WARMING OCEANS

100-pound sailfish leaps out of water, stabs woman on boat off Florida coast

Fish which can reach speeds of over 100km/h ‘charged’ at vessel after being caught on line

JULY 25, 2022 

A 70-year-old woman was stabbed by the bill of a 100-pound sailfish that leapt out of the water and attacked her as her companions were trying to reel it in on a boat near the Florida coast, authorities said.

The sailfish stabbed the woman from Arnold, Maryland in the groin area with its pointed bill on Tuesday while she was standing in the boat as two companions tried to bring it in on a fishing line about two miles offshore from Stuart, Florida, according to a report from the Martin County Sheriff's Office.

The companions applied pressure to the wound, and the woman was taken to Stuart for medical treatment.

The woman told deputies that the attack happened so fast that she didn't have time to react, according to the sheriff's office report.

Fishing for sailfish on April 18, 2013 in Key West, Florida.

RONALD C. MODRA/SPORTS IMAGERY / GETTY IMAGES

Sailfish are among the fastest fish species in the ocean and, like the swordfish, are recognizable by their extended, pointed bills.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says they are "known for their fast runs, acrobatic jumps and head-shaking attempts to throw a hook." The largest sailfish caught in the state was 126 pounds, but most anglers release the fish when caught.

Sailfish are the fastest fish in the sea and can reach speeds of 68 miles per hour, according to National Geographic.

The largest sailfish ever caught was 11.2 feet long and weighed 220.5 pounds, according to Oceana. They live primarily near the surface of the ocean, but can dive up to 1,150 feet to find food.

Greenpeace taking UK government to court over Jackdaw gasfield works

Group claims ministers have failed to check environmental impact of burning gas at site off Aberdeen

  

Environmental activists protesting against the Jackdaw gasfield at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in June. 

Photograph: Guy Smallman/Getty Images

PA Media

Tue 26 Jul 2022

Greenpeace has confirmed it will take legal action against the UK government over claims it has failed to check the environmental impact of burning gas from the Jackdaw gasfield off the coast of Aberdeen.

The government gave its approval for Shell to develop the field for gas extraction on 2 June.


The UK has faced a summer of unprecedented heat, and Greenpeace says that if gas from Jackdaw is burned, it could produce CO2 emissions equivalent to more than those of Ghana.

Climate activists vow to fight as new gasfield gets go-ahead in North Sea

Philip Evans, an oil and gas transition campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: “This Jackdaw approval is a scandal. The government knows that burning fossil fuels drives the climate crisis, yet they’re approving a new gasfield in June, without proper climate checks, and declaring a national emergency over heatwaves in July.

“Meanwhile, household bills are soaring, and the government is ignoring common-sense solutions like home insulation, heat pumps and cheap renewable power. We believe this is an astonishing dereliction of the government’s legal duty, and we won’t let it stand. So we’re taking legal action to stop Jackdaw, and whenever we see the government acting unlawfully to greenlight new fossil fuels we stand ready to fight in the courts.”

Climate campaigners in Scotland have welcomed the announcement. Friends of the Earth Scotland say the legal challenge will send a strong message to the government that climate campaigners will oppose fossil fuel expansion in every way they can.

Freya Aitchison, of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: “Climate scientists and energy experts alike are clear that we cannot afford any more gas extraction if we are to limit dangerous warming, yet the UK government is ploughing ahead with licensing projects like Jackdaw which will lock us into continued reliance on fossil fuels for decades to come.”

The group says the gas from the field would produce the equivalent of “half the annual emissions of Scotland” if burned.

Aitchison added: “The fact is that any gas extracted will belong to energy giant Shell, who will sell it on the open market to boost their huge profits, so it won’t bring down our soaring energy prices at all. This project cannot be allowed to go ahead.

“The UK government must stop issuing any new fossil fuel licences and instead start planning for a managed phaseout of production, with a just transition for workers and communities.”

New North Sea gas project to generate more CO2 than annual emissions from Ghana, lawsuit claims

Harry Cockburn
Tue, July 26, 2022 

Greenpeace said the government had ‘tied itself in knots’ over plans to extract yet more climate-altering fossil fuels from the North Sea (PA)

A week after the UK endured its hottest recorded temperatures in history, the government faces legal action for allegedly failing to take into account the climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions from a recently approved North Sea gas project.

