Study finds Canadians may not take climate change as personally as their peers

WATERLOO REGION — A new study finds Canadians may not take climate change as personally as their peers.

According to a recent international study, 25 per cent of Canadian respondents do not believe their personal travel habits contribute to climate change, compared to an average of 19 per cent in the countries surveyed.

The study, released last month, came from the IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) Institute for Business Value. The survey included 14,000 respondents varying in age from 18 to over 70 years old from nine countries: China, India, United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Brazil, United States and Canada.

Respondents from India and Mexico were most likely to strongly believe their travel habits contribute to climate change.

Additionally, only 20 per cent of Canadian respondents strongly agreed that they were actively looking to travel via more environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

Canadians made up 980 of those surveyed.

The findings that Canadians do not believe their habits contribute to climate change is in contrast to a 2019 study from Focaldata that reported 77 per cent of nearly 1,600 Canadians surveyed agreed the world is facing a climate emergency that could become extremely dangerous unless greenhouse gas emissions fall dramatically in the next few years.

In reality, Canada is the world’s 10th largest emitter of greenhouse gases according to Carbonbrief.org.

According to the federal government, in 2019 Canada emitted 730 megatonnes (Mt) of greenhouse gases overall, with 217 Mt coming from the transport sector.

Meanwhile, climate change is affecting Canada at twice the rate as the rest of the world.

In the Torngat Mountains in Labrador, for example, annual temperatures in the area increased by nearly half a degree each decade, or close to 2C in 40 years.

This is significantly higher than the global average temperatures that have risen by 0.18C per decade since 1981, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Climate change is not something that exists solely in the future, it exists today,” Andrew Trant, an assistant professor in the school of environment, resources and sustainability at the University of Waterloo, previously told The Record.

“Sometimes it’s hard to see from day to day, because those changes are gradual, but we are experiencing that change now, and the landscape is experiencing that change now.”

Trant found that Waterloo Region’s forest zone is expected to shift northwards because of global warming, with more Carolinian species on the local landscape.

Currently felt effects of climate change in Waterloo Region include flooding, extreme cold, record rainfall, heavy ice and wind storms.

By 2050, Waterloo Region predicts it can expect to see an average temperature increase between two and three degrees Celsius, meaning an average of 32 days per year of extreme heat up from the current 10.

In the same time frame, the region expects to see eight to 12 per cent more precipitation, and 40 per cent more freezing rain events.

“We need to have more people out paying attention. I think once we start to do that then we’re in a good position to make change and to be more supportive of putting more area under protection or finding different ways of conserving if we have a stronger relationship with these natural areas,” said Trant.

Leah Gerber, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Waterloo Region Record

US proposes ending rule that weakened wild bird protections

Thu., May 6, 2021



BILLINGS, Mont. — Longstanding protections for wild birds would be restored under a proposal unveiled Thursday to bring back prosecutions of avian deaths by industry that were ended under former President Donald Trump.

The Interior Department announcement came as President Joe Biden has sought to dismantle a Trump policy that ended criminal enforcement against companies over bird deaths that could have been prevented.

Hundreds of millions of birds die annually in collisions with electrical lines and wind turbines, after landing in oil pits and from other industrial causes, according to government officials and researchers.

The Biden administration in March issued a legal opinion citing court rulings that said the 102-year-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act was “unambiguous” that killing protected birds was unlawful ”at any time or in any manner."

Thursday’s proposal would cancel a rule enacted in Trump’s final days in office that blocked prosecutions of unintentional bird deaths. Interior officials said they will take public comment through June 7 before making a final decision.

Authorities will not be able to enforce the bird treaty in cases of accidental bird deaths until the rule is formally revoked, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson Vanessa Kauffman said.

The prohibition against accidental bird deaths was used most notably in a $100 million settlement by energy company BP, after government investigators concluded the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill killed about 100,000 birds.

The migratory bird policy was among dozens of Trump-era environmental actions Biden ordered reconsidered on his first day in office. Former federal officials, environmental groups and Democrats in Congress said many of the Trump rules were aimed at benefiting private industry at the expense of conservation.

