ALBERTA

Frustrated doctor says it was easy to predict the fourth wave of COVID-19

BY KRISTY KILBURN
Posted Sep 15, 2021 

CALGARY — Alberta Health only catches a fraction of COVID-19 cases.

That coming from Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Deena Hinshaw on Monday — and as cases continue to rise — it may have some wondering how many daily cases we actually have.

One doctor is saying countries around the world actually don’t have an accurate representation of their daily COVID-19 case numbers — but here in Alberta the misleading comments to the public has some doctors saying, ‘I told you so.’

“It’s really simple. It’s just two elements that you need to know. That the certain variant is present and how much more transmissible it is than the variant you already had as a dominant one,” said Dr. Gosia Gasperowicz. “So, already with just those two parameters, it was possible to predict the general direction of what is going to happen in the fall. And with every day, every week going on, it was more and more clear that those predictions were correct.”

Gasperowicz is among many doctors in the province who have shared their data online.

She began modelling the Delta variant in May, and she says her models predicted exactly what occurred.

“Well, I know that they don’t look at it on purpose. Like how much they can ignore it and especially that it was ignored before the third wave.

“I was raising alarms, raising alarms. Both people from Alberta Health, scientific advisory groups, their job is to monitor these things and see what is published. To evaluate it, to read it and understand it,” Gasperowicz said.

She knows that Premier Jason Kenney has seen her modelling online as he’s mentioned it in a press conference.

She says it’s heartbreaking to put out research that is getting dismissed from officials.

  

‘It’s scary’: nurse explains what it’s like to be redeployed to the ICU during COVID-19 pandemic

By Kirby Bourne 630CHED
Posted September 15, 2021 


Alberta Health Services has announced more surgeries are being postponed to free up beds for COVID-19 patients and the staff needed to care for them. But the province's former chief medical officer of health says stunningly high ICU numbers are just the beginning. Morgan Black reports.

A registered nurse in Edmonton is shining a light on what its like to be redeployed to the ICU during the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Natalie Caramata has been a surgical RN for 11 years. During the earlier waves of the pandemic, she was occasionally redeployed to different units for a day or two to help out, but found herself redeployed to the ICU indefinitely on Sept. 2.

Caramata is one of many nurses who has been redeployed to the ICU to assist with the rise in COVID-19 cases. In order to free up space and health-care workers, Alberta Health Services has been forced to postpone significant numbers of surgeries since the middle of August.

“It was shocking because I have never worked in the ICU in my career,” she said. “I have no cardiac monitor training, I have no critical care training whatsoever.”

Caramata — like other nurses redeployed to the ICU — is limited in what care she can provide there. Basic patient care like administering medications, mixing IV medication, checking blood sugar or blood pressure is consistent across the board, she said, but she can’t handle anything to do with ventilation or monitors.

“Basically, we do what we can do so that the ICU nurses can do what we can’t,” she said.

That includes sometimes standing there and watching the patient to make sure they don’t move and rip out any of their leads. If something happens, often all Caramata can do is call for an ICU nurse.

“That’s very scary,” she said. “I am used to being competent in what I’m doing, and if something was to go wrong, I could act very fast and do what needs to be done. In this case, sometimes the only thing I can do is call for help and start putting on the PPE so I can go in the room.

“But it’s scary because I don’t know what to do when I’m in there. The monitors are beeping (but) I’m not trained on what all those other numbers mean, where all the leads are on the patient’s body — I’m not trained in that area.

“I can be an extra set of hands, but I can’t really jump right in and do what needs to be done.”

READ MORE: What happens when COVID-19 patients take up all surgery, ICU capacity in Alberta?

While Caramata calls the ICU nurses some of the most dedicated, amazing people she’s ever met, the reality, she says, is there just aren’t enough of them. She says the ones that are there are run down and exhausted, caring for more patients than they normally do.

And when COVID-19 ICU and hospitalization numbers weren’t as high as they are now, those nurses didn’t get a break as they cared for post-surgery patients who needed ICU care.

Caramata says the threat of Alberta having to activate an ICU triage document is now looming over the hospital too.

It’s something that nobody ever wants to do,” she said. “They go into medicine to save lives, not to decide who gets to live and who doesn’t.

“It doesn’t make it any easier, but it’s going to be necessary. People need to know… it’s so scary. Nobody ever wants to have to do that.”

Hinshaw says Alberta’s ‘Open For Summer’ plan was premature, led to spike in COVID-19 cases

As of Sept. 14, 71.4 per cent of eligible Albertans 12 and older were fully vaccinated with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Caramata is pleading with those who are unvaccinated or only have one dose not to wait to get their next jab.

“It’s bad and it’s going to get worse and it’s scary,” she said. People are dying.

“Trust the science. Just trust the science like you trust the pilot, like you trust the architect. Trust the professional.”

Alberta broke another record for number people with COVID-19 in ICUs on Wednesday. There were 877 people in hospital receiving care for the novel coronavirus, with 218 of those people in the ICU.

The province also confirmed an additional 1,609 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday. Full numbers are available in this story.

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

Jason Kenney's rotten record of COVID chaos has finally become an issue in the federal election

David J. Climenhaga

September 15, 2021

So it's come to this: Jason Kenney has become an issue in the federal election. 

All that effort keeping his head down for all but a couple of days over the past five weeks while Alberta's health care system appeared to fall apart, and here we are.

Canadians are going to have to pay attention to that premier behind the curtain.

At a campaign stop in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pointed to federal Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole's past enthusiasm for Alberta's now clearly catastrophic approach to COVID-19.

"He thinks Jason Kenney is the model to follow on fighting COVID?" 

Trudeau paused disgustedly, twice, in that short rhetorical question to emphasize what he thinks of his challenger's now-seldom-mentioned bromance with Kenney. 

"The approach in Alberta hasn't worked for Albertans. It's hurting the Alberta economy, and hurting the people who did the right thing in Alberta, and did get vaccinated, because they're looking at more lockdowns, more restrictions."

You can hear the call of a seagull as the PM pauses in a clip circulating on social media last night.

"And people think that it'd be a good idea to have Erin O'Toole sitting across from Jason Kenney when it comes to finishing this pandemic? 

"That'd be bad not just for Albertans but for everyone in the country!"

Here in Alberta -- sensing the growing panic as mobs of anti-vaccine fanatics encouraged by some UCP MLAs assail hospital workers, ICU beds fill to capacity, and no leader emerges from Kenney's paralyzed cabinet -- it's very hard to quibble with the PM's assessment.

Well, but for one small point. We've never had a lockdown in this province. 

If Kenney, his incoherently babbling health minister and his chief medical officer of health had been brave enough to impose one, chances are good we wouldn't be where we are now in this awful fall that has followed the Best Summer Ever the premier foolishly promised us last July. 

In a virtual meeting with Alberta doctors Monday evening, Chief Medical Officer of Health Deena Hinshaw confessed she deeply regretted her guess that while COVID cases propelled by the Delta variant might soar, we wouldn't see the bodies piling up. 