Greenpeace is taking the government to court claiming it is illegally ignoring emissions which will be generated from burning gas extracted from Shell’s Jackdaw gas field, worsening the climate crisis.

The project is one of six new North Sea fossil fuel projects given the green light by the government this year in a move which opponents have said will "torpedo" British efforts to tackle the climate crisis and disregards science.

Greenpeace has said it will argue that in approving the project the government failed in its legal duty to check the environmental impacts of the project by refusing to consider the damage caused by burning the gas extracted.

The campaign group said that when burnt, the gas will emit more CO2 into the atmosphere than Ghana’s total annual emissions.

Furthermore Greenpeace has said the extraction of the gas "will not even help ease the UK’s energy crisis, or have any effect on energy bills" because the licence belongs to Shell, so all gas will be sold on international markets to the highest bidder – something government officials have admitted.

Philip Evans, oil and gas transition campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said the government’s approval of the drilling is a "scandal".

He said: "The government knows that burning fossil fuels drives the climate crisis, yet they’re approving a new gas field in June, without proper climate checks, and declaring a national emergency over heatwaves in July.

“Meanwhile household bills are soaring, and the government is ignoring common sense solutions – like home insulation, heat pumps and cheap renewable power."

He added: “We believe this is an astonishing dereliction of the government’s legal duty, and we won’t let it stand.

“So we’re taking legal action to stop Jackdaw, and whenever we see the government acting unlawfully to greenlight new fossil fuels we stand ready to fight in the courts.”

The lawsuit from Greenpeace comes after existing legal headaches for the government after the High Court ruled last week that the government’s existing net zero plans were inadequate and unlawful, and ruled that the strategy failed to effectively outline how the government would limit carbon emissions.

Jackdaw is the latest fossil fuel project set to become bogged down in legal uncertainty, with Greenpeace also seeking permission from the Supreme Court to challenge BP’s permit to extract oil from the Vorlich field, and promising to challenge drilling at Cambo – another North Sea site – if the government gives that project the nod.

Greenpeace said the government had "tied itself in knots" over plans to extract yet more climate-altering fossil fuels from the North Sea.

Last year the government promised a “climate compatibility checkpoint” would be applied to decisions on new fossil fuel licences, so that new exploration for fossil fuels could only go ahead if deemed to align with net zero. However the announcement was accused of creating a loophole, after it transpired the new checkpoint would not apply to new permits for individual projects, like Cambo or Jackdaw.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, Cop26 President Alok Sharma and Energy Minister Greg Hands have all stated publicly that increasing UK gas production - either in the North Sea, or through pursuing fracked shale gas, would have no significant impact on wholesale gas prices as UK reserves are too small to have influence on the global market.

Despite this, just a few months later Mr Kwarteng granted the Jackdaw permit.

Courts in Scotland will now decide whether to grant Greenpeace permission to proceed with the legal challenge, which may be paused until after the separate Vorlich case is decided by the Supreme Court.

Last week environmental activists from the group Just Stop Oil caused traffic chaos after declaring the M25 motorway a "site of civil resistance", as they called on the government to stop all new fossil fuel projects.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy told The Independent: “The North Sea Transition Authority granted consent to the Jackdaw project, which will boost domestic gas supply in the years to come.

“This was on the basis of Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning considering the environmental statement of the project and concluding that it will not have a significant effect on the environment.”

Giant metal insect suddenly appears in vacant lot in Vancouver

(Shelley Moore / CTV News Vancouver)

Kendra Mangione
CTVNewsVancouver.ca Reporter and Producer
Updated July 22, 2022

First there were murder hornets. Now, there's this.

A giant metal insect "has landed" in a vacant lot visible from the SkyTrain in Vancouver.

The piece of public art popped up on a piece of land in the south, and is visible while passing between Marine Drive and Bridgeport stations.

It can also be seen from the Canada Line bikeway, the artist behind the installation said in a post on Instagram.

The piece titled Queen BX1000 was designed by an artist who calls themselves Junko Playtime.

