Canadian bank Desjardins axes nearly 400 jobs, citing tough environment


Reuters
Thu, October 19, 2023 

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian lender Desjardins Group said on Thursday it would cut nearly 400 jobs, mostly at its retail branches in Quebec, joining the country's big banks that have announced hundreds of layoffs citing an uncertain environment.

Desjardins said the move comes amid a tough economic environment and its efforts to save costs.

"The current economic context (volatility, inflation, slowdown, etc.) adds an additional pressure that leads us to have a healthy and prudent management," the Quebec-based bank said in a statement.

"This is all the more true in a context where we have not yet recouped all the benefits of our massive investments in recent years, particularly in technology, and we need to step up the pace in this respect."

The employees affected are spread mainly between Montreal and Lévis at the bank's retail branches, it said.

Desjardins, which has about 58,000 employees, is the latest Canadian bank to announce layoffs, joining Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal.

Canadian banks are struggling to boost profits in a high interest rate environment, which has burdened consumers and forced lenders to set aside more money in case of loan defaults.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Desjardins to lay off about 400 employees due to economic slowdown

Ben Cousins, BNN Bloomberg

Desjardins

Quebec-based financial services firm Desjardins is laying off “less than 400” employees as the company deals an economic downturn and looks to recoup money from prior investments.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Desjardins told BNN Bloomberg that the layoffs will primarily affect its Montreal and Levis, Que. offices as part of “regular adjustments within different teams.”

“The current economic context adds an additional pressure that leads us to have a healthy and prudent management,” the company said in an emailed statement.

“This sound management leads us to keep a close eye on our costs, whether, for example, to take advantage of natural attrition, to assess the relevance of our vacant positions, or to ensure that our office space corresponds to the reality of hybrid working.”

The company also mentioned it had yet to recoup “all the benefits of our massive investments in recent years” and needs to “step up the pace in this respect.”

RECENT INVESTMENTS

In November 2022, Desjardins had announced plans to buy Guardian Capital’s insurance and wealth management operations for $750 million.

It also partnered with the technology consulting firm LTIMindtree a month a later.

Desjardins also bought Canadian investment manager Hexavest Inc. in 2021, which added $5 billion to its assets, in a sale with undisclosed terms.

Desjardins reported surplus earnings of $553 million for the second quarter of 2023, as it benefited from a growth in interest income fuelled by the higher interest rates.

With files from Bloomberg News

Scotiabank cutting 3% of global workforce, will take $590M Q4 charge after tax

The Canadian Press
Wed, October 18, 2023



TORONTO — Scotiabank said Wednesday that it is cutting about three per cent of its global workforce, becoming the latest Canadian bank to trim staff amid continued economic uncertainty.

The bank said the cuts, which work out to around 2,700 staff, come as a result of bank digitization and automation, as well as streamlining efforts and shifting consumer preferences.

Scotiabank is moving to reduce costs as it looks to restore positive operating leverage, as well as work toward a strategic refresh initiated by CEO Scott Thomson after he stepped into the role in February.

Chief financial officer Raj Viswanathan noted on the bank's last earnings conference call in August that expense management is a cornerstone of the bank, and that managing staffing numbers is part of that approach as the bank looks to improve its finances.

"Our expectation is always to generate positive operating leverage every year, and we hope to start doing that again in 2024," he said.

The bank had already started trimming its head count at the time, reporting that its total employees stood at 91,013 employees in its third quarter, down from a peak of 91,264 in the first quarter this year.

Scotiabank said Wednesday that it would also take several charges that total $590 million after-tax, or about 49 cents per share, for its fourth quarter related to the cuts and other changes it is making.

The charges include $247 million after-tax for restructuring and severance provisions and $63 million after-tax related to the consolidation and exit of certain real estate premises and service contracts.

They also include an impairment charge of $280 million after-tax related to its investment in Bank of Xi'an Co. Ltd. as well as the impairment of certain intangible assets including software.

