Tuesday, October 26, 2021

New defence minister vows to fight sex misconduct, warns battle 'going to take time'

PURGE, PUT WOMEN OFFICERS IN CHARGE,FLATTEN DND

© Provided by The Canadian Press

OTTAWA — Anita Anand vowed to throw everything she has into eliminating sexual misconduct in the military as the former procurement minister who successfully obtained COVID-19 vaccines for Canada became only the second woman to hold office as the country's defence minister.

Yet Anand also warned that the fight will take time, even as the Liberal government faced fresh calls from opposition parties and others to finally establish more external and independent oversight of the Canadian Armed Forces to address its many problems.

“It is important to remember that there is no one magic solution for this issue. There is no one switch that we can turn on to change everything overnight,” Anand said in her first public remarks following an elaborate swearing-in ceremony for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new cabinet.

“This is going to take time. And while that may frustrate some, I want to assure everyone that I will put in the necessary work for as long as it takes to get this done. As I have said, I am thorough, I am determined, I am dogged, and I am results-oriented. And I will be dedicating all of my energies towards this task in this position.”

Anand’s appointment ended weeks of speculation around who would take over from Harjit Sajjan, whose fate appeared all but sealed after overseeing a crisis of confidence in Canada’s military leadership over the past eight months sparked by allegations against several senior officers.

Trudeau spoke glowingly of his new defence minister, specifically noting Anand’s role leading Ottawa’s efforts to purchase vaccines and other supplies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic while touting her previous experience as an expert on corporate governance as directly relevant to her new role.

“One of the things people will be learning about Anita Anand in the coming months is that she is a world-class expert in governance, with decades of professional experience that she will bring to bear to make sure the Canadian Armed Forces … are worthy of the extraordinary women and men who choose to serve.”

Anand is only the second woman to serve as Canada's defence minister. Kim Campbell held the position for six months in 1993 before becoming prime minister.

Yet while Anand acknowledged her gender may have played a factor in her appointment, she said there are other qualities that she brings to the table.

Indeed, while Anand’s appointment was largely welcomed by opposition parties, experts and a victims’ group, many of which had been scathing in their criticism of Sajjan, it was also greeted with warnings that the arrival of a new defence minister — even a woman — isn’t enough to fix the military’s problems.

“I'm not one of those people that think just putting a woman into this position will magically make it solve the problems,” said Megan MacKenzie, an expert on military sexual misconduct at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver.

“She's stepping into that role at a time when we've had a prolonged crisis. And so I really hope she's supported so that she can do her job and is not expected to sort of fix the systemic problem without proper tools.”

MacKenzie also underscored the need for more independent oversight over the military, particularly when it comes to sexual misconduct, as was first recommended by retired Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps in 2015.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh echoed that message during a news conference, saying that while having a woman as defence minister was remarkable, “they've had six years to bring in an independent process. And so that hasn't changed. And that to me is a big problem.”

Trudeau and Anand declined to commit to any new external oversight of the military, and instead pointed to an ongoing review of the problem being led by retired Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour.

Anand arrives at a critical time for the Canadian military, which has been battered by months of troubling allegations that some of the military’s most senior officers engaged in inappropriate sexual behaviour — with new allegations seemingly emerging every few weeks.

Trudeau this month blasted the top brass after it was revealed that a general who wrote a character reference for a soldier convicted of sexual assault was reassigned to a job overseeing some of the military’s work on sexual misconduct. Trudeau said they "simply don't get it."

Opposition critics, defence experts and victims’ support groups have pinned much of the blame for the ongoing scandal on the Liberal government and, in particular, Sajjan, who will now serve as the minister of both international development and economic development in B.C.

When Sajjan first took over the role in early November 2015, the former Vancouver police officer was widely seen as a positive choice, given his previous service as a lieutenant-colonel in the army reserves, which included stints in Afghanistan.

Yet Sajjan struggled to effectively communicate when it came to military matters, and was seen as being too deferential to those senior commanders such as then-chief of the defence staff Jonathan Vance, under whom he had served in Afghanistan.

