Tuesday, August 15, 2023
TWO SYSTEMS OF JUSTICE
Trump's time in Fulton County Jail will be brief. Others die waitingMadeline Halpert & Kayla Epstein - Reporting From Atlanta, Georgia
BBC
Tue, August 15, 2023
Fulton County Jail has come under fire for allegations of unsanitary living conditions and negligence
In the coming days, Donald Trump will turn himself in to police in Georgia. His initial brush with the local criminal justice system is expected to last just hours - most other defendants are not so lucky.
Authorities announced on Wednesday that Mr Trump and his fellow 18 defendants are "expected" to be booked at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta before being arraigned at the courthouse, though they warned "circumstances may change".
He must appear by 25 August to face charges of trying to overturn the result of the 2020 election in the state.
The local sheriff, Pat Labat, has said that officials will follow "normal practices" when processing Mr Trump.
But experts said he will probably have a very different experience from those who languish in the county's notoriously unsafe jail for weeks, months or even years while awaiting trial.
In the US, criminal defendants wait in a jail if they have been arrested, are awaiting trial without bail, or are serving a short sentence behind bars. Prisons are where criminals serve longer sentences after conviction.
Hundreds of people were held at Fulton County Jail for more than 90 days because they had yet to be formally charged or could not afford to pay the bail bond required for their release, according to a September 2022 report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The report also found 117 people had waited in jail for more than a year because they had not been indicted; 12 had been held for two years for the same reason.
"It's essentially been overcrowded since it was built," said Fallon McClure of the ACLU of Georgia. "This has just been a perpetual cycle over and over for years."
'Rapidly eroding' conditions
Built in 1985 to house around 1,300 inmates, Fulton County Jail has held more than 3,000 people in recent years.
The jail provides "unhygienic living conditions" that have led to outbreaks of Covid-19, lice and scabies, a report by the Southern Center for Human Rights said. It found inmates were "significantly malnourished" and dealing with a condition called cachexia, also known as wasting syndrome.
Waiting in these dilapidated conditions has proven deadly for some.
Last week, a 34-year-old man was found unconscious in a medical unit cell at the jail, where he had been held since 2019. He was resuscitated, but then died at the hospital, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's office.
He was the sixth person this year to die in the county jail system in 2023
The mafia-busting law Trump is charged under in Georgia
US inmate died in insect-infested 'death chamber'
Noni Battiste-Kosoko was just 19 when she died in Fulton County Jail custody in July after being arrested on a less serious misdemeanour charge. Deputies found her unresponsive in her cell in the Atlanta City Detention Center, an additional space the county is leasing to alleviate overcrowding at the main jail.
Battiste-Kosoko's family has still not been given a cause for her death or found out the results of her post-mortem examination, her family's lawyer told the BBC.
"There has been a consistent and unsettling pattern of poor healthcare and inmates dying at the jail under mysterious circumstances," said Roderick Edmond.
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office told the BBC it was still awaiting a final report from the autopsy, and that it was investigating the incident.
Battiste-Kosoko's death came just before Fulton County this month agreed to pay $4m (£3.1m) to the family of a man who died in the jail covered in bed bug bites.
An independent autopsy found 35-year-old Lashawn Thompson died in the jail's psychiatric wing last September because of "severe neglect" from jail staff. His death sparked an investigation from the US Department of Justice into conditions at the jail, access to medical care and excessive use of force by officers.
An escalating issue
When it was built in the 1980s, the jail was "state of the art", said Dr Edmond, the attorney. "But it is no longer. That jail needs to be demolished and the citizens of Fulton County need to dig deep and pay the tax dollars to build a brand new jail."
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office itself has acknowledged conditions at the building are "dilapidated and rapidly eroding". It has also called for the construction of a new $1.7bn jail.
"There's been a lot of talk of cleaning it up," said Ms McClure of the ACLU. "We have not really seen or heard anything particularly significant. It seems like a lot of posturing."
Who is Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis?
Ms McClure said a number of factors have led to overcrowding in the Fulton County Jail system. For one, people charged with misdemeanours in the county are arrested and taken into custody, unlike some other Georgia jurisdictions, where defendants are generally released and given a future court date for minor offences, she said.
The county has also faced a backlog of cases because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and most recently, a slew of indictments under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act unrelated to the Trump case, she said.
Mr Trump and his co-defendants were charged for violating the same statute this week. But indictments under the law, passed in the 1970s to help take down organised crime groups like the mafia, are complex and resource intensive, experts say.
"There's the assumption that other cases aren't getting indicted because this is taking up so much time," Ms McClure said.
'Kid gloves'
Mr Trump is likely to bypass all of this dysfunction when he is processed in Fulton County, experts said.
While prosecutors have not released details of how Mr Trump will be booked this time, there are clues from the expedited process at his three previous arraignments in New York, Florida and Washington DC, where he has denied all charges.
Upon arriving at these courthouses, Mr Trump had his basic information and fingerprints taken like any defendant. But he was sequestered away from other criminal defendants and quickly whisked up to a courtroom, surrounded by Secret Service and US Marshals. Authorities have cited heightened security concerns in making these arrangements.
Unlike many defendants, he has not had a mugshot taken nor has he been handcuffed. Authorities have said there is no need for either, since there are plenty of photos of Mr Trump already and he is not considered a flight risk.
When his hearings have concluded, his protective detail have quickly escorted him back to a waiting motorcade, which takes him to his private plane.
Some version of this routine is likely to play out in Fulton County, experts said.
The contrast in experiences rankled some defence attorneys who have worked in Fulton County for years.
"He's gonna be treated with kid gloves because he's a former president," said Keisha Steed, an Atlanta-area criminal defence attorney who once worked as a public defender.
"And our clients are going to be kicked in the teeth."
Fulton County Jail has come under fire for allegations of unsanitary living conditions and negligence
In the coming days, Donald Trump will turn himself in to police in Georgia. His initial brush with the local criminal justice system is expected to last just hours - most other defendants are not so lucky.
Authorities announced on Wednesday that Mr Trump and his fellow 18 defendants are "expected" to be booked at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta before being arraigned at the courthouse, though they warned "circumstances may change".
He must appear by 25 August to face charges of trying to overturn the result of the 2020 election in the state.
The local sheriff, Pat Labat, has said that officials will follow "normal practices" when processing Mr Trump.
But experts said he will probably have a very different experience from those who languish in the county's notoriously unsafe jail for weeks, months or even years while awaiting trial.
In the US, criminal defendants wait in a jail if they have been arrested, are awaiting trial without bail, or are serving a short sentence behind bars. Prisons are where criminals serve longer sentences after conviction.
Hundreds of people were held at Fulton County Jail for more than 90 days because they had yet to be formally charged or could not afford to pay the bail bond required for their release, according to a September 2022 report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
The report also found 117 people had waited in jail for more than a year because they had not been indicted; 12 had been held for two years for the same reason.
"It's essentially been overcrowded since it was built," said Fallon McClure of the ACLU of Georgia. "This has just been a perpetual cycle over and over for years."
'Rapidly eroding' conditions
Built in 1985 to house around 1,300 inmates, Fulton County Jail has held more than 3,000 people in recent years.
