Tanzanite: Tanzanian miner becomes overnight millionaire

BBC•June 25, 2020

Mr Laizer - holding up the precious stones - plans to build a school and a shopping centre in his community

A small-scale miner in Tanzania has become an overnight millionaire after selling t
wo rough Tanzanite stones - the biggest ever find in the country.

Saniniu Laizer earned £2.4m ($3.4m) from the country's mining ministry for the gemstones, which had a combined weight of 15kg (33 lb).

"There will be a big party tomorrow," Mr Laizer, a father of more than 30 children, told the BBC.

Tanzanite is only found in northern Tanzania and is used to make ornaments.

It is one of the rarest gemstones on Earth, and one local geologist estimates its supply may be entirely depleted within the next 20 years.

The precious stone's appeal lies in its variety of hues, including green, red, purple and blue.

Its value is determined by rarity - the finer the colour or clarity, the higher the price.

Mr Laizer mined the stones, weighing 9.2kg and 5.8kg, last week, but he sold them on Wednesday during a trading event in the northern region of Manyara.

Until now the largest Tanzanite rock to be mined weighed 3.3kg.

President John Magufuli phoned in to congratulate Mr Laizer on the find.

"This is the benefit of small-scale miners and this proves that Tanzania is rich," the president said.

Mr Magufuli came to power in 2015 promising to safeguard the nation's interest in the mining sector and increase the government's revenue from it.
What did the new millionaire say?

Mr Laizer, 52, who has four wives, said he would slaughter one of his cows to celebrate.

He also plans to invest in his community in Simanjiro district in Manyara.

"I want to build a shopping mall and a school. I want to build this school near my home. There are many poor people around here who can't afford to take their children to school."

"I am not educated but I like things run in a professional way. So I would like my children to run the business professionally."

Saniniu Laizer carrying the gemstones at the trading centre
He said the windfall would not change his lifestyle, and that he planned to continue looking after his 2,000 cows. He said he did not need to take any extra precautions despite his new-found riches.


"There is enough security [here]. There won't be any problem. I can even walk around at night without any problem."

Some small-scale miners like Mr Laizer acquire government licences to prospect for Tanzanite, but illegal mining is prevalent especially near mines owned by big companies.

In 2017, President Magufuli ordered the military to build a 24km (14-mile) perimeter wall around the Merelani mining site in Manyara, believed to be the world's only source of Tanzanite.

A year later, the government reported an increase in revenue in the mining sector and attributed the rise to the construction of the wall, the BBC's Sammy Awami in Dar es Salaam reports.


Small-scale miner finds largest tanzanite gems in Tanzania's history, becomes millionaire

N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY•June 25, 2020

Tanzanian small-scale miner Saniniu Kuryan Laizer, 52, poses with two of the biggest of the country's precious gemstones, Tanzanite, as a millionaire during the ceremony for his historical discovery in Manyara, northern Tanzania, on June 24, 2020.More

A small-scale miner in Tanzania became a millionaire after finding and selling the two largest tanzanite stones ever unearthed in the country.

The government gave Saniniu Laizer a giant check worth 7.74 billion Tanzanian shillings ($3.35 million) for the two dark violet-blue gemstones which weigh 9.27 kilograms (20.43 pounds) and 5.108 kilograms (11.26 pounds), according to the Ministry of Minerals. President John Magufuli called to congratulate Laizer live on television.Laizer, 52, told the BBC he plans to invest in the community and slaughter one of his cows to celebrate.

"There will be a big party tomorrow," Laizer told the outlet. "I want to build a shopping mall and a school. I want to build this school near my home. There are many poor people around here who can't afford to take their children to school."

He added that he plans to continue looking after his 2,000 cows.

Tanzanite can only be found in a small northern region of the East African country. The gems were discovered in a mine surrounded by a wall built by the government to prevent illegal mining.

Tanzanian small-scale miner Saniniu Kuryan Laizer, 52, poses with the enlarged check copy from the government after selling two of the biggest of the country's precious gemstones, Tanzanite, during the ceremony for his historical discovery in Manyara, northern Tanzania, on June 24, 2020.

The government set up trading centers around the country to all small-scale miners, who typically mine by hand, to sell their gems and gold to the government, Reuters reported.

“This is a confirmation that Tanzania is rich,” Magufuli told minerals minister Doto Biteko, per Reuters.

Follow N'dea Yancey-Bragg on Twitter: @NdeaYanceyBragg

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Small-scale Tanzanian miner finds gemstones worth more than $3 million


Miner becomes millionaire after finding biggest tanzanite stones

AFP•June 24, 2020

Tanzanite is prized by gem-makers for its extraordinary violet-blue hue. The gems seen here were mined in 2006, when they were valued at around $1,500

COMPARE THESE TO THE GIANT GEMSTONES MINED 

 (AFP Photo/MATT BROWN)

Dar es Salaam (AFP) - A Tanzanian small-scale miner has become a multi-millionaire after uncovering two of the biggest of the country's precious tanzanite stones ever found and selling them to the government.

Saniniu Kuryan Laizer, 52, found the stones weighing 9.27 and 5.1 kilogrammes (20.4 and 11.2 pounds) respectively in the northern Mirerani hills, an area which President John Magufuli had fenced off in 2018 to stop smuggling of the gem.