Those concerns exploded into the public discourse in February after Global News reported several allegations of sexual misconduct involving Vance. It was later revealed that one was first flagged to Sajjan by the military ombudsman in March 2018.

Despite what amounted to a clear demotion for his longtime defence minister, Trudeau defended Sajjan as “someone who has been there to fight for the women and men who serve in our Armed Forces, and to push back against the culture that excludes, that marginalizes people.”

Sajjan for his part defended his record, which included introducing a new defence policy in 2017 that promised billions in new money for the military over 20 years.

As for changing the military’s culture, “we wish that we could have it overnight,” he said. “It doesn't happen overnight. But this but the steady work that needs to continue in the focus on it, our government has been absolutely committed to it.”

One of the key questions facing Anand is the degree to which she will be able to exert control over the Canadian military, which has a reputation for pushing back against attempts to rein it in.

While Anand’s role in procuring personal protective equipment, ventilators and vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic has been praised, her work on corporate governance was noted by It’s Not Just 700, a support group for victims.

Sexual misconduct is far from the only issue facing the Armed Forces at this juncture, and the new defence minister will need to get quickly up to speed on a variety of topics, including the many missions underway around the world and the ongoing effort to buy new military equipment.

Anand has an advantage over many of her ministerial colleagues taking over new portfolios, in that her previous job included significant oversight of various military procurement projects. That includes the planned purchase of new fighter jets and warships.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2021.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press

Emotional bullying, sexual harassment and physical assault of women is widespread in the military

Attacks are most likely on younger personnel, those with officer status and those in combat roles

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMJ

Women serving in the UK military face a considerable risk of emotional bullying, sexual harassment and physical assault, which can have a serious and long-lasting impact on their mental health and wellbeing, finds research published online in the journal BMJ Military Health.

There are currently around 16,500 women serving in the UK military and they make up approximately 11% of personnel. Although women have been able to serve in the UK military for many years, it was not until 2018 that all roles were opened up to them, including deployment to front-line combat.

It is recognised that military women may face additional adversities during deployment on top of the risk of exposure to combat-related trauma, which may impact on their well-being, so the authors set out to investigate the prevalence of military adversity in terms of sexual harassment, sexual assault, emotional bullying and physical assault within a sample of UK women veterans.

They surveyed 750 women veterans who had been in touch with a UK charity which supports women veterans, and the responses showed that a high proportion of these women had experienced military adversity: 22.5% said they had experienced sexual harassment, 5.1% sexual assault, 22.7% emotional bullying and 3.3% physical assault.

These experiences were more likely to be reported by women who were younger, had held the rank of officer, or reported having had a combat or combat support role during their military service.

All types of adversity were significantly associated with probable post-traumatic stress disorder, and different types of adversity had specific impacts on women’s mental health and wellbeing.

Sexual harassment was significantly associated with physical somatisation (where the mental distress causes physical symptoms such as pain or fatigue), sexual assault was significantly associated with alcohol difficulties, and emotional bullying was significantly associated with common mental health difficulties such as anxiety and depression, low social support and loneliness.

This was an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, and the researchers also highlight several limitations.

The study was based around self-reported events so could underestimate or overestimate the real prevalence of what was experienced, and it was not able to assess the impact of cumulative episodes or continuous military adversity on mental health and well-being. The survey had a response rate of 44.6%, meaning the results may not be fully representative, and the majority of the women who participated were aged above 60, so the findings may not be generalisable to younger army personnel.

Nevertheless, the authors conclude that their study provides evidence of a high prevalence of military adversity among UK women veterans and highlights important relationships with sociodemographic factors and mental health difficulties that require further investigation.

There is an urgent need to provide more support to military women, they say. “Many women do not report adverse service experiences due to fear of the consequences of doing so and may continue to suffer from increased mental health distress during and after military service. It is essential to consider whether current reporting procedures may not provide sufficient confidentiality to encourage women to report adverse experiences and more appropriate disclosing procedures should be considered.

“Furthermore, it is essential to consider whether existing support is adequate to support the mental health needs of women who experienced military adversity.”

