Ex-con uses what he learned behind bars to launch consulting service for new inmates


Wed, August 3, 2022

Darin Edwards and Amy-Rae Goodman of St. Albert have started a consulting service for current and soon-to-be inmates.

During the 23 years he spent behind bars, Darin Edwards witnessed multiple murders and assaults.

When he learned about the prison consulting industry in the U.S., he saw an opportunity to use his unique insight to create a career while helping those entering the system to stay safe.

A consultant is often someone who has served a prison sentence and is hired to brief convicted individuals on what to expect when entering and exiting the correctional system.

Edwards and business partner Amy-Rae Goodman co-founded DeadEyes.NoLies Inc. seven months ago. The business is based in St. Albert, Alta., a small city located on Edmonton's northeast edge.

Submitted by Amy-Rae Goodman

The catalyst was in 2001 when Edwards, then aged 19, witnessed a prison riot at Drumheller Institution, 132 kilometres east of Calgary. That incident resulted in a friend being killed.

Of the violent incidents he saw during his time behind bars, Edwards noted: "It was just one thing that just cascaded down the line and ended up getting them killed."

Services offered

DeadEyes.NoLies offers a variety of services such as cleaning up their online image, learning to advocate for parole and reduced sentencing, and following their correctional plan.

For individuals returning to the community, the business helps connect them to community services, housing and job planning.

The business charges for its services on a case-by-case basis, which is based on services provided and an individual's ability to pay. There is paralegal on staff who can provide additional legal assistance.

While conducting research before starting DeadEyes.NoLies, Edwards only came across one other Canadian prison consulting business: Toronto's Canadian Prison Consulting Inc., which was founded in 2010 by Lee Steven Chapelle.

Chapelle, who spent more about 20 years bouncing in and out of institutions in Quebec and Ontario, said the idea came to him in 2007 when he was serving as chair of an inmate committee.

Chris Young/The Canadian Press

Chapelle said he often interacts with people who are entering the system for the first time.

"They wish they had that knowledge prior to when they were going through court," he said.

"There was a lot of buyer's regret ... and it really did indicate to me that there was a void between defence counsel, whose job is the best result in a courtroom ... and the correctional system."

In the past 12 years, Chapelle has developed connections within the legal world to bridge these gaps by offering consulting services that are focused on accountability.

He said he handles an average of 25 clients at any given time. Clients pay about $300 for his services.

"You need to understand and attain insight into what led you to that point, in order to move forward not only to do your time, but to get over and not go back."

Booming business in the U.S.

The United States, which consistently ranks as having the highest incarceration rate in the world, has a well-established prison consulting industry.

Consultants have been used by the likes of Harvey Weinstein, Martha Stewart and even some individuals facing charges related to the Capitol riot in 2021.

The U.S. spends more than $80 billion each year to keep roughly 2.3 million people behind bars, according to a 2018 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

In comparison, Statistics Canada reported that 37,854 adult offenders were incarcerated in federal and provincial correctional institutions in 2018/2019.

whitecollaradvice.com

Justin Paperny is co-founder of White Collar Advice, which is a U.S. crisis management and federal prison consulting firm.

Paperny, who served a 18-month sentence in federal prison when he was sentence in 2008, co-founded the firm formally in 2009 with his business partner Michael Santos, who had been in the prison system for 26 years.

"The United States continues to send a lot of people to prison, we're the world leader and white collar crime investigations have grown over the years," he said.

"People are finding more ways to prepare and educate themselves, so there's a market for it [consulting]."

System of violence

Molly Swain is a member of Free Lands Free Peoples, an Indigenous-led anti-colonial penal abolition group. The Edmonton-based group provides support for prisoners while advocating for the abolition of police and the penal system.

She said the nature of prison consulting highlights the violence that is prevalent in a broken system.

"This is a service that is definitely filling a void." Swain said about DeadEyes.NoLies Inc.

"We know the Prairies have incredibly high rates of incarceration, particularly of Indigenous people, but of marginalized people generally," Swain said.

Swain is concerned that prison counselling is only provided by private businesses, making it out of reach for people who cannot afford it.

"It does create a scenario in which it renders it more palatable for the violence of prison to be unaddressed on a systemic level."