The jail provides "unhygienic living conditions" that have led to outbreaks of Covid-19, lice and scabies, a report by the Southern Center for Human Rights said. It found inmates were "significantly malnourished" and dealing with a condition called cachexia, also known as wasting syndrome.
Waiting in these dilapidated conditions has proven deadly for some.
Last week, a 34-year-old man was found unconscious in a medical unit cell at the jail, where he had been held since 2019. He was resuscitated, but then died at the hospital, according to the Fulton County Sheriff's office.
He was the sixth person this year to die in the county jail system in 2023
The mafia-busting law Trump is charged under in Georgia
US inmate died in insect-infested 'death chamber'
Noni Battiste-Kosoko was just 19 when she died in Fulton County Jail custody in July after being arrested on a less serious misdemeanour charge. Deputies found her unresponsive in her cell in the Atlanta City Detention Center, an additional space the county is leasing to alleviate overcrowding at the main jail.
Battiste-Kosoko's family has still not been given a cause for her death or found out the results of her post-mortem examination, her family's lawyer told the BBC.
"There has been a consistent and unsettling pattern of poor healthcare and inmates dying at the jail under mysterious circumstances," said Roderick Edmond.
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office told the BBC it was still awaiting a final report from the autopsy, and that it was investigating the incident.
Battiste-Kosoko's death came just before Fulton County this month agreed to pay $4m (£3.1m) to the family of a man who died in the jail covered in bed bug bites.
An independent autopsy found 35-year-old Lashawn Thompson died in the jail's psychiatric wing last September because of "severe neglect" from jail staff. His death sparked an investigation from the US Department of Justice into conditions at the jail, access to medical care and excessive use of force by officers.
An escalating issue
When it was built in the 1980s, the jail was "state of the art", said Dr Edmond, the attorney. "But it is no longer. That jail needs to be demolished and the citizens of Fulton County need to dig deep and pay the tax dollars to build a brand new jail."
The Fulton County Sheriff's Office itself has acknowledged conditions at the building are "dilapidated and rapidly eroding". It has also called for the construction of a new $1.7bn jail.
"There's been a lot of talk of cleaning it up," said Ms McClure of the ACLU. "We have not really seen or heard anything particularly significant. It seems like a lot of posturing."
Who is Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis?
Ms McClure said a number of factors have led to overcrowding in the Fulton County Jail system. For one, people charged with misdemeanours in the county are arrested and taken into custody, unlike some other Georgia jurisdictions, where defendants are generally released and given a future court date for minor offences, she said.
The county has also faced a backlog of cases because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and most recently, a slew of indictments under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act unrelated to the Trump case, she said.
Mr Trump and his co-defendants were charged for violating the same statute this week. But indictments under the law, passed in the 1970s to help take down organised crime groups like the mafia, are complex and resource intensive, experts say.
"There's the assumption that other cases aren't getting indicted because this is taking up so much time," Ms McClure said.
'Kid gloves'
Mr Trump is likely to bypass all of this dysfunction when he is processed in Fulton County, experts said.
While prosecutors have not released details of how Mr Trump will be booked this time, there are clues from the expedited process at his three previous arraignments in New York, Florida and Washington DC, where he has denied all charges.
Upon arriving at these courthouses, Mr Trump had his basic information and fingerprints taken like any defendant. But he was sequestered away from other criminal defendants and quickly whisked up to a courtroom, surrounded by Secret Service and US Marshals. Authorities have cited heightened security concerns in making these arrangements.
Unlike many defendants, he has not had a mugshot taken nor has he been handcuffed. Authorities have said there is no need for either, since there are plenty of photos of Mr Trump already and he is not considered a flight risk.
When his hearings have concluded, his protective detail have quickly escorted him back to a waiting motorcade, which takes him to his private plane.
Some version of this routine is likely to play out in Fulton County, experts said.
The contrast in experiences rankled some defence attorneys who have worked in Fulton County for years.
"He's gonna be treated with kid gloves because he's a former president," said Keisha Steed, an Atlanta-area criminal defence attorney who once worked as a public defender.
"And our clients are going to be kicked in the teeth."
Travis King: North Korea says US soldier fled because of racism in army
Jean Mackenzie and Derek Cai - in Seoul and Singapore
Tue, August 15, 2023
Private Travis King dashed across the border to North Korea last month
North Korea has said US soldier Travis King crossed into its territory last month because of "inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" in the army.
The 23-year-old private dashed across the border from South Korea on 18 July while on a guided tour.
Private King admitted to crossing illegally and wanted refuge in the North, state media reported.
Washington said it could not verify the claims, which are Pyongyang's first public comments on the case.
Concerns have been growing for the welfare of the US soldier, who has not been heard from or seen since his crossing.
The US is trying to negotiate Private King's release with the help of the UN Command, which runs the border area, and has a direct phoneline to the North Korean army.
Responding to the North Korean report on Wednesday, a Pentagon official said their priority was to have Private King brought home safely "through all available channels".
How to negotiate with world's most secretive country
North Korea has given no information on how it plans to treat Private King but said the soldier admitted he had "illegally" entered the country.
State news agency KCNA did not say if he would face prosecution or punishment.
In the report, there was no mention of his current whereabouts or condition.
"During the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK [North Korea] as he harboured ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army," KCNA reported.
"He also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American society."
Private King is a reconnaissance specialist who has been in the army since January 2021 and was in South Korea as part of his rotation.
Before crossing the border, he served two months in detention in South Korea for assault charges and was released on 10 July.
He was supposed to fly back to the US to face disciplinary proceedings but managed to leave the airport and join a tour of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), which separates North and South Korea.
The DMZ, one of the most heavily fortified areas in the world, is filled with landmines, surrounded by electric and barbed wire fencing, and monitored by surveillance cameras. Armed guards are supposed to be on alert 24 hours a day although witnesses say there were no North Korean soldiers present when Private King ran over.
His family have previously told US media that he had relayed experiencing racism in the army. They also said his mental health appeared to have declined prior to his disappearance.
"It feels like I'm in a big nightmare," said his mother Claudine Gates, adding the family was desperate for answers.
North Korea is one of the few countries still under nominally communist rule and has long been a highly secretive and isolated society.
Its government, led by Kim Jong-un, also stands accused of systematic human rights abuse.
Analysts say the detainment of Travis King has played into North Korea's anti-US messaging, at a time when relations between the two countries are their worst in years.
Pyongyang will most likely have relished the opportunity to highlight racism and other shortcomings in American society, especially given the international criticism it receives for human rights abuses.
The UN Security Council is due to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the human rights situation in North Korea for the first time since 2017.
Ahead of its comments on Travis King, North Korean media had put out a statement on the UN meeting, which will be led by the US.
"Not content with fostering racial discrimination and gun-related crimes, the US has imposed unethical human rights standards on other countries", it read.
Jean Mackenzie and Derek Cai - in Seoul and Singapore
Tue, August 15, 2023
Private Travis King dashed across the border to North Korea last month
North Korea has said US soldier Travis King crossed into its territory last month because of "inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" in the army.
The 23-year-old private dashed across the border from South Korea on 18 July while on a guided tour.
Private King admitted to crossing illegally and wanted refuge in the North, state media reported.
Washington said it could not verify the claims, which are Pyongyang's first public comments on the case.
