. He was spared because he was working Monday night when the rains began, he said.



Residents clean up following torrential rains (AP)© Provided by Evening Standard

Images shared online showed entire neighbourhoods flooded with muddy water and roads ripped apart by sinkholes.

One video appeared to show a major highway cut in half by a giant hole that had swallowed several vehicles in Mont-Ngafula district. Onlookers in raincoats crept to the edge to peer into the chasm.

Once fishing villages on the banks of the Congo river, Kinshasa has grown into one of Africa’s largest megacities with a population of around 15 million.

Poorly regulated rapid urbanization has made Kinshasa increasingly vulnerable to flash floods after intense rains, which have become more frequent due to climate change.

At least 39 people died in Kinshasa in 2019 when torrential rain flooded low-lying districts and some buildings and roads collapsed.

In addition to damaged infrastructure, each day of flooding in Kinshasa costs households a combined $1.2 million due to the large-scale transport disruption, according to a 2020 World Bank paper.

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WHY HAVE AN ELECTION?!

Danish Social Democrats agree new government with right-wing opposition

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Denmark's Social Democratic leader Mette Frederiksen said on Tuesday she had agreed to form a rare bipartisan government with the main opposition party, the Liberal Party, and the Moderates to form a government with her as prime minister.


General election in Denmark© Thomson Reuters

"We have set high ambitions, both in terms of ensuring higher employment, more people getting work, high climate ambitions and a fairly comprehensive reform program," said Frederiksen.

The three party leaders, Frederiksen, Jacob Elleman-Jensen of the Liberal Party and Lars Lokke Rasmussen of the Moderates, will host a press briefing on Wednesday, where they will outline the broad political ideas behind the next government.

The Moderates is a new party, established in June, and is led by Rasmussen, the previous prime minister. It became Denmark's third biggest party after a trailblazing election campaign.

The three parties have a combined 89 seats in the 179-seat parliament, which also includes four seats to lawmakers from Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

This means the new government will in practice have a majority as the North Atlantic mandates traditionally don't intervene in Danish domestic politics.

Frederiksen, 45, will start her second term as premier of the Nordic nation once the new government has been formally announced on Thursday.

Since her centre-left Social Democratic Party won more than a quarter of the votes in a Nov. 1 general election, making it the biggest in parliament, Frederiksen has dropped negotiations with traditional left-wing allies.

Instead, the new coalition, which was formed after record-long talks of more than a month, she has negotiated with opposition parties to form a government across the traditional left-right divide for the first time in more than four decades.

Frederiksen argued during her campaign that a broad government across the left-right divide was needed at a time of international uncertainty.

The new government will begin work as high energy prices and the highest inflation in four decades eat into household economies, and only two months after the sabotage of two pipelines carrying gas from Russia to Germany through Danish waters.

Some pundits have warned that forming a coalition of the traditional mainstream parties might backfire, because it could eventually strengthen the more radical parties as seen in other European countries, including France.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Nikolaj Skydsgaard, editing by Stine Jacobsen, Tomasz Janowski and Sandra Maler)

UCP MORALITY POLICE

Edmonton social issue task force unveiled by UCP, but Sohi says city was shut out

Story by Matthew Black •

Municipal Affairs Minister Rebecca Schulz speaks as Homeward Trust CEO Susan McGee, Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis, Mental Health and Addiction Minister Nicholas Milliken and Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jeremy Nixon listen on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022. They are part of a cabinet task force to tackle Edmonton social issues including addiction, homelessness and public safety in Edmonton.© Provided by Edmonton Journal

The Alberta government is promising action on homelessness, addiction and public safety in Edmonton through the creation of a new task force, though skeptics remain unconvinced it will deliver as promised.

Four provincial cabinet ministers were among those to announce the creation of the Edmonton Public Safety and Community Response Task Force on Monday.

The task force aims to build on the province’s recovery-oriented system of addiction and mental health care using resources from provincial and municipal governments as well as local partner agencies.

“This is not about studying the issue. This is about actually taking action,” said committee chairman and Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis.