"The queen bee has landed. Ready to pollinate your senses," posted the artist whose real name is unknown. On social media, the artist describes their work as "DIY public art installations" involving reclaimed and natural materials.

In the case of the hornet, it appears those materials were mostly with car parts.

The artist hasn't said much about the piece, but posted a video of the creation of the piece last month.

"The installation was created without the aid of a motorized vehicle. All materials were collected within the city and transported to the site on makeshift bicycle trailer setups," Junko wrote.

Much of their work has been installed in the Montreal area. The artist said this is the first installation they've done on Canada's West Coast.

(Shelley Moore / CTV News Vancouver)

Legault government threatens to close Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda over arsenic emissions



The Canadian Press
Published July 26, 2022 

The Legault government is threatening to close the Horne smelter in Rouyn-Noranda if it does not significantly reduce its arsenic emissions.

The company currently releases up to 100 nanograms of arsenic per cubic meter into the air, 33 times higher than the Quebec standard of 3 ng/m3.

On Tuesday, the government revealed that the smelter, owned by the multinational Glencore, had offered in May to lower its emissions to 60 ng/m3 (or 20 times the provincial standard).

"However, this standard is still too high for us," said Ewan Sauves, press secretary to Premier François Legault. "We have asked the company to go back to the drawing board."

"Our priority is the health and safety of citizens. If the company is not able to reduce its emissions and get closer to the Quebec standard, we do not rule out closing the plant," he added.

Much has been written about the air quality issue in Rouyn-Noranda. On July 6, Quebec's public health director Dr. Luc Boileau declared that the status quo was no longer acceptable.

In the past, the "Liberals have given up" on Glencore, according to Sauves. "Fortunately, this time it's not the Liberals who are negotiating the new certificate. We won't make the same mistake again."

OPPOSITION PARTIES WOULD NOT CLOSE SMELTER

In a press scrum in Quebec City, Liberal Leader Dominique Anglade said she hoped the company would "move towards" the Quebec standard of 3 ng/m3 "as quickly as possible."

"Today, we have information that we did not have 20 years ago. We know the impacts," she said, adding that "the Quebec standard is for everyone."

The co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire, Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, also deplored the fact that the smelter is negotiating with the government "its right to pollute more than others."

"Glencore must respect Quebec's air quality standards, period," he said. "The health of the children of Rouyn-Noranda is no less valuable than the health of ... people everywhere in Quebec."

Neither the Quebec Liberal Party nor Québec solidaire are talking about forcing the closure of the Horne smelter, saying they believe the company will eventually meet Quebec's air quality standards.

Both parties also rejected the idea of helping the company financially until it reaches its targets.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 26, 2022.

Melted steel in an iron cauldron. -- FILE PHOTO (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

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RIP

'He lived his passion to the end': Quebec alpinist Richard Cartier dies on world's second-highest mountain

Richard Cartier has been described as an experienced climber by family and friends

. (Photo courtesy of Tomas Ryan)

Joe Lofaro
CTVNewsMontreal.ca 

Digital Reporter
Updated July 26, 2022 

A Quebec doctor and father of two who took time off to mount K2, the world's second-highest mountain, has died after a mishap on his descent from the 8,611-metre peak.

Dr. Richard Cartier, 60, an experienced alpinist and a palliative care physician at the Saint-Jérôme Hospital, leaves behind his spouse and two adults sons. His family told CTV that he died last Friday. It's believed he fell as he was descending with his team of climbers after reaching Camp 4 at 7,600 metres.

Friends and family are mourning his tragic death, including Tomás Ryan. The longtime friends climbed Denali together in Alaska and in Bolivia, Ryan followed Cartier's lead on the steep ice climb on Huayna Potosí.

Richard Cartier, right, on an alpine climb with his friend, Tomas Ryan. 

(Photo courtesy of Tomas Ryan)

Ryan told CTV News he was "shocked" to learn about his death on Monday since Cartier was a pro who was "methodical and technical" in his mountaineering.

"I've been climbing with Richard for over 20 years, and he's a great, fantastic person as a person and as a climbing partner, too … It really hurts to know that he's gone," Ryan said through tears.

