IDB chief, facing possible probe, says allegations against him being 'weaponized'

By Cassandra Garrison

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The head of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Mauricio Claver-Carone, on Friday said he was the target of an "anonymous political media campaign" after Reuters reported the bank's directors were looking into an accusation that he had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate.

IDB directors met this week to discuss hiring an outside firm to investigate allegations that Claver-Carone had carried out an intimate relationship with a staffer, Reuters reported exclusively.

The news agency was unable to confirm the claims about the alleged relationship, which, if verified, would appear to be against the bank's rules. Claver-Carone has not responded to repeated requests for comment.

At an event on Friday, which was streamed online, Claver-Carone criticized an "anonymous political media campaign" against him and said he had evidence of the truth and hoped to have the opportunity to defend himself. He did not directly address the specific allegations, which were made in an anonymous letter.

"Trust me, I would love to present to all of you today the direct evidence which I have - not circumstantial, not hearsay, not anonymous - but direct evidence of truth," Claver-Carone said in opening remarks at an IDB event.

"I do hope I am given the opportunity to officially present my case and information," he added, saying he would respect the confidentiality of the ongoing process.

He alleged that some people at the bank were "weaponizing an anonymous letter to orchestrate a media campaign," without giving evidence.

The IDB declined to comment on Claver-Carone's remarks.

The bank's directors met again on Thursday and drafted a resolution to hire an external firm to investigate the allegations which must be approved by the board of governors, a bank source said. The directors decided not to propose removing Claver-Carone from his duties, the bank source added.

The Washington-based IDB is a development bank that, while far smaller than the International Monetary Fund or World Bank, is a key player in Latin America.

(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison; Editing by Alistair Bell)

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

Ex-Goldman banker convicted of bribery, money laundering conspiracy charges in 1MDB case

By Luc Cohen and Jody Godoy

NEW YORK(Reuters) -Former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng was convicted by a U.S. jury on Friday of corruption charges related to his role in helping loot hundreds of millions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB development fund.


Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng exits the United States Courthouse after being found guilty in Brooklyn, New York

The charges stemmed from one of the biggest financial scandals in history. Prosecutors charged Ng, Goldman's former top investment banker for Malaysia, for conspiring to violate an anti-corruption law and launder money.


Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng exits the United States Courthouse after being found guilty in Brooklyn, New York

They said he helped his former boss Tim Leissner embezzle money from the fund, launder the proceeds and bribe officials to win business for Goldman.

Ng, 49, had pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyers say Leissner, who pleaded guilty to similar charges in 2018 and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors' investigation, falsely implicated Ng in the hopes of receiving a lenient sentence.

The fund was founded to pursue development projects in the Southeast Asian country.

The jury convicted Ng of two counts of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) through bribery and circumvention of Goldman's internal accounting controls, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng exits the United States Courthouse after being found guilty in Brooklyn, New York

"Today's verdict is a victory for not only the rule of law, but also for the people of Malaysia," Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. "The defendant and his cronies saw 1MDB not as an entity to do good for the people of Malaysia, but as a piggy bank to enrich themselves."

Ng, wearing a black suit jacket and black tie, showed little emotion as the jury's foreperson read out the verdict. Ng glanced back and forth between the jury and the desk he was seated at. His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, hung his head after the guilty verdict to the first count was read.

U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie, who is overseeing the case, ordered that Ng be subject to a curfew pending sentencing, but said she did not consider him a flight risk.


© Reuters/JEENAH MOONFILE PHOTO: 

Ex-Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng and his lawyer Marc Agnifilo leave the federal court in New York

Deliberations began on Tuesday after a nearly two-month trial in federal court in Brooklyn.

'HARD TO WIN'

Agnifilo said Ng may appeal, depending on the outcome of his post-trial motions and his sentence. He stood by his decision to convince Ng to waive extradition to face trial, saying he had a better chance of a fair trial in the United States than in Malaysia.

"These big cases are tough and they're hard to win," Agnifilo told reporters.