Concerns have been growing for the welfare of the US soldier, who has not been heard from or seen since his crossing.
The US is trying to negotiate Private King's release with the help of the UN Command, which runs the border area, and has a direct phoneline to the North Korean army.
Responding to the North Korean report on Wednesday, a Pentagon official said their priority was to have Private King brought home safely "through all available channels".
How to negotiate with world's most secretive country
North Korea has given no information on how it plans to treat Private King but said the soldier admitted he had "illegally" entered the country.
State news agency KCNA did not say if he would face prosecution or punishment.
In the report, there was no mention of his current whereabouts or condition.
"During the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK [North Korea] as he harboured ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the US Army," KCNA reported.
"He also expressed his willingness to seek refuge in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American society."
Private King is a reconnaissance specialist who has been in the army since January 2021 and was in South Korea as part of his rotation.
Before crossing the border, he served two months in detention in South Korea for assault charges and was released on 10 July.
He was supposed to fly back to the US to face disciplinary proceedings but managed to leave the airport and join a tour of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), which separates North and South Korea.
The DMZ, one of the most heavily fortified areas in the world, is filled with landmines, surrounded by electric and barbed wire fencing, and monitored by surveillance cameras. Armed guards are supposed to be on alert 24 hours a day although witnesses say there were no North Korean soldiers present when Private King ran over.
His family have previously told US media that he had relayed experiencing racism in the army. They also said his mental health appeared to have declined prior to his disappearance.
"It feels like I'm in a big nightmare," said his mother Claudine Gates, adding the family was desperate for answers.
North Korea is one of the few countries still under nominally communist rule and has long been a highly secretive and isolated society.
Its government, led by Kim Jong-un, also stands accused of systematic human rights abuse.
Analysts say the detainment of Travis King has played into North Korea's anti-US messaging, at a time when relations between the two countries are their worst in years.
Pyongyang will most likely have relished the opportunity to highlight racism and other shortcomings in American society, especially given the international criticism it receives for human rights abuses.
The UN Security Council is due to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the human rights situation in North Korea for the first time since 2017.
Ahead of its comments on Travis King, North Korean media had put out a statement on the UN meeting, which will be led by the US.
"Not content with fostering racial discrimination and gun-related crimes, the US has imposed unethical human rights standards on other countries", it read.
Pushing back on limits elsewhere, Vermont’s lieutenant governor goes on banned books tour
Tue, August 15, 2023
WATERBURY, Vt. (AP) — On a recent Sunday afternoon, Vermont’s lieutenant governor was at a local library, reading a book about two male penguins to a crowd of nearly two dozen. This was not the first stop for Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman nor would it be the last.
While officials in some other states are banning or restricting certain books in schools and libraries, Zuckerman, in liberal Vermont, has taken a different tack: reading and discussing them at libraries and bookstores around the state.
″ These bans often target books that feature LGBTQ+ characters; talk about gender and sexuality; highlight racial disparities; or talk about difficult issues such as substance abuse and cases of police violence,” Zuckerman, a Democrat, said in a statement when he announced the tour in June. “Students, teachers, and curious minds should be able to access materials that spark critical thinking, cover difficult topics, and appeal to diverse interests without fear of government interference.”
While Vermont hasn't “fallen victim" to the trends in some other states, Zuckerman said that does not mean that books have not been challenged in this state. He said individuals have run for school board seats with the idea of curriculum management in mind and topics around race, and gender and identity have been elevated at school board meetings in recent years.
He hopes the book reading tour will highlight what he sees as the value of representation, free speech, open dialogue and the exchange of ideas.
According to the American Library Association, attempted book bans and restrictions at school and public libraries set a record in 2022. The association compiled more than 1,200 challenges in 2022 — nearly double the previous record total in 2021.
PEN America also said it found more than 2,500 instances of books being banned — affecting more than 1,600 titles — from July 2021 to June 2022. Texas and Florida were the states with the most bans, according to the organization's 2022 report.
During his reading at Bridgeside Books in Waterbury on Sunday, Zuckerman read the book, “And Tango Makes Three,” which is based on the true story of two male penguins who were devoted to each other at the Central Park Zoo in New York. A zookeeper who saw them trying to incubate an egg-shaped rock gave them an egg from a different penguin pair with two eggs. The chick that hatched was cared for by the male penguins and named Tango.
The book, written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, is listed among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association.
Zuckerman was joined by three Vermont authors, who each read segments from other banned books, including “Monster,” by Walter Dean Myers, and the bestselling children's picture book “Where the Wild Things Are,” by Maurice Sendak, which was pulled off some shelves when it first came out in 1963.
“I think books are a place for kids to explore and to be things that they’re not or see what it’s like to be something else," said children's author and illustrator Sarah Dillard. “To take that away from them I think is putting them at a huge disadvantage for being in the real world.”
Paul Macuga, of Essex Junction, who attended the reading, said what frightens him about the move to restrict or ban books is that it's coming from organized groups like Moms for Liberty — a conservative “parental rights” group that has gained national attention for its efforts to influence school curriculum and classroom learning, as well as its conservative support and donor funding.
“It’s not a bunch of disorganized kooks," he said. "It is a very well put together, with a lot of professional backing of people that know how to do this stuff,” he said.
Several other attendees, including the local library director, recommended that people keep tabs on what’s happening in their communities, and get on their library commissions and attend board meetings to rebuff any moves to restrict books.
Tanya Lee Stone, who is the author of a banned book — “A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl,” which she described as a cautionary tale about three very different girls consecutively dating a stereotypically bad guy — said there are organized people on the other side, too.
“The National Council Against Censorship is a very large organization that’s dedicated to this,” she said.
Stone said people who ban books often have not read them. And a number of people at the reading, including attendees, authors and Zuckerman, said the bans are based on fear.
She said her goal in life is to write material that will educate, help and inspire young people. "To basically be accused of hurting young people is sort of the farthest thing from what you want to have happen. And that’s basically what people who are banning books and censoring books are doing,” Stone said.
Lisa Rathke, The Associated Press
Tue, August 15, 2023
WATERBURY, Vt. (AP) — On a recent Sunday afternoon, Vermont’s lieutenant governor was at a local library, reading a book about two male penguins to a crowd of nearly two dozen. This was not the first stop for Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman nor would it be the last.
While officials in some other states are banning or restricting certain books in schools and libraries, Zuckerman, in liberal Vermont, has taken a different tack: reading and discussing them at libraries and bookstores around the state.
″ These bans often target books that feature LGBTQ+ characters; talk about gender and sexuality; highlight racial disparities; or talk about difficult issues such as substance abuse and cases of police violence,” Zuckerman, a Democrat, said in a statement when he announced the tour in June. “Students, teachers, and curious minds should be able to access materials that spark critical thinking, cover difficult topics, and appeal to diverse interests without fear of government interference.”
While Vermont hasn't “fallen victim" to the trends in some other states, Zuckerman said that does not mean that books have not been challenged in this state. He said individuals have run for school board seats with the idea of curriculum management in mind and topics around race, and gender and identity have been elevated at school board meetings in recent years.
He hopes the book reading tour will highlight what he sees as the value of representation, free speech, open dialogue and the exchange of ideas.
According to the American Library Association, attempted book bans and restrictions at school and public libraries set a record in 2022. The association compiled more than 1,200 challenges in 2022 — nearly double the previous record total in 2021.