He sold them to the government for 7.7 billion Tanzanian shillings (nearly $3.3 million/2.9 million euros)

Tanzanite was first found in the foothills of Kilimanjaro in 1967, and the northern Tanzanian region of Manyara is the only known place where the stones, coveted by jewellers by their remarkable violet-blue sparkle, are found.

At a function celebrating the find in Manyara on Wednesday, mining minister Dotto Biteko said the stones were the biggest ever uncovered in the country.

"Laizer is our (shilling) billionaire and let us make sure that he is safe," he said.

"We are now moving from a situation where the small miners were smuggling tanzanite, and now they are following the procedures and paying government taxes and royalties."

Laizer said he hoped to use the money to develop his community.

"I plan to build a mall in Arusha and a school near my home," said Laizer.

"I thank God for this achievement because it's the first time to get this size. When I found these, I notified government officials who valuated the stones and today they called me for payment."

The government wrote on Twitter that the stones would be placed in the national museum.

Magufuli made a call to Laizer during the ceremony that was broadcast on loudspeakers, to congratulate him.

"This is the benefit to small miners and testifies to the fact that Tanzania is rich," he said.

When the 24km (14-mile) perimeter wall was unveiled around the mining site, Magufuli said that 40 percent of all tanzanite produced at the site was being lost to smugglers.

Magufuli has taken multiple steps to regulate the mining sector, which has faced allegations of fraud and underreporting of production and profits.

Tanzania in 2017 introduced new regulations obliging foreign companies to give 16 percent free shares to the government

Miner becomes a millionaire overnight after finding biggest tanzanite gems in history: ‘There will be a big party’

Rory Sullivan The Independent 25 June 2020


Tanzania Ministry of Minerals/Handout via REUTERSMore


A subsistence miner in Tanzania has become a multi-millionaire overnight after selling the two largest tanzanite gemstones ever found.

Saniniu Laizer, 52, received a cheque for 7.74 billion Tanzanian shillings (£2.6 million) from the country’s government on Wednesday for the pair of dark violet-blue stones.

Mr Laizer discovered the gemstones, which are roughly the size of a forearm, in a tanzanite mine in the north of the country, the only place in the world where the mineral is known to exist.

The first gemstone weighed 9.27 kg and the second was 5.1 kg, according to a mines ministry spokesperson.

“There will be a big party tomorrow,” Mr Laizer told the BBC on Wednesday. He added that he planned to invest some of the money into his community in Simanjiro district in Manyara.

“I want to build a shopping mall and a school. I want to build this school near my home. There are many poor people around here who can’t afford to take their children to school,” he said.

Tanzanian president John Magufuli congratulated Mr Laizer during a call that was broadcast live on television.

“This is the benefit of small-scale miners and this proves that Tanzania is rich,” Mr Magufuli said.

Last year, Tanzania established trading centres around the country to enable miners, who do not officially work for any mining companies and usually mine by hand, to sell gems and gold directly to the government.

In April 2018, the president inaugurated the wall he had ordered the military to build around tanzanite mines in the north of Tanzania.

He said the measure was to stop illegal mining and trading in the mineral, adding that 40 per cent of the tanzanite produced was being lost at the time.

Additional reporting by Reuters

Climate change: Planting new forests 'can do more harm than good'

Matt McGrath - Environment correspondent,
BBC•June 22, 2020
  

Children planting trees in Ethiopia, a country which has embraced new forests as part of its climate plan

Rather than benefiting the environment, large-scale tree planting may do the opposite, two new studies have found.

One paper says that financial incentives to plant trees can backfire and reduce biodiversity with little impact on carbon emissions.

A separate project found that the amount of carbon that new forests can absorb may be overestimated.

The key message from both papers is that planting trees is not a simple climate solution.


Will millions more trees really stop climate change?


'A trillion trees to the rescue'


Trees 'most effective solution' for climate change


Is there any point in planting new trees?

Over the past few years, the idea of planting trees as a low cost, high impact solution to climate change has really taken hold.

Previous studies have indicated that trees have enormous potential to soak up and store carbon, and many countries have established tree planting campaigns as a key element of their plans to tackle climate change.

In the UK, promises by the political parties to plant ever larger numbers of trees were a feature of last year's general election.

In the US, even President Donald Trump has rowed in behind the Trillion Trees Campaign.

Legislation to support the idea has been introduced into the US Congress.

Another major tree planting initiative is called the Bonn Challenge.

Countries are being urged to restore 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030.
President Trump planting a tree at the White House to mark Earth Day

So far, around 40 nations have endorsed the idea.

But scientists have urged caution against the headlong rush to plant new forests.

They point to the fact that in the Bonn Challenge nearly 80% of the commitments made to date involve planting monoculture plantations or a limited mix of trees that produce specific products such as fruit or rubber.

The authors of this new study have looked closely at the financial incentives given to private landowners to plant trees.

These payments are seen as a key element of increasing the number of trees significantly.

The study looked at the example of Chile, where a decree subsidising tree planting ran from 1974 to 2012, and was widely seen as a globally influential afforestation policy.

The law subsidised 75% of the costs of planting new forests.