Within a couple of weeks, she admitted in the chilly language of bureaucracy, "we weren't seeing the decoupling we'd expected."

"I deeply regret how that has played out," she went on. "I do continue to do my best every day to provide my advice to the proxy decision makers for my patients, who are the elected officials."

The proxy decision makers for my patients? Say what? 

Mount Royal University political science professor Duane Bratt, popular with Alberta media for his blunt commentary, spoke for a lot of Albertans when he suggested not just Hinshaw, but a whole herd of the feckless Conservatives she advised, including Health Minister Tyler Shandro, should hang their heads and resign.

"Alberta, based on ICU numbers, is being hit harder right now than at any time during the pandemic," Bratt said yesterday in a tweet thread.

"Where is the policy learning? Why the cherry-picking of the most optimistic data and scenario?

"Having Hinshaw apologize is a step forward. But real accountability would be the Premier appearing in public to accept responsibility (instead of hiding). And changing the people who were making these bad decisions. Decisions that are killing people.

"Why hasn't Hinshaw resigned? Why hasn't Shandro resigned? Why aren't members of the cabinet…resigning on a point of principle?

"Most importantly why hasn't Kenney resigned after bungling the second wave, the third wave, and especially the fourth wave? Who demonized critics. Who took the most optimistic path. Who blamed others."

Bratt concluded: "When is it enough?"

With these guys? Maybe never. Or maybe the divisions in the UCP cabinet and caucus, which met yesterday with no significant leaks, are deep enough now someone on the right side of public health will stand up on principle. 

Kenney was scheduled to travel to Fort McMurray today to address an oilsands trade show. That would have provided a public opportunity for him to respond to the prime minister's comments with a defence of his COVID response, or to tell Albertans how his government plans lead us out of this mess it's created. 

The premier's travel plans have been canceled, his office said. 

Later this week you'll be able to print out an unconvincing paper vaccination record

Much was made yesterday of Health Minister Tyler Shandro's announcement that "Albertans can soon get their proof of vaccination on a new convenient card-sized printout through MyHealth Records."

Still bobbing and weaving to avoid being accused of creating a vaccine passport by the UCP's anti-vaccine base, later this week you'll be able to print out an unconvincing looking piece of paper with your COVID vaccine record on it, the announcement said in the gee-whiz tones typical of Alberta government press releases.

That is, if you can manage to sign in to the MyHealth system, which by the sound of it was on the verge of collapse itself last night. 

The UCP, of course, plans to download the unpleasant job of enforcing sensible restrictions on unvaccinated people onto private businesses -- which means there will be no restrictions at all.

"Work is also underway to make proof of vaccination available through a QR code," the news release went on. "The QR code is expected to be available in the coming weeks."

Does anyone remember Alberta TraceTogether, the barely functional contact-tracing app the Alberta government got someone to cobble together and released in May 2020?

No one ever fixed it. It's now just a forgotten piece of digital history, lingering unused on a few smartphones.

As for the QR code, believe it when you see it. And don't count on having your self-printed vaccination record taken seriously outside Alberta. 

David Climenhaga, author of the Alberta Diary blog, is a journalist, author, journalism teacher, poet and trade union communicator who has worked in senior writing and editing positions at The Globe and Mail and the Calgary Herald.

FROM THE RIGHT

THE ALBERTA FACTOR: Is Jason Kenney's COVID mess going to impact the  Federal election?
Author of the article: Postmedia News

Publishing date: Sep 17, 2021 •

WATCH BELOW as the Sun’s Editor-in-Chief Adrienne Batra talks with Sun political columnists Lorrie Goldstein, Brian Lilley and Warren Kinsella on whether the COVID situation in Alberta will impact the federal election.

FROM THE RIGHT
GUNTER: Kenney's new COVID-19 plan a shambles

It’s a cockup

Author of the article: Lorne Gunter
Publishing date:Sep 15, 2021 • 

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney. 

PHOTO BY CHRIS SCHWARZ/GOVERNMENT OF ALBERTA


There are slightly fewer restrictions than during Alberta’s previous lockdowns. And more exemptions.

But the balance is not intuitive. The approach is inconsistent.

Most people will find it impossible to figure out what is and isn’t allowed under the re-imposed restrictions. And that complexity and arbitrariness will make public compliance spotty.

I suspect the latest restrictions, announced late Wednesday by Premier Jason Kenney, Health Minister Tyler Shandro and chief medical officer of health Dr. Deena Hinshaw will drive defections from the UCP caucus.

Defecting MLAs may even form a new party. And many members of the current party, even if they don’t leave, will stop donating, fundraising and volunteering.

There will also likely be a challenge to Kenney’s leadership. Several MLAs at an emergency caucus meeting on Wednesday are said to have demanded he resign now for the good of the party.

Those voices of discontent are only likely to grow for the next few weeks as these confusing, disjointed and unwelcome restrictions begin to take hold and Albertans struggle to abide by what is and isn’t allowed – and what is exempted.

A leadership challenge may even be successful. Yet even if it is unsuccessful, the internal disruption will harm the UCP’s chances of being re-elected in 2023.

Who knows, we may even be headed for another 2015 where the right-of-centre vote splits and the NDP are elected again in a three-way race. I’m just so thankful our daughter’s wedding was held 10 days ago rather than being scheduled for 10 days from now.

The ceremony was outdoors and under the 200-attendee limit of the new restrictions, but the reception was indoors and had nearly 150 guests. It was a sparkling occasion, but would be a no-no now.

I feel so sorry for other families who have been planning special celebrations for months. Some have already been postponed once or twice due to earlier lockdowns. And now the UCP government’s on-again, off-again approach is scuttling plans.

Again.

That’s the worst part of the UCP’s Open for Summer, oops, Closed for Fall approach.

The communications strategy around it has been awful.

Part of the new lockdown is a “restrictions exemption program.” It should be a highlight.

It allows vaccinated individuals and businesses that cater only to vaccinated individuals to avoid most of the new clampdown.

Recreational, retail, sporting and cultural events, “including restaurants, bars and indoor organized events” that require patrons to show vaccine passports or recent negative COVID tests could “operate as usual” and “immediately and without restriction serve any individual” who has been vaccinated, has a medical exemption from being vaccinated or has tested negative within 72 hours.

Between Sept. 20 and Oct. 25, proof of only one shot is enough. After Oct. 25, patrons have to be double vaxxed.

That’s a smart approach. Give people who have bothered to get vaccinated a reward. Allow them more freedom of movement.

This should encourage many more unvaccinated Albertans to step up and get their shots.

But there have been so many conflicting messages from the Kenney government, they have moved the goalposts so many times, they have badly damaged their credibility.

How will Albertans know whether they can trust the UCP the next time they declare the pandemic over?

So far we’ve been told the pandemic is over. Now were told it’s not.