“This is a co-ordinated approach. We will be taking action.”

That action includes a series of initiatives including increasing addiction treatment capacity, providing addiction and mental health treatment programs in correctional centres, creating a hybrid health and police hub, expanding medical detox services, building harm reduction and recovery outreach teams and expanding access to emergency shelter space.

In introducing the task force, Municipal Affairs Minister Rebecca Schulz said it would address “the most urgent social issues” facing Edmontonians.

“We have heard loud and clear from municipalities across Alberta about the need for a collaborative approach and we are committing to that starting right here in Edmonton.”

Funding for Tuesday’s announcement comes in part from $187 million in funding towards fighting homelessness the province announced at the start of October.

The province is spending $63 million over the next two years towards increasing access to addiction services as well as $19 million towards combating homelessness.

“These initiatives are the start,” said Mental Health and Addiction Minister Nicholas Milliken.

“We are going to move quickly and we will not stop until these initiatives are operationalized.”

Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jeremy Nixon said he is “very optimistic” the task force would make progress on long-term solutions to issues around homelessness and addiction.

‘We need action’

The 12-person task force met for the first time Tuesday afternoon.

It is composed of ministers Nixon, Ellis, Milliken and Schulz as well as Chief Billy Morin of the Enoch Cree Nation and Chief Isaac Laboucan-Avirom of the Woodland Cree First Nation.

They are joined by two representatives from Alberta Health Services and the CEO of Homeward Trust, an organization that provides support for those experiencing homelessness in Edmonton.

Edmonton police Chief Dale McFee is also on board as are Edmonton city councillors Sarah Hamilton and Tim Cartmell.

City manager Andre Corbould and Fire Chief Joe Zatylny have also been invited, pending city council’s approval.

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said while he welcomed the new efforts to battle long-standing issues, the city was not made a part of the process.

“I was not made aware of it. We were not in any way included in the creation of the task force. It is a decision that the province has made,” he said.

He said Hamilton and Cartmell were “hand-picked by the UCP government,” noting their participation was not approved by councillors, something he said would have to happen if Corbould was to be part of the task force.

Hamilton currently serves on the Edmonton Police Commission. She and Cartmell were involved in city council’s budget meetings Tuesday afternoon and were unavailable to immediately comment.

Sohi also called for more measures to ensure safe supply and harm reduction, elements not included in the task force’s initiatives.

He added the task force lacked people with “lived experience” including racialized Edmontonians and urban Indigenous leaders, a feeling echoed by Opposition addictions and mental health critic Lori Sigurdson.

“This is just another opportunity to review and we already know what needs to be done,” she said.

“We don’t need another task force. We need action.”

‘Something new we don’t have’

The new task force follows longstanding complaints about public safety Downtown, including on public transit.

The Downtown Recovery Coalition (DRC) — a group of business leaders advocating for a safer Downtown — welcomed the new task force.

“Provincial collaboration is key in solving the problems our community organizations, businesses and residents are facing throughout our Downtown core,” stated coalition chairman Alex Hryciw.

McFee said that collaborative approach would be key to the task force’s success.

“What I see here is bringing coordination to something new that we don’t have, and using all those resources … to say, ‘We’re going to tackle this differently.’”

Schulz said a similar approach could be rolled out in other centres across the province.

“There will be other communities that we’re going to do this work in,” she said.

“And we want to be nimble and willing partners at the table to address those challenges across ministries and different levels of government and community.”

mblack@postmedia.com

Twitter @ ByMatthewBlack

Privacy-first, ads-free search engine Neeva launches in Canada

TORONTO — Around 16 years into Sridhar Ramaswamy’s career at Google, he realized he was having difficulty reconciling the actions of advertisers with the needs of consumers, and their differences were often creating a negative online experience.


Privacy-first, ads-free search engine Neeva launches in Canada© Provided by The Canadian Press

It was a turning point for the senior vice-president of ads and commerce, who later left to co-found Neeva, a search engine that is making its Canadian debut Tuesday and is set on bucking the ad-hungry nature of its peers.

