PoliticsThe Canadian PressTrump loves to win but keeps losing election lawsuits
For a man obsessed with winning, President Donald Trump is losing a lot.He’s managed to lose not just once to Democrat Joe Biden at the ballot box but over and over again in courts across the country in a futile attempt to stay in power. The Republican president and his allies continue to mount new cases, recycling the same baseless claims, even after Trump’s own attorney general declared the Justice Department had uncovered no widespread fraud."This will continue to be a losing strategy, and in a way it's even bad for him: He gets to re-lose the election numerous times," said Kent Greenfield, a professor at Boston College Law School. “The depths of his petulance and narcissism continues to surprise me.”In an Associated Press tally of roughly 50 cases brought by Trump's campaign and his allies, more than 30 have been rejected or dropped. About a dozen are awaiting action. Trump has notched just one small victory, a case challenging a decision to move the deadline to provide missing proof of identification for certain absentee ballots and mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania.Trump has refused to admit he lost, and this week posted a 46-minute speech to Facebook filled with conspiracies, misstatements and vows to keep up his fight to subvert the election.Five more losses came Friday. The Trump campaign lost its bid to overturn the results of the election in Nevada and the Michigan appeals court rejected a case from his campaign. The Minnesota Supreme Court dismissed a challenge brought by GOP lawmakers. And in Arizona, a judge threw out thrown out a bid to undo Biden’s victory there, concluding that the state’s Republican Party chairwoman failed to prove fraud or misconduct and that the evidence presented at trial wouldn’t reverse Trump’s loss. The Wisconsin Supreme Court also declined to hear a lawsuit brought by a conservative group over Trump’s loss.Thursday dealt another blow in Wisconsin, where a split state Supreme Court refused to hear Trump’s lawsuit seeking to disqualify more than 221,000 ballots in the state’s two biggest Democratic counties, alleging irregularities in the way absentee ballots were administered. The case echoed claims that were earlier rejected by election officials in those counties during a recount that barely affected Biden’s winning margin of about 20,700 votes. Trump filed a similar lawsuit in federal court late Wednesday.Judges in battleground states have repeatedly swatted down legal challenges brought by the president and his allies. Trump's legal team has vowed to take one Pennsylvania case to the U.S. Supreme Court even though it was rejected in a scathing ruling by a federal judge as well as an appeals court.After recently being kicked off Trump's legal team, conservative attorney Sidney Powell filed new lawsuits in Arizona and Wisconsin this week riddled with errors and wild conspiracies about election rigging. One of the plaintiffs named in the Wisconsin case said he never agreed to participate in the case and found out through social media that he had been included. The same lawsuit asks for 48 hours of security footage from the “TCF Center,” which is in Detroit.The issues Trump’s campaign and its allies have raised are typical in every election: problems with signatures, secrecy envelopes and postmarks on mail-in ballots, as well as the potential for a small number of ballots miscast or lost. Election officials from both parties have said the election went well, and Attorney General William Barr told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the Justice Department uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the election's outcome.Trump's lawyers responded by criticizing Barr, who has been one of the president's biggest allies.Greenfield says their criticism speaks volumes. “It goes to show how vehement their ability to overlook reality is," he said.Failing to gain any traction in court, Trump and his allies are now turning to events with Republican lawmakers and rallies in states like Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan where they can use unfounded claims of fraud to incite the president’s loyal base.At a rally in Georgia on Wednesday, Powell and another pro-Trump attorney, Lin Wood, suggested that Republican voters sit out of the two January runoff elections that will decide control of the Senate because of the potential for fraud. And in Michigan, Rudy Giuliani, Trump's personal lawyer, urged Republican activists to pressure, even threaten, the GOP-controlled Legislature to award the state’s 16 electoral votes to Trump despite Biden’s 154,000-vote victory.In his video posted Wednesday, Trump said there were facts and evidence of a mass conspiracy created by Democrats to steal the election, a similar argument made by Giuliani and others before judges that has been largely unsuccessful. Most of their claims are rooted in conspiracy theories about voting machines that are not true, and affidavits by partisan poll watchers who claimed they didn't get close enough to see ballots being tallied because of safety precautions in the coronavirus pandemic. Because they couldn't see, they argued, something untoward must have happened.“No, I didn’t hear any facts or evidence," tweeted Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, after watching the video Wednesday night. “What I did hear was a sad Facebook rant from a man who lost an election."___Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., David Eggert in Lansing, Mich., and Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report.Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
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Feds to pay dairy farmers $1.4B over next 3 years, speeding up trade deal compensation
Canadian dairy farmers will receive over $1.4 billion in the next three years from the federal government to compensate for recent trade deals. On Saturday, Marie-Claude Bibeau, minister of agriculture and agri-food, announced the funds as part of a $1.75-billion trade deal compensation package granted to the sector last year, which will be rolled out significantly faster than originally announced. The money was first slated to be distributed over eight years, not three. Canada’s poultry and egg sectors, which, like dairy, are supply-managed, will also receive compensation to the tune of $691 million over the next 10 years, said Bibeau. That accelerated timeline has been welcomed by dairy farmers, who say they need to adapt to a transformed market, despite criticism from observers who argue the compensation is an unnecessary use of taxpayer dollars. “(The funding) allows farmers to really make plans right now,” said Dave Taylor, a Courtenay, B.C., dairy farmer and member of the BC Dairy Association’s board. “There are so many areas on our farms that this money could be going towards to help our farms prepare for what’s ahead.” For instance, he said farms will likely start facing increasingly stringent environmental and climate standards best met with more efficient farm management technologies. These can also improve working conditions, making it easier for farms to find and keep workers — an endless challenge. Each farm will receive an annual payment that reflects the size of their milk quota, a measure of the farm’s size. For instance, a farm with 80 cows will receive a direct payment of about $38,000 each year, according to a statement by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. In total, about $468.5 million will be disbursed for each of the three years to approximately 10,300 dairy farms. Unlike most agricultural products, dairy products are supply-managed commodities in Canada, a regulatory mechanism that is designed to prevent excess milk from flooding the market and pushing dairy prices below a financially unsustainable threshold for farmers. A key part of the system is milk quotas, which are used by the Canadian Dairy Commission — the Crown corporation administering the supply management system — to control how much milk each farm produces. The system also depends on using high tariffs to protect dairy producers from imported milk products — everything from artisanal cheeses to dry milk powder — that are produced more cheaply abroad, including in the U.S. Those tariffs have proven contentious in Canada’s three most recent trade agreements: the Canadian-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). Each one increased the amount of dairy that can be imported into Canada. According to the Dairy Farmers of Canada, these new agreements — the most recent, CUSMA, only came into force in July — have already had an impact on the sector. In the last three years, for instance, cheese imports from Europe have been as high as 99 per cent of the 5.3 million kilograms allowed under CETA. And U.S. industrial cheese imports are already at 50 per cent of the total amount allowed under CUSMA, despite the pandemic. Once the three trade