Watch Crazy Drone Footage of the Arecibo Observatory Collapse (Video)
Ross A. Lincoln 

© TheWrap Arecibo Observatory Telescope 

BEFORE DAMAGE CAUSED COLLAPSE

The end of an era came unexpectedly this week when the iconic Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico collapsed Dec. 1 exactly one month after its 57th birthday. And as it happens, the whole thing was captured in spectacular drone footage that you can watch here right now.

Drone footage of the Arecibo collapse. I can't believe the timing that they had a drone in the air when this happened. What strange luck. Source: @NSF pic.twitter.com/Kpfw47moAC
- TJ Cooney December 3, 2020

The telescope, which became operational in 1963 and until 2016 was the world's largest spherical reflector dish, was for decades a crucial tool in the advancement of astronomy. While used primarily for research in atmospheric science and both radio and radar astronomy, it was perhaps best known as a key NASA tool for monitoring near earth asteroids, and as part of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence.

Among the discoveries made using the telescope: Mercury's 59-day rotation period; the first solid evidence supporting the existence of neutron stars; the Nobel prize winning discovery of the first binary pulsar; the first observation of a comet using radar; and the first identified extrasolar planets.

It was also well known for appearances in several pop culture milestones, most famously the James Bond film "GoldenEye" (1995), where it was used in the film's climax as the villain's secret base. It also appeared in the films "Species" (1996) and "Contact" (1997), and an episode of "The X Files," as well as multiple video games and novels.

Alas, over the 2010s it was battered by a series of severe, climate change-linked tropical storms and hurricanes, culminating in terrible damage inflicted by Hurricane Maria in 2017. Unfortunately the 2016 election led to a government unwilling to fund repairs. Though new sources of funding were cobbled together late in 2018, in late Nov. 2020 it was determined there was no way to safely repair the telescope and the National Science Foundation announced it would be decommissioned.

The decommissioning was supposed to proceed after NSF determined the safest possible method, but physics had other plans. So it is that on Dec. 4, the whole thing up and collapsed with almost no warning.

But, even though the end of 60 years of scientific progress is sad, we're glad a historically significant event like that was at least captured on video. You can see more from the collapse here, and watch how the telescope was used in "GoldenEye" below.

India's winter of discontent: 

Farmers rise up against Modi

THE BASE OF THE 

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA

NEW DELHI — A chilly breeze whirls through New Delhi in the mornings and the sun is partly obscured by toxic haze, a marker of another winter in the Indian capital. But along the city's borders, this year is visibly and viscerally different.

The perpetually busy arterial highways that connect most northern Indian towns to this city of 29 million people now pulse to the cries of “Inquilab Zindabad” — “Long live the revolution.” 

Tens and thousands of farmers with distinctive, colorful turbans and long, flowing beards have descended upon the city's borders, choking highways in giant demonstrations against new farming laws that they say will open them to corporate exploitation.

For more than a week, they’ve marched toward the capital on their tractors and trucks like an army, pushing aside concrete police barricades while braving tear gas, batons and water cannons. Now, on the outskirts of New Delhi, they are hunkered down with food and fuel supplies that can last weeks and threatening to besiege the capital if Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government doesn't meet their demands to abolish the laws.

“Modi wants to sell our lands to corporates,” said one of them, Kaljeet Singh, 31, who travelled from Ludhiana city in Punjab, some 310 kilometres (190 miles) north of New Delhi. “He can’t decide for millions of those who for generations have given their blood and sweat to the land they regard as more precious than their lives.”

At night, the farmers sleep in trailers and under trucks, curling themselves in blankets to brave the winter chill. During the day, they sit huddled in groups in their vehicles, surrounded by mounds of rice, lentils and vegetables that are prepared into meals at hundreds of makeshift soup kitchens, in enormous pots stirred with wooden spoons the size of canoe paddles.

Anmol Singh, 33, who supports his family of six by farming, said the new laws were part of a larger plan to hand over the farmers' land to big corporations and make them landless.