As certain characteristics of the military, such as gender discrepancies, the nature of military training and the ranked order structure, may put female personnel at greater risk of victimisation, it is worth considering whether organisational and leadership changes can be made to better protect military women, they add.

[Ends]

JOURNAL

BMJ Military Health

DOI

10.1136/bmjmilitary-2021-001948

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Adversity during military service: the impact of military sexual trauma, emotional bullying and physical assault on the mental health and well-being of women veterans

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

25-Oct-2021

Gay couple asked to leave Toronto condo because they’re not married

THAT DISCRIMINATES AGAINST COMMON-LAW IN CANADA

October 26, 2021 Canuck

TORONTO — A gay couple renting a condo in downtown Toronto say they have been told by the condo’s management they need to get married — or get out of their unit.

The dispute seems to stem from the condo’s interpretation of a rule restricting the occupants to “single families” — apparently designed to keep out short term rentals or disruptive tenants — but has been taken too far, said one of the renters, Michael Cowan.

“How can they define what a family is to someone?” Cowan told CTV News Toronto in an interview. “It doesn’t make sense.”

The dispute has some observers wondering how widely these rules have been applied and how many of Ontario’s two million condo residents they could affect. The province’s opposition NDP is also calling for changes to condo regulators.

Cowan, who is in his thirties, said he moved into the condo at Wellesley and Bay streets in the spring of 2020, loving its central location.

This October, he decided to invite his partner of about six months to live with him. He moved in, signed paperwork with the landlord, but when it came to updating the condo board about who was living in the unit, they suddenly had a problem: the condo was asking for a marriage certificate.

“[Management] said we needed proof of marital status, which we do not have because we’ve only been together for a shorter period of time,” Cowan said. He said since the conversation, the condo has deactivated his partner’s key fob.

That action seems to stem from a condo rule, where Metropolitan Toronto Standard Condominium Corporation No. 972 defines itself as “single family,” which “shall mean a social unit consisting of parent(s) and their children, whether natural or adopted, and includes other relatives if living with the primary group.”

Cowan’s landlord, Seema Opal, also tried to mediate, but she says condo management was firm.

“The requirement for a marriage certificate just blows me away,” Opal said. “Family status shouldn’t be grounds for discrimination. And I feel that living next to the Village, my condo board and property manager are discriminating against individuals who don’t fit into a certain mould.”

condo graphic

It’s not clear exactly why the rule exists — condo management didn’t get back to CTV News Toronto on Tuesday.

Condo lawyer Shawn Pulver, who is not connected to the case, says the root of the rule is likely to find a way to ensure that disruptive tenants or short term rentals aren’t allowed.

He says the backlash against some short-term rentals could mean that there are many similar rules affecting more than two million people who live in Ontario condos.

“Condos are concerned that there are people in units that shouldn’t be there. It doesn’t mean the concerns are well founded or that they are not subject to challenge,” Pulver said.

NDP MPP Jessica Bell said disputes like this should be fielded by the Condo Appeal Tribunal, but it doesn’t have the jurisdiction, leaving residents heading to court — or simply giving up.

Bell, who held a round table on condo issues earlier this week with other NDP MPPs, said she heard many residents complain about issues in their condominiums that aren’t being addressed in the current regulations.

She said she hoped that hearings slated to start this week to review findings by Ontario’s Auditor-General of weaknesses in condo oversight may also help address the problem.

“It’s ridiculous that people in 2021 have to prove that they’re married,” Bell said. “There should be a way for a resident to seek recourse, and appeal to a regulator to change the rules.”

Another option, said Opal, may be to just widen the definition of the rule to include couples like her renters.

“They could expand the definition to include two people in a loving relationship,” Opal said.

IN CANADA COMMON LAW IS RECOGNIZED BY PROVINCIAL GOVTS. AND THE FEDS AND IS A TAXABLE RELATIONSHIP UNDER CANADA REVENUE ACT.

Low grain yields in Alberta mean high grain prices will continue

October 26, 2021

The combines are now parked, and fall field work is underway.

Geoff Backman with the Alberta Wheat and Barley Commission said it was a tough year for many farmers who were plagued with drought conditions.