deals are fully phased in, the federal government expects imports to be equivalent to about 10 per cent of Canada’s milk production. For Taylor, the compensation package is about more than the trade agreements. “It encourages the next generation that the government does believe in us,” he said. “Maybe this is the last of the bleeding from future trade deals. It encourages me that, when other trade deals come around, (the federal government) will hold firm and say, ‘No. Dairy has given up enough already.’” Not everyone is convinced. “The COVID open bar seems to extend beyond just helping people who are in need; it is also there to help asset-rich dairy farmers,” said Sylvain Charlebois, director of Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab. “(The federal government) is labelling it as compensation. What I’m seeing is a clear path towards subsidizing a sector that is heavily protected by a supply management regime.” The entire $2-billion trade deal compensation package — $1.75 billion in direct payments to farms and another $250 million for an on-farm innovation program — is misguided, Charlebois said, because the sums reflect predicted losses, not real ones. Unlike the supply management system designed to keep milk prices high enough for farmers to break even and compensate them for actual losses, he said the trade deal compensation package doesn’t reflect conditions on the ground. That could end up driving too much milk production and keeping too many “underperforming” farmers in the industry. Taylor, the dairy farmer from Courtenay, B.C., disagreed. “If a farm is not economically viable, this compensation is not going to help,” he said. “A farm like that really needs to transition, revitalize and innovate … farms really need to keep investing, we really need to keep pushing forward to adjust to the future.” In the U.S., where dairy farms aren’t controlled through supply management, the milk supply has regularly exceeded demand, pushing down prices and forcing smaller farmers out of business. The result has been an increasingly consolidated sector, with the number of U.S. dairy farms — overwhelmingly family farms and key drivers of rural economic activity — falling by half between 2002 and 2019 even as milk production increased, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But that’s not Charlebois’ only critique of the compensation funds. Cheeses and other processed products are also being imported, not just liquid milk, he noted. That means processors — artisanal cheese makers, for example — are being hit harder by the trade deals than dairy farmers. Dairy processors can draw on a $100-million compensation fund created in response to the CETA trade deal, Bibeau said in a written statement. She also noted demand for dairy products also remains strong in Canada, growing by almost six per cent since 2010. Still, for Taylor, the compensation funds reflect more than just innovation and sales. They’re about a need to maintain rural well-being and resilience in Canada’s food system — a need that has been made more visible since March, and that he hopes will be reflected in further supports for farmers across multiple sectors. “For me, COVID just flags the need to have strong food production locally, and I hope the government knows that,” he said. “I’m obviously a little biased because I’m producing food, but I want all of our lines of food — whether it’s vegetables, or beef, and on and on it goes — that we have security in that area.”Marc Fawcett-Atkinson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, National Observer
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Port McNeill mother confirms positive COVID-19 test
Another North Island resident has confirmed they have COVID-19, and are isolating at home, this time in Port McNeill. Kelly Chadwick, mother of two, started feeling cold-like symptoms on Nov. 30. She stayed home from work the next day day and sent her kids to stay with their dad and began to isolate herself. On Dec. 3, Island Health called with the positive test confirmation. Chadwick was surprised; she thought it was just a regular sinus infection like she gets every winter. She works at the pharmacy but since Mondays are her regular day off, she hadn’t been at work during the contagious part of the disease, which Island Health says is 48-hours before the onset of symptoms. Still, the pharmacy took the situation seriously, double and triple checking it was safe to remain open. A couple of close friends who Chadwick saw over the weekend, as well as Chadwick’s two children, are now isolating for 14 days. The quarantine means Chadwick will miss her son’s 10th birthday on Dec. 10, but she’s glad she’ll still get to spend Christmas with them. She has no idea where she picked up the virus, saying it had been at least three weeks since she was last down Island. “At first I felt a little bombarded, like it was my fault,” she told the Gazette, but since sharing publicly on Facebook she feels supported by the community. READ MORE: First publicly confirmed COVID-19 case in Port Hardy has been isolated since before symptoms occurred Port McNeill Mayor Gaby Wickstrom wrote a post on her official Facebook page, saying that while rumours of COVID have been going around, it’s a reminder to diligently follow the public health guidelines, and reminded people to stay kind. “We have always been a community that cares. Don’t let COVID steal that from us. Let’s be sure to remain caring by extending grace and kindness to all. Do not let fear consume you. We will get through this!” Do you have something to add to this story or something else we should report on? Email: zoe.ducklow@blackpress.caZoë Ducklow, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, North Island Gazette
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LNG Canada workers complained about unsafe conditions prior to COVID-19 outbreak
Employees at the LNG Canada work site in Kitimat, B.C., complained multiple times about unsafe working conditions just months before the facility experienced a COVID-19 outbreak, according to WorkSafe BC inspection reports obtained by The Narwhal. The outbreak at LNG Canada started on Nov. 19 and there are now 54 cases. In the months leading up to the outbreak, workers raised concerns about COVID-19 cleaning procedures in common areas, rooms and work spaces, prompting inspections by WorkSafe BC on Aug. 28 and Oct. 19. The documents also reveal that a WorkSafe BC inspection of the Site C work camp’s sewage treatment facility in northeast B.C. on March 19 found the facility did not have a plan to sufficiently protect workers from pathogens, body fluids, human waste, mould and COVID-19. WorkSafe BC didn’t say if or how the issues flagged during the inspection were resolved. The first case of COVID-19 at Site C was in July and there have been 17 cases to date. On Dec. 4, BC Hydro reported five active cases and 18 people in self-isolation. The revelations come as calls grow for B.C. to shut down work camps or risk further community spread with northern hospitals already stretched thin. More than 180 frontline health workers have signed an open letter to Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry that started circulating on Thursday, calling on her to immediately shut down industrial work camps on Indigenous territories. “To put the interests of economy and industry ahead of Indigenous lives is not public health,” the letter says. “To put Indigenous Elders and youth at further risk in the midst of a pandemic is to say quite clearly that Indigenous lives still do not matter in B.C.” On Thursday, the Unist’ot’en Camp said Coastal GasLink confirmed five new cases at its camp 9A on Unist’ot’en territory. Sley’do Molly Wickham, Gidimt’en Camp spokesperson, said at least one Wet’suwet’en worker in a Coastal GasLink work camp recently contracted the virus and is now hospitalized in an induced coma. David Bowering, former chief medical officer for Northern Health, said the time has come for the province to shift gears and take a harder look at what it deems essential. “Is it industry first, or the health and safety of the population in the north first? They need to rethink the essential designation and say it’s not that essential, certainly not at this price.” Coastal GasLink, BC Hydro and the Ministry of Health did not respond to interview requests prior to publication. LNG Canada declined an interview request. Bowering told The Narwhal he’s surprised it took this long for an outbreak in the work camps to occur. In the early days of the pandemic, he wrote an open letter to Henry urging her to shut down the work camps, calling them “land locked cruise ships” and warning that cases related to these industrial sites were inevitable. He knows what he’s talking about — his first job as a doctor was at a mining camp. He called the safety plans prepared by LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink “deluxe” documents but says the best plans in the world don’t mean