“Modi wants the poor farmer to die of hunger so that he can fill the stomachs of his rich friends,” he said. “We are here to fight his brutal decrees peacefully.”

He paused, then reconsidered: “Actually, let him and his ministers take us on. We will give them a bloody nose.”

Many of the protesting farmers hail from northern Punjab and Haryana, two of the largest agricultural states in India. An overwhelming majority of them are Sikhs. They fear the laws passed in September will lead the government to stop buying grain at minimum guaranteed prices and result in exploitation by corporations who will push down prices. Many activists and farming experts support their demand for a minimum guaranteed price for their crops.

The new rules will also eliminate agents who act as middlemen between the farmers and the government-regulated wholesale markets. Farmers say agents are a vital cog of the farm economy and their main line of credit, providing quick funds for fuel, fertilizers and even loans in case of family emergencies.

The laws have compounded existing resentment from farmers, who often complain of being ignored by the government in their push for better crop prices, additional loan waivers and irrigation systems to guarantee water during dry spells.

The government has argued the laws bring about necessary reform that will allow farmers to market their produce and boost production through private investment. But farmers say they were never consulted.

With nearly 60% of the Indian population depending on agriculture for their livelihoods, the growing farmer rebellion has rattled Modi’s administration and allies. His leaders have scrambled to contain the protests, which are fast resembling last year’s scenes when a contentious new citizenship law that discriminated against Muslims led to demonstrations that culminated in violence.

Those demonstrations were much bigger in scale, but the farmers' rumblings are growing fast and gaining widespread support of ordinary citizens who have started joining them in large numbers.

Modi and his allies have tried to allay farmers’ fears about the new laws while dismissing their concerns. Some of his party leaders have called the farmers “misguided” and “anti-national,” a label often given to those who criticize Modi or his policies.

The government is holding talks with the farmers to persuade them to end their protests, but they have dug in their heels.

Farmer Kulwant Singh, 72, said that when he left his home in Haryana for the protests, he gave his wife a garland of flowers for two possible scenarios.

“Either I return victorious and she places it around my neck in celebration, or I die here revolting and the same garland is put on my body when it reaches home,” Singh said.

Such passions run deep among the protesters who have found social, economic and generational barriers tumbling during the demonstrations.

Singh isn't the only one from his family who travelled to New Delhi for what he called “Qilah Fatehi," an Urdu term that translates to “laying a siege.” His son and grandson also accompanied him.

“It's a fight for my generation too,” said Amrinder Singh, 16.

As demonstrations grow, the protesters have also started to drive a political message home.

Not satisfied with Modi's federal policies, many of which have attracted widescale resentment from his critics and minorities, protesting farmers say it's time he stops what they call his “dictatorial behaviour.”

“India is in a recession. There are hardly any jobs and our country's secular fabric is in tatters,” said Gurpreet Singh, 26, a biotechnology student who comes from a farming family. “At a time when India needs a healing touch, Modi is coming up with divisive, controversial laws. This is unacceptable and defies our constitutional values.”

Modi's second term in power since May 2019 has been marked by several convulsions. The economy has tanked, social strife widened, protests have erupted against discriminatory laws and his government has been questioned over its response to the pandemic.

The farmer protests present a new challenge for the government.

The protesters' desire to stand up to Modi and his policies extends to a sexagenarian farmer couple who drove 250 kilometres (155 miles) from Chandigarh city in a hatchback Sunday to participate in the demonstrations.

Dharam Singh Sandhu, 67, and Vimaljeet Kaur, 66, are spending nights in their car parked near the protest site. In the morning, they share breakfast at a makeshift soup kitchen. The latter part of the day is spent taking part in the demonstrations.

“Our land is our mother. If we can’t protect it then we have no right to live," Sandhu said about the protests.

His wife spoke passionately of a larger purpose as she made her way to the protest site through a stream of vehicles honking incessantly to get past congested traffic.

“Our country is like a bunch of flowers, but Modi wants it to be of the same colour. He has no right to do that. I am here to protest against that mindset," Kaur said.

