GREEN INDUSTRY HAS SIDE EFFECTS

Former consultant to wind industry warns of turbines' toll on migrant birds in N.S.

Story by The Canadian Press • 

HALIFAX — Environmental researcher John Kearney says the whirring blades of a proposed 13-turbine wind farm in Nova Scotia may cut greenhouse gases, but the risks they pose to migrating birds are too high.


Former consultant to wind industry warns of turbines' toll on migrant birds in N.S.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The 74-year-old former consultant to the wind industry has in recent years set up acoustic monitoring in southwestern Nova Scotia, documenting species ranging from black-capped chickadees to spotted sandpipers as they call out during autumn flights.

"I'm speaking from the perspective of a person who supports both the objectives of wind power and preserving biodiversity, and here they come in conflict," he said in a recent interview, shortly after submitting written submissions to the province objecting to the proposed project on a peninsula west of Yarmouth.

"To me, it's quite clear this wind farm should never happen."

Kearney has a PhD in environmental anthropology — which involves relationships between humans and nature. He came to his conclusion after finding that bird calls just south of the proposed Wedgeport Wind Farm averaged 538 per hour after sunrise.

He says this is nearly equal to the intensity of Brier Island, N.S., located further west, which was recently cited in the Proceedings of the Nova Scotian Institute of Science as "one of the migration hot spots of northeastern North America."

To Kearney, rejecting the project would help preserve the avian songs, but industry proponents counter that there's limited evidence to show the proposed coastal location threatens bird populations.

In an email, Daniel Eaton, the project director at Vancouver-based Elementary Energy, noted the firm and its partners, Stevens Wind and Sipekne'katik First Nation, are responding to the Nova Scotia government's goal of a 53 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2023.

Eaton said that in 2025, the first year of potential operation, the project is anticipated to offset 112,750 tonnes of carbon emissions — which is roughly equivalent to the yearly output of 25,000 gasoline-powered cars.

"We agree there are a variety of habitat types in southwestern Nova Scotia that are important to migratory birds and are appreciative of the work that Mr. Kearney has undertaken to collect information on migratory bird activity across a number of sites in southwestern Nova Scotia," Eaton wrote on Monday.

However, he added, "we stand by the work done by our consultants, including their work to estimate potential bird mortalities associated with our project." The company's submission in the environmental review argues once "standard industry mitigation measures" are in place, the impact of the turbines on the birds is "not significant."

It notes their own field survey identified 100 bird species within and outside the project area, and about 16,000 individual birds. The proponents predict the project will cause about 36 bird deaths a year, citing a model developed in 2016 from Scottish Natural Heritage, an environmental advisory body.

Kearney is critical of the model and questions why theoretical data is being used when the proponent could be asked to study functioning wind turbines near the site to obtain mortality rates occurring along the windy and foggy Nova Scotia coast.

And he returns to his acoustic data, saying it gives compelling, comparative evidence that the proposed farm is in the middle of a migration corridor.

The Nova Scotia Bird Society has also objected to the wind farm, saying its members have observed the concentrations of birds passing overhead, "feeding on berries in the barrens and capturing insects in the trees."

"We understand first hand the interconnections between terrestrial and marine habitats, which result in a high species richness," wrote Anthony Millard, president of the society.

Mikaela Etchegary, a spokeswoman for the provincial Environment Department, said the minister, Tim Halman, "will consider the facts, science, and comments from the public and Mi’kmaq," and render a decision by May 4.

Scott Leslie, a naturalist and the author of "Woodland Birds of North America", urges the Progressive Conservative government to take Kearney seriously.

"He is one of the pioneers of using the latest bio-acoustical listening technology in Nova Scotia .... This is a powerful tool for assessing small migratory birds, and one of the most cost effective ways for people to establish whether or not a particular place is important for small migrants," he wrote in an email.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 19, 2023.

Michael Tutton, The Canadian Press

Refugees claim gas flaring cancer link in northern Iraq

Story by Alannah Travers, Kuek Ser Kuang Keng, Stella Martany, Christina Last, Tom Brown • Yesterday 

Erbil, Iraq – Shireen*, a 53-year-old Syrian refugee living at the Kawergosk Camp in Erbil, Iraq, started to have cancer symptoms in March 2020.

Flaring is the process of burning off petroleum gas by setting alight any excess in a jet of fire 

IT RELEASES METHANE 

[File: Hussein Faleh/AFP]© Provided by Al Jazeera

“In the beginning, I had a lot of pain in my breast, back and arm. I ignored the pain because I thought it could be muscle spasms or an infection,” she said.

The only option for her to seek treatment was the camp’s health centre, where services were limited. She could not leave the camp due to a COVID-19 lockdown, and private clinics were too expensive for a jobless refugee.

It was only in the summer of 2020, when she was finally able to visit a doctor in one of Erbil’s biggest hospitals, that she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

“My nipple was bleeding, and I had to get a biopsy immediately,” she said. She later underwent surgery and started chemotherapy, which, although completed, she continues to feel pain from.

Shireen is not alone. Nine other women in her block at Kawergosk have been diagnosed with cancer.

Doctors operating in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq and residents believe that flaring – the process of burning off petroleum gas by setting alight any excess in a jet of fire – by a nearby oil refinery may be contributing to a rise in cancer rates. The refinery is operated by KAR Group, Iraq’s largest private-sector energy company. The KAR Group did not respond to a request for comment.

A study published last year in the Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention (APJCP) found that the number of patients with cancer doubled between 2013 and 2019 in Erbil and Duhok, also in northern Iraq, correlating with a resumption in production at oil facilities in the region following the end of the conflict with ISIL (ISIS).

Several residents shared their health records, with diagnoses ranging from respiratory disorders to cancer.

Shireen’s life has changed in the last decade. “We were happier in the village because everything we ate was organic, and our life and mental health were better when we lived there,” she said, referring to the village of Sheir in Qahtaniyah, Syria where she had been living.

ISIL attacked the area in 2013, forcing villagers such as Shireen to flee, leaving their livestock and farmland, to the Iraqi side of the border.

Exposure to chemicals

About 1,200 tonnes of ammunition were dropped on Iraq during the Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003, making it difficult to distinguish between cancer cases caused by flaring and those originating from the depleted uranium left by the bombing.

But experts were still very concerned that the 8,000 refugees living at Kawergosk were exposed to dangerous chemicals such as benzene because of the flaring.

“[Benzene] is a potent carcinogen that causes leukaemia,” said Laura Cushing, presidential chair in Health Equity at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). “I do think it is concerning that people are being exposed nearby.”