anything if people aren’t following the rules. “They have luxury-class health and safety plans and luxury-class consultants compared to what the public sector can afford,” he said. “The virus doesn’t respect paper protocols. There’s just too much human nature involved.” Wickham said she has frequently seen workers flouting the rules. “We know that they’re not following even the basic protocols like wearing masks when they’re in vehicles together or when they’re close working closely with one another,” she said. “And they’re certainly not wearing masks when they’re interacting with our people on the territory.” Bowering is concerned that capacity at Northern Health hospitals is already stretched thin. In a statement released yesterday, the health authority said it is “experiencing an increase in COVID-19 activity and hospitalizations for COVID-19 patients requiring critical care.” There 235 active cases in the region including 33 people in hospital. Patients have already been transferred to hospitals outside the region to deal with the increase. “I think we’re in for a rough ride,” Bowering said. “The worry about our local hospitals and our local staff being overwhelmed, burned out and having difficulty coping, that’s becoming a pretty clear reality. Our communities need help.” Bowering isn’t alone in his calls to shut down work camps. The open letter from frontline health workers calls for Henry to take “immediate action” and shut down work camps. “As health professionals, we have a responsibility to uphold the current and future health of these communities, which are now under threat from the continuing of Coastal GasLink (LNG) work and man camps,” the letter says. The frontline health workers’ letter is in support of concerns raised by more than 20 Wet’suwet’en matriarchs, or Ts’ako ze’, in an open letter to Henry dated Nov. 30. In that letter, the matriarchs asked the public health officer to reconsider the essential designation given to the oil and gas industry and close work camps, which have also been shown to increase violence against Indigenous women and children and bring a host of social ills. “Not only have we witnessed an increase in drugs, alcohol and gang-related violence in our communities, we are now faced with a disease that could kill any one of us,” the matriarchs wrote. “In addition to the risk man camps have on our Indigenous women and girls, we are now facing the loss of some of our most sacred elders and chiefs.” At the time of publication, the Ts’ako ze’ said they had not received a response from the public health officer. The calls to shut down work camps come in the wake of a damning independent review that found widespread racism and discrimination against Ingienous people in B.C. health care. The 224-page report released on Nov. 30 found that racism and discrimination negatively affect the treatment and health outcomes of Indigenous people, who are already at higher risk of health issues due to a number of factors realted to systemic racism, such a poverty and intergenerational trauma. “Many Indigenous people have underlying health conditions because of all of the impacts of colonization,” Wickham said. “We have higher rates of diabetes and higher rates of heart disease. Our people are at greater risk of dying.” Wickham said a particularly alarming aspect to the increase in cases in work camps is the potential impact on Indigenous communities. Most industrial operations have a mandate to hire local and Indigenous workers and those people mix with transient workers and, on their days off, with members of their own communities. Bowering said the continued presence of industrial activity is contradictory to the goals of the public health office. “I drive by First Nations [communities] and see the barriers and the closed signs — these people are trying remarkably hard to stay safe,” he said. “But at the same time, there are buses coming and going to many of them, up to the mines and back.” The BC Centre for Disease Control noted in its guidance document for industrial sites that Indigenous people are at higher risk of COVID-19 and recommended that employers limit its workers’ interactions in surrounding towns. But Bowering and Wickham said the presence of out of town workers in the region is both common and on the rise. “We have been concerned about not just the man camps, but the fact that a lot of the workers are living in our communities and hotels,” Wickham said. “They’re going back and forth every day.” Bowering said the B.C. public health office can easily put the brakes on what could quickly become a serious and escalating crisis in high-risk communities. “They have to decide whether having everybody else not travelling, but allowing these workers to travel is a reasonable public health decision? Is it even ethically reasonable?” Meanwhile, activity on Wet’suwet’en territory is increasing. “The whole territory is just crawling with workers,” Wickham said. She lives with her partner and three children in a cabin near the Coastal GasLink work zone. “They have helicopters flying overhead at least two or three times a day, both surveillance helicopters and industry helicopters slinging materials in and out of the territory. It’s a warzone out there.”Matt Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Narwhal
BusinessThe Canadian PressAlberta offers Rocky Mountain coal leases after rescinding protection policy
EDMONTON — Alberta is offering more of its Rocky Mountain landscapes to coal mining after rescinding a decades-old policy that protected them. In documents released earlier this week, Alberta Energy is giving miners until Dec. 15 to bid on nearly 2,000 hectares on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains.Surface mining on those lands would have been prohibited under the former coal policy rescinded in May, said Ian Urquhart of the Alberta Wilderness Association."Unfortunately, it isn't surprising."The leases will add to the land already leased for coal, which stretches in an almost unbroken swath for nearly 60 kilometres north from the Crowsnest Pass in the province's southwest corner. "There isn't much left there," he said. Alberta Energy spokesman Kavi Bal said any mine proposal is subject to review."A coal lease does not mean that a coal project has been approved or exploration has been permitted." If the proposal is large enough, it is subject to a federal review as well. The United Conservative government has said it seeks to encourage increased export coal production. The province and the federal government are currently considering a proposal for a mountaintop removal coal mine in the Crowsnest Pass area. More proposals are expected. Most Alberta coal is used for steelmaking, not power generation.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2020.The Canadian Press
PoliticsThe Canadian PressEXPLAINER: Trump's failing, monthlong fight against election
President Donald Trump's frantic effort in the courts to delegitimize an election he lost has come no closer in a month to reversing any results.Lawyers for Trump and his allies have asked judges in several states to take the drastic and unprecedented step of setting aside President-elect Joe Biden’s wins. They have filed new cases and vowed to press on with appeals.But the quantity of affidavits, lawsuits and claims made by Trump belies that they are spurious or often repetitive of arguments already rejected by judges and elections officials, some of them Republicans.Here is a look at where the legal action stands in several key states:ARIZONAA judge on Friday threw out a Republican bid to undo Biden’s victory in Arizona, concluding the state’s GOP chief failed to prove fraud or misconduct in her challenge of election results in metro Phoenix. The judge also noted the evidence presented at trial wouldn’t reverse Trump’s loss in the state.Judge Randall Warner dismissed Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward’s challenge of ballots in metro Phoenix that were duplicated because voters’ earlier ballots were damaged or could not be run through tabulators. Poll observers called to testify by Ward said they witnessed problems in the processing of duplicated ballots, but the judge said those problems were pointed out to election workers, who then fixed the mistakes.Warner wrote “there is no evidence that the inaccuracies were intentional or part of a fraudulent scheme. They were mistakes. And given both the small number of duplicate ballots and the low error rate, the evidence does not show any impact on the outcome.”Courts there had already dismissed four other cases. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, certified Arizona's results Monday. In a touch of symbolism, he declined a phone call from Trump while signing the certification papers. Lawyer Sidney Powell, who was recently kicked off Trump's legal team and has been pushing wild conspiracy theories about the election, has also filed a lawsuit there.PENNSYLVANIATrump has lost repeatedly in Pennsylvania, collecting a series of stinging rebukes from Republican-appointed judges. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week upheld a district judge's dismissal of a key lawsuit argued in an error-filled performance by Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.“Voters, not lawyers, choose the president. Ballots, not briefs, decide elections,” wrote Circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, nominated by Trump.The district judge, Matthew Brann, wrote of the complaint, “One might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of rampant corruption." Brann, a member of the conservative Federalist Society, noted that the campaign did not provide that evidence.Trump's lawyers have vowed to ask for review from the U.S. Supreme Court anyway.MICHIGANSix cases brought by Trump and Republican allies in Michigan have either been rejected or dropped. On Wednesday, Giuliani appeared at a public meeting with lawmakers and urged activists to pressure, even threaten, the GOP-controlled Legislature to “step up” and award the state’s 16 electoral votes to Trump despite Biden’s 154,000-vote victory. A Michigan appeals court turned down an appeal Friday from Trump’s campaign in a challenge to how absentee ballots were handled in Detroit and other issues.WISCONSINThe state’s Supreme Court on Thursday refused to hear Trump's lawsuit seeking to overturn his loss in the battleground state. In a divided decision, the court didn’t rule on the merits of the claims but said the case must first wind its way through lower courts. Trump wants to disqualify more than 221,000 ballots in the state’s two biggest Democratic counties, alleging irregularities in the way absentee ballots were administered. In urging the Supreme Court to hear the case, Trump’s lawyers said they didn’t have enough time to start in a lower court. Trump’s attorney Jim Troupis said he would immediately file the case in circuit court and expected to be back before the Supreme Court “very soon.”Trump's campaign filed a similar lawsuit in federal court Wednesday.The Wisconsin Supreme Court also declined Friday to hear a lawsuit brought by a conservative group over Trump’s loss.____Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wis., David Eggert in Lansing, Mich., Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; and Ed White in Detroit contributed to this report.Nomaan Merchant And Alanna Durkin Richer, The Associated Press
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Regina police recover human remains believed to be connected to 1997 cold case
The Regina Police Service and the Saskatchewan Coroner's Service have recovered human remains that are believed to be Patrick Thauberger's. Patrick Thauberger was 53 when he went missing in September 1997. His disappearance has remained a cold case until now. Police says the remains were found in rural Saskatchewan. Further investigation and forensic examination will confirm whether or not they belong to Thauberger. Police arrested Patrick's brother Joseph Thauberger, who is now 78, on Sunday. Joseph is charged with first-degree murder in Patrick's death. He is also charged with uttering threats to a woman between 1997 and 2014.According to the Saskatchewan Association of Chiefs of Police missing persons database, Patrick was last seen at the bus depot in Regina.The database says Patrick was travelling by bus from Winnipeg to Edmonton, when he stopped in Regina to visit relatives. He never arrived in Edmonton. Police have no other information for the public at this time.
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Chamber launching Rediscover Local campaign
The Strathmore Wheatland Chamber of Commerce (SWCC) is launching a new campaign to encourage people to support local businesses this holiday season. The campaign, called Rediscover Local: Home for Christmas, will encourage people to visit both retailers, restaurants and other local businesses, instead of their big box counterparts. “We all know that everybody’s been hit super hard, so we wanted to figure out a way to give back,” said Hayley Poirier, SWCC chair. As part of the campaign, visitors to SWCC member businesses will receive a free shopping bag and a card. On the card is a place to mark each time that person visits a participating business, much like a rewards program at some ice cream or coffee shops. If they support any participating businesses 10 times and have the marked card to prove it, they will be eligible to enter a draw for gift cards that will be given out throughout December. “It’s that whole idea of encouraging recurrent shopping experiences for people,” said Poirier. A list of all participating businesses will be provided, but Poirier recommends people follow SWCC’s social media to learn more about the campaign. Currently, there are about 50 businesses in the Strathmore area on the list, but the chamber is working to expand that number and include more businesses into Wheatland County. “A big focus of ours is ensuring Wheatland County is included as much as possible,” said Shawn Kisling, SWCC executive director, who added the chamber is planning a Zoom call with CAOs and mayors of some of the county’s villages to expand the reach of the campaign. “It’s a filter effect, where once we get these players bought into it, then the businesses all fall in line,” he said. The Rediscover Local: Home for Christmas campaign will continue into the spring and summer to help keep businesses supported into the new year, said Poirier. But with new COVID-19 public health measures recently enacted that could disproportionately affect small businesses, the campaign comes at a time when help is needed most. “These measures that have been put in place, including reducing capacity to 25 per cent, are going to make these store owners even more vulnerable,” said Poirier. “But if you can convince moms to take their kids shopping at our small businesses instead of the mall, Hallelujah! – let’s do that instead.”Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Strathmore Times
HealthThe Canadian PressMexico City hospitals are filling up, but so are the streets
MEXICO CITY — Sometimes Latin American dance tunes on the radio — salsa, cumbia, ranchera — bring a little cheer into the emergency room of Mexico City’s Ajusco Medio hospital, which is operating well over normal capacity because of the coronavirus pandemic.Dr. Marta Patricia Mancilla, head of the emergency unit, says the upbeat soundtrack is a distraction from the routine at the packed hospital, where some people have kneeled at the doors of the emergency room, praying for relatives suffering from the disease.It has been eight months since the city-run Ajusco Medio hospital was named as one of the few exclusively COVID-19 hospitals in the city of almost nine million, and empty beds are rare.“The worst is still to come,” Mancilla said.“And unfortunately, it is going to catch us very tired,” she said of medical personnel who have been working constantly while themselves vulnerable to the disease. Almost 2,000 health care workers are confirmed to have died of the disease across Mexico.The toll is psychological and physical, and is as clear as the numbers written on an erasable whiteboard in the office of Dr. Alejandro Avalos, the Ajusco Medio hospital's director: total patients are at 122% capacity, intensive care is at 116%, and the emergency unit at 100%.“We haven't been below 100% since May,” said Avalos, whose hospital — a government facility that treats patients for free — has been temporarily expanded to meet the waves of coronavirus cases. Citywide, occupancy at hospitals was 69% this week.Yet as full as the city's hospitals are, its streets are also once again thronged; in some more central parts of the metropolis, almost everyone wears a face mask, but in other poorer, outlying areas, fewer people do.The situation has officials worried. Millions normally gather each year for the Dec. 12 holiday of Mexico's holy Virgin of Guadalupe day, and huge family gatherings are the norm for Christmas in Mexico.It drew an urgent appeal from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Friday, who decreed an expansion of 500 more hospital beds in Mexico City and pleaded with Mexicans to stop crowding the streets and stay home in December.“In this month, December, there are traffic problems, there are growing numbers of vehicles in the streets,” the president said. “Right now, we cannot act like this.”López Obrador announced new hiring to help exhausted medical personnel. “There is a lot of tiredness, fatigue,” he said.At least 13,800 people have died of COVID-19 in Mexico City alone, according to official data. Authorities say the number is probably higher in part because of limited testing, especially in the early months of the pandemic.Methods have improved since the city's hospitals were overwhelmed in May and June, when patients were treated in hallways and relatives of the dead were not even allowed to enter the hospital to identify the bodies. The case fatality rate has dropped significantly at Avalos' hospital, but along with the improvements there has been an emotional cost.