B.C. forests minister introduces bill to overhaul forest practices

VICTORIA — British Columbia's forests minister has introduced a bill to amend the Forest and Range Practices Act, saying it would "reshape" forest management in the province.

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Katrine Conroy told the legislature on Wednesday the proposed changes align forestry legislation with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act passed in late 2019 and introduce "new tools to establish resilient forests."

"The vision is for a forest sector that delivers higher value from our forests, with secure, long-term jobs and healthier ecosystems," she later told a news conference.

Past policies "left too much control of the forest operations in the hands of the private sector" and limited the province's ability to fight climate change, protect old-growth forests and share benefits with Indigenous and local communities, she said.

"We'll put government back in the driver's seat of land-management decisions in partnership with First Nations, including where forest roads are built," Conroy said.

"The ability for the public and communities to view and have input on harvesting plans has been limited. It's time to increase transparency," she added.

Conroy said the proposed changes were "long overdue."

A new forest landscape planning framework is expected to be implemented over time, fully replacing the current forest stewardship planning system, she said.

The new system of 10-year forest landscape plans developed in partnership with First Nations, local communities and other stakeholders will prioritize forest health, replacing the stewardship plans developed largely by the forest industry, she said.

With the proposed changes, companies with harvesting licences would be required to develop and submit their operational plans for the minister's approval, and they must meet the requirements of the broader landscape-level plans, Conroy said.

The landscape and operations plans would be posted publicly, she added.

The province has been working with the forest industry on the changes, which are expected to come into effect through regulation over the next year, Conroy said.

The B.C. Council of Forest Industries supports "modernizing and further strengthening forest policy to ensure we have a strong, sustainable, and competitive forest sector," president Susan Yurkovich said in a statement.

"This includes continuously enhancing frameworks for engagement and collaboration with Indigenous Peoples, communities, labour and industry."

John Betts, the executive director of the Western Forestry Contractor's Association, said in the government statement announcing the changes that the legislation will allow the province to better manage forest resources for both climate change and the cumulative effects of resource development.

"For our reforestation sector, it means we will be managing stands and implementing forest practices more sensitive to the complexities and dynamics of how our forest and range ecosystems connect over the landscape and time."

The province previously released a series of far-ranging forest "policy intentions," including diversifying the ownership of harvesting rights and establishing a framework for compensation in the event those rights are redistributed.

About half of B.C.'s forest tenures are held by five major companies, and the plan released in June included the goal to increase the tenures for Indigenous Peoples, local communities and smaller operators.

Conroy said the province has been working to implement recommendations from an independent review of B.C.'s old-growth forest management released last year, including the deferral of logging in ecosystems at risk of irreversible loss.

B.C. announced the temporary deferral of harvesting across 196,000 hectares of old-growth forests in nine different areas in fall 2020. In June, the government approved a request from three Vancouver Island First Nations to defer old-growth logging across about 2,000 hectares of the Fairy Creek and central Walbran areas.

The province is in talks with Indigenous rights and titleholders over old-growth management and additional deferrals are expected soon, Conroy said.

Further changes to the Forest Act are expected later, she added. That act, separate from the Forest and Range Practices Act, governs the annual allowable cut.

— by Brenna Owen in Vancouver

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2021.

The Canadian Press

Ancient solar storm helped pinpoint the exact date Vikings settled in Newfoundland

HALIFAX — A groundbreaking study has confirmed Vikings had settled in a remote corner of northern Newfoundland by AD 1021, establishing for the first time a precise date for the earliest European habitation in the Americas — exactly 1,000 years ago.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The remains of the small Norse settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows were unearthed in 1960 by Norwegian explorer Helge Ingstad and his wife, archeologist Anne Stine. But the methods used to pinpoint the date of construction were imprecise.

Until this week, it was believed the Norse encampment was established around AD 1000 — a finding that prompted Canada's easternmost province to stage an elaborate re-enactment and festival in 2000 called, "Vikings! 2000."