“Over the past 20, 25 years we have sort of fallen in love with a suite of free services … and what has happened is that slowly but surely these services have turned against us. They've become more and more exploitative,” Ramaswamy said.

“We pay for it with our attention. We pay for it with our dollars. The hundreds of billions of dollars in advertising revenue that companies like Google and Facebook and Amazon make, they're actually coming from you and me. There was never a free lunch.”

While these major tech companies earn the bulk of their profits from serving users ads and compiling data, Neeva intends to be different. It bills itself as “privacy-first” and “ads-free.”

That means it doesn’t remember your search history and is designed to keep trackers from keeping tabs on you.

“What you do with the search engine or even the browser should be between you and the party that you're interacting with,” said Ramaswamy.

“You rest easy knowing that this data is not going to be used to monetize you either by showing ads or affiliate links.”

Without ads to generate revenue, Neeva relies on a paid tier that charges users for a trio of services Ramaswamy thinks everyone needs “to be private, safe and sane on the internet”: a virtual private network to mask your location and online activities, a password manager and an ad blocker.

Canadian users who opt in to the tier will pay $7.99 a month or $64.99 a year.

Related video: Measures to secure Canadians' personal information in cloud were 'applied and monitored inconsistently': AG (cbc.ca)   Duration 1:14  View on Watch

Both paying and free users will notice that when searching for a product using Neeva, they will be more likely to see reviews for the product appear rather than just the first place to buy it. If they look for health care information, credible and authoritative resources like government websites or the Mayo Clinic will pop up instead of “a whole set of people that figured out how to be on top of Google's results," said Ramaswamy.

The company has also committed to sharing 20 per cent of its topline revenue with content creators such as news sites and publications “because we felt that it was important to have a model where we supported publishers, especially when we use their content," he said.

News seekers will find they can customize which publishers they want to appear most prominently.

Whether tech companies should share revenues with publishers has been a hot topic in Canada as federal Bill C-18 — the Online News Act — winds its way through Parliament. The bill completed its second reading in the House of Commons in May, before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage finished considering it last week. It will soon head to the Senate for three readings and approval.

The bill aims to make tech giants such as Google and Facebook parent company Meta pay for sharing journalism produced by Canadian news organizations. The goal is to level the playing field between news agencies and social media companies, which have eaten up ad revenues while publishers have struggled to remain profitable.

But the tech giants have vehemently fought the bill. Google argued it would give regulators “unprecedented influence over news” and complained the bill doesn't require the news outlets receiving payments to follow basic journalistic standards, “creating a regime that allows bad actors and those peddling misinformation to thrive and profit.”

The opposition doesn’t surprise Ramaswamy. “There's no happy answer to how do you divide existing money or existing revenue that someone has taken for granted?” he said.

“Giving up something is not really something that comes easy to any company and you will see them fight furiously.”

Facebook has already threatened to block news in Canada if it doesn’t get its way with the bill. The company made that move after similar legislation passed in Australia last year, but a few days later it restored news content on the site when the government tweaked its legislation.

So what does Ramaswamy think will happen in Canada?

“This sort of redistribution of wealth by the government rarely goes well,” he said.

“The likely outcome is that ... Google and Facebook and others will cut some sort of backroom deal to give a small amount of money and that's the end.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 13, 2022.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press

SOMETHING ABOUT PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE

Kaili feels betrayed over European Parliament stance in Qatar graft scandal -lawyer

ATHENS (Reuters) - Eva Kaili feels betrayed by European Parliament colleagues who decided to strip the Greek MEP of her role as vice president of the assembly on Tuesday after she was accused of accepting bribes from Qatar, her lawyer in Athens told Reuters.


European Parliament vice president, Greek socialist Eva Kaili, is seen at the European Parliament in Strasbourg© Thomson Reuters

The case, in which Kaili has denied any wrongdoing, is evolving into one of the biggest corruption scandals to hit the European Union.

Kaili, who is in Belgian police detention, was one of 14 vice presidents in the parliament. Belgian prosecutors have charged her and three Italians at the weekend with participating in a criminal organisation, money laundering and corruption.