As Kaur walked hand in hand with her husband, a great cry emerged from one of the vehicles: “Inquilab Zindabad.”

The crowd turned and followed their gaze toward a young man with a black beard who held up his fist through the car's window.

The protesters, including Kaur, roared back: “Inquilab Zindabad!"

Sheikh Saaliq, The Associated Press

Liberals table bill to implement UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

OTTAWA — The Liberal government introduced long-awaited legislation Thursday to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Justice Minister David Lametti described as a significant step forward on the path to reconciliation

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

"It has the potential to be transformational," Lametti told a news conference after tabling Bill C-15 in the House of Commons.

"We're at a starting line putting 150 plus years, longer than that, of colonialism and the impact of (it) behind us," he said. "Let's move to a different model."

The proposed legislation, if passed, would require the federal government to work with First Nations, Métis and Inuit to do everything needed to ensure Canadian law is in harmony with the rights and principles contained in the UN declaration.

It would also have the federal government create an action plan for those goals as soon as possible and no later than three years after the bill comes into force.

National chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations said the bill is not perfect and that he is concerned the deadline for completing the action plan is too far away.

"We've waited too long already," he said at the news conference. "We don't want wait for another three years."

Lametti said the deadline is reasonable because consultation with Indigenous Peoples will take time.

"It is complex, working with indigenous leadership. You have national organizations. You also have each individual nation. Each individual nation has a chief or a leader of some sort who would expect to be consulted," he said.

"We picked a date that was realistic but, that being said, the parliamentary process is the place where we can look at that."

Bellegarde said the bill doesn't provide clarity on which federal department will lead the effort to implement the UN declaration in Canadian law. "We would like to see a commitment to a periodic review, which is something any good legislation should have."

The legislation doesn't give First Nations anything new, Bellegarde said. "It acknowledges and affirms our rights under international law."

He said the bill condemns the racist and colonial doctrines and beliefs that have led to grave human rights abuses including the residential school system.

Lametti predicted the bill will have wide support in the House of Commons and the Senate.

"It's a human rights issue. Who's going to vote against human rights?" he said in a separate interview Thursday afternoon.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said in a statement the implementation of the UN declaration is essential.

"We are still reviewing the details of the government's bill," he said. "We will be looking forward to working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to improve the bill."

Conservative Indigenous services critic Gary Vidal's office said the party is still reviewing the legislation and does not have immediate comment.

Ontario Conservative MPP Greg Rickford said in a statement the federal Liberals tabled bill C-15 before completing adequate consultation, adding that Indigenous communities need concrete action from Ottawa.

In a technical briefing provided to media, Justice Department officials said the bill includes a framework to create ways to align federal law with the declaration over time. It does not transform the declaration itself into law.

The proposed legislation builds upon a private member's bill from former New Democrat MP Romeo Saganash, which the House of Commons passed two years ago.

That bill stalled in the Senate, where Conservative senators argued it could have unintended legal and economic consequences, and then died when Parliament dissolved.

The UN declaration, which Canada endorsed in 2010, affirms the rights of Indigenous Peoples to self-determination and to their language, culture and traditional lands.

It also spells out the need for free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous Peoples on anything that infringes on their lands or rights, but Bill C-15 doesn't include a definition of such consent.

Lametti said it would be impossible to define a free, prior and informed consent because every consent requires a unique process that includes a dialogue with Indigenous Peoples.

"This is something that is so contextual that will be different with each individual nation, with each project, with each with each level of government," he said.

He said the need for consent doesn't represent a veto.

"Free, prior and informed consent is about respecting the human rights of Indigenous Peoples," Lametti said. "The document itself is about human rights generally, your right to education, language and culture, self determination, (and these) are things that Canadians believe in."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2020.

---

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

Maan Alhmidi, The Canadian Press

#SPACERACE2.0

Special delivery: Japan space probe to bring asteroid dust to Earth

Call it a special delivery: after six years in space, Japan's Hayabusa-2 probe is heading home, but only to drop off its rare asteroid samples before starting a new mission.

