THEY STILL GOT THE $$$$

Canadian MPs unanimously condemn Air Canada for millions in executive bonuses

So far, the government has offered little indication of a further response to the airline's decision.

By Amanda Connolly 

Global News
Posted June 3, 2021 

© THE CANADIAN PRESS/Mark Blinch 

FILE: In June, Air Canada closed its stations in in Bathurst, N.B., and Wabush, N.L., and indefinitely suspended 14 routes in Atlantic Canada.

Members of Parliament from all parties voted unanimously on Thursday to condemn Air Canada for paying out millions of dollars in executive bonuses while negotiating a COVID-19 support package with the federal government, refusing to honour customer refunds and laying off thousands of staff.

Bloc Québécois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval put forward the motion, which states “that this House condemn the decision of senior management of Air Canada to pay themselves $20 million in executive bonuses when they’re received $6 billion in public assistance."

Air Canada informed shareholders on Monday that its top executives and managers were getting a combined $10 million in stock options and bonuses for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday called that “unacceptable.”

The airline is facing heavy criticism over its decision to pay out $10 million in bonuses as well as special stock options to its executives despite spending the past year laying off roughly 25,000 workers and refusing to compensate Canadians for flights cancelled because of the pandemic.

Its board had initially approved $20 million in bonuses but paid out $10 million.

The payout late last year came as the airline was negotiating a federal support package after claiming it could not reimburse customers and had to hack away at regional flight routes out of financial difficulties.

Those bonuses also came as the airline was agreeing to federal assistance terms that stipulated it will have to limit executive compensation to $1 million while restricting dividends and share buybacks.

The government’s aid package for Air Canada included a $4-billion loan and $500 million in federal equity, plus a separate $1.4-billion loan to be used specifically to get the airline to refund customers.

Conservative transport critic Stephanie Kusie questioned the terms of the support package.

"The fact that the Liberal government agreed to a deal with these terms makes it clear that only Conservatives are fighting for the health of the airline sector," she said in a statement.

Barsalou-Duval on Wednesday called Air Canada "grifters" and Trudeau said he understands the "shock" Canadians are feeling at the airline's decision to reward executives.

“We all are waiting for Air Canada to explain itself," Trudeau said.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government plans to voice its concerns about the airline.

She told reporters during a phone call on Wednesday that she’s disappointed some businesses receiving taxpayer-funded federal aid to survive the pandemic aren’t behaving as good corporate citizens.

So far, the government has offered little indication of a further response to the airline's decision.

Air Canada’s $10M bonuses ‘unacceptable’ while laying off staff, Trudeau says

By Amanda Connolly 

Global News
Posted June 2, 2021 

WATCH: During question period in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked about Air Canada paying out large bonuses to senior executives after receiving government funds to help the airline deal with losses incurred from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it is “unacceptable” that Air Canada paid out some $10 million in bonuses to senior executives after laying off thousands of staff, refusing to grant customer refunds and negotiating a federal COVID-19 aid package that limited its ability to do exactly that.

The airline on Monday informed shareholders that its top executives and managers were getting millions in special stock options and bonuses for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Air Canada spent the past year cutting regional air routes, slashing roughly 25,000 jobs and refusing to issue refunds to passengers whose flights were cancelled by COVID-19 travel restrictions.

A $5.9-billion federal support package made up largely of loans by the federal government limited executive compensation to $1 million while restricting dividends and share buybacks.

“We signed an agreement with Air Canada that among other things limited bonuses and share purchases of executives but even when they were negotiating those contracts with us, they were giving out huge bonuses to their senior officials,” Trudeau said in French during question period on Wednesday.

“That was unacceptable. I hope that Air Canada will explain their decision and their reasoning to Canadians who are shocked by the choices that Air Canada has made.”

Bloc Quebecois MP Xavier Barsalou-Duval called the airline’s executives “grifters” and pressed Trudeau for more information on what the government would do in response.

READ MORE: Air Canada paid $10M in COVID-19 bonuses to top execs while negotiating gov’t rescue plan

“I understand full well the … shock of Canadians with regards to this news that seniors executives at Air Canada have an explanation to give to Canadians,” Trudeau said, again in French.

TWEET THISCLICK TO SHARE QUOTE ON TWITTER: "WE ALL ARE WAITING FOR AIR CANADA TO EXPLAIN ITSELF."

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government plans to voice its concerns about the airline.

She told reporters during a phone call on Wednesday that she’s disappointed some businesses receiving taxpayer-funded federal aid to survive the pandemic aren’t behaving as good corporate citizens.

The government’s aid package for Air Canada included a $4-billion loan and $500 million in federal equity, plus a separate $1.4-billion loan to be used specifically to get the airline to refund customers.

–With files from The Canadian Press

ALBERTA
Firefighters raising alarm over province’s wildfire response

By Erik Bay Global News
Posted June 4, 2021 

VIDEO While the Alberta government claims it’s ready for wildfire season, wildland firefighters are raising concerns. 

As Erik Bay reports, problems with pay, recruitment and management dysfunction has the province playing with fire and the season is just getting started.

Alberta wildland firefighters are sounding alarm bells this wildfire season.

Alberta Union of Provincial Employees vice-president Mike Dempsey says Alberta’s wildland firefighters are missing paycheques as the province works out issues with its new 1GX pay system.

“We have folks who have started a month to a month and a half ago who haven’t got a single paycheque yet,” Dempsey said. “We’ve got members — and we’re talking hundreds here — who’ve been getting incorrect amounts of pay.”

READ MORE: 15,000 acres burned in Blood Tribe wildfire Sunday, caused by sweat lodge session

1GX replaced the Government of Alberta’s previous business support system, which was over 20 years old. In a statement to Global News, Service Alberta director of communications Graeme McElheran admitted there have been some challenges with the system change.