“They’re really hoping for rain next year because two years of this would be financially devastating,” said Backman.

The crops are now in the bin, and the numbers show yields are significantly down.

“For the most part, we are hearing that, regionally, yields are between 75 to 50 per cent of what they experienced last year and that just isn’t the amount of grain that we are used to having,” added Backman.

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The provincial five-year yield index shows this year is 37 per cent below the five-year averages. Demand is up and so are prices. This time last year, feed barley in southern Alberta was $5.50 a bushel; it is now nearly $9 a bushel.

“These are the highest prices I have seen, but it’s not just me. I’m young compared to some of the farmers and some of our members, and they are reporting that these are some of the highest prices they have ever seen in their careers as well,” added Backman.

The high grain prices directly impact the cattle industry, specifically feeder cattle.

“It takes a big bite out of calf prices, so if we are talking $4 barley versus $8 barley, roughly for every dollar increase in the price of barley, you take about 20 cents off the price of calves,” said Brian Perillat, manager and senior analyst for Canfax.

Perillat said many cattle producers can’t find the grain they need in Canada and are relying on feed from south of the border.

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“We’ll be importing a significant amount of corn. It should start flowing into the southern Prairies or into Alberta into November and that is going to be the biggest feed source,” he added.

Backman said the grain shortage is worldwide.

According to Agriculture and Agrifood Canada, wheat and barley have dropped from an estimated world supply of 12 million metric tonnes to eight million tonnes this year.

View original article here Source

SOUTHERN Albertans support bid to change equalization,

ALL ALBERTANS narrowly turn down year-round daylight time

October 26, 2021 Canuck News/Canada/Edmonton

Most Albertans who voted in last week’s municipal elections want Canada to remove the equalization section from the Constitution, but support for reverting to year-round daylight saving time was almost evenly split among voters — with those voting against narrowly coming out on top.

Elections Alberta reported nearly 62 per cent of voters said “yes” to the equalization question, while just over 38 per cent checked “no.”

The question asked whether voters support removing a clause from the Constitution that commits the federal government to redistributing taxes paid by all Canadians to ensure that all citizens, regardless of the province in which they live, have equitable access to public services.

The different political cultures of Alberta’s two largest cities were reflected in the results. In Edmonton, 51.9 per cent were against and 48.1 per cent were in favour, while Calgary showed much stronger support for the idea — 58.2 per cent voted yes while 41.8 said no.

On the daylight saving time question, 50.2 per cent of Albertans who voted said they were opposed to moving to permanent daylight time while 49.8 per cent said they were in favour.

Demanding respect, Kenney says

At a news conference Tuesday, Premier Jason Kenney said the equalization result sent a “powerful” statement to the federal government.

“Albertans are demanding to be respected,” Kenney said. “They’re demanding that the jurisdiction of this province under the Canadian Constitution be respected … and we fully expect the prime minister to respect the constitutional amendment process and to sit down and negotiate with Alberta in good faith.”

The equalization vote was a part of the UCP’s platform in the 2019 provincial election, with Kenney stating that that Alberta has concerns over billions of dollars its residents pay, while provinces such as British Columbia and Quebec obstruct oil and pipeline projects that underpin Alberta’s wealth.

The constitution can’t be changed without the consent of two-thirds of the provinces with at least 50 per cent of the population of all of them combined.

Later in the legislative assembly, government House leader Jason Nixon gave oral notice of a motion to ratify the referendum results. Nixon expected the motion will be debated on Wednesday.

As for the DST result, the province will respect the results and not proceed with a time change.

WATCH: Equalization victory or flawed process?

Kenney claims equalization victory as Notley cites flawed process

2 hours ago

Premier Jason Kenney is promising to kick-start the equalization amendment process following Alberta’s referendum vote in favour of removing the payments – but Opposition Leader Rachel Notley says the province could have sent a stronger message to Ottawa with a little forethought. 2:42

HOW MANY SPOILED BALLOTS?!

Voters asked to choose three senators-in-waiting

In addition to questions about equalization and clocks, voters were also asked to choose three senators-in-waiting for Alberta.