© Behrouz MEHRI Hayabusa-2 will near Earth to drop off rare asteroid samples before heading back into deep space on a new extended mission

The fridge-sized probe, launched in December 2014, has already thrilled scientists by landing on and gathering material from an asteroid some 300 million kilometres (185 million miles) from Earth.

But its work isn't over yet, with scientists from Japan's space agency JAXA now planning to extend its mission for more than a decade and targeting two new asteroids.

© Janis LATVELS Graphic explaining how Japan's Hayabusa-2 space probe will drop off asteroid samples to Earth before starting a new mission

Before that mission can begin, Hayabusa-2 needs to drop off its precious samples from the asteroid Ryugu -- "dragon palace" in Japanese.

Scientists are hoping the capsule will contain around 0.1 grams of material that will offer clues about what the solar system was like at its birth some 4.6 billion years ago.

© Handout Hayabusa-2 needs to drop off its precious samples from the asteroid Ryugu - 'dragon palace' in Japanese

The samples could shed light on "how matter is scattered around the solar system, why it exists on the asteroid and how it is related to Earth," project manager Yuichi Tsuda told reporters ahead of Sunday's drop-off.

The material is in a capsule that will separate from Hayabusa-2 while it is some 220,000 kilometres above Earth and then plummet into the southern Australian desert.

They were collected during two crucial phases of the mission last year.

In the first, Hayabusa-2 touched down on Ryugu to collect dust before firing an "impactor" to stir up pristine material from below the surface. Months later, it touched down to collect additional samples.

© HO Half the material from Ryugu will be kept for future study as advances are made in analytic technology

"We may be able to get substances that will give us clues to the birth of a planet and the origin of life... I'm very interested to see the substances," mission manager Makoto Yoshikawa told reporters

.

© David Lory Videographic presenting the Hayabusa2 mission. Nearly six years after its launch from the Tanegashima space centre in Japan, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 is on the verge of completing its mission.

Protected from sunlight and radiation inside the capsule, the samples will be collected, processed, then flown to Japan.

Half the material will be shared between JAXA, US space agency NASA and other international organisations, and the rest kept for future study as advances are made in analytic technology.

VIDEO HAYABUSA2'S MISSION TO ASTEROID RYUGU

- Two new asteroid targets -


After dropping off its samples, Hayabusa-2 will complete a series of orbits around the sun for around six years -- recording data on dust in interplanetary space and observing exoplanets.

It will then approach the first of its target asteroids in July 2026.

The probe won't get that close to the asteroid named 2001 CC21, but scientists hope it will be able to photograph it as it completes a "high speed swing-by".

Getting so close could also help develop knowledge about how to protect Earth against asteroid impact.

Hayabusa-2 will then head towards its main target, 1998 KY26, a ball-shaped asteroid with a diameter of just 30 metres. When the probe arrives at the asteroid in July 2031, it will be approximately 300 million kilometres from Earth

And the target poses significant new challenges, not least because it is spinning rapidly, rotating on its axis about every 10 minutes.

Hayabusa-2 will observe and photograph the asteroid, but it is unlikely to land and collect samples, as it probably won't have enough fuel to return them to Earth.

Still, just making it to the asteroid will be a feat, said Seiichiro Watanabe, a Hayabusa-2 probe project scientist and professor of planetary science at Nagoya University.

"It's like an athlete who scored two tries at a Rugby World Cup game attempting to compete in the Olympics, 10 years after switching over to figure skating," he told reporters.

"We had never expected that the Hayabusa-2 would carry out another mission... but it's a scientifically meaningful and fascinating plan."

The mission extension comes with risks, including that Hayabusa-2's equipment will degrade in deep space, but it also offers a rare, comparatively cost-effective way to continue research.

The probe is the successor to JAXA's first asteroid explorer "Hayabusa", which means falcon in Japanese.