“Service Alberta is aware of concerns related to firefighters, including seasonal hires, being paid on time and accurately,” McElheran said.

“We are taking action to resolve these issues. Everyone will be paid accurately.”

2:09 Three wildfires, heavy winds leave damage in southern Alberta Mar 29, 2021

But Dempsey says firefighters can’t wait.

“We can’t have people literally putting their life on the line — literally — and dismissing them, ‘Oh we’ll get around to paying you whenever we fix the system,'” Dempsey said.

READ MORE: Claresholm father recounts futile attempt to save family home from wildfire

Dempsey also alleges seasonal employment letters were sent to potential workers less than a month before their proposed start date, causing high seasonal crew member turnover.

It’s a claim the press secretary for the minister of Agriculture and Forestry calls “untrue.”

“It’s unfortunate a union organization purposely tries to spread misinformation,” Justin Laurence said in a statement. “Alberta Wildfire hired 432 seasonal crew members this year with an 11.6 per cent turnover rate, well below the average of approximately 25 per cent.”

1:54 More people getting outdoors has Alberta wildfire officials on alert Mar 23, 2021

Dempsey says the turnover rate among wildland firefighters is closer to 50 per cent.

“Because the job offers came so late, many of (the firefighters) got jobs in British Columbia or the provincial parks,” Dempsey said. “Half of all those workers and seasonal workers that are hired of those many hundreds aren’t coming back.

“We’re really getting a bad rep throughout western Canada for how we treat our seasonal folks and especially those who work in the fire game.”

READ MORE: Lethbridge fire crews battle wind and flames in 3 separate blazes

The conditions are leaving the province unprepared for fire season, says Dempsey.

"THERE'S A LOT OF NERVOUSNESS OUT THERE, WITH THIS FIRE SEASON THAT'S COMING ON."

According to local officials, fire season is off to a dry start this year.

“The moisture content in all the fuels that are on the ground is in the extreme level, so meaning everything is quite dry,” Coaldale deputy fire chief of operations Clayton Rutberg said.

“That bumps our fire risk up quite a bit this time of the year when we start to get that high heat, lower humidity and things get nice and crisp and dry.”

2:09 How COVID-19 changed Alberta fire bases Jun 2, 2020

Rutberg reminds anyone having uncontained fires to get a burn permit and to be fire safe.

“If they are using a fire pit… have a way to extinguish the fire pit and make sure they keep it to a reasonable size.”

As of Friday, several fire advisories and warnings were in effect across Alberta.

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© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

STAMPEDE SUPERSPREADER

COVID-19: Doctors’ group concerned about Calgary Stampede, major corporate partner won’t take part

EDMONTON HAS CANCELED ITS SUMMER EXHIBITION

#NOSTAMPEDE2021

By Phil Heidenreich Global News
Posted June 4, 2021 


WATCH  (From May 26, 2021): Premier Jason Kenney answers a question about what can be expected at the Calgary Stampede if public health measures are relaxed. – May 26, 2021

It’s normally billed as The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth, but with the Calgary Stampede getting the conditional green light to go ahead amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, some are concerned the event could become one of the greatest superspreaders of the novel coronavirus that the province has ever seen.

In an open letter to Premier Jason Kenney on Thursday, the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association, which includes Alberta’s former chief medical officer of health Dr. James Talbot, raises concerns about the province’s plan to lift virtually all public health restrictions next month and specifically references Calgary’s largest annual get-together.

“Events such as the Calgary Stampede could pose a significant risk of transmission — less so in the Exhibition Grounds, but with greater risk in the bars, clubs and hotels as well as in crowds,” the letter reads. “Attendees may then travel home to potentially infect their families and close contacts.

“In our opinion, it is unsafe to hold a major event such as the Calgary Stampede, which may draw attendees and participants from multiple provinces and countries before at least 70 per cent of eligible Albertans have been fully vaccinated with two doses.”

Kenney, who, along with several cabinet ministers, has recently come under fire for an outdoor working dinner during which some public health restrictions appear to have been broken , has called his government’s Open for Summer plan “a safe and cautious plan… to get back to normal.”

The premier has set thresholds for each stage of the reopening plan linked to how many Albertans have been partially immunized against COVID-19 and how many people are in hospital.

“At the end of the day, we cannot permanently rely on damaging public health restrictions to protect our public health from this pandemic, especially since we now have the incredibly effective and powerful tool of vaccines,” Kenney said at a news conference last week, adding that vaccines have benefited jurisdictions that have successfully immunized large numbers of people.

“We have seen those jurisdictions be able to open up, get life back to normal while continuing to observe significant declines in pressure from COVID.”

2:01How close did 3rd wave of COVID-19 come to overwhelming Calgary hospitals?

Last week, chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw said that if the benchmarks are reached that would allow for a massive event like the Stampede to go forward, she does not believe the event will pose a “significant risk to the health-care system.”

READ MORE: Hinshaw voices support for Alberta’s COVID-19 reopening plan, says success hinges on vaccine uptake

The Stampede has said it is planning for a scaled-down event that still includes midway rides and a rodeo, but does not include chuckwagon races.

TC Energy, a company that says it has a “longstanding relationship with the Calgary Stampede,” said this week that while it will continue to offer financial support to some Stampede events, it won’t be “participating in those events this year, from both a brand and a hosting perspective.”

TC ENERGY HAS BEEN GIVEN TAXPAYER MONEY BY KENNEY FOR ITS FAILED KXL PIPELINE BIDEN STOPPED

“This is a difficult decision for us but we believe it is the prudent one,” TC Energy spokesperson Suzanne Wilton said in a statement to Global News on Friday. “Safety is our primary value and nothing is more important than the health, wellness and safety of our people and the communities where we live and work.