“Our way of thinking has changed,” Avalos said. “We have learned to weep with people, to suffer with people, to understand people better.”On Friday, the mayor didn't raise the city back to the maximum alert level as some had expected, and employers had feared because it would have required business shutdowns. But Sheinbaum said some measures that were in place during the previous maximum alert would resume, including urging people to isolate themselves voluntarily, suspending non-essential local government activities and authorizing checkpoints to limit the number of people entering the capital’s colonial-era downtown at one time.Health care professionals' patience appears to be wearing out. Last week a group of doctors and nurses at the La Raza state hospital, one of the city's largest, signed an open letter threatening to stop treating COVID-19 patients unless the city declared a partial lockdown, as it did in the spring.“If it was bad in May, now it's worse,” said one doctor who signed the letter, and who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals. “There are fewer doctors," he said, due to infections, or doctors simply taking leaves of absence because they can't face the pressure, fear and overwork.Just as bad, the anesthesia medications needed to successfully intubate patients and keep them on ventilators are running out. “It's shameful to say that some patients have to get their own PCR tests and find a hospital that will take them, because there are no beds” at the free government hospitals, he noted.López Obrador has rejected any kind of strict lockdown, saying such measures smacked of “dictatorship.”There are some victories; at the Ajusco Medio hospital, one of the 36 patients on ventilators has been disconnected from the machine and is recovering. A baby was born, separated from his mother who has COVID-19.The hospital has set up tents outside to detect and triage arriving patients; some can be sent home with medications, others admitted. That has allowed the hospital to greatly increase the number of people it treats.But the signs of wear are clear: the hospital's CT scan machine is being repaired, after having performed about 4,500 lung scans in recent months to detect coronavirus damage.The psychological toll is also clear for patients, even those who survive.María Eugenia Ortiz, 51, and her husband — they were both infected — came to the hospital for their third checkup since being sent home with medications. She chose to endure the disease at home because she was terrified of the hospital. At her worst moments, she struggled to breathe. Fourteen of her friends and relatives have died of the disease.“Everything would go black and I would feel like I was floating,” Ortiz recalled. “My chest was empty and cold.”Now, Ortiz feels more confidence in the doctors.“Before, the doctors wouldn't help you, there was more fear, we didn't know what to do,” she said.But attitudes change slowly; medical personnel still question whether city residents are taking the pandemic seriously enough.“We are getting more and more fed up,” said the doctor at the La Raza hospital who himself was infected. “In Mexico, what is killing people isn't the disease itself so much as the lack of information, the poor handling of the pandemic and people's ignorance. Seeing full shopping centres is discouraging, after working a 24-hour shift.”Mancilla, the emergency director, said: “There is a feeling of 'why do we keep risking ourselves if people aren't paying attention.' This is getting out of hand, and it is hard to keep going on like this.”Maria Verza, The Associated Press
NewsThe Canadian PressSpeaker Rota reflects on first year presiding over unprecedented virtual Parliament
OTTAWA — Anthony Rota is marking his first anniversary as Speaker of the House of Commons by, as he puts it, having his throat slit.He's having surgery this coming week to remove his thyroid gland, which was damaged by radiation treatment he received almost 35 years ago for the first of two bouts of Hodgkin lymphoma.But it seems a perversely fitting conclusion to a tumultuous year in which Rota has presided over Canada's first-ever pandemic Parliament.He has been forced to oversee an unprecedented overhaul of Commons operations to allow for hybrid sittings, with some 80-odd MPs in the chamber and the other 250 or so MPs participating virtually and voting remotely."It's not what I signed up for but it is what it is," Rota said in an interview."It's been an interesting trip, I gotta tell you. It's been an interesting challenge."Rota's debut as Speaker was always bound to be a baptism by fire, riding herd on a Commons in which the governing Liberals hold only a minority of seats — a surefire recipe for hyper partisanship and cliffhanger confidence votes.But no one could have imagined all the normal operations of the chamber would be upended by the advent of the deadly COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March.These days, when he sits in the Speaker's chair, Rota has to pay attention not just to the MPs sitting physically distanced from one another in the chamber but to three different computer screens. They show him how much time the current speaker has left, who's up next, and the names of all 338 MPs who signal him with a little, blue "raised hand" feature when they want to talk.He has to repeatedly remind MPs to mute or unmute, speak louder, activate their cameras and adjust their headsets so interpreters can hear them properly. He's had to chide MPs for using partisan backdrops or displaying props (in one case, a dog in an MP's lap), or being improperly attired while speaking or voting online.He's even had to instruct MPs driving in their cars to pull over before voting."One of the things you've got to remember too is we really did start from scratch and we were in uncharted territory so we didn't really know how things were going to go," Rota said."We're constantly adjusting it."Indeed, House technicians are currently doing test runs with a new voting app that aims to make electronic voting easier and faster.Fortunately, Rota has always been a tech geek. Even in high school, he was building electronic devices and fooling around with computers before they were "in vogue.""I just enjoy the challenge … My interest in technology is something that has made this (pandemic Parliament) interesting," he said.Rota credits the Commons' IT team, which he says worked night and day, for pulling off what has been a remarkably smooth transition to hybrid sittings, despite some glitches.Liberal and opposition MPs alike believe Rota's fascination with new technologies has made him ideally suited to the role of Speaker in these unprecedented times.They also praise his calm, good-humoured and patient approach to refereeing proceedings in what most seem to feel is a non-partisan manner, even though he's a veteran Liberal. He has represented the northern Ontario riding of Nipissing-Timiskaming since 2004, except for a four-year hiatus after being defeated in the 2011 election.Conservative House leader Gerard Deltell declined to comment on how Rota has managed the Speaker's job. But the House leaders for all other parties in the Commons were unstinting in their praise."It is a complex task to establish a virtual Parliament," Bloc House leader Alain Therrien told The Canadian Press."The challenges were numerous and we were able to find in Mr. Rota a collaborator anxious to implement effective solutions to the problems that we encountered. In all my interactions with Mr. Rota, I have dealt with a man of great kindness, fairness and respect."NDP House leader Peter Julian said it normally takes a new Speaker a year or two to become "seasoned," a task infinitely more complicated for Rota because he had to simultaneously deal with a minority Parliament in the midst of a "once-in-a-century pandemic.""I think Anthony just basically got thrown into the deep end … You would think that that would have been an impossible hill to climb but he's done it admirably."Julian said Rota's ability to remain affable and "very, very calm" has helped all MPs cope with the intensity of the pandemic and minority Parliament.Similarly, veteran Green MP Elizabeth May said Rota is a "lovely person" who has been "a calming influence when things are out of control." He can be firm when necessary but is gentle when he chides MPs for bad behaviour and rarely loses his temper, she said.Rota was elected Speaker one year ago, largely because the Conservatives threw their votes behind him in a bid to defeat the previous Speaker, Liberal MP Geoff Regan, whom they considered overly partisan.Despite the partisan machinations that won him the job, May said: "Against the odds, Anthony has managed to maintain what I think is being accepted by all sides of the House as a non-partisan hand in all this."Government House leader Pablo Rodriguez, who used to be seat mates with Rota back when the Liberals were in opposition, said Rota has never been particularly partisan. "He's a gentleman. He's likable. It's hard not to like him. Again, he's not partisan. That's why he has the respect of everyone on both sides of the House," Rodriguez said."He's a great human being and that reflects in the way he treats people and how he's able to motivate people just by being who he is."This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2020.Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press