That probe brought back dust samples from a smaller, potato-shaped asteroid in 2010 after a seven-year odyssey, and was hailed as a scientific triumph

kh/sah/kaf/rma

#SPACERACE2.0

Chinese spacecraft carrying lunar rocks lifts off from moon

BEIJING — A Chinese spacecraft lifted off from the moon Thursday night with a load of lunar rocks, the first stage of its return to Earth, the government space agency reported.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Chang’e 5, the third Chinese spacecraft to land on the moon and the first to take off from it again, is the latest in a series of increasingly ambitious missions for Beijing’s space program, which also has a orbiter and rover headed to Mars.

The Chang’e 5 touched down Tuesday on the Sea of Storms on the moon’s near side. Its mission: collect about 2 kilograms (4 pounds) of lunar rocks and bring them back to Earth, the first return of samples since Soviet spacecraft did so in the 1970s. Earlier, the U.S. Apollo astronauts brought back hundreds of pounds of moon rocks.

The landing site is near a formation called the Mons Rumker and may contain rocks billions of years younger than those retrieved earlier.

The ascent vehicle lifted off from the moon shortly after 11 p.m. Beijing time Thursday (1500 GMT) and was due to rendezvous with a return vehicle in lunar orbit, then transfer the samples to a capsule, according to the China National Space Administration. The moon rocks and debris were sealed inside a special canister to avoid contamination.

It wasn't clear when the linkup would occur. After the transfer, the ascent module would be ejected and the capsule would remain in lunar orbit for about a week, awaiting the optimal time to make the trip back to Earth.

Video: China's historic lunar mission moves into key phase (cbc.ca)

Chinese officials have said the capsule with the samples is due to land on Earth around the middle of the month. Touchdown is planned for the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, where China’s astronauts have made their return in Shenzhou spacecraft.

Chang’e 5's lander, which remained on the moon, was capable of scooping samples from the surface and drilling 2 metres (about 6 feet).

While retrieving samples was its main task, the lander also was equipped to extensively photograph the area, map conditions below the surface with ground penetrating radar and analyze the lunar soil for minerals and water content.

Right before the ascent vehicle lifted off, the lander unfurled what the space administration called the first free-standing Chinese flag on the moon. The agency posted an image — apparently taken from the lander — of the ascend vehicle firing its engines as it took off.

Chang’e 5 has revived talk of China one day sending astronauts to the moon and possibly building a scientific base there, although no timeline has been proposed for such projects.

China launched its first temporary orbiting laboratory in 2011 and a second in 2016. Plans call for a permanent space station after 2022, possibly to be serviced by a reusable space plane.

While China is boosting co-operation with the European Space Agency and others, interactions with NASA are severely limited by U.S. concerns over the secretive nature and close military links of the Chinese program.

POISIONED WORK ENVIRONMENT

Top AI ethics researcher says Google fired her; company denies it

© Reuters/MIKE BLAKE Google extends work-from-home order to summer 2021

OAKLAND, Calif. (Reuters) - A top Google scientist on ethical artificial intelligence says she was fired after criticizing the company's diversity efforts, a claim the Alphabet Inc unit disputed on Thursday, in the latest brush-up between the internet giant and worker activists.
Timnit Gebru, who is Black, said on Twitter she was fired on Wednesday after sending an email to colleagues expressing frustration over gender diversity within Google's AI unit and questioning whether company leaders reviewed her work more stringently than that of people from different backgrounds. Gebru co-founded the nonprofit Black in AI that aims to increase representation of people of color in artificial intelligence and co-authored a landmark paper on bias in facial analysis technology.

Jeff Dean, head of Google's AI unit, told staff in an email reviewed by Reuters that Gebru had threatened to resign unless she was told which colleagues deemed a draft paper she wrote was unpublishable, a demand Dean rejected.

"We accept and respect her decision to resign from Google," Dean wrote in the email, adding, "we all genuinely share Timnit's passion to make AI more equitable and inclusive."

Gebru said in a series of Twitter posts that Google cut her off from its systems without warning or conversation with her about her concerns.

Gebru's abrupt departure adds to years of angst, including several resignations and firings, in the AI department and other organizations at Google over diversity and whether the company's efforts to minimize the potential harms of its services are sufficient.