Two weeks ago we were reassured a few weeks of masking and some early bar closings were all that was needed to stop the fourth wave. Now we’re all supposed to work from home again, indefinitely. (And I’ll bet Thanksgiving will be limited to just 10 vaccinated people.)

And no way, never, ever would there be passports. (Remember that declaration from the UCP?) Now passports are the key to semi-normal life.

It’s a cockup.

Senior UCP member calls for early leadership review of Premier Jason Kenney

Author of the article: Anna Junker
Publishing date: Sep 18, 2021 •

Alberta Premier Jason Kenney during a news conference regarding the surging COVID cases in the province in Calgary on Wednesday, September 15, 2021. 

PHOTO BY AL CHAREST / POSTMEDIA
Article content

A senior United Conservative Party member has called for an emergency meeting to discuss an early leadership review of Premier Jason Kenney.

As first reported by the Western Standard, Joel Mullan, the party’s vice-president of policy, emailed the United Conservative Party board on Friday to discuss a review Kenney’s leadership.

When reached by phone Saturday, Mullan confirmed he wrote the email but declined to comment further, saying he is “not at liberty to discuss matters before the board.”

Political scientist Duane Bratt said this is a sign Kenney is in trouble, but he hasn’t realized it yet.

“I think Kenney thinks he can survive, but I’m not hearing much of that from other people, including conservatives who I have been talking to, they go, ‘He needs to step down for the good of the party.’ They’re just not willing to push him out.”

Kenney has been under fire from his own caucus this week after he announced sweeping new restrictions and a vaccine passport Wednesday night — two things the premier previously said he wouldn’t do. The measures include restrictions on indoor gatherings, businesses and events, with an option for businesses like restaurants and gyms to avoid restrictions if they require patrons to show proof of vaccination or a negative test.

Richard Gotfried, UCP MLA for Calgary-Fish Creek, said Wednesday he is “deeply apologetic” that he failed to convince the government to announce stronger public health restrictions sooner.

“Nothing was done while we lacked any leadership at the helm. It will cost us lives and I am gutted by the lack of responsiveness to unequivocal advocacy and clear warning signals,” he wrote replying to questions posted on Facebook.

In a Wednesday joint statement, former UCP MLAs Todd Loewen and Drew Barnes, sitting as Independents, called for Kenney‘s resignation.

With senior party membership indicating there should be a leadership review, Bratt said the UCP has realized they cannot go into an election with Kenney at the helm.

“They’re looking out for their own political survival,” Bratt said.

“I don’t think it matters if they change leaders, the UCP is still in trouble. But I think there’s enough UCPers that believe all they have to do is change leaders, the way it worked for the PC (Progressive Conservatives). They would change leaders, and they would just move on and win another election. I’m not sure this is the same circumstance.”

Currently, a leadership review for Kenney is scheduled to occur at the party’s Annual General Meeting in 2022.

Postmedia has reached out to Kenney’s office but has not received a comment.

— With files from Lisa Johnson

ajunker@postmedia.com

UCP government 'the most incompetent' he's seen, Calgary's mayor says

HE SHOULD KNOW CALGARY IS ALL UCP MLA'S

Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi says the UCP government's latest restriction and plan for its style of a vaccine passport is "ridiculous" and "cruel." 



Michael Franklin
CTVNewsCalgary.ca Senior Digital Producer
Follow | Contact
Updated Sept. 16, 2021 10:12 p.m. MDT

CALGARY -

Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi had some harsh words for Jason Kenney, his government and his most recent policies on combating COVID-19's fourth wave on Thursday.

Speaking on CTV News' Power Play, the mayor of Alberta's largest city said the Kenney government was "the most incompetent he's ever seen."

"The premier apologized in one sentence and he then proceeded to spend an hour justifying all of his decisions rather than being able to move forward," Nenshi said.

He also had tough words over the government's implementation of its restriction exemption program.

"They tried so hard to thread the needle last night because they just refused to say the word 'vaccine passport.' The minister of economic development said 'The term vaccine passport is a made-up term by the media,' whatever that means."

Nenshi also isn't sure about how it works either.

"We think it means if you have a vaccine passport system, we're not going to close you down. If you don't have one – we may or may not," he said.

"It's ridiculous, it's silly, it puts the onus on businesses and frankly, it's cruel. It's cruel to people who want government to do the right thing and it's cruel to business owners who have already been through way too much."

The Alberta government's restriction exemption program comes into effect for restaurants and other venues on Sept. 20.

Nenshi also had a message for the city.

"My message to Calgarians has been (that) I know you're mad, everyone is mad by the way - no one was mollified by the decisions last night - I know you're angry, I know you're disappointed, I know you're sad, but you know what? Put it away in a drawer.

"If you're a business owner," he added, "just pretend they actually put in a (mandatory) vaccine passport and get ready to implement it."

"If you're a citizen," he said, continuing, "feel comfortable supporting small business, because the person sitting at the next table is vaccinated, and support those businesses to the best of your ability.

"
NO EMPATHY FOR 'BOZOS PROTESTING IN FRONT OF HOSPITALS'

Nenshi, who is in the final weeks of his mayoralty, has made a habit of asking Calgarians to be kind to one another throughout the pandemic, but drew the line Thursday.

"I'm not saying have empathy for the bozos who protest in front of hospitals," he said. "We don't need to have empathy for them anymore - but we should have empathy for the storekeepers, the retail workers, the restaurant servers and those just struggling to get by."

Nenshi added that Calgarians should also feel comforted by the fact that the city has some of the finest emergency management personnel in the world.

"Your city government knows what it's doing," he said.

"We'll take care of you as best we can. And together, we'll get through this.

'I've never seen a government this incompetent': Nenshi blasts province on COVID

Council discussed the COVID situation late Wednesday in the wake of a provincial announcement of sweeping new restrictions to blunt the fourth wave

Author of the article:Meghan Potkins, Madeline Smith • Calgary Herald
Publishing date:Sep 15, 2021 • 

Mayor Naheed Nenshi was photographed during his final meeting in the Council Chamber on Monday, September 13, 2021.

 PHOTO BY AZIN GHAFFARI/POSTMEDIA

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he’s disappointed with new provincial COVID-19 measures which leave it up to businesses to decide between implementing a vaccine passport system or closing indoor dining.

Nenshi said the province should have simply required Albertans to be vaccinated to visit restaurants, instead of “putting it on the restaurant” to decide.

“It’s cruel,” said Nenshi. “It’s cruel to those entrepreneurs who have already been through so much.”

Council discussed the COVID situation late Wednesday night in the wake of a provincial announcement of sweeping new restrictions to blunt the fourth wave.

The city will participate in the province’s so-called “restriction exemption program” and Calgarians will be required to provide proof of vaccination to access some city services, but there aren’t yet details about what that will look like.

Councillors asked city officials two weeks ago to report back on the issue of whether the city could require vaccines to access some city facilities such as recreation centres. But there’s still ongoing analysis of the latest COVID restrictions, and decisions will come another day.

