Shipping companies in the Black Sea are reportedly facing war-risk premiums as high as $5 million

gkay@insider.com (Grace Kay) -

© Provided by Business Insider

Merchant ships are targeted by Russian military. 

Vadim Ghirda/AP

Insurance companies are tacking on war-risk premiums, Bloomberg reports.

Vessels that travel the Black Sea face an elevated risk of damage from missiles and mines.

An insurer told Bloomberg the war-risk premiums could make prices unsustainable for customers.

War-risk premiums for cargo ships and tankers traveling the Black Sea have made the vessels nearly un-insurable and threaten to send prices even higher.

Insurance companies are tacking on premiums worth as much as 10% of a vessel's value for ships that traverse the Black Sea, according to a recent report from Bloomberg. The publication cited four people involved in the market, who said some underwriters are providing elevated prices in the hopes they are refused, while other insurers have left the market entirely.

Russia's attack on Ukraine has heavily impacted cargo ships that travel the Black Sea — a key route for oil and bulk food exports. Last month, a supply-chain expert told The New York Times the war could triple ocean-shipping rates at a time when the global supply chain is still reeling from the pandemic.

One of the insurers, who preferred to remain anonymous, told Bloomberg that the freight prices will be unsustainable for customers. Experts have previously told Insider that additional transportation costs will likely be passed on to customers. The conflict could send gas and food prices higher at a time when inflation in the US is near a four-decade high.


Related video: Nearly half of seafarers are directly affected by Ukraine war, says the International Chamber of Shipping (CNBC)

Before Russia's attack on Ukraine, there was almost no additional cost for ships in the Black Sea. But, now Bloomberg reports that the additional insurance cost would amount to about $5 million for a standard tanker worth about $50 million — 30% higher than the cost of hiring the ocean carrier itself.


Vessels traversing the Black Sea face an elevated risk of damage through striking a mine or becoming subject to a missile attack. When Russia first began invading Ukraine, multiple ships were struck by explosives and there were reports of Russia using some of the vessels as a "human shield." The ships could also become detained in the area, forcing the shipping companies to declare the cargo at a loss.

While shipping companies could choose to go without insurance, the decision could lead to significant risks for costs associated with oil leaks, cargo loss, and crew liability — all issues that could cause shipping company's costs to skyrocket.

Eytan Buchman, the chief marketing officer at Freightos, told Insider that ocean carriers are facing elevated prices from all sides as surging fuel prices are also adding to shipping costs.

"It's a ripple effect. In supply chains as a whole there's very little room for failure. All you need is one screw missing, one hiccup, and you have a problem," Buchman said. "Here we have a situation where logistics companies are facing multiple problems at once," he added.

Read the full report on rising insurance costs on Bloomberg's website.

Mines can become "huge carbon sinks," UBC researchers say

Isabella O'Malley, M.Env.Sc - 
The Weather Network

There is no shortage of environmental impacts associated with the mining industry, with some of the top concerns being the contamination of the soil, water, and air. Mining processes also release significant amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, which raises questions about how this industry will expand global operations while improving its sustainability.

ased March 2022, announced an ambitious roadmap for slashing carbon emissions over the coming years. “Powering the economy with renewable electricity” and a target of 100 per cent of new car sales being zero-emission vehicles by 2035 are some of the strategies the government will use to achieve their goal.

Researchers say that the steps needed to achieve such ambitious goals will put significantly more demand on mines, particularly those that produce the metals and rare earth minerals needed for products to achieve net-zero economies, such as solar panels and electric vehicles.

In fact, a study published in Nature reported that “the global area influenced by mining will almost certainly grow in extent and density in future, and the increased demand for renewable energy technologies and infrastructure will likely be one contributing factor.”

So, how can the mining industry reduce greenhouse gas emissions as demand soars?

A company founded by researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) proposes one potential solution. Carbin Minerals, founded by Dr. Greg Dipple, Bethany Ladd, and Dr. Peter Scheuermann, is a carbon-capture company that partners with mines and uses their technology to turn tailings ponds into “huge carbon sinks.”

“So this technology is one where we're taking the waste from mine. So the tailings, which is the finely ground up rock that's leftover and the metals are removed. The waste minerals in the tailings are naturally reactive to the carbon dioxide in the air, but normally they would react very slowly. We have processes we use to enhance its reactivity,” Dipple explained to The Weather Network.