While it was intended not to apply to existing forests, lax enforcement and budgetary limitations meant that some landowners simply replaced native forests with more profitable new tree plantations.

Their study found the subsidy scheme expanded the area covered by trees, but decreased the area of native forest.

The authors point out that since Chile's native forests are rich in biodiversity and store large amounts of carbon, the subsidy scheme failed to increase the carbon stores and accelerated biodiversity loss.

"If policies to incentivise tree plantations are poorly designed or poorly enforced, there is a high risk of not only wasting public money but also releasing more carbon and losing biodiversity," said co-author Prof Eric Lambin, from Stanford University.

"That's the exact opposite of what these policies are aiming for."

A second study set out to examine how much carbon a newly planted forest would be able to absorb from the atmosphere.

Up until now, many scientists have calculated the amount of carbon that trees can pull down from the air using a fixed ratio.

Suspecting that this ratio would depend on local conditions, the researchers looked at northern China, which has seen intensive tree planting by the government because of climate change but also in an effort to reduce dust from the Gobi desert.

Looking at 11,000 soil samples taken from afforested plots, the scientists found that in carbon poor soils, adding new trees did increase the density of organic carbon.

But where soils were already rich in carbon, adding new trees decreased this density.

The authors say that previous assumptions about how much organic carbon can be fixed by planting new trees is likely an overestimate.

"We hope that people can understand that afforestation practices are not one single thing," said Dr Anping Chen, from Colorado State University and a lead author on the study.

"Afforestation involves many technical details and balances of different parts, and it cannot solve all our climate problems."

Both papers have been published in the journal Nature Sustainability.

Follow Matt on Twitter.

A FEW MORE BAD APPLES

3 charged over killing of Black teenager who reportedly cried out 'I can't breathe' while being restrained at Michigan facility for 'at-risk youth'

Charles Davis

An African American protester wears a mask that say "I Can't Breathe" and holds a sign that says, "Say Their Names" as they perform a peaceful protest walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images


Three former employees at Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo, Michigan, have been charged with involuntary manslaughter over the death of 16-year-old Cornelius Frederick.

Frederick died May 1 after being restrained for 12 minutes, according to prosecutors. The incident reportedly took place after he threw a sandwich in the cafeteria.

"In my opinion, the complications of him being restrained, on the ground in a supine position by multiple people, is ultimately what led to his death," Dr. Ted Brown of the Kalamazoo County Medical Examiner's Office said Wednesday.

At least 25 students ran away from the facility after Frederick was killed.

Three staff members at a Michigan youth facility have been charged with involuntary manslaughter over the death of a Black teenager who reportedly yelled "I can't breathe" before going into cardiac arrest.

The death of Cornelius Frederick, 16, was officially ruled a homicide Wednesday afternoon, with Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting announcing charges hours later.

Frederick died May 1, a few days after staff at the Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo placed their weight on his chest, causing him to lose consciousness on April 29, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by his aunt, the Associated Press reported.

"Cornelius's scream of 'I can't breathe' was not enough to get the staff members to stop the excessive restraint," according to the lawsuit, which states that another child detained at the facility heard the incident unfold.


His family is seeking $100 million in a civil suit.

Video footage shows that Frederick was restrained for a full 12 minutes, according to the state, as MLive reported. It took another 12 minutes before anyone to begin CPR or call the police, who say that Fredericks was being disciplined for throwing a sandwich in the cafeteria. Seven staff members were involved in the incident.

Sequel Youth and Family Services, which ran Lakeside Academy, a facility for "at-risk youth," said 11 people have since been "separated from the organization," per MLive. The school, a state-licensed facility, "focuses on the confrontation and redirection of negative behavior while recognizing desired, positive behavior," according to its website.

"We cannot comment on pending legal matters. That said, we are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Cornelius and acted quickly to terminate all staff involved," Sequel Youth and Family Services told MLive in a statement. "Additionally, we have removed the former executive director of Lakeside from the organization. We have been in regular contact with law enforcement and state officials to help ensure justice is served and have accelerated the work that was already underway across our organization to move to a restraint-free model of care. We take our obligation to meet the significant behavioral health needs of all our students incredibly seriously and remain focused on our mission of providing the absolute best care and treatment possible for our clients."


On Wednesday, Dr. Ted Brown of the Kalamazoo County Medical Examiner's Office said that an autopsy revealed Fredericks died due to a lack of oxygen and blood flow.

"In my opinion, the complications of him being restrained, on the ground in a supine position by multiple people, is ultimately what led to his death," Brown told MLive.

After Frederick was killed, at least 25 students ran away from the facility.

Three employees, Michael Mosley, Zachary Solis, and Heather McLogan were charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death. Mosley and Solis allegedly restrained Frederick while McLogan, a nurse, allegedly failed to provide medical care, according to the prosecutor.


Frederick's family had been pressing for murder charges.

US Supreme Court allows quick removal of asylum-seekersRichard Wolf, USA TODAY•June 25, 2020

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court handed a green light Thursday to the Trump administration in its effort to speed up the removal of those seeking asylum.

The court ruled that asylum-seekers claiming fear of persecution abroad do not have to be given a federal court hearing before quick removal from the United States if they initially fail to prove that claim.