Prosecutors have said Goldman helped 1MDB raise $6.5 billion through three bond sales, but that $4.5 billion was diverted to government officials, bankers and their associates through bribes and kickbacks between 2009 and 2015.

Ng is the first, and likely only, person to face trial in the United States over the scheme. Goldman in 2020 paid a nearly $3 billion fine and its Malaysian unit agreed to plead guilty.

Jurors heard nine days of testimony from Leissner, who said he sent Ng $35 million in kickbacks. Leissner said the men agreed to tell banks a "cover story" that the money was from a legitimate business venture between their wives.

Ng's wife, Hwee Bin Lim, later testified for the defense that the business venture was, in fact, legitimate. She said she invested $6 million in the mid-2000s in a Chinese company owned by the family of Leissner's then-wife, Judy Chan, and that the $35 million was her return on that investment.

Agnifilo said in his closing argument on Monday that Leissner could not be trusted. Alixandra Smith, a prosecutor, said in her summation that Leissner's testimony was backed up by other evidence.

Jho Low, a Malaysian financier and suspected mastermind of the scheme, was indicted alongside Ng in 2018 but remains at large.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)

PHOTOS © Reuters/BRENDAN MCDERMID

The Columbia River Treaty

A myriad of First Nations on either side of the border like the Secwépemc (Shuswap) and Ktunaxa (Akisqnuk) have had deep seeded roots to the Columbia River for thousands of years, long before the Treaty attached to it ever became a notion. What is the Columbia River Treaty? The Columbia River Treaty is a water management agreement that was implemented in 1964 between the United States and Canada and is well-respected internationally.

The reason behind this Treaty was the disastrous flood of 1948 that cost many lives and caused devastation to Oregon’s City of Vanport. Four dams were constructed from the get-go under this Treaty with many more to follow throughout the Columbia’s watershed. Over 60 in fact, more than any other river. As a part of it, Canada agreed on the building of the first three dams in British Columbia: the Duncan, Hugh L. Keenleyside, and the Mica. The fourth dam, the Libby, was built by the U.S. in Montana and floods into Canada.

While there were a lot of big wins that came from the Columbia River Treaty and these dams such as flood control, and all the hydroelectricity they generate, it has created even greater losses. This Treaty displaced thousands of residents, and First Nations of the areas, ripping them from their homeland, while forcing them on to reserves. Dams, and reservoirs constructed inundated more than 110,000 hectares (270,000 acres) of Canadian ecosystems.

Since its development it has had negative impacts on farms, infrastructure, tourism, and forestry. With more dams than any river in North America, when the Columbia River Treaty was first written, little thought was given to the impacts it would have on the ecosystem and on the water quality, its fish, and local wildlife.

All the dams and culverts that stem from this Treaty have had a direct effect on the number of salmon that are able to swim up into areas off the Columbia River that used to be plentiful. Right now, Shuswap Band Councillor Tim Eugene is part of a group of members working on the Columbia River treaty.

“What we are going to be bringing back is the salmon,” says Shuswap Band Councillor Tim Eugene. “We haven’t had salmon for eighty-two years now. There used to be salmon in the Columbia River just down at Athalmer, that was our fishing grounds''. The First Nations of the land as well as the public were not consulted when this Treaty first came into play, and hurt feelings remain strong to this day.

In 1964, the U.S. prepaid Canada $64 million to ensure these flood control operations would be provided, with a reduction of flood damage and the safety of U.S. citizens to be a priority. That 60 years is almost up. Over the years, with the ebbs, and flows of populations there has been changes to the consumption of electricity along the Columbia River, these changes alone force officials to reevaluate the Columbia River Treaty as negotiations for it arise in 2024.

More importantly, there are now consultation, and accommodation requirements in place to ensure that the voices of the Indigenous people are heard regarding their resources, and territories going forward. As we get closer to the year 2024, groups like the Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA) and the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) through their websites, and Facebook page have already began educating the public on their rights as Indigenous people, as well as their expectations on the Columbia River going forward.