PEN America also said it found more than 2,500 instances of books being banned — affecting more than 1,600 titles — from July 2021 to June 2022. Texas and Florida were the states with the most bans, according to the organization's 2022 report.
During his reading at Bridgeside Books in Waterbury on Sunday, Zuckerman read the book, “And Tango Makes Three,” which is based on the true story of two male penguins who were devoted to each other at the Central Park Zoo in New York. A zookeeper who saw them trying to incubate an egg-shaped rock gave them an egg from a different penguin pair with two eggs. The chick that hatched was cared for by the male penguins and named Tango.
The book, written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson, is listed among the 100 most subjected to censorship efforts over the past decade, as compiled by the American Library Association.
Zuckerman was joined by three Vermont authors, who each read segments from other banned books, including “Monster,” by Walter Dean Myers, and the bestselling children's picture book “Where the Wild Things Are,” by Maurice Sendak, which was pulled off some shelves when it first came out in 1963.
“I think books are a place for kids to explore and to be things that they’re not or see what it’s like to be something else," said children's author and illustrator Sarah Dillard. “To take that away from them I think is putting them at a huge disadvantage for being in the real world.”
Paul Macuga, of Essex Junction, who attended the reading, said what frightens him about the move to restrict or ban books is that it's coming from organized groups like Moms for Liberty — a conservative “parental rights” group that has gained national attention for its efforts to influence school curriculum and classroom learning, as well as its conservative support and donor funding.
“It’s not a bunch of disorganized kooks," he said. "It is a very well put together, with a lot of professional backing of people that know how to do this stuff,” he said.
Several other attendees, including the local library director, recommended that people keep tabs on what’s happening in their communities, and get on their library commissions and attend board meetings to rebuff any moves to restrict books.
Tanya Lee Stone, who is the author of a banned book — “A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl,” which she described as a cautionary tale about three very different girls consecutively dating a stereotypically bad guy — said there are organized people on the other side, too.
“The National Council Against Censorship is a very large organization that’s dedicated to this,” she said.
Stone said people who ban books often have not read them. And a number of people at the reading, including attendees, authors and Zuckerman, said the bans are based on fear.
She said her goal in life is to write material that will educate, help and inspire young people. "To basically be accused of hurting young people is sort of the farthest thing from what you want to have happen. And that’s basically what people who are banning books and censoring books are doing,” Stone said.
Lisa Rathke, The Associated Press
Jamaican migrant worker granted federal health care after being fired from N.S. farm
The Canadian Press
Mon, August 14, 2023
HALIFAX — A migrant worker diagnosed with cervical cancer shortly after arriving in Nova Scotia has been granted health insurance under a federal program, but advocates continue to call on the province to expand health coverage to people without permanent residency.
Kerian Burnett arrived from Jamaica in April 2022 to work on a Colchester County strawberry farm. She told a news conference in Halifax on Monday that after falling ill, she was fired and forced to navigate a cancer diagnosis without medical coverage.
Her lawyer, Thiago Buchert, told reporters, "Right when she needed it, she lost her health insurance."
Other provinces provide migrant workers with public health coverage, but migrants in Nova Scotia must have a one-year work permit to be eligible for care, said Buchert, who is with the Halifax Refugee Clinic.
"Imagine if everything in your life relied on you maintaining a job," he said, "That's the kind of vulnerability and dependency that migrant workers face."
Buchert said that after nearly eight months, Burnett was granted health insurance under the interim federal health program. Burnett was also granted emergency temporary residence until January 2024, he said, and will be able to continue her cancer treatment in Canada, as her doctors recommended.
Burnett said that after she was diagnosed with cancer she received care — chemotherapy, radiation and several surgeries — at the discretion of hospitals because she was uninsured. Fighting for coverage while receiving treatment for cancer has been a long, challenging road, she said, describing the "humiliation" of being turned away from hospitals and paying out of pocket for prescriptions.
"So I had to fight," she said. "It was a long fight, and a hard process, which I think is unfair because we're dealing with someone's life here. Once you die, there's no coming back."
Stacey Gomez, with migrant advocacy group No One Is Illegal – Nova Scotia, told reporters Monday that while Burnett's case is a win, a permanent solution is needed.
"We regularly see migrant workers who are injured or who are severely ill, who are repatriated back to their home country without getting proper medical attention," she said, adding that workers often don't speak out over fears of being fired, sent back to their home countries and barred from working again in Canada.
The migrant justice group is calling on the Nova Scotia government to provide health-care coverage to all migrant workers in the province. Gomez said her group is among several others that are pressuring the federal government to grant permanent immigration status to all migrants across the country.
"This would ensure migrant workers have access to essential services like health care," she said, "that they are fully able to exercise their labour rights and able to be with their families."
Burnett said she is motivated by her family, especially her five-year-old granddaughter back in Jamaica.
"She gives me the hope to move on in life."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2023.
Marlo Glass, The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
Mon, August 14, 2023
HALIFAX — A migrant worker diagnosed with cervical cancer shortly after arriving in Nova Scotia has been granted health insurance under a federal program, but advocates continue to call on the province to expand health coverage to people without permanent residency.
Kerian Burnett arrived from Jamaica in April 2022 to work on a Colchester County strawberry farm. She told a news conference in Halifax on Monday that after falling ill, she was fired and forced to navigate a cancer diagnosis without medical coverage.
Her lawyer, Thiago Buchert, told reporters, "Right when she needed it, she lost her health insurance."
Other provinces provide migrant workers with public health coverage, but migrants in Nova Scotia must have a one-year work permit to be eligible for care, said Buchert, who is with the Halifax Refugee Clinic.
"Imagine if everything in your life relied on you maintaining a job," he said, "That's the kind of vulnerability and dependency that migrant workers face."
Buchert said that after nearly eight months, Burnett was granted health insurance under the interim federal health program. Burnett was also granted emergency temporary residence until January 2024, he said, and will be able to continue her cancer treatment in Canada, as her doctors recommended.
Burnett said that after she was diagnosed with cancer she received care — chemotherapy, radiation and several surgeries — at the discretion of hospitals because she was uninsured. Fighting for coverage while receiving treatment for cancer has been a long, challenging road, she said, describing the "humiliation" of being turned away from hospitals and paying out of pocket for prescriptions.
"So I had to fight," she said. "It was a long fight, and a hard process, which I think is unfair because we're dealing with someone's life here. Once you die, there's no coming back."
Stacey Gomez, with migrant advocacy group No One Is Illegal – Nova Scotia, told reporters Monday that while Burnett's case is a win, a permanent solution is needed.
"We regularly see migrant workers who are injured or who are severely ill, who are repatriated back to their home country without getting proper medical attention," she said, adding that workers often don't speak out over fears of being fired, sent back to their home countries and barred from working again in Canada.
The migrant justice group is calling on the Nova Scotia government to provide health-care coverage to all migrant workers in the province. Gomez said her group is among several others that are pressuring the federal government to grant permanent immigration status to all migrants across the country.
"This would ensure migrant workers have access to essential services like health care," she said, "that they are fully able to exercise their labour rights and able to be with their families."
Burnett said she is motivated by her family, especially her five-year-old granddaughter back in Jamaica.