Ukrainian medical workers frustrated by 'silence' on Nova Scotia licences

Thu, August 4, 2022 at 3:00 a.m.·4 min read

Oksana Hatlan, a Ukrainian nurse, sits with her nine-year-old daughter in Truro, N.S. (Anam Khan/CBC - image credit)

Some Ukrainian medical workers who fled the war for Nova Scotia say they are frustrated by how hard it is to get approval to work in their new homeland.

Nova Scotia called for Ukrainian medical workers through the Support for Ukraine program, which says, "Are you a Ukrainian health care worker looking to practice in Nova Scotia? There may be a great career already waiting for you!"

The program helps Nova Scotia Health hire nurse practitioners, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses.

Ukrainian refugees were also drawn by the Physician Stream, a provincial program seeking immigrant physicians to fill jobs Canadians and permanent residents have been unable to.

But many Ukrainian refugees say these programs aren't working.

"For now, it's only silence," said Oksana Hatlan, who nursed in an intensive care unit in Ukraine for 14 years. She and her nine-year-old daughter were drawn to Nova Scotia by the Support for Ukraine program. Her husband is still in Ukraine.

"They announced that two months ago and since then, silence. So I'm not sure if it works."

Ukrainians are facing numerous challenges navigating the medical licensing process.

That has meant weeks of waiting for a response from officials, from the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Nova Scotia, and for the medical diagnostic test needed for immigration so they can begin applying for jobs. The cost of medical licence fees adds to their list of worries.

Paul Poirier/CBC

Hatlan moved out of her host family's residence within two weeks of her arrival in Truro, N.S. In that time, she found a job in the local hospital as a care team staff member.

She said community members and neighbours have bent over backward to ensure she settles in well. However, the province isn't making use of the medical workers it has at its disposal, she said.

Hatlan said she cannot consider studying full-time to upgrade her qualifications because she needs to work to make ends meet.

"It is very important for health-care workers not to be left out of our profession. We must improve knowledge, skills, learn English and gain new experience," said Hatlan.

Alison Graham, a councillor in Truro, hosted Hatlan and her daughter. She said after she learned she was a nurse, it motivated the entire community to help out, recognizing that an investment in a nurse is an investment in the community.

"We've done our part. Now it's time for the province to step in and do their part," said Graham.

Health minister wants to streamline process

Over a month ago, Health Minister Michelle Thompson said Nova Scotia is looking to recruit Ukrainians to fill various health-care roles. She acknowledged the process wouldn't be easy because of the credentialing process.

On Tuesday, Thompson told CBC News that folks can reach back out to the Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment if they haven't heard back from them.

She said the hiring process is cumbersome and some of the common issues are unequal credentials and a lack of English skills.

"We do want to streamline the process upholding public safety as the colleges are designed to do, but also, moving people into meaningful professions," said Thompson.

Thompson said things could be done differently around credentialing to retain health-care workers in the Atlantic provinces, but how that is done remains to be seen.

Recently, Newfoundland and Labrador's health minister met with Ukrainian refugee doctors following similar reports. The province is designating someone to help Ukrainians navigate the process and will also pay the licensing fees.

'What should they do?'

CBC

Daria Vinnytska landed in Nova Scotia from Ukraine nearly two months ago.

She practised as a diagnostic radiologist for over 15 years in a Ukrainian hospital, but her postgraduate training was 20 per cent of what is required in Canada.

She could go through nearly five years of postgraduate training, or possibly work as a clinical assistant. Neither is appealing nor makes sense to her.

Vinnytska chose Nova Scotia because of the Physician Stream.

"The system and all this official organization, they are working very slow and that is the problem," said Vinnytska. "Any immigrant waiting in Canada, what should they do?"

The Office of Healthcare Professionals Recruitment said it is working on a streamlined approach that helps with recruitment.

Dr. Gus Grant, CEO of the college of physicians and surgeons, told CBC News that the Nova Scotia Health Authority referred 69 medical professionals trained in Ukraine. Most of them are currently not in the province.

The college issues licences to allow physicians to practise medicine in the province. Grant said the college found 26 applicants were clearly ineligible for licensure of any form, and 10 were possibly eligible for a clinical assistant licence.

"There is no bespoke approach for Ukrainian physicians in particular," said Grant.

Canada has a strict licensing procedure for physicians that must be met, said Grant, but that is not to say international medical graduates with experience cannot help in some way.

'Rename it Doug Ford Urgent Don't Care': Ontario medical workers, residents furious as healthcare crisis spreads

Elisabetta Bianchini

Thu, August 4, 2022 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is maintaining that the province's healthcare system is meeting the needs of people in the province, as emergency and intensive care units in hospitals have been forced to shut down or reduce operations.