'PEOPLE DIE THE WAY THEY LIVED'

Cartier's teammate, Matt Eakin of Australia, also died during the expedition, which was documented on social media by fellow climber Justin Dubé-Fahmy.

Cartier's family said in a statement to CTV that he "lived his passion to the end."

"As Richard said so well in his work in palliative care, 'People die the way they lived.' This was the case for Richard," the statement read.

"According to his teammates, he maintained his energy level until the end, but the mountain decided otherwise on July 22, 2022. It was a privilege to have shared his life."

Even though it's the second-highest mountain under Mount Everest, the K2 mountain, which straddles the borders of Pakistan and China, has been dubbed "Savage Mountain" by some. With a death to ascents ratio of one to six, media reports say it is more dangerous than Mount Everest's one to 34.

Richard Cartier, 60, is being mourned by family and friends in the climbing community. 

(Photo courtesy the family of Richard Cartier)

Mounting K2 is no easy feat and can take a year of planning before ever setting foot on base camp, according to Ryan, who admits mountaineering can be a bit of "Russian Roulette" for climbers of all levels. But Richard "was not a tourist climber" and would have been one of the best climbers on that expedition, Ryan added.

The K2 summit is seen in this 2008 photo. 

(Credit: Svy123 / Wikimedia Commons)

"You can be unlucky and get a rock on the head. And, you know, you're the only one that was there at that time. And there's hundreds of climbers that have gone there in the last week, but you're just at the wrong place at the wrong time. And that's what happens," he said.

"But we do it because we love it. We feel alive I know for Richard it's really something that keeps him very happy."

Friends expressed their condolences on social media as did Quebec's College of Doctors.

On social media, a close friend of Cartier's, Jacques Lamontagne, described the climber as a "climbing partner and an exemplary friend. Richard was always smiling, funny and in a good mood," he wrote.

"He was an incredible listener, humble, always kind, and generous beyond measure. He was also quite an athlete with thousands of miles of marathon running, climbing and cycling under his belt."

PRIVATIZING MEDICARE
Saskatchewan will pay private clinics to help close surgery gap

Privately run orthopedic surgery clinic to be built in Saskatoon intended to help clear the province's surgical backlog.

Author of the article: Zak Vescera

Publishing date: Jul 25, 2022 

Prairieview Surgical Centre in Saskatoon is owned by 

Calgary-based Surgical Centres Inc. 

Photo taken in Saskatoon, SK on Tuesday, May 31, 2022. 

PHOTO BY MATT SMITH /Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Saskatchewan’s government wants a privately run orthopedic surgery clinic to be built in Saskatchewan as part of an effort to clear a record backlog of postponed procedures.

The province says it will issue a formal request next month for a private company to build a site “focused on increasing operating room and bed capacity for in-patient joint replacements, as well as a variety of day surgery procedures.”

The Ministry of Health says it is also exploring contracting an existing private surgery clinic outside of the province to perform hip and knee surgeries for residents on the province’s waitlist.

“This option would be offered to patients on a fully voluntary basis, who have waited the longest for their joint replacement procedures while work is ongoing to accelerate expansion plans in public and private facilities,” reads a provincial government release.

Both moves would constitute a major expansion of the private sector’s role in providing surgical services in the province, a step many health-care experts warn could sap staff and resources from an already-struggling public system.

Cutting the backlog

The province’s surgical waiting list has been growing since 2015 and ballooned during the COVID-19 pandemic, when government twice postponed elective surgeries to cope with a flood of sick patients in hospital.

The Ministry of Health said recent surgical volumes have increased and that it delivered 5,000 more surgeries in the first five months of 2022 than during the same time period in 2022.

But it has made little progress at actually reducing the total backlog. An internal Saskatchewan Health Authority report obtained by the StarPhoenix from earlier this month notes that surgical volumes have only returned to pre-pandemic levels this year.

The actual number of surgeries on the waiting list has hovered between 35,000 and 36,000 since the start of the year.

Health Minister Paul Merriman has announced plans to cut the backlog of pandemic surgeries by 2025 and to achieve a 90-day wait time by 2030, something government has previously promised but not accomplished.

The province is spending a total of $41.6 million in the coming year to address the backlog and aims to perform about 7,000 more surgeries in the current fiscal year than pre-pandemic levels, with further increases in years after.