Scotiabank noted that the market value of Bank of Xi'an has remained below the bank's carrying value for a prolonged period.

"We expect the savings on the above items to be achieved throughout fiscal 2024 and anticipate full run-rate benefits in fiscal 2025," the bank said in a statement.

RBC analyst Darko Mihelic said in a note that the bank's announcements were "a small step in the right direction" as the bank works through a review of its strategic direction.

He said the writedowns were a "cleanup" of the balance sheet and the impact on capital is small.

Canada's big banks have been working to manage costs given the continued economic uncertainty ahead after an unprecedented interest rate cycle.

When it reported its third-quarter results earlier this year, Royal Bank of Canada said it was working to cut its employee numbers after it said it had over-hired by thousands. RBC said in August that it had already cut about one per cent of staff and it expected to cut another one to two per cent this year.

CIBC also reported in August that it had 48,718 employees in its third quarter, down 1,709 from the fourth quarter of 2022, while BMO reported it had taken a $223 million pre-tax charge in the last quarter related to layoffs, though the bank did not disclose the number of employees let go.

Scotiabank declined to provide further details on its cuts, saying it will release more in its fourth-quarter results on Nov. 28.

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

Companies in this story: (TSX:BNS)

The Canadian Press

Investment experts react to Scotiabank layoffs

Jordan Fleguel, BNN Bloomberg

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Investment experts say Scotiabank’s plans to lay off three per cent of its workforce are indicative of the challenging economic environment Canadian banks find themselves in.

In addition to the job cuts, Scotiabank announced Wednesday it will take on other charges that will impact its fourth-quarter earnings by approximately $590 million, or about $0.49 per share.

“The backdrop for the Canadian banks is tough,” David Burrows, president and chief investment strategist at Barometer Capital Management, said on Wednesday.

Burrows told BNN Bloomberg that the cost of capital to Canadian banks has gone up, making it more difficult for them to offer loans. Banks are also facing a “wall” of mortgage renewals in the near future, he added.

“They're looking at what the near-term results look like and they’re trying to get a little bit ahead of it,” Burrows said.

‘NOT A SURPRISE’

Laura Lau, chief investment officer at Brompton Group, told BNN Bloomberg that she expected Scotiabank to downsize its workforce, just as other big Canadian banks have done in recent months.

Over the course of the pandemic, major banks were “hiring people almost like drunken sailors,” Lau said, and the number of workers employed by the major banks grew across the board.

“It's not a surprise that they're reducing,” Lau said in a television interview on Wednesday.

“In general for banks, it makes sense for them to get rid of one to three per cent every year of their bottom performers and change their businesses.”

Lau added that general weakness in the Canadian economy likely played a role in the layoffs, as higher interest rates have put significant pressure on banks’ customers.

Burrows said it’s been a particularly challenging year for Scotiabank, noting that it’s been the weakest performing of the big six.

“It (will be) a tougher environment for them until they start seeing their net interest margins go up,” he said.

‘They don’t want to give up the thing that gave them everything’


Local Journalism Initiative
Tue, October 17, 2023 

John Vaillant, a Canadian author whose acclaimed new book draws a straight line between climate change and fire, is empathetic to the oil executive.

The oil and gas industry has given the oil executive wealth in the millions, status and a sense of place in the world, Vaillant told Canada’s National Observer. When all that is challenged, people push back to maintain the status quo.

“It's human nature, it's not just cynicism or denial,” Vaillant said.

“They don't want to give up the thing that gave them everything they have,” he added.

On Monday, John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World, spoke as a witness at the Standing Committee on Natural Resources alongside Suncor CEO Rich Kruger and Pathways Alliance VP of external relations Mark Cameron.

What Vaillant saw was the oil executives in the bargaining phase of grief, clinging on to the status quo as tightly as they can, and “riding this gravy train until the wheels come off,” he said.

The problem? The oil executives will still be alive when the wheels come off.