The city is also planning to require employees be fully vaccinated for COVID, but that policy is not yet fully formed.

Ahead of the province’s update, Nenshi blasted the provincial government on the deadliest day so far of Alberta’s fourth wave of COVID-19 infections.

“I have (worked with) six premiers, two prime ministers, I’ve worked with dozens of big city mayors — some of whom were embroiled in scandal and lots of trouble — and I have never seen a government this incompetent,” Nenshi said Wednesday afternoon.

“People are dying. Families are going through immeasurable grief and pain and this could’ve been avoided.”

Nenshi made the comments on the heels of news that the province was going to address Alberta’s deteriorating COVID-19 situation Wednesday night. Premier Jason Kenney is believed to have been in cabinet committee meetings to discuss a potential response as early as Wednesday morning or early afternoon.

The mayor said the city was waiting to hear what steps the province was taking before council discusses what additional measures could be implemented locally.



Alberta reported 1,609 new cases Wednesday, bringing the total number of active cases to 18,421. Twenty-four new deaths were reported, bringing the province’s total deaths to 2,495 people.

The new deaths include two people in their 40s, one person in their 50s, two people in their 60s, eight people in their 70s and 11 people age 80 or older.

Nenshi said he’s worried that it will take a while for case numbers to come down. He said he visited Foothills hospital on Wednesday morning for an appointment and spoke to health-care workers.

“I heard an earful about how nervous they are about the capacity of the health-care system to manage,” said Nenshi.

“We really have to take strong action and we have no time to waste. We’ve wasted too much time already.”

Confusion from mayor, police, business groups on Alberta restrictions


BY TOM ROSS
Posted Sep 16, 2021

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi wears a mask while speaking to reporters at the Glenmore Dam on Friday, September 4, 2020. (PHOTO: Tom Ross, 660 NEWS)


CALGARY — “Not only have they made things needlessly complicated, I think they’ve been needlessly cruel.”

Those are the words of Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, who is not mincing words after the Alberta government reluctantly introduced more COVID-19 restrictions while the healthcare system is on the verge of a catastrophic total collapse.

During an event on Stephen Ave. on a bright and sunny afternoon, Nenshi said we still have some darker days ahead while everyone tries to understand how to best comply with the new set of rules which includes a vaccine passport system — even if the government won’t call it that.

“Store owners and restaurant operators have been through a lot. And Albertans have clearly said, ‘Give us a simple vaccine passport so that I know that the people at the next table are vaccinated and I’ll feel more comfortable going out for dinner, and don’t close down those businesses. Let those of us who did the right thing, who got vaccinated, have fewer restrictions on our lives’. That’s a very logical and correct thing to say. But instead, what the government did was they put this incredibly confusing set of restrictions and then at the very end said ‘oh, syke, you don’t have to live by those restrictions if you do this!'”

Alberta adopts proof-of-vaccination program for certain services, reinstates strict public health measures

Disastrous miscalculation: Premier and health officer under fire during COVID update

Nenshi criticized how business owners are still being left on the hook to try and grapple with the situation, expressing further disdain towards the lack of clarity on how to enforce the rules. He advises the operators to instead defer to the side of caution, and take part in the restrictions exemption program so they can have the fewest restrictions imposed on them and people can feel safe when they go inside.

But if there is even more confusion that persists, Nenshi said he is prepared to call an emergency council meeting and pass a local bylaw — similar to the face-covering mandate — so it can be more easily enforced within the city.

“Absolutely inexplicably, the Justice Minister unilaterally removed the ability of our peace officers to enforce public health guidelines,” he said. “Now, we have a situation where the mask bylaw can be enforced (by local authorities) because it’s a city bylaw.

“This enforcement question is really important because we always start with education, we don’t like writing tickets. We start with the talk, not the ticket book. The time for education is long over, and it is time for serious enforcement.”

With this all considered, Nenshi said the province should be blasted for the announcement on Wednesday evening that left large portions of the province baffled.

“That press conference will be taught in the annals of communications history as one of the worst public sector communications ever done.”

The general confusion was echoed by law enforcement as well, with Calgary Police Service Chief Constable Mark Neufeld adding they are going to be talking with the province on Thursday to hopefully get a bit more clarification.

“There were things in there like not having unvaccinated members of your family or people visit, so how will we know? And if we start to get complaints about that, whose role will that be and how will we figure that out? Those are exactly some of the questions we will want to get to the bottom of here,” Neufeld said.

Neufeld said they could look at some obvious things, such as how to adjust their workforce to comply with work-from-home orders, but other pieces were quite “complicated.”

Calgarians are advised that they can report concerns, such as a loud party with many people indoors, by calling police or 311 but Nenshi said he doesn’t necessarily want to endorse a situation where people are snitching on their neighbours widely.

Nenshi is hopeful people can take this in stride and be patient as businesses also try to understand the situation.

“If you’re not a bozo, I recognize that you are confused and frustrated and angry and sad and disappointed, I am all of those things too,” he said. “From the very beginning of this, I have talked about clean hands, clear heads and open hearts, and I want to focus back on open hearts. It’s hard to have sympathy for a lot of folks who are doing unbelievably horrific things like protesting at hospitals — and I’m not asking you to have sympathy for those people, I’m not asking you to have empathy for them. What I am asking you to do, is to be kind to one another, to be kind to the people working in the shops and working in the restaurants. I am asking you to support local businesses in the way you feel safe. I am asking you to forget about the province.”

BUSINESS CONFUSION

Members of the local business community are also expressing various concerns about a lack of clear details, and they are hopeful there is more information coming forward in a timely fashion.

“Definitely a lot of unanswered questions,” said Annie Dormuth with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. “Although the announcement came out, there were very little details on supports for small businesses such as, for example, helping train staff on following this new public health order.”

Dormuth said financial supports may also be needed in this next stage, such as for buying equipment that may be needed to help verify vaccine records.

The timeline is also being criticized, and businesses may be scrambling to get everything worked out in such a short amount of time before the rules are fully implemented on Sept. 20.

“As we advocate for making things as simple as possible is basically the preferred method,” she said. “We’ve seen in the province of B.C, for example, the government gave at least a week’s heads up of how this program or new policy will work for small businesses.”

Consumers will also have to try and get a hold of vaccine records over the next couple of days, and there have been significant technical issues on the government’s website.

Dormuth thinks most businesses will do the right thing, as there is a very large amount of support among the community for a vaccine passport system.

That sentiment echoed by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, which has long been advocating for a passport system after a poll of its members identified 70 per cent backed the idea.

Calgary Chamber of Commerce wants more clarity around Alberta COVID-19 restrictions

“We’re really happy to see some movement on vaccine certification,” said Director of Policy and Communications Ruhee Ismail-Teja. “At the same time, it is bittersweet. Businesses are faced with quite a bit of uncertainty regarding the recent restrictions, there’s lots of questions to be answered still at this point and that’s causing businesses some frustration and headaches for sure.”