Merriman has previously said that the vast bulk of that cash will go to public services, but has been clear some will also go to the private sector.

“We are considering all options while we move forward on a number of initiatives, such as facility upgrades and expansions across the province and comprehensive human resource plans to increase surgical capacity through additional hiring,” Merriman said in a prepared statement.

A disproportionate number of delayed surgeries are hip and knee replacements. As of earlier this month, internal Saskatchewan Health Authority documentation shows 4,098 patients had already waited more than 12 months for an orthopedic procedure.

Those delays have caused many patients extended discomfort and pain. Some have even decided to pay tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket to get the surgery in the United States or at private clinics in Alberta.

Saskatchewan already pays a private company to perform cataract, ear, nose, throat and other surgeries at facilities in Regina and Saskatoon. The SHA paid Surgical Centres Inc. more than $10 million in 2021, according to public accounts. The company registered as a lobbyist in Saskatchewan earlier this year.

zvescera@postmedia.com
twitter.com/zakvescera


Painful joints, broken promises as Sask. patients wait for surger

'I truly wanted to die': Life on Saskatchewan's surgery wait-list

An Air Canada flight attendant of over 20 years says she's never seen employee morale this low — even after 9/11 and the peak of the pandemic

Hannah Towey
Jul 25, 2022,

Air Canada Airlines airplane at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on May 03, 2022. 

Creative Touch Imaging Ltd./NurPhoto via Getty Images


An Air Canada flight attendant of over 20 years described working amid this summer's travel chaos.

She said she's never seen employee morale this low.

"It just feels like we're being set up to fail at every turn," she told Insider.

An Air Canada flight attendant who has worked at the airline for over two decades says she's never seen employee morale this low.

"I worked through 9/11, I worked through SARS, and this has had to have been the worst," she told Insider. The flight attendant spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to protect her job, but her employment has been verified by Insider.

For some flight attendants, what was supposed to be a dream job has transformed into a "nightmare" amid this summer's travel chaos. Crew members at multiple airlines have told Insider that the industry's entry-level workers are not being paid a living wage, leaving them unable to afford housing or groceries.

As travelers share horror stories ranging from lost luggage and abandoned wheelchair users to parents separated from their children, airline workers trying to help feel they lack adequate resources to do so, the flight attendant said.

"We really do want the best for our passengers and we really are trying to help," she told Insider, describing an instance where she attempted to assist a mother in tears with an infant and two children after they missed their connecting flight. "It just feels like we're being set up to fail at every turn."

"If passengers see us and we're not smiling or we seem a little bit stressed it's probably because we've just locked ourselves in the lav for a few minutes to have a good cry and be able to come out again," she continued. "The anxiety is really really tough for us as well."

An Air Canada spokesperson said the airline won't respond to anonymous comments made by employees, adding that their flight attendants "are professionals and make every effort to manage challenging situations effectively in their respective environments," and have been "recognized by Skytrax as the best airline staff in North America and in Canada."

Flight attendants feel underpaid by management and mistreated by passengers, Air Canada employee says

 

INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images

A chasm between Air Canada's management and frontline workers first formed during the pandemic, the flight attendant said, after the airline announced it would lay off or furlough a total of 20,000 workers.

One year after the layoffs were announced, the airline's top executives were given $10 million in COVID-19 bonuses — around the same time the company received a $4.7 million aid package from the federal government.

In response to "public disappointment" that followed reports of the bonuses, Air Canada's leadership returned the money and stock awards, Reuters reported.

But despite government bailouts and COVID-19 recovery programs, airlines everywhere are struggling to handle this summer's soaring travel demand.

"I just think it's poor management on so many fronts and by the government as well," the flight attendant told Insider. "I don't know how they didn't expect that everyone would want to travel after the pandemic."

Now, the flight attendant says crew members are being underpaid by management and mistreated by passengers who don't understand the many complicated factors that can cause flight delays.

"The general public is really quite unforgiving and almost unwilling to try to understand how many factors go into play at an airport," she said. "[Passengers] think 'Oh, you get great layovers in Greece' ... they don't know that we fought a war to actually get there."