"There's a log-jam but 90 per cent of the patients are getting taken care of when they're going into the hospital," Ford said at a press conference on Wednesday, specifying that surgeries are happening at about 90 per cent of pre-pandemic level.

"Nine out of 10 people going into emergency departments are being taken care of."

The premier added that for emergency departments specifically, patients are being "taken care of" within eight hours.

The Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA) indicated that about 25 hospitals in Ontario were forced to reduce operations over the long weekend due to staff shortages.

University Health Network's Toronto General Hospital is under a "critical care bed alert" in its Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and Medical Surgical Intensive Care Unit, where they are at total bed capacity or do not have the human resources necessary to keep all the physical critical care beds open safely.

Ford continues to call for increased funding from the federal government, while a report from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO), released in April, found that the province's spending on health care, per person, was the lowest in Canada.

The premier also stressed on Wednesday that the staffing shortages in hospitals, particularly among nurses, is not specific to Ontario.

This isn't unique to Ontario. This is happening across the country, it's across the world, we need more people involved in health care.Ontario Premier Doug Ford

"We're in need of more nurses, as many as we can get."

People across Ontario, including health experts and professionals, have taken to social media to call on Ford's government to address the hospital staffing crisis.

 

NOVA SCOTIA

MLA calls for more information about efforts to address emergency department closures

Thu, August 4, 2022 

Annapolis MLA Carman Kerr wants officials from the Health Department and Nova Scotia Health to visit his area to provide an update on efforts to address chronic emergency department closures. (Robert Short/CBC - image credit)

Carman Kerr understands emergency department closures are a reality across Nova Scotia and across the country as the health-care system copes with worker shortages and burnout.

But the MLA for Annapolis is concerned about the lack of information for people in his area about what's in the works to address chronic closures in Annapolis County.

"We're pushing for more information," the Liberal MLA said in a phone interview Thursday.

"We, the public, would like to know what's going on, what's the plan, what's been tried, what has failed, where are we going — those kinds of questions."

The collaborative emergency centre at the Annapolis Community Health Centre in Annapolis Royal is closed 24/7, while the emergency department at Middleton's Soldiers Memorial Hospital is only open each day from 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Michael Gorman/CBC

That leaves people in the area requiring urgent care to drive to the emergency department in Digby — a site that deals with its own closures at times — or Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville.

Kerr wants officials with the Health Department and Nova Scotia Health to come to the area for public information sessions to help people understand what's happening and what are realistic expectations.

"I think people can handle a lot," he said. "We've been through a lot as Nova Scotians and we're no different down here. So I think people deserve the courtesy for the decision makers to be straight.

"The fact that there's no communication is the problem. It just builds the anxiety and the stress."

Like most emergency departments experiencing closures, Kerr said the problem in his area often has to do with the availability of doctors and or nurses.

In Annapolis Royal, there are also problems with the availability of X-ray services and reliable ambulance service, he said.

Plan in the works for Annapolis Royal

One option could be to bolster services at the hospital in Digby to ensure more consistency there, but Kerr said that's the kind of thing officials should be discussing with the public.

On Thursday, it was announced the emergency department at Digby General would be closed overnight on Saturday and Sunday, as well as several times next week.

A spokesperson for the health authority said in a statement that officials recognize the difficulty the uncertainty creates for people in Annapolis County, but plans are in the works to provide "the highest level of service we can for the community" in the fall.

"Nova Scotia Health is working on an interim walk-in service for the site a couple of days per week," John Gillis said in the statement.

"Details are coming together and we will share information with the community as soon as possible. We have a planning table established to begin to explore future models of care for the Annapolis Community Health Centre."

Gillis said officials with the health authority have had multiple meetings since the spring with community leaders, community agencies, pharmacists and systems partners. In the interim, he said nurses have been reassigned to support the Digby emergency department being opened. More resources have also been invested in the primary care clinic in Middleton.

Along with adds in community papers and flyers to inform the public where they can get care, Gillis said health authority officials expect to hold community stakeholder sessions in the fall and they've offered to attend a municipal council meeting.

Closures are a common problem

The problems in Annapolis County are hardly unique.

This week alone there are emergency department and after-hours clinic closures in Shelburne, Liverpool, Wolfville, Tatamagouche, Pugwash, Glace Bay, New Waterford, Baddeck, Port Hawkesbury, Canso, Neils Harbour, Middle Musquodoboit, Musquodoboit Harbour and Sheet Harbour.