"She gives me the hope to move on in life."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2023.
Marlo Glass, The Canadian Press
US-focused Opera News, to cease publication in November after 87 years
The Canadian Press
Tue, August 15, 2023
NEW YORK (AP) — Opera News, an 87-year-old publication focused on the Metropolitan Opera and spotlighting the art form in the U.S., will print its final issue in November and be incorporated into Britain-based Opera magazine.
The Met announced Tuesday that the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a separate company formed in 1935 by Eleanor Belmont to aid the opera house, will scale back operations and become a supporting organization of the Met. The opera company will take over the education program that allows about 12,000 school children each year to attend dress rehearsals.
Opera News has a 43,000 circulation, including 32,000 in print and 11,000 digital. It is distributed to 28,000 Guild members and has an additional 9,000 paid subscribers. After publishing biweekly during the opera season since 1940, Opera News added monthly summer editions in 1972 and switched to a year-round monthly schedule in 2008.
“It really is the result of several years of declining economic fortunes,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said. “What they’re suffering is what many non-profits have been suffering, which is a situation where the earned revenues and donations are not enough to keep up with the expenses.”
Eleanor Belmont, a philanthropist married to financier August Belmont Jr., founded the guild to increase public support for the Met at a time the company's finances were struggling during the Great Depression.
The guild had revenue of $3.2 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, a drop from $4 million in the prior year. That was down from $11.9 million in the year ending June 30, 2019, the last before the coronavirus pandemic.
The Met said 20 Guild employees will get severance packages but the opera company hoped to hire several. Guild board members are being invited to join the Met board. The annual Opera News Awards and luncheon honoring singers will be discontinued.
Opera magazine has 20,000 print subscribers and estimates it has 60,000 readers. It has a four-person editorial office.
John Allison, Opera’s editor, said it had not yet been decided whether to arrange a U.S. printing plant. Rebecca Paller, who has written for Opera, will become its U.S. editor, and Opera will add a focus on Met theater telecasts and radio broadcasts,
“We’ve always covered the American scene in a lot of detail, and here really what we’ll be doing is just I guess you might say upgrading the American coverage,” Allison said. “In that sense, it should be quite seamless.”
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
The Canadian Press
Tue, August 15, 2023
NEW YORK (AP) — Opera News, an 87-year-old publication focused on the Metropolitan Opera and spotlighting the art form in the U.S., will print its final issue in November and be incorporated into Britain-based Opera magazine.
The Met announced Tuesday that the Metropolitan Opera Guild, a separate company formed in 1935 by Eleanor Belmont to aid the opera house, will scale back operations and become a supporting organization of the Met. The opera company will take over the education program that allows about 12,000 school children each year to attend dress rehearsals.
Opera News has a 43,000 circulation, including 32,000 in print and 11,000 digital. It is distributed to 28,000 Guild members and has an additional 9,000 paid subscribers. After publishing biweekly during the opera season since 1940, Opera News added monthly summer editions in 1972 and switched to a year-round monthly schedule in 2008.
“It really is the result of several years of declining economic fortunes,” Met general manager Peter Gelb said. “What they’re suffering is what many non-profits have been suffering, which is a situation where the earned revenues and donations are not enough to keep up with the expenses.”
Eleanor Belmont, a philanthropist married to financier August Belmont Jr., founded the guild to increase public support for the Met at a time the company's finances were struggling during the Great Depression.
The guild had revenue of $3.2 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022, a drop from $4 million in the prior year. That was down from $11.9 million in the year ending June 30, 2019, the last before the coronavirus pandemic.
The Met said 20 Guild employees will get severance packages but the opera company hoped to hire several. Guild board members are being invited to join the Met board. The annual Opera News Awards and luncheon honoring singers will be discontinued.
Opera magazine has 20,000 print subscribers and estimates it has 60,000 readers. It has a four-person editorial office.
John Allison, Opera’s editor, said it had not yet been decided whether to arrange a U.S. printing plant. Rebecca Paller, who has written for Opera, will become its U.S. editor, and Opera will add a focus on Met theater telecasts and radio broadcasts,
“We’ve always covered the American scene in a lot of detail, and here really what we’ll be doing is just I guess you might say upgrading the American coverage,” Allison said. “In that sense, it should be quite seamless.”
Ronald Blum, The Associated Press
Kansas police and a small newspaper are at the center of a 1st Amendment fight after a newsroom raid
Mon, August 14, 2023
MARION, Kan. (AP) — A small newspaper and a police department in Kansas are at the center of a dispute over freedom of speech as the newspaper struggled Monday to publish its next edition, days after police raided its office and the home of its owner and publisher.
Officials with the Marion Police Department confiscated computers and cellphones from the publisher and staff of the Marion County Record in Friday's raid. On Monday, Kansas state authorities confirmed they are also involved in a criminal probe of the newspaper over allegations that it illegally obtained and used personal information about a local business owner.
Friday's raids have been widely condemned by press freedom watchdogs as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protection for a free press. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly called the raids “concerning.” An attorney for the newspaper deemed the searches and seizures illegal and said the police department's action “offends the constitutional protections the founding fathers gave the free press.” The Society of Professional Journalists pledged $20,000 toward the newspaper’s legal defense.
But some Marion residents hold a different view, accusing the newspaper of aggressive news coverage that has driven out businesses and painted a negative picture of the town of about 1,900 people.
Newspaper publisher and co-owner Eric Meyer said he believes the newspaper’s dogged coverage of local politics and Police Chief Gideon Cody’s record are the main reason for the raids. The Record was in the midst of digging into the newly hired chief’s past as a Kansas City, Missouri, police captain when the raids were carried out, Meyer said, although the newspaper hasn’t yet published a story.
The newspaper’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes of Kansas City, sent a letter to the Cody demanding that police not review any information on the computers or cellphones seized, saying they were taken illegally and contain identities of confidential sources. He also accuses Cody of misinterpreting laws on privacy and wrongly applying them to news reporters.
“I can assure you that the Record will take every step to obtain relief for the damages your heavy-handed actions have already caused my client,” Rhodes said.
The police searches appear to have been prompted by a complaint from a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, who accused the newspaper of invading her privacy after it obtained copies of her driving record, including a 2008 drunken driving conviction. Newell says the newspaper targeted her after she ordered Meyer and a reporter out of her restaurant earlier this month during a political event.
Meyer says a source gave the newspaper the information unsolicited and that reporters verified it through public online records. The paper eventually decided not to run a story, but it did report on Newell's complaints about the newspaper’s investigation at a city council meeting, where she publicly confirmed she’d had a DUI conviction and that she drove after her license was suspended.
The search warrant names Newell as a victim and lists the underlying reasons for the searches as suspicion of identity theft and “unlawful acts concerning computers.”
Both Meyer and Newell have said they have fielded messages — and some threats — from as far away as London in the aftermath of the raids. Meyer worked with his staff Monday to reconstruct stories, ads and other materials for its next edition Wednesday.
Cody defended the raid on the newsroom, saying it was conducted legally, while press freedom and civil rights organizations have said that police overstepped their authority.