The mass delays have exacerbated the risks of unruly passenger incidents, the president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, which represents Air Canada flight attendants, told Reuters. According to the Federal Aviation Administration, flight disruptions caused by passengers — which hit an all time high in early 2021 — briefly spiked over Memorial Day weekend when over 4,500 flights were canceled or delayed.

"The overwhelming majority of passengers are respectful," Air Canada said in a statement. "That said, Air Canada has a zero-tolerance approach towards any kind of aggression in our business, especially towards our employees. We have well developed policies and procedures in place to handle and support employees as required."

"Earlier in the summer we took steps to adjust compensation for various employee groups to reflect the current operating environment, including compensation for flight attendants, and during aircraft gate holds," the statement continued.

'Panicky money': Investors move $10.4B out of Canadian mutual funds in June

Michelle Zadikian, BNN Bloomberg

Canadian mutual funds posted net redemptions of $10.4 billion in June as investors headed for the exits amid market volatility. That’s an acceleration from May, when a net $6.4 billion was pulled from mutual funds.

The latest data from The Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC) showed investors pulled their money out of equity, bond, and balanced mutual funds last month, while money market funds saw a net inflow of $1.3 billion as investors opted to hide in safer haven assets.

“$10.4 billion in ‘panicky money’ flowed out the door,” Tiffany Woodfield, a portfolio manager at Raymond James’ SWAN Wealth Management, said in an email.

“Many people say ‘I am a long-term investor’ and then they check the news daily to make sure long term is still the way to go. History has proven time and time again that long-term investing is the way to go.The mutual fund and ETF data from June shows that some people are thinking short term.”

The mass redemptions came as volatility gripped the markets in June with no shortage of investor worries.

Rising interest rates, fears about a potential recession, persistently high inflation, and concerns about how corporate earnings will fare in the tough economic environment all hammered stocks.

IFIC reported Canadian mutual fund assets fell $107 billion, or 5.6 per cent, to $1.8 trillion as of the end of June compared to May.

“If a number of people are panicking and selling, then the mutual fund manager will need to sell companies and investments (all of which they like as investments) to free up cash for redemptions,” Woodfield said.

“This is no reflection on the portfolio manager’s ability to manage the mutual fund but does make it much more difficult. Also, in times like these, the manager is having to keep a higher percentage of cash than they would like to meet the redemptions.  This makes them unable to make purchases while the stocks they like are “cheap” and the cash that is simply sitting in the portfolio to meet redemptions causes a significant drag on the funds returns over time.”

Exchange-traded funds fared much better in the month, with net redemptions of $670 million in June, the data showed, with equity ETFs posting the biggest decline.

Total ETF assets fell $22 billion, or 7.1 per cent, to $288.9 billion in June from May.

IFIC survey data accounts for about 91 per cent of total mutual fund industry assets and is complemented by additional data from Investor Economics.

Shallow Recession Calls Are ‘Totally Delusional,’ Roubini Warns

Isabelle Lee, Bloomberg News

Nouriel Roubini, chief executive officer of Roubini Macro Associates Inc., during a Bloomberg Television/Radio interview at the Greenwich Economic Forum (GEF) in Greenwich, Connecticut, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. The GEF brings together leaders in global finance, business, media and government for global investment forums to discuss the economic implications of the defining issues of our times. Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Economist Nouriel Roubini said the US is facing a deep recession as interest rates rise and the economy is burdened by high debt loads, calling those expecting a shallow downturn “delusional.”

“There are many reasons why we are going to have a severe recession and a severe debt and financial crisis,” the chairman and chief executive officer of Roubini Macro Associates said on Bloomberg TV Monday. “The idea that this is going to be short and shallow is totally delusional.” 

Among the reasons Roubini cited was historically high debt ratios in the wake of the pandemic. He specifically mentioned the burden for advance economies, which he said continues to rise, as well as in some sub-sectors.  

That differs from the 1970s, he said, when the debt ratio was low despite the combination of stagnant growth and high inflation known as stagflation. But the nation’s debt has ballooned since the financial crisis of 2008, which was followed by low inflation or deflation due to a credit crunch and demand shock, he added.