Although some closures are scheduled, many of them are not. And while pressures on the system have been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, emergency department closures have been a chronic problem in Nova Scotia for years.

More recently, reports are increasing of people leaving emergency departments without being seen because of the long waits they are experiencing.

Health Minister Michelle Thompson said in December that she's looking to maximize available resources to provide the best possible service to people across the province.

The reality is some emergency departments are much busier than others. The government introduced urgent treatment centres in North Sydney and Parrsboro as a way to help those communities, a model that could be expanded elsewhere.

Thompson said at the time that it is important for communities to be informed and involved with what's happening in their respective areas as steps are taken to try to improve the system.

UCP Alberta ends Edmonton hospital hallway medicine directive to combat patient surge


Thu, August 4, 2022



EDMONTON — Alberta Health Services says it has ended the emergency directive calling for some patients in Edmonton hospitals to be treated in hallways.

The order was enacted earlier in the week to reduce pressure on emergency departments while AHS worked to place some patients in other hospitals or care facilities.

AHS says that work is now done, and that the surge came as it was dealing with high demand following a long weekend, staffing shortages and higher numbers of patients due to COVID-19.

It notes pressures on the health system are being seen across Canada and around the world.

The Opposition NDP says that while this is true, Alberta’s government made a chaotic staffing situation worse by ripping up the master contract with doctors and trying to cut nurses’ pay.

NDP critic Sarah Hoffman says she worries what this means for the fall, when respiratory illnesses are more prevalent and the patient load in hospitals tends to increase.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2022.

The Canadian Press

Ontario healthcare is 'an absolute disaster': Things are only going to get worse for hospital staffing, medical experts say

Elianna Lev

Thu, August 4, 2022

Ontario’s medical system is currently in crisis, according to several medical professionals, which in turn is impacting the province in many aspects.

According to the Ontario Nurses' Association (ONA), about 25 hospitals across the province had to scale back services over the August long weekend as a direct result of staffing shortages. Despite being the country’s most respected professions, nursing and doctor job positions across the province and Canada are desperately understaffed. One million people in Ontario (and 5 million in Canada) don’t have a family doctor. Meanwhile, paramedics say their response time is slowing as a result of offload delays. Medical staff across the board are experiencing exhaustion, overwhelmed by a workload directly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Rose Zacharias, president of the Ontario Medical Association, describes the healthcare system in the province in an “extreme crisis state,” something she says isn’t surprising.

We had gaps in the healthcare system before the pandemic, so dealing with the crisis of COVID as we have for the last two-and-a-half years has put us into the situation we’re in now with doctor shortages and ER department closures.

Dr. Rose Zacharias, President of Ontario Medical Association

Mike Sanderson, chief of the Hamilton Paramedic Service and the treasurer of the Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs, says paramedics have had the same issues with COVID-19 and self isolation as the rest of the community, which has impacted their availability for staffing. He says another challenge they’re currently facing is the increase of call volumes, which continue to go up, anywhere from five to 20 per cent, compared to pre-pandemic levels.

“That creates additional workload and stress, along with other challenges,” he says.

Hospital offload delays in services in both large and small rural communities are creating significant challenges that are leading to crowded hospitals, where paramedics have to keep patients in hallways for long periods of time until the hospitals are able to accept them.

Recruitment is also proving to be challenging, as the pandemic has impacted class sizes and the number of people coming out of school.

“Many services are in the process of hiring and trying to compete for the same employees,” he says.

Sanderson says he doesn’t expect much to change in the fall, and anticipates another few years until things get back to pre-pandemic “normalcy”.

“I think it’s going to be a challenging fall, I wouldn’t paint a rosy picture,” he says. “But hopefully we’ll be able to start to recover…it’s really going to take a concerted effort.”

Ontario healthcare is 'an absolute disaster'

Cathryn Hoy, president of the ONA, calls the current state of healthcare in the province “an absolute disaster.” When it comes to nurses, she says the provincial government needs to be doing more to retain them, namely paying them more.

While the government has offered $5000 of retention funds to nurses who take a job in Ontario, Hoy says the move doesn’t make sense.

“There’s 30,000 jobs out there, why do you have to give someone a bonus to take a job,” she asks. “That’s a waste of healthcare dollars. The (nurses) who’ve been through the thick and thin of COVID aren’t getting any of those dollars.”