That initial date of settlement was based on early radiocarbon dating techniques, the results of which were cross-referenced with analysis of the architectural remains and a handful of artifacts, as well as interpretations of Icelandic sagas written centuries after the Vikings had left the island.

"The buildings are typical of 11th and 10th century Iceland and Greenland," said Birgitta Wallace, a retired senior archeologist with Parks Canada who worked with Ingstad and his wife in the 1960s. "They're quite distinctive in shape and material and there were enough artifacts to confirm that."

As well, Ingstad and Stine found wood cut by metal tools, which were not made by the local Indigenous inhabitants.

But radiocarbon dating techniques at the time were lacking. "You got error factors of plus or minus 100 years — even more sometimes," said Wallace, a co-author of the new study published this week in the journal Nature. "You couldn't even say if it was late 10th century or early 11th century."

Wallace stressed that the original AD 1000 date was never meant to be a precise declaration. "But this new method pinpoints the exact year," she said in an interview Thursday.

Using accelerator mass spectrometry, researchers re-examined tree rings in pieces of wood used to build the camp. They found some tree rings exhibited a pattern consistent with exposure to a solar storm that swept over Earth in AD 993.

"There was one year of solar activity that affected the growth of trees throughout the world," said Wallace, who specialized in Viking archeology in Sweden and the United States before she moved to Canada. "Those tree rings are really wiggly."

Wallace said it's important to understand that the new AD 1021 date represents a precise calculation of when the trees used to build the settlement were felled. There's no way to know how long the Vikings were in Newfoundland, either before or after that date, but it is widely believed that the settlement existed for a relatively short time.

Still, it is the first and only authenticated Viking settlement in North America, outside of Greenland.

The study's contributors, who include researchers from the Netherlands, Germany and Canada, found conclusive evidence from three different trees to support their cosmic radiation theory.

"Our result of AD 1021 for the cutting year (of the wood) constitutes the only secure calendar date for the presence of Europeans across the Atlantic before the voyages of Columbus," the study says.

The archeological find in 1960 turned Norse myth into historical fact. Led by Norse explorer Leif Ericsson, the Vikings' voyage to Newfoundland — completed almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus would lay claim to the continent — was described in two medieval Icelandic documents, the Saga of Erik the Red and the Saga of Greenlanders.

The site at L'Anse aux Meadows, managed by Parks Canada, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.

When asked to explain why the latest findings are important, Wallace said the level of precision was key. "It's something we rarely have," she said. "There are always many uncertainties in archeology."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2021.

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press

Newfoundland and Labrador to drop the word 'savages' from provincial coat of arms

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ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — The Newfoundland and Labrador government is moving ahead with plans to drop the word "savages" from the official description of the Indigenous people depicted on the province's nearly 400-year-old coat of arms.

Premier Andrew Furey made the announcement Wednesday as amendments to the Coat of Arms Act were introduced for second reading in the legislature.

The amendments include replacing he word "‘savages" with "Beothuk," the name of Indigenous people who inhabited the island portion of the province when European settlers arrived.

As well, the government plans to add the name Labrador to the coat of arms.

“Actions that respect the culture and heritage of Indigenous peoples are an important step on the path to reconciliation," Krista Lynn Howell, minister of municipal and provincial affairs, said in a statement.

"These proposed changes are part of the process of building an inclusive environment in the province and a step forward in ensuring the coat of arms more accurately reflects the peoples and cultures of Newfoundland and Labrador.”

The heraldic emblem features two Beothuk warriors in traditional garb, standing on either side of a red shield.

In June 2018, the governing Liberals said they would drop the archaic description and redesign the coat of arms after Indigenous leaders and the party's Indigenous Peoples Commission called for changes.

At the time, Labrador politician Randy Edmunds said the Beothuk must be represented to honour an Indigenous group that was wiped out after settlers encroached on their land, resulting in deadly conflicts and the introduction of new diseases. Shawnadithit, the last known surviving Beothuk, died of tuberculosis in St. John's in June 1829.

Edmunds, an Inuk who was defeated in the 2019 provincial election, said other Indigenous groups should also be recognized. And he said the use of the term savages was offensive.