“When this material is exposed to the atmosphere, it naturally absorbs carbon dioxide in the air, and it turns that carbon dioxide into minerals. So it's essentially taking carbon dioxide and putting it into rock.”


Sampling carbonated tailings at Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories. (Gregory Dipple)

Carbin Minerals’ technology churns up the tailings to enhance their surface area, which is an action that will eventually be done by robots due to the health hazards that tailings ponds can present. This carbon capture process continues during the mine’s lifetime and then the rock storing the captured carbon remains buried in the ground when the mine closes.

Part of Carbin Minerals’ motivation for working with mines is the role that they will play in decarbonizing both Canada’s economy and the international supply chain.

“We are working with mines that generate critical metals or battery metals — that's an area where mining has to expand if we're going to electrify our transportation sector. If we can make those mines carbon negative, then we've decarbonized the supply chain for the metals needed in electric cars.”

Dipple notes that their technology can also be used for generating carbon credits.

“At the same time, we have provided a carbon removal benefit that can be transacted on as well. So we're reducing the embodied carbon footprint of electrical vehicle transport, as well as generating carbon removal credits for other industries. So there's a lot of jurisdictional, federal, and other levels of interest in developing those capabilities, because there'll be areas of significant economic growth likely.”


Carbonated tailings from Clinton Creek Mine, Yukon. (Gregory Dipple)

Dipple says that Carbin Minerals is working with a number of mining sites, both in Canada and internationally, and has operated their research lab on three continents. Their work has captured the attention of several companies and e-commerce platform Shopify signed on to a partnership with Carbin Minerals to remove 200 tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

“It's great to have a made-in-Canada story where you've got Shopify, who's Canadian, working with an industry like the mining industry, which is very important for Canada as well.”

CONTAMINATION CONCERNS FROM TAILINGS PONDS REMAIN

While carbon capture is one area for improved sustainability in the mining industry, many concerns about the impacts of tailings ponds remain, particularly the disproportionate impacts that they have on Indigenous communities both in Canada and internationally.

For example, a 2020 report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) stated over 785,000 litres of fluid had leaked out of Alberta’s tailings ponds into the environment in 2017.

The CEC report noted that concerns about tailings ponds leakage dated back to the early 1970s, which raised concerns about heavy metals and other toxins contaminating waterways that both humans and animals rely upon.

"The tailings ponds leaking is a huge concern to the Dene Nation … It has been 47 years of leakage, and leakage we don't know the residual results of," Dene National Chief Norman Yakeleya had stated in a CEC press conference, as reported by CBC News.


Crude oil seen separated from sand for collection. Tailings ponds are used to separate the heavy oil bitumen from the sticky sand mined from around the area. Near Fort McMurray, Alberta. (dan prat/ E+/ Getty Images)

According to Natural Resources Canada, “an estimated 501 agreements were signed between mining and exploration companies and Indigenous communities or governments” between 2000 to 2020.

Additionally, MiningWatch Canada, a watchdog of the mining industry, works with Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous communities that are impacted by industrial mining operations. One solution that this group has participated in is the Safety First Guidelines for Responsible Tailings Management, which is “a set of sixteen guidelines for the safer storage of mine waste” that was created through the work of over 142 stakeholders.

“The guidelines aim to protect communities, workers, and the environment from the risks posed by thousands of mine waste storage facilities, which are failing more frequently and with more severe outcomes,” MiningWatch Canada stated in their 2020 Annual Report.

Thumbnail credit: Ferenc Cegledi/ iStock/ Getty Images Plus

THE REALITY IS THAT CCS IS NOT GREEN NOR CLEAN IT IS GOING TO BE USED TO FRACK OLD DRY WELLS SUCH AS IN THE BAKAN SHIELD IN SASKATCHEWAN
https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-myth-of-carbon-capture-and-storage.html

ALSO SEE https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=CCS

Unifor secretary-treasurer Lana Payne running for national president to replace Dias


The Canadian Press
Yesterday 

DEER LAKE, N.L. — Unifor's national secretary-treasurer has joined the race to replace Jerry Dias as head of Canada's largest private sector union.

Lana Payne announced her candidacy for national president today on Facebook.

She says she made the decision after being urged to run by many union members, following Dias's retirement after he allegedly accepted money from a supplier of COVID-19 rapid test kits he promoted to members.