Out of 13 candidates, three Conservative Party of Canada candidates received the most votes: Pam Davidson (18.2 per cent), Erika Barootes (17.1 per cent) and Mykhailo Martyniouk (11.3 per cent).

WASTE OF MONEY BY A PARTY THAT BITCHES ABOUT THAT

Canadians do not elect Senators. The prime minister chooses candidates from a list of people who apply for the position.

When the NDP became the government in Alberta, senate elections were dropped. However Premier Jason Kenney and his United Conservative Party brought them back when they took office in 2019.

Lack of clarity, says Notley

Alberta NDP Leader Rachel Notley said Kenney “botched” the process by posing questions that weren’t clear.

She said the majority of Albertans would have supported the time change question if was about whether people wanted to stop changing their clocks twice a year, instead of specifically asking to stay on daylight saving time year-round.

As for the equalization question, Notley said the result was not as definitive as it should be.

Elections Alberta did not provide official turnout numbers as the vote was part of the provincewide municipal and school trustee elections on Oct. 18.

Estimates put the figure at around 39 per cent of voters. There were no polling stations in First Nations communities.

“It was a mess all along,” Notley said. “It doesn’t meet any of the criteria that have been set out in the courts that the premier tries to rely on.”

A constitutional law scholar from the University of Alberta said the result will do little to convince other provinces to join Alberta in pushing Ottawa to open up the constitution.

Law professor Eric Adams said the prime minister has a duty to listen to what Alberta or any other province has to say, either in a letter, a face-to-face meeting or a first ministers’ meeting. But he can also decide not to go ahead.

Adams said Alberta would have to turn to other provinces for support, which could itself create a new set of problems.

“The ball is in the court of the other premiers. Is anybody willing to grab hold of of this policy? Does the government of Alberta have other provinces lined up that want to support this change?” Adams asked.

“In my view, the most likely outcome here is is that this doesn’t head anywhere or it gets rather tangled up in a number of other constitutional proposals that the Alberta government doesn’t have any control over.

View original article here Source

Analysis-Doomed to fail? How carmakers' climate vows fall short - and who's to blame

By Victoria Waldersee

A man runs past a BP (British Petroleum) EV (Electric Vehicle) charge point in London

BERLIN (Reuters) - Car and truck makers from Volkswagen to Nissan and Ford have embraced the narrative that reducing carbon emissions in line with the Paris Agreement should be a key tenet of their business agenda.

Are they doing enough? Research shows their goals are still a far cry from what is needed, but the jury is out on whether automakers alone are responsible for the shortfall.

While some say carmakers should plan to make their fleets carbon-neutral whatever the circumstances, companies argue that their ability to transition to electric vehicles (EV) is dependent on conditions outside their direct control.

Consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group said in a report released last week that at least 90% of new passenger vehicles and 70% of trucks must be electric by 2030 in order to meet climate targets, echoing environmental groups like Greenpeace.

But among major auto brands, very few - among them Geely's Volvo and VW's Bentley - have set goals for 100% EV production by then, with most arguing that they cannot take full accountability for a transition to electric vehicles without the market conditions to remain profitable in the process.

German luxury carmaker Daimler, for example, has refrained from stating it will produce only electric vehicles by 2030 no matter what - instead it has emphasised it will be "ready to go all electric ... where market conditions allow."

"We will lead from the front. Is it realistic to turn 100% of the market by 2030? It would be a stretch," Daimler's CEO Ola Kaellenius told Reuters in an interview, adding he hoped to see countries and economic regions do their bit at the COP26 summit by synchronising their plans for electric vehicle rollouts.

Charging infrastructure is just one of many challenges standing between the auto industry, estimated by the International Energy Agency to be responsible for around 18% of all carbon emissions worldwide, and climate neutrality.

Others include getting rid of dirty fossil-fuel powered cars still on the roads, reducing emissions in battery production, and building storage systems for renewable energy to ensure the electricity used to charge electric cars is from renewable sources.

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE?

Under carbon reduction policies already agreed by governments and automakers, global CO2 emissions from vehicles are still set to rise over time, research by the International Council on Clean Transportation shows.