Last June, the premier confirmed proposed changes would be drafted into legislation following discussions with Indigenous leaders. A meeting earlier that month included representatives from the province's Mi'kmaq communities, the Innu Nation and Labrador's Inuit.

Qalipu First Nation Chief Brendan Mitchell later confirmed that everyone at the virtual meeting agreed that the insulting term had to go.

On Wednesday, Furey cited an online questionnaire that found 85 per cent of the 200 respondents said the legal description of the coat of arms should drop the word "savages."

The original coat of arms was granted by royal warrant from King Charles I of England in 1637. At the time, the island of Newfoundland was known as Terra Nova, and it wasn't yet joined with Labrador.

The symbol was actually granted to a business syndicate known as the Company of Adventurers to Newfoundland, which seemed to have little knowledge of the area.

Aside from the coarse description of the Beothuk, the coat of arms includes a depiction of a prancing elk, hovering between the two warriors. The animals are not native to Newfoundland and Labrador.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20 2021.

The Canadian Press

#TAXTHECHURCH

Manitoba churches lose court challenge against COVID-19 restrictions

WINNIPEG — A judge who ruled against seven Manitoba churches that were fighting public health orders says the restrictions were reasonable and necessary to stem the spread of COVID-19

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Chief Justice Glenn Joyal of Court of Queen's Bench said the orders did not violate the Charter of Rights and Freedomsand the chief provincial public health officer can lawfully impose such restrictions.

"The decision to temporarily close places of worship and otherwise limit the size of gatherings was rational, reasoned and defensible in the circumstances of an undeniable public health crisis," Joyal wrote in one of two judgments in the case released Thursday.

While the closure of churches limited certain charter rights such as the freedom of assembly and freedom of religion, it was reasonable and justifiable, Joyal ruled.

In the second decision, Joyal rejected the churches' argument that only the legislature, not the chief public health officer, should issue public health orders.

"If every public health order and subsequent modification had to be enacted by the Legislative Assembly,it could potentially handcuff and immobilize government’s ability to act in a timely manner," he said.

Manitoba Justice Minister Cameron Friesen said the government has enacted reasonable measures to respond to the pandemic and its position has been upheld by the rulings.

"Those measures are demonstrating their value even now, as we continue to see a stabilizing of the daily case counts, even while other jurisdictions are experiencing very significant case spread and hospitalizations," Friesen said in an emailed statement.

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, a Calgary-based group representing the churches, said it may appeal the ruling.

"We are disappointed in these decisions and in the unwavering deference accorded to public health officials," Allison Pejovic, a lawyer with the centre, said in a news release.

A special hearing for the case was held in July after Joyal said he learned that the president of the justice centre had hired a private investigator to follow him while he was presiding over the case.

John Carpay took a short leave from his position at the justice centre and professional misconduct complaints were filed with law societies in Manitoba and Alberta.

Throughout the pandemic, there have been times when Manitoba’s health orders restricted worship services. A significant surge of infections in the second wave clogged hospitals and prompted all in-person and drive-in services to be banned.

Government lawyers told court it’s within the bounds of the legislature to grant the chief public health officer the authority to impose reasonable rules.

Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, testified that he is bound by using the least restrictive means to stop the spread of the pandemic. The decision about churches was made because, he said, "we were in crisis."

"Our hospitals were full of COVID-19 patients. Our ICUs were full of COVID-19 patients," he said.

Lanette Siragusa, the province's chief nursing officer, told court she supported the orders because hospital staff were exhausted and facing tough decisions about who could get care.

During often heated and confrontational cross-examinations, the health-care leaders were questioned about capacity in hospitals and intensive-care units, as well as the efficacy of certain COVID-19 tests.

Joyal said the case was one of the first in Canada where a church's constitutional challenge also attacked the science that a government relied on to make its decisions.

But, the judge said, after the restrictions were put in place, COVID-19 numbers began to decline in Manitoba, which was consistent with what the province's science and modelling predicted.