Jared Smith, a lifelong Marion resident, said Monday that he supports the police raid. Smith accused the newspaper of ruining his wife’s day spa business opened only a year ago by digging into her past and discovering she had appeared nude in a magazine years before. That fact was repeated in the Record more than 20 times over a six-month period, Smith said.
“The newspaper is supposed to be something that, yes, reports the news. But it’s also a community newspaper,” he said. “It’s not, ‘How can I slam this community and drive people away?' ”
Authorities appeared unprepared for the public backlash to the raids, as involved agencies either refused to comment Monday or took pains to acknowledge the constitutional right to a free press while defending the ability of police to investigate journalists.
Cody referred questions Monday to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, saying it was leading the investigation. The state agency, in turn, refused to say it had taken over the investigation, referring instead to a statement saying it had “joined” the investigation and seemed to try to distance itself from the raids.
The state police agency said it had assigned an agent to the case at the request of Cody on Aug. 8 — three days ahead of the raids — but did not apply for the search warrants and wasn't there when they were executed. While the agency declared freedom of the press as “a vanguard of American democracy,” it also appeared to defend the actions of local police, saying: “No one is above the law, whether a public official or a representative of the media."
Both Meyer and Newell are contemplating lawsuits — Newell against the newspaper and Meyer against the public officials who carried out the search.
Meyer also blames the raid at his home for stressing his 98-year-old mother enough to cause her death on Saturday. Joan Meyer was the newspaper’s co-owner.
——-
Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska.
___
The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
___
Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna
John Hanna And Margery A. Beck, The Associated Press
Mon, August 14, 2023
MARION, Kan. (AP) — A small newspaper and a police department in Kansas are at the center of a dispute over freedom of speech as the newspaper struggled Monday to publish its next edition, days after police raided its office and the home of its owner and publisher.
Officials with the Marion Police Department confiscated computers and cellphones from the publisher and staff of the Marion County Record in Friday's raid. On Monday, Kansas state authorities confirmed they are also involved in a criminal probe of the newspaper over allegations that it illegally obtained and used personal information about a local business owner.
Friday's raids have been widely condemned by press freedom watchdogs as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protection for a free press. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly called the raids “concerning.” An attorney for the newspaper deemed the searches and seizures illegal and said the police department's action “offends the constitutional protections the founding fathers gave the free press.” The Society of Professional Journalists pledged $20,000 toward the newspaper’s legal defense.
But some Marion residents hold a different view, accusing the newspaper of aggressive news coverage that has driven out businesses and painted a negative picture of the town of about 1,900 people.
Newspaper publisher and co-owner Eric Meyer said he believes the newspaper’s dogged coverage of local politics and Police Chief Gideon Cody’s record are the main reason for the raids. The Record was in the midst of digging into the newly hired chief’s past as a Kansas City, Missouri, police captain when the raids were carried out, Meyer said, although the newspaper hasn’t yet published a story.
The newspaper’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes of Kansas City, sent a letter to the Cody demanding that police not review any information on the computers or cellphones seized, saying they were taken illegally and contain identities of confidential sources. He also accuses Cody of misinterpreting laws on privacy and wrongly applying them to news reporters.
“I can assure you that the Record will take every step to obtain relief for the damages your heavy-handed actions have already caused my client,” Rhodes said.
The police searches appear to have been prompted by a complaint from a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, who accused the newspaper of invading her privacy after it obtained copies of her driving record, including a 2008 drunken driving conviction. Newell says the newspaper targeted her after she ordered Meyer and a reporter out of her restaurant earlier this month during a political event.
Meyer says a source gave the newspaper the information unsolicited and that reporters verified it through public online records. The paper eventually decided not to run a story, but it did report on Newell's complaints about the newspaper’s investigation at a city council meeting, where she publicly confirmed she’d had a DUI conviction and that she drove after her license was suspended.
The search warrant names Newell as a victim and lists the underlying reasons for the searches as suspicion of identity theft and “unlawful acts concerning computers.”
Both Meyer and Newell have said they have fielded messages — and some threats — from as far away as London in the aftermath of the raids. Meyer worked with his staff Monday to reconstruct stories, ads and other materials for its next edition Wednesday.
Cody defended the raid on the newsroom, saying it was conducted legally, while press freedom and civil rights organizations have said that police overstepped their authority.
Jared Smith, a lifelong Marion resident, said Monday that he supports the police raid. Smith accused the newspaper of ruining his wife’s day spa business opened only a year ago by digging into her past and discovering she had appeared nude in a magazine years before. That fact was repeated in the Record more than 20 times over a six-month period, Smith said.
“The newspaper is supposed to be something that, yes, reports the news. But it’s also a community newspaper,” he said. “It’s not, ‘How can I slam this community and drive people away?' ”
Authorities appeared unprepared for the public backlash to the raids, as involved agencies either refused to comment Monday or took pains to acknowledge the constitutional right to a free press while defending the ability of police to investigate journalists.
Cody referred questions Monday to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, saying it was leading the investigation. The state agency, in turn, refused to say it had taken over the investigation, referring instead to a statement saying it had “joined” the investigation and seemed to try to distance itself from the raids.
The state police agency said it had assigned an agent to the case at the request of Cody on Aug. 8 — three days ahead of the raids — but did not apply for the search warrants and wasn't there when they were executed. While the agency declared freedom of the press as “a vanguard of American democracy,” it also appeared to defend the actions of local police, saying: “No one is above the law, whether a public official or a representative of the media."
Both Meyer and Newell are contemplating lawsuits — Newell against the newspaper and Meyer against the public officials who carried out the search.
Meyer also blames the raid at his home for stressing his 98-year-old mother enough to cause her death on Saturday. Joan Meyer was the newspaper’s co-owner.
——-
Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska.
___
The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
___
Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna
John Hanna And Margery A. Beck, The Associated Press
Ship sets sail from England to retrace Charles Darwin's voyage nearly 200 years later
Tue, August 15, 2023
PLYMOUTH, England (AP) — A schooner set sail Tuesday from the south coast of England to train and inspire a new generation of naturalists by retracing the voyage taken by a young Charles Darwin nearly 200 years ago that led to his theory of evolution.
The Dutch ship Oosterschelde was cheered as it left Plymouth on a two-year mission to work with future scientists who will study species discovered by Darwin and develop projects to save them.
The boat will serve as a floating laboratory on the sea and in port, where some 200 young naturalists and conservationists from around the world will meet along the way to take part in the project called Darwin200.
“This is about hope, it’s about future and it’s about changing the world," said leader Stewart McPherson.
McPherson said a group of mostly 18- to 25-year-olds “won’t let animals or plants fall off the cliff of extinction."
Darwin set sail aboard the HMS Beagle in 1831 on a five-year voyage that passed around South America and went to Australia and New Zealand.
The ship will make its first landing in the Canary Islands and then cross the Atlantic to Brazil. It will sail down South America's east coast and up its west coast and out to the Galapagos Islands where Darwin made some of his most important discoveries.
Sarah Darwin, a botanist, said she supports the mission for using her great-great-grandfather's voyage to highlight environmental change. She said Charles Darwin's greatest legacy was recognizing the place of humans in nature.
“I always think it is very much worth reminding ourselves on a daily basis that humans and the rest of the living world share a common origin," she said. “Darwin was saying that 160 years ago, that we were related with all other nature. We’re not above it, we are part of nature.”