Pregnant women living near natural gas and oil wells that burned off excess gas through flaring were 50 percent more at risk of premature birth than women with no exposure, a 2020 UCLA study headed by Cushing found.

“We were able to say that people exposed to 10 or more flares during their pregnancy had a 50 percent increased odds of preterm birth, when a baby is born too early – fewer than 37 completed weeks,” said Cushing. “The earlier you are born can result in severe health impacts.”

Long-term exposure harms the bone marrow. Those exposed feel increasingly weak and tired as their red blood cell count decreases. Bruising and bleeding become more common, with healing taking longer.

According to research by the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, in partnership with University of California Los Angeles scientists and in which Cushing was involved, women living near natural oil and gas wells that burn off excess gas through flaring had a 50 percent higher risk of giving birth prematurely.

Cancer and premature births are not the only concern. A study by Global Paediatric Health found respiratory viruses to be almost twice as prevalent among children under the age of 15 in areas administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) compared with neighbouring Iran. With residents suffering deteriorating health, the KRG issued oil and gas companies a directive to phase out all flaring by 2023, giving them 18 months to comply.

Flaring levels, however, appear to have remained largely the same based on satellite data from 2018 to November 2022, which was analysed as part of a collaborative investigation funded by the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC).

The investigation also identified Erbil and its surrounding villages, including fringe communities living in Kawergosk and Lalish, as having the highest incidence of flaring.

Winter months normally show a drop-off in flaring, as most of the gas produced at processing plants is sent directly to houses, as opposed to the summer, when gas use slumps. However, historical data revealed that flaring levels have not decreased compared with 2018 and 2019. Flaring levels began to creep back up again during the summer – with less gas consumed during the hot months.

Unable to meet flaring deadline

A KRG official, speaking under condition of anonymity, said “headaches” with the Iraqi government made meeting the flaring deadline difficult.

Iraq has been planning to set up a new state oil company to negotiate the KRG’s oil contracts, a deal reached after a political standoff between Erbil and Baghdad.

The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruled in February 2022 that the KRG negotiating its own oil and gas contracts was “unconstitutional”, a claim strongly rejected by the KRG.

Early proposals seen by local Kurdish media suggested that Iraq was willing to re-form the State Organisation for Marketing of Oil (SOMO) company that oversees the country’s oil contracts to include a Kurdish veto, smoothing over the regional dispute.

Following the KRG’s declaration, the Iraqi government announced in December that it set 2024 as a target for the elimination of gas flaring. It was unclear if the KRG will fall under the 2024 deadline once the new state oil company is set up.

The ERC has reached out to Iraqi government officials for clarification, but they have not yet responded to a request for comment.

According to World Bank data, Russia burns the most amount of natural gas globally, flaring off 24.88 billion cubic meters per year as of 2020, with Iraq following closely with 17.37 billion cubic meters.

But an analysis by the ERC showed that Iraq’s population, on average, lives much closer to flaring sites than Russia’s.

Since October 2018, we found that 1.19 million people in Iraq had lived within a one-kilometre radius of more than 10 flaring events. In Russia, only 275,000 experienced the same level of exposure across the same period.

Russia’s oil refineries are often in remote locations and spread across the arctic tundra, unlike in Iraq where major cities and towns are more commonly situated close to the flares.

Companies serious about phasing out flaring would need to implement infrastructure to capture or sell the gas, reducing the amount they burn. In certain countries, companies use filters to stop the smoke from reaching towns or villages. In Iraq, there is no pressure to do the same, making operational costs cheaper than in other parts of the world.

“In most places, we try to capture the natural gas and use it, burn it for heat, in this case, it is just being burned off as a waste product,’ said Cushing. ‘The [energy] boom happened so fast that [the Iraqi regions] don’t have the infrastructure to bring this to market or the resources on site to capture the gas.”

‘Cancer rates fears’

It was not until COVID-19 hit the region that its residents realised how bad asthma rates had become, said Iraqi environmentalist Rebin Mohammed*.

Doctors in rural areas of the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, such as those working in the Kawergosk refugee camp, almost always referred residents to a hospital in Erbil, the nearest city with basic health facilities, but many cannot afford the transport due to rising fuel prices.

The Enabling Peace in Iraq Centre reported that Iraq’s public health sector has fallen into steep decline after cycles of war, sanctions, funding shortfalls, and neglect for 30 years.

“The government is not forcing them [the oil companies] to start giving back to the environment and the community,” said Mohammed.

Environmental activist Salah Saed Goran said that the situation could be worse in a decade. “All the damage it’s doing now is going to be five times more in 10-11 years after they surround us with oil fields.”

“[We are concerned that] cancer rates are going to increase in the future because of the flaring spots surrounding here,” Mohammed added.

Almost every oil field in KRG-administered territory in northern Iraq has a 20 percent stake held by the KRG, which negotiates its own oil contracts, overseen by sitting Prime Minister Masrour Barzani.

Officials were evasive when asked about the issue.

Local municipality official Rebaz Qasim Mirani, who represents the Khabat district in Erbil, blamed the pollution on traffic from the nearby road, dismissing flaring as the leading cause.

On the Global Paediatric Health study, a senior KRG official, who asked not to be named, said that the government remained committed to the policy to end gas flaring by the start of 2023 and that Barzani was personally encouraging the policy, but could not say what consequences companies who continue flaring into the new year might face.

Meanwhile, the government has applied strict procedures for hospitals to issue public health data in the region. Several health officials and doctors who had agreed to speak about respiratory problems from gas flaring dropped out at the last minute. Many would be putting themselves at personal risk, they said. “People are scared,” said Mohammed, with refugees fearful they would be removed from the camps if they speak publicly about the flaring, and medical officials worried about their job security.

Companies such as the KAR Group, whose processing plants were photographed flaring gas earlier this year, do not disclose how much gas they lose due to flaring and do not publicly provide updates on their efforts to phase out the practice.

The KRG has said that it stands by its commitment to phasing out flaring by 2023, but so far oil and gas companies in the region it governs – none of which responded to requests for comment – are projected to have a similar output as the last two years, based on an ERC analysis.

On July 13, 2021, the KRG’s Minister of Natural Resources Kamal Atroshi issued a decree giving energy companies in KRG-administered territory 18 months to put a complete end to flaring, with the deadline falling in January 2023.

That deadline has now passed, but Lawk Ghafuri, the KRG’s head of foreign media affairs, said that the directive was “still in effect”, but that some “minor extensions” had been provided to some companies who had “proper justifications”.

“This project is a costly one and needs proper design and planning, which, in turn, takes time,” Ghafuri said.

In May, however, the minister who issued the order, Kamal Atroshi, resigned from his role as minister of natural resources, a role covered in the interim by the KRG’s Minister of Electricity Kamal Muhammad Salih.