The Columbia Treaty doesn’t have an end date per say, but it can be terminated by either country as of Sept. 2024 or onwards, if 10 years notice is given. According to the British Columbia government website. talks about whether to terminate this Treaty will occur post-2024. Shuswap Band Councillor Tim Eugene is a part of Columbia Collaborative, a group made up of six different Indigenous Bands, including Adam’s Lake, Little Shuswap, and Splatsin, that will have a say on the Columbia River Treaty.

“We are still looking for an Indigenous name for it. These bands are going to be determining what’s going on with the Columbia River Treaty. That’s what we’re doing on the Shuswap Band governor’s level. We’re getting all this organized because we feel we should be the ones making decisions on the Columbia River. says Shuswap Band Councillor Tim Eugene. “We feel really connected to it, and we really feel the need to gain a better understanding of it.”

Come Sept. 2024 there will be a lot of discussions between both countries regarding the Columbia River Treaty; this time including the input of First Nations to determine its future, or lack of one.

Chadd Cawson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Columbia Valley Pioneer

MacKay recalls the French, German NATO 'no' to Ukraine that Zelenskyy denounced

OTTAWA — Peter MacKay says he was chilled by a memory from his time as Canada's defence minister as he absorbed the recent images of Volodymyr Zelenskyy walking through the corpse-laden streets of Bucha.

Last weekend, the stricken and angry Ukrainian president called out the former leaders of Germany and France — Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy — for blocking his country's entry into the NATO alliance at their 2008 summit.

The membership could have protected his country from future Russian attacks under the alliance's Article 5 collective defence guarantee.

In a video now seen around the world, Zelenskyy shared his message for the former German chancellor and French president.

"I invite Ms. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy to visit Bucha and see what the policy of concessions to Russia has led to in 14 years," Zelenskyy said.

"To see with their own eyes the tortured Ukrainian men and women."

His words transported MacKay back to the fateful summit in Bucharest, Romania, where Canada and some of its allies were discussing a plan that would see Ukraine join NATO.

The Conservative government of Stephen Harper, with MacKay as defence minister, wholeheartedly supported the expansion.

"I recall President Sarkozy of France huddling in the corner with Chancellor Angela Merkel, and they were having a rather animated discussion," MacKay recalled in an interview this week.

When the meeting reconvened, MacKay remembered Sarkozy and Merkel speaking against granting Ukraine access to a plan that would have put it on the course to NATO membership.

"And that was the end of it … It just melted like spring snow after that little conflab happened over in the corner."

France and Germany denied the alliance the consensus needed to move forward.

MacKay's reflections offer insight into Canada's role in the chain of geopolitical events that has culminated with the Russian war on Ukraine, and the broad global condemnation of President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal for the alleged killing and torture of civilians by retreating Russian soldiers in Bucha, a town near Kyiv.

Ukraine dropped its plans to join NATO two years later under former president Viktor Yanukovych, but it became a foreign policy priority again in 2017 under then-president Petro Poroshenko.

Canada may ultimately be judged as being on the right side of history given what followed the Bucharest summit: Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula, the eight-year war in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region with Russian-backed separatists, and the tragedies and alleged war crimes flowing from the Feb. 24 invasion.

"I think it was a decision that put into play some very negative consequences that we're seeing play out on the ground right now in Ukraine," MacKay said of the 2008 meeting.

" (Zelenskyy) is giving expression to the way many people view that moment in time as being critical and historically tragic. He has basically said that, you know, they have blood on their hands for this horrible war crime that is happening, that is unfolding daily, inside Ukraine."

As the Bucha news emerged, MacKay dug into an old box of papers and retrieved a blue briefing book with gold lettering from the 2008 summit. He said it felt "ominous" to be reminded of it.

The summit was seized mainly with the NATO mission in Afghanistan, where Canada and its allies were grappling with a renewed wave of violence from a Taliban and al-Qaida revolt.

The expansion of NATO further east into Europe — something Putin has adamantly opposed to this day as a security threat — was also up for discussion. Ukraine and Georgia, both former members of the Soviet Union, were vying for membership.

MacKay recalled a passionate discussion.

"There were concerns, in particular for Ukraine, with respect to governance and corruption allegations within the government. And there was the constant reference to Russia being a very nefarious influence on Ukraine's westernization, or ability to pull out of their influence in their constellation of satellite countries."