If policies under discussion are implemented, the growth trajectory stabilises but still does not fall, it said, highlighting growing demand for cars, buses and trucks in coming years due to population growth and increased economic activity in emerging markets.

While one in five vehicles sold in Europe last quarter were electrified, the share is much lower in the United States at around 2%. EVs are an even tinier slice of sales in less rich markets such as Latin America or Southeast Asia.

Automakers and governments must also find answers for labour unions who are worried that a rapid shift to EVs will put thousands of workers out of their jobs.

This includes German unions demanding clarity from Stellantis on its plans for Opel plants, and U.S. President Joe Biden facing pressure from the U.S. United Auto Workers' union to provide more state support during the EV transition.

"There are a lot of factors involved ... we try to project a realistic picture," a spokesperson for Germany's BMW said. "But if certain conditions change fundamentally, we will of course have to re-examine our climate goals."

CARBON EMITTER

The majority of a vehicle's emissions do not come from the manufacturing process, but from the fuel used to power it - be it electricity, petrol, or diesel.

In the case of electric vehicles, the process of making batteries is also a significant carbon emitter, with a Volkswagen ID.3 for example generating nearly twice the emissions of a diesel equivalent in the production phase, according to company calculations.

While carmakers are increasingly investing in producing batteries in a more environmentally friendly way, controlling the source of energy flowing into electric cars is much harder.

Automakers like VW and Tesla are growing their offering of residential storage systems for clients to power vehicles through mechanisms like solar panels on their roofs – but the question of who is responsible for sourcing and distributing energy in public spaces is more contentious.

Even if automakers invest in public charging stations, ongoing problems with storage of renewable energy could force energy providers to rely on coal and natural gas to meet short-term demand, as recent volatility in energy markets has shown.

Lobby groups such as the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association and the U.S.-based Alliance for Automotive Innovation have urged states to invest in renewable-based charging infrastructure, from public-private investments to fully state-funded projects.

But some environmental groups argue that relying on taxpayer funds is unfair as the networks would disproportionately benefit car companies and owners, as opposed to spending on public transport.

Another lingering problem is the diesel and gas cars still driving on roads beyond 2030, which will bump up the industry's emissions well beyond the limit necessary to stay within the Paris Agreements' bounds, researchers have said.

Even if half of all new cars sold in 2035 were zero emission – which climate goals set by BMW, General Motors and Nissan would account for – some 70% of vehicles on roads would still be burning fossil fuels, Boston Consulting has said.

"Even economies in the vanguard of the climate-change fight are therefore likely to fall short of decarbonisation targets."

(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee; Additional reporting by Joe White in Detroit and Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt; Editing by David Holmes)

GREEN CAPITALI$M

BlackRock creates biggest climate exchange-traded fund range

By Simon Jessop

© Reuters/CARLO ALLEGRI The BlackRock logo is pictured in New York City

LONDON (Reuters) - Asset manager BlackRock said on Tuesday it had created the largest range of climate-aligned exchange-traded equity funds (EFT) after agreeing to tighter rules to govern six existing funds with $9 billion in assets.

Following consultations with BlackRock, the MSCI indexes that underpin BlackRock's iShares ESG Enhanced UCITS ETF range will follow the European Union's Climate Transition Benchmark, established to help cap global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7°Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial norms.

The CTB requires a 30% reduction in carbon intensity - a measure of emissions to revenue - against the MSCI benchmark and a 7% year-on-year decarbonisation of the benchmark itself.

For the first time, Scope 3 emissions that cover the emissions produced by the use of a company's products, and not just those produced by the company itself, will be included.

In addition to the CTB, BlackRock said tougher environmental filters would be applied when deciding what to include in the ETFs. It will widen an oil sands exclusion to include a broader array of unconventional oil and gas activities.

The funds will exclude any company making 5% or more of its revenues from oil sands, shale gas, shale oil, coal-seam gas, coal-bed methane and Arctic onshore/offshore reserves.