The decision was written by Associate Justice Samuel Alito. Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.

The case, one of many to come before the high court involving the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration, concerned Sri Lanka native Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam. He was arrested 25 yards north of the Mexican border and immediately placed in expedited removal proceedings.

More: President Trump's immigration crackdown inundates Supreme Court

Immigration officials determined that Thuraissigiam did not have a credible fear of persecution, even though he is a member of Sri Lanka's Tamil ethnic minority that faces beatings and torture at the hands of the government.

"While aliens who have established connections in this country have due process rights in deportation proceedings, the court long ago held that Congress is entitled to set the conditions for an alien’s lawful entry into this country and that, as a result, an alien at the threshold of initial entry cannot claim any greater rights under the Due Process Clause," Alito wrote in a 36-page opinion.

In her dissent, Sotomayor said the system Congress established short-circuits an inquiry designed to determine whether asylum-seekers "may seek shelter in this country or whether they may be cast to an unknown fate."

"Today’s decision handcuffs the judiciary’s ability to perform its constitutional duty to safeguard individual liberty and dismantles a critical component of the separation of powers," she wrote. "It increases the risk of erroneous immigration decisions that contravene governing statutes and treaties."

The court's other two liberal justices, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, agreed with the judgment but said they would have applied it only to Thuraissigiam's claim.

"Addressing more broadly whether the Suspension Clause protects people challenging removal decisions may raise a host of difficult questions," Breyer wrote, such as whether the same limit can apply to those picked up years after crossing the border, or to those claiming to be U.S. citizens.

During oral argument in March, Chief Justice John Roberts and other conservatives expressed concern that granting Thuraissigiam a hearing could lead to a significant expansion of new claims. His lawyer said about 9,500 asylum-seekers fit the same category.

Asylum seekers wait for news outside El Chaparral port of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana, Mexico, on March 19, 2020.

Only 30 petitions for federal court hearings have been filed so far, American Civil Liberties Union attorney Lee Gelernt said then. But Deputy Solicitor General Edwin Kneedler said the figure was closer to 100 and warned of "the potential for a flood" of cases if the Supreme Court ruled for Thuraissigiam.

The case represented a crucial test of the Trump administration's effort to speed the removal of thousands of migrants without granting federal court hearings. The fast-track process is allowed under a law passed by Congress in 1996.

The California-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which has drawn Trump's ire for its decisions on immigration, ruled last year that efforts to remove asylum-seekers under such "expedited removal" procedures violated their constitutional rights.

The Justice Department argued that extending the streamlined process could add years of court wrangling. After losing the case, the administration in July expanded the expedited removal system to incorporate asylum-seekers apprehended anywhere in the country who have not been continuously present in the USA for two years.

The case is one of several challenging the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on migrants seeking asylum after crossing the Mexican border.

In February, a federal appeals court blocked the administration’s policy of returning asylum-seekers to Mexico to await court hearings, a practice immigrant rights advocates have denounced as inhumane and deadly.

Last September, the justices temporarily upheld a different policy denying asylum to those who do not seek protection first from a country they pass through, such as Mexico.

But in 2018, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked a policy aimed at denying asylum to migrants crossing the border illegally rather than at designated crossings.

Trump's three-year crackdown on immigration has led to a surge in lawsuits reaching the Supreme Court, where a rebuilt conservative majority increasingly is paying dividends for him.

In the past year, the justices also let the administration deter poor immigrants and redirect military funds to build a wall along the southern border.

The high court has heard arguments in eight immigration cases since its term began in October, including a challenge to Trump's plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that enables nearly 650,000 undocumented immigrants to work without fear of deportation.

The program was created by President Barack Obama in 2012 to help young, undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children. During oral argument in November, the court's conservative justices said the administration had ample policy reasons to end it. But the high court ruled 5-4 against the Trump administration in a surprise ruling written by Roberts. Trump has said he will try again to wind down the DACA program.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Supreme Court upholds Trump administration on removing asylum-seekers

Justices rule for Trump administration in deportation caseMARK SHERMAN,
Associated Press•June 25, 2020

The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, early Monday, June 15, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration can deport some people seeking asylum without allowing them to make their case to a federal judge.

The high court's 7-2 ruling applies to people who are picked up at or near the border and who fail their initial asylum screenings, making them eligible for quick deportation, or expedited removal.

The justices ruled in the case of man who said he fled persecution as a member of Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority, but failed to persuade immigration officials that he faced harm if he returned to Sri Lanka. The man was arrested soon after he slipped across the U.S. border from Mexico.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the high-court opinion that reversed a lower-court ruling in favor of the man, Vijayakumar Thuraissigiam, who was placed in expedited removal proceedings that prohibit people who fail initial interviews from asking federal courts for much help.

Immigration officials handled Thuraissigiam's case as a part of process Congress created “for weeding out patently meritless claims and expeditiously removing the aliens making such claims from the country," Alito wrote.

He noted that more than three-quarters of people who sought to claim asylum in the past five years passed their initial screening and qualified for full-blown review.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer agreed with the outcome in this case, but did not join Alito's opinion.

In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote, “Today’s decision handcuffs the Judiciary’s ability to perform its constitutional duty to safeguard individual liberty." She was joined by Justice Elena Kagan.

