Plant-based? Compostable? What you need to know about bioplastics

CBC March 5, 2020

Plastics are an integral part of our lives, but they also pose some big environmental problems.

They generate a lot of waste, most of which isn't recycled. A recent study from Environment and Climate Change Canada found that even in our country, only nine per cent of plastics are recycled — the rest is either incinerated, landfilled or ends up in the environment, where it can harm wildlife such as whales, turtles or seabirds. Those are some of the reasons the federal government plans to ban many single-use plastics by 2021.

But the plastic problem is global. As of 2015, humankind had produced 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic, one study estimated, of which 70 per cent had already become waste.

Plastic production and its disposal by incineration also generates greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. A 2019 study from the Center for International Environmental Law estimates that if plastics production grows at its current rate, emissions from plastics could reach 1.2 gigatonnes per year by 2030, equivalent to the emissions of 295 new 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants.

"Bioplastics" aim to curb both those environmental impacts.

They're one of the solutions touted by Canadian supermarkets who say they've taken steps to reduce the massive amounts of plastic waste they generate, after a CBC Marketplace report found they've been slow to act. Marketplace will share their update on plastic waste in supermarkets Friday.

In the meantime, here's what you need to know about bioplastics.

'Bioplastic' can mean 3 different things.

Plastics are moldable materials that are typically made from long chains of smaller molecules joined together, which is why their names often start with the prefix "poly" — for example polystyrene or polyethylene.

Traditionally, they've been made from fossil fuels and take a very long time to break down in the environment — sometimes hundreds of years.

Bioplastics are plastics that can be:


Biodegradable, meaning they can be broken down by microbes into natural substances such as water, carbon dioxide and compost under certain conditions.


Both biobased and biodegradable (some examples in the first bullet point fall into this category).

Craig Chivers/CBC

Many bioplastics aren't biodegradable. And some are chemically identical to regular plastics.

The only difference between biopolyethylene or bio-PET (used in Coke's "PlantBottle") and regular polyethylene or PET is they use a raw ingredient from plants (ethanol) instead of fossil fuels to make the same material.

Those kinds of plastics are known as "drop-in" plastics because they can be dropped in as direct replacements for traditional plastics and mixed with them in any quantity (the PlantBottle originally included 30 per cent plant-based ingredients and 70 per cent regular PET that still represents 7 per cent of the company's bottles sold around the world. Coca-Cola has since also made a 100 per cent bio-PET version).

Because they're identical, they take just as long as traditional plastics to break down.

Plastics made mostly or entirely from fossil fuels can be called 'biobased' and 'bioplastics', respectively.

To be labelled a "biobased" product in the U.S. under Department of Agriculture rules (Canada has no equivalent rules), it only need contain a minimum of 25 per cent carbon from biological as opposed to fossil sources — that is, up to 75 per cent of the carbon can come from fossil fuel sources.

In fact, a plastic that is made 100 per cent from fossil fuels can still be considered a bioplastic if it's biodegradable.

For example, a plastic called PBAT (polybutylene adipate terephthalate), sold by chemical company BASF under the name "ecoflex," is a completely fossil fuel-derived plastic that's certified compostable and biodegradable — and is therefore considered a bioplastic.

The Coca-Cola Company

Bioplastics can help reduce carbon emissions. But not always a lot.

Bio-based bioplastics typically generate fewer carbon emissions over their life cycle compared to traditional plastics. That's because growing plants suck in and store carbon, which is released later if the bioplastics are burned or decomposed.

"You're not adding extra carbon dioxide to the atmosphere," said Amar Mohanty, distinguished research chair in sustainable biomaterials at the University of Guelph, who has been developing and researching bioplastic and biobased materials for more than 30 years.

In practice, things are more complicated than that because energy is used to grow crops and for transportation, manufacturing, processing and distribution — and that may generate emissions.

How big the difference in emissions is between the two can vary a lot depending on the types of biobased ingredients used, how they were grown, how locally the bioplastic was manufactured, what happened to it at the end of its useful life and exactly what plastics are being compared.

For example, one study found the bioplastic PHA, made from corn leaves, stalks and husks, generates 80 per cent fewer emissions per kilogram over its lifetime, compared to fossil-derived PET or polystyrene.