Payne says the past months have been difficult but have given her a new sense of resolve about the union's future and "the kind of leadership we will need to redress the hurt, rebuild trust, and build the hope and confidence we will need to take on the many fights ahead."

Two other candidates have announced plans to run for the position: Dave Cassidy, Local 444 president at the Stellantis Windsor assembly plant, and Scott Doherty, executive assistant to the national president.

The new leader will be elected to a three-year term at Unifor's constitutional convention in August.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2022.

The Canadian Press

Watch 'Dead' Sunspot Explode, Launch Solar Material Towards Earth

Ed Browne - Yesterday
Newsweek
© NASA/Solar Dynamics Observatory/AIA, EVE, HMI science teams

A cloud of solar debris was hurled towards Earth on Monday, and a NASA spacecraft caught the moment on camera.

The video shows how a dark, s-shaped line appears on the sun's surface for a brief moment. It then explodes, throwing what appears to be a cloud of material towards the camera.

The s-shaped structure was described by SpaceWeather.com as the corpse of a "dead" sunspot called AR2987. Sunspots are dark areas in the sun's atmosphere that are associated with intense magnetic fields. They are dark because the magnetic fields surrounding them deflect heat away, leaving them cool at the center.

Sometimes these intense magnetic fields suddenly change their alignment, releasing huge amounts of energy and solar material from the region of the sunspot. These eruptions, like solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are the sources of significant space weather events like geomagnetic storms on Earth.



The 's' or sigmoid shape of the sunspot seen in the NASA video is a phenomenon that has been seen before, occurring shortly before eruptions. According to a report from NASA researcher Alphonse Sterling in 2000, these sigmoid shapes are present in more than half of all CMEs. Sterling noted they could play an important role in space weather forecasting.

On Monday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center released a G2-class moderate-strength geomagnetic storm watch which noted that a cloud of material ejected from the sun's Region 2987—the solar eruption outlined above—will likely hit Earth on April 14.

G2-class storms are common and do not usually cause any issues. They may be associated with possible changes to the amount of drag experienced by satellites in Earth orbit, some radio fading at higher latitudes and the appearance of the Northern Lights in U.S. states like New York and Idaho. The highest class of geomagnetic storms, G5, are much more extreme and can cause entire power grid systems to go offline.

On Sunday a G3-class geomagnetic storm occurred, leading to shimmering auroras that were spotted by a passenger on a plane traveling over Alaska.

We can expect solar activity to increase in the coming years as the 11-year solar cycle is yet to reach its peak, which is measured by the number of observed sunspots. This number rises and falls over time.

The current solar cycle is predicted to reach its peak some time between 2025 and 2026, after which solar activity will begin to decrease until the solar minimum is reached by around 2035.

CRIMINAL CAPITALISM 

Washington Commanders might have engaged in 'unlawful' financial conduct, Congress alleges to FTC

Tom Schad, USA TODAY - Yesterday 

The House Oversight Committee announced Tuesday that it has reason to believe the Washington Commanders and owner Daniel Snyder might have withheld or concealed ticket revenue and related funds as part of "a troubling, long-running, and potentially unlawful pattern of financial conduct."

In a letter sent to the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, the committee said that as part of its ongoing investigation into allegations of a toxic workplace culture within the Commanders' organization, it obtained evidence that the team might have underreported some of its ticket revenue to the NFL. A portion of ticket revenue is pooled among NFL teams as part of the league's revenue-sharing agreement.

The committee also informed the FTC, which investigates deceptive business practices, that the team might have intentionally withheld "approximately $5 million" in refundable ticket deposits that it owed to fans and corporations.

"This new information suggests that in addition to fostering a hostile workplace culture, Mr. Snyder also may have cheated the team’s fans and the NFL," Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.

"While the focus of our investigation remains the Commanders’ toxic work environment, I hope the FTC will review this troubling financial conduct and determine whether further action is necessary. We must have accountability."

In response to a request for comment, Commanders spokesperson referred USA TODAY Sports to the statement it released in late March, in which it categorically denied "any suggestion of financial impropriety of any kind at any time."

"We adhere to strict internal processes that are consistent with industry and accounting standards, are audited annually by a globally respected independent auditing firm, and are also subject to regular audits by the NFL," the team said. "We continue to cooperate fully with the Committee’s work."

NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said the league is also cooperating and has turned over more than 210,000 pages of documents to the committee.

"The NFL has engaged former [Securities and Exchange Commission] chair Mary Jo White to review the serious matters raised by the committee," McCarthy said.

In its letter, which spans 19 pages and was first reported by The Washington Post, the House Oversight Committee details how it received information about the alleged financial misconduct from Jason Friedman, a former sales executive who spent 24 years with the Commanders.

Friedman told the committee that, among other things, the Commanders used "two sets of books" for financial accounting – one of which underreported ticket revenue to the NFL. He also provided emails to the committee between himself and other team executives in which they appear to discuss reallocating ticket revenue, which they termed "juice."

One email exchange appears to reference counting "juice" from a Washington home game as revenue from a college football game between Navy and Notre Dame.

"Even though we sold $811,800 worth of tickets, we reported that sale to the NFL at a total of $721,600, leaving $162,360 of juice, of money that would just go right into the owner’s pocket and didn’t have to be exposed to the NFL revenue sharing program," Friedman told the committee, according to an excerpt of his interview included in the letter.

Friedman also claimed the Commanders would "improperly convert certain unclaimed security deposits into revenue for the team to use for other purposes."

According to the letter, Friedman told the committee that the team would require some fans or businesses to pay a refundable security deposit for a lease on premium seats, then fail to refund that deposit when the lease expired. Those deposits would also be converted into "juice," Friedman claimed.

"(Many) of (the customers) forgot about it," he told the committee, according to an excerpt included in the letter.

"In many cases, with corporate accounts, the attention name on the account would change over time. So the person who entered into the lease and agreed to pay the security deposit would be different from the person who was managing the account when the lease expired ten years later, and the new point of contact wouldn’t know to ask for the security deposit."

Attorneys Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent Friedman, described the House Committee's letter as "damning" saying it shows that the Commanders' misconduct "goes well beyond the sexual harassment and abuse of employees already documented."

A spokesperson for Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, meanwhile, dismissed the letter as a poor use of the committee's time, describing Friedman as a "disgruntled ex-employee who had limited access to the team's finances."

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

NFL Spokesman Releases Statement On Washington Allegations

Hunter Hodies - Yesterday The Spun

The Washington Commanders are once again in a negative spotlight.

Earlier this week, the U.S. House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission which claimed that there was evidence that the Commanders engaged in unlawful financial conduct.

The team allegedly withheld $5 million in refundable deposits from season ticket holders.

An NFL spokesperson has released a statement on these allegations and has confirmed that the league continues to cooperate with the Oversight Committee.

“We continue to cooperate with the Oversight Committee and have provided more than 210,000 pages of documents,” the statement read. “The NFL has engaged former SEC chair Mary Jo White to review the serious matters raised by the committee.”



A couple of months ago, a new investigation was launched because the NFL wasn’t been transparent enough about the team’s workplace misconduct.

Right now, it’s unknown when the investigation will conclude. Things may get worse before they get better down in Washington.

The post NFL Spokesman Releases Statement On Washington Allegations appeared first on The Spun.

LIBERALS IN TORY CLOTHING 
Charest, Brown both promise to honour federal childcare agreements with provinces

PATRICK BROWN


Yesterday
 The Canadian Press


OTTAWA — At least two of the candidates running for leadership of the Conservative party say they would do something the former party leader wouldn't: honour childcare agreements signed between the federal Liberal government and provinces.

Those running to be Tory leader must stake out a position on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's promise to provide Canadians with $10-a-day child care by 2026.

The options before the Conservative hopefuls include scrapping the program entirely, replacing it with something else, or keeping it and adding extras.

During last fall's federal election campaign, former leader Erin O'Toole — who was dumped by caucus in a majority vote in February — faced criticism over his plan to kill the Liberal program,unveiled in that spring's budget, and introduce a refundable tax credit.

Since then, all provinces have signed onto the plan, including Ontario Premier Doug Ford in late March.

On Tuesday, Former Quebec premier Jean Charest promised that a Conservative government led by him would keep existing childcare deals in place.

On top of that, he pledged to introduce a tax credit to rebate up to 75 per cent of childcare expenses for low-incomes families that don't use subsidized daycare and providepayments monthly than rather annually.