“TC Energy has a responsibility to deliver the energy North America needs safely and reliably. While we are as eager as everyone to return to normal, we must remain vigilant in our own protocols. Participating in Stampede events could create unnecessary health and safety risks for our people and business partners.”

While TC Energy won’t take part in Stampede events as a company, it says it has not directed employees in whether they should or should not attend on their own personal time

The EZMSA said it believes “planning such an event with the current unknowns, along with concerns of reduced vaccine protection against highly-transmissible variants puts attendees and their contacts at risk.”

“It also increases the risk of a fourth wave of COVID-19 later in the autumn of this year,” the association’s letter reads.

When Global News asked for comment on the EZMSA’s letter and the decision made by TC Energy, a spokesperson for the Calgary Stampede said its organizers are working closely with Alberta Health to ensure “safe Stampede experiences” are held in July.

“It is important to note that this Stampede will look different with an emphasis on outdoor attractions, more space and fewer people,” the spokesperson said.

“Our focus in 2021 is primarily local and regional visitors, and we have been realistic since planning began that international visitors would not be possible this year.”

Last month, the Calgary Stampede’s communications manager said safety will be the event organizers’ top priority.

“Normally, when you come to Stampede Park, (there are) lots of crowds, lots of lineups, and we know this year we can’t have that,” Kristina Barnes said.

“(But) there will be that comfort that we have each year that we celebrate the spirit of our communi

READ MORE: COVID-19: Calgary Stampede emphasizes physical distancing as 2021 plans ramp up

A spokesperson for the premier’s office told Global News “Albertans have worked hard to crush the spike of COVID-19 and deserve to enjoy the summer.”

“Albertans are excited that their province will soon reopen and large events like the Calgary Stampede will proceed,” Jerrica Goodwin said in an email on Friday.

“Alberta’s Open for Summer Plan is based on expert advice from the chief medical officer of health that having 70 per cent of the population vaccinated with at least one dose will allow for the safe lifting of public health restrictions.”

In an email to Global News on Friday, Alberta Health spokesperson Tom McMillan said the province is “limiting the spread of variants in Alberta as we safely open for summer,” addressing one of the issues raised by the EZMSA.

“To date, there have been 88 cases of the B.1.617 variant identified in Alberta,” McMillan said. “We are now screening 100 per cent of our positive tests each day for the B.1.617 and all other variants of concern.

“With this aggressive screening in place, case investigation teams have begun conducting two follow-up calls for every case with this variant. This second notification will allow us to do even more in-depth investigations and aggressively contain the virus.”

McMillan added that Alberta is also currently “leading the country” in second doses of COVID-19 vaccines and that the pace of vaccination is only accelerating.

“Alberta’s data released shows that one dose of vaccines have been 73 per cent effective against the U.K. variant and 75 per cent effective against the P.1 variant. With two doses, this number rises to 91 per cent and 89 per cent, respectively,” he said. “Since Jan. 1, 96 per cent of all confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alberta were either unvaccinated or diagnosed within two weeks of receiving their first dose, while their immunity was still building.

“Just 0.2 per cent of all people who had one dose of vaccine in that time frame since Jan. 1, got COVID(-19) once 14 days had passed since that shot.”

In an interview with Global News on Thursday, Talbot said the newly-named Delta variant, which is also known as the Indian variant, “is capable of infecting about two-thirds of the people who only had one dose of the vaccine.”

He added that he is concerned about other variants’ ability to worsen the health crisis as well.

“Before large-scale events that have the ability to restart a fourth wave, in which all Albertans who have only received one or zero doses are at risk, before that should happen, we should have 70 per cent of the population with two doses, and that could be achieved by the fall,” he said.

“I think most countries — the U.K. is the most experienced with this new variant — are looking hard at not reopening in a significant way until people have received two doses in significant numbers.”

Late last month, country singer Paul Brandt, who was slated to perform at the Stampede last year before the pandemic forced its cancellation, announced he would not be performing at the event if it goes ahead this year.

In a statement, the musician said he looks forward to returning to stages, including ones at the Stampede, when the time is right.

“I have had a positive and longstanding partnership with the Calgary Stampede throughout my career,” Brandt said.

“Like many musicians, when it comes to my performances, it is always about the fans, and creating the best possible experience for them.”

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi has said there will still be distancing rules if the Stampede goes ahead and other changes will be made to ensure the event is safe for everyone.

“Large public events like the Calgary Stampede should be cancelled or postponed to the autumn after most Albertans will have been fully immunized,” the EZMSA said in its letter.

To date, nearly 65 per cent of Albertans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

–With files from The Canadian Press

Watch below: Some recent Global News videos about the Calgary Stampede.

CANADA

What’s driving COVID-19 workplace transmission in the third wave


© Provided by Global NewsAmanda Yeung Collucci holds a photo of her and brother, Godfrey Yeung, who died of COVID-19 he contracted at work in January.

On New Year's Day, Hong arrived at the industrial laundry facility where he’s worked for the past decade, unloading and unpacking bags of dirty linens and garments.

He took his lunch break with a longtime colleague and friend, as he had countless times before. But on this day, his friend was not feeling well. He complained of dizziness and had a cough, but he told Hong he had to come into work.

He was the only person in his household with a job at the time, and with no paid sick leave, he made a calculation: put food on the table for his family or go hungry.

“He needed money, so he forced himself to go to work,” Hong says.

Eight days later, his colleague was rushed to hospital. He remained in the intensive care unit until he died three weeks later from COVID-19. He was one month away from retirement.

Hong also tested positive for COVID-19, as did another co-worker who was in the lunchroom that day.