John Schultz/Quad-City Times/Associated Press

But a 2018 study by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre found that in Europe there would be no real difference in lifetime emissions between traditional PET bottles and those made from bioplastics. That's largely because regular PET is manufactured in Europe, while bio-PET is mostly manufactured in the U.S. and lots of emissions would be generated during transport.

As mentioned, some bio-based plastics are not biodegradable and can remain for hundreds of years. Some researchers have argued burying such plastics at their end of life is one way to store carbon captured by plants and keep it from getting into the atmosphere.

Compostable plastics often end their life in places where they don't break down.

A benefit of degradable or compostable plastics is that they can theoretically reduce harm to wildlife and ecosystems caused by traditional plastics and reduce the need for landfill space, which is a problem in some countries. That's because they can be broken down completely into carbon dioxide, water and compost under certain conditions without leaving behind microplastics. Mohanty describes it as "natural recycling."

That said, even popular compostable plastics such as PLA (polylactic acid), which is used to make drinking cups, clamshell containers and plastic cutlery, are not accepted by most municipal and commercial composting programs in Canada and are typically sent to landfill, where one study estimated they would take more than a century to break down and another found they would release the potent greenhouse gas methane during decomposition.

Nor do they necessarily break down in a timely fashion in places like the ocean (where they pose the biggest threat to wildlife) or the soil. Ecoflex, PLA, and two other kinds of biodegradable plastics all survived a year in either seawater or freshwater without breaking down, a 2017 University of Bayreuth study showed. A 2019 University of Plymouth study found that "compostable" bags buried in soil were still there after 27 months, and "biodegradable" bags could still hold groceries after three months in the ocean.

David Donnelly/CBC

Bioplastics are often recyclable, but often aren't recycled.

As might be expected, bio-based versions of recyclable plastics such as bio-PET are recyclable with the regular, fossil-fuel based versions of the same plastic.

PLA is also theoretically recyclable. It's not currently accepted by most recycling programs, but that may change in the future.

Bioplastics could potentially have environmental drawbacks.

A number of studies have calculated that huge net emissions are generated if rainforests, peatlands, savannahs or grasslands are converted to agriculture in order to grow crops to produce bioplastics.

But bioplastics are only a tiny fraction of plastic in the world today.

In 2019, land used to grow crops for bioplastics represented just 0.016 per cent of farmland, according to an estimate by European Bioplastics, which represents the bioplastics industry in Europe.

They're just one per cent of the 359 million tonnes of plastic produced around the world each year, estimates European Bioplastics.

View photos

CBC

Princess Anne kidnap attempt: Boxer who intervened sells medal to pay for funeral

Sky News March 4, 2020

The George Medal awarded to a former heavyweight boxer for rushing to Princess Anne's aid during an attempted armed kidnapping has been sold to help his family pay for his funeral.

Ronnie Russell, 72, sold the medal to a private collector in the UK for £50,000, well above the expected sale price of £20,000.

Mr Russell said: "For something I thought that I would never sell, I never believed it would sell for this amount.

"I am absolutely blown away with this price and it gives me opportunities to do things that I never thought we could."

The medal was sold along with related items including a letter from 10 Downing Street informing Mr Russell of the award, a telegram from the Princess Royal, and a letter from the Metropolitan Police commissioner.

Mr Russell won the accolade for his bravery in 1974, having intervened when Ian Ball tried to take the royal hostage at gunpoint in central London on 20 March that year.

Anne and her then husband Mark Phillips were heading to Buckingham Palace from a charity event on Pall Mall when their car was forced to stop by Ball's Ford Escort, who jumped out and opened fire with a pistol.

The couple were unharmed during the incident, but Anne's personal detective and chauffeur were both shot - as was a police constable and a journalist.

Mr Russell, who measured 6ft 2in and 17 stone, saw the violence unfolding and intervened by punching Ball and then acting as the princess' human shield.

At the time, the then 28-year-old fighter - who boxed at the same Bethnal Green club as the Kray twins - had been driving back home to Kent via Pall Mall and thought he had come across a road rage incident.

His decision to intervene may have been crucial, as Anne and Captain Phillips were only being guarded by one royal protection officer on the night.

Security procedures surrounding the Royal Family have since been overhauled.

Ball was eventually restrained and arrested, and later charged with attempted murder, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and attempting to kidnap Anne.

He pleaded guilty to two attempted murder charges and the kidnapping charge before an Old Bailey judge sent him to a psychiatric hospital, where he remains under the Mental Health Act at Broadmoor.