Charest also committed to extending parental leave benefits to two years and moving eligibility for the Canada child benefit to the beginning of the second trimester.

He made the promises under the pitch that childcare is an essential service and families are struggling under the weight of the expense.

Several hours later, Brampton, Ont., Mayor Patrick Brown issued a statement saying he would also honour provincial childcare agreements and offer tax credits to extended family members who help raising children.

"I would make it easier for extended family members living abroad to come to Canada to provide childcare for new Canadian families," he said in a statement on his campaign website.

“I would ensure that parents working in gig economy jobs or who have started small businesses have equal access to parental leave benefits as others currently do."

Brown attacked rival Pierre Poilievre, accusing him of wanting to tear up the Liberals' national daycare plan and having "regressive views on families and childcare."

A spokesman for Poilievre's campaign has not yet responded to a request for comment.

So far, 11 candidates have declared they want O'Toole's old job, with exactly one week left to put their name forward and until the end of the month to submit $300,000 worth in fees and the necessary number of nomination signatures.

The Conservative party announced on Tuesday that Poilievre, Charest and former 2020 leadership contender Leslyn Lewis had crossed that threshold and are official candidates in the race.

As for Lewis's plan when for childcare, a campaign spokesman said she would be making an announcement on the issue and the Canada child benefit that "we believe Canadians families are really going to be excited about."

On Tuesday she promised greater protection for parental rights by pledging to make them into law.

"We currently have a society where many parents are afraid of even having conversations with their children about certain subjects," her campaign website read.

No specifics were provided, but on social media Lewis said government shouldn't interfere with a parent's ability to raise their children according to their own values.

She earned considerable backing from the party's social conservative wing and Prairie grassroots in the 2020 race, and her campaign said she has been drawing crowds of several hundred at tour stops around the region.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2022

Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press

GOOD FOR HER

U.S. whistleblower Chelsea Manning loses bid to visit Canada, but promises another battle

Adrian Humphreys - Yesterday - NATIONAL POST 

© Provided by National PostIn this file photo taken May 02, 2018 former U.S. soldier and whistleblower Chelsea Manning speaks at the digital media convention

After almost five years of legal squabbles, U.S. whistleblower Chelsea Manning has been found inadmissible to enter Canada because of her convictions for leaking a massive trove of U.S. military and diplomatic secrets to WikiLeaks.

The declaration by the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) means one of the world’s best-known whistleblowers won’t be able to cross into Canada for speaking engagements, work or to visit friends.

Manning’s lawyers say the decision, sent to them April 8, will be appealed to the Federal Court, and they will press a constitutional challenge of Canadian law that “criminalizes whistleblowing.”

Joshua Blum and Lex Gill already claim some measure of success because the IRB rejected Canada Border Service Agency’s “alarming argument” that releasing information to the media could constitute communication to a foreign entity or terrorist group.

The IRB agreed with Manning on many key issues, in fact, but she could not avoid the thorny issue of her convictions.

In 2010, while a military analyst with the U.S. Army deployed to Iraq, Manning leaked hundreds of thousands of documents, including an explosive video of two U.S. helicopters opening fire and killing 11 people on the ground, including two children and two journalists.

She testified at an immigration hearing in October that she did it to alert the public to what was really going on in the war on terror and how it differed from official versions.

Manning was convicted under the U.S. Espionage Act and Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and sentenced to 35 years in prison, the longest sentence ever issued in the United States for whistleblowing. In 2017, after seven years in prison, Manning’s sentence was commuted by U.S. President Barack Obama.

IRB adjudicator Marisa Musto reserved her decision after hearings in October. In her 54-page written decision, Musto agreed that Ottawa’s handling of Manning’s immigration file was “somewhat puzzling.”

After being told her case had been referred to the IRB for a hearing in 2017, Manning was then told a year later her hearing was cancelled and her rejection from Canada was final.

“This action was not supported in law,” Musto said in her decision. The Federal Court ordered an immigration hearing, but none was convened until April 2021 after more legal threats from Manning. Ottawa originally accused Manning of being guilty of “treason.”

At her immigration hearing last year, Manning did not deny her convictions in the United States but challenged Ottawa’s interpretations on the equivalency of the U.S. laws she violated to Canadian laws.

Musto said Manning was partly right.

Musto rejected the government’s claim that one equivalent Canadian law is the Security of Information Act of Canada.