Canada, however, was unequivocal. With the meeting underway on April 2, 2008, Harper released a statement that said Canada was supporting Ukraine and Georgia's bid to be admitted to the process that would eventually lead to full NATO membership.

"The Ukrainian people naturally yearn for greater freedom, democracy and prosperity. Canada will do everything in its power to help Ukraine realize these aspirations," Harper, who did not respond to an interview request, said at the time.

Shuvaloy Majumdar, the policy chief for Harper's longest-serving foreign minister John Baird, said Canada, several European countries and the U.S. administration of George W. Bush were among those pushing for NATO to expand.

"Canada was an early leader in that time … It was German opposition that interfered with Ukraine's membership," said Mujumdar, who now works for Harper's consulting company and is the head of the foreign policy program at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute think tank.

"Germany and others (were) more focused on reconciliation, on energy … and living in a fantasy land when it came to energy transition questions, whether it's nuclear or other renewable sources."

Harper later played a leading role in having Russia ejected from what was then the G8 — now the G7 — after the 2014 invasion of Crimea.

MacKay said the West can still make it up to Ukraine, especially as Russian forces have partially withdrawn. NATO has said imposing a no-fly zone would spark a wide-scale war with Russia. MacKay said it should opt for a "variation" on that by equipping Ukraine with massive amounts of air defence weaponry, including fighter jets.

MacKay said he believes Russia is regrouping for another attack, even though its forces are badly bloodied and demoralized.

"It goes without saying that Vladimir Putin has had his distorted view of recreating the Soviet Union in the front, if not the back of his mind for a very long time," MacKay said.

"And he's been testing the edges of NATO, and saw that Ukraine was the most vulnerable and the most desirable in terms of its location."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 9, 2022.

Mike Blanchfield, The Canadian Press

Government report acknowledges 'feminist' federal budget benefits men more than women

The Liberal government has made gender equality a top priority, but its latest federal budget benefits men more than women because many of its spending initiatives target male-dominated sectors.


© Olivier Hyland/CBCA stack of the 2022 budget books in Ottawa on Thursday.

A statement and impacts report on gender and diversity that accompanied the budget says nearly half of the budget's measures — 44 per cent — are expected to benefit women and men in equal proportions, while 42 per cent are expected to directly or indirectly benefit men.

Only a considerably smaller share of the budget measures — roughly 14 per cent — will directly or indirectly benefit women.

"This relative disparity reflects the fact that men are over-represented in certain sectors benefiting from many of the climate and infrastructure related measures in this budget," the report reads.

"Although these measures will ultimately benefit all Canadians, the workforce in these sectors are predominantly men, who, in turn, will indirectly benefit from the increased economic opportunities associated with these investments."

According to the report, the construction and clean technology sectors will benefit indirectly from the low-carbon-economy fund expansion, which will invest up to $2 billion in green projects. Similarly, the agricultural sector — another male-dominated industry — will benefit from the expansion of the agricultural clean-technology program, which is meant to foster the changes required to achieve a low-carbon economy.

The report also notes that while it can be argued that increased defence spending benefits all Canadians equally, the country's military is still predominantly male.
Freeland stands behind 'feminist' budget

In an interview that will air on Rosemary Barton Live on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Christina Freeland defended the budget tabled on Thursday, pointing to the $30 billion the Liberal government is putting toward early learning and child care.

"This budget is year two of Canada's revolutionary early learning and child care program," she said. "In fact, we tabled this budget less than two weeks after concluding a deal with the final Canadian province to come on board. So I would definitely say this is a feminist budget."

But men win out in other ways. As the report notes, they continue to have higher incomes on average than women. That means more are able to afford zero-emission vehicles and can benefit from certain incentives as a result.

A lack of gender parity in the business world also plays a role, since certain male business owners and shareholders will benefit from various tax credits.

"This highlights that gender segregation in the workforce and an imbalance in control of and ownership over resources is still prevalent in Canada," the report reads.