Global News agreed to hide Hong’s identity as he fears reprisal from his employer.

It marked the beginning of a months-long saga of health issues for Hong — extreme fatigue, shortness of breath and swollen legs that make it painful to stand for more than an hour. After medical tests showed he's still suffering symptoms, Hong worries he now falls into a rare group, which many now refer to as “COVID long-haulers.”

When he returned to work, he says he discovered that his colleagues did not know about his COVID-19 diagnosis.

“The company didn’t tell my colleagues that I had contracted COVID-19,” he says, adding that it also didn’t acknowledge his co-worker’s death.

Unable to stand for his ten hour shifts, Hong is now off and is receiving workers compensation.

He says his health issues and co-worker's death could have been prevented had paid sick leave been available and if more infection control measures were in place in the lunchroom. While pieces of plexiglass divide tables, it was not enough to prevent the virus from spreading.

“The lunchroom is about 30 square metres, you can, at most, have 20 people in there. How do you maintain social distance in such a space?” Hong says. “It’s impossible.”

COVID-19 has stricken workplaces in the third wave of the pandemic — as warehouses, manufacturing and food processing plants continue to be significant drivers of transmission.

In Ontario alone, 68 people have died from COVID-19 that they got at work and more than 25,500 had contracted it on the job as of May 31, according to the province’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB). But advocates say those numbers could be even higher since they only include people who have submitted claims to the WSIB.

Many also argue provincial governments were slow to act and enforce rules. In some provinces, like Ontario, that has since changed, but despite increased workplace inspections and enforcement, essential workers continue to contract COVID-19 on the job.

More deadly and contagious variants have further increased the risk essential workers face just showing up to work every day. And new research suggests that COVID-19 spreads primarily through airborne transmission.

Experts and advocates say workplace infection control measures have not been strengthened enough to reflect that.

For months, health-care professionals, scientists, and occupational health and safety experts have been pushing the federal and provincial governments to strengthen rules around airborne transmission.

“There continues to be a lack of attention to the importance of ventilation at the provincial and federal levels,” states an open letter from more than 300 experts that was sent to the prime minister, premiers and chief medical officers of the federal and provincial governments in January.

More recently, in April, the Occupational Hygiene Association of Ontario (OHAO), an organization of occupational hygiene professionals that work to prevent the spread of diseases in workplaces, sent a letter to the Ontario Ministry of Labour warning that the “new variants appear to be overwhelming previously prescribed control measures” and that increased control measures were needed to keep essential workers safe.

“We have to deal with that piece,” says Anne-Marie Landis-Groom, president of the OHAO. “All of these other public health measures of handwashing, social distancing — those are absolutely part of the puzzle, but the ventilation piece, which is within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Labour, is the one tool that really hasn't been flexed.”

Ministry inspectors can order an employer to have their ventilation system reviewed under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).

“The ministry seems to be only focusing on employers maintaining the ventilation that they have, but not trying to improve the ventilation,” says Landis-Groom.

The organization is calling on the Ontario government to require employers to investigate improved ventilation controls and implement such measures. It is also recommending the province mandate the use of N95 masks and add on-site rapid testing in workplaces identified by inspectors as high risk due to poor ventilation in order to keep essential workers safe.

“They have to go to work and they should be going to work and leaving work in the same condition, hopefully with more money in their pocket,” says Landis-Groom.

In a statement, the Ontario Ministry of Labour says it continues “to review and evaluate evolving scientific information during the pandemic, including the scientific evidence on the variants of concern and disease transmission."

The department says it’s up to inspectors to determine if ventilation systems are not in compliance with OHSA guidelines. The ministry declined to say how many times inspectors had ordered assessments of employers' ventilation systems and if any changes had been made based on those investigations.


The ministry also says its recommendations on personal protective equipment (PPE) will remain. Currently, an N95 respirator is only required for certain medical procedures and in some health-care settings.

Last spring, when Deena Ladd first became aware of the crisis unfolding in long-term care, she got a sick feeling in her stomach.

“All of these stories were coming out of long-term care and all of the seniors were dying. But all of the conditions that were being described were all the conditions that I knew were prevalent and systemic in every other sector,” Ladd says.

She’s the founder and executive director of the Workers’ Action Centre, an organization that supports workers and advocates for changes to labour laws to improve wages and working conditions.

“I knew that when those sectors reopened, what was happening in long-term care would shift to those warehouses, to those factories, to all of those other settings.”

Before the pandemic started, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government in Ontario stripped some workers of newly created paid sick days, scheduling rights and a wage increase as part of his “open for business” platform.

“So a lot of essential workers came into the pandemic in a much more vulnerable place than they would have been if those rights hadn't been taken away,” says Ladd.

And it’s not just Ontario — Canada’s labour market has undergone a radical transformation in the last few decades. There has been a massive shift towards precarious work; part-time work, temporary jobs and increasing use of temp agencies and subcontracting have left a significant portion of the Canadian workforce with fewer benefits and less job security, according to Statistics Canada.

A recent study found that 58 per cent of Canadian workers did not have paid sick leave from their employer.

“All of those issues create a very unstable feeling, create a real sense of fear, a real sense that you can't really speak up because your job is on the line.”

Labour laws mostly fall under the jurisdiction of provinces, and Ladd says “they've taken a hands-off approach” and refused to impose regulations on employers that would offer more protection for workers.

Video: “It’s to do with systemic racism”: Deena Ladd on why governments have been slow to change labour laws

Ladd also says during the pandemic, in the absence of provincial actions, local health districts have had to step up. As cases of COVID-19 began to increase in the new year, Toronto and Peel health districts issued orders to partially or fully shut down businesses with five or more cases of COVID-19 and began posting data of workplace outbreaks on their websites.