His aim had been to kidnap Anne and place a £3m ransom on her head.

Anne famously discussed the incident during an appearance on chat show Parkinson in 1984, saying she was "scrupulously polite" to Ball because she thought it would "silly to be rude at that stage".

Mr Russell, a married father-of-two from Medway in Kent, was honoured by the Queen on 26 November 1974, who had said at the time: "The medal is from the Queen, but I want to thank you as Anne's mother".

He admits he feels like he's "betraying" the monarch by selling his medal but told ITV's This Morning on Tuesday that he did not want to leave his family in a situation where they would have to pay for his funeral.

He said his health had deteriorated after suffering several strokes.

He added: "I feel very sad about it. I was honoured receiving it, but I have been forced into the situation."

Mr Russell, who lives in Bristol, says he will always be proud of having been awarded the medal as he "honestly thought that I was going to die" when he came to the couple's aid on Pall Mall.

He recalled: "I still believe that the life of a member of the Royal Family is much more important than mine. I just stood rigid and braced myself, waiting for the shot I expected to come and hit me in the back."

HERSTORY
Astronaut Christina Koch Opens Up About Spending 328 Days in Space — and Adjusting to Earth Life

Caitlin Keating People March 5, 2020

Astronaut Christina Koch

Imagine witnessing 16 sunrises and sunsets every day for 11 months. Or floating in a sleeping bag while completing 5,248 orbits around Earth and traveling 139 million miles.

The only woman who doesn’t have to imagine is NASA astronaut Christina Koch, who came back to Earth on Feb. 6 after spending 328 days aboard the International Space Station, surpassing the previous record held by Peggy Whitson for the longest single spaceflight by a woman.

“I feel incredibly privileged to have been a part of this,” 41-year-old Koch tells PEOPLE for this week’s Women Changing the World issue days after returning home. “Thinking back to a year in your life and being able to contribute as much as I have had the opportunity to has just been awesome.”

The contributions were and continue to be endless. There was the “fun” study of plant biology and how we can grow them in space, which included tasting fresh mizuna mustard. And then, while “feeling like I was standing on my head all the time,” she participated in the Kidney Cells investigation and another that will try to prevent a lack of gravity from causing bone and muscle loss to astronauts in space.

The Michigan native managed to contribute to hundreds of studies, all while undergoing spatial orientation and “learning how to orient when half of your work might be on the ceiling or the ground, and all of the four walls around you sort of look the same.”

For more on Christina Koch and all of PEOPLE’s Women Changing the World, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

She points out that on Earth, “you can kind of spatially orient very easily by down is where your feet are and up is in the direction of your head.”

Looking back on her experience with the conditions in space, Koch says, “It’s really amazing to watch the human body adapt to that.”

RELATED: Astronaut Christina Koch Shares Sweet Video of Her Reuniting with Dog After Almost a Year in Space

Leaving space was “bittersweet” for Koch, especially knowing that “there’s views and things that I’ll never see again,” but being home is still wonderful and spectacular.

“I’m overwhelmed with joy to be home and to be experiencing the sights, the smells, the feeling of wind, the feeling of weather, all these things that we grow up with, and we don’t even realize how much they comfort us,” she says. “The blue sky, even, I didn’t see the entire time I was on board. There are things that I’ll miss. There are things that I may never see again, but to be back at home in the environment that I grew up in is really amazing.”

RELATED: NASA Is Hiring New Astronauts — Here’s How You Can Apply for a Trip to the Moon

NASA Christina Koch

While she indulges in everything she missed, like eating plenty of chips and salsa that she didn’t have in space, she is wasting no time.

Koch says she is now motivated more than ever “to pay it forward by my passion for space flight advancement and by my hope that anyone who has a dream has an equal playing field to work hard to achieve that dream.”

“Space flight will benefit when not a single innovative idea is lost because someone didn’t see a place for themselves, and when anyone who is ready to contribute is equally welcomed,” she adds. “Sharing experiences and strategies with future explorers will hopefully mean that those strategies can be turned into more personal success and also more identifying and breaking down barriers. I see a world soon when demographics are more and more transparent as we feed forward the momentum that is generated as more people pursue their passions no matter where it takes them.”