Under Ottawa’s position, any public reporting by news media of whistleblower information that could be read by a terrorist or foreign government was liable to prosecution. Instead, Musto said, the obvious intent was to punish direct and purposeful leaking to these groups, not incidental.

“The (IRB) finds that the Minister’s arguments are simply not founded. Disclosing documents to Wikileaks would not constitute an offence in the Canadian statute. In order for the Canadian offence to be committed, the information must be communicated to a foreign entity or terrorist group. The Minister has not established that WikiLeaks is either one or the other.”


U.S. whistleblower and transgender rights advocate Chelsea Manning at the C2 business conference in 2018 in Montreal. 

GEE MONTREAL IS IN CANADA LAST TIME I CHECKED 

However, the same did not apply to Manning’s unauthorized access to U.S. government computers to obtain the information, Musto said.

The two countries’ laws on computer fraud were aligned enough to consider Manning’s conviction a serious enough violation to preclude her entry into Canada.

Musto rejected Manning’s defence of necessity — when someone does something illegal but out of an important and laudable need.

That rejection, however, was not so much for her whistleblowing on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, which was hailed by experts as important information for the public on a matter of serious public concern.

It was the 250,000 confidential diplomatic cables that Manning also gave to Wikileaks that did her in.

Musto said the nature of some of that data was not as high-minded and justifiable.

“It is difficult to conclude that in order to protect the lives of Afghan and Iraqi civilians and detainees, it was necessary for (Manning) to obtain cables pertaining to entirely unrelated matters.

“For example, there is a marked difference between a cable exposing prisoner abuse and a cable revealing that U.S. diplomats in Ottawa think Canadian television stereotypes Americans.”

U.S. whistleblower Chelsea Manning challenging secrecy laws barring her from Canada

Chelsea Manning ordered released from jail a day after attempting suicide in Virginia prison

Musto differentiated the two types of data Manning leaked.

“Depending on the circumstances of each case, a legitimate act of whistleblowing might not be found to be objectively dishonest,” Musto wrote. “In the case before the panel, the acts of the person concerned, specifically with regards to the diplomatic cables, were found to be objectively dishonest.”

Manning’s lawyers said an appeal is warranted.

“The decision is characterized by legal errors,” Blum and Gill said in a written statement. “We therefore intend to seek judicial review and continue her constitutional challenge to section 342.1 of the Criminal Code in Federal Court, including on the basis that the provision is overbroad and criminalizes whistleblowing.”

A CBSA spokeswoman said CBSA was unable to speak to the specifics of this case for privacy reasons.

• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys

Unions look for details on federal budget pledge to ease access to training funding

Yesterday 
The Canadian Press


OTTAWA — The head of the Canadian Labour Congress expressed worries on Tuesday that labour groups could be left out of talks over a federal pledge to let workers access skills training programs before they become unemployed.

Congress president Bea Bruske said her concern is some provinces won't consult unions on how to redirect the federal training cash to help workers before they land on employment insurance.

The Liberals are also proposing to update agreements on the over $2 billion the federal government sends annually to provinces for skills training programs.

The budget proposes directing cash toward tackling current and future labour market needs, including helping mid-career workers transitioning to new sectors.

Bruske said expanding the scope of the labour market development agreements, as they're known, is a positive step.

"But we are worried about whether or not it's going to be done in the right way," she said, arguing that provinces like Alberta and Ontario don't value consulting unions.

"If workers aren't at the table to address the issues that we need to address in terms of where the shortages are going to be and where there's going to be pain in terms of unemployment, then how do we make sure that workers are actually covered by the very issues that we're trying to address?"

The budget released last week also proposes changes to the Employment Insurance Act to provide direct support to employers to retrain workers, and make more workers eligible for help before they become unemployed.

The federal government annually sends money through the agreements to provinces and territories to provide services to unemployed people, many of whom are eligible through the EI system, find and hold a job.

A federal review of the agreements released in May 2021 suggested funding was helping train workers for in-demand jobs, but also highlighted a series of hurdles preventing many from taking part. Among the problems identified were a lack of essential skills or knowledge of programs, learning disabilities and living in remote communities.

Widespread labour shortages and a historically low unemployment rate has helped drive demands for a rethink of skills training and the EI program itself that is under review. Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough is expected to release a report on the future of EI in the fall.