Since coming to office, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a self-proclaimed feminist, has spoken a lot about the goal of levelling the playing field between men and women. He's also the first prime minister to appoint a gender-balanced cabinet.

But Trudeau's feminist credentials have come under fire in recent years.

Frances Woolley, a Carleton University economics professor with expertise in gender and intra-household inequality, said gender-based analysis plus — an analytical process used to create budgets — is meant to explore the impact of government policies on diverse groups.

"Sure, sometimes in the end a government will end up adopting a policy that has more direct benefits for men than for women," Woolley wrote in an email. "Indeed, this will happen almost any time that a government decides to increase defence spending, for example.

"It will also happen when a government decides to devote resources to policies that reduce high school drop-out rates, or prevent prostate cancer."
Measures benefit women in some ways

She said it's important to understand a policy's full implications for diverse communities before it's adopted, and that policies need to be as inclusive as possible.

And while the budget appears to disproportionately benefit men, it does benefit women specifically in some ways, according to the federal report.

"Women comprise nearly eight out of ten workers in the dental sector and are therefore expected to indirectly benefit from investments in Dental Care for Canadians," it states. "Other Budget 2022 measures include features that will serve to achieve greater gender equality over time."

Women also have made progress in government in other ways: 47 per cent of heads of missions were women in 2021, up from 32 per cent in 2015. Heads of missions include ambassadors, high commissioners and consuls general.

Woolley said that, overall, government spending tends to help women, noting that the majority of workers in health care, education and public administration are women. She said a progressive tax system — where higher income earners pay more — also helps since more men tend to be high-income earners and therefore pay a substantial amount in taxes.

"So the fact that there were a significant number of new initiatives benefiting men in the most recent budget doesn't change the fact that the overall budget package — including already existing spending programs and taxes — benefits women as much as, if not more than, men," Woolley said.

Federal budget for child care good start, but more needed: advocates

OTTAWA — Feminist advocates say the federal budget doesn't fully account for the challenges in scaling up child-care systems across the country.


© Provided by The Canadian Press

Morna Ballantyne, executive director of advocacy group Child Care Now, said she's pleased the government created a fund for building new child-care spaces.

"It shows that the federal government recognizes that the funding agreements that they've reached with the provinces and territories don't provide sufficient funding for physical infrastructure," Ballantyne said in an interview.

Even so, the government's fund for building new child-care spaces will only pay for 3,125 new spots each year, said Ballantyne in a feminist budget briefing Friday.

The federal Liberal budget for 2022 said it would give $625 million over four years to help provinces and territories invest in child care, including building new facilities.

Creating new child-care spaces involves high capital costs that aren't accounted for in the funding agreements with the provinces, and the new budget's fund wouldn't be enough to build the number of spaces it has estimated, Ballantyne said.

The budget said its funding would create just over 276,000 child-care spaces across the country.

In 2019, there were enough child-care spaces in Canada for about 27 per cent of kids aged five years old and younger, according to a report from the Childcare Resource and Research Unit.

Another challenge government faces in getting expanded child-care facilities off the ground is recruiting the workers to run them, said Amar Nijhawan, policy specialist at Oxfam Canada.

Between 52,000 to 63,000 early childhood educator jobs will be created as a result of Canada's early learning and child-care agreements between the federal government, provinces and territories, according to the budget.

"How are we expected to build so many new child-care spaces … when there's no workforce strategy to address early childhood educators?" asked Nijhawan.

"The real crisis in the care economy that we're seeing around wages, poor working conditions, burnout, labour shortages, recruitment, were not referenced in this budget document at all," she said.

In 2015, median annual income for early childhood educators and assistants in child care was $34,192, according to the research unit.

Many who are qualified to work as early childhood educators are not working in the sector in order to pursue jobs that are better paid, Ballantyne said.

To make sure that enough workers are attracted and retained in the sector, they need to be offered better compensation, she said.

That means that the operational funding the government gives to the sector has to be enough to pay higher wages, since providers will no longer rely as much on parent fees to cover their costs, said Ballantyne.

Bonnie Brayton, CEO of the Disabled Women's Network of Canada, said disability as it intersects with the child-care sector continues to feel like an afterthought.