European lawmakers acted rapidly to isolate her, concerned that the Belgian investigation could mar the assembly's efforts to present itself as a sound moral compass in a troubled world.

"I spoke to Mrs Kaili today and she broke her silence. She has expressed her complaints over the stance of her European Parliament colleagues," lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos told Reuters.

"She says she feels betrayed when they make her appear as if she had a personal agenda with Qatar and when they hint that she was taking bribes."

Related video: Qatar 'corruption scandal' rocks European parliament, Vice President Eva Kaili arrested (WION)
Duration 3:39
View on Watch

MEP Eva Kaili stripped of vice president role as Qatar corruption probe widens


In a parliamentary session on Nov. 21 to discuss the human rights situation in Qatar, Kaili defended it against intense criticism from human rights groups over its treatment of migrant workers during preparations for the World Cup.

The Socialist lawmaker visited Kuwait and Qatar at the end of October and start of November and cited the International Labour Office saying Qatar had been "introducing labour rights ... and introducing minimum wage despite the challenges."

Dimitrakopoulos reiterated that Kaili has denied the accusations and added that her visit to Qatar had been approved by the European Parliament and that she was nothing more but a "recipient of European Union orders".

"Her position is that she was not accepting bribes, she is innocent, Qatar did not have a need for her, it did not need to bribe her, she had nothing to offer to Qatar," he said.

"Her decision to visit Qatar was not her personal decision, it was a European parliament decision, with the agreement" of the European Commission and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Dimitrakopoulos added.

Asked by Reuters to comment on the case, the European Parliament press service said that as a vice president Kaili was tasked with representing the assembly in the Middle East. It added: "The clear and standing instruction to all vice presidents is to represent the Parliament’s position. Nothing else."

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou, Deborah Kyvrikosaios and Stamos Prousalis, editing by Mark Heinrich)

Rupen Pandya: Indigenous people key to Saskatchewan's energy future

Opinion by Rupen Pandya 

Rupen Pandya, SaskPower President and CEO speaks at a SaskPower press conference on Tuesday, September 20, 2022 in Regina.© Provided by Leader Post

2022 has been a big year. Since commissioning the Awasis and Pesâkâstêw Solar Facilities, these Indigenous-owned installations have been providing up to 20 megawatts (10 MW per facility) of clean, renewable power to Saskatchewan’s grid.

Both facilities were constructed through partnerships with First Nations owners, and these utility-scale projects are lighting a path forward on our journey of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

The First Nations Power Authority (FNPA) has played an important role in bringing these projects forward and has an agreement with SaskPower regarding opportunities for future flare-gas options.

At the grand opening of the Pesâkâstêw Solar Facility, the speakers emphasized “respect for Mother Earth” as core to traditional knowledge and Indigenous stewardship of the environment.

SaskPower believes that Indigenous partners can play a vital role in supporting the profound energy transition now underway in Saskatchewan and North America, as we move toward cleaner energy.

We need to reach a 50 per cent reduction in our carbon emissions by 2030 from 2005 levels, achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

This represents a tremendous opportunity for First Nations and Métis communities to help develop the plan, not just as consumers, but as producers of clean energy — sharing in the economic and social benefits of working together.

To get to that clean-energy future, we need to look at all the options available and make wise choices, mindful of future generations in Saskatchewan.

Wind, solar, natural gas, nuclear power and other technologies must all be considered, to ensure reliable and affordable electricity continues to flow, both day and night and in all seasons, to our homes and businesses.

SaskPower recently identified the Elbow and Estevan areas as study areas for a potential future small modular reactor. Identifying study regions early in the process — many years ahead of any decision to proceed — gives us time to consult Indigenous Rights holders in these areas.

We will seek meaningful engagement and dialogue concerning economic benefits, employment, procurement and other forms of project participation.

We recently hosted two virtual open houses on planning for nuclear power with more than 600 people registered.