A flare gas-to-power project recently completed in the southeast of KRG territory could provide a path forward. The plant, built by energy firm Aggreko, has cut flaring by a third.

Locals hoped the government establishes healthier and safer camps for refugees, but regardless of whether the situation improves, many have no choice but to remain in the area.

“Our ancestors lived here, and we love this land so we have to stay here. We are sadly used to it,” said Goran.

*Real name not used

FAKE SOVERIGNTY ACTS

Duty to consult legislation stands slim chance as private member’s bill goes to a vote in Saskatchewan

Story by The Canadian Press • Today

Legal action being taken by the Onion Lake Cree Nation against the provincial government for passing the Saskatchewan First Act underscores why duty to consult legislation is required in the province, says an Opposition member of the legislature (MLA).

“We wouldn’t be hearing of nations taking the provincial government to court had they been consulting in a way that’s meaningful to the nations or to the impacted groups,” said Saskatoon Centre NDP MLA Betty Nippi-Albright.

On Thursday, the Saskatchewan legislature votes on Nippi-Albright’s private member’s bill 610, An Act Respecting the Meaningful Implementation of the Crown’s Duty to Consult in Saskatchewan.

Bill 610 is a retread of Bill 609, which Nippi-Albright introduced last spring, but which died on the order paper in November.

It calls for consultation on all “Crown Conduct,” which is defined as “an action taken by the Crown or which is contemplated by the Crown which may adversely impact Treaty and Inherent Rights.”

Consultation is called upon for the disposition or auctioning of Crown lands, minerals and leases; for changes to regulations, policy or strategic plans; changes that would have an environmental impact on water; and changes to the allocations of quotas or licenses of fish and wildlife for recreational or commercial use, which may later impact the right of access to those resources protected by treaty and inherent rights.

“These court cases that are coming forward because (the government’s) process is flawed, does not work, and it was created from a Eurocentric perspective without input from impacted people in the creation of that policy,” said Nippi-Albright.

Onion Lake Cree Nation filed a statement of claim April 13 calling out Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party government for not consulting with them before or during the creation of the Saskatchewan First Act, which received Royal Assent earlier in the month.

The Sask First Act asserts and confirms Saskatchewan’s jurisdiction in a number of areas, including the exploration of non-renewable natural resources, and the development, conservation and management of non-renewable natural and forestry resources.

The Act does not acknowledge that under treaty, the Crown agreed to share the land and resources with Onion Lake Cree Nation and other Indigenous peoples who first made treaty with the Crown, contends the Nation.

Nippi-Albright, alongside the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations and the Meadow Lake Tribal Council, added her support to Onion Lake Cree Nation Chief Henry Lewis.

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“When I started on the duty to consult it was to amplify the voices of the communities,” said Nippi-Albright, who is Saulteaux and Cree.

“So I have been working with Onion Lake in helping them amplify their voices when it comes to the lack of duty to consult and the sale of Crown lands and leases that are still occurring.”

Consultation for the Saskatchewan government is guided by a First Nation and Métis policy framework adopted in June 2010.

“Policy…is just a document that says what we will do and what we won’t do, but it has absolutely no teeth. There’s no way of holding the government to account on that,” said Nippi-Albright.

Legislation means accountability, she says.

Nippi-Albright stresses that while her bill legislates duty to consult, it is up to the impacted communities as to how that process will be carried out. Government would not dictate that process.

But for Nippi-Albright’s private member’s bill to pass it means voting can’t take place along party lines. The NDP have only 12 of the 61 seats in the legislature. The Saskatchewan Party holds 45 seats and Saskatchewan United has one.

“This government is really not interested in true reconciliation, and they’re not interested in meaningful consultation. They only are there to allow the nations to let off steam, but the government will stay the course and they’re very focused on what they perceive as the best interests of the citizens of this province,” she said.

Even if the bill fails to get the required votes for first reading, Nippi-Albright says she will keep pushing the issue because legislation is needed.

Nippi-Albright has invited people to attend the legislature Thursday morning when the vote is held. However, a forecast for a major snowstorm in Regina has her doubtful too many people will be able to make the trip.

“I don’t know how many will show up because of the storm (but) when there hasn't been storms that were brewing or coming, we’ve actually had large turnouts at the legislature,” she said.

Windspeaker.com
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Onion Lake Cree Nation doubles down on legal action to now challenge Sask. First Act

Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday 

Onion Lake Cree Nation filed legal papers in court April 13 challenging the Saskatchewan First Act, which received Royal Assent last week.

“We will not allow Saskatchewan to run roughshod over our treaties, our rights and our jurisdictions, over our lands and resources in the name of advancing (its) economic agenda while putting us aside,” said Onion Lake Okimaw Henry Lewis.

And Onion Lake is not standing alone.

Meadow Lake Tribal Council (MLTC) and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) have given their full support.

At the heart of the matter, said legal counsel Michael Marchen of Hladun and Co., is a law that asserts and confirms “Saskatchewan’s jurisdiction, but without any acknowledgement whatsoever that, under treaty, the Crown agreed to share the land and resources with Onion Lake Cree Nation and other Indigenous peoples who first made treaty with the Crown.”

Through the Act, Saskatchewan asserts and confirms the province’s exclusive jurisdiction over natural resources, including who can be licensed and where and how exploration can take place.

Since the Sask. First Act was introduced as Bill 88 by Premier Scott Moe’s governing Saskatchewan Party last year, Indigenous nations and organizations have been consistent in demanding time with him to speak about the Bill.

There has been no consultation on the Act from when it was introduced until it received Royal Assent April 6, said Lewis.

Treaties were signed between First Nations and Canada, said Onion Lake Vice Chief Richard Derocher of the MLTC, and not with the province.

“We have the relationship with…Canada, and every time that moves further and further away from us, it takes away our treaties. It makes our treaties a little bit smaller and weaker. And this is what’s happening with the Sask. First Act. The treaty intent is moving further and further and further away from the delegates that signed treaty,” said Derocher.

MLTC had voiced their concerns to Moe, he said. However, instead of receiving a response, three weeks later the Bill was passed and their concerns had not been addressed.

“Anytime we move further from the treaties, we become less as nations,” said Derocher.

Dutch Lerat, second Vice Chief for FSIN, said his organization would continue to fight for rights and treaty holders and ensure they are included in any resource developments.

“We will continue to seek certainty. Everybody wants certainty…We want certainty for our First Nations in terms of inclusion, inclusion of the resources from this province of Saskatchewan within our treaty areas,” said Lerat.