Lee Gelernt, the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who argued the case in the Supreme Court, said the outcome will make it hard to question the actions of immigration officials at the U.S. border. “This decision will impact potentially tens of thousands of people at the border who will not be able to seek review of erroneous denials of asylum," Gelernt said.

Since 2004, immigration officials have targeted for quick deportation undocumented immigrants who are picked up within 100 miles of the U.S. border and within 14 days of entering the country. The Trump administration is seeking to expand that authority so that people detained anywhere in the U.S. and up to two years after they got here could be quickly deported.

On Tuesday, a federal appeals court threw out a trial judge’s ruling that had blocked the expanded policy. Other legal issues remain to be resolved in the case.

The administration has made dismantling the asylum system a centerpiece of its immigration agenda, saying it is rife with abuse and overwhelmed by meritless claims. Changes include making asylum-seekers wait in Mexico while their cases wind through U.S. immigration court, denying asylum to anyone on the Mexican border who passes through another country without first seeking protection there, and flying Hondurans and El Salvadorans to Guatemala with an opportunity to seek asylum there instead of the U.S.

On Monday, the Trump administration published sweeping new procedural and substantive rules that would make it much more difficult to get asylum, triggering a 30-day period for public comment before they can take effect.

The United States became the world’s top destination for asylum-seekers in 2017, according to UN figures, many of them Mexican and Central American families fleeing endemic violence.

___

Associated Press writer Elliott Spagat in San Diego contributed to this rep

Lack of school structure putting children's mental health at risk

THE HIERARCHY HAS CONDITIONED THEM
FREEDOM TO LEARN ON THEIR OWN IS UNKNOWN
READ AS NEIL SUMMERHILL

A.S. Neill's Summerhill A Different View of Curriculum and ...

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“Summerhill is possibly the happiest place in the world” – A.S. Neill. Alexander Sutherland Neill opened the first Summerhill School in England in 1924 after ...

A.S. Neill - Philosophies of Education - Google Sites

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Alexander Sutherland Neill (1883-1973) believed in the philosophy of existentialism. He believed that individuals had the ability to direct their own learning and ...                           

 

comparing as neill to rousseau, appropriate? - The Journal of ...

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by MA PRUD’HOMME - ‎2011 - ‎Related articles

We have to admit that Neill read Rousseau's Émile, but only late in life (Darling, 1984). He had designed. Summerhill School long before that point. As far as ... 

A.S. Neill's Summerhill - New Learning Online

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A.S. Neill (1883–1973) was the founder of a progressive school, Summerhill, in England in 1924. In this school, he implemented his ideas about pupil freedom.                                 

     

Alexander Sutherland Neill - International Bureau of Education

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by JF Saffange - ‎2000 - ‎Cited by 19 - ‎Related articles

The death of A.S. Neill on 23 September 1973 went almost unrecorded in the newspapers, yet it marked the end of the saga of Summerhill, his little school in ...

© Shane Hennessey/CBC Child psychologists say the switch from classroom to at-home learning during the COVID-19 pandemic has left some children stressed and anxious, particularly those with pre-existing mental health conditions.

A lack of routine and certainty during the COVID-19 pandemic is creating mental health challenges for Ontario's school kids, psychologists say.

"This is an extremely stressful and traumatic time," said Gail Beck, a child psychologist who works with adolescents and young adults at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre.

Beck said she's worried about how some children are coping without the daily rhythms of school days and the absence of classmates.

The young people she counsels, Beck said, are increasingly anxious about their uncertain academic future.

And for those who suffered from depression or other mental health disorders before COVID-19 arrived, the pandemic "could be the straw that breaks the camel's back," Beck said.

Prolonged absences from school have been shown to negatively affect the "social, emotional and academic development of children," said Maria Rogers, a member of the University of Ottawa's department of psychology.

Her greatest concern, Rogers said, is for children with depression who have been deprived of support during the pandemic, as they don't have access to teachers, social workers or school psychologists.

"I think we really need to sort of come together as a community to help look after our children's mental health right now." said Rogers. "The good news is that all the kids are in this together, they're all going through this together."
Behavioural changes noted

According to an Ipsos public health survey released by Children's Mental Health Ontario in late spring, half of Ontario's children were experiencing mental health issues during the pandemic.

The survey also found 59 per cent of Ontario parents had noticed behavioural changes in their child "ranging from outbursts or extreme irritability to drastic changes in mood, behaviour or personality and difficulty sleeping/altered sleeping patterns as well as persistent sadness."

The lack of predictability that a regular school day provides, as well as the longing for classmates and outdoor games, is destabilizing for youngsters in particular, said Beck.

"It is that feeling of lack of control that's upsetting," she said. "And the younger they are, the more they need a routine."
Fall return

The Ontario government is planning for school to resume this September, although with changes that include more remote learning and class sizes capped at 15 students.

So with the return to a normal school schedule unlikely for the foreseeable future, Beck said it's up to adults to build structure into their child's lives by having set meal times and planned family activities.

For some children who are more introverted, the at-home learning experience has been successful, Rogers noted.

Regardless, when school does resume, it will be important for parents and teachers keep the lines of communication open and take note of any "concerning" changes, she said.