"We haven't touched the EI program for 70 years. Optimistically and truly, this is our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to crack this wide open," said Leah Nord, senior director of workforce strategies at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Nord said EI should evolve toward a talent development process, one where help is provided to workers during a job loss to land a position in sectors with the greatest need. That help could come before someone loses a job, she said, or targeted to those out of the labour market the longest.

Statistics Canada's latest jobs report showed that in February there were 225,000 out-of-work Canadians whose ongoing job search had stretched for at least six months, which was 45,000, or almost 25 per cent, above pre-pandemic levels recorded in February 2020.

Michael Wilcox, an economist with the Labour Market Information Council, said filling available positions and boosting employment figures will require employers to tap into those long-term unemployed as well as other underutilized groups like older workers, immigrants and youth.

"Eliminating barriers to access and encouraging those who have left the labour force to rejoin is critical," he said. "Skills training and better labour market information are two supports that could help."

Deloitte Canada's post-budget analysis said the government should pay attention to those at risk of being excluded from labour market gains, including women, low-income households, Indigenous Peoples, and newcomers.

While the budget included $272.6 million over five years to help people with disabilities enter and stay in the labour force, Deloitte Canada's report released Tuesday suggested more may be needed to train Indigenous youth.

"Investing in overall labour force participation would increase Canada's average real GDP growth and lift the annual trend pace of economic growth," the report said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2022.

Jordan Press, The Canadian Press

CANADA

Federal department questioned quality of 2021 Indigenous census data, documents show

Yesterday

OTTAWA — Federal officials questioned the quality of the 2021 census data for Indigenous communities after collection efforts were hampered by factors including the discovery of unmarked residential school graves, documents show.

Briefing notes obtained by The Canadian Press through access-to-information legislation reveal Statistics Canada's struggle to survey more than 600 First Nation and Inuit communities.

The documents were prepared for Indigenous Services Canada — the department that funds housing on reserves, along with other infrastructure and social programs.

Last October, weeks after the nearly five-month census window closed on Sept. 24, officials provided an update to the department's deputy minister. It noted while the overall response rate was 98 per cent, it was only around 85 per cent for Indigenous communities.

That was down from 92 per cent in the 2016 census year.

"While data collection results have surpassed expectations given the circumstances, questions remain about the quality of data," it read.

"Lower data quality will likely limit the ability to develop a sound evidence base for decision-making whether it be federal, provincial or Indigenous governments using the 2021 census data."

Indigenous Services Canada has not yet returned a request for comment.

In Canada, the census is done every five years to collect population and demographic information that assists governments in making funding decisions. Communities also rely on it for infrastructure planning.

Statistics Canada spokesman Peter Frayne said in the previous two census years, the number of reserves not fully counted had fallen to 14 in 2016, down from 36 in 2011.

In 2021, that figure shot up to 63, with Frayne saying the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with forest fires and heat waves, impacted results.

The federal agency needs permission to enter a First Nation. It reported that out of the 63 communities, 25 did not allow entry.

Documents tell a more detailed story of what went on behind the scenes.

Before data collection even began, Statistics Canada, trying to sort out how to conduct a census as the pandemic raged, opted to rely more heavily on Canadians filling out their forms online rather than through face-to-face interactions.

Efforts were made to hire local counters for Indigenous communities, but that workforce saw fewer than 1,000 out of some 2,200 available positions filled.

Over that summer, Indigenous Services officials flagged lagging census participation as an issue for First Nations and Inuit communities.

"Despite an unprecedented level of effort by Statistics Canada, the 2021 census data collection in First Nations and Inuit communities has been significantly hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic," reads a mid-August update to the deputy minister.

"Participation rates have further been dampened by the uncovering of burial sites at former Indigenous residential schools, as well as the recent forest fires which have disrupted the lives of so many Indigenous families in northern Ontario and western provinces."

It goes on to say the discovery of unmarked graves "is exacerbating negative sentiment towards the federal government, potentially leading communities to reject participation in the 2021 census."

More than 150,000 Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and sent to federally funded church-run residential schools, where physical and sexual abuse was rampant.

Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians were confronted with that reality last May, when a British Columbia First Nation announced it had found what are believed to be the remains of 215 children buried at a former residential school.