Ismail-Teja said it would have been easier to adopt a province-wide mandate, but without that, she said it will be much easier for businesses to go into the exemption program so they can grapple with the fewest amount of restrictions.

“Businesses do need support from the government on how to bring in the QR code, what sorts of processes will be required on that front, what they should be expecting staff to do, there’s still lots of those pieces to be answered. Once we get clarity on that, there will be a bit more excitement from the business community.”

Ismail-Teja said it will also be very challenging to get all the necessary processes in place before the Monday deadline of implementation.

Both representatives agree that people also need to go easy on businesses for right now, as Ismail-Teja feels pretty confident that the vast majority of businesses will comply with the exemption program and most people should feel safe. She said that the best option for people right now is to get vaccinated if they have not already, and then they can help ensure businesses stay afloat during the fourth wave.

Dormuth added that you shouldn’t rush to take your frustrations out on people who are just doing their jobs.

“If you have grievances or problems with this, do not take it out on the 16-year-old hostess at the restaurant or local business owners that are dealing with so much right now. Contact your local MLA and the provincial government,” she said.

THE GANG THAT CAN'T SHOOT STRAIGHT

Retailers cut out of Alberta's vaccine program just days before changes take hold


Timm Bruch
CTV News Edmonton
Updated Sept. 18, 2021 

CALGARY -

The province has changed course on how its proof of vaccination push will impact retailers.

The Restrictions Exemption Program (REP) is set to take hold Monday, and was originally slated to include retail businesses.

Those who participated were able to drop restrictions placed on their stores if they asked customers for proof of at least one vaccination dose or a negative COVID-19 test.

But Saturday evening, the province changed the REP's fine print.

A government representative tells CTV News retailers will no longer be able to participate in the program.

That means capacity will be capped at one third of fire code occupancy and customers will only be allowed to shop with members of their own household or two close contacts if they live alone.

As of Saturday, the change only applied to retailers. Restaurants, bars, theatres and fitness centres can all still participate in the REP to nix restrictions placed on their businesses.

Madame Premier in Inglewood was preparing to enter the program on Saturday morning.

When told of the news later in the day, owner Sarah Elder-Chamanara told CTV News she still plans to ask for proof of vaccination for those entering her store.

It's a route all retailers can still take, but the onus is now on the private business to implement any immunization-related change.

Elder-Chamanara says she believes the original rule already had its flaws for Alberta's small businesses.

"I don't have a staff I can depend on and I don't have the ability to rely on someone at the door like a restaurant, so I think it'll actually be more challenging for businesses like mine," she said. "I just want to remain optimistic that people are going to be kind and empathetic."

The province is still finalizing certain details of the plan. A representative promised additional details prior to Monday.

TWO & OUT
PETERS: Alberta is a fascinating case study for those who would seek to drop COVID-19 restrictions


Image Credit: The Canadian Press

By James Peters

Sep 17, 2021 | 


ALBERTANS WHO ARE NOT GASPING FOR BREATH in a hospital ICU are likely gasping in shock and horror at what is happening in their province right now.

Consider for a moment, if you will, their plight.

Alberta is in the midst of a real, honest-to-goodness COVID-19 emergency. There is no denying this.

Don’t look at case counts, don’t look at vaccination rates, just look at intensive care admissions for a moment.

As of Thursday, Alberta was seeing 18-to-20 admissions to ICU due to COVID-19 every day and there were 310 ICU beds left in the entire province, including surge beds that have been opened up as a contingency.

Three-quarters of all ICU patients in Alberta have COVID-19. If admissions continue at this rate — and remember, ICU admission spikes lag behind case count spikes — there will be no more ICU space at all in two weeks. Not a single bed.

B.C. has already said it will not be accepting ICU patients from Alberta and Saskatchewan is bracing for its own wave.

Here in our province, the situation is not exactly peachy-keen, but it is measurably better.

What has made the difference? After all, it’s the same virus in both places.

The difference is the speed and enthusiasm in which each province loosened its restrictions over the past few months.

While both provinces opened up significantly, Alberta Premier Jason Kenney flung the doors wide and with reckless abandon.

Restrictions were dropped so dramatically that people couldn’t help but feel it was time to party — at Calgary Stampede, for example, which kicked off the so-called ‘Best Summer Ever.’

Kenney’s UCP even sold merchandise saying ‘Best Summer Ever — Alberta 2021.’

In B.C. and elsewhere, governments were significantly more circumspect.

Albertans, regardless of their personal approaches to COVID-19, should be furious with their provincial leaders.

It will be a miracle if Kenney’s political career survives to the end of the year, let alone until the next election in the spring of 2023.

A line between decisions and consequences has rarely been so straight and so clear.

——

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.

Saskatoon

'Why are we waiting until now?': Doctor grills Shahab about his part in Sask.'s 4th wave response

Chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab responds to criticism from fellow physician


Guy Quenneville · CBC News · Posted: Sep 17, 2021 

Dr. Saqib Shahab is Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer. (Adam Hunter/CBC)

Saskatchewan's chief medical health officer, Dr. Saqib Shahab, found himself on the defensive Thursday night during a meeting with fellow physicians.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) hosts virtual town halls on Thursdays for doctors working through the COVID-19 pandemic. It's a forum for doctors to trade stories and advice, as well as learn the latest epidemiological statistics on the virus's growing footprint in the province.

Videos of the town halls are then publicly posted the next day.

One of the participants on Thursday, Dr. Brent Thoma, asked why doctors should continue to place their trust in Shahab and other leaders, given that the province only moved on Thursday to mandate masks and announce a proof-of-vaccination program, despite doctors warning Shahab and Premier Scott Moe weeks earlier about the worsening COVID-19 situation in Saskatchewan.

"As we saw these numbers worsen … we didn't hear from you," Thoma said, referencing a letter medical health officers sent Shahab and the Saskatchewan government on Aug. 26 outlining more than a dozen further steps the province could take to battle the fourth wave.

Sask. doctors ask gov't for vaccine passports and other 4th wave measures, Moe nixes 'heavy-handed' approach

Q&AER doctor details politically 'downplayed' crisis facing Saskatoon hospitals during 4th wave

Sask.'s top medical officer must protect public from COVID-19, even if government disagrees, say experts

The fourth wave took hold after Saskatchewan dropped all of its COVID-19 public health orders on July 11.

"We didn't see action," Thoma said of the letter, adding that recent infection numbers in the province are "a disaster."

"Why are we waiting until now [to do] even the most basic public health measures enacted throughout almost the rest of the country?"
WATCH | Sask. might need help from other provinces with COVID-19 surge

Shahab responds

Shahab is a government appointee. He can make public health recommendations to Premier Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan government, but it's up to the government whether to adopt those suggestions.

OPINION: Medical health officers should be fully independent

Shahab responded by acknowledging the importance of consulting medical health officers.

"But decisions that are legislative, that have societal impact beyond the health system, are complex decisions and not mine alone," Shahab said.