“You know that barge vacation that you worked so hard in the petroleum industry to finance? There may not be any water in that canal when you want to take your barge trip,” Vaillant said, referring to oil executives.

“And when you want to go do your wine tasting in Kelowna, how's that? How's that this summer? How is that wine tasting? A little smoky?”

The backdrop to Monday’s hearing was the worst wildfire season on record that saw over 200,000 Canadians dislocated and over 90 First Nations evacuated from their communities.

Vaillant started writing his recent bestseller seven years ago in the aftermath of the 2016 Fort McMurray fire, which burned 2,400 homes and businesses. Since then, several cities have followed the oil town’s fate, including Paradise in California, Lytton in B.C., and Enterprise in the Northwest Territories, among others.

Vaillant accords Kruger and other oil and gas industry leaders with an outsized responsibility for the climate crisis. Fossil fuels create more greenhouse gases, trapping heat like a warm blanket. The more greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, the thicker that blanket gets, driving hotter temperatures and creating long and dry fire seasons.

Climate change also makes weather patterns more unpredictable, leading to an increase in extreme weather events.

One of those weather events is increased heat waves. Vaillant points to the heat dome, which killed 700 Canadians, as a marker of the real-world costs of upholding the oil and gas industry.

At the committee meeting, Kruger vowed that Suncor would continue “decarbonization” efforts to draw down emissions during oil production. He insisted that would be good for the environment and shareholders who rely on oil stocks. But Vaillant is tired of the shareholder excuse. He believes it removes morality, absolves the industry of responsibilities to the wider world and leads to state-sanctioned sociopathy. It’s why he thinks the oil and gas business just isn’t viable anymore.

Other industries have largely been phased out, like coal, slavery and certain types of mining, for example, Vaillant said. So why can’t oil and gas end, too?

Vaillant recognizes that the climate crisis is a global issue, but on the other hand, “bitumen is the dirtiest fuel on Earth, there’s no getting around that,” he said.

“History will be very unkind to [oil executives],” he added.

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

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

B.C. non-profit now offering free legal advice to sexual assault survivors


CBC
Tue, October 17, 2023 


It starts with a phone call.

If you have experienced sexual assault in British Columbia, you can now reach out to a non-profit society for free, confidential legal advice.

The Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS) officially launched its Stand Informed services Tuesday. The program includes three hours of confidential legal advice for survivors, regardless of their age, gender or income and whether or not they have reported the assault to police.

People can also contact CLAS if they are unsure what happened to them was sexual assault. After a brief informational call, clients will be connected with legal counsel, the society says.

"We try to take a trauma-informed approach in our work, so you don't have to disclose too many details on the initial call — you can wait until you have an opportunity to speak to a lawyer," said Jennifer Khor, the society's supervising lawyer and Stand Informed's project manager.

Khor told CBC's The Early Edition on Tuesday that 37 per cent of women over the age of 15 have experienced sexual assault in B.C. and less than nine per cent of people seek support from victim services.

According to 2021 data from Statistics Canada, the rate of police-reported sexual assault in the country has reached its highest level since 1996 — and only about six per cent of sexual assaults are reported to the police.

Staff at CLAS are trained to not apply pressure to take legal action, says Khor, who wants callers to know there is no time limit if they decide they want to file a criminal or civil complaint at a later date.

"You don't have to do anything if you don't want to, but we are here to support you if you do," she said.

The Criminal Code of Canada defines sexual assault as intentional sexual touching without consent. Consent must be expressed freely and be ongoing and can be revoked at any time.

Multiple studies by Statistics Canada show women — especially young women — Indigenous women, and people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and two-spirited disproportionately experience sexual assault

CLAS received funding from the federal justice department and is contracted by B.C.'s Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General to offer legal advice services.

"British Columbians should feel safe in their communities. People who experience gender-based violence need to be able to access the support they need when and where they need it," said Kelli Paddon, parliamentary secretary for gender equity, in a written statement.