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/03/herstory-how-christina-koch-could.html 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2020/03/herstory-nasa-astronaut-and-expedition.html 

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=Christina+Koch

Security concerns for Bernie Sanders after man waves Nazi flag at Arizona rally

Graig Graziosi The Independent March 6, 2020

Reuters

While Senator Bernie Sanders - a Jewish man born in 1941 and whose family members were murdered during the Holocaust - spoke to a crowd in Phoenix, Arizona, a man in the crowd waved a Nazi flag behind him.

The flag waved for only a few seconds before Mr Sanders’ supporters in the audience ripped the red, white and black flag from man’s hands. Video of the event appears to show the man thrusting his arm into the air in a “Heil Hitler” salute before he was grabbed and escorted from the rally.

Video shows the man using the n-word while yelling at a black Sanders supporter as he’s being ejected from the venue.

Mr Sanders apparently did not see the flag, but did see the protester being dragged from the arena.

“Whoever it was, I think they’re a little outnumbered tonight,” Mr Sanders said.

Though Mr Sanders hasn’t spoken on the incident directly, his campaign manager Mike Casca told Buzzfeed News that Mr Sanders “is aware of the flag with the swastika on it and is disturbed by it.”

The Washington Post reported that the man waving the Nazi flag was not the only protestor at the event. People waving flags supporting President Donald Trump and supporters of Mr Sanders also had minor encounters and were apparently removed from the arena.

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said he was worried this instance would not be the last anti-semitic act to happen during the campaign.

"Good people, regardless of how they vote, should call this out in no uncertain terms," he said. "I worry we'll see more of this."

The Maricopa County Democratic Party Steven Slugocki condemned the protester.

“We can argue about which candidate should get the Dem nomination, but anti-semitic acts have no place in this world. This is absolutely abhorrent,” he said.

The incidents have prompted calls from the public for Secret Service protection for both Mr Sanders and Mr Biden, suggesting the agency was “unprepared for candidate protection.”

During a campaign visit to Los Angeles, former vice president Joe Biden was interrupted during a speech when vegan protesters stormed the stage. Before that, protesters in Nevada stormed a stage where Mr Sanders was speaking, ripped the microphone away from him and poured milk on themselves after taking their shirts off.

While dairy protesters and vegans are in no way equatable to Nazi-sympathizing white supremacists in terms of ideological repulsiveness, the fact that the protesters have been able to get close enough to touch the candidates on more than one occasion suggests security concerns are not unfounded.

The Department of Homeland Security responded to the criticism in a statement released ahead of Mr Sanders’ rally on Thursday.

“The Agency remains fully prepared to execute this vital mission and any suggestion to the contrary breeds unfounded public concern and irresponsibly misrepresents the skill and professionalism of our workforce,” the statement said.

A month after far-right scandal, German state elects far-left leader
Reuters March 4, 2020

Thuringia's state parliament elects new State Premier in Erfurt

BERLIN (Reuters) - Lawmakers in Germany's eastern state of Thuringia voted a former hard-left state premier back into office on Wednesday, replacing a liberal whose election a month ago with far-right backing sent shock waves through the political establishment.

Liberal Thomas Kemmerich became the first state premier elected with the support of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), with whom Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) sided to the disgust of her national coalition partners.

The Feb. 5 result shattered the post-war consensus among established parties of shunning the far right, and led CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to abandon her ambition of succeeding Merkel as Germany's next chancellor.

Kemmerich, of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), said a day after his election that his position was untenable and subsequently quit, paving the way for a new election.

Wednesday's vote saw Bodo Ramelow of the far-left Linke, backed by the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and ecologist Greens, reinstalled as premier after a third round of voting in secret ballots at the regional assembly.

Ramelow failed to secure a majority in the first two rounds when he faced a dual with the AfD's candidate, far-right firebrand Bjoern Hoecke, who a court ruled last year could legally be called a fascist.

In the third round, Hoecke withdrew his candidacy and Ramelow ran alone, winning 42 of 85 votes cast - the same level of support he garnered in the first two rounds, suggesting his victory came without the support of the AfD or the CDU.

In the third round, the candidate with the most votes wins.

After Ramelow's victory, Kemmerich presented him with a bouquet of flowers. Hoecke offered Ramelow his hand to shake but he did not take it, and the two had quite a lengthy exchange.

"When I can clearly hear that democracy is a priority, then I am willing to give Mr Hoecke my hand but only when you defend democracy and don't trample on it," Ramelow said in his acceptance speech, to applause from his supporters.