"Manitobans flattened the curve and avoided a disastrous situation," said Joyal.

Court also heard from Tobias Tissen, a minister at the Church of God Restoration, which is located south of Steinbach in rural Manitoba. Tissen said he cannot force worshippers attending his church to follow public health orders because it is "God's jurisdiction."

Tissen was arrested by RCMP earlier this week on an outstanding warrant for contravening health orders.

Restrictions have been loosened significantly in Manitoba since the spring as cases of COVID-19 dropped and there was less pressure on the health-care system.

Currently, places of worship have to choose between requiring people to be vaccinated or restricting in-person attendance to 33 per cent capacity or 25 people — whichever is more.

Joyal said public health orders achieve an important societal benefit: protecting the health and safety of others.

"I have no difficulty concluding that any of the restrictions on gatherings and in-person faith services that were eventually implemented, were as Manitoba has argued, temporary and necessary."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2021

Kelly Geraldine Malone, The Canadian Press

QUEBECOIS WHITE NATIONALISM

Mohawk Council of Kahnawake 'repulsed' by politicization of Habs' land acknowledgment

MONTREAL — The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake is blasting the Quebec government for questioning a land acknowledgment by the Montreal Canadiens that refers to the unceded territory of the Mohawk Nation

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The statement, which has been read before the NHL team's home games this season, acknowledges the hospitality of the Mohawk Nation "on this traditional and unceded territory where we are gathered today."

Quebec Indigenous Affairs Minister Ian Lafrenière told reporters on Wednesday the acknowledgment may be an error.

In a statement Thursday, the elected council for the First Nations reserve across the river from Montreal commended the hockey club's gesture as an example of true reconciliation and added it was "repulsed" by the province's attempt to politicize the effort, which it said undermines the Mohawk presence in the Montreal region.

On Wednesday, Lafrenière told reporters that referring to a specific nation may be a mistake as historians differ on which nation was the first to live in Montreal, while adding it was important to recognize that First Nations were the first occupants.

Grand Chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer said in a statement that land is an essential part of Mohawk identity.

“It holds the knowledge of our ancestors, our history and our presence, now and for the future," Sky-Deer said. "Opinionated commentary that challenge and discredit our presence are not only insulting, they are taken as displaced attacks on our existence.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2021.

The Canadian Press

With hours before deadline, Liberals reshape pandemic aid to businesses, workers

OTTAWA — The federal government has unveiled a $7-billion redesign of pandemic aid for businesses and individuals that kicks in Sunday, which would cut support to almost 900,000 workers and potentially put thousands of jobs at risk in the near-term

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The Liberals have long said the federal wage and rent subsidies, along with benefits like the Canada Recovery Benefit, were always designed to be temporary to get the country through the economic crisis COVID-19 caused.

After a last-minute extension this summer, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Thursday most would not be given an extra month of life past Oct. 23, but reshaped until late November.

The country is in a different phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, Freeland said, noting the labour market has recovered all the jobs lost last year and vaccination rates are rising.

But unemployment remains high, companies face labour shortages and some sectors are further from recovery, which is why aid is being redone and targeted based on need.

"The best possible support for a Canadian is actually a job," Freeland said, "and that's what these programs are designed to really promote."

Wage and rent subsidies for businesses will be more generous and targeted to still-hurting tourism and hospitality sectors, so long as they can prove a prolonged and deep revenue loss.

Restaurants Canada told its members it was happy for ongoing help, but disappointed that eligibility requirements will leave many operators out in the cold this winter.

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said it would push the Liberals to let a wider array of businesses qualify for help, such as gyms, bowling alleys and dance studios, as well as businesses that launched after March 2020.

The government is also looking to extend to May a hiring credit for companies that add to their payrolls by boosting wages, rehiring laid-off workers or new hires, and doesn't require as deep a revenue loss to qualify.

"If economic growth is really as strong as (the Finance Department) forecasts, then there is not a strong need for the expansion of this program," economist Miles Corak wrote on Twitter.