"There's lots of things which are not in our individual hands as clinicians...." he said. "It's not just my role, but the role of government, the elected government, to think of all aspects. And ultimately, it will make the decision that it was elected to make."

In a news conference earlier on Thursday, Shahab and Moe were asked if they felt, in retrospect, that the province should not have dropped its COVID-19 rules on July 11.

Shahab said he and Moe still cautioned people at the time to wear masks in crowded indoor spaces.

He suggested officials had perhaps been too hopeful that some of the practices enforced during earlier waves of the pandemic, including masks, would rub off on people even if the government no longer required them.

"I think one mistake is that one hoped that behaviours that we had learned over 16 months would continue. But they got dropped very quickly. And now you're back to an order for mandatory mask use."

Vaccine hesitancy and misinformation have also contributed to Saskatchewan's "stagnated" vaccination rate in recent weeks, Shahab said.

Low vaccination rates in some parts of the province have happened despite the province and partners going "out of their way to address complacency and convenience," he said.

Canada election: Why it’s easier to vote in Canada than the US

By Robin Levinson-King
BBC News, Toronto

Perhaps it's no surprise, but when it comes time to vote, Canadians are very good about doing it politely, and in queues.

While Americans are still embroiled in a bitter feud over voting rights and the outcome of the 2020 election, their neighbours to the north are hardly breaking a sweat as they head to the polls to vote in their country's general election on 20 September.

Things like widespread advanced voting, mail-in ballots, and federally-run elections seem to make it easier for Canadians to show up at the polls - voter turnout in Canada was higher (62%) than in the US (56%), according to data from Pew Research that looked at the 2016 presidential election and the 2019 Canadian federal election.

Here's a look at some of the ways it's easier to be a voter in Canada than the US.

No one's going to contest the entire election

Perhaps the most fundamental difference between Canadian and American elections is that Canadian federal elections are all run by one, non-partisan federal body, Elections Canada, while in the US, elections are run at the state level. That guarantees that a voter in Nova Scotia has the same system as a voter in Nunavut.

In the US, a person's voting rights vary widely state by state.

These myriad rules make it easier for partisanship to creep in, says Matthew Lebo, who teaches political science at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and specialises in American political systems.

"In Canada everything is done by Elections Canada - it's non-partisan, and they work hard to be non-partisan," he told the BBC.

"In the states, every state is doing it themselves, they are definitely not non-partisan."

This is partly how the 2020 US presidential election became so contested, with a handful of Republican state governments fighting to overturn the Democratic presidential victory.

While the focus during a Canadian campaign tends to be on the party leaders and who will be prime minister, under Canada's system of government, it's actually 338 separate races, with candidates in each of the country's federal ridings (constituencies).

Why it can be hard to vote in the US

If the US election were like Canada's...

Although Elections Canada is run by bureaucrats, and not party officials, some have accused it of playing favourites.

People don't wait in line for hours

When it comes time to vote, Canadians are typically in and out the door in a matter of minutes.

The pandemic has led to some longer queues outside of advanced polling locations, with some reporting waits as long as 90 minutes, and a staff shortage may impact on wait times on 20 September.

But they likely won't be anywhere near as bad as some of the wait times in the US, where some polling locations during the 2020 vote had wait times as long as 11 hours.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, at New York University, long wait times were often caused by a lack of poll workers or voting machines. Things like early voting and mail-in ballots can help shorten lines, but up until recently, many US states were reticent.

When the pandemic hit, fears of spreading coronavirus at polling locations made many local jurisdictions reconsider, but some did not.

Renan Levine, an American political scientist teaching at the University of Toronto, says things like wait times can impact on voter turnout. He describes voting as a "low-cost, low-reward" behaviour - by that, he means it's usually a pretty easy thing for most people to do, but it's not all that fun.

Tilting the scale in either direction - either by upping the cost of voting (i.e. long wait times, risk of contracting Covid) or upping the reward (i.e. a high-profile election where the stakes are big) can make all the difference to a citizen who is deciding whether to go to the polls or not.

"Sometimes the cost of 'oh let's walk over to the polling place in my neighbourhood' is outweighed by 'I feel good exercising my citizenship rights'," he said.

In Canada, early voting has been widespread for years. During the last election, in October 2019, nearly five million Canadians voted in advanced polls. This election, Elections Canada says advanced voting was up by 20%, with preliminary figures of about 5.8 million Canadians casting their ballots.

Meanwhile, mail-in ballots can be counted so long as they are received by Elections Canada by 20 September.

No one will take away your water bottle

For twenty years, Mr Lebo lived in the US while he was getting his PhD and researching US politics. Even though it's his field of study, he says that as a Canadian, he was shocked by the lengths leaders would go to to keep others from voting.

"I'm surprised by how brazen efforts are to make it harder for some people to vote, and how okay with that many courts are, and how that doesn't create backlash, or change anyone's mind," he said.

People have cited as examples of voter suppression things like a law in Georgia that makes it illegal to give people waiting in line to vote food or water within a certain distance of polling sites.

Georgia Republicans say that rule is to stop election interference. While it is illegal to campaign outside a polling station in Canada, passing out snacks or water is completely fine.

In 2014, the Conservatives introduced the Fair Elections Act that barred Elections Canada from encouraging people to vote - it was only allowed to inform people how and when to vote and eliminated the vouching system, which let voters with proper identification vouch for the identities of others in the same polling location.

At the time, the chief electoral officer expressed concern this would disenfranchise voters, and opposition parties accused the Conservatives of voter suppression. Many of the act's provisions were repealed when the Liberals came into power.

You don't vote on a dogcatcher (OR JUDGES)

Not only are the lines long in America, but the ballots are long too. When it comes time to vote for president, Americans often also vote for their member of Congress, senator, local officials, and items put to referendum. In one Vermont town, even the dogcatcher is an elected official.

During a federal election, Canadians typically only vote for their member of parliament. Many positions that Americans routinely vote for - like judges and police chiefs - are appointed.

The difference speaks to how the two countries view democracy.

"A part of it is the idea that the more opportunities you have to vote, the more democratic it is," Mr Lebo said.

"But a big part of democracy is not just the opportunity to vote. It's about representation, and the ability to turn the will of the people into the kinds of policies that they want. And the US is pretty horrible at that."

Prisoners have the right to vote

Both America and Canada have a long legacy of disenfranchisement, which is a term for restricting certain kinds of people from voting.

When America was founded, only white, propertied men could vote. Almost 100 years later, when Canada became a confederation, not much had changed.

Women didn't get the vote until 1918. Asian-Canadians living in British Columbia were denied the vote from 1920-1948. Inuit were forbidden from voting in 1934, and did not win the right until 1950, while First Nations were not allowed to vote unless they gave up their Indian status for almost a century.

In 2004, a landmark court case gave all prisoners in Canada the right to vote - something that is not allowed in the majority of US states.