She also wants to see the province repel Bill 124, pre-pandemic legislation that is meant to limit compensation for publicly funded organizations. She says more nurses are compelled to take work through agencies, rather than work for healthcare employers like hospitals, because they’ll get paid more, regardless of experience or years working.

“If you pay RNs, they’ll come back,” she says. “They want to live in their communities, they want to live close to home.”

It's not just medical professionals who are expressing their concern. Many are taking to social media to address the health care situation in Ontario.

Zacharias with the Ontario Medical Association says they’ve written a “prescription” for the Ontario government on potential solutions. Some key priorities include catching up with backlogs, investments in mental health and addiction services and an investment in a public health strategy. 

The entirety of the recommendations can be seen at Betterhealthcare.ca

 

Unions representing thousands of Ontario healthcare workers have unveiled a five-point plan that they claim will help fix the current staffing crisis at hospitals across the province.

 

Unions representing 70,000 Ontario hospital workers demand action amid staff shortages

Jul 21, 2022

CBC News

Canadian Medical Association President Dr. Katharine Smart discusses the state of the country's health-care system and the political will to seek solutions to address what she calls a 'crisis.'

  

A Collapse of Ontario's Health Care System? | The Agenda

Jun 24, 2022

The Agenda with Steve Paikin

Despite a two-year pandemic and the strain it put on Ontario hospitals, medical staff are reporting that what is happening in emergency wards throughout the country is worse now than at the height of the various COVID-19 outbreaks. We ask, is Ontario's health-care system on the verge of collapse

Lebanese woman sees son for first time since blast two years ago

Maya Gebeily and Layla Bassam
Thu, August 4, 2022 

Nassma Cheaito, kisses the hand of her sister, Liliane who is mostly paralyzed from August 2020 port as she lies on hospital bed at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) in Beirut


By Maya Gebeily and Layla Bassam

(Reuters) - Lebanese mother Liliane Cheaito, stuck in the hospital since the Beirut blast two years ago, saw her son for the first time on Thursday following a court ruling in a protracted family dispute with her husband.

Cheaito has not left the American University of Beirut's Medical Center since August 4, 2020, when she was brought in bruised and bleeding after the enormous explosion at Beirut's port, which was caused by improperly stored chemicals.

She sustained severe damage to her frontal brain cortex that left her mostly paralyzed and unable to speak.

Two of her four sisters told Reuters that her husband, Hassan Ali Hodroj, had barred her from seeing their son Ali, now two years old, during her stay in the hospital. Liliane's family in 2020 filed a complaint with Shi'ite religious authorities seeking to compel Hodroj to allow the child to visit his injured mother.

Iqbal Cheaieb, a lawyer for Hodroj, said the father had kept Ali from the hospital because he was "scared" to let the boy see his mother in such a state. The couple remain married.

On Thursday, Ali visited Liliane at the hospital for the first time following an order by a Shi'ite court in Lebanon, where personal affairs including custody of children are determined by tribunals pertaining to the individual's sect.

"The court issued a final decision on Wednesday mandating weekly visits and our father and lawyer met with Mufti Ahmed Qabalan this morning," said Nawal Cheaito, Liliane's sister.

Qabalan is the top Shi'ite cleric in Lebanon.

A photo shared by the family showed Liliane in her hospital bed, extending her left hand to a curly-haired boy in a black shirt that the family identified as two-year-old Ali.

"She didn't take her eyes off of him for one second," Nawal told Reuters, saying she hoped the visits would boost Liliane's morale and speed up her recovery.

In July, Liliane uttered her first word in nearly two years – "mama" – understood by her siblings to be a cry for Ali.

Her sisters had earlier told Reuters that Liliane represented the "agony" of Lebanon's multiple crises: the devastating blast and its aftermath for grieving families, and the daily struggle of many citizens to survive as the country's economy has crumbled.

(Reporting by Maya Gebeily and Layla Bassam; editing by Marla Dickerson)

Ottawa to challenge lower but 'baseless' U.S. duties on softwood lumber, says Ng

Thu, August 4, 2022 



WASHINGTON — Lower than expected U.S. penalties on softwood lumber exports from Canada are doing little to temper the dismay of the federal government in Ottawa.

International Trade Minister Mary Ng is calling the latest duties "baseless," "unwarranted" and "unfair."