"I think it's going be especially important that parents caregivers and teachers are working together collaboratively, in the best interests of the child," said Rogers.

Toilet paper wars: Contested report claims TP production devastating Canadian forests

© Matt Medler/International Boreal Conservation Campaign via Associated Press In this undated photo provided by the International Boreal Conservation Campaign, the forest is seen after being clear-cut in the southern regions of Quebec's boreal Forest.
The toilet paper crisis of 2020 will probably be remembered as a strange and humorous aside to the COVID-19 pandemic.

But a new report from the U.S.-based Natural Resources Defence Council says there's a different but more worrisome toilet paper crisis now looming in Canada, and it's driving global climate change.

The Issue with Tissue 2.0: How the tree-to-toilet pipeline fuels our climate crisis, claims that a million acres of Canadian boreal forest is being clear cut every year, with a significant portion of the virgin wood fibre going to large American toilet paper producers.

"With every roll of their unsustainable toilet paper, companies are pushing the world toward an unthinkable future, destroying ancient and irreplaceable Canadian boreal forest for something as short lived as a flush," said co-author Jennifer Skene.

The Forest Products Association of Canada says the report contains numerous false claims and accusations. 

'Wanton polarization'

President and CEO Derek Nighbor says the characterization that Canadian forests are being cut down to make toilet paper is patently untrue, and that the report is an exercise in "wanton polarizaton."

"In Canada, we're not harvesting trees to make toilet paper, we're harvesting trees in a planned and sustainable way to produce lumber. And then at those sawmills, the leftover wood chips, sawdust and bark then go off to different facilities for further processing," he said.

"The wood fibre that ends up going to toilet paper is about one per cent of our overall wood fibre basket."

The report says clear-cutting for toilet paper and other short-term use products like facial tissues and paper towels, is putting 26 million metric tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere every year.

"This is releasing an enormous Pandora's box of previously locked up carbon from the forest vegetation and soils, reducing the forest's capacity to absorb more carbon and creating an insurmountable carbon deficit at current rates of logging," said Skene.

In the report, the NRDC takes aim at Proctor & Gamble, maker of Charmin, the best selling toilet paper brand in the U.S., criticizing it for continuing to use 100 per cent virgin forest fibre without any shift to recycled fibre or more sustainable wheat straw or bamboo fibre.

"We are ... demanding that Charmin manufacturer Procter and Gamble and other tissue manufacturers change their recipe to reduce pressures on our boreal forests and push the Canadian government to protect the forest before it's too late," said Stand.earth's Tzepora Berman. 

3 times the climate impact

According to Skene, toilet paper made from virgin fibre has three times the climate impact as that made from recycled material.

© CBC A new, contested report from the Natural Resources Defence Council in the U.S. says Canadian toilet paper production is devastating Canadian boreal forests and fuelling climate change.
In a statement to CBC, Proctor & Gamble said: "When you buy Charmin, you are making a responsible choice. Charmin is Rainforest Alliance and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, sourced from responsibly-managed forests."

Nighbor says so far consumers have not shown much demand for toilet paper made with recycled fibre. Plus, he says, there is a limit to its use.

"I think you can recycle paper six times, so you're always going to need virgin fibre," he said.

"If you have lumber sawmills with chip piles piling up that they can't sell, that becomes a fire risk. So we view it as part of the circular economy. And if people, based on preference, want more recycled content, we would support that."

According to Nighbor, only 0.5 per cent of the harvestable Canadian forest is cut every year, with the vast majority used for lumber production.

The Canadian boreal forest stretches from Newfoundland and Labrador to the Yukon. According to Natural Resources Canada, it is not considered ancient because most of its trees are relatively young and regularly affected by forest fires, insects and other natural disturbances.

Bayer bets on science in bid to prevent future Roundup lawsuits: legal experts

WOULD THAT BE NAZI SCIENCE LIKE BAYER USED DURING WWII

© Reuters/Wolfgang Rattay FILE PHOTO: The historic headquarters of German pharmaceutical and chemical maker Bayer AG is pictured in LeverkusenBy Tina Bellon(Reuters) - Seeking to forestall further claims, Bayer AG is taking a risky bet that an independent scientific review will ultimately show that its widely used weed killer Roundup does not cause cancer, legal experts said.

The company on Wednesday agreed to pay as much as $10.9 billion to settle about 75% of the 125,000 filed and unfiled claims by Roundup users who say the herbicide caused them to develop a form of blood cancer.

But Bayer had to find a separate solution to mitigate the risk of future claims without pulling the product off the shelves. The company decided to make a calculated gamble on the scientific evidence which so far has overwhelmingly supported its claim that glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is safe for agricultural use.
Regulators worldwide, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the European Chemicals Agency, have determined glyphosate to be non-carcinogenic.

But the World Health Organization's cancer research arm determined the herbicide to be a "probable carcinogen" in 2015 and since 2018, three consecutive U.S. juries, who listened to scientific evidence from both sides during trial, found that Roundup causes cancer.

"Bayer is taking a huge risk by doing this and it's a bet that time can show that the science underlying the plaintiffs' claims is bad," said David Noll, a law professor at Rutgers University.