In the US, African-Americans were kept from exercising their right to vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This act gave the federal government oversight over elections in many Southern states, but in 2013, the Supreme Court struck down that rule. Mr Lebo said since then, voter suppression tactics have flourished, especially those aimed at keeping African-Americans, who overwhelmingly vote Democrat, from voting.

"Canada has always had its own problems, but year by year, election by election… the arc of justice is steadily going up. Not in the US," Mr Lebo said.

Lots of parties to choose from

Unlike the American two-party system, Canada has multiple political parties. Although only the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party have ever formed a government, several other parties have had elected members in parliament.

IMAGE SOURCE,TORONTO STAR 

"In Canada everybody seems to have a party that fits them ideologically really, really closely," said Mr Lebo.

This system allows for a greater diversity of policy perhaps, but it can also split the vote, with several parties on either side of the political spectrum vying for support.

Mr Lebo said the American Democrats are better at keeping everyone in the fold, noting the diversity of views between Democrats like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Joe Manchin.

"What Democrats understand fundamentally, at least the leaders do, is that if they cannot keep those two sides of the same party, they're going to lose."

Carlton Waterhouse Is Fighting For Environmental Justice At The EPA — And Getting Called A “Racist”

Ahead of his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, the environmental lawyer has become a target of the far right’s bogus narrative around race.

Zahra Hirji BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on September 14, 2021

BuzzFeed News; Getty Images / Via YouTube / youtube.com

Carlton Waterhouse, the Biden administration’s nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency office in charge of cleaning up the nation's most toxic waste sites, has spent his career fighting policies that hurt people of color. Now, in the lead-up to his Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday, he's being called a "racist" and "extremist" for his positions on law enforcement funding and reparations policy.

It’s the Republicans’ latest attempt to perpetuate a culture war around diversity and critical race theory. Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas told Fox News that Waterhouse was an “extremist” who “supports fringe environmental and racist policies.” Thomas Jones, cofounder of the American Accountability Foundation, a conservative nonprofit that launched earlier this year, said Waterhouse is “a racist” who is “obsessed with pushing racially-divisive rhetoric and policies into every aspect of public life.”

In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Waterhouse addressed the criticisms for the first time and spoke about his own experiences with racial discrimination, including having a cousin who was shot and killed by the police. These experiences have indelibly shaped his work: He’s fighting for everyone to breathe clean air and drink clean water, especially people of color and low-income communities who disproportionately live in the shadow of pollution.

In response to the attacks on his character and work, Waterhouse said: “Those kinds of distortions just misrepresent really what I've fought for and the kinds of things that I've been advocating for.”

The criticisms come as the Biden administration has aggressively pushed for all agencies to prioritize environmental justice, creating a new White House Environmental Justice Interagency Council to bolster the government’s progress. As part of this push, earlier this month the EPA released a report showing how climate change disproportionately impacts people of color.

But the clash surrounding Waterhouse’s confirmation also comes as conservatives have increasingly been misappropriating conversations on equity to weaponize them against Democrats.

Environmental justice advocates who support Waterhouse’s nomination say he’s gotten extra heat for being Black and advocating for Black people.

“We've seen Black and brown women and men who've gone through the confirmation process, and there is always that additional set of scrutiny that is placed upon them,” said Mustafa Santiago Ali, the Obama-era head of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice. “It’s unfortunate when people are not willing to also highlight the amazing things that people have done to help to make their country stronger, to make their communities stronger.”


Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images
Activists and supporters of Black Lives Matter march on the one-year anniversary of George Floyd's death on May 25, 2021, in Los Angeles.


Waterhouse’s father grew up in a small town in East Texas, leaving at the age of 17 and lying about his age to serve in a segregated unit in the military “to get away from that mistreatment” he faced growing up in the Jim Crow South, Waterhouse said. His maternal grandmother, who is still alive today, worked for the James River Country Club in Newport News, Virginia, which did not have any Black members through the late 1980s.

At Pennsylvania State University, Waterhouse studied engineering and ethics of technology. He then graduated from Howard University School of Law and later got a doctorate in social ethics from Emory University. He and his older brother were the first people in his family to graduate from college.

“When I was a student at Penn State, I dealt with a lot of racial discrimination myself,” he said. “Just from riding my bike downtown, where people threw bottles and yelled racial epithets at me.”

In between the degrees, Waterhouse spent nine years working as an attorney on high-profile pollution enforcement cases for the EPA. He then taught environmental law for over a decade, including recently leading the Howard University Environmental Justice Center. As part of his research, he’s written about lead poisoning in children of color, and about reparations for descendants of enslaved people. It’s the latter that’s recently garnered negative attention.

“Rather than a crowning achievement of American democracy,” Waterhouse wrote in a 2006 paper, “the civil rights legislation of the 1960s and 1970s represented one more step in a series of unfortunate legal events that ultimately reflected the dominant attitude of society’s white majority toward ending the Jim Crow practices of the south.”

Directly referencing this excerpt and others, the American Accountability Foundation wrote a scathing blog post claiming that Waterhouse is “so radical he opposes the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960s and 1970s.”

That allegation, Waterhouse said, is “ludicrous.”

His paper noted “that it was unfortunate that the question of reparations for people who had been the victims of the racial discrimination in the past” were not included in the legislation, he said. The result was that people like his grandmother — who lived most of their adult lives facing racist policies dictating whether they could buy homes, get healthcare, or vote — never had those losses recovered.

More recently, as protests swept the nation last year following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Waterhouse joined hundreds of legal experts in a letter expressing support for defunding the police.

When asked about this, Waterhouse told BuzzFeed News he had a personal connection with police violence.

His cousin Marcus-David Peters, a teacher in Richmond, Virginia, was experiencing a mental health crisis in May 2018. Unarmed, he got into his car naked and crashed it. The police officer who responded to the scene shot and killed him.

“If you watch the video online, it's just really heartbreaking,” Waterhouse said.

Waterhouse said his support for defunding the police was about rethinking the role of law enforcement in society. “When I was talking about how we can address the police issues that were being raised, at the time, I was talking about making funds available for additional services, like mental healthcare,” he said. “I don't believe in abolishing the police. I think the police are important. They serve an important role in our society.”

Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images
A massive Royal Dutch Shell manufacturing complex in Louisiana’s St. Charles Parish releases plumes of smoke into the air after Hurricane Ida knocked out its power on Aug. 30. NOT SMOKE THIS IS TOXIC POLLUTION INCLUDING CARCINOGENIC PARTICULATES

Waterhouse has been serving as the deputy in the EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management since February. His vision for the office is to prioritize environmental justice, addressing everything from legacy pollution issues, like lead poisoning, to newer pollutants like PFAS.

If confirmed, he will oversee the Superfund program, which is dedicated to cleaning up about 1,300 large hazardous waste sites across the nation. He’ll also manage the Brownfields program, which offers grants, job training, and other assistance to assess, clean up, and reuse contaminated properties. His office is also among those in the government that respond to environmental disasters, such as Royal Dutch Shell’s petrochemical plant in Norco, Louisiana, spewing black smoke into the air after Hurricane Ida hit the South earlier this month.