“This time, we have stagflationary negative aggregate supply shocks and debt ratios that are historically high,” said Roubini, who is nicknamed Dr. Doom for some of his dire predictions. “In previous recessions, like the last two, we had massive monetary and fiscal easing. This time around we are going into a recession by tightening monetary policy. We have no fiscal space.”

Concern that rising interest rates will drive the economy into a recession has been escalating as the Fed tightens monetary policy aggressively to bring down the steepest inflation in four decades. Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that failing to restore price stability would be a “bigger mistake” than pushing the US into a recession, which he has continued to maintain the nation can avoid. 

Powell and his colleagues are expected to approve another 75-basis-point hike this week after raising rates in June by the most since 1994. Policy makers are also expected to signal their intention to keep moving higher in the months ahead. 

“This time around, we have a confluence of stagflation and of a severe debt crisis,” Roubini said. “So it could be worse than ‘70s and post-GFC.”

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.

Credit unions battle big banks to attract younger Canadians

Leah Golob, The Canadian Press

Kayla Rourke's first banking experience was with Conexus Credit Union but left to try the Bank of Nova Scotia in her teens, hoping to take advantage of the Scene points program to earn free movie tickets.

She later tried another bank or two but eventually, the 29-year-old Regina-based teacher returned to Conexus five years ago because of its no-fee chequing account, customer service and focus on helping local communities. In 2021, for example, the credit union reinvested more than $1.9 million back into Saskatchewan communities through their Community Investment Program.

“I feel really happy staying with a credit union because I want to make life better where I live,” Rourke said.

“It feels like at a bank I’m always trying to be sold something,” she added. “I feel like at a credit union, I’ve had such good discussions on how to build wealth or save for particular goals while keeping it realistic. I love how they’ve checked in with me to see how it’s going … I feel like at a bank I was a customer and at a credit union, I feel like a client.”

Disha Soni, a 32-year-old self-employed financial adviser, said in her case it made more sense to go with a bank rather than a credit union because they’re well known around the globe and have many physical branches.

“They are well established and I had more confidence giving them my money,” she said. Soni, who immigrated to Ottawa in November 2021, was also attracted by the offers that banks have for newcomers.

In recent years, the Canadian Credit Union Association has been promoting credit unions to millennials and Generation Z. According to a report entitled “Credit unions and millennials” published by MNP, attracting and retaining millennials and Generation Z is vital to sustaining the Canadian credit union system, especially as it faces an aging member base. 

Ipsos’s Customer Service Index Survey conducted over 2021 revealed that 59.2 per cent of credit union members are over the age of 55. Only 12 per cent of credit union members, on the other hand, were 18 to 34 years old. 

With banks, the survey showed that 17.5 per cent of customers are 18 to 34 and 45.6 per cent of customers are 55 and over. 

Annette Bester, national leader of credit union services at MNP, said there’s a lot of education that needs to be done around credit unions to spread awareness on what they are and what they do. This awareness can vary by geography, she said.

For example, while credit unions are more known in parts of the country such as Saskatchewan, there may be less awareness in Ontario, where most of the country's major banks are headquartered. 

There are some misconceptions about credit unions, such as if you join a credit union that operates in one province, you won’t be able to access funds elsewhere if you’re travelling, Bester said.

“Credit unions have access to ATM networks across the world and they’ve got mobile banking apps. They’ve got all the same things that the big banks do but maybe it’s not known,” she explained.

Credit union members can use any ATMs that belong to the Exchange Network free of charge but will have to pay a surcharge using ATMs that are not part of the network. 

Pamela George, a financial literacy counsellor at Sand Dollar Financial Literacy, said the biggest downfall for credit unions is that they don’t have a big budget for marketing like banks do.

Otherwise, both George and Bester believe that the financial co-operative, community-focused nature of credit unions would be appealing to young people if they understood more about how they worked. 

For example, customers of credit unions are called members, and profits go back to the credit union to help set up better interest rates and lower fees for members, George said. 

Where banks have the upper hand is with better technology on their apps and websites. They lead the way in this area, George said. 

When deciding the right fit for them, young people will have to weigh digital technology and the availability of physical locations Canada-wide against whether they’d want to bank with a financial co-operative with a community focus.