The government pledged $141.1 million to make disability programs, workplaces and child-care centres more accessible, but didn't provide further detail.

"We're going to build ramps, and then what are we going to do? Send children and parents off to the maybe accessible child-care centre and hope that there are properly trained and disabled child-care workers there to teach them and their colleagues about inclusion and ableism?" Brayton asked.

Brayton said in the context of intersectional budgeting, there has to be a stronger focus on disability.

The office of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2022.

---

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

Erika Ibrahim, The Canadian Press

Canadian miners cheer Ottawa's critical minerals budget plan

By Ernest Scheyder and Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian miners say Ottawa's plan to spend C$3.8 billion ($3.02 billion) to boost domestic production of lithium, copper and other strategic minerals should help propel the country's efforts to become a key part of the global electric vehicle supply chain.

The spending, announced during Canada's federal budget unveiling on Thursday, promises grants for mineral surveying, processing and recycling, as well as tax credits for digging new mines and subsidies for infrastructure, though it would not reduce regulatory oversight.

"This is a game-changer," said Greg Andrews, chief executive of Search Minerals Inc, which is developing a rare earths mine in Newfoundland and Labrador. Rare earths are used to make magnets that transfer electricity into motion for EVs.

While Canada has long been known as a major gold producer, its efforts to mine and process EV minerals have lagged other nations, including China.

Miners also have complained that Ottawa's recent investments in battery components and facilities - including a battery gigafactory in Windsor that is a joint venture between Stellantis and South Korea's LG Energy Solution - overlooked those facilities' need to procure minerals to build the EV products.

"The world economy is going green. Canada can be in the vanguard, or we can be left behind," Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Thursday when she presented the budget to parliament.

The spending does not include plans to lessen regulatory requirements for new mines, just like the industry support announced last week by U.S. President Joe Biden. Mining in Canada is largely regulated at the provincial level. Quebec, for example, is known as far more open to new mines than British Columbia.

"The general climate in Canada is becoming more and more supportive, which is very good for the industry," said David D'Onofrio of Toronto-based bank PowerOne Capital Markets, which is invested in several Canadian lithium and nickel projects.

The budget foresees doubling of the exploration tax credit to 30% for a range of EV metals, including nickel, lithium, cobalt, graphite, copper, rare earths elements, vanadium, tellurium, gallium, scandium, titanium, magnesium, zinc, platinum group metals and uranium.

"What we see in the budget is a carefully thought-out plan, with targeted funds at segments of the mining ecosystem that all collectively need to be bolstered," said Brendan Marshall of the Mining Association of Canada, an industry trade group.

Canada's critical mineral deposits at current prices are valued at approximately C$340 billion, a senior official said on Thursday.

"The key to moving beyond mining is to do more mining so you have ample supply of resources needed to grow supply chains," said Ryan Castilloux, a Toronto-based critical minerals consultant at Adamas Intelligence.

THE GREAT NORTH

Miners also said the budget should help to further develop Northern Canada, which is sparsely populated but contains much of the nation's minerals wealth.

"The only way you develop the Great North is by having programs that encourage prospectors, geologists and others to explore there," said Stan Bharti, CEO of Toronto-based bank Forbes & Manhattan, which has invested in several Canadian lithium and graphite projects.

Ottawa says the budget aims to make critical mineral projects less risky for companies, in part by supporting infrastructure investments with C$1.5 billion over seven years, backing processing with C$1.5 billion over six years, and investing almost C$79 million over five years in detailed surveying.

"You need those other industries or else the metals are going to go to China for processing," said Kiril Mugerman, CEO of rare earths recycler Geomega Resources Inc.

The budget also includes C$25 million for "early engagement and Indigenous communities' capacity building to support their participation in the critical minerals strategy."

While miners said they plan to apply for funding, they would wait for more details. "We need to see the mechanics of the support being offered to understand how best to utilize the funding available," said Mark Saxon, CEO of Vancouver-based rare earths processor Medallion Resources Ltd.