An "environmental harm" screen will also be applied from November 2022 to companies that have faced severe or very severe controversies relating to environmental issues, such as land use and biodiversity, toxic spills and water management, it said.

Unlike BlackRock's iShares MSCI World Paris-Aligned Climate UCITS ETF fund range, which drills down into each constituent stock to make sure it's aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate, the Enhanced funds will seek to meet the same goal at the portfolio level.

As a result, the number of stocks eligible for inclusion in each fund is more than double that of the Paris-Aligned funds, at 1,385 compared with 685.

This allows the funds to have a much closer risk-return profile to the parent index and potentially be more attractive to wealth managers keen to invest more sustainably but worried about diverging from the returns of the parent.

Gitxaala First Nation in B.C. goes to court over automatic mineral rights

VANCOUVER — A B.C. First Nation is challenging in court an online registry the province uses to automatically grant mineral rights on its territory.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The Gitxaala have filed a petition to the B.C. Supreme Court seeking a judicial review, arguing that the process doesn't require the government to consult with the First Nation and simply grants the claim.

“The fact that B.C. still grants mineral claims with total disregard for Indigenous nations like Gitxaała is a damaging relic of colonialism that has no place in the present day,” hereditary Chief Matthew Hill said in a news release. “We will not allow this to continue in Gitxaała territory and that is why we’ve launched our case.”

The petition, which was filed with the court on Monday, asserts that the government didn't fulfil its duty by granting claims without consulting the nation. It is asking the courts to quash seven mineral claims on Banks Island, south of Prince Rupert, and for the court to suspend claim staking in Gitxaała territory.

"For too long, anyone with a computer and $34 has been able to acquire rights to minerals on the traditional territory of Gitxaala nation," Gitxaala Chief Coun. Linda Innes said during a news conference Tuesday. "This can be done legally with no requirement for consultation or consent from Gitxaala and it is a complete disregard of our own laws and governance."

She argued the process is a violation of the government's constitutional requirements to consult with the First Nation and the United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the province has committed to implement. The UN declaration requires governments to obtain free, prior and informed consent before taking actions that affect Indigenous Peoples and territories.

"Gitxaala has never surrendered or ceded aboriginal title or other rights respecting Banks Island," the court document says. "On the basis that the provincial Crown granted the claims without having fulfilled the duty to consult, the grant of each of the claims must be quashed or set aside."

The petition includes allegations that have not been tested in court.

The provincial government has not filed a response to the petition with the court.

The Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources said it could not comment on matters before the court but that it will continue to work with First Nations on initiatives that "advance their interests with respect to reforming the mineral tenure system, including modernized land use planning and other initiatives intended to safeguard sensitive ecological and cultural values."

Bruce Ralston, the minister of energy, mines and petroleum resources, told a separate news conference Tuesday that the department has been in touch with representatives from Gitxaala and is "aware of their concerns."

"Generally what we have found in mining is that our relations with Indigenous communities are very good, and there are a number of mining companies which have impact benefit agreements with Indigenous First Nations to share some of the wealth that is created when the mining companies are making investments and create a new mine here in British Columbia," Ralston said.

In an interview, Gitxaala lawyers Lisa Fong and Gavin Smith said benefit-sharing agreements have not applied to Gitxaala. They said the nation has not been contacted in relation to the lawsuit yet.

"Half of litigation is targeted to the root of the problem, which is the granting of the mineral tenders in the first place. It's pretty hard to build a good relationship when you're giving away rights to the minerals without even telling the nation," Smith said.

The petition also names three individuals and one company as respondents, including prospector Johan Shearer, who said he hadn’t heard about the petition. None of them have filed responses with the court.

Shearer said the claims system operates in real time and if a prospector had to contact the First Nation to inform them they are staking a claim, it would cause a problem for the industry.

“If you find something, you need to have some kind of control of that discovery and if you have to advertise that with the First Nation, the hard work you’ve done to make that discovery goes out the window,” he said.

“I understand their point of view but it’s not how the industry works and if this were to happen, I’d imagine the mineral industry would dry up.”

The petition also claims the Mineral Grant Regime doesn't allow the First Nation to use or develop the land.