Thursday's action was hailed by environmental groups that warned more birds would die under the Trump rule. Interior

Secretary Deb Haaland said it would help ensure agency decisions are guided by science. “The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is a bedrock environmental law that is critical to protecting migratory birds and restoring declining bird populations,” Haaland said in a statement.

Industry groups that supported the Trump policy had expressed a willingness to work with President Joe Biden on the issue when he first took office.

But the Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents oil and natural gas producers, condemned the proposed rule cancellation and said it would cause financial harm to companies that kill birds accidentally.

“This is not a case of punishing ‘bad actors,’ but rather a situation where companies are set up for failure,” said Mallori Miller, vice-president for government relations at the association.

More than 1,000 North American bird species are covered by the treaty — from fast-flying peregrine falcon to tiny songbirds and more than 20 owl species. Non-native species and some game birds, like wild turkeys, are not on the list.

Former federal officials and some scientists had said billions more birds could have died in coming decades under Trump’s rule. It came as species across North America already were in steep decline, with about 3 billion fewer birds compared with 1970, according to researchers.

Researchers have said that cats in the U.S. kill the most birds — more than 2 billion a year.

Besides the BP case, hundreds of enforcement cases — targeting utilities, oil companies and wind energy developers — resulted in criminal fines and civil penalties totalling $5.8 million between 2010 and 2018.

Federal wildlife officials say relatively few cases end with prosecutions because most companies are willing to take measures to address hazards that their operations may pose to birds.

Courts have been split on whether companies can be prosecuted for unintentional bird deaths.

Interior officials said in March that they plan to come up with new standards for bird deaths by industry, but they have not released further details.

Under former President Barack Obama, the agency started to develop a permitting system that would have allowed industry to kill limited numbers of birds. That work was left unfinished when the Democrat left office.

“A permitting system is a common sense approach to clarifying these longstanding protections,” said Sarah Greenberger, vice-president for conservation policy at the Audubon Society.

___

This version corrects that that the announcement was made on Thursday, not Monday.

Matthew Brown, The Associated Press

B.C. gives $2M to Japanese Canadian seniors as step toward righting internment wrongs


VICTORIA — British Columbia is offering tangible recognition of the historical wrongs caused by the province when it helped to intern thousands of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The province has announced a $2-million fund for the Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society to enhance programming for seniors and local communities.

A statement from the Ministry of Attorney General says the fund will be used to develop and deliver health and wellness programs to Japanese Canadian internment survivors.

The society and the National Association of Japanese Canadians will also spread the funding to other organizations supporting survivors.

The ministry statement says the grant is a first step toward fulfilling a provincial promise to honour Japanese Canadians by recognizing the traumatic internment of almost 22,000 people beginning in 1942.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says the funding will allow internment survivors to connect with others in their community, helping them stay healthy and remain independent.

"The terrible loss suffered by thousands of Japanese Canadians in the 1940s is still impacting the community today, with many experiencing lasting health issues and trauma," Dix says in the statement.

The Canadian government detained thousands of Japanese Canadians in early 1942 under the War Measures Act. They were held in crowded internment camps in B.C.'s Interior or were offered the option to work on sugar beet farms in Alberta and Manitoba for the remainder of the Second World War.

Their homes, farms, businesses and other property were sold off by the government and the proceeds were used to pay the cost of their detention.

Ruth Coles, president of the Nikkei Seniors Health Care and Housing Society, says many Japanese Canadian seniors were forced to rebuild their lives outside B.C. and now have "unique needs stemming from internment, forced uprooting, dispossession and displacement."

Many still feel "shame and a lack of resolution" caused by the internment that have led to a lifetime of challenges, she says.

Then-prime minister Brian Mulroney formally apologized in 1988 for Canada's role in the internment of Japanese Canadians and British Columbia recognized the discrimination and tremendous losses they suffered when it issued its own apology in the legislature in 2012.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2021.

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Results tally up billions in profit from Texas freeze for gas and power sellers

By Devika Krishna Kumar, Scott DiSavino and Jessica Resnick-Ault

© Reuters/MIKALA COMPTON FILE PHOTO: 

A neighborhood experiences a power outage after winter weather

 caused electricity blackouts in San Marcos

(Reuters) - Natural gas suppliers, pipeline companies and banks that trade commodities have emerged as the biggest market winners from February's U.S. winter blast that roiled gas and power markets, according to more than two dozen interviews and quarterly earnings reports.