In July, the B.C. government committed to providing stable annual funding to 68 sexual assault programs across the province, as it sets new standards for police to collaborate with victim services workers during investigations.

According to CLAS, people don't report assaults because of police distrust and fear they will not be taken seriously.

Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth has said new policing standards will include a review of closed cases and will involve "supervisory oversight" of investigations to ensure officers are impartial and "trauma informed."

Any person who experiences sexual assault in B.C. and lives in the province can call CLAS directly at 604-673-3143 or email standinformed@clasbc.net to access its services.

The society works with lawyers across the province and arrangements can be made to meet with legal counsel either in person, virtually of via phone. All conversations are protected by solicitor-client privilege.

PRO PALESTINE IS NOT PRO HAMAS
'Thin line' between freedom of speech and 'freedom of hate,' says Israeli ambassador


The Canadian Press
Thu, October 19, 2023 

ISRAEL APOLOGISTS CALL THIS ANTI-SEMITISM

OTTAWA — Israel's envoy to Canada says it is important for democracies to assess when a line has been crossed between freedom of speech and what he calls "freedom of hate."

Iddo Moed, Israel's ambassador to Canada, spoke generally about what he sees as a "thin line" between the two in an interview with The Canadian Press.

He said he couldn't comment on the nature of any demonstrations seen in Canada since Hamas launched surprise attacks on Oct. 7, when rocket attacks and raids by militants killed hundreds of civilians in southern Israel during a major Jewish holiday.

Israel retaliated with airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas, and cut off access to essential supplies. More than 4,000 people have died in the latest Israel-Hamas war.

Almost immediately, the conflict sparked protests worldwide.

Political leaders, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other Liberal ministers, swiftly condemned demonstrators who attended pro-Palestinian rallies in cities such as Toronto and Montreal in the aftermath of the Hamas attack.

They viewed the gatherings as celebrations of the attack by Hamas, which Canada has listed as a terrorist organization since 2002. One sign spotted at the Oct. 9 protest outside Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square read: "Occupation is a crime, resistance is a response."

The Gaza Strip, home to some 2.3 million people, has been under blockade by both Israel and Egypt since Hamas took control in 2007. Israel has defended the restrictions as a security measure, as Hamas has always embraced violence as a way to liberate Palestinian territories occupied by Israel. Palestinians have argued the blockade is collective punishment by Israel.

On Tuesday night, pro-Palestinian protesters marching through downtown Ottawa made their way to the front of a convention centre, where Trudeau and other federal leaders were speaking at a conference on antisemitism organized by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

The scene outside prompted organizers to direct attendees to leave through a back entrance and to exercise caution when going outside.

Speaking broadly, Moed said on Wednesday that there is a "distinction between freedom of speech and freedom of hate."

"I don't think that democracies allow people to hate and to incite, and I think that that is something that is looked at very carefully in many places, including Canada," he said.

He added that it is "perfectly fine" if people feel strongly about support for Palestinians.

"The only issue is, I think that we, as democracies, should look at … when is a line crossed that is between supporting a cause and between changing our values in a way that incites hatred and violence and even glorification of horrendous terrorist attacks.

"That's very, very important."

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre told reporters last week he finds it "abhorrent" that anyone in Canada voices support for Hamas, but he said Conservatives believe in freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and "people are free to state their own opinions, even opinions that I find abhorrent."

Police agencies across Canada have said they are monitoring for threats against synagogues and members of Jewish communities across the country. There were police officers outside the antisemitism conference in Ottawa this week.

CIJA said in a statement that "rabid pro-Hamas demonstrations" are being staged in cities across Canada.

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather, who attended the recent antisemitism event in Ottawa, said that protests about what is happening in the Middle East do not belong "at a Jewish community event."

"This was a Jewish community event to stop antisemitism. It seems like a strange place to have a protest about what's happening in the Middle East."

Housefather, who is Jewish, said the conflict has led to both Jewish and Muslim people in Canada feeling vulnerable.