Saskatoon Centre MLA Betty Nippi-Albright stood with the First Nations and lauded Lewis and Onion Lake Cree Nation for being leaders and protecting their inherent and treaty rights.

Consultation must be meaningful, said Nippi-Albright, which means respectful dialogue.

Marchen described Onion Lake’s legal action as “both a response and a challenge to Saskatchewan’s purported exclusive legislative jurisdiction.”

He said the statement of claim lays out how the Saskatchewan First Act infringes upon Onion Lake’s rights to pursue traditional ceremonies, hunting, fishing and trapping and negates the “guarantees of livelihood and freedom.” It also was enacted without input or consultation with or consideration of Onion Lake.

Among the legal arguments Onion Lake is using to challenge Saskatchewan is that the Act is outside the province’s jurisdiction and the Act directly impacts and overlaps lands reserved for Onion Lake Cree Nation.

Onion Lake is asking for the court to declare that the Sask. First Act infringes upon treaty and falls outside of the jurisdiction of Saskatchewan and therefore is not in force. Onion Lake is looking for temporary and permanent injunctions.

Onion Lake Cree Nation, which straddles the Saskatchewan and Alberta border, has also taken legal action against the Alberta United Conservative Party government.

In December, Alberta enacted the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act, also without consultation with First Nations. The Sovereignty Act infringes upon the rights guaranteed to Onion Lake Cree Nation through Treaty that was signed with Canada, said the nation in its statement of claim.

At that time, Lewis promised to take legal action against Saskatchewan if it enacted the Sask. First Act.

Windspeaker.com
By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Conservative western premiers are feuding with Ottawa. Here’s what you need to know about the contentious natural resources law behind the fight

Local Journalism Initiative
Mon, April 17, 2023

Federal Justice Minister David Lametti set off a firestorm among conservative western premiers when he spoke at an Assembly of First Nations meeting last week in Ottawa.

At the meeting, Grand Chief Brian Hardlotte from the Prince Albert Grand Council asked the justice minister to rescind the Natural Resources Transfer Act, which gives Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan jurisdiction over natural resources within their borders.

Lametti told the chiefs he was committed to “looking at” the act, adding: “It won’t be uncontroversial is what I’ll say with a bit of a smile.”

The justice minister’s remarks did not go over well. Days later, the three conservative western premiers — Danielle Smith of Alberta, Scott Moe of Saskatchewan and Heather Stefanson of Manitoba — released a joint statement condemning Lametti’s comments and demanding the prime minister respond.

“The prime minister needs to immediately retract these dangerous and divisive comments by his justice minister,” the statement reads.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shot back, saying Lametti’s marks were about living up to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which Canada has enshrined in law.

“[That's] something that, unfortunately, the Prairie premiers have not taken seriously, and they are instead trying to elevate fears that have absolutely no grounding in truth,” Trudeau said.

Here’s what you need to know about the Natural Resources Transfer Act and why it’s a point of contention for Ottawa, the provinces and Indigenous nations.

The Natural Resources Transfer Act is, in fact, three separate pieces of legislation passed in Ottawa in 1930. The acts handed over the control of natural resources like gold mines, lumber and oil and gas to Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

With these three acts, Ottawa gave up its power over Crown land in those provinces, which the federal government had retained since purchasing the Prairies from the Hudson Bay Company in 1870, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. Manitoba joined Canada in 1870 when the federal government bought the land, while Alberta and Saskatchewan joined in 1905.

Until 1930, the federal government retained its jurisdiction over the land and resources to accomplish the national goal of quickly populating the provinces with settlers.

“This became a popular grievance in the West, where federal control appeared to relegate the provinces to second-class status in Confederation and to result in the subordination of regional concerns to national goals,” according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Even today, the tension between the federal government and western provinces remains. Last year, Alberta passed its Alberta Sovereignty act, while the Saskatchewan First Act became law last month.

These laws give the provinces greater power to deem federal policies and initiatives harmful or unconstitutional to the provinces, according to First Peoples Law. The acts also give the provinces ways to fight Ottawa through measures like altering regulations, launching court challenges and issuing directives to provincial organizations to disregard federal legislation.

When Alberta’s version of the law passed, Trudeau said the federal government would not engage in the political fight Alberta was looking for.

Hardlotte’s question at the AFN meeting wasn’t unexpected. Western chiefs have been calling for a renewed discussion around the Natural Resources Transfer Act with increased urgency since the Alberta Sovereignty and Saskatchewan First acts became law.

Last December, the AFN passed an emergency resolution to oppose the two pieces of autonomy legislation seeking to reassert provincial authority over natural resources. The worry is that the provinces will override treaty rights, which remain a matter between the federal government and Indigenous nations.

“It’s unconstitutional; Alberta doesn’t have that right to change laws because we signed treaties with the Crown,” Randy Ermineskin, chief of Ermineskin Cree Nation in Alberta, said in an interview with Canada’s National Observer at the time.

Alberta didn’t exist when treaties were signed, which sets the stage for jurisdictional battles around the transfer acts, Ermineskin added.

Hardlotte echoed the concern last week when speaking to Lametti.

“It affects our treaty right, of course, and with the [Saskatchewan First Act] that we hear about,” he said, “it’s to do with natural resources, Indian natural resources.”

Matteo Cimellaro / Canada’s National Observer / Local Journalism Initiative

Matteo Cimellaro, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Canada's National Observer

BC 

Spiritual land returned to rightful owners

Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday 

A century in the making, the Osoyoos Indian Band celebrated getting back a very special piece of its traditional territory. Over 100 people gathered Friday on the one-acre property located on Hawthorn Place which backs onto the Okanagan River in Okanagan Falls. The land has been an ancestral place of culture and sustainability for Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. While it is just a small part of the estimated 1,618 hectares (4,000 acres) of their original reserve, the OIB hopes to get back and for Chief Clarence Louie, at least it’s a start. “We’re going to get our land back and if it takes one acre at a time, that’s just the way it is,” said Louie at the end of the ceremony. “Our reserves were stolen from us and this reserve land right here was taken from the Osoyoos Indian Band in 1913. Now, after 108 years, we’re allowed back on this site. “Our people can come here from now on and nobody can say to them, ‘What are you doing here?’ Nobody can say to them, ‘Do you have permission to come here?’ We don’t have to climb over anybody’s fence.” The band had to use its own money to purchase the property earlier from a private seller. “Just a little bit it bothers me to use our money, but the owner of the property deserves to be paid. The land is more important than money,” said the chief. “You can’t just can’t kick somebody off their property without compensation. You can’t do what the government did to us, take our land away.”