Income support measures for Canadians unable to work because of COVID-19 will only flow to those off the job because of a government-imposed lockdown, but not if a person refused to adhere to a vaccine mandate.

The $300 weekly lockdown benefit would equal what the CRB provides to unemployed workers, over two million of whom have used the CRB since last year and received $27 billion in aid.

An analysis from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said the end of the CRB would leave some 880,000 people without income support starting Sunday, which the Montreal-based National Council of Unemployed Workers noted would hit self-employed and gig workers hardest, since neither qualify for EI.

The Liberals have promised to help those workers access EI, but not until at least 2023.

"It's not so much that the CRB should continue, or shouldn't continue or that this lockdown benefit should exist or shouldn't exist, but rather that we should have a longer-term solution to this rather than a gap year in essence for self-employed workers, which is in essence what we're going to see," said CCPA senior economist David Macdonald.

Macdonald also said thousands of jobs could be in peril as the wage subsidy is narrowed, but any layoffs would likely move workers onto employment insurance.

Freeland said there is still a need for the benefits to help parents stay home to care for a sick child, or to stay home themselves if sick, which is why the government wants to extend them past next month and add two more weeks of eligibility.

The new measures will exist until Nov. 20, after which the Liberals will need support from enough opposition MPs to enact the proposals unveiled Thursday that Freeland said would cost $7.4 billion through May 7.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in a statement suggested his party would push back against an end to the CRB to make sure "people aren't left to fend for themselves." Conservative finance critic Ed Fast said his party wouldn't support the CRB living past Nov. 20 because of "skyrocketing inflation and ongoing labour shortages across the country."

The House of Commons returns Nov. 22, which doesn't leave much time for MPs to approve a new aid package before Parliament starts its winter break in mid-December.

"The last thing that we want to see is brinksmanship and games that are going to stretch this out to the 11th hour," said Mark Agnew, senior vice-president policy with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. "It needs to pass in a fairly expeditious manner."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2021.

Jordan Press, The Canadian Press

Health-care workers demand Trudeau fast track paid sick-leave policy

OTTAWA — A coalition of front-line health-care workers has asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to fast-track proposed legislative amendments to grant paid sick leave to federally regulated workers.

 

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Trudeau has said an early priority of his newly re-elected government will be to give all federally regulated workers 10 days of paid sick leave, and work with provinces and territories on better sick-leave policies for all Canadians.

He pledged to do so within 100 days of receiving a new mandate, but the Decent Work and Health Network says that's not fast enough.

"My patients cannot afford any more delays. And frankly, we shouldn't have to wait 100 days for paid sick days," said Dr. Gaibrie Stephen, an emergency physician from Peel, Ont., with the Decent Work and Health Network.

"Diseases are not waiting 100 days to infect our patients."

A lack of paid sick leave has been a major problem for many Canadians during the pandemic who couldn't afford to stay home when ill, risking the spread of COVID-19 in their workplaces.

During the election, Trudeau said as the country’s largest employer, it is up to the federal government to set the example.

The Decent Work and Health Network held an online news conference to call on the government to immediately amend the Canadian Labour Code to provide 10 paid sick days for federal workers, with 14 extra days during public health emergencies.

The group also asked the government to convene the provinces to create adequate sick-leave policies that would include migrant, precarious, and contract workers.

"As health experts, we are recommending patients with flu-like symptoms stay home and isolate, but without access to paid sick days this is difficult for working-class families who are disproportionately racialized," said Stephanie Sarmiento, a public health nurse in Toronto.

The issue is particularly urgent as Canada enters flu season, Sarmiento said.

"Children and adults with cold and respiratory viruses are on the rise across the country," she said.

The lack of paid sick leave can have far-reaching implications on schools and hospitals, said Dr. Shazeen Suleman, a Toronto pediatrician.

She said several schools in her area have already been shut down due to COVID-19 outbreaks, which could have been prevented.

"Many of the children who go to these schools have caregivers who cannot afford to stay home and care for them when they are sick," she said.

When parents can take time off to care for their kids, the children are also more likely to be treated early and less likely to end up in emergency rooms, she said.