The deep freeze caught Texas's utilities off-guard, killed more than 100 people and left 4.5 million without power. Demand for heat pushed wholesale power costs to 400 times the usual amount and propelled natural gas prices to record highs, forcing utilities and consumers to pay exorbitant bills.

After the storm, few companies wanted to talk about their financial gains, unwilling to be seen as profiting off others' hardships. But a clearer picture is emerging from quarterly earnings and as utility companies smarting from big bills sue to recoup their losses.

The biggest winners were companies with access to supplies, including leading energy trader Vitol, gas suppliers Kinder Morgan, Enterprise Products Partners and Energy Transfer, and banks Goldman Sachs, Bank of America (BofA) and Macquarie Group.

The firms combined stand to reap billions of dollars in profits by selling gas and power during the storm, according to interviews and reviews of public documents. It is possible that some companies may never collect on those sales due to ongoing litigation, however.

Losers include producers that could not deliver oil and gas due to frozen wellheads, gathering systems and processing stations. The week-long output loss cost shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources $80 million, Chevron about $300 million, and Exxon Mobil $800 million.

Utilities are complaining of price gouging and of unwarranted supply cancellations. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is reviewing gas and power markets for potential market manipulation.

Goldman Sachs and Vitol did not comment. BofA did not respond to a request for comment.

'MAXIMUM WITHDRAWAL'

Energy Transfer, which can store about 60% of U.S. daily gas consumption in areas hit hardest by the February freeze, could report a $850 million profit from selling the fuel to utilities and industrial customers during the storm, according to analysts at East Daley Capital. Other people familiar with its operations say that figure could be higher.

Energy Transfer did not comment for this story. The company reports results on Thursday.

Rival Enterprise Products Partners said the storm led to gains of about $250 million in the first quarter.

Kinder Morgan, another gas storage and pipeline operator, earned about $1 billion during the storm, the vast majority from higher gas prices and sales. Anticipating high demand, Kinder Morgan said it dispatched workers and backup generators ahead of the storm to its gas storage and pipeline facilities.

Graphic: Texas gas prices soars during February freeze, https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/ce/jznvnreddvl/Pasted%20image%201620219759793.png

At the beginning of February, gas prices ranged from $2.50 to $3 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) at hubs from Houston to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prices began climbing on Feb. 11 into the hundreds of dollars, with Tulsa's hub surging to a record $1,192.86 on Feb. 17, according to government data.

"That's what happens when you go from a very well supplied market to a very tight market, and in this case a catastrophically tight market," said one natural gas trader. "That was very localized pain, and it really surprised a lot of people."

Energy traders with three Texas electric cooperatives told Reuters they paid as much as $400 per mmBtu during a four-day stretch that began Valentine's Day weekend. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the crisis. San Antonio's municipal utility CPS Energy said its gas bill for the week was about $700 million.

"I've been tracking natural gas markets for 20 years. I've never seen price increases like we saw," said Tyson Slocum, an energy and environmental advisory committee member at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a director at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization.

WINNING AND LOSING

Australia's Macquarie, the second-largest marketer of U.S. natural gas, said its trading around the storm boosted its overall profit outlook for the year by about 10%, which analysts estimated at about A$400 million ($317 million).

Ahead of the storm, Macquarie traders researched how previous cold fronts disrupted infrastructure to prepare a plan, said sources within the firm, who requested anonymity. The company did not comment for this story.

Texas's grid operator ERCOT canceled $1 billion in service charges and state officials are considering securitizing unpaid ERCOT bills from electric companies that defaulted.

Many of the firms that profited from trading, such as Goldman Sachs and BofA, are also facing losses from their exposure to utilities and electric co-operatives that have declared bankruptcy, according to court filings.

BofA made hundreds of millions via its trading arm, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter, but it is owed nearly $480 million by Brazos Electric Power Cooperative, which filed for bankruptcy.

Disputes over price gouging and reneged contracts have also emerged after some suppliers declared the freeze was a force majeure event that allowed them to suspend contracts.

Macquarie was sued by Exxon seeking to void an $11 million gas bill. CPS Energy sued BP, Chevron, Energy Transfer and others for submitting bills that ran into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Texas wind farm operators also have filed lawsuits against trading arms of JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup, maintaining the cold snap was an extreme event that overrode contracts for power generation and delivery.