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NEW BRUNSWICK
New anti-poverty plan looks to reduce income poverty by 50% in 10 years

CBC March 5, 2020

A new poverty reduction plan unveiled Thursday hopes to reduce income poverty by at least 50 per cent in New Brunswick over the next 10 years.

The plan developed by the New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation, a crown corporation, is focused on three categories: income security, co-ordination of programs and services, and inclusion and healthy communities.

"This was the most comprehensive in the province in terms of poverty since the adoption and implementation of the first plan in 2009." said Stéphane LeClair, executive director of ESIC.

The plan is devised to make changes and improvements to programs, benefits, and services that will help reduce poverty by half by 2030.

Poverty decreasing

Statistics released with the plan show that from 2009 to 2018, there was a 44 per cent decrease, or a total of 46,000 fewer people living below the poverty line. In 2009 there were 104,000 people living in poverty in New Brunswick and in 2018, there were 58,000.

Dorothy Shepherd, minister of Social Development and LeClair both said the reduction is a result of changes and improvements made over the past decade. They point to things like the province's drug plan, free daycare, minimum wage increases and free tuition.

Shepherd said the new plan builds on what has been done over the past ten years.

"It is my belief that by working together we can make a difference in New Brunswick and indeed I believe we already have," said Shepherd.

Social assistance review underway

View photos

Graham Thompson/CBCMore

Under the income security category, the department will review social assistance and decide what it should look like in the future.

It also looks at potential changes to the Employment Standards Act.

LeClair said the changes will look at how to integrate those who can work back into the workforce but also assist those who can't.

There will also be a review of government programs, services and tax policies targeted to low-income individuals. It will also look at putting in place a one-stop-shop so information from government and community programs and services can be accessed easily.

"What we want to make sure here is we make the information as easy as possible to find and that we avoid any duplication," LeClair said.

Wait times to be reduced

The third category, inclusion and healthy communities will see improvements made in many areas including mental health and addictions services, regional transportation plans, opportunities for recreational activities for those on a low income, and the development of food programs in all schools.

"We want to make sure that they feel included and they have opportunities to participate and fully participate into the development of their specific community."

LeClair said service providers agreed it was important to reduce wait times to access mental health and addictions services.

"They said let's do a better job at this cause there's a lot of people for which their lives are impacted by mental health and we could do better."

More breakfast programs in schools

View photos

Graham Thompson/CBCMore


LeClair said not every school has a breakfast program in place, something the corporation feels is important to have.

"We want to make sure that when our kids are going to school in the morning that they have some food in their bellies because we know how important it is."

LeClair said it took 18 months to develop the plan. Over 25,000 comments from 2,500 participants were received from the public in the winter and spring 2019.

"We have consulted as many people as we could and this was the broadest ever."

The new plan goes into effect immediately.

"It is important that we all work together to reduce poverty and to create a province where everyone is able to fully participate," said Shepherd.

LeClair agreed. "We can overcome poverty but we definitely have to do it together. That's been our guiding principle since the get-go. We all own a piece of this."

BIASED UCP KENNEY GOVERNMENT REPORT 
Report says Alberta safe drug sites have created 'system of chaos'
SURPRISE AMERICAN STYLE RIGHT WING PARTY OPPOSES SAFE INJECTION SITE PROGRAM
The Canadian Press March 5, 2020



A report commissioned by the Alberta government suggests supervised drug consumption sites have sown chaos in communities, have overplayed their life-saving effects and lack accountability.

"What we heard was a wake-up call, from increases in social disorder to discarded needles to the near-absence of referrals to treatment and recovery," Associate Health Minister Jason Luan said Thursday.

"What we see is a system of chaos — chaos for addicts who desperately need help getting well and chaos for communities around the sites."

The nearly 200-page report does not say whether the government should shut or move any of Alberta's seven sites. There are four in Edmonton and one each in Calgary, Grande Prairie and Lethbridge.

Luan said he accepts the report in its entirety and decisions would be made on a city-by-city basis.

The government formed the panel last summer to look at how sites affect crime rates, social order, property values and businesses. The panel was not asked to look at the benefits of harm reduction for users.

A committee headed by former Edmonton police chief Rod Knecht gathered feedback through town halls, stakeholder meetings and online submissions.

Discarded needles, feces and garbage were among the most common complaints.