More than 150 employees expressed support for Gebru, demanding Google strengthen its commitment to academic freedom and explain why it chose to "censor" her paper, according to a petition posted online. Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund, wrote on Twitter that Gebru's firing was "absolutely infuriating" and "a disaster."

Just Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint accusing Google of unlawfully monitoring and questioning several workers who were then fired for protesting against company policies and trying to organize a union.

Gebru's paper contended that technology companies could do more to ensure AI systems aimed at mimicking human writing and speech do not exacerbate historical gender biases and use of offensive language, according to a draft copy seen by Reuters.

In his email to staff, Dean said the paper had not been given to the company for review in a timely fashion and was submitted to a conference without Google's permission.

He also took issue with some of its conclusions, which he said relied on outdated concerns, including about the environmental impact of large numbers of computers crunching data.

Responding to the company's rejection of her work, Gebru wrote on Twitter last week: "Nothing like a bunch of privileged White men trying to squash research by marginalized communities for marginalized communities by ordering them to STOP with ZERO conversation. The amount of disrespect is incredible."

Google declined to comment on her departure beyond Dean's email, which was first reported by tech news site Platformer.

Gebru previously worked at Microsoft Research, and she co-authored a widely cited 2018 paper that found higher error rates in facial analysis technology for women with darker skin tones.

Her new paper, co-authored with non-Google staff, is still expected to be presented at a computer science conference in March, according a person familiar with the matter.

(Reporting by Paresh Dave and Jeffrey Dastin; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

Evraz steel mill in Regina hit with 500 layoffs; union cites decrease in demand

The president of union Local 5890 says it's tough because people will be out of work just over a week before Christmas

REGINA — A union representing workers at a steel plant in Regina says nearly 500 of its members are being laid off.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The United Steelworkers says the workers will be off the job starting Dec. 17 and their layoff notices are indefinite.

The president of union Local 5890 says it's tough because people will be out of work just over a week before Christmas and in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mike Day says the union knew layoffs were coming, but didn't expect them to hit all at once.

Video: Coronavirus: Ontario to announce COVID-19 vaccine task force members on. Dec. 4 (Global News)

The union says Canada's steel industry is struggling because projects are being built with cheaper steel obtained offshore rather than product manufactured locally.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe calls the layoffs devastating and says officials are reaching out to offer whatever help they can.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2020.

FEARMONGERING 

Could Alberta actually fall into have-not status? 

New report shows it is a possibility

FROM CATO INSTITUTE NORTH

© Dave Carels, Global News

 The provincial flag atop the Alberta legislature on Friday, February 26, 2016.

A new report from Canadian think-tank the Fraser Institute shows the oil price shock has driven Alberta's fiscal capacity to nearly the national average, and suggests if the economy doesn't turn around, the province could slip into have-not status.

"It's actually conceivable within three to five years that Alberta could be an equalization recipient province," said Ben Eisen, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute, and one of the report's co-authors.

"This is not a good news story at all. The major driver of this has been falling fiscal capacity in the particularly oil-rich provinces in the country."

Fiscal capacity is a measurement of a province's ability to generate tax wealth, using the average tax rates across the country. Alberta has led the nation in capacity since the measurement was first devised in 1967, but the recession in 2016 saw the gap begin to shrink, and the oil shock caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated the decline.

"The gap between the lowest income province and Alberta in 2007, per person, was about $11,000 worth of fiscal capacity. That's gone all the way down to about $4,000," Eisen said.

Whether that gap continues to shrink will depend on whether world oil markets rebound, and how Alberta comes out of the COVID-19-caused recession.

"It really might change how we view the pros and cons of that program," said Trevor Tombe, associate professor of economics at the University of Calgary. He believes the narrowing of the fiscal gap in the country could lead to some interesting conversations.

"It will spark questions like, 'How should we design a program when the gap between the have and have-not provinces is smaller than at any time in history?'"