While many details of the proposal have yet to be released by Bayer and approved by a federal judge, the plan calls for an independent panel of scientific experts, who will likely be chosen and agreed upon by both sides.

The company will pay $1.25 billion to support the panel's research, an amount that does not include any payouts to settle future lawsuits.

The scientific review process is expected to take at least four years, and findings by the panel would be binding on Bayer and anyone who has used Roundup before Wednesday but not developed cancer.

If the panel finds glyphosate to be non-carcinogenic, those users could not sue.

If the panel determines glyphosate causes cancer, however, Bayer could face a flood of new lawsuits, with potential damages determined at a later stage. Bayer on Wednesday said the lead plaintiffs' lawyers have agreed to its plans, but Reuters was not immediately able to reach those attorneys for comment.

Lawyers for Roundup cancer claimants in the past have alleged that Bayer manipulated scientific studies and deceived the scientific community, claims Bayer denies.

Company executives on calls with reporters and analysts on Wednesday repeatedly said the science was in their favor.

"We are confident that the science panel will look at the scientific body of evidence and come to the conclusion that glyphosate is safe," said Bayer's global head of litigation, Bill Dodero.






Scientific panels have been set up in previous mass torts but generally not as part of a settlement process, legal experts said. Bayer's proposal was "creative but risky" and will likely face procedural challenges in court, said Adam Zimmerman, a professor at Loyola Law School.

The experts said many details, including how people who have not yet gotten sick could give up their rights to a future lawsuit under the proposal, remained unclear.

(Reporting by Tina Bellon; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Kenney speechwriter called residential schools a 'bogus genocide story'

Elise von Scheel

© Thomson Reuters Alberta Premier Jason Kenney speaks during a news conference after meeting with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada December 10, 2019. REUTERS/Blair Gable

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney's speechwriter once wrote an article dismissing the "bogus genocide story" of Canada's residential school system and said Indigenous youth could be "ripe recruits" for violent insurgencies.

Paul Bunner penned the column, titled "The 'Genocide' That Failed," for the online magazine C2C Journal in 2013. Brunner was a speechwriter for prime minister Stephen Harper from 2006 to 2009 and was hired by Kenney last spring.

C2C IS A RIGHT  WING NEO CALVINIST JOURNAL PUT OUT BY THE REFORMED CHURCH OF CANADA, FORMERLY OF SOUTH AFRICA, AND ITS FRONT GROUPS CLAC THE FAKE UNION, AND CFAC THEIR FARMERS GROUP. C2C WAS FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE WORK RESEARCH FOUNDATION 

SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2005/11/canadas-right-wing-union.html

The article questioned what Bunner deemed the "unchallenged" view of residential schools.

"Vast swathes of the public education system are uncritically regurgitating the genocide story as if it were fact," Bunner wrote, arguing that fuels certain Indigenous activists in their "never-ending demands" for money and autonomy.

Bunner argued that if Indigenous youth are "indoctrinated" in the belief that Canada wilfully tried to annihilate their ancestors it could make them "ripe recruits" for potential violent insurgencies, referring to a novel about an Indigenous uprising that he said was "frighteningly plausible."

He encouraged people to question the balance of residential school stories, to push back against "perverse financial incentives" that "reward stories of abuse" and called for more context about the general hardships of life at that time. © Indian and Northern Affairs/Library and Archives Canada/Reuters Female students and a nun pose in a classroom at Cross Lake Indian Residential School in Cross Lake, Man., in a February 1940 archive photo. Alberta had some of the highest numbers of residential schools.

In at least one interview since, Bunner has stood by the column.

More than 150,000 Indigenous children were removed from their families and compelled by the government to attend residential schools over the course of a century.

Many relayed stories of physical abuse, sexual assault and emotional anguish at the hands of those who ran the schools. Most of the perpetrators were never prosecuted. The last federally run school closed in the late 1990s.

One of the heads of the federal Truth and Reconciliation Commission that investigated residential schools from 2007 to 2015 says he's heard these arguments before, but can't swallow them.

"I really wish he'd walked in my shoes for those 14 years," said Chief Willie Littlechild, who was among those sent to a residential school. "I think you would have a totally different story."

Littlechild recounted how he was stripped of his name and given a number.

"They called me 65. You idiot, 65. Stupid 65."

He said he's "insulted" by the arguments in Bunner's column, but he holds no grudge.

Bunner was Harper's chief speechwriter when the prime minister made a historic apology in the House of Commons to residential school survivors.

"There is no place in Canada for the attitudes that inspired the Indian residential schools system to ever again prevail," he said in 2008.

Bunner has said he didn't write Harper's speech. He told APTN News in 2015 that he stood by his column and wasn't happy with Harper's apology.

The premier's office declined CBC News' request to interview Bunner. Interviews with backroom staff are uncommon.

"Mr. Bunner is a speechwriter. He is employed to take the Government's policy and put it into words. Mr. Bunner is not employed as a policy advisor nor is he involved in policy making," a spokesperson wrote in an email.

"I'll also remind you that the Premier was a senior minister of the federal government which issued the apology and settlement. Elected officials set policy — not staff."

The Kenney government has made several efforts to advance partnerships between the province and Indigenous groups since he was elected last year, particularly around natural resource development. The premier called it an "economic and moral imperative."