(Reporting By Devika Krishna Kumar, Scott DiSavino, Jessica Resnick Ault, and Gary McWilliams; additional reporting by Liz Hampton, Stephanie Kelly and Jennifer Hiller; writing by David Gaffen and Gary McWilliams; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Colombia sees calmer protests, industry groups warn of fuel shortages

By Julia Symmes Cobb and Oliver Griffin 

Reuters/LUISA GONZALEZ Demonstrators take part in a protest, in Bogota

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Protests in Colombia marked their ninth day on Thursday with smaller groups of demonstrators in cities including Bogota and Medellin, while industry groups warned of gasoline shortages across the country following road blocks.

Protests began last week in opposition to a now-canceled tax reform plan, but demonstrators have since broadened their demands to include government action to tackle poverty, police violence and inequality in the health and education systems.

© Reuters/LUISA GONZALEZ Demonstrators take part in a protest, in Bogota

Marches around the country have been marred by violence and 24 people have died, mostly demonstrators. International organizations have warned against excessive use of force by police.

Three people were shot in the small city of Pereira on Wednesday night, with a reward of up to 50 million pesos (around $13,000) offered for information leading to the arrest of those responsible

.

© Reuters/LUISA GONZALEZ Demonstrators take part in a protest, in Bogota

In Bogotá a group of hundreds of demonstrators, mostly young people, intermittently blocked a major road in the city's north, encouraging stopped vehicles to honk in support.

"I'm protesting for our rights - food and utilities (costs)are always rising and what you earn isn't enough," said student Alejandra Cortes, 17.

Gallery: Photos: Deadly Protests Across Colombia (The Atlantic)


Police violence during demonstrations also brought protesters out.

"I'm upset about the killings, there are no guarantees when you're exercising your right peacefully," said law student Andres Villalba, 19. He expressed sympathy for anti-riot police ESMAD, adding that they are "also afraid" but have to follow orders.

© Reuters/LUISA GONZALEZ Demonstrators take part in a protest, in Bogota

The human rights ombudsman lists the national police or ESMAD as presumed responsible for 11 of the two dozen officially confirmed deaths.

Local advocacy group Temblores has reported 37 deaths in connection with demonstrations while Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it has so far confirmed 11 were connected to protests, out of 31 reported to it.

After a violent night in Bogota earlier this week, things calmed overnight, Mayor Claudia Lopez said on Thursday.

"We had a much calmer day," Lopez said in a statement, adding a further 23 civilians and six police had been hurt but injuries initially appear minor.

Small groups of protesters also marched in Colombia's second-city Medellin, but dissipated amid heavy rain, a spokesperson for the mayor´s office told Reuters on Thursday.  

© Reuters/STRINGER Protest against poverty and police violence in Bogota

Despite a decline in tension, the longevity of the protests has disrupted supplies of gasoline across the country, the National Federation of Fuel and Energy Distributors (Fendipetroleo) said in a statement.

"We have seen fuel shortages as a consequence of the national strike," Fendipetroleo said, listing cities including Cali, Ibague, and Pereira, as well as in other municipalities and provinces.

(Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb and Oliver Griffin; Editing by David Gregorio)

Flock of giant California condors trashes woman's home

TEHACHAPI, Calif. — Giant California condors are rare — but not at Cinda Mickols’ home

.
© Provided by The Canadian Press

About 15 to 20 of the giant endangered birds have recently taken a liking to the house in the city of Tehachapi and made quite a mess.

Mickols’ daughter, Seana Quintero of San Francisco, began posting photos of the rowdy guests on Twitter.

She told the San Francisco Chronicle the birds showed up at her mother’s home sometime last weekend.

The birds have trashed the deck — ruining a spa cover, decorative flags and lawn ornaments. Plants have been knocked over, railings scratched and there’s poop everywhere.

“She’s definitely frustrated but also is in awe of this and knows what an unusual experience this is,” Quintero said of her mother.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which runs a program to save the species from extinction, responded on Twitter. The agency noted that the house is in historic condor habitat, and suggested that Mickols try harmless hazing like shouting and clapping or spraying water.  OR THEY COULD MOVE

California condors almost vanished in the 1980s before the few remaining birds were captured and placed in zoos for captive breeding. A few hundred birds are now in the wild.