READ MORE: Alberta premier promises referendum on equalization reform

BULLSHIT, ALBERTA WAS PULLED OUT OF THE GREAT DEPRESSION BY TRANSFER PAYMENTS
Albertans have long had suspicions about equalization, and the UCP government has used it as a wedge issue with Ottawa. Premier Jason Kenney has promised to hold a referendum on the program. While it wouldn't have any impact on the formula, he has said it would put Alberta's concerns on the national agenda.

Despite the dramatic shift, Finance Minister Travis Toews believes it's a conversation that still needs to be had because the government still has fundamental concerns about how the program is structured. He's also not convinced Alberta will be seeing any payments any time soon.

"I'm confident that this province will continue to be the wealth creation engine in the future for the nation," he said.

If it moves forward, a provincial referendum would be held in conjunction with municipal elections in the fall of 2021.

Children and youth with special needs 'left out' of pandemic response: B.C. watchdog

VANCOUVER — Victoria O'Connor says she's reached a breaking point while constantly managing and advocating for the supports she needs for her twin sons, who are non-verbal and have been diagnosed with autism.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

"We are very much a family in crisis," the North Vancouver, B.C., mother said in an interview.

One of her eight-year-old sons has been experiencing pain that doctors have yet to diagnose, which can cause him to cry and scream for hours at a time, frightening his brother, she said.

"I just sort of feel like it doesn't matter how bad your situation is. You're still going to have to jump through a million hoops," she said of navigating B.C.'s support program for children with special needs.

O'Connor's is among 545 other families who lent their voices to a survey and report out Thursday from British Columbia's representative for children and youth, which shows the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated long-standing problems with the province's system, leaving families feeling abandoned.

Jennifer Charlesworth said it was impossible to examine the impacts of the pandemic outside the context of what she called an outdated and inequitable system for children and youth who have disabilities, chronic health issues or neurological conditions.

"For far too many of the tens of thousands of B.C. families of children and youth with special needs, there is no down time," the representative said during a news conference.

"The common dreams of any of us — a good education, bright future for our children, a safe and comfortable home for everyone in the family, even a rare night off — can be tragically elusive."

The long wait times for diagnoses mean kids in B.C. may pass through their early years without access to supports unless their families can pay for private services, said Charlesworth, and the funding caps for purchases of key pieces of equipment that help keep children comfortable haven't changed in 30 years.

For families who are receiving funding after a diagnosis, the pandemic brought a sudden end to vital therapies and support services at home, in the community and at school, she said.



Video: Parents plan provide wide 'sick out' campaign (Global News)



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"We all need a break from our hectic lives sometimes, but respite for families of children and youth with special needs vanished overnight at the start of the pandemic and for many families remains that way."

The report calls for immediate action in eight areas, including the creation of a family-engaged communication strategy in the Ministry of Children and Family Development and the extension of all pandemic-related benefits until next fall for families of children with special needs.

Asked "What do you need right now during the pandemic?" 60 per cent of survey respondents said they needed to know whether their family was eligible for any pandemic-related supports in the absence of clear communication and regular contact with social workers.

The province offered families a monthly emergency benefit of $225, though just 28 per cent of families surveyed reported receiving it and Charlesworth noted it expired at the end of September.

The first round of emergency funding reached more than 1,300 families between April and June, the children's ministry confirmed in an email, and another 3,000 families received the money between July and September.

Children diagnosed with autism under the age of six may receive up to $22,000 each year and youth aged six to 18 are eligible for $6,000.

B.C. offered their families an extra three months to use unspent money if the timing of their birthdays meant they were set to transition from one level of funding to another during the pandemic, as well as some flexibility in how the funds could be used.

But O'Connor said accessing the funds that cover certain therapies, equipment and respite care is often too complicated and frustrating, and she knows families who weren't using all their money as a result — even before the pandemic disrupted access to support services.

"I'm the kind of person, like, I'm going to get that funding used for my kids if it kills me," she said. "Generally it does burn me right up."

Mitzi Dean, the minister of children and family development, responded to the report, saying she knows families are struggling and has asked staff to expedite a new provincial framework for supporting children and youth with special needs that was in progress before the pandemic.