The report said crime, as measured by police calls, increased near sites in every city but Edmonton. Knecht said the panel did not look at whether having more than one site in the city helped.

He suggested lower crime rates could be because people weren't calling the police anymore or officers were choosing not to crack down.

"You want to ensure these people have access to the injection site to safely consume, and at the same time they are carrying with them an illegal substance," Knecht said.

Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer said policing should be consistent and it's unacceptable to "effectively have a black-out zone or no-fly zone."

The Edmonton Police Service said in a statement that it has not seen increased crime near sites and that "lives have been saved by the employees and volunteers working within."
WITCHHUNT 
Luan said the panel also heard allegations of "financial irregularities" at Arches, which oversees the Lethbridge site. He declined to elaborate.

Arches board chairman Aaron Fitchett told the Lethbridge Herald his staff are fully co-operating in an audit.

"We don't know what they are looking for," he told the newspaper. "We believe we have complied with our government funding agreement, and we have done an excellent job of accounting and reporting on those agreements."

The panel questioned whether as many lives are being saved as data from the sites suggests. It cited non-life-threatening "adverse events" reported as overdoses and administering oxygen considered "overdose reversal."

"This leaves the public with an inference that without these sites, thousands of people could fatally overdose or no longer be alive," said committee vice-chair Geri Bemister-Williams.

Physician Bonnie Larson said the report's authors lacked medical understanding and didn't seem interested in learning from doctors on the front lines.

"Even stimulation, oxygen itself, these are life-saving interventions," she said. "It means that without that, the overdose goes in one direction only and that is fatal."

The report's authors also flagged a lack of focus on referrals to detox and treatment resources. "Where it was suggested that referrals were made, no evidence was found to support action taken to follow up on such referrals."

Larson disputes that. She said she herself has taken people from Calgary's site to other care facilities.

"I can say 100 per cent we do provide wrap-around care."

Rebecca Saah, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine, said the panel discounted positive feedback and failed to include input from public-health experts.

"I cannot support those recommendations as evidence-based or scientific in any way, shape or form."

NDP Opposition critic Heather Sweet said the findings reflect the outcome sought by the United Conservative government.

"This minister needs to be open and honest," she said. "If he shuts these sites down, people are going to go to the streets and they're going to die."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020

— With files from Dean Bennett in Edmonton

Lauren Krugel, The Canadian Press

With rail blockades lifted, effort begins to measure economic damage

CBC March 6, 2020

The blockades are over — for now.

Next comes the effort to calculate their economic impact — and it's just getting started.

Canada's transport minister said it will take six months to assess the damage, following weeks of turmoil that culminated in the lifting Thursday of the remaining Quebec rail blockades.

That longer-term uncertainty was underscored by other news that broke Thursday: Warren Buffett's investment company, Berkshire Hathaway, bailed on a $4 billion investment in a Quebec liquefied natural gas plant and blamed recent instability.

When asked what the economic effects might be during a trip to Washington, Transport Minister Marc Garneau replied: "Serious."

But he said a variety of factors need to be measured to fully grasp the effect, and that will take time.

Those factors include any layoffs; delayed or suspended industrial production; and adjustments to shipping routes.

He cited those shipping routes as an example of why it's difficult to immediately calculate an impact.

Garneau said some international shippers going through B.C. and, to a lesser extent, through Quebec and Nova Scotia, might have turned to temporary solutions — including ports in the United States.

Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press

What's unclear is how many suppliers will return to the same routes they used before the protests.

"I can't give you a precise number because these numbers will probably come out in about six months, because of the lag that occurs in assessing economic impact," Garneau told reporters in Washington.

Garneau was in the U.S. capital meeting with American officials and promoting Canada's effort to create new air-travel safety protocols in the wake of the disaster involving the Iranian-downed flight PS752.

Interest rate cut

Meanwhile, in Toronto, the Bank of Canada governor cited a series of reasons for this week's interest rate cut.

Stephen Poloz said the central bank was already contemplating a rate move before the coronavirus struck.

Blockades were one of several reasons.

"Not surprisingly, the threat to the global economy of COVID-19 — the coronavirus — played a central role in our deliberations," Stephen Poloz said, according to the prepared text of remarks delivered Thursday.

"Of course, the coronavirus is not the only issue on the table. … In addition to the impact of COVID-19, there are other factors: the strike by Ontario teachers, unusual weather and the rail blockades.