“What we've seen is municipalities really struggling with trying to enforce better protections because the provinces haven't been doing their job,” says Ladd.

There’s been an outpouring of praise for the people who have continued to go to work in order to keep services — and the economy — running. Even the language we’ve used to identify them has changed. Once low-wage workers, now deemed essential workers. But in most workplaces, there has been no tangible reward for the risk they have assumed over the past year.

Many actions designed to improve working conditions are temporary; some employers have rescinded ‘hero pay’ raises and in Ontario and B.C., workers’ three paid sick days are set to expire in September and December, respectively.

“We have to deal with some of these fundamental systemic issues,” Ladd says.

“What more evidence do you need? How many more people do you need to die or to be infected? There is clear correlation between workplace outbreaks and precarious employment and not having particular labour standards in place, such as paid sick days.”

Just knowing the first three digits of a postal code can likely tell you if someone’s been able to work from home, if they had timely access to a vaccine and their likelihood of getting sick with COVID-19.

A recent study found that 63 per cent of people who live in hot spots are racialized and are four times more likely to be essential workers in manufacturing and utilities and twice as likely to work in trades and transport. They’re also more likely to be low-income earners.


© Provided by Global News

What’s driving COVID-19 workplace transmission in the third wave

“What we've really found is that postal code is code language for the structural determinants of health and these health disparities have long been in place,” says Dr. Andrew Boozary, an expert in social medicine.

He leads a team of researchers at the University Health Network’s Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine Innovation who have been studying hot spots in Toronto and Peel.

Boozary says the data is a wake-up call that essential workers in these neighbourhoods need urgent protection at work and vaccine access, but also that these long-term health disparities can only be addressed by policy changes.

Video: “We as a society have to be accountable”: Dr. Andrew Boozary on addressing long-term health disparities

“We're going to need to see more measures like sick leave, but also living wages come into effect for people who have given everything they have over this past year,” he says.

“To go back and say, ‘Well, you only have a certain value at this time, but after that, it's back to normal.’ That means we're going back to accepting that essential workers will continue to have worse health outcomes.”

Some employers have taken initiative to improve working conditions and benefits even though the government has not required it.

Early on in the pandemic, Nature’s Path, a family-run organic food manufacturer based in Metro Vancouver, decided to take extra precautions to make sure its employees were safe.

“People were scared to come into work. And we said, ‘Well, what can we do to alleviate that concern to make sure people are safe?' So we talked to consultants. We talked to experts,” says Arjan Stephens, Nature’s Path’s general manager.

The company rearranged its floor to allow for distancing, and added plexiglass barriers and a computerized screening system that checks employees’ temperature as they walk in the factory.

It offers a now permanent hero pay raise of $2 per hour and increased paid sick leave by two weeks at its four facilities in Canada and the U.S.

It also decided to focus additional efforts on an area of transmission concern – the lunchroom.

Stephens says the company consulted with engineers about new technology to improve ventilation and kill airborne pathogens. It ended up installing far-UVC lights and an air filtration system from Heathe Inc., a U.S. company.

“Because we know that when people have to take off their mask, when they're sitting down in the lunchroom, that's also when they're vulnerable,” Stephens says.

The changes at all four locations cost the company close to US$4 million. But Stephens says it’s been worth it. There has been no workplace transmission at the Canadian facility.

Out of a combined workforce of 700 in the two countries, the company has had 50 employees test positive for COVID-19, but it says the cases were “isolated incidents” contracted outside of work.

“We feel that if we look after our team members, eventually the profits will come,” Stephens says. "A lot of companies where people don't have this, they'll come to work sick because they don't have another option.”

And for those advocating for change, that is key: recognition that the work these people do is essential every day — pandemic or not — and wages and working conditions should reflect that.

“That public consciousness, that awareness of the fact that we need to be concerned about the conditions of the cashier at the grocery store, because if she's not well, then that affects my health. So I should actually give a damn.”

Ladd says the next test will be whether people will remember the sacrifice essential workers have made over the past year and hold governments accountable.

“We have to do this work. We have no choice because I think otherwise, all of those people who have died and have been impacted, I think we do them a disservice. I think we dishonour them.”

CANADA

Employees are leaving food service jobs just as things reopen

Andrew Coppolino - 4h ago 
cbc.ca


© Andrew Coppolino/CBC

Grant Holdbrook's change in family status led him to change his outlook about a long-term career in the restaurant industry, and go back to school.

It is estimated that more than 110,000 because of the pandemic.

Waterloo Region is no exception to that statistic, but food service owners and managers are anticipating that some laid-off employees will be returning to their jobs when patios and dining rooms can re-open.

However, some food service employees have decided that job security is risky. The pandemic has prompted them to make a career change and exit from a demanding role that traditionally pays lower wages.

Brittain Brown, president of Givex, a restaurant technology company, says some restaurant staff will find jobs in other parts of the industry.

"There are definitely people who are establishing if they are going to take a different line of work," Brown said. "One of those different lines could very well be as a delivery driver versus a server. That's the kind of thing people might think of more."
COVID layoff '180-ed me'

Having spent his adult life in food service, starting as a busboy at Toronto's Old Spaghetti Factory, Matteo Giordano was a waiter and front-of-house manager with a small restaurant group in Waterloo and Cambridge.

For him, Covid-19 meant he was laid off in March 2020, making caring for his young family difficult.

"When the pandemic hit and all work stopped, my entire income essentially stopped," said Giordano. "It totally 180-ed me."

Giordano is now working outside of the hospitality industry and finds blending work with family more manageable. "This is a total night-and-day [change] of what it once was," he said. "The work-life balance is a lot easier to maintain."

He adds that the shutdown was such that with restaurants going out of business, it wasn't an option for him to look for work within the industry.