Vale SA, which produces nickel in Ontario as well as in Newfoundland and Labrador, said the spending plans show Ottawa "has a real opportunity to become a global ESG champion of critical minerals and the EV battery supply chain."

Rio Tinto Ltd and BHP Group Ltd, which last year moved its exploration offices for copper and nickel to Toronto, were not immediately available to comment.

($1 = 1.2583 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder in Houston and Stever Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Matthew Lewis)

2022 budget gives CRTC $8.5 million for Bill C-18

MobileSyrup

The 2022 federal budget allocates millions to helping the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) establish a framework for Bill C-18.

Minister of Canadian Heritage, Pablo Rodriguez, introduced the bill earlier this week. It’s aimed at having digital platforms, like Google and Meta, pay Canadian news outlets for using their content. The CRTC will serve as the regulator.

The budget will provide the agency with $8.5 million over two years. The funding will “establish a new legislative and regulatory regime to require digital platforms that generate revenues from the publication of news content to share a portion of their revenues with Canadian news outlets,” Cartt.ca reports.

2020 saw $9.7 billion in online ad revenues, and Google and Meta shared 80 percent of the profits.

“The news sector in Canada is in crisis, and this contributes to the heightened public mistrust and the rise of harmful disinformation in our society,” Rodriguez said Tuesday.

The bill is also known as the Online News Act. If passed, it will focus on deals between online platforms and news publications. The CRTC is responsible for tracking all details associated with the arrangements.

“This is fundamentally fairer for Canadian news media, which will be able to negotiate on more equal terms with the tech giants,” a press release by Canadian Heritage states.

This is the second bill Rodriguez introduced dealing with online content. The first is Bill C-11. It focuses on promoting Canadian content and governing streaming services. The CRTC will also serve as the regulator if the bill passes.

As Cartt.ca points out, Rodriguez previously stated the government would give the CRTC all the tools it needs to handle this bill. However, the 2022 budget doesn’t include any specific funding.

Source: Cartt.ca

Indigenous woman spearheads moon time bag project to provide personal hygiene to Calgary’s unhoused

Jill Croteau - Yesterday 
Global News

Personal hygiene products aren't always easily accessible for people who live on the streets and in shelters and a Calgary woman is looking to change that.


© Jill Croteau/Global CalgaryAlycia Two Bears and her son Chael Dowsett

 put together moon time and warrior bags.

Every week Alycia Two Bears creates personal care packages, destined for the unhoused and vulnerable. Two Bears is committed to supporting all marginalized menstruators, giving them personal hygiene products like tampons and pads. She said it's about dignity of care.

"I wanted to remind people who don’t have access to bathroom and they are bleeding involuntarily once a month, 'We got you, we still love you, we see you, you are going to be taken care of,'" Two Bears said.

Read more:

Free period products to be available in Edmonton Catholic schools

Her "moon time bags" support bleeding bodies; they include pads, liners, tampons, underwear, chocolate, tea, lip balm and sage smudge.

"When I smudge, it's a practice of gratitude and love and my prayers go to ancestors.

She's a yoga teacher and birthworker who started the project almost two years ago.

"I took on a project as a yoga teacher and didn't know it right away but figured out it was for a pipeline company. I have a personal and public stance against pipelines and I panicked. I still did the work and told myself I can't keep the money and wondered how do I give this directly back into community."

Two Bears took the $375 and went to buy a cart full of personal hygiene products.

"That was 18 months ago and I shared them with volunteers to distribute them."

Every Friday night, Calgary's Bear Clan Patrol head downtown to gift the wellness packages to people in need. Yvonne Henderson is one of the original members. She said the moon time bags are a critical piece to their initiative.

"When people see the smudge and the sage it connects them to home and their spirit to home and that's the biggest gift they can get," Henderson said. "For so many unhoused this is traditional Blackfoot territory and our heart remember this area and that medicine connects them, it reminds them they belong."

Read more:

Edmonton will provide free menstrual products in city buildings by June 16

Robin Raweater is a long-time volunteer and said people she connects with are so grateful for the care packages.

"The moon is the most sacred time a woman goes through, her cycle and we need to remind these women at their lowest time they are still sacred, they are still loved," Raweater said.