"We can hope that all of these factors prove to be temporary, but it seems that we are headed for at least another quarter of very slow economic growth."

Reduced growth

An early private-sector estimate estimates the cost of blockades at 0.3 per cent of Canada's economic activity for the current quarter.

For the sake of context, that's equivalent to the entire growth estimated for the Canadian economy in the final quarter of 2019.

Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press


Scotiabank's deputy chief economist, Brett House, said it's early for a perfect assessment; but he said last year's CN Rail strike offers a useful reference point for what to expect.

He said his bank estimates that the strike cut two-tenths of one percent from quarterly GDP, and that the losses were later recovered — as demand for the stalled goods persisted, and they were eventually shipped to customers.

"That [activity in 2019] just got delayed. It essentially just moved growth from one period to the next," House said.

"We'd expect a similar kind of dynamic from the blockades — where the impact on shipping is compensated for in the next period, by an increase."

He cautioned, however, that the strike was easier to anticipate than the blockades, and the uncertainty over potential future disruptions could lead to a greater impact.

"A continued threat of blockades will lead people to find alternative transportation routes and alternative suppliers," House said.

"The uncertainty created by blockades potentially coming up at any time and any place could be a dampener on growth, going forward."

The lifting of blockades remains tentative, as Wet'suwet'en people consider the provisional agreement reached with government officials in a dispute involving a natural gas pipeline.

Protesters pack up camp at B.C. legislature after five arrests Wednesday night

The Canadian Press March 5, 2020


VICTORIA — Dozens of Indigenous youth and their supporters packed blankets and tarps Thursday, ending a 17-day protest at British Columbia's legislature that saw a fire burning constantly at the front steps and people camping overnight at the building's ceremonial gates.

The conclusion of the protest followed the arrests of five people who refused to leave the building Wednesday night after meeting with Scott Fraser, B.C.'s minister of Indigenous relations and reconciliation.

Ta'Kaiya Blaney said the Indigenous youth are leaving the legislature but their movement for the rights of Aboriginal Peoples continues. She said the protest to support Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in northwest B.C. who oppose a natural gas pipeline through their traditional territories was successful.

"The Indigenous youth are coming together in ways that go beyond the pipeline," said Blaney. "It's about Indigenous sovereignty and it's about affirming for our young people that we can take our power back."

She said the youth leaders decided to stay inside the legislature building Wednesday night because Fraser would not commit to stopping the Coastal GasLink pipeline opposed by the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs.

"Our demands have always been that Coastal GasLink be removed from Wet'suwet'en sovereign land and that a good faith relationship with Wet'suwet'en people cannot take place while that industry and that pipeline construction is happening without consent," said Blaney.

Coastal GasLink is building a natural gas pipeline from Dawson Creek to Kitimat. It is part of a $40 billion liquefied natural gas export project in Kitimat.

Fraser said he was disappointed the meeting with Indigenous youth leaders resulted in arrests.

He said he invited the youth leaders into the legislature as a gesture of goodwill to discuss ongoing deliberations with the West'suwet'en.

Outside the legislature on Thursday, Fraser said the meeting lasted 90 minutes, twice as long as it was scheduled.

"They ended in a good way, I thought," he added.

The minister said he believed his offer of respectful talks would conclude with the youth leaving the building in an orderly manner.

"It is the basis for the work we have done with the hereditary chiefs and I thought that would be reciprocated," Fraser said. "I found in my time as minister that by providing that respect it is usually reciprocated, and I'm very disappointed it was not."

Liberal house leader Mary Polak called Fraser's judgment "appalling" because it taxed police resources as extra officers were called to the building to make arrests.

During a testy question period, Premier John Horgan said the arrests and ongoing Indigenous rights protests across Canada are marking a tumultuous time in Canadian history. He urged the Opposition to work with the government to resolve Indigenous issues rather than point fingers.

"We agreed in November as a unit, every member of this house, to work towards genuine reconciliation," said Horgan, referring to the unanimous adoption of the United Nations Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

"That's what we're trying to do," he said. "Is the mob outside helpful? I would suggest not."

Blaney called the premier's comments about a mob "irresponsible."

Victoria police said five people were taken into custody at about 9 p.m. Wednesday and each faces a charge of mischief. They were released on conditions that they stay away from the legislature grounds and a surrounding park.

Police said there were no injuries in the arrests and they alleged the protesters called for others to surround the legislature building.