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University in Calgary says the premier's office needs to address Bunner's article. He added it's a blow to Alberta's efforts to build trust with Indigenous communities.

"This isn't written 30 years ago. This isn't written 20 years ago. This was written after a public apology."

Bratt also said that while speechwriters don't dictate policy, they can influence it like any other adviser.

Bunner's column says that not all residential school students had a bad experience, and that white children also experienced abuse at boarding schools. He did acknowledge that Indigenous people endured worse than most.

But he blamed prominent Indigenous activists for using residential schools to propagate an "entitlement narrative" that has morphed into a "gold mine."

"The bogus genocide story of the Canadian Aboriginal residential schools system is an insult to all of us, Native and non-Native, dead or alive, who are justifiably proud of the peaceful, tolerant, pluralistic history and values of our great country," the article concludes.

Gabrielle Lindstrom is from the Kainaiwa First Nation in southern Alberta and teaches Indigenous studies at Mount Royal University. She wasn't surprised when she read the article.

"I would say that these claims are very common," she said, explaining that she often sees university students with similar misconceptions.

Lindstrom says this issue is not just about one man's words, but generations of stereotypes against Indigenous people.

"We've made the abuse of children debatable and we've made the violence against Indigenous people something that is alleged and something that is debatable."

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard from 6,500 witnesses, creating a historical database made up of five million documents. At the end of its work, the commission released 94 calls to action, which were accepted by the federal government.

The commission said the schools amounted to cultural genocide, attempted to eradicate Aboriginal culture and to assimilate Aboriginal children into mainstream Canada.

Littlechild still sees many areas for improvement — and says he wants to work on that shoulder to shoulder with people like Bunner.

"When we have challenges like this, let's talk about it and see how we find a solution to it," he said.

"It would serve [us] much greater if we walked that path together."

Pride Hamilton files Human Rights Tribunal complaint against Hamilton police, city

© Will Erskine / Global News Pride Hamilton has filed a human rights complaint against Hamilton police following the events of the organization's Pride 2019 event.Pride Hamilton has filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario against the Hamilton Police Service and the City of Hamilton.

The application, which was filed on June 12 ahead of a one-year deadline, alleges police discriminated against the organization by failing to protect Pride-goers from violence at the Hamilton Pride festival at Gage Park on June 15, 2019.

"It's our view that Hamilton Police Services discriminated against our organization on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or gender expression through its failure to properly plan for, protect and respond to threats to the 2019 Pride celebrations in Hamilton," reads a statement from the organization.

Read more: Hamilton LGBTQ2 residents react to Pride 2019 review: ‘We knew that we were right about this’

It's asking for $600,000 in damages to support "initiatives, programs and/or organizations in Hamilton's two-spirit and LGBTQIA+ communities."

That's the same amount that the city's police services board allocated for an independent review of police response to Pride 2019, which determined that police response was "inadequate" in dealing with violence before, during and after it unfolded.

The complaint also singles out the city for defending the police response.

"The chair of the Hamilton Police Services Board and the mayor of the city of Hamilton made public comments that defended the HPS’s preparation and response," the statement goes on to say. "These comments served to support and embolden the conduct of the Hamilton Police Service."

Read more: Independent review says police response to violence at 2019 Hamilton Pride ‘inadequate’

Pride Hamilton says it's retained Ross & McBride LLP and will be represented by a legal team led by human rights lawyer Wade Poziomka.

The City of Hamilton has not responded to Global News' requests for comment.

Hamilton police spokesperson Jackie Penman says the service has not yet received a notice from the tribunal.

"Hamilton Police are aware of the media release issued by Pride Hamilton but we have not received anything from the human rights tribunal yet, " Penman told Global News, "We will not be making any comment on the application."

B.C. researchers testing wastewater to help detect COVID-19
Researchers have a new surveillance tool that could give them a head start when it comes to coronavirus outbreaks: our wastewater.

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control is leading a pilot project to test B.C. wastewater for evidence of COVID-19.

"You can use [wastewater] to survey what people are consuming," said Natalie Prystajecky, who is leading the project.

"In this case … it could serve as an early warning system. It could show that there's a lack of cases."

It's a tactic that's been used in other parts of the world, letting health officials know just how prevalent the virus is.

In Italy, researchers found traces of the virus in samples from 2019 — before the pandemic was declared.
Useful for 2nd wave

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has spoken in support of the idea of testing wastewater.

"It's kind of an exciting thing. We have some expertise that's quite unique here," Henry said Tuesday.

"Where I think it's going to be helpful for us is if we start to see cases, one or two in a small community or we're worried about transmission in a community.".

© Mike McArthur/CBC B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry spoke in favour of wastewater testing in B.C. Tuesday.

For now, researchers have been drawing samples from Vancouver and Surrey but with less than 200 confirmed cases provincewide, they haven't found any trace of COVID-19 yet.

Prystajecky said with the caseload low, that makes sense.

"As we go into the second wave, we could use it for communities that can't access testing easily," Prystajecky said.

"You can test an entire population without having to use swabs, which are a limited resource right now."

Officials say they'll have a better understanding of the data they've collected by the fall.

The project will run until at least December.