Those attending heard a number of different perspectives from the municipality of Pickering, Ontario, (which is close to a nuclear plant in that province), the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, nuclear developer GE Hitachi, and much more.

I encourage everyone to go to engage.saskpower.com and sign up for a virtual session, take a short survey, ask a question and so much more.

This energy transition will require all of us to learn from each other in order to succeed.

It inspires us to see what walking together can look like — listening to each other, learning from each other and seeking mutually beneficial partnerships to protect people and the environment, while securing our energy future.

Working together, we can be confident that our future is bright.

Rupen Pandya is the president and CEO of SaskPower.

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Colombian Congress approves creation of Ministry of Equality

The Colombian Congress has approved, after several favorable votes in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the creation of the Ministry of Equality, which will be headed by the country's vice-president, Francia Márquez.


Vice President of Colombia, Francia Márquez. - CHEPA BELTRAN / ZUMA PRESS / CONTACTOPHOTO© Provided by News 360

The new portfolio of the Executive of the president, Gustavo Petro, has counted with 139 votes in favor and eight against in the House of Representatives, by the 61 who have said 'yes' and the six of 'no' in the Senate, details the radio station RCN.

"What we are building is a path of material, real equality, this ministry was clearly missing in the public administration scenario", stressed the Minister of the Interior, Alfonso Prada, who thanked Márquez for his important participation in order for this campaign promise to go ahead.

Casa Nariño has bet on the creation of this new Ministry to implement public policies to achieve, among other things, wage equality between men and women, the recognition of work in the home as a work history, a minimum vital income for mothers who are heads of household, and benefits and property and credit rights within the agrarian reform.

The Alianza Verde representative Katherine Miranda has welcomed the creation of this portfolio as it comes to try to combat problems as "undeniable" as the wage gap that exists between men and women, or femicides.

However, for some in the opposition, the Ministry of Equality "represents more bureaucracy". This is the opinion of Uribism, which accuses the Government of not having published the costs that this new portfolio will entail for the public treasury.

Union "sickened" as Iran soccer player faces possible death sentence

Story by CBSNews • 

Paris — The world union of professional soccer players FIFPRO said it was "shocked and sickened" by the risk of Iranian player Amir Nasr-Azadani being sentenced to death in connection with protests which have shaken the country for three months. Nasr-Azadani was arrested in the city of Isfahan two days after allegedly taking part in an "armed riot" in which three security agents were killed on September 16, Isfahan's judiciary chief Abdullah Jafari said, quoted Sunday by Iran's ISNA news agency.

Jafari said the 26-year-old had been accused of "rebellion, membership in illegal gangs, collusion to undermine security and therefore assisting in moharabeh" — or "emnity against God" — a capital crime in the Islamic republic.

"FIFPRO is shocked and sickened by reports that professional footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani faces execution in Iran after campaigning for women's rights and basic freedom in his country," the union wrote on its Twitter page late Monday.

"We stand in solidarity with Amir and call for the immediate removal of his punishment."

The alarm comes after a global outcry following the execution by Iran in the past days of two young men arrested over the protests.

Nasr-Azadani, who played at Under-16 level for the national team, began his football career with Tehran team Rah-Ahan, with whom he played for the first time in Iran's top flight league.

The defender briefly played for Tractor SC under former Wales coach John Toshack and is currently at FC Iranjavan Bushehr.

Former Iranian international star Ali Karimi, a strong supporter of the protests, backed Nasr-Asadani in a tweet, saying "Do not execute Amir."

The Iranian national team took part in the World Cup in Qatar and staged their own protest by refusing to sing the national anthem in their opening match against England.

However, they rolled back to sing the anthem for subsequent matches against Wales and the USA.


© Provided by CBS News

Iran is facing protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died after she was arrested by morality police for allegedly violating the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

According to Amnesty International, 11 people have been confirmed to have been sentenced to death over the protests and at least another nine, including Nasr-Azadani, risk being sentenced to death.

Iran calls the protests "riots" and says they have been encouraged by its foreign foes.