The moon time bag project evolved to include men. Two Bears also makes "warrior bags" full of self-care products. Lee Breaker from Siksika Nation volunteered for the first time with Bear Clan Patrol and appreciated the sentiment of helping the community return to their roots.

"We are a family and when we see our people suffering we need to support them they best way we could," Breaker said.

The hope is, one day soon, they won't have to provide these basic necessities, but until they're widely available, Two Bears will graciously accept donations. 

You can reach her at

 goodwomanmedicine@gmail.com or 'The Moss Bag Project' can also accept donations.

A Rare Jupiter-Neptune Conjunction Is Here To Change Everything

During our existence, we experience many once-in-a-lifetime moments: our first steps, our first love, our first Jonas Brothers concert. But beyond these Earthly encounters, there are other once-in-a-lifetime astrological events that happen far, far above us in the solar system — and while we can’t see them, we can feel them. This month, a rare occurrence is upon us as lucky Jupiter connects with intuitive Neptune in Pisces on April 12.


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A Rare Jupiter-Neptune Conjunction Is Here To Change Everything

Elizabeth Gulino - Yesterday 6:40 a.m.

Refinery29

“Jupiter visits Pisces once every 12 years — however, Neptune takes much longer breaks to visit Pisces due to its extremely slow movement around the Sun,” says Narayana Montúfar, senior astrologer for Astrology.com and author of Moon Signs: Unlock Your Inner Luminary Power. “For this reason, Jupiter and Neptune have not met in Pisces, the sign they share rulership over, since 1856 — and it won’t happen again until 2188!”

While Jupiter and Neptune meet every 13 years, this particular get together is exceptionally special because these two planets co-rule the sign of Pisces — Jupiter in traditional astrology, and Neptune in modern astrology, according to Montúfar. This means that they’re both very happy to be there right now, and combined, their energy is incredibly strong, positive, and magical.

Jupiter is growth-oriented and loves to expand our minds, while Neptune brings us intuition and dreams. “Being that these planets are in Pisces, they can bring out a lot of mystical and transformational energy,” says Lisa Stardust, author of Saturn Return Survival Guide and The Astrology Deck. “Pisces is a very fluid sign who has a lot of magical components to it — therefore, it is a great time to manifest our innermost streams and passions that we’ve been keeping within ourselves for a long time.” Our spiritual sides will be easier to access, and our creativity will be flowing.

The energy here is pretty serious — so serious, in fact, that Stardust says this is the best day of your entire lifetime for manifesting your dreams. Get out that manifestation journal, try out the 369 method, or just spend the day putting forward the energy you want to receive back from the universe in the future. It can’t hurt.

This conjunction is “bound to inundate our collective consciousness with the characteristics of the water element,” Montúfar says. Specifically, we’ll be feeling all of the Pisces energy, which rules romance, music, film, pop culture, art, creativity, intuition, and spirituality. “This conjunction will set in motion a big transformation in culture that will develop over the 166 years, which is when these two planets meet again in Pisces,” she says. Think of this astrological event as the start of a new phase in these Piscean areas of rulership — our creative sides will be able to evolve into something entirely new.

We’ll also be inclined more toward humanitarianism, and feel inspired to help people, says Iva Naskova, astrologer at Nebula. “It is a good time to handle law affairs and matters of authority,” she says, “but most importantly, it is a time of magic and spiritual guidance from the universe.” Naskova says that we’ll slowly feel like things are coming together and steering us towards our higher purpose in life.

Good vibes are all around us. “You could feel inspired to follow through on something you have dreamt of for years or pursue a cause that is close to your heart,” says Leslie Hale, psychic astrologer at Keen.com. “The compassionate, easy going and ethereal nature of this aspect may allow things to flow quite easily.”

To make the very best of this conjunction in our personal lives, Montúfar says we must cultivate stillness, “as it is during the quiet moments of deep meditation that we are open to receiving the messages it has for us.” Although this planetary connection is dreamy, take time to meditate or relax this day and listen to what’s going on the world around you — you may just have an epiphany.

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