"We need to make sure that we don't add to that vulnerability."

Quebec Liberal MP Sameer Zuberi, who is Muslim, told reporters on Wednesday that people in the Muslim Canadian community have been facing threats.

He said that his sister-in-law, whom he called "visibly Muslim," was bringing his nine-year-old niece to school and was "accosted."

"Two people gave her the middle finger — different people not in the same group. They followed her," he said.

The pair didn't make it to his niece's school that morning, Zuberi said.

"That is unacceptable expression of speech. Why did that happen to her?"

Federal Mental Health and Addictions Minister Ya'ara Saks, an Israeli Canadian, told the House of Commons earlier this week that her daughter removed her Star of David on a university campus.

Moed told The Canadian Press that Israel feels a lot of support from Canada, noting that there have also been "strong manifestations in support of Israel throughout Canada in many communities."

"We feel at home, we feel among friends," he said.

"We know that there are others who don't support Israel and that is fine. That's the way democracies work."

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

Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press

Ontario politicians debate censuring legislator for statement on Israel-Hamas war

The Canadian Press
Wed, October 18, 2023



TORONTO — Ontario's legislature began debate Wednesday on a Progressive Conservative motion that could lead to a New Democrat legislator effectively prevented from speaking in the House unless she apologizes again for a statement she made about the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Sarah Jama, who was elected earlier this year in a byelection in Hamilton Centre, published a written statement last week decrying "the generations long occupation of Palestine" without mentioning the attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas militants.

Condemnation came swiftly, particularly from Tories, and Jama posted an apology on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, but she did not retract the original statement.

The Progressive Conservatives have now put forward a motion to censure Jama, calling on the Speaker not to recognize her in the House — in order to ask a question or debate legislation — until she retracts and deletes her original statement and also apologizes in the legislature.

"The member's musings at any other time would still have been offensive and unacceptable for any elected representative of the people of Ontario, but to make them in association with a violent act of unrepentant and unprovoked terrorism is repugnant and intolerable to the greatest extent of those words," Government House Leader Paul Calandra said in debate.

NDP Leader Marit Stiles said the government is trying to muzzle a democratically elected member of provincial parliament even though she has already apologized.

The Tories are playing political games, Stiles said, using Jama as a way to distract from the fact that the RCMP is investigating the government's decision — which it has now reversed — to open parts of the protected Greenbelt lands for housing development.

"We're not going to allow this government to continue to do this, this distraction, deflection," she said Wednesday.

"This is a government that has their back up against a wall. They've shown that they will do absolutely anything and stoop to just the most disgusting actions and lowest lows in order to avoid the questions that the Official Opposition, the people of Ontario have about their land speculation grab."

The Tories note that not only has Jama not deleted her original statement, she has now pinned it so that it always appears as her top post on social media platform X. Stiles said she did not know what it meant to "pin" a post, but that Jama's apology posts clearly stated that she unequivocally condemned Hamas's attack on Israeli civilians.

The National Council of Canadian Muslims said Wednesday that actions such as the Progressive Conservatives calling for Jama's censure have real life consequences in the form of hatred directed at Muslims.

"We cannot use this horrific conflict where so much pain and trauma is being felt by everyone to score political points," Uthman Quick, the group's director of communications, said at a press conference.

"That is because we've seen that rhetoric escalates, and communities are made to bear the brunt of the backlash."

He said on his way to the press conference he received reports of multiple hijab-wearing Muslim women being spat on in Ontario and across the country.

"The temperature, the atmosphere, the environment, is it's untenable right now," he said, adding that his heart goes out to members of the Jewish community across Canada that are affected by the violence against civilians.

Jewish groups have strongly condemned Jama's statement, and the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies said her apology was too little, too late.

"Given her longstanding record of causing hurt and harm to the Jewish community in Hamilton Centre and beyond, we stand by our call for Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles to do the right thing and remove her from the Ontario NDP caucus," the group wrote in a statement last week.