PoliticsThe Canadian PressBiden officially secures enough electors to become president
California certified its presidential election Friday and appointed 55 electors pledged to vote for Democrat Joe Biden, officially handing him the Electoral College majority needed to win the White House.Secretary of State Alex Padilla's formal approval of Biden's win in the state brought his tally of pledged electors so far to 279, according to a tally by The Associated Press. That’s just over the 270 threshold for victory.These steps in the election are often ignored formalities. But the hidden mechanics of electing a U.S. president have drawn new scrutiny this year as President Donald Trump continues to deny Biden's victory and pursues increasingly specious legal strategies aimed at overturning the results before they are finalized.Although it’s been apparent for weeks that Biden won the presidential election, his accrual of more than 270 electors is the first step toward the White House, said Edward B. Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University.“It is a legal milestone and the first milestone that has that status,” Foley said. “Everything prior to that was premised on what we call projections.”The electors named Friday will meet Dec. 14, along with counterparts in each state, to formally vote for the next president. Most states have laws binding their electors to the winner of the popular vote in their state, measures that were upheld by a Supreme Court decision this year. There have been no suggestions that any of Biden's pledged electors would contemplate not voting for him.Results of the Electoral College vote are due to be received, and typically approved, by Congress on Jan. 6. Although lawmakers can object to accepting the electors' votes, it would be almost impossible for Biden to be blocked at that point.The Democratic-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate would both vote separately to resolve any disputes. One already has arisen from Pennsylvania, where 75 Republican lawmakers signed a statement on Friday urging Congress to block the state’s electoral votes from being cast for Biden. But the state’s Republican U.S. senator, Pat Toomey, said soon afterward that he would not be objecting to Pennsylvania’s slate of electors, underscoring the difficulty in trying to change the election results through Congress.“As a practical matter, we know that Joe Biden is going to be inaugurated on Jan. 20," Foley said.That was clear in the days after the election, when the count of mail ballots gradually made clear that Biden had won victories in enough states to win the Electoral College. It became even more apparent in late November, when every swing state won by Biden certified him as the winner of its elections and appointed his electors to the Electoral College. Trump has fruitlessly tried to stop those states from certifying Biden as the winner and appointing electors for the former vice-president.He made no effort in deeply Democratic California, the most populous state in the nation and the trove of its largest number of electoral votes. Three more states won by Biden — Colorado, Hawaii and New Jersey — have not yet certified their results. When they do, Biden will have 306 Electoral College votes to Trump’s 232.Trump and his allies have brought at least 50 legal cases trying to overturn the results in the swing states Biden won — mainly Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. More than 30 have been rejected or dropped, according to an AP tally.Trump and his allies have also raised the far-fetched notion that Republican state legislatures in those states could appoint a rival set of electors pledged to Trump.But state Republican leaders have rejected that approach, and it would likely be futile in any case. According to federal law, both chambers of Congress would need to vote to accept a competing slate of electors. If they don't, the electors appointed by the states' governors — all pledged to Biden in these cases — must be used.The last remaining move to block the election would be the quixotic effort to vote down the electors in Congress.This tactic has been tried — a handful of congressional Democrats in 2000, 2004 and 2016 objected to officially making both George W. Bush and Trump president. But the numbers were not enough to block the two men from taking office.Michael R. Blood And Nicholas Riccardi, The Associated Press
- HealthThe Canadian Press
Restaurants and bars in Yukon required to record patron contacts for tracing
WHITEHORSE — Yukon recorded three new COVID-19 cases in Whitehorse as the territory prepared to introduce new rules for restaurants and bars. The territory says in a statement Friday that the new infections bring the total active case count to 12. There have been 54 people infected in Yukon over the course of the pandemic. Beginning Monday, the government says restaurants and bars will be required to collect information from their patrons to assist contact tracers.One patron from each party will be required to sign in, and the eating and drinking establishments must keep the daily lists for 30 days.The lists will only be shared with Yukon Communicable Disease Control if an exposure has been identified.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2020.The Canadian Press
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Man fined for flying drone during hunting trip
A Fort St. James man has been fined $1,000 for flying a drone while out on a hunting expedition. Paul James Hesse was issued the penalty on November 9 in Fort St. James Provincial Court. He was also prohibited from hunting for one year and assessed a $150 victim surcharge. The outcome stems from a complaint conservation officers received on Sept. 22, 2018. The next day, officers attended a cabin on Marie Lake, southwest of Fort St. James, where they seized the drone along with a harvested bull moose. After securing a search warrant, they gathered photos and videos from the machine and forwarded the matter to Crown prosecution. Conservation officer Richard Keenan-Toop, who was the lead investigating officer on the file, said it was the first conviction for the offence in British Columbia. The Wildlife Act was amended in July 2016 to make the use of drones while hunting illegal. "It was definitely a different one and definitely a learning experience for the Conservation Officer Service for sure," Keenan-Toop said. "But it's not something we see very often, thankfully, because hunting with a drone completely defeats fair chase for wildlife." However, Connie Morrisey, a native court worker in Fort St. James who helped Hesse put together a defence against the charges said he never actually used the drone for actual hunting. Instead, she said he was using it to get images of the cabin and a route planned for a trail from big Marie Lake to little Marie Lake, but because he was at the cabin as part of a hunting trip, he was charged. "The minute you leave your house to go hunting to the minute you get back to your house, that's considered a hunting expedition," Morrisey said. "He did not use it to hunt but he flew it when he was at the cabin." She said Hesse uses the drone for work purposes and had it with him in camp. When he came back to Fort St. James, his father picked him up and went to the cabin. "He said 'I know you can't use it for hunting but if I had known you can't even have it one you, I would've went home, dropped the drone off and went out," Morrisey said. As part of the prohibition against hunting for a year, Hesse is also prohibited from accompanying other hunters and the drone was forfeited to the Crown. Mark Nielsen, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince George Citizen
- PoliticsCanadian Press Videos
Biden: Latest jobs report 'dire'
President-elect Joe Biden says that the most recent jobs report is "dire" and that there is no time to lose in crafting a rescue package as millions of people have lost their jobs or have seen their incomes slashed during the pandemic. (Dec. 4)
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How two Manitoba First Nations are controlling COVID-19 outbreaks in their communities