Louie added he understands the majority of the Indigenous land claims involve private property and are not on the table for negotiations, but there are other sites like the nearby provincial park and Crown land that should come back to the band. The single acre is part of a 71-acre parcel that was removed by the government from the reserve. Particularly upsetting to the chief is that after all this time very little has changed from the days of demonstrations and blockades. “You still have to force, we’re still having to kick in doors,” he said. “Our people didn’t start forcing the federal and provincial governments to resolve land issues until the 60s and 60 years later we’re still arguing and fighting about land. “Maybe we have to have another roadblock in OK Falls?” That reference was to the January, 1974 information road and rail blockade initiated at the time by OIB chief, Jim Stelkia. Many of the surviving participants of the blockade were in attendance at Friday’s ceremonies. “We didn’t know what we were going to face, but we knew this was the start of a series of demonstrations that were going to happen. It was time to take action to settle the claims,” recalled Penticton Indian Band hereditary Chief Adam Eneas, who took part in the blockade along with other chiefs. “The motorists in general were very courteous except for a couple that tried to run over us. We felt after that we should have security with us, to guard us.”

PIB elder Jack Kruger was also there and told the crowd, “All the leaders used to say we are tired of living on our knees, we want to stand on our feet and that’s how we approached this. “They (demonstrators) were going to stand on this land so that you children can have this land in the future. They did this all for you and I guess it worked, we are here today.” PIB knowledge keeper, Richard Armstrong, shared the story about the legend of the coyote snk̓lip who brought the salmon to the river that runs through the property prior to the arrival of humans. He spoke about the appointed caretakers, “beaver, musqaut and fisher” and the monuments the rocky outcroppings on the riverfront represent. At the end he left the young people with this message, “Do what you have to do to protect this legacy.” For Louie. the time for talk with governments is at an end. It is time for action. “Land acknowledgements are nice gestures, but they don’t build a house on my rez. I too want to see genuine reconciliation. It’s good to see the province is taking baby steps, but I want to see adult steps here. “It’s about truth and reconciliation and the truth is this is our land,” While there is still a long ways to go, the chief was still happy with the reason for Friday’s celebration. “Our people have gathered here, fished here, died here and gave birth here for thousands of years. Now this land is ours once again.”

Mark Brett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Penticton Herald

 

Alberta and its regulator get rough ride at Parliamentary committee for Kearl tailings pond seepage fiasco

Story by The Canadian Press • Yesterday 

Representatives from First Nations and Métis communities in northeastern Alberta slammed the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) and the provincial government April 17 when they spoke to the House of Commons all-party Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development in Ottawa.

Multiple leaks at Imperial Oil’s Kearl oil sands mine north of Fort McMurray was the reason for the hearing. And the company wasn’t spared criticism, but was also viewed as just the latest example in a system that is not working in Alberta.

“All trust with the Alberta government has been broken. It has been broken for a long time. It is clear that they cannot be trusted to oversee this mess. This mess has been going on since the 1960s,” said Chief Allan Adam of Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

Adam, who flew to Ottawa to present in person, called out committee chair Francis Scarpaleggia for saying all presentations were limited to five minutes. Adam threatened to walk out if he wasn’t given the time he needed. He spoke for almost 20 minutes.

In March, the committee made a motion to study the toxic leak of tailings ponds. That leak came to public attention after the AER issued an environmental protection order on Feb. 6. However, it was determined that Imperial had been having issues with containment since May of 2022 and had reported those issues to the AER back then. But Imperial never contacted any of the Indigenous communities downstream about the leaks.

“The Kearl crisis shows these failures on multiple fronts and we fear that Kearl is just the tip of the iceberg. We are bracing for even more catastrophic events unless there are real reforms,” said Mikisew Cree First Nation Chief Billie-Joe Tuccaro, who spoke virtually and also spoke uninterrupted past his allotted five minutes.

Lack of communication on the parts of both Imperial and the AER has eroded trust even further, and shows that the AER has put industry before people, said Daniel Stuckless, director for the Fort McKay Métis Nation.

He said federal approvals come with “hundreds of conditions” that must be met, while the AER limits restrictions which it allows the proponent to drive.

“It’s a baked system and nothing changes…It is “cookie cutter” day in, day out…type of approvals,” said Stuckless, who also spoke virtually.

"The regulator is constantly pulling the direction of the conversation in the interests of the regulated parties rather than the public interest," said Timothy Clark, principal of environmental consultancy at Willow Springs Strategic Solutions, which is working with the Fort McMurray Métis Nation.

The only way to address the issue, said Stuckless, was to “scrap it and build it back.”

“How do we build a regulator that is truly independent of the industry that it is regulating and is actually able to discharge the public interest and hold the public confidence?” said Clark.

However, correcting the system went beyond replacing the AER.

“Canada must also shoulder the responsibility of what is happening,” said Adam, who added that Canada was not fulfilling obligations it held under a number of federal Acts, including the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

“We can point to the lack of enforcement, lack of funding, lack of political will, but these are excuses and not solutions,” said Adam.

He called on the federal government to undertake a comprehensive audit of the structural integrity of tailings and pipeline infrastructure across the entire oilsands region.

Clark, who was in Ottawa, added that the duty to consult has been downgraded from the federal Crown to the provinces to industry, who in turn contract third parties to do that work.

“The psychological effects of feeling like you don’t matter, your voice isn’t heard, that’s a pretty clear indication to me of where the priority on Indigenous rights and Indigenous people rest in this process,” he said.

Both Adam and Tuccaro called for full assessments on the cumulative impact all industry is having on the environment in their region as well as the impact on their Section 35 treaty and inherent rights.

Tuccaro said his people were “asking for certainty” about their health and their ability to practise their traditions and culture.

“Certainty about the way our land will look and function in the future. Certainty that we will be able to continue our way of life on the land, that our rights be protected as promised to us in 1899,” he said.

Scarpaleggia said the questions and concerns raised by the Indigenous representatives will be taken to Imperial Oil when they appear in front of the standing committee on Thursday afternoon.

Windspeaker.com

By Shari Narine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Windspeaker.com, Windspeaker.com

First Nations blast Alberta Energy Regulator at hearing; Guibeault promises reform

The Canadian Press
Mon, April 17, 2023 



OTTAWA — Chiefs of First Nations affected by releases of wastewater from an oilsands mine excoriated Alberta's regulatory system at a House of Commons committee hearing, calling it a system that serves theindustry and not the public.

"The (Alberta Energy Regulator) has zero credibility outside Calgary's echo chamber," Daniel Stuckless of the Fort McKay Métis Nation said in Ottawa on Monday.

"They actively dismiss and downplay impacts of oilsands on communities and their aboriginal and treaty rights."