According to Laura Umbrio, general manager of Waterloo's Proof Kitchen and Lounge, a few employees have moved on to other jobs, and some full-time employees might only return part-time.

"I certainly understand that, but I also fear it might cause an issue of labour shortage when we do open up," Umbrio said in an email.

Focus shift alters staff need

Video: Despite May job losses, employers worry workers won’t return (cbc.ca)

A popular food take-away and culinary teaching business, The Culinary Studio, has recently relocated from their Kitchener venue to a location in Waterloo and re-routed their business entirely to online cooking instruction.

They have left the business of serving food to the general public, says co-owner Kirstie Herbstreit.

"This change was driven by the pandemic, 100 per cent," said Herbstreit, co-owner of The Culinary Studio with Jody O'Malley. "The feedback we get is that people enjoy learning cooking techniques in their own homes."

Skilled trades that support food and beverage venues have felt the impact, too.

Peter Dedes, an HVAC/R and natural-gas technician, has left the business after years installing and servicing a wide range of kitchen cooling and cooking equipment locally.

"In my current position, I won't be fully focussed on the hospitality industry any longer. I'm going to miss it," Dedes said.


© Andrew Coppolino/CBCReeghan Peister graduated from Conestoga College School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts and has been a cook his entire adult life. Until the pandemic changed his outlook.

Former TWH Social chef Grant Holdbrook became a father in May of 2020. He says that during the pandemic, he made the decision to change careers.

"I was able spend a lot of time at home with the family. I weighed my options for what the long term goal with cooking was, and it was tough to figure out what was at the end of the tunnel," said Holdbrook. "I wanted to achieve more financial security and more flexible scheduling."

Holdbrook is currently in school training in the HVAC/R trade.

Some cooks and food-and-beverage veterans have indicated they might choose to work in a restaurant as a side hustle or as a second and occasional job.

Reeghan Peister graduated from Conestoga College School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts and has been a cook his entire adult life, most recently with a large hospitality group based in Cambridge.

He has left that job working day-to-day in catering and says Covid-19 was the catalyst in his decision making.

"Just before the pandemic, I was looking at a five-year plan," Peister said. "I'm 35 years old, and was thinking what can I transition to out of this gruelling industry but still use my skills?"

It wasn't long after that the decision was a much easier one, according to Peister. "As soon as the pandemic hit and we were six or seven months in, I knew there was no return."

Peister re-configured and renovated his Kitchener home's basement into a bakery, bought a professional deck oven and got the required certification. He calls his new business Tough as They Crumb, a bread-by-subscription bakery.
Comeback conundrum

Will these former restaurant workers return to the industry? Giordano says it doesn't make sense for him, practically, at this moment.

"With the restrictions that are in place in the current situation we're in right now, I would say no."

Peister, the new baker, doesn't see a return either, citing the hours away from family as a major issue in an industry that "you have to love, or you don't do it."

"I've found a kind of peace where I'm at right now. I'm a real bread head, I'm not going to lie. I don't think I'll ever go back."

G-7 nations sign key pact to make tech giants

pay  fair  taxes

© Provided by The Canadian Press

G-7 nations sign key pact to make tech giants pay fair taxes

LONDON (AP) — The Group of Seven wealthy democracies agreed Saturday to support a global minimum corporate tax rate of at least 15% in order to deter multinational companies from avoiding taxes by stashing profits in low-rate countries.

G-7 finance ministers meeting in London also endorsed proposals to make the world's biggest companies - including U.S.-based tech giants - pay taxes in countries where they have lots of sales but no physical headquarters.

Britain’s Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, the meeting's host, said the deal would “reform the global tax system to make it fit for the global digital age and crucially to make sure that it’s fair, so that the right companies pay the right tax in the right places.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who attended the London meetings, said the agreement “provides tremendous momentum” towards reaching a global deal that “would end the race-to-the-bottom in corporate taxation, and ensure fairness for the middle class and working people in the U.S. and around the world.”

France cheered Saturday’s agreement and claimed credit for acting as its catalyst.

“We made it! After 4 years of battle, a historic accord was reached with G7 member states,” French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted. “France can be proud!”

The meeting of finance ministers came ahead of an annual summit of G-7 leaders scheduled for June 11-13 in Cornwall, England. The U.K. is hosting both sets of meetings because it holds the group’s rotating presidency.

The endorsement from the G-7 could help build momentum for a deal in wider talks among more than 140 countries being held in Paris as well as a Group of 20 finance ministers meeting in Venice in July.

The G-7 has also been facing pressure to provide vaccines for low-income countries facing new surges of COVID-19 infections and to finance projects to combat climate change. A statement Saturday from the two-day finance ministers' meeting said only that they welcomed increased funding commitments by member countries and looked forward to more.

International discussions on the tax issue gained momentum after U.S. President Joe Biden backed the idea of a global minimum of at least 15% on corporate profits.

The tax proposals endorsed Saturday have two main parts. The first part lets countries tax a share of the profits earned by companies that have no physical presence but have substantial sales, for instance through selling digital advertising.

The G-7 statement echoes a U.S. proposal to simply let countries tax part of the earnings of the largest and most profitable companies — digital or not — if they are doing business within their borders. It also supported awarding countries the right to tax 20% or more of profit exceeding a 10% profit margin.

Part of the agreement is that countries such as France that have imposed digital services taxes would remove them in favor of the global agreement. The U.S. considers those unilateral digital taxes to be unfair trade measures that single out big U.S. tech companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook.

The other main part of the proposal is for countries to tax their home companies' overseas profits at a rate of at least 15%. That would deter the practice of using accounting schemes to shift profits to a few very low-tax countries.