The Associated Press

IT SHOULD GO GLOBAL

Anti-Olympic petition gains tens of thousands of signatures

The headline in English over the petition reads: 

“Cancel the Tokyo Olympics to protect our lives."

TOKYO — An online petition calling for the Tokyo Olympics to be cancelled has gained tens of thousands of signatures since being launched in Japan only days ago.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The rollout of the petition comes with Tokyo, Osaka and several other areas under a state of emergency with coronavirus infections rising — particularly new variants. The state of emergency is to expire on May 11, but some reports in Japan say it is likely to be extended.

The postponed Olympics are to open in just under three months on July 23.

The petition is addressed to International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who has tentative plans to visit Japan later this month. He is expected to meet the Olympic torch relay on May 17 in Hiroshima, and perhaps also travel to Tokyo where small anti-Olympic are protests being planned.

Although 70-80% of Japanese citizens in polls say they want the Olympics cancelled or postponed, there is no indication this will happen. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Tokyo organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto, and Bach have repeatedly said the games will go on as scheduled.

Organizers and the IOC unveiled so-called Playbooks last week, explaining rules for athletes and others to show how the Olympics can be held in the middle of a pandemic. Several test events have been conducted in the last few days, and organizers have reported few problems.

The Olympic torch relay has been crisscrossing Japan for a month. Organizers say that eight people working on the relay have tested positive for the virus.

The Tokyo Olympics have become a face-saving exercise for Japan, which has officially spent $15.4 billion to prepare them. For the IOC, the Tokyo Olympics are critical since 73% of its income comes from selling television rights.

Organizers say the Olympics will be “safe and secure," though his has been challenged by local medial specialists, and in an editorial last month in the British Medical Journal. It said mass events like the Olympics are “neither safe nor secure.”

Video: Concerns grow over Japan’s COVID-19 situation ahead of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Global News)

Organizers say they will need 10,000 health workers to support the Olympics. They have also requested 500 additional nurses — a nurses' federation balked at the request — and 200 sports medicine specialists.

The petition was organized by Kenji Utsunomiya, a lawyer who has run several times for Tokyo governor. It registered about 50,000 signatures in the first 24 hours after being launched.

“Government policies are being set with the Olympics in mind, and measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic are being neglected,” Utsunomiya told The Associated Press. “Hospital are stretched thin, and some people are dying at home.”

The headline in English over the petition reads: “Cancel the Tokyo Olympics to protect our lives."

The petition suggests the Olympics cannot be held safely and says the games have drained finances away for other needs such as the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine. Only 2% of the Japanese public have been vaccinated. Japan has attributed 10,500 deaths to the virus, good by global standards but not as good as many Asian neighbours.

“In order to host the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics in July, we must devote a large number of medical professionals, valuable resources such as medical facilities and medical equipment, and various other resources,” the petition says.

In a survey conducted by the nationally circulated Mainichi newspaper, nine prefectural governors said they wanted the games cancelled or postponed again. Most of the 47 governors declined to answer, saying they had no decision-making power.

___

More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/olympic-games and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

___

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Yuri Kageyama And Stephen Wade, The Associated Press

AMERICAN VICTORY

Rights report: State of Afghan women's health care grim

KABUL — After nearly 20 years since the ouster of the Taliban and billions of dollars spent on infrastructure and aid, many Afghan women still have desperately poor access to health facilities and adequate health care, a leading rights group said Thursday

.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

Human Rights Watch offered a bleak assessment of women’s health care in Afghanistan in its latest report, saying that even basic information on health and family planning is not available to most Afghan women. And even when women can get the care they need, the quality is often poor, the New York-based group said.

New health facilities that have opened over the years are often insufficiently staffed and inadequately equipped, HRW said. The group's researchers visited several health facilities in the capital of Kabul, where many of the country’s better clinics and hospitals are located.

The report says there are 4.6 medical professionals to 10,000 people in Afghanistan; the World Health Organization considers 23 medical professionals to 10,000 people a critical shortage.