Chief Alan Adam of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation went further outside the committee room.

"The Alberta system, when it comes to the Alberta regulator, is completely broken and should be dismantled," he said.

Ottawa, too, shares culpability by failing to enforce environmental laws, he added.

"While Alberta bears much of the blame, Canada must also shoulder responsibility for what has happened," Adam said.

The comments came as the House of Commons environment and sustainability committee held hearings to examine why it took nine months for First Nations and governments to find out what was happening with both tailings pond seepage and overflow from a containment pond at Imperial Oil's Kearl mine.

But the six First Nations leaders who addressed the committee quickly insisted their concerns go much deeper than a single incident.

"Alberta's reaction throughout is to simply say this is a communications issue," said Adam, who broke down in tears describing what it was like telling his people their water may be contaminated.

"The Alberta Energy Regulator is a joke. A complete joke."

The hearing was struck after two releases of toxic oilsands tailings water from the Kearl mine north of Fort McMurray.

The first release was spotted and reported in May as discoloured water near a tailings pond. It was found to be tailings seepage, but no further updates were provided to area First Nations until February. That's when it was disclosed to the public and federal and provincial environment ministers, along with news of a second release of 5.3 million litres of tailings-contaminated water.

On Monday, leader after leader said the problem is much deeper than a single delayed notification.

"There's a question around the neutrality of the regulator in Alberta," said Russel Noseworthy of the Fort McMurray Métis.

Timothy Clark, who is also working with the Fort McMurray Métis, said the regulator "is more concerned about protecting the image of the industry and the investment than it is about protecting the health and rights of the people who live in this area."

Melody Lepine of the Mikisew Cree First Nation said both Alberta and Ottawa have long ignored community requests for a comprehensive health assessment of people in Fort Chipewyan. Nor have governments acted on calls for an assessment of the cumulative impacts of all oilsands development or for a risk assessment posed by the tailings ponds, Lepine said.

Alberta Environment and the Alberta Energy Regulator did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Laurie Pushor, head of the regulator, is scheduled to testify Thursday. Imperial Oil officials are expected next Monday.

Just before the hearings began, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault, announced the first step towards an improved reporting process for environmental emergencies.

Guilbeault said the committee testimony should help inform efforts of the new "notification and monitoring working group" to help design a better reporting system for the future.

The group is to be made up of representatives from federal and provincial governments, the Northwest Territories and Indigenous communities affected by the releases.

Jennifer Lash, a senior adviser to Guilbeault, said the goal of the working group is to develop a way to fix the notification process when something goes wrong, as well as to address ongoing concerns about the possibility of seepage from all oilsands tailings ponds, not just from Kearl.

"The notification system completely failed,” said Lash. “It failed for us, it failed for the (Indigenous) Nations, it failed for many people. And then there was no plan ... and everyone was sort of scrambling."

Lash said a letter was sent Monday to invite any Indigenous Nations in the affected areas to participate. She said the government is not being prescriptive about what the new policy would look like. The hope is that the working group will be running within two months.

She said the N.W. T. government has agreed to join and the government of Alberta has responded positively but not fully confirmed participation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

— With files from Bob Weber in Edmonton

Mia Rabson, The Canadian Press

 

 

 

 

ANOTHER SPILL 

Canada's Suncor spills 5,900 cubic metres of water from oil sands site

Story by By Nia Williams • Yesterday 

: The Suncor Energy logo is seen at their head office in Calgary

(Reuters) - Canada's Suncor Energy has reported a spill of 5,900 cubic metres of muddy water from a sedimentation pond at Suncor Energy's Fort Hills oil sands mining project in northern Alberta.

The spill on April 16 was reported to the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) because the total suspended solids in water exceeded the approved limits, Suncor said

The news comes as oil sands companies face intense scrutiny into how they manage their tailings ponds, which hold a toxic mixture of mining waste products and water. Imperial Oil said in February that ponds at its Kearl site had been seeping for months and another spill released 5,300 cubic metres of process water in late January.

"This is not a tailings pond, but a water run off pond that collects and discharges run off into Fort Creek (not directly to the Athabasca), in line with regulatory approvals," Suncor spokeswoman Erin Rees said in an email.

The AER said samples have been collected for analysis.

(Reporting by Nia Williams in British Columbia; Editing by Richard Chang)

FRACKING BY ANY OTHER NAME

For geothermal power, small earthquakes can cause a big headache

geothermal energy plants can add pressure into the subsurface,

Story by Doug Johnson • Yesterday
The Weather Network

Preventing earthquakes as geothermal gains steam

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The Weather Network   Preventing earthquakes as geothermal gains steam
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1:23

Alberta’s subsurface zone is getting a little crowded, potentially posing a challenge for geothermal energy operations in the province.

Companies in Alberta have been fracking, a form of waste water disposal in the oil and gas industry, since the 1950s. Carbon capture and storage projects have also been piping CO2 into subsurface formations like depleted gas reservoirs. More recently, plans to set up geothermal energy operations are poised to get involved as well, pumping geothermically heated liquid from and back to reservoirs deep underground.

All of these activities change the pressure and temperature in underground rock formations. If these get high enough they can cause earthquakes, though often small ones. The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) also offers a map of earthquakes, including so-called induced seismic activity. Factors like depth of the liquid, ground temperature, rock composition, and proximity to a fault line can increase the likelihood of induced seismic activity.

Recent research, which involved modelling Alberta’s subsurface, could be a tool to ensure geothermal operations steer clear from zones with a higher risk of seismic activity, and avoid inducing it themselves.

READ MORE: Fracking-induced earthquakes possible in these Canadian regions, study says

“We've learned over the years that either injection or production can give rise to induced seismicity. But it depends upon the initial conditions in the ground, and it depends upon the behavior of the materials involved,” Maurice Dusseault, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Waterloo and one of the paper’s authors, told The Weather Network.

In general, geothermal power involves pumping liquid — often salty water, sometimes with small amounts of petroleum products — from the subsurface from and back into the geological formation it came from, like porous rock. This liquid is usually heated either by the earth’s core or other processes like the friction between rocks. Once it is pumped up to the surface, the liquid, which can get hotter than 120 C, is used to heat water to produce steam which turns a turbine, producing electricity. The spent liquid is then pumped back into the earth to heat up again.

According to the AER, geothermal energy is expected to produce 294.6 GWh by 2030, enough to power 49,100 average Alberta homes (600 kilowatt hours) for a month. While the AER’s website notes that cheap solar and wind energy “could slow the pace of geothermal commercialization in the province,” it doesn’t rely on the sun shining or a windy day. As such, it can provide energy when solar and wind power can’t operate.

One upcoming development, the Alberta No. 1 geothermal project, is slated to open in the District of Greenview south of Grande Prairie, Alta. The recent paper was also provided to the AER as a risk assessment for their application.

“We're doing everything that we can to understand the risk before we build the facility,” Catherine Hickson, CEO of Alberta No. 1, president of the nonprofit organization Geothermal Canada, and an author listed on the paper, told The Weather Network.



For geothermal power, small earthquakes can cause a big headache© Provided by The Weather NetworkAn image taken from a 2023 paper which aims to predict the risk of seismic activity at Alberta geothermal operations. (Supplied)

In the research, Ali Yaghoubi, a researcher who was PhD student at the University of Waterloo’s department of earth and environmental sciences while writing the paper, developed a three-dimensional model of parts of Alberta near the site.

The team used data on several factors including stress and various material qualities such as strength using the analytics platform geoSCOUT. They paired this with data on the location of faults and past earthquakes. Yaghoubi explained that there’s a great deal of uncertainty in terms of these factors: temperature and material in the subsurface at different depths can vary from place to place, for instance. As such, the team developed statistical ranges to represent each factor in an area.

The team then ran different simulations in the model with various factors, including the pressure and temperature changes in the subsurface due to the geothermal plant’s operations. From there, the model can provide a probability of seismic activity in an area under certain conditions.

In all, the team found that the location, despite being located near an area with a lot of fracking, was not likely to see much seismic activity when the facility is up and running. Hickson noted that other geothermal operations could use this model as well when picking a site.

READ MORE: How a Supreme Court case could decide the future of Canadian climate policy

Dusseault said that seismic activity in Alberta, either caused or experienced by geothermal operations, are unlikely to cause damage to the facilities. Most of the subsurface activities in the province don’t happen deep enough, often between three and five kilometers, to cause large earthquakes.

Most likely, they’d be under magnitude four. Some of them could be felt, but would be unlikely to cause any damage. However, he noted, people nearby may find them unnerving.

“But if we were generating repeated earthquakes of magnitude, four, 4.1 … the people in the vicinity are not going to be happy campers,” he said.

Plus, Alberta has a “traffic light” system for seismic activity for developments like geothermal energy. Red, yellow, and green events all confer different magnitudes, which vary depending on the site, how close it is to infrastructure or communities, and other factors. Should a green seismic event occur at the site, nothing needs to happen. A yellow event means that the operation needs to change, for instance, how much pressure it’s producing in the subsurface. A red event (which is a magnitude 3.5 event or higher in the case of Alberta No. 1) means that the operation needs to cease operating altogether, and figure out what the problem is.

While earthquakes aren’t likely to cause any physical damage to a geothermal facility, it can represent a sizable practical and economic challenge. While this has yet to happen in Alberta, one 2009 case in Switzerland saw a geothermal project permanently closed its doors after a magnitude 3.4 earthquake occurred. Shutting down cost them, at the time, £5.35 million.

“Well, I mean, it’s financially catastrophic for projects to be shut down. So that’s a big financial incentive to avoid being shut down,” Dusseault said.

REAL VICTIM OF FBI

Biden urged to free Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier after decades in prison

Story by Nina Lakhani • Yesterday

Amnesty International has launched a new campaign calling on Joe Biden to grant clemency for Leonard Peltier, the Indigenous rights activist whose health is deteriorating after almost five decades in maximum security prison for crimes he has always denied.


Photograph: Mike Simons/AP© Provided by The Guardian

The international human rights group is urging Biden to release Peltier on humanitarian grounds – exactly 46 years after he was convicted for killing two FBI agents in a trial rife with irregularities and due process violations including evidence that the agency coerced witnesses and withheld and falsified evidence.

Related: Former Navajo Nation leader Peterson Zah dies at age 85

“No one should be locked up, let alone for over 40 years, when there are serious concerns about the fairness of their trial. President Biden should right this historic wrong and grant Leonard Peltier clemency,” said Zeke Johnson, Amnesty International US national director of campaigns.

Peltier, an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa tribe and of Lakota and Dakota descent, was convicted of murdering FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a shootout on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota in June 1975.

Peltier was a leader of the American Indian Movement (AIM), an Indigenous civil rights movement founded in Minneapolis that was infiltrated and repressed by the FBI.

Now 78, Peltier is currently held in a maximum security prison in Coleman, Florida, where his health and mobility have significantly deteriorated since contracting Covid-19.

Amnesty International, who had observers at the original trial, is among a long list of advocates to call for Peltier’s release since his conviction in 1977 – including a group of UN arbitrary detention experts and the US attorney James Reynolds, whose team led the prosecution and appeal of Peltier’s case.

Earlier this year, former agent Coleen Rowley became the first FBI insider to call for clemency, after claiming that the agency’s stubborn opposition to Peltier’s release was driven by vindictiveness. The agency has continuously campaigned and protested against his parole and clemency.

Peltier is not eligible for parole again until 2024; the most recent petition for clemency was submitted by his legal team in 2021, but remains unresolved.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian conducted via email in February, Peltier said: “Being free to me means being able to breathe freely away from the many dangers I live under in maximum custody prison. Being free would mean I could walk over a mile straight. It would mean being able to hug my grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

FREE LEONARD PELTIER

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PELTIER 

PELTIER WAS ILLEGALLY ABDUCTED BY RCMP FROM INDIGENOUS AUTONOMOUS TERRITORY IN NORTHERN ALBERTA  AND DELIVERED TO VANCOUVER WHERE HE WAS ILLEGALLY HANDED OVER BY RCMP TO FBI 

Thousands of Canadians missed out on federal housing and dental benefits: report

The Canadian Press
Tue, April 18, 2023 


OTTAWA — A new report says hundreds of thousands of Canadians may have missed out on government money intended to help with the rising cost of living because the housing and dental benefits rolled out last year have had "atrocious" take-up.

The analysis by David Macdonald, senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, assesses both benefits, as well as how much the federal government has actually spent on the measures.

He compares the federal government's estimates in the fall economic statement with updated figures provided on its website at the end of March.

Macdonald finds only 44 per cent of those who would have likely been eligible for the one-time top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit actually received it, while just over half have received the Canada Dental Benefit.

"These are pretty atrociously low take-up rates. We should be learning lessons from this (so) the next time around we have much higher take-up rates," Macdonald said in an interview.

The housing benefit offered $500 to low-income renters. Applications closed on March 31.

The federal dental benefit was rolled out in the fall to provide families with up to $650 per child under 12 for dental care. It was the first step toward creating a national dental care program, a key promise in the Liberals' confidence-and-supply agreement with the NDP.

It's become more common for the federal government to administer benefits directly through the CRA in an effort to get money to people faster, but Macdonald says his analysis suggests changes are needed.

Macdonald attributes the low numbers to several factors, including a more "invasive" application process when compared to the Canada Emergency Response Benefit. The housing benefit, for example, asks applicants to submit rent receipts or a letter from their landlord.

He says the federal government could have eased the requirements for applying, or at the very least, better informed Canadians about the programs.

"We could email people below a certain income threshold and say, 'Hey, you're likely eligible for this program,'" Macdonald said, noting the CRA has tax filing data that could guide this work.

In a written statement, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said it and the CRA launched a range of communications and outreach activities to make people aware of the benefit. It also said that estimates of how many people would be eligible, presented when the program was announced, were "an upper range" and that reaching that number would be challenging "given the voluntary nature of the program."

The low take-up means the federal government spent less than it allocated for the measures.

The fall economic statement estimated that the housing benefit would cost about $1.2 billion, but the final figure was just under $400 million, meaning only one-third of the allocated funds went out to low-income renters.

The dental benefit was estimated to cost $352 million for the 2022-23 fiscal year, but only $156.3 million had been disbursed by the end of March, amounting to about 44 per cent.

The federal government estimates 500,000 children will benefit from the support, which is available in two periods until June 30, 2024.

The federal government has advertised both measures as part of its affordability plan and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland has touted the benefits as help that is targeted to those who need it the most.

But the updated figures suggest many Canadians may have been left behind amid a cost-of-living crunch.

"The government is failing to move this money to the people who need it most, that are going to have the most difficulty in affording higher prices due to inflation. And that's a shame," Macdonald said.

Freeland's office did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 18, 2023.

Nojoud Al Mallees, The Canadian Press

Trudeau urges caution to ensure foreign influence registry doesn't target diasporas

The Canadian Press
Mon, April 17, 2023

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited the internment of Japanese- and Italian-Canadians during the Second World War on Monday as he urged caution in the face of growing calls for Canada to adopt a registry to track foreign influence efforts.  HE FORGOT UKRAINIAN INTERNMENT IN WWI

The comments came as authorities in the United States launched criminal proceedings against dozens of alleged Chinese government agents operating in that country.

Speaking at a news conference in the Ottawa suburb of Kanata, Trudeau acknowledged the federal government must find better ways to protect Canadians following reports of alleged interference by China in recent Canadian elections.

But the prime minister insisted a balance must be struck to ensure any new measures are not too broad and do not target certain diaspora groups such as Chinese-Canadians or others whose governments are at odds with Canada.

"Canada has had difficult historical experiences that we need to learn from when it comes to creating foreign-agent registries or registries of foreigners in Canada," he added.

"One has to only think of the internment of Japanese citizens, or Japanese-Canadians or Italian-Canadians during the past world wars to know that we must be very, very careful with these things."

Some 22,000 Japanese-Canadians were stripped of their belongings, forced from their homes and relocated into internment camps starting in early 1942, even though the vast majority of them were Canadian citizens.

About 600 Italian-Canadians faced similar treatment and another 31,000 were declared "enemy aliens" after Italy joined Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The federal government has since apologized to both communities.

The issue of foreign interference has been under debate amid media reports citing unnamed security sources and classified documents that allege China tried to interfere in the last two federal elections, as well as the recent municipal election in Vancouver.

On Monday, Trudeau said Chinese-Canadians are often the "first targets" of interference efforts by Beijing, and that any measure adopted by Canada must ensure vulnerable diaspora communities are not unduly hurt or affected.

He added that other groups, such as Iranian-Canadians, have been similarly targeted.

"That's why we're taking the time to consult appropriately on the foreign agent registry, and making sure that we're using it in the right ways."

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino announced last month that the Liberal government was beginning consultations on setting up a registry as part of its response to allegations of Chinese interference in recent Canadian elections.

The registry would require people who act on behalf of a foreign state to advance its goals to disclose their ties to the government employing them. It would be another tool, Mendicino said, to prevent other countries from meddling in Canada's affairs.

The idea of a registry, which exists in Australia and the United States, is to make those dealings more transparent, with the possibility of fines or even prison time for failing to comply.

The consultations run until May 9, including through a virtual portal on the Department of Public Safety's website.

In an interview with The Canadian Press last week, Mendicino said he met with a "robust cross-section'' of Chinese-Canadian community members who reinforced the need for a registry of agents acting on behalf of foreign governments in Canada.

Trudeau would not say whether it could be in place before the next federal election. The timing of that vote depends in part on the minority government's supply and confidence agreement with the federal New Democrats.

Canada isn't the only country grappling with allegations of Chinese interference.

Prosecutors in New York City took a big swing Monday at what they described as "audacious and illegal" efforts by Chinese government operatives to harass and threaten dissidents and suppress free speech on U.S. soil.

In three newly unsealed criminal complaints, Justice Department officials levelled charges against a total of 46 defendants, two of whom were living in the U.S. and operating a secret police station in lower Manhattan.

Lu Jianwang, 61, of the Bronx, and Chen Jinping, 59, of Manhattan, were to appear in court later Monday. They are charged with conspiring to act as agents of the government of the People’s Republic of China, and with obstructing justice — allegedly for destroying evidence of communications with officials in China's Ministry of Public Security, or MPS.

On at least one occasion, the police station was behind an effort to locate a pro-democracy activist of Chinese descent who was living in California, said Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for New York’s Eastern District.

"The Chinese national police appear to have been using the station to track a U.S. resident on U.S. soil," Peace told a news conference.

"The defendants' actions under the direction of the Chinese government are flagrant violations of American sovereignty. ... And the MPS is on notice that we will not tolerate similar threats to our national sovereignty."

Comparable Chinese police operations have been identified in dozens of countries around the world, including in Canada, where RCMP investigators are looking at two community groups in Quebec that are alleged to be MPS outposts.

Those groups have denied the allegations, vowed to co-operate with police and insisted they stand opposed to all forms of intimidation and harassment.

The other two U.S. cases are focused on alleged efforts by Chinese operatives living overseas to harass Chinese nationals living in the U.S. whose political views and actions were "disfavoured" by the government in Beijing.

A "task force" of 34 MPS officers operated as an internet troll farm, Peace said, using fake online profiles and official PRC disinformation to "harass, disparage and threaten" dissidents and activists living all over the world.

"The official PRC disinformation suggested the weakness of U.S. democracy and foreign policy, sought to sow political divisions in U.S. national elections and convey conspiracy theories regarding the U.S. government’s alleged responsibility for the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2023.

Lee Berthiaume and James McCarten, The Canadian Press