They said officers were "actively obstructed" and because of the size of the crowd, it took several hours for the protesters to be safely transported to police headquarters.

"Officers who were responding to the scene were surrounded by over 100 protesters and were unable to respond to emergency calls for service," police said in a news release.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2020.

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press

Americans divided on party lines over risk from coronavirus: Reuters/Ipsos poll
 March 6, 2020

MTA workers disinfect the subway station while people exit the station in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York

By Brad Heath

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Americans who now find themselves politically divided over seemingly everything are now forming two very different views of another major issue: the dangers of the new coronavirus.

Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to say the coronavirus poses an imminent threat to the United States, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted this week.

And more Democrats than Republicans say they are taking steps to be prepared, including washing their hands more often or limiting their travel plans.

Poll respondents who described themselves as Republicans and did not see the coronavirus as a threat said it still felt remote because cases had not been detected close to home and their friends and neighbors did not seem to be worried, either.

“I haven’t changed a single thing,” Cindi Hogue, who lives outside Little Rock, Arkansas, told Reuters. “It’s not a reality to me yet. It hasn’t become a threat enough yet in my world.”

Many of the U.S. cases that have been reported so far have been in Washington state and California, more than 1,000 miles away from Arkansas.

Politics was not a factor in her view of the seriousness of the virus, Hogue said. Other Republican respondents interviewed echoed that sentiment.

But the political divide is nonetheless significant: About four of every 10 Democrats said they thought the new coronavirus poses an imminent threat, compared to about two of every 10 Republicans.

Part of the explanation, said Robert Talisse, a Vanderbilt University philosophy professor who studies political polarization, is that political divisiveness often works in subtle ways.

Americans increasingly surround themselves with people who share the same political views, so partisan perceptions echo not just through the television channels people watch and websites and social media they consume, but through their friends and neighbors, too.

"This partisan-sort stuff is real; it just doesn’t feel like that’s what’s going on because our partisan selves just feel like ourselves,” Talisse said.

A `FALSE NUMBER'

Americans, who often consume news based on their political preferences, have received two different views of the virus's potential impact.

Amid tumbling stock markets, President Donald Trump has sought to portray himself as on top of the health crisis, but he has been criticized for being overly optimistic about its potential impact and for sometimes incorrect statements on the science of the virus.

Trump has accused the media and his political adversaries of trying to derail his re-election campaign by amping up alarm over the dangers posed by the virus. He has largely sought to cast it as a comparatively minor threat, comparing its risk to the less deadly seasonal flu.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh told listeners last week that, “The coronavirus is the common cold” and was merely being “weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump.”

Trump told Sean Hannity's Fox News show on Wednesday that he thought World Health Organization estimates of the virus' death rate were a "false number," that he had a hunch the rate was much lower, "a fraction of 1 percent." The WHO said this week that the coronavirus killed about 3.4% of the people who contracted it worldwide.

House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused Trump on Thursday of spreading misinformation about coronavirus' death rate, saying the "reality is in the public domain."

The outbreak has killed more than 3,400 people and spread across more than 90 nations. Eleven people in the United States have died from the coronavirus, the CDC said Friday.

National media and other cable news channels have been filled with accounts of a spreading sickness and the U.S. deaths. Public health authorities have sent increasingly urgent warnings about the need to be ready for quarantines and school closures.

Exactly how big a role these divergent messages have driven Americans’ perception of the danger they face is difficult to measure, but experts said they could only fuel the political divisions that are so vast that they long ago started having an impact on everything from how Americans vote to where they buy coffee.

“Our hyper-polarization is so strong that we don’t even assess a potential health crisis in the same way. And so it impedes our ability to address it," said Jennifer McCoy, a Georgia State political science professor who studies polarization.



About half of Democrats said they are washing their hands more often now because of the virus, compared to about four in 10 Republicans, according to the poll. About 8% of Democrats said they had changed their travel plans, compared to about 3% of Republicans.

More than half of Republicans, about 54%, said they had not altered their daily routines because of the virus, compared to about 40% of Democrats.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English, from March 2-3 in the United States. It gathered responses from 1,115 American adults, including 527 Democrats and 396 Republicans. The poll has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about 3 percentage points.


(Reporting by Brad Heath; additional reporting by Chris Kahn, Julie Steenhuysen and John Whitesides,; Editing by Ross Colvin and Alistair Bell)