Nations have been grappling with the question of how to deter companies from legally avoiding paying taxes by resorting to tax havens — typically small countries that entice companies with low or zero taxes, even though the firms do little actual business there.

___

McHugh contributed from Frankfurt, Germany.

Kelvin Chan And David Mchugh, The Associated Press

Mine-sniffing rat Magawa ends years of DANGEROUS hard work in Cambodia

BUT STILL HELD CAPTIVE


© Provided by The Canadian Press

Mine-sniffing rat Magawa ends years of hard work in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — After five years of sniffing out land mines and unexploded ordnance in Cambodia, Magawa is retiring.

The African giant pouched rat has been the most successful rodent trained and overseen by a Belgian nonprofit, APOPO, to find land mines and alert his human handlers so the explosives can be safely removed. Last year, Magawa won a British charity’s top civilian award for animal bravery — an honor so far exclusively reserved for dogs.

“Although still in good health, he has reached a retirement age and is clearly starting to slow down,” APOPO said. “It is time.”

Magawa has cleared more than 141,000 square meters (1.5 million square feet) of land, the equivalent of some 20 soccer fields, sniffing out 71 land mines and 38 items of unexploded ordnance, according to APOPO.

While many rodents can be trained to detect scents and will work at repetitive tasks for food rewards, APOPO decided that African giant pouched rats were best suited to land mine clearance because their size allows them to walk across mine fields without triggering the explosives — and do it much more quickly than people. They also live up to eight years.

Magawa is part of a cohort of rats bred for this purpose. He was born in Tanzania in 2014, and in 2016, moved to Cambodia’s northwestern city of Siem Reap, home of the famed Angkor temples, to begin his bomb-sniffing career.

In retirement, Magawa will live in his same cage as before and follow the same daily routine, but won’t be going out to the minefields anymore, said Lily Shallom, an APOPO spokeswoman, contacted by phone at the organization’s operational headquarters in Tanzania.

He’ll be fed the same food, have playtime every day and get regular exercise and health checks. He eats mostly fresh fruit and vegetables, said Shallom, supplemented with small sun-dried fish for protein and imported pellets for vitamins and fiber. For 20-30 minutes a day, he is released into a larger cage with facilities such as a sandbox and a running wheel.

APOPO also works with programs in Angola, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to clear millions of mines left behind from wars and conflicts.

More than 60 million people in 59 countries continue to be threatened by land mines and unexploded ordinance. In 2018, landmines and other remnants of war killed or injured 6,897 people, the group said.

Sopheng Cheang, The Associated Press

 REACTIONARY BOURGEOIS INDIVIDUALISM

Social identity within the anti-vaccine movement

Researchers found a significant portion of Americans socially identify with the 

anti-vaxx label, presenting potential implications for public health

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

A study of more than 1,000 demographically representative participants found that about 22 percent of Americans self-identify as anti-vaxxers, and tend to embrace the label as a form of social identity.

According to the study by researchers including Texas A&M University School of Public Health assistant professor Timothy Callaghan, 8 percent of this group "always" self-identify this way, with 14 percent "sometimes" identifying as part of the anti-vaccine movement. The results were published in the journal Politics, Groups, and Identities.

"We found these results both surprising and concerning," Callaghan said. "The fact that 22 percent of Americans at least sometimes identify as anti-vaxxers was much higher than expected and demonstrates the scope of the challenge in vaccinating the population against COVID-19 and other vaccine-preventable diseases."

Researchers also found that participants who scored high on the anti-vaccine identity measure were less trusting of scientific experts and more individualistic. Additionally, study results show that there is increased opposition to childhood vaccine requirements among those who self-identify as anti-vaxxers.

The study serves as a "blueprint" for other researchers to further examine how socially identifying as an anti-vaxxer impacts health policies and public health. Callaghan notes that Americans socially identifying as anti-vaxxers adds another layer of complexity to mitigating the anti-vaccine movement. Changing a core feature of one's underlying social identity is a difficult task -- one that likely cannot be fixed with traditional public health messaging.

Moving forward, Callaghan and other members of the research team hope to investigate how endorsement of the anti-vaccine label varies across the country based on states and levels of rurality, as well as interventions that might reduce individuals' social attachment to the label.

###

 

Soft tissue measurements critical to hominid reconstruction

UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE

Research News

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IMAGE: THE SOFT TISSUE FOR THESE APPROXIMATIONS OF HOMINID FACES WAS PREDICTED USING EQUATIONS DEVELOPED BY THE AUTHORS. NO FACIAL FEATURES ARE PRESENT IN THE ANCIENT HOMINID (C), AS THE AUTHORS... view more 

CREDIT: RYAN M. CAMPBELL.

Accurate soft tissue measurements are critical when making reconstructions of human ancestors, a new study from the University of Adelaide and Arizona State University has found.

"Reconstructing extinct members of the Hominidae, or hominids, including their facial soft tissue, has become increasingly popular with many approximations of their faces presented in museum exhibitions, popular science publications and at conference presentations worldwide," said lead author PhD student Ryan M. Campbell from the University of Adelaide.

"It is essential that accurate facial soft tissue thickness measurements are used when reconstructing the faces of hominids to reduce the variability exhibited in reconstructions of the same individuals."

Hominids have been readily accepted to line the halls of even the most trusted institutions. They are predominantly used for disseminating scientific information to the public in museum displays and students in university courses, which will influence the way humanity is perceived and defined more generally.

"Up until now soft tissue reconstruction has been based on mean tissue depth measurements which does not take into account variation in tissue depths between individuals," says Mr Campbell.

In this study, published in the journal PLOS ONE, the authors have formulated a facial soft tissue thickness dataset for adult chimpanzees, and a set of regression equations that can be used to reconstruct the soft tissues for ancient hominids, such as those dated from 4.0 to 1.2 million years ago.