“What emerged is a picture of a system that is increasingly unaffordable to the estimated 61% to 72% per cent of Afghan women, who live in poverty, and one in which women often have more children than they want because of lack of access to modern contraception; face risky pregnancies because of lack of care; and undergo procedures that could be done more safely with access to and capacity to use more modern techniques,” the report said.

Most women cannot afford the increasingly costly medicines they need or even the cost of a taxi ride to a clinic, often at least a half hour away. Most Afghans live on less than $1.90 a day.

Patricia Gossman, associate director of HRW's Asia division, said the money that came to Afghanistan after 2001 was squandered due to widespread corruption. Before that, the Taliban regime, which was also heavily sanctioned, had mostly ignored women's health issues.

Washington alone committed $1.5 billion to rebuild Afghanistan's health care sector, according to a 2017 report by the U.S. watchdog overseeing the billions of dollars America invested in Afghanistan's reconstruction.

“The question everyone should be asking is why after 20 years and hundreds of millions of dollars the state of women’s health care is so grim,” said Gossman in an email. “Where did the money go ... a horrendous amount has been lost to corruption, and nothing — nothing — has really ever been done about it."

Gossman said some organizations have done better than others delivering aid, particularly in rural areas and even in Taliban-controlled parts of the country.

International aid to Afghanistan has also been dwindling in recent years, in part because of the deteriorating security amid relentless violence, but also because of increasing demands on funds exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

As U.S. and NATO troops continue their final withdrawal from Afghanistan, expected to be completed by Sept. 11 at the latest, assistance is likely to further decrease.

“This is a critical moment in Afghanistan,” said Humans Rights Watch, citing fears of a growing Taliban influence and escalating violence as U.S. and other NATO troops pull out.

“The need for international assistance is greater than ever,” it said.

Kathy Gannon, The Associated Press

‘I still can’t believe that this is the Alberta I grew up in’: Muslim Canadian shocked by racist attacks

Kendra Slugoski 

6/5/2021

Muslims across Canada are marking the second 

Ramadan during the pandemic.

© Supplied Dany Assaf and his family. Assaf grew up in Alberta and is shocked to hear of racist attacks in the province.

Read more: Ramadan during COVID-19: How Canadian Muslims are practising amid pandemic

The month is considered a time to practice kindness and patience. Muslims are asking the same of every other Canadian. The past year has been a frightening one for many victims of racist remarks and violent attacks.

Since December 2020, there have been a number of physical attacks against Muslim women in Edmonton and Calgary.

Read more: Why are Alberta’s Black, Muslim women being attacked?

Last month, an Edmonton, Alta., family was the target of road rage. Edmonton police said a male driver made profane gestures to a woman wearing a hijab who was in the front passenger seat of a different vehicle.

“The accused male then began speeding up and slowing down erratically next to the complainant’s van, before eventually causing a minor collision between the two vehicles,” police said in a news release.

Police said it was alleged religious slurs were uttered to the family.

Read more: Edmonton police consult Hate Crime unit on northwest road rage altercation

“I still can’t believe that is the Alberta I grew up in," said Dany Assaf, a Toronto lawyer and author who was raised in Edmonton, "because the Alberta I grew up in was one where if you worked hard and gave back, you were an Albertan. Period.


“It profoundly disturbs me because of how un-Canadian it is."

Assaf, 51, said like many other Canadian kids, he grew up playing hockey and learned to "say please and thank you and stand in line"-- the title of Assaf's newly published book.

The biography unfolds four generations of a Muslim family in Canada and "one man's story of what makes Canada special and how to keep it that way."

Assaf's great-grandparents immigrated to Alberta in the 1920s from Lebanon. They helped establish the first mosque in Canada, the Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton.


“How can people who have been here for over 100 years be the other? It’s illogical, it doesn’t make sense!

"People think the west is like redneck land. I said, 'No it isn't. It is the place of opportunity.'"

It's not just Alberta. Other parts of the country have recounted disturbing stories of racism.

Last month, in Surrey, BC, a family said their daughter was called a terrorist while in a grocery store.

Read more: Family speaks out after 9-year-old daughter allegedly called ‘terrorist’ at B.C. grocery store

In January, a group of Muslim students in Saskatoon, SK, were victims of a racist attack during an online ceremony to remember the 2017 Quebec mosque shootings.