The boat will go to Australia and New Zealand before returning to South America and then crossing the Atlantic again to South Africa before returning to England.
The Associated Press
Tue, August 15, 2023
PLYMOUTH, England (AP) — A schooner set sail Tuesday from the south coast of England to train and inspire a new generation of naturalists by retracing the voyage taken by a young Charles Darwin nearly 200 years ago that led to his theory of evolution.
The Dutch ship Oosterschelde was cheered as it left Plymouth on a two-year mission to work with future scientists who will study species discovered by Darwin and develop projects to save them.
The boat will serve as a floating laboratory on the sea and in port, where some 200 young naturalists and conservationists from around the world will meet along the way to take part in the project called Darwin200.
“This is about hope, it’s about future and it’s about changing the world," said leader Stewart McPherson.
McPherson said a group of mostly 18- to 25-year-olds “won’t let animals or plants fall off the cliff of extinction."
Darwin set sail aboard the HMS Beagle in 1831 on a five-year voyage that passed around South America and went to Australia and New Zealand.
The ship will make its first landing in the Canary Islands and then cross the Atlantic to Brazil. It will sail down South America's east coast and up its west coast and out to the Galapagos Islands where Darwin made some of his most important discoveries.
Sarah Darwin, a botanist, said she supports the mission for using her great-great-grandfather's voyage to highlight environmental change. She said Charles Darwin's greatest legacy was recognizing the place of humans in nature.
“I always think it is very much worth reminding ourselves on a daily basis that humans and the rest of the living world share a common origin," she said. “Darwin was saying that 160 years ago, that we were related with all other nature. We’re not above it, we are part of nature.”
The boat will go to Australia and New Zealand before returning to South America and then crossing the Atlantic again to South Africa before returning to England.
The Associated Press
Singh joins Alberta NDP in push for 2035 net-zero grid, while Sask. NDP wants 2050
The Canadian Press
Mon, August 14, 2023
OTTAWA — New Democrats in two Western provinces are split over the Liberal government's goal of a net-zero electricity grid by 2035, with the federal party now saying it supports that timeline.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault released draft regulations last week aimed at making good on the Liberals' pledge to rid the grid of emissions, sparking sharp reactions from provincial governments in Alberta and Saskatchewan about the 12-year deadline.
Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck has also come out swinging against the Liberal policy, saying it's unrealistic to replace the province's generation capacity with renewables in that timeline.
She believes 2050 is a more attainable goal.
"With more than two-thirds of SaskPower’s generation coming from fossil fuels today, it isn’t realistic to replace all that generation capacity with renewables in the timelines proposed by the federal government," Beck said in a statement.
In neighbouring Alberta, NDP Leader Rachel Notley has supported the 2035 net-zero goal. Notley didn't respond to a request for comment on Monday, but during Alberta's provincial election she announced a plan to meet the Liberal target, saying it would create jobs and grow the economy.
At a press conference in Edmonton on Monday, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh would not commit to a preferred target date, saying Ottawa needs to be more accommodating to provincial challenges.
"Setting a target is fine, but if there's no plan to achieve it, what's the point?" Singh said.
Later Monday, Jonathan Gauvin, deputy chief of staff to Singh, called to say the federal NDP does support the goal of having a net-zero electricity grid by 2035.
Singh said in Edmonton that if the Liberals were serious about reducing emissions, they would create a national power grid so that renewable energy surpluses in one province could be sent to others.
"What we're talking about is making sure we provide real investments in infrastructure so provinces have an alternative," Singh said.
"If we say we want to achieve results where we reduce our emissions, but provinces have no other way to produce electricity, how is that helping us bring down emissions and helping solve the problem? It's not."
While the Saskatchewan and federal NDP are organizationally tied together, they are competing to win votes in different electorates, said Daniel Westlake, an assistant professor of political studies at the University of Saskatchewan.
When it comes to climate change, provincial New Democrat parties sometimes take different positions than their federal counterpart, especially in Western provinces where people are more likely to work in a field related to fossil-fuel development, he said.
"It's a tricky spot for Singh to be in. On the one hand he has to differentiate himself from the Liberals … and they want to be a pro-environmentalist party and have pro-environmentalist voters," Westlake said.
"At the same time, there are still some voters in the NDP that may be working in industries that are sensitive to this."
Westlake said it's a challenge a lot of left-leaning parties are dealing with around the world as countries transition to cleaner energy.
Canada's grid is nearly 85 per cent clean, but demand is expected to double by 2050 as things like cars, buses and trains become electric, and homes and buildings switch away from fossil-fuel heating sources.
Six provinces are on track to meet the 2035 goal because more than 90 per cent of their power generation is already emissions-free.
For the other four — Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — coal and natural gas still supply between 30 per cent and 85 per cent of their power.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2023.
Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
Mon, August 14, 2023
OTTAWA — New Democrats in two Western provinces are split over the Liberal government's goal of a net-zero electricity grid by 2035, with the federal party now saying it supports that timeline.
Federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault released draft regulations last week aimed at making good on the Liberals' pledge to rid the grid of emissions, sparking sharp reactions from provincial governments in Alberta and Saskatchewan about the 12-year deadline.
Saskatchewan NDP Leader Carla Beck has also come out swinging against the Liberal policy, saying it's unrealistic to replace the province's generation capacity with renewables in that timeline.
She believes 2050 is a more attainable goal.
"With more than two-thirds of SaskPower’s generation coming from fossil fuels today, it isn’t realistic to replace all that generation capacity with renewables in the timelines proposed by the federal government," Beck said in a statement.
In neighbouring Alberta, NDP Leader Rachel Notley has supported the 2035 net-zero goal. Notley didn't respond to a request for comment on Monday, but during Alberta's provincial election she announced a plan to meet the Liberal target, saying it would create jobs and grow the economy.
At a press conference in Edmonton on Monday, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh would not commit to a preferred target date, saying Ottawa needs to be more accommodating to provincial challenges.
"Setting a target is fine, but if there's no plan to achieve it, what's the point?" Singh said.
Later Monday, Jonathan Gauvin, deputy chief of staff to Singh, called to say the federal NDP does support the goal of having a net-zero electricity grid by 2035.
Singh said in Edmonton that if the Liberals were serious about reducing emissions, they would create a national power grid so that renewable energy surpluses in one province could be sent to others.
"What we're talking about is making sure we provide real investments in infrastructure so provinces have an alternative," Singh said.
"If we say we want to achieve results where we reduce our emissions, but provinces have no other way to produce electricity, how is that helping us bring down emissions and helping solve the problem? It's not."
While the Saskatchewan and federal NDP are organizationally tied together, they are competing to win votes in different electorates, said Daniel Westlake, an assistant professor of political studies at the University of Saskatchewan.
When it comes to climate change, provincial New Democrat parties sometimes take different positions than their federal counterpart, especially in Western provinces where people are more likely to work in a field related to fossil-fuel development, he said.
"It's a tricky spot for Singh to be in. On the one hand he has to differentiate himself from the Liberals … and they want to be a pro-environmentalist party and have pro-environmentalist voters," Westlake said.
"At the same time, there are still some voters in the NDP that may be working in industries that are sensitive to this."
Westlake said it's a challenge a lot of left-leaning parties are dealing with around the world as countries transition to cleaner energy.