The key final rate of 8.59 per cent is significantly lower than the current rate of 17.91 per cent, as well as the 11.64 per cent proposed in a preliminary decision issued earlier this year.

But Ng says the duties are unjustified no matter the level, and will cause undue hardship to both Canada's forestry industry and consumers in the U.S.

She says Ottawa will challenge the latest finding under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement's dispute resolution system.

Ng is nonetheless leaving the door open to a resolution to the years-long dispute, which some U.S. lawmakers and observers have been calling for to help ease record levels of inflation south of the border.

"Canada has always been willing to work with the United States to explore ideas that could allow for a return to predictable cross-border trade in softwood lumber," Ng said in a statement.

"We remain confident that a negotiated solution to this long-standing trade issue is in the best interests of both our countries, and we welcome an open dialogue with the Unites States to this end."

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has also said the U.S. is willing to talk — on one condition.

Tai wants Canada to address the provincial stumpage fee regime that American producers have long complained gives producers north of the border an unfair advantage — the core issue in a dispute that has persisted for decades.

Federal officials in Ottawa say Canada would never agree to such a fundamental change to the way a key Crown resource is managed before the two sides have even sat down.

"These duties have caused unjustified harm to the Canadian industry and its workers," Ng said.

"They also amount to a tax on U.S. consumers, exacerbating housing unaffordability at a time of increased supply challenges and inflationary pressures."

Lumber-producing provinces set so-called stumpage fees for timber harvested from Crown land — a system that U.S. producers, forced to pay market rates, say amounts to an unfair subsidy.

Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey and South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune are among those who have been urging the Biden administration to provide further tariff relief on imports from Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 4, 2022.

Canada to Challenge US Lumber Duties Using Regional Trade Pact

Ana Monteiro and Jen Skerritt
Thu, August 4, 2022


(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s government said it will challenge US duties on softwood lumber, saying the tariffs have caused “unjustified harm” to the industry and workers.

“Canada is disappointed that the United States continues to impose unwarranted and unfair duties,” International Trade Minister Mary Ng said in a statement Thursday. “While the duty rates will decrease from the current levels for the majority of exporters, the only truly fair outcome would be for the United States to cease applying baseless duties.”

Ottawa will request dispute settlement through the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement after the Commerce Department ruled it will keep in place levies on some imports, according to the statement.

The lumber-tariff challenge would be the latest to use a dispute-resolution mechanism in the USMCA agreement between the three nations, previously known as Nafta. Canada and the US have lodged a complaint over Mexico’s nationalist energy policy, while all three are engaged in a spat over car manufacturing.

The Trump administration imposed tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber in 2017, saying the industry is unfairly subsidized. The US raised rates on imports in 2021 even as an unprecedented rally lifted prices to record highs during a pandemic-fueled homebuilding and renovation boom.

Ng added that the tariffs “also amount to a tax on US consumers, exacerbating housing unaffordability at a time of increased supply challenges and inflationary pressures. US builders get more than a quarter of their lumber from Canada, the world’s largest softwood-lumber exporter.

The US Commerce Department on Thursday ruled that the new, combined “all others rate” that will apply to some Canadian softwood-lumber exports will drop to 8.59% from 17.91%.

U.S. Lumber Coalition Supports Commerce Department Continued Enforcement of Trade Laws and Continued Growth of American Made Lumber to Build American Homes

Thu, August 4, 2022 

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Commerce today issued its final determination in the third annual review of softwood lumber imports from Canada. The total duty rate of 8.59% confirms yet again that Canadian lumber imports are unfairly traded into the U.S. market.

"The trade laws duties announced today by the Commerce Department will help offset Canada's unfair trade practices," said Andrew Miller, Chairman of the U.S. Lumber Coalition and CEO of Stimson Lumber. "The benefit of the trade cases against Canada are clear," added Miller. "Trade law enforcement boosts American manufacturing and results in more U.S. lumber being produced by U.S. workers to build U.S. homes."

U.S. sawmills have invested heavily to expand capacity since the trade cases were filed in 2016. The domestic industry has produced an additional 15 billion board feet of lumber through 2021, averaging 3 billion a year of additional output. This is enough lumber to build over 1 million single-family homes.

The U.S. Lumber Coalition supports the continued enforcement of the U.S. trade laws to strengthen domestic supply chains by allowing American companies to invest and increase the overall supply of made-in-America lumber and will continue to aggressively pursue the enforcement of the trade laws.