"I want to hear directly from those who are affected," Dean said in a statement. "That's why I have asked ministry staff to set up an advisory council to help ensure those voices are heard."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2020.

Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press

Twist of fate: Prairie provinces become COVID-19 hot spot in pandemic's second wave

EDMONTON — The three Prairie provinces have become the epicentre of COVID-19's second wave in Canada — surpassing Ontario and Quebec, the two most populous provinces that were initially the hardest hit

THE POLITICAL ECONOMY

OF THE PRAIRIE PANDEMIC 

ALL THREE PROVINCES 

ARE RULED BY 

REPUBLICAN LITE 

CONSERVATIVE PARTIES 

.

WOT, ME WORRY?

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Some infectious disease experts say the exponential growth in cases on the Prairies can be linked to pandemic fatigue and a reluctance by politicians to impose stricter health measures in the fall.

"Ten infections in Manitoba means something completely different than 10 infections in Toronto or New York City," said Dr. Kelly MacDonald, a professor of infectious diseases at the University of Manitoba.

"Our rates didn't look like a problem for quite a long time when they probably were," said MacDonald, who added that there has been "a complete lack of appreciation for the case per unit of population."

Since the fall, the spread of COVID-19 has increased everywhere, but daily case numbers on the Prairies have been matching areas with about double the population.

The three provinces have about 6.7 million residents combined and reported a total of 2,480 new cases on Thursday. Alberta alone reported 1,854 new infections.

Ontario, with a population of about 14.5 million, reported 1,824 cases. Quebec, which has almost two million more people than all three Prairie provinces, had 1,470 new infections.

When the first wave of the pandemic hit Canada in the spring, Ontario and Quebec were particularly affected. Now, the infection rate per capita is highest in Alberta, followed by Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

On Wednesday, Ontario's health minister singled out Alberta.

"You want to speak about who is in crisis. Have you taken a look at Alberta, where they're doubling up patients in intensive care units? We're not doing that in Ontario," said Christine Elliot.

A spokesman for federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said she spoke Wednesday night with Alberta Health Minister Tyler Shandro about the surge in cases and offered federal resources.



Video: Coronavirus: Nunavut reports four new cases of COVID-19 (Global News)



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Coronavirus: Nunavut reports four new cases of COVID-19
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It's a major turnaround since April when Premier Jason Kenney, standing in front of a wall of personal protective equipment, touted the success of his province's COVID-19 response and announced Alberta was sending supplies to Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.

Last week, Kenney announced tighter restrictions after mounting pressure from public health experts. The measures ban indoor social gatherings and some students are back at home learning online. Bars, restaurants and places of worship remain open.

Dr. James Talbot, a professor of public health at the University of Alberta, said there is a reluctance by the United Conservative government to impose another lockdown, even though contact tracing has become impossible with the jump in infections.

"There are a number of things that interfere with our ability to bring this under control," said Talbot, who is also a former chief medical health officer in the province.

COVID-19 fatigue has descended along with colder weather preventing people from meeting outside as much, he said.

"Another part of it is we have inconsistent regulations," said Talbot, pointing to bars and restaurants being open, while people cannot have guests over.

"When people think something is unfair or illogical, then they just make decisions not to follow the rules that are out there," he said. "Until you regain their confidence, the situation is going to continue to get worse."

In Saskatchewan, team sports are suspended and home gatherings are limited to five people.

Manitoba was the first Prairie province to impose stricter health measures two weeks ago when it had the highest per capita infection rate in the country. Businesses can't sell non-essential items and gatherings in homes are banned.

MacDonald said those restrictions were brought in when case rates were expanding exponentially, so "you can slightly level them off, but you are not going to drop the rate of infection very rapidly."

Talbot suggested it's not too late to turn the numbers around and save as many lives as possible. But he added restrictions need to stay in place until Canada distributes a COVID-19 vaccine in the new year.

"This isn't personal. This isn't about criticizing anyone," he said.

"If we all do our part and if we are effective, the virus will let us know by infecting fewer people two weeks from now."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 3, 2020.

Daniela Germano, The Canadian Press