"We hope that by bringing this challenge forward, the government of British Columbia recognizes their own laws and practices are in opposition with their commitment and that they recognize the need to put an end to the granting of mineral rights without consultation or consent for all indigenous people," Innes said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2021.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press

What causes disease outbreaks?

Contaminated water has been the most common driver

Peer-Reviewed Publicatio

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA

Since 1974, contaminated water has been the most common driver of large-scale zoonotic infectious disease outbreaks, according to new research from the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases (CEID) at the University of Georgia. The next two greatest drivers are unusual weather patterns and changes in the abundance of disease vectors such as mosquitos and ticks.

Zoonotic diseases occur when pathogens are transmitted from animals to humans—prominent recent outbreaks include Ebola hemorrhagic fever and COVID-19. However, most zoonotic disease outbreaks involve fewer than 100 cases and are quickly brought under control. So what factors drive large-scale outbreaks?

In a study published in the Royal Society journal Philosophical Transactions B, researchers investigated over 4,400 zoonotic infectious disease outbreaks. They identified the 100 largest in terms of numbers of human cases, all of which infected thousands to hundreds of thousands of people. From the full list they also selected 200 outbreaks at random to serve as “case controls.” The majority of these control outbreaks included 43 or fewer cases. They then compared the characteristics of large-scale and control outbreaks, particularly how the primary causes of infection and disease spread varied between them.

Lead author Patrick Stephens, an associate research scientist with the Odum School of Ecology and CEID, said that this research is one of the first peer-reviewed studies to quantify the variation of infectious disease outbreak drivers across the globe.

“In the age of COVID-19, it is understandable that many people may not realize how many outbreaks of other infectious diseases are caused by complex, intertwined ecological and socioeconomic conditions,” he said. “We know that factors like exposure to wild mammals, habitat disruption, international trade and travel and contact with contaminated food and water are important considerations. Our research was designed to understand what proportion of outbreaks various drivers contributed to. To our knowledge, this study is the first to do so for a global sample of outbreaks of many diseases.”

Stephens worked with CEID researchers Nicole Gottdenker of the College of Veterinary Medicine and John Drake, Annakate Schatz and John Paul Schmidt of the Odum School to compile a list of contemporary zoonotic infectious diseases documented in peer reviewed scientific literature. They identified and scored 48 specific infectious disease drivers related to the large-scale and control outbreaks in ecological, environmental and socioeconomic categories.

Water contamination is a key driver of disease outbreaks

Both large-scale and control outbreaks were associated with water contamination, which was the most common driver of large outbreaks and the second most common driver of the smaller control outbreaks. Examples of these water-associated diseases include hepatitis E, typhoid and shigellosis (dysentery). The remaining drivers differed, however.

In addition to water contamination, large outbreaks were most often associated with unusual weather patterns, changes in the abundance of vectors—carriers of disease like mosquitos or ticks—and sewage management.

Large outbreaks were also much more likely to be caused by viral pathogens such as SARS coronavirus, influenza virus and Japanese encephalitis virus than were smaller outbreaks. The typical smaller outbreaks were associated with food contamination, local livestock production and human-animal contact. Finally, individual large outbreaks tended to be driven by a greater variety of factors than control outbreaks.

“There is still a lot of work to do to understand how large-scale infectious disease outbreaks can be avoided and controlled,” Stephens said. “Perhaps two-thirds of future infectious disease outbreaks are expected to be caused by zoonotic pathogens, and the number of these diseases is growing worldwide. Our research is an extremely important first step to better understand global variation in the drivers of outbreaks.”

This research was funded by the NSF (DEB 1316223, Research Coordination Network: Macroecology of Infectious Diseases, P.R.S.), NIH (R01Al156866) and a UGA presidential SEED grant. The study is part of a special issue of Philosophical Transactions B devoted to infectious disease macroecology, edited by Stephens, Shan Huang of the Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre and Maxwell Farrell of the University of Toronto. The issue includes papers by researchers from across the globe, covering topics such as spatial patterns of parasite diversity, changes in host-parasite associations over time, and likely sources of future zoonotic disease outbreaks.