Prominent former international star Voria Ghafouri was arrested in Iran last month after he backed the protests and condemned the crackdown but was later released on bail.

Opinion: The likely constitutional fly in Alberta's Sovereignty Act ointment

Opinion by Special to National Post • 
By Mark Mancini, Léonid Sirota and Maxime St-Hilaire


Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Justice Minister Tyler Shandro share details on the province's sovereignty bill on Nov. 29, 2022.© Provided by National Post

There had been a great deal of apprehension about the Alberta government’s plans for a “sovereignty” law. This was followed by relief when the bill was finally introduced two weeks ago: it did not go as far as it might have. Several commentators, including legal scholars (some of them our friends), have defended its constitutionality. The bill has now been further scaled back in response to criticism.

The centrepiece of the bill as it now stands is a scheme whereby the legislative assembly, by resolution, can denounce an existing or proposed federal law or policy as unconstitutional. The cabinet can then direct individual ministers to rewrite provincial regulations (but not legislation, as in the bill’s original version) to fit the resolution. In doing so, ministers can stymie the enforcement of federal law by provincial agencies.

Defences of this scheme focus on the principle of federalism: arguing that provinces are not required to enforce federal laws or otherwise co-operate with the federal government. They also point to the legislative assembly’s involvement as a valuable democratic safeguard.

In our view, however, these arguments neglect other fundamental principles protected in Canada’s constitutional framework: the rule of law and separation of powers. Following these principles, one narrow but still significant aspect of the Sovereignty Act that has largely eluded the attention of commentators is likely unconstitutional. The bill’s overall policy may well survive judicial scrutiny, but it is nonetheless corrosive to the Canadian constitutional order for no good reason.

The specific provision whose constitutionality is most doubtful is the one concerned with judicial review of ministerial orders made under the Sovereignty Act’s authority. These orders could be called into question either because they exceed the scope of Alberta’s constitutional powers or because they exceed the authority granted the ministers by the legislature. Yet the bill provides that this review must be extremely deferential: only “patently unreasonable” orders can be declared invalid.

Rahim Mohamed: Danielle Smith's Alberta Sovereignty Act pretty awkward for the RCMP

However, a 2019 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada holds that, by virtue of the rule of law principle, compliance of these sorts of ministerial orders with the Constitution, for instance the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces, is to be reviewed for correctness. In other words, if an order is unconstitutional in the courts’ independent opinion, they will invalidate it.

On this point, the Sovereignty Act is trying to do something the Constitution does not permit, and for good reason; it would liberate ministers and administrators from constitutional constraint. Review of government acts for their constitutionality is a quintessentially judicial task, one that involves measuring these acts against the benchmark of constitutional law. When it comes to the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces, consistent interpretation of the Constitution, which the judiciary provides, is all the more important. Left without judicial supervision, each level of legislature and government would be driven by self-interest to extend its powers at the other’s expense, creating conflict and confusion for citizens.

The question of what degree of deference can be required in a judicial assessment of whether an order complies with the law that purportedly authorizes it is murkier. As the law now stands, the legislature may well be able to require considerable deference. Yet the rule of law principle and the Constitution’s provisions enshrining the role of the superior courts, such Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench, mean this deference must not be tantamount to judicial review being ousted altogether. Courts must still be able to ensure that there is some plausibility to the claim that an order is authorized by the law.

Yet the Sovereignty Act makes judicial review of ministerial orders difficult if not impossible. This is because it does virtually nothing to circumscribe the powers ministers can exercise upon the passage of legislative assembly resolution. The limits come not from the bill itself, but from the resolution at issue.

This is a problem. Judicial review is concerned with whether government complies with the law, yet a resolution of the assembly is not law. It is a statement of opinion, unlikely to be drafted with the precision with which laws usually are, and as such can hardly provide the controls necessary on executive discretion, further complicating the courts’ task of review.

But the Sovereignty Act’s unusual and partly unconstitutional distortion of judicial review of government action is only a symptom of its broader tendency to bypass the courts in favour of political institutions. As we have seen, in addition to restricting judicial review of ministerial orders, the bill calls upon the legislative assembly to determine whether federal laws or policies are unconstitutional. This compromises not only the rule of law but also separation of powers.