Read more: Racist attack in Saskatoon marred anniversary of Quebec mosque shooting

Irfan Chaudhry, a hate crimes researcher and director of the Office of Human Rights, Diversity and Equity at MacEwan University, said it's difficult to say if the pandemic has spurred more hate. He does think the incubation of ideas online and personal "filter bubbles" during COVID has had an impact.

Chaudhry pointed to the heightened awareness surrounding racial discrimination after George Floyd was killed, but said Canada historically swept "racism and racial bias and racial discrimination under the rug and always saying, 'Well it's happening in the States, it's not that bad here.'"

Chaudhry said it's critical for Canadians to come to terms with bigotry and racism in our own communities, and to learn how to react.

"When no one intervenes, that silence almost gets perceived as approval."

Personal safety should always be considered before you step in, but Chaudhry said an immediate reaction isn't the only option.

Nor is calling the police.

"If the crime is there, absolutely," said Chaudhry, "but if it's not crime-related we can't just download it on to police because that's where you get that disconnect in terms of police doing everything and the community is feeling like the police did nothing. I think that's a little bit unfair in that context because, what can those outside of a policing context do to address hate and bigotry and discrimination in our communities?"

Chaudhry implored the public to learn how and where to report racism.

For example, if you're on transit, tell the bus driver. If you're in a store, send an email to head office and question how the company is committed to training staff to deal with certain situations.

Video: Hidden Hate: Anti-Asian Racism | Global News special

For families, Chaudhry recommended age-appropriate conversations.

"You may not have all the answers at that time but I think at least acknowledging it is the first step in addressing it in a meaningful way," Chaudhry said.

"So you as the parent, that's your teaching moment."

Assaf, who also founded the annual Fast in the 6 event in Toronto, ON, with his wife, Lisa, to share in the tradition of an Iftar dinner during Ramadan, urged all Canadians to resist extremist voices filled with hate, whether in person or hiding behind social media.

“It gives everybody a megaphone, but is every voice really defining Canada?

“Just because it’s loud doesn’t mean it’s meaningful."

Solar power project saving people hundreds in hydro costs

A Taykwa Tagamou Nation's project aims to help community members save money on electricity bills over the next three decades.

The $2.04 million Community Solar Microgrid project is currently in Phase 2.

Over 30 years, the project is expected to produce 16.5 GWh of clean energy and save about $4 million in electricity bills, according to the community's newsletter.

Coun. Derek Archibald said Phase 1 of the project has been completed.

It included the installation of solar panels on band-owned buildings with battery storage to create a microgrid. The project sites included the public works garage, the Healthy Babies building, the community complex, the water treatment plant and the lands and resources building.

Currently, the Healthy Babies and the public works buildings are producing solar energy. The remaining sites need to undergo testing and inspections by Hydro One, said Archibald.

With the pandemic restrictions, the project, which uses the local labour force and out-of-region contractors, has slowed down, he said.

For Phase 2, the plans are to power 33 residential homes by installing solar panels on the roof or on the ground. The first 20 homes will be connected as of June 2021, with the remaining houses powered by early September, according to Archibald.

The community received $1.56 million in grant funding for the project, $1.36 million of which was secured through the Small Communities Fund (SCF) and $200,000 through Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) Indigenous Energy Projects Program.

The whole idea started in 2015 when the community was facing issues with hydro bills. That was before the First Nation's Delivery Credit was introduced by the province two years later.

“People were getting $1,200 hydro bills each month. It was either pay for groceries or pay for the hydro bill. We had a lot of community members reaching out to the band for support with their bills,” Archibald said. “And we noticed it and we met with Jazz Solar and we told them our issues, so we came up with the idea.”

In the past, the community paid more in delivery charges than in consumption, said Archibald.

“Now, each home averages about $200 to $300 a month,” he said. “It’s typically higher than off-reserve houses.”

With the funding from the IESO, the community also held training and conducted a feasibility study to inspect the roofs and determine whether to install the panels on the roof or on the ground.

Besides some minor setbacks with collecting information and the pandemic-related delays, the whole process went smoothly, Archibald said.

“I think everybody is excited to see the project complete and to see the benefit,” he said.

Dariya Baiguzhiyeva, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, TimminsToday.com