The outbreak started at a funeral for a young girl who died from cancer. About 200 people from the community of Pimicikamak were in attendance, including someone unknowingly infected with COVID-19. Days later, Pimicikamak Cree Nation leaders were notified about that positive case along with a family of four who also attended the funeral and all contracted the virus. The leaders sounded the alarm immediately, says Chief David Monias. “Absolutely people are scared and people are upset,” Chief Monias said, recalling when he had to announce the first cases to the community of about 8,600 members on Oct. 24. “They said how could you let this person in or how did this person get through?” Pimicikamak is one of a number of First Nations in Manitoba hit with recent outbreaks as COVID-19 infections almost tripled across the province in November and deaths hit record numbers. While they represent about 10 per cent of Manitoba’s population, First Nations people make up 25 per cent of all new cases and 42 per cent of those in intensive care units, according to data from the Manitoba First Nations COVID-19 Pandemic Response Coordination Team. The outbreak can be devastating for those living in overcrowded homes and with underlying health conditions. Nation leaders have acted swiftly to impose lockdowns and secure testing and isolation spaces – offering lessons to other communities grappling with outbreaks. Chief Monias said Pimicikamak’s approach was to stop the spread of the coronavirus by restricting people to their homes, shutting down public places with the exception of essential services and sending people who tested positive, and those who were in contact with them, to Winnipeg to isolate. “That was the main message, to stop the spread. And the only way to stop the spread is actually by shutting down mobility of people in our community,” Chief Monias said. A rapid response team made up of primarily First Nations doctors, nurses and other health professionals was deployed to conduct testing and contact tracing. Chief Monias said the community’s own pandemic team is made up of about 23 people including emergency response workers, doctors, nurses, elected leadership, social workers and others who ensure supports are in place for people to safely isolate and lockdown. By Oct. 29, the province had issued a public-health order supporting the community’s measures to close schools, businesses and restrict gatherings outside of households as the remote community moved into critical red alert on the province’s pandemic response system. Chief Monias says anyone who tested positive along with their contacts were sent to isolate in Winnipeg hotels, “just in case.” More than 200 people identified as contacts were sent to isolate in a Winnipeg hotel covered by the Red Cross and 70 confirmed cases isolated in a separate hotel provided by the federal government. “We did not ascertain the difference between close contact and contact, to us if you’re a contact, you’re contact and should be isolated. That’s just to make sure that you don’t spread it,” he said. Checkpoints were set up in five different areas of the community to monitor traffic and a shopping schedule implemented for residents. The community’s personal care home was restricted to staff only, who themselves were instructed to limit contacts outside of the home. Signs were also put up outside elders’ homes. “An elder lives here, is vulnerable, please do not enter,” they read. Chief Monias says it took five weeks to resolve all 70 COVID-19 cases from the outbreak. There’s no more community transmission, but they are now trying to contain additional cases that have popped up since, including in dialysis patients who have been staying in Thompson while they get treatment. Pimicikamak isn’t the only First Nation to successfully beat back an outbreak. About a week after the funeral in Pimicikamak, people attending a funeral in Opaskwayak Cree Nation were exposed to the virus, leading to community transmission. The spread within the community reached all 28 residents and 13 staff from the Rod McGillivary Memorial Care Home, and one resident died as a result. Onekanew (Chief) Christian Sinclair of Opaskwayak says they had to move quickly to contain the spread of the virus, which has infected close to 200 people so far. Onekanew Sinclair said they requested military support from the federal government following the death of the care-home resident. A team of 12 people from CFB Edmonton and Shilo stayed on the ground at the residence for about 10 days, supporting frontline staff, some of whom slept there and worked around the clock, Onekanew Sinclair said. He said one resident was sent to an intensive-care unit in Winnipeg and the rest were isolated and treated within the care home. “We are proud and very happy, relieved to announce that they have all fully recovered and are now able to move about freely within the care home again instead of being isolated in their rooms,” Onekanew Sinclair said. The community has more than 3,000 living on-reserve and is a service hub for surrounding communities in the region, which means checkpoints have been established at main access points to monitor traffic going in and out. They remain on a lockdown with schools closed and students doing remote learning from home. Opaskwayak converted their 60-room hotel and another 45-bed facility for isolation units but Onekanew Sinclair says there are cases where entire families have become infected and opt to stay home. “We have to do what we can with our resources available,” Onekanew Sinclair said. “And when it’s time we’ll call on the federal government as our treaty partner for assistance where needed, as needed.”Willow Fiddler, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Globe and Mail
- NewsThe Canadian Press
Search continues for 2 missing after Alaska landslide
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The search continued Friday for two people missing after a massive landslide crashed into a town in southeast Alaska, leaving a neighbourhood mired in mud and felled trees stretching to the waterfront, the mayor said. The debris field from Wednesday’s slide was too unstable to safely search by land, so officials were using boats with dogs on board to search the shoreline for David Simmons and Jenae Larson, Haines Borough Mayor Douglas Olerud said. Rain and low visibility were hampering aerial efforts Friday, and a logjam of fallen trees on the beach also posed problems. “They need to get that moved to enhance their search efforts,” Olerud said. Haines, with a population of about 2,500 people, experienced several landslides as heavy rains inundated much of southeast Alaska. The landslides followed a deluge of about 10 inches (25.4 centimetres) of rain over two days. Unstable ground prompted a mandatory evacuation order late Thursday for one area of town and a voluntary order for an adjacent area, Olerud said. He didn’t know how many people were affected, but the city’s motels were full with residents who have had to leave their homes. The largest slide Wednesday was estimated at about 600 feet wide (183 kilometres), and took out four homes as it pushed debris to the water line. Authorities initially said six people were missing after the slide, but revised that Thursday when four people were found safe. Simmons, newly hired to lead the city’s economic development corporation, lives in one of the four homes destroyed in the landslide. Larson, who recently graduated from the University of Idaho, is in her first year as a kindergarten teacher in her native Haines. She rents an apartment above Simmons’ garage and was only home the day of the slide because school had been cancelled. “Jenae is strong, she’s tenacious, she’s kind and she’s good,” Haines Borough School District Superintendent Roy Getchell said. He called her a natural, experienced child advocate who student-taught at the school last year. “We’re privileged that she’s on our staff now,” he said. Simmons, 30, a native of Chico, California, is a world traveller, visiting nearly 70 countries and documenting his experiences in YouTube videos, on a website and with a book. He followed his cousin Cambria Goodwin, a contestant on the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars,” to Haines after she opened restaurants. He also decided to put down roots, opening a transportation service between Haines and Whitehorse, Yukon, and buying a house. Last August, he was hired to be the interim director of the Haines Economic Development Corp. and successfully helped businesses and individual fishermen apply for federal assistance, loans and grants during the COVID-19 crisis. Simmons “just worked tirelessly at that and got millions of dollars for a lot of different folks that otherwise wouldn’t have come into the hands of the community,” said Greg Schlachter, president of the board of directors for the corporation. Simmons has a “huge spark for life,” “Schlachter said. “He’s been a major asset to the community.” Olerud said he’s known Larson since she was little. He called her a “very bright, energetic young lady” and Simmons a “phenomenal individual." “Both of them are amazing people,” he said. Mark Thiessen, The Associated Press
- NewsThe Canadian Press
Newtown board blocks proposed gun-carrying restrictions