Canada’s constitutional system, like those of other federations, relies on an independent judiciary upholding the division of powers between the federal government and the provinces. This is because the Constitution is a legal instrument ― indeed, the “supreme law of Canada” ― and its interpretation is a legal, rather than a political, question.

Such questions should be decided by legally trained and independent judges, not politicians. If Alberta’s government doubts the constitutionality of a federal law, it already can refer this question to the Alberta Court of Appeal. If unsatisfied with that court’s decision, it can appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. And if it loses there, as it did in relation to the constitutionality of the federal carbon tax regime, it must accept the loss ― subject to seeking a constitutional amendment.

Even an analogy with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ notwithstanding clause cannot shield the Sovereignty Act. Of course, there is no equivalent provision allowing legislatures to “override” the constitutional division of powers, and rightly so. An optimistic interpretation of the notwithstanding clause is that it allows legislatures to impose their own answers to the complex questions of morality and policy at stake in disputes about rights. Whatever the validity of this view in relation to rights, it is simply inapposite to the purely legal disputes about the Constitution’s division of powers provisions.

The great Victorian constitutional scholar A.V. Dicey, who popularized the phrases “parliamentary sovereignty” and “rule of law,” had a warning that the proponents of Alberta’s Sovereignty Act would do well to heed. “A federal system,” he wrote, “can flourish only among communities imbued with a legal spirit and trained to reverence the law.” Without these, it collapses in political recrimination.

But Dicey warned, also, of the danger that a supreme court entrusted with interpreting a federal constitution will “be swayed by political feeling and by reasons of state,” for “the moment that this bias becomes obvious a court loses its moral authority.” Each of us have criticized Canadian courts vehemently when they have gone astray in this way, and we must all be alert to this peril. This is not the place to discuss whether such improper considerations have affected the Supreme Court of Canada, for example, in its opinion on the carbon tax. Suffice it to say that those who defend judicial authority need also to be alert to this peril. But this is no reason to dilute or oust judicial review altogether.

Special to National Post

Mark Mancini is a PhD student at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia.

Maxime St-Hilaire is Associate Professor at Faculty of Law of the Université de Sherbrooke.

Leonid Sirota is Associate Professor at the School of Law of the University of Reading.

IRONIC

Belmarsh prison authorities prevent Assange from attending Sakharov award ceremony

Wikileaks has denounced Tuesday that the authorities of Belmarsh prison, where activist and founder of the organization, Julian Assange, is imprisoned, have prevented him from participating in the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize award ceremony, an event scheduled for Wednesday.

Image of Julian Assange projected onto a building in Leake Street, London, on the occasion of his arrest at Belmarsh Prison. - 

Victoria Jones/PA Wire/dpa

The organization has indicated in a brief statement that the prison authorities have not granted the relevant permission to the also journalist and programmer, and has confirmed that, instead, his wife, Stella, will participate telematically.

Thus, Assange will not be able to participate in the events prior to the ceremony, such as seminars and press conferences, despite the fact that "more than 40 MEPs chose him as a candidate to receive the award this year", as Wikileaks has stressed.

"Julian's nomination is a sign of the support he has from human rights groups around the world, as well as recognition of his work for peace and justice," said Stella, who will deliver a message on behalf of Assange.

In addition, he will attend the ceremony of delivery of the Sarajev this Wednesday at 12.00 following the invitation sent by the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.

Wikileaks has taken the opportunity to recall that "Assange remains in custody in a UK maximum security prison, where he has been held since he was arrested in April 2019." "He has been indicted in the United States for disseminating information about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and torture programs. He faces up to 175 years in prison," the organization lamented.

In this regard, it has stressed that the governor of the prison in question has denied the requests of MEPs and political groups that "requested Assange's presence via telematics for the Sakharov ceremony." "The governor has prevented his presence on the grounds that it is not included in the official visiting regime," the text states.