“No one should have to make the difficult choice between having to go to work sick or stay home without pay," said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh in a statement Wednesday.

The NDP said the change cannot be made to the Canadian Labour Code without recalling Parliament, which is not scheduled to happen until Nov. 22.

"Justin Trudeau should reconvene the House of Commons so we can make sure every worker has access to paid sick leave and save lives," Singh said.

Currently, there is a patchwork of sick-leave legislation across the country but no Canadian jurisdiction has adequate policy, the group said.

According to the Decent Work and Health Network, the only jurisdictions with any permanent paid sick days are federally regulated sectors, Quebec and Prince Edward Island with three days, two days and one day respectively.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2021.

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press

Alberta First Nation finishes first phase of search at former residential school site

KAPAWE’NO FIRST NATION — A northern Alberta First Nation says it has completed the first phase of ground penetrating radar in its search for children's remains at a former residential school site

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Kapawe’no First Nation, which is located northwest of Edmonton, says in a written statement that finding any unmarked graves at Grouard Indian Residential School, also known as St. Bernard Mission School, is imperative to the community's collective healing.

The school was opened by the Roman Catholic Church in 1894 and closed about 60 years ago.

Kapawe’no First Nation says the archeology department at the University of Alberta is leading the project and a report on its findings should be finished by the end of the year.

The First Nation says they are also working with Treaty 8 First Nation to search for unmarked graves at 10 other residential school sites in Treaty No. 8 Territory.

The statement says the work has not received funding from the federal or provincial government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2021.

The Canadian Press

PMO says it will do all it can to ensure all residential school records are provided


OTTAWA — The Prime Minister's Office says "to the best of our knowledge," it has provided all residential school records to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

  

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The PMO says in a written statement that it has provided more than four million documents to the centre, and if all the records haven't been supplied, "we will do everything we can" to make sure all the parties of the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement have them.

Earlier this week, the national centre in Winnipeg issued a statement saying it's still waiting for Ottawa to provide documents used in the assessment process for compensation claims stemming from abuse at the institutions, despite comments from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that all federal records had been turned over.

Trudeau told a gathering on Monday of Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc leaders, residential school survivors and their families in Kamloops, B.C., that the federal government had, "in our understanding," already provided all of its records to the centre and it would continue looking to make sure no further records remained.

The centre says it is also missing records from Library and Archives Canada and it has been negotiating with the government about access to records since the Truth and Reconciliation Commission was created in 2015, including records to be generated from the database used in the claims resolution process.

The visit to Kamloops was Trudeau's first since the Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc Nation announced in May that more than 200 unmarked graves had been located at the site of the former residential institution there. Since then, numerous Indigenous nations have reported locating unmarked graves at former residential schools with the same ground-penetrating radar technology used in Kamloops.

A letter sent to the prime minister on Thursday by NDP MPs Niki Ashton and Leah Gazan urged the prime minister to immediately provide the centre with all federal records, saying that would be "a small step towards true justice."

"In light of the recovery of children at residential institutions, if there were ever a time in history where it is critical that we work together to ensure true justice is realized, it is now," the letter says.

"Indigenous Peoples and all Canadians deserve to have a true account of the magnitude of crimes committed by Canada against Indigenous Peoples as a result of the residential school system."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2021.

The Canadian Press

Trudeau slams Alberta Premier Jason Kenney for his ‘incredibly political’  & DEVISIVE referendum on equalization

POSTED ON OCTOBER 21, 2021 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed Alberta Premier Jason Kenny on Thursday, saying the recent referendum on equalization payments was “incredibly political” and that the federal government could not reform equalization without consensus from provinces. Trudeau added that his government is working hard to help Alberta with its surge in COVID-19 cases “linked to decisions that the premier himself made and didn’t make over the past few months.”

THE HURTIN ALBERTAN 

Alberta country stars band together on song opposing Rocky Mountain coal mining

EDMONTON — When Alberta country singer Corb Lund wrote a song 12 years ago about a rancher determined to defend the landscape he loves against encroaching development, it was just a campfire yarn

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© Provided by The Canadian Press

"It was just kind of a story, a fictional story," Lund said.