The U.S. industry remains open to a new U.S.–Canada softwood lumber trade agreement if and when Canada can demonstrate that it is serious about negotiations for an agreement that addresses Canada's unfair trade practices which are harming U.S. producers, workers, and timberland holders. Until then, the U.S. Lumber Coalition fully supports the continued strong enforcement of the U.S. trade laws to address Canada's unfair softwood lumber trade practices.

About the U.S. Lumber Coalition

The U.S. Lumber Coalition is an alliance of large and small softwood lumber producers from around the country, joined by their employees, and woodland owners, working to address Canada's unfair lumber trade practices. Our goal is to serve as the voice of the American lumber community, and effectively address Canada's unfair softwood lumber trade practices, including its gross underpricing of timber. For more information, please visit the Coalition's website at www.uslumbercoalition.org.

ANTI-VAXXERS
Shelburne protesters continue to rally against vaccine mandates

Thu, August 4, 2022 

Shelburne truck driver Jeremy Glass believes what he calls medical coercion should have no place in Canada.

Put simply, he said people should be given a choice whether to get an increasing number of vaccinations against COVID-19.

Glass was part of a July 30 protest in front of Shelburne’s town hall. It was just the latest of a series of demonstrations.

Gaggles of people with Canadian flags and slogan-scribbled signs gathered on either side of the town’s main thoroughfare. Music blared from speakers and was counterpointed by shouts of “Freedom” bellowed at passing motorists.

Barbecues set up nearby filled the air with aromas of summer fare that was carried on the breeze.

Glass, one of the protest organizers, said he was among the truckers in the so-called Freedom Convoy that besieged Ottawa last winter.

“I let them take my rights,” he said. “I stayed until they arrested me. They took me outside of town in the paddy wagon with a bunch of other people and dropped us off like dirty raccoons.”

He said he didn’t face criminal charges for taking part in the civil unrest.

“I decided when I came back that I was going to stand out here every Saturday,” said Glass.

That was 14 rallies ago, and it started with a handful of family and friends he talked into joining him. People he’d met and spoke with at past protests have joined the throng.

“I just keeps getting bigger,” Glass said.

He acknowledged that many of the protesters have been vaccinated. Their main gripe is not having a choice about being vaccinated against the coronavirus. Further, they have a problem with employment in some professions being contingent upon vaccination status.

And he maintains pharmaceutical companies and governments are withholding information from the masses. Glass cited strokes, Bell Palsy, and neurological ailments as being examples of what he calls vaccination injuries.

“Everybody is going to want to draw their line in the sand sometime,” he said. “Maybe you have your three or your four boosters. Maybe you’re going to draw your line at six (boosters).”

According to Glass, as many as 840,000 Canadians have lost their jobs because of vaccination mandates.

“There’s millions of Canadians that got the shot (while) not wanting to,” he said. “It is medical coercion and it isn’t informed consent. People have a right to know the side effects.”

-30-

James Matthews, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Orangeville Citizen

P.E.I. asking for feedback from non-unionized long-term care workers

Thu, August 4, 2022 

Gord McNeilly, chair of the standing committee on health and social development, says it's time people working in long-term care have their voices heard. (Laura Meader/CBC - image credit)

P.E.I.'s standing committee on health and social development is looking for feedback from non-unionized employees at both public and private long-term care homes.

The committee said it wants to hear what they have to say about what's working — and what's not working — in long-term care on the Island.

It has already heard from the nurses' union and other union representatives.

Gord McNeilly, chair of the standing committee, said all feedback will be anonymous.

"One of the major concerns with all members of the standing committee was long-term care, and how we're moving forward with long-term care, how we dealt with it during the pandemic and where are our shortfalls and we decided to look at long-term care both public and private and make sure that people working in long-term care had a voice and make sure that their input was recognized by the standing committee as we look at a report toward the legislative assembly."

As reported in June, there is also a COVID-19 external panel of experts and community leaders that has been tasked with studying the performance of Prince Edward Island's public and private long-term care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That panel will engage with diverse stakeholders including residents, families and caregivers, long-term care staff, health professionals, unions and geriatricians from across the province to gain a deeper understanding of the widespread impacts of COVID-19 on the long-term care sector.

GagliardiPhotogra/Shutterstock

Any non-unionized long-term care workers interested in offering feedback to the standing committee on health and social development can find information on the legislative assembly's website.

Submissions can be made until Sept. 9.