The study was co-authored by Gabriel Vinas, a Master of Fine Arts candidate at Arizona State University who handles the sculpting in the lab.

"Correlations have been found and multiple regression models have been used to generate equations for improving estimations of soft tissue thickness from craniometrics in modern humans," he said.

"We looked at tissue depths in present day chimpanzees to identify correlations in skin and bone."

This article represents the first time that such a collection of tissue depth data has been collected and presented for chimpanzees in a systematic manner.

"The soft tissue thickness data for chimpanzees are freely available for anyone to download on Figshare.

"The equations, which resulted directly from this research, are also included and can be implemented in future practitioners' reconstructions," said Mr Campbell.

"This research is invaluable for future efforts reconstructing ancient hominids, as well as for comparative studies within and outside the discipline of biological/physical anthropology."

CAPTION

Cephalometric landmarks -- measurements of the skull -- are critical for accurate measurements of facial soft tissue such as in these numerous landmarks positioned on the skull of a chimpanzee.

CREDIT

Ryan M. Campbell

 

Study of past South Asian monsoons suggests stronger monsoon rainfall in the future

BROWN UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: THE RESEARCH VESSEL JOIDES RESOLUTION DRILLED SEDIMENT CORES FROM THE BAY OF BENGAL, WHICH WERE USED TO RECONSTRUCT PAST MONSOON RAINFALL. THOSE DATA WERE USED TO TEST PREDICTIONS OF FUTURE... view more 

CREDIT: COURTESY OF STEVEN CLEMENS

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] -- A new study of monsoon rainfall on the Indian subcontinent over the past million years provides vital clues about how the monsoons will respond to future climate change.

The study, published in Science Advances, found that periodic changes in the intensity of monsoon rainfall over the past 900,000 years were associated with fluctuations in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), continental ice volume and moisture import from the southern hemisphere Indian Ocean. The findings bolster climate model predictions that rising CO2 and higher global temperatures will lead to stronger monsoon seasons.

"We show that over the last 900,000 years, higher CO2 levels along with associated changes in ice volume and moisture transport were associated with more intense monsoon rainfall," said Steven Clemens, a professor of geological sciences (research) at Brown University and lead author of the study. "That tells us that CO2 levels and associated warming were major players in monsoon intensity in the past, which supports what the models predict about future monsoons -- that rainfall will intensify with rising CO2 and warming global temperature."

The South Asian monsoon is arguably the single most powerful expression of Earth's hydroclimate, Clemens says, with some locations getting several meters of rain each summer. The rains are vital to the region's agriculture and economy, but can also cause flooding and crop disruption in years when they're particularly heavy. Because the monsoons play such a large role in the lives of nearly 1.4 billion people, understanding how climate change may affect them is critical.

For several years, Clemens has been working with an international team of researchers to better understand the major drivers of monsoon activity. In November 2014, the research team sailed aboard the research vessel JOIDES Resolution to the Bay of Bengal, off the coast of India, to recover sediment core samples from beneath the sea floor. Those core samples preserve a record of monsoon activity spanning millions of years.

The rainwater produced by the monsoons each summer eventually drains off the Indian subcontinent into the Bay of Bengal. The runoff creates a layer of dilute seawater in the bay that rides atop the denser, more saline water below. The surface water is a habitat for microorganisms called planktonic foraminifera, which use nutrients in the water to construct their shells, which are made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). When the creatures die, the shells sink to the bottom and become trapped in sediment. By taking core samples of sediment and analyzing the oxygen isotopes in those fossils, scientists can divine the salinity of the water in which the creatures lived. That salinity signal can be used as an indicator of changing rainfall amounts over time.

Other data from the samples complement the foraminifera data. River runoff into the bay brings sediment from the continent with it, providing another indicator of rain intensity. The carbon isotopic composition of plant matter washed into the ocean and buried in sediment offers yet another rainfall-related signal that reflects changes in vegetation type. The hydrogen isotope composition of waxes on plant leaves varies in different rainfall environments, and that signature can be reconstructed from sediment cores as well.

"The idea is that we can reconstruct rainfall over time using these proxies, and then look at other paleoclimate data to see what might be the important drivers of monsoon activity," Clemens said. "That helps us to answer important questions about the factors driving the monsoons. Are they primarily driven by external factors like changes in Earth's orbit, which alter the amount of solar radiation from the sun, or are factors internal to the climate system like CO2, ice volume and moisture-transporting winds more important?"

The researchers found that periods of more intense monsoon winds and rainfall tended to follow peaks in atmospheric CO2 and low points in global ice volume. Cyclical changes in Earth's orbit that alter the amount of sunlight each hemisphere receives played a role in monsoon intensity as well, but on their own could not explain monsoon variability. Taken together, the findings suggest that monsoons are indeed sensitive to CO2-related warming, which validates climate model predictions of strengthening monsoons in relation to higher CO2.

"The models are telling us that in a warming world, there's going to be more water vapor in the atmosphere," Clemens said. "In general, regions that get a lot of rain now are going to get more rain in the future. In terms of the South Asians monsoons, that's entirely consistent with what we see in this study."

CAPTION

The research vessel JOIDES Resolution drilled sediment cores from the Bay of Bengal, which were used to reconstruct past monsoon rainfall. Those data were used to test predictions of future monsoon rain as the climate changes. The data suggests that future rainfall could increase as CO2 levels rise.

CREDIT

Courtesy of Steven Clemens

The research was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE1634774), the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JPMXS05R2900001 and 19H05595), the Japanese Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, the United Kingdom Natural Environment Research Council (NERC; NE/L002493/1), the United States Geological Survey, and Technology and Research Initiative Fund (Arizona Board of Regents).