Events have since caught up to the tune "This Is My Prairie." The summits and foothills of Alberta's Rocky Mountains have been leased along a vast stretch of their range for coal exploration and a series of companies have announced plans for open-pit mines.

Lund's imagined defender was suddenly very real.

"This coal thing happened and I looked at (the song) and it was just word for word," Lund said from his home in Lethbridge, downstream from the proposed mines.

"It occurred to me that this might make a good reissue and then it occurred to me that maybe we should recruit a few more people. I called up some people who had been supporting me on Twitter and they were all for it."

Lund, together with a posse of pals, have re-recorded and re-released the song as what Lund hopes will become an anthem of opposition to mining development in the Rockies.

Fellow country stars Terri Clark, Brett Kissel and Paul Brandt joined in. Cree-Dene singer Sherryl Sewepagaham also sings a verse in Cree.

"They can drill, they can mine, over my smouldering bones," the song opens. "This is my Prairie, this is my home."

Lund hasn't been shy about his opposition to the mines, speaking out on social media and in news interviews. Apart from mining's impact on the area's beauty, he's concerned about its effect on water supplies and contamination in a perennially dry region.

"It's important that we stress this is a non-political issue. This is a water issue. Rural people are upset, First Nations people are upset, urban people are upset. This is very wide-ranging."

Lund, who promised any revenue from the re-release will be donated to grassroots groups opposing the mines, said while the public controversy about the developments may have subsided, the fight hasn't ended.

"It's hard to keep the public engaged. There hasn't been a lot of things in the news. One of the main things about releasing this now is that we have to remind people that this is far from over."

The province is waiting on a report from a panel that has spent the last several months hearing from Albertans about how — or if — coal mines should be allowed near the headwaters of most of the province's drinking water. That panel is expected to deliver its report to Energy Minister Sonya Savage on Nov. 15.

The head of that panel, Ron Wallace, said this week that most of the submissions are "strongly opposed" to mining.

Nobody will be keener to see the panel's recommendations than the musicians of "This Is My Prairie."

"We're going to insist that we see those," said Lund. "If the government thinks they can take those recommendations and put them on a shelf, we're going to be squawking about that."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 20, 2021.

— Follow Bob Weber on Twitter at @row1960

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

Corb Lund x Terri Clark x Brett Kissel - This Is My Prairie (Official Music Video)

Oct 19, 2021

Corb Lund

Official video for "This Is My Prairie" by Corb Lund featuring Brett Kissel, Terri Clark, Sherryl Sewepagaham, Paul Brandt, Armond Duck Chief, Katie Rox and Brandi Sidoryk (Nice Horse). Stream/

Buy here: https://corblund.lnk.to/TIMP 

Produced by Ryan HK @ryanhk.com 

LYRICS: 

This is my prairie, this is my home 

I'll make my stand here, and I'll die alone

 They can drill, they can mine

 o'er my smouldering bones 

(Cuz) this is my prairie, this is my home 

The water is poison, my calves are all dead 

My children are sick, and the river’s been bled 

They want a big coal mine, right thru Pop's grove 

But this is my prairie, this is my home 

I can't blame the miners or the guys drivin’ truck 

For feedin’ their families and makin’ a buck 

But take a close look at the stock that you own

Cuz this is my prairie, this is my home

 I don't got the money that lawyers can buy

 I don't got my own government's laws on my side

 But I still hold the title that my granddaddy owned 

And this is my prairie, this is my home

 Nîya ôma nitaskî, nîya ôma nîkih N'ka nipawan ôta n'kapon pimatisin ôta Kwayask itôta manâcitâ askî They can drill and they can mine o'er my mouldering bones

 (Cuz) this is my prairie, this is my home 

This is my prairie, this is my home

 I'll make my stand here, and I'll die alone 

They can drill and they can mine o'er my mouldering bones

 (Cuz) this is my prairie, this is my home

  #corblund #thisismyprairie