On the advice of Statistics Canada's Indigenous liaison advisers, census director general Geoff Bowlby said the agency suspended collection for a period of time of out respect for communities.

That delay, coupled with how First Nations grappled with the painful discovery, affected response levels, he said.

"It's intangible … but it would have had some impact for sure."

How willing people are to fill out the census comes down to trust, and is tied to what experiences they have had with governments, said Bowlby.

"There's a burden that is placed upon people by the census and we have to be careful and aware of what is going on in people's lives."

At one point, officials saw only 63 out of the country's more than 600 Indigenous communities had been counted, so by mid-July Statistics Canada decided to deploy travel teams to help the situation.

By mid-August, that figure began to increase, but officials noted census information was still missing from some 500 communities while the window to collect it was closing. The consequence of having such a large gap is "considerable at many levels," they said.

"The sheer magnitude of the work remains a concern for all involved," a briefing note to Indigenous Services read.

Census data is a "critical resource," officials wrote, used by the department to track process on closing the socio-economic gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

"Efforts to ensure that this data remain of the highest quality are key to maintaining the federal government's ongoing commitment to transparency and results, and its dedication to advancing reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples," it read.

With more census data missing for individual Indigenous communities than previous years, Bowlby said gaps can be filled by creating forecasts from 2016 numbers as well as gleaning aggregate data from tax records and the Indian register, which is controlled by Indigenous Services Canada.

"But there's nothing like the census data and that's why it's so important that we get it, and we get it right with each census," he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 12, 2022.

Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press

Thinking inside the box: U of A researchers showcase new COVID-19 sanitization product

Kellen Taniguchi - Yesterday EDMONTON JOURNAL

© Provided by Edmonton Journal

Teser Technologies Phil Alle, right, president and CEO and John Fox, vice-president of business operations, demonstrate the TESER ACT unit at the University of Alberta's Biosafety Level 3 Lab in Edmonton, April 12, 2022.

Alberta researchers are rolling out a product they say can leave items sanitized of COVID-19 in just 60 seconds.

The Alberta-made sanitization product uses Ultraviolet-C (UVC) light from hundreds of LED light bulbs to kill viruses and bacteria, including COVID-19, and will be launched in Edmonton and Calgary this spring.

The TESER Act unit is a decontamination box, which shines UVC light on items, such as electronics, for 60 seconds and has been tested at the University of Alberta’s Biosafety Level 3 Lab. John Fox, vice-president of business and operations at TESER, a Calgary-based advanced cleaning solutions company, said the device is able to achieve a 99.99 per cent sanitization rate within a minute.

“We’ve been able to test it against a variety of bacterias and viruses, and seeing a really good kill rate, especially against viruses, which is going to be the bigger concern for the next pandemic as people prepare against it,” said Phil Alle, president and CEO of TESER.

The box was designed to be user friendly and operates with the push of just two buttons — the bottom one to open the door and the top button to begin the 60-second sanitization cycle. The lights on the box will beam red during the cycle and turn blue once it’s completed.


Phil Alle, CEO Teser Technologies, demonstrating its Covid-19 virus killer.

The box’s glass is 100 per cent UVC blocking, which keeps the light inside the box due to the harm it can cause to human eyes and skin, said Fox.

The TESER Act unit meets all the Health Canada regulations and Alle said with the help of a grant from the federal government, the first 10 units will be implemented this spring.

The first 10 units will be installed at locations such as Edmonton International Airport and government offices in Calgary and Edmonton.

To meet Health Canada regulations, the device had to be tested and proven to kill COVID-19 and other viruses. The work at the U of A was led by research associate Ryan Noyce and project supervisor David Evans, a professor of medical microbiology and immunity.

“It’s intriguing technology. We were very happy that we had a chance to test it,” said Evans.

“It’s a well established technology and UV is well known as a good tool for killing all kinds of biological organisms, as we know it is in fact quite dangerous to the skin and eyes. We knew it was going to work.”

Alle said the creation of the unit began about 10 days after the pandemic was declared and aims to address concerns heard early on.

“In the very beginning (of the pandemic) people were afraid to be around people, they didn’t want to touch other objects that people have touched, so we were really focused on that because it was something that we felt we could do,” said Alle.

He added the company will focus on laboratory settings and places where the touch of the virus matters, but they are currently working on an air-sanitization unit to combat viruses passed through the air.