Canada's grid is nearly 85 per cent clean, but demand is expected to double by 2050 as things like cars, buses and trains become electric, and homes and buildings switch away from fossil-fuel heating sources.
Six provinces are on track to meet the 2035 goal because more than 90 per cent of their power generation is already emissions-free.
For the other four — Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — coal and natural gas still supply between 30 per cent and 85 per cent of their power.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2023.
Mickey Djuric, The Canadian Press
Rural Manitoba councillors push for independent referendum on controversial silica mine project
Dave Baxter,
Dave Baxter,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter,
Winnipeg Sun
Tue, August 15, 2023
Two rural Manitoba councillors are moving forward with an independent referendum they say will analyze how many residents are in favour or opposed to a proposed silica mine that has been at the centre of a heated controversy in the RM of Springfield, while the mayor and the RM say they do not support, and will have nothing to do with that referendum.
Plans have been in the works for about four years for Calgary-based Sio Silica to build a silica mine and processing plant near the community of Vivian in the RM of Springfield, east of Winnipeg. The project calls for up to 7,700 wells over 24 years to extract ultra-pure silica sand, which can be used in the production of solar panels, batteries, and semiconductors.
But those plans have been met with fierce resistance from some who live in the RM, due to concerns the project posed a serious threat to the quality of groundwater in the area.
Springfield’s previous council voted against construction of the facility, but that decision was overruled by the provincial Municipal Board, which told Springfield they must amend their bylaws to move the project forward.
A June 13 council meeting, when councillors were supposed to vote on zoning and bylaw changes for the project, was adjourned early after several citizens confronted Springfield councillors, leaving Springfield Mayor Patrick Therrien to say he was concerned for the safety of some on council. RCMP were also called to the meeting but there were no arrests.
A final decision now lies with the province and is dependent on a Clean Environment Commission (CEC) Report the province received in June, and Environment and Climate Minister Kevin Klein promised the province would take its time to study the report before making its decision.
But Springfield councillors Mark Miller and Andy Kuczynski, who have both been vocal critics of the project, say that while they wait for the province’s decision, they will hold the referendum which allows people to vote by phone.
Miller also claimed the “technology” being used will not allow people to vote multiple times from the same phone number, so they hope to get “as accurate a picture as possible” of how residents feel about the mine.
Miller said he and Kuczynski asked during a recent council meeting that the RM hold an official referendum on the mine, but said they did not get the majority of council’s support, so they decided to move forward with one independently.
“We know that this referendum is not binding, but at the same time it will give residents an opportunity to have their voices heard, and let the province as well as candidates in the upcoming election know if they support this,” Miller said.
But Springfield Mayor Patrick Therrien said he and some other council members continue to be frustrated with the two councillors for efforts to oppose the project at the municipal level, when ultimately the final decision will come down to the province.
“These types of things just do not do us any good, because while we are waiting for a decision we have many other things as a council and as an RM that we need to be working on, and we can’t let this take up all our focus, because then nothing else gets done and more and more that is what’s happening,” Therrien said.
He said he also questions how accurate the results of the referendum will be, because it will not be run through official RM channels, and will allow people to vote who aren’t residents or property owners in the community.
“These types of things can be skewed in a number of ways, so I just don’t know how accurate it will be, or even know what they are going to do with this information once they have it,” he said.
The RM also released an official statement last week saying they oppose the referendum.
“The subject of a referendum and/or survey was discussed with council previously and although a vote was not held, the majority of council did not feel that the idea should be pursued,” the statement reads.
“The protection of groundwater is a priority for all council, however the decision of whether the proposed Vivian Sand Project proceeds is in the hands of the Provincial Government. Council trusts that the comments and concerns brought forward at CEC hearings will be seriously considered before the provincial government makes any final decision.”
Residents can now call to vote either in favour of or opposition to the project at 204-515-1252 from Aug. 13 to Sept. 18 at 8 p.m.
— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
Tue, August 15, 2023
Two rural Manitoba councillors are moving forward with an independent referendum they say will analyze how many residents are in favour or opposed to a proposed silica mine that has been at the centre of a heated controversy in the RM of Springfield, while the mayor and the RM say they do not support, and will have nothing to do with that referendum.
Plans have been in the works for about four years for Calgary-based Sio Silica to build a silica mine and processing plant near the community of Vivian in the RM of Springfield, east of Winnipeg. The project calls for up to 7,700 wells over 24 years to extract ultra-pure silica sand, which can be used in the production of solar panels, batteries, and semiconductors.
But those plans have been met with fierce resistance from some who live in the RM, due to concerns the project posed a serious threat to the quality of groundwater in the area.
Springfield’s previous council voted against construction of the facility, but that decision was overruled by the provincial Municipal Board, which told Springfield they must amend their bylaws to move the project forward.
A June 13 council meeting, when councillors were supposed to vote on zoning and bylaw changes for the project, was adjourned early after several citizens confronted Springfield councillors, leaving Springfield Mayor Patrick Therrien to say he was concerned for the safety of some on council. RCMP were also called to the meeting but there were no arrests.
A final decision now lies with the province and is dependent on a Clean Environment Commission (CEC) Report the province received in June, and Environment and Climate Minister Kevin Klein promised the province would take its time to study the report before making its decision.
But Springfield councillors Mark Miller and Andy Kuczynski, who have both been vocal critics of the project, say that while they wait for the province’s decision, they will hold the referendum which allows people to vote by phone.
Miller also claimed the “technology” being used will not allow people to vote multiple times from the same phone number, so they hope to get “as accurate a picture as possible” of how residents feel about the mine.
Miller said he and Kuczynski asked during a recent council meeting that the RM hold an official referendum on the mine, but said they did not get the majority of council’s support, so they decided to move forward with one independently.
“We know that this referendum is not binding, but at the same time it will give residents an opportunity to have their voices heard, and let the province as well as candidates in the upcoming election know if they support this,” Miller said.
But Springfield Mayor Patrick Therrien said he and some other council members continue to be frustrated with the two councillors for efforts to oppose the project at the municipal level, when ultimately the final decision will come down to the province.
“These types of things just do not do us any good, because while we are waiting for a decision we have many other things as a council and as an RM that we need to be working on, and we can’t let this take up all our focus, because then nothing else gets done and more and more that is what’s happening,” Therrien said.
He said he also questions how accurate the results of the referendum will be, because it will not be run through official RM channels, and will allow people to vote who aren’t residents or property owners in the community.
“These types of things can be skewed in a number of ways, so I just don’t know how accurate it will be, or even know what they are going to do with this information once they have it,” he said.
The RM also released an official statement last week saying they oppose the referendum.
“The subject of a referendum and/or survey was discussed with council previously and although a vote was not held, the majority of council did not feel that the idea should be pursued,” the statement reads.
“The protection of groundwater is a priority for all council, however the decision of whether the proposed Vivian Sand Project proceeds is in the hands of the Provincial Government. Council trusts that the comments and concerns brought forward at CEC hearings will be seriously considered before the provincial government makes any final decision.”
Residents can now call to vote either in favour of or opposition to the project at 204-515-1252 from Aug. 13 to Sept. 18 at 8 p.m.
— Dave Baxter is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Winnipeg Sun. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
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