HARTFORD, Conn. — The governing board in Newtown, Connecticut — where the country's deadliest grade school shooting took place — has blocked proposed bans on carrying firearms around town from further consideration. The decision came after the board heard from gun control activists who said they were intimidated at protests by armed Second Amendment supporters. The debate showed how the gun control discussion remains active in Newtown long after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which killed 20 first-graders and six educators. The eighth anniversary of the shooting is coming up on Dec. 14. After listening to testimony from both sides of the issue Wednesday night by phone because of the pandemic, the Newtown Legislative Council deadlocked in 6-6 votes on whether to refer three proposed gun restriction ordinances to the council’s Ordinance Committee, effectively killing the requests. Members of the Newtown Action Alliance, formed after the school shooting to prevent gun violence, had proposed the measures, in response to feeling threatened by gun rights advocates carrying firearms during protests outside the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a gun industry group that happens to be based in Newtown. “It’s disheartening and disappointing to live in a community where the leaders are choosing not to take our recommendations seriously, particularly after what we’ve been through in this community,” said Po Murray, a local resident and chair of the alliance. “As white extremism is spreading across the country where they are using guns to intimidate people, particularly the Black Lives Matter movement, I think it’s really important to preemptively take measures to prevent any type of incidents here in Newtown,” she said Friday. Representatives from the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Connecticut Citizens Defence League were among those who testified against the proposed gun restrictions, which called for prohibiting the open carrying of firearms in town and the possession of guns at demonstrations and on town property. “The Newtown Action Alliance proposed to infringe upon people’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” said Mark Oliva, a spokesperson for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents firearm manufacturers, retailers and sportsmen's groups. "We’re pleased that Newtown’s Legislative Council chose to preserve people’s right to protect themselves.” Oliva also said it was “as outrageous as it was insulting” that Murray would compare the foundation and gun owners with extremists and white supremacists. Holly Sullivan, president of the Connecticut Citizens Defence League, said while gun control advocates may have felt intimidated by gun rights supporters carrying firearms, that is not the intent of gun owners. She has been among the counterprotesters outside the foundation's headquarters. Connecticut law allows the open carrying of handguns and long guns. Owners must have handgun permits or long gun eligibility certificates, both of which require background checks and training. Connecticut also is one of only seven states that do not completely ban local governments from passing their own gun laws, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The Connecticut Supreme Court, however, has struck down local gun laws that conflicted with state statutes. Ryan Knapp, a Republican member of Newtown's Legislative Council, voted against the proposed gun restrictions, questioning whether the town could prohibit gun owners from doing things they're allowed to do under state law. “Different people feel different ways about this,” he said. “I think ultimately this is a legal question and not a feelings question. And I don’t think it’s our purview to decide that. And I don’t want to commit the taxpayers of Newtown to funding the defence of that if I’m not confident it’s legal.” The council is, however, seeking a legal opinion from the town attorney on whether the council has the authority to ban the open carrying of guns on town property. Dave Collins, The Associated Press
- NewsLocal Journalism Initiative
School boards adjusting to new health measures
Some Strathmore and area students have returned to at-home learning. Under new provincial rules, students in Grades 7-12 returned to at-home learning on Nov. 30, while students from kindergarten through Grade 6 will continue attending school in person for the time being. The changes were announced on Nov. 24, alongside several other public health measures aimed to address increasing COVID-19 case numbers across the province. Golden Hills School Division (GHSD) anticipated a possible shift away from the classroom, and prepared accordingly, said superintendent Bevan Daverne. “Now it’s just a question of getting the details worked out and making sure the students have what they need, for a really smooth transition on Monday,” he said on Nov. 27. Daverne said he appreciates the support of parents throughout the pandemic and hopes the new policies supports them. “Part of the rationale for K to six staying in school is a continued support for parents who need to attend to work in or out of the house,” he said. “Our junior (and) senior high students are a little more independent and are able to manage potentially without a parent in the household.” Following the two-week holiday break, all students, from kindergarten through Grade 12, will have a week of at-home coursework from Jan. 4 to 8. Then, as per the current plan, all students will return to physical school the following week, on Jan. 11. The week of at-home learning provides an isolation period for students who may have met with family and friends over the holidays. “Then if we return to school, we potentially avoid some of the disruption that positive cases and (subsequent) isolation might cause within the schools,” said Daverne. But given the changing nature of the pandemic, this plan could be adjusted. The Ministry of Health and Alberta Education could continue with Grades 7-12 learning at home, have all students continuing their education from home, or have everyone return to school, said Daverne. For the older students, learning at home will be different that last spring, when schools were shut down in response to the initial spread of the virus. “About a quarter of the work that we would normally do in school is what was being managed at home,” he said. “But this time, we will be covering everything at home that we would at school.” In the spring, as part of Alberta Education’s mandate, marks were not affected by the shutdown, and students who were on track to pass before the shutdown would pass. But now, students will be expected to do the work associated with their course load and will be assessed on that work, through marks and evaluation. “It all counts this time,” said Daverne. There will be a stronger link between students and the school this time around as well. “We’re going to have stronger virtual connections,” he said. “Students will hear from their teacher (and) connect with their teacher, doing what would be normally done in their scheduled class time.” For students with Christ the Redeemer (CTR) Catholic Schools, class will be live-streamed, with students going from online meeting to online meeting (on Zoom or Google Meets), instead of classroom to classroom, said superintendent Scott Morrison. CTR staff have gained expertise about conducting at-home learning after 150 teachers volunteered to pilot livestream teaching to start this year. “We’ve gained incredible knowledge about the dos and don’ts of live streaming and the technology, and how to support the teachers in doing it,” he said. “We’ve learned a lot and we feel quite prepared.” Both school boards have invested into technological materials and infrastructure. For example, CTR has used provincial and federal funding to purchase 500 new Chromebooks last year, and plans to do the same this year, said Morrison. Also, five full-time information technology (IT) positions are employed by CTR. “They offer direct support; we’ve got a hotline for parents if they’re having technological difficulties,” he said. “We also have online guides for parents and students on how to use both live streaming and Google classroom, the web-based system we use to organize documents.” GHSD and CTR have worked together to meet the challenges of the pandemic and the changing response to it, added Morrison. “The cooperation between our school boards is exemplary,” he said. “We’ve often had long discussions about decisions and come to conclusions together about the best way to support our kids.”Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Strathmore Times
- BusinessCBC
Security breach at OC Transpo My Alerts may have compromised accounts
People who use the OC Transpo My Alerts system may have had their emails and passwords compromised, says the City of Ottawa.The My Alerts system is used to notify customers about changes to transit service by email or text, a news release from the city