Jama also faced criticism from Jewish groups during her successful byelection campaign in March, with B'nai Brith accusing her of being a "radical anti-Israel advocate."

She said the criticism centred around what she describes as standing up for Palestinian human rights and her association with student groups running "Israeli Apartheid week" on campus 10 years ago, which shouldn't be conflated with anti-Semitism.

Debate on the Tories' motion is likely to continue in the legislature next week. The Progressive Conservatives have a majority so it is set to pass, but the Speaker would not necessarily be bound to follow it, and could exercise his discretion to still allow Jama to speak.

The motion would not prevent her from voting or attending, though she has not been at the legislature this week. Stiles has said Jama has Palestinian family members and she is being given space to deal with family issues.

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

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press

 

In big year for labor, California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivers both wins and surprises

The Canadian Press
Tue, October 17, 2023 



SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom again seized the national spotlight this year as he signed some of the most ambitious laws in the country to raise worker wages and to force companies to disclose a wide range of climate emissions, efforts that further cement the state's — and the governor's — status as a leader on a host of liberal causes.

But the Democrat disappointed some progressive advocates as he vetoed high-profile bills to give unemployment benefits to striking workers, require courts to weigh a parent’s support of their child’s gender identity in custody proceedings and decriminalize some psychedelic drugs. He also supported a controversial bill to force more people into mental health or addiction treatment, a proposal aimed at addressing the state's persistent homelessness crisis.

His actions on more than 1,000 pieces of legislation — nearly 15% of which he vetoed — showcase how Newsom plans to govern in his second and final term as leader of the nation's most populous state. Newsom's moves are increasingly seen through the lens of a possible presidential bid beyond 2024, though he insists he does not plan to run.

Some observers say his moves are largely consistent with both the views of California voters and the political tone that Newsom struck in his first term.

While Newsom delighted labor advocates with many of his signatures, he also angered them with some vetoes. He even won praise from Republicans for signing a bill to increase penalties for child sex trafficking after criticizing some Democratic lawmakers for initially opposing the bill.

Political consultant Elizabeth Ashford, who advises Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and has worked for former governors Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is skeptical of the idea that Newsom's actions are about appealing to a national audience. If he's taking more moderate stances on some issues, including crime and homelessness, it's likely in response to what California voters want, she said.

Indeed, California's unabated homelessness crisis and the proliferation of fentanyl on the streets have been among the most visible and stubborn issues during Newsom's tenure.

“I think that it’s very much how you see both Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger move into a more middle posture,” Ashford said. “It’s because that’s what Californians want their governor to be.”

Newsom's actions reflect that he is “a consistently left-of-center Democratic governor,” said Wesley Hussey, a political science professor at California State University, Sacramento. “I think maybe he draws the line where it’s going to cost the state a lot more money."

Newsom justified many of his vetoes — such as on a bill to make free condoms available to public high school students — by saying there was not enough money in the state budget to cover the cost. It came after he worked with lawmakers this year to try to close a projected $31.5 billion budget deficit.

Californians typically rank the economy and jobs as the most important issues in the state, said Mark Baldassare, the statewide survey director at the Public Policy Institute of California, and Newsom signed key legislation aimed at boosting workers. Health care workers will gradually receive a minimum hourly wage of $25, fast-food workers will be paid at least $20 an hour, workers will get more paid sick leave and lower-level legislative staffers will be able to unionize.

But in a year when hotel workers, Hollywood actors and writers, and health care workers went on strike, Newsom also vetoed a bill that would have given unemployment benefits to striking workers.

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, who heads the California Labor Federation, said “it's almost cruel” that workers who go on strike aren't guaranteed insurance benefits.

“We have workers who are putting everything on the line right now by going on strike,” she said. “They're doing this because, quite honestly, this economy has failed them.”

Newsom also vetoed a bill that would have protected domestic workers who get injured or sick on the job and a proposal to save driver jobs while automated semi-trucks are tested for their safety on public roads.