COMMENTARY: Economists and Canadians are not on the same page

Opinion by globalnewsdigital •

Canadian dollar "loonie" coins.© THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Bayne Stanley

Majority of Canadians worry they won’t have enough money to feed their families: Poll

There is a growing divergence between the macroeconomic indicators that economists examine and the microeconomic realities that Canadians say they are facing.

Economists are telling Canadians that we’re closer to the end of the interest rate-raising cycle than we are to the beginning of it. They’re telling us that the inflation rate is starting to edge lower, and that we’re still trending for a “soft landing.”

They’ve pegged the chance of recession somewhere around 50 per cent, depending on whom you speak to. And there’s even good news: unemployment rates remain low, although this is a double-edged sword as a tight labour market means higher wages, which add fuel to the inflation fire.

None of this aligns with what Canadians themselves say they’re experiencing. Ipsos polling for Global News has shown that Canadians’ financial anxieties are rising faster than interest rates.

Read More

Majority of Canadians fearful about feeding their families as economic anxiety grows: poll

Since October, more Canadians are now concerned that they might not have enough money to feed their family (+9 percentage points), that they might not be able to afford gasoline for their cars (+13 points) and or that they might get in over their head with holiday spending (+15). The concern among parents with kids in their household is even more pronounced. We don’t often measure such significant shifts in public opinion over such a short period of time.

Moreover, there is growing concern (and a general consensus among Canadians) that Canada will face an economic recession in the next year. Four in 10 (42 per cent, up nine points since October) are worried that they may lose their job if the economy does not improve. This is a lot of job anxiety.

We could not be looking at two more different realities: that which is studied by economists and that which is lived by Canadians. It’s true that individual Canadians may not be as informed about the macroeconomic situation as economists.

But they do know their own household, and given interest rate increases and inflationary pressures, they’ve noticed that they have less money left over at the end of the month. This is particularly true for younger Canadians, women and parents, who are feeling especially squeezed.

Regardless of what economists are saying, many Canadians believe we’re already in a recession and are altering their behaviour accordingly.

Ipsos poll finds close to half of Canadians prefer a charitable gift this holiday season over material items

Consumers are cutting back on dining out (52 per cent) and on entertainment (46 per cent). They’ve started looking at flyers for sales (50 per cent) or are couponing (31 per cent). Some have even had to dip into savings to make ends meet (24 per cent). Others are buying fewer fruits and vegetables (26 per cent) or not renewing or fulfilling a medical prescription (nine per cent).

The thing about economics is that it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy: if Canadians already believe we’re in a recession, and are acting like it, then it is more likely to cause a recession. This is rational behaviour based on one’s own perceptions, but it could exacerbate the economic challenges already facing Canada.

The trouble with a recession is that by one definition, we don’t know we’re in one until six months after we’ve entered it, making the declaration of a recession itself a lagging indicator. How helpful is that in the moment? In contrast, public opinion is a harbinger of things to come and acts as a leading indicator. Even though we’re technically not in a recession — yet — Canadians are already feeling and acting like we are.

WINDFALL PROFIT TAX ELIMINATES THE NEED FOR RISE IN INTEREST RATES

Read more:

Bank of Canada ‘still prepared to be forceful’ on interest rates if needed: official

Do we need a term for this phenomenon? Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter called it a crisis of confidence, which was then called the "malaise." Maybe it’s something plainer, like “recession perception”? Whatever we call it, the feeling is real, acute, and it impacts Canadians’ behaviour in profound ways.

Who has the nerve to tell Canadians that things are getting better? Or that they’re wrong, their concerns are overblown, feelings unfounded, and they can relax a little bit? Hopefully nobody. Instead, understanding and empathy are key – both from government and businesses, many of whom are being accused of price gouging disguised as inflation.

Governments and policymakers should be paying closer attention to the perceptions and anxieties of Canadians — and reacting in ways that provide relief. Instead, many concerns of Canadians are falling on deaf ears.

Sean Simpson is senior vice-president of Ipsos Public Affairs in Canada.