“Environmental justice means nobody should have to live with pollution in their yards, in the water that they drink, in the creeks that are next door to them, or the lakes that they fish in to get food,” he said.

Biden’s approach to environmental justice stands in stark contrast to the former president Donald Trump, who, in his first budget proposal, called for ending all funding for the EPA Office of Environmental Justice.

The Trump administration, Mustafa Santiago Ali said, tapped people for the EPA who “did not have a track record on caring about the environment and definitely did not have a record of helping to protect those who we know our environmental laws have fallen short on.” Roughly a month after Trump took office, Ali resigned from the EPA.

Trump’s initial pick to lead the same EPA office was Albert Kelly, who had been placed on a federal ban from banking and had no environmental cleanup experience. Kelly resigned about a year into the job amid ethics inquiries.

His successor, Peter Wright, had previously worked as Dow Chemical Company’s managing counsel and represented the company in negotiations with environmental regulators over its handling of hazardous waste.

“We have a totally different paradigm now,” Ali said. “We have a lot of people who truly care. And not only do they care, but they have expertise and they have a record.” He included Waterhouse among those.

It’s unclear whether Waterhouse’s past comments on race will come up during his Senate hearing, although the Biden administration is confident he will be confirmed. And he’s already met and won the support of Sen. Tom Carper, a Delaware Democrat and the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which is hosting the nomination hearing.

“Carlton Waterhouse has devoted his career to protecting communities across the country from hazardous waste and looking out for those who have suffered the most,” Carper told BuzzFeed News in an emailed statement. “I look forward to getting him confirmed in this important role.”

Waterhouse is unsure what will happen at the confirmation hearing, but he said he will stay true to the ideals that have driven him throughout his career.

“The truth is that my values relate to protecting all communities, and they relate to protecting all people, particularly people who find themselves vulnerable and marginalized around issues like environmental protection and environmental quality,” he said. “It’s just been really important for me, through my interactions, to stand up and say things that will help move the ball forward.”


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Inside "The Very Secret History" Of The Sunrise MovementZahra Hirji · Aug. 12, 2021
In Jackson, Mississippi, You Can Go Into Debt Trying To Take A ShowerBrianna Sacks · April 7, 2021
This Louisiana Town Is A Bleak Forecast Of America's Future Climate CrisisZahra Hirji · June 17, 2021


Zahra Hirji is a science reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC

Democrats Plan To Tax The Rich Lets Billionaires Keep Paying Less Than Average Workers

The party is planning to raise taxes on corporate investors and the wealthy to pay for social programs, but is not fundamentally reforming a system that allows billionaires to skirt paying taxes.

Paul McLeodBuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on September 14, 2021,

Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Rep. David Schweikert and Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal attend the committee markup of the Build Back Better Act.

WASHINGTON — House Democrats proposed a rewrite of the tax code to raise taxes on big corporations and the rich, but their plan leaves in place loopholes that allow ultra-wealthy investors to pay lower tax rates than middle-class workers.

Democrats need to raise revenues in order to pay for their signature $3.5 trillion public policy bill that could include everything from childcare support and paid parental leave to investments in green energy and lowering prescription drug prices. They plan to do this through progressive reforms that raise the corporate tax rate and a capital gains tax for high earners, plus a 3% tax surcharge on anyone making over $5 million.

The blueprint released Monday by House Ways and Means chair Richard Neal would make the tax code more progressive, but it leaves in place preferential treatment for those earning millions of dollars of investment income and allows them to continue passing much of that wealth down to their children untaxed. It would not fundamentally remake a system that allows the richest people in history to pay little to no income tax.

“They’re perpetuating the idea that wealthy investors like me are going to pay far lower tax rates than people who work for a living. That means people who are already richer are going to get richer and richer,” said Morris Pearl, formerly a managing director at investment giant BlackRock and now chair of Patriotic Millionaires, a group that advocates for progressive tax reforms.

Neal’s bill would set the tax rate on capital gains at 25% for anyone who earns over $400,000 — up from the current 20% but still well below the 37% top rate that regular income is taxed at. Pearl argued that capital gains above $1 million should be taxed the same as income.

The bill also raises the corporate tax rate from 21% to 26.5% for companies that make over $5 million. The federal tax rate on corporations had been 35% up until 2017, when Republicans cut it sharply. Neal’s bill would also raise the top individual income tax rate to 39.6% for people who earn over half a million dollars per year.

One surprising omission is that the bill does not close the carried interest loophole that benefits private equity managers. Large hedge fund managers earn essentially a bonus — a share of the profit — if their portfolios perform well. But unlike with the bonuses offered by other jobs, hedge fund managers do not have to report it as income. Instead, they report it as capital gains and thus get taxed at a lower rate. Politicians of all stripes have condemned this policy. Former president Donald Trump said hedge fund managers were “getting away with murder” and vowed to close the loophole, but Republicans opted not to fix it in their tax bill.

Neal, who formerly tanked a bill that would have stopped private equity firms from capitalizing off of surprise medical bills, does not end this special treatment toward private equity in his plan.

“[Private equity managers] are basically doing the work of people who work at investment banks but they’re taxed differently. It doesn’t make any sense,” said Chuck Marr, director of federal tax policy for the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Marr said the legislation makes significant progressive changes to the tax code, even if there are items he thinks should be included or beefed up. “I think the big picture is it’s a major step forward,” he said.

The challenge with taxing the ultra-wealthy, Marr said, is that they derive most of their wealth not through salaries but stocks, which are taxed when they are sold.

One aggressive proposal from Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden is to tax the assets of millionaires and billionaires every year based on their market value, not just when they’re sold.

President Joe Biden has called for ending the system that allows for the wealthy to pass down their fortunes essentially free of capital gains tax. Currently, if someone amasses $1 billion dollars worth of assets and sells them off at the end of their life, they would have to pay about $200 million in capital gains. But if they die and leave their fortune to their children, that bill is wiped away. The children receive their inheritance, for tax purposes, as if they had paid $1 billion for it.

Neither Wyden’s nor Biden’s proposal is included in the bill, despite hope that at least the inheritance issue would be addressed.

It’s not clear whether progressive Democrats will mount a campaign to change the bill. Progressive Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal did not respond to a request for comment. The Senate is also developing its own plan, and the two chambers will need to agree on a final plan for anything to pass. Democrats have a razor-thin majority in the Senate and not much more than that in the House, but they are planning to use a process called budget reconciliation to pass their $3.5 trillion plan (though that number could still change wildly as the bill is negotiated) without a single Republican vote.

Erica Payne, founder of Patriotic Millionaires, said Democrats will be deservedly attacked in the 2022 midterms if they preserve a system that allows the likes of Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk to pay lower taxes than the average worker.

“They had an opportunity to end the preferential treatment the uber rich get in the tax code and they refused to do it,” Payne said. “They cowed to Wall Street and private equity interests.”

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Paul McLeod is a politics reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Washington, DC.