In recent years, Californians have had to cope with wildfires, intense heat waves, and violent winds and rain. So it's not surprising that many of them also say the environment is one of the state's most pressing issues, Baldassare said.

Newsom started the year off by pushing a proposal to punish oil companies for profiting from high gas prices. The idea evolved from a tax on oil company profits to a law that makes regulators decide whether to penalize oil companies for price gouging. So far no penalties have been placed on oil companies, and Republicans still fault Newsom for failing to tackle the state's sky-high gas prices.

He also signed two climate proposals that are the most aggressive mandates of their kind in the country: One to require companies making more than $1 billion annually to disclose their direct and indirect emissions, and another to require companies making more than $500 million annually to disclose how climate change poses a risk to them financially.

“He cares about climate, he cares about being a national leader on climate, and this is how he does it,” said Melissa Romero, deputy legislative director at advocacy group California Environmental Voters.

Homelessness also remains top of mind for voters in the state with the highest unhoused population in the country. Newsom sent two measures to voters aimed at transforming the state's mental health system and addressing the homelessness crisis. He also signed a law to force more people into treatment if they have untreated mental illness or addiction issues and are unable to provide themselves with basic needs like food and shelter. The policies are controversial and reflect Newsom's desire to tackle an issue that's often the subject of national criticism.

Assemblymember Chris Ward, a Democrat and vice chair of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said it was a “very successful year” for laws strengthening protections for LGBTQ+ people in the state. Newsom signed legislation to make sure LGBTQ+ foster youth are placed with families able to support their well-being, train school staff to better support LGBTQ+ students and seal legal gender-change petition documents for minors.

Still, Newsom surprised some when he vetoed a bill that would have required courts to weigh a parent's affirmation of their child's gender identity in custody and visitation cases. He said he vetoed it in part because he was concerned about lawmakers using their power to dictate “in prescriptive terms” how judges make decisions and warned such an approach could be alternatively used to “to diminish the civil rights of vulnerable communities.” Ward disagreed with that reasoning, saying judges regularly rely on language from laws passed by the Legislature to help inform their decisions.

Something else out-of-the-ordinary happened in California politics this year: Newsom took the unusual step of publicly opposing a move by lawmakers in his party to block a bill authored by a Republican. The dispute revolved around legislation to increase penalties for child traffickers.

State Sen. Shannon Grove, who introduced the bill, does not remember something like that happening since she first arrived at the Legislature in 2010. Newsom spoke with her after the bill was initially blocked, she said.

“He just said that 'I'm disappointed in what happened in public safety,'” Grove said. “And I said, ‘Me too.’”

___

Sophie Austin is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Austin on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter: @sophieadanna

Sophie Austin, The Associated Press

Parks Canada signs agreement with First Nations, opens door to harvesting in Jasper

The Canadian Press
Tue, October 17, 2023 



Parks Canada and two First Nations have signed an agreement that points to a stronger Indigenous voice in national parks management and opens the door to harvesting in western Alberta's Jasper National Park.

"We want to be part of decision-making in the park," Chief George Lampreau, of the Simpcw First Nation, said from Barriere, B.C.

Parks Canada spokesman Mark Young said the agreement between Parks Canada, the Simpcw and Alberta's Stoney Nation is part of a larger move within the agency to reopen parks lands to First Nations and restore their influence on how they're managed.

"From coast to coast to coast, it's everywhere," he said.

"The first thing we did (when parks were created) was remove Indigenous people from the landscape. We totally took that thinking out of our space.

"We're going to move toward greater management collaboration with the Indigenous groups we work with."

It also marks the renewal of an age-old treaty between the Simpcw and the Stoneys that bound both nations to share the resources of Jasper's peaks, broad valleys and glacier-fed rivers. The deal was signed in 1872, but Stoney spokesman Barry Wesley said the agreement to harvest together in peace long predates the introduction of writing.

"We wanted to let the world know these treaties exist between nations," he said. "It's a living spirit."

The deal will be marked with a hunt. The First Nations are hoping to take six deer, four elk and two sheep from within the park for a community feast.

It will be the first time since 2017 that First Nations have hunted in Jasper, when they did so under an agreement with Parks Canada. Other national parks and park reserves also allow Indigenous harvesting, Young said.

An area will be closed during the hunt to ensure public safety.

"We don't know if it will be an annual thing," said Young. "There's some work we have to do.

"What does it mean to incorporate a level of Indigenous hunting? What's sustainable?"

Lampreau is looking forward to a greater role in park management. He blames Parks Canada for the near-extirpation of caribou from Jasper.

"(Parks) is building up to 2.4 million (visitors) now and you've (got) animals going extinct. You're not managing properly.

"Maybe we as First Nations decide what the carrying capacity is for that park."

The deal will be marked Oct. 28 with a ceremony in the park and a community feast of animals taken within it.

"We're just doing what we were stopped from doing," said Wesley. "Now we're back.

"Us doing harvesting doesn't mean we're going to be minimizing the animals. They're spirit, too.

"They're going to be invited to the ceremony."

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

Bob Weber, The Canadian Press

Canadian spy chief stresses co-operation on research security at Five Eyes summit

The Canadian Press
Tue, October 17, 2023 

OTTAWA — The head of Canada's spy service says the way to shield advanced technology from adversaries like China and Russia is to educate researchers and scientists about the risks, not tell them what they should or should not do.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service director David Vigneault told an international conference Tuesday that representatives of Canada's largest research universities were reluctant to openly discuss security issues when he met with them five or six years ago.

Vigneault said the relationship has evolved to the point where research institutions are now asking CSIS how they can work together.

Vigneault is participating in a summit in Palo Alto, Calif., on advancing economic security and public safety with counterparts from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

Representatives of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance gathered at the invitation of U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation director Christopher Wray, along with entrepreneurs, government officials and academics.

CSIS says threats to innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing include intellectual property theft, coercion and the use of collaborative and open research efforts for nefarious purposes.

During a panel discussion with the other intelligence leaders on Tuesday, Vigneault said CSIS is warning institutions that certain Chinese partnerships with western researchers on cutting-edge technology are aimed at gleaning know-how useful to Beijing's military.


He noted Canada has issued research security guidelines aimed at protecting institutions and intellectual property.

"We will not want to tell people what they should do or should not do, but we want to give them as much clarity as possible," Vigneault said.

All nations spy, seek secrets and try to gain strategic advantage, but China's behaviour goes well beyond traditional espionage, said Mike Burgess of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

"The Chinese, to their credit, are very clear about where they want to innovate and what they need in their own national sovereign interest, which is fine and entirely appropriate," Burgess said.

"The problem with that is they're engaged in wholesale intellectual property theft and the acquisition of expertise, through means which (are) exploiting our open and collaborative DNA."

The Five Eyes partners collectively issued guiding principles Tuesday for researchers, urging them to be aware of the threats and to take steps to secure their business environments, products, partnerships and expansion plans.

Ken McCallum, director general of Britain's MI5, said it "would be crazy for any of us to try to close down the fundamental openness" of universities.

"But you probably don't want a PhD student in advanced robotics to be sponsored by the (Chinese) People's Liberation Army in your university," McCallum said.

"So this is not about changing the dial on the overall default towards open collaboration, joint research, that sort of expeditionary attitude that academia must rightly prize, but it is about having your eyes open to the most egregious forms of risks."

Vigneault recalled "a very difficult discussion with a business leader in Canada" in which CSIS shared intelligence about guidance system components being used in Russian drones to kill Ukrainians.

"A tangible example like that goes a long way," he said.

Following their panel discussion, the intelligence leaders were slated to sit down with business figures to talk about expanding and strengthening private-public partnerships to better protect innovation and the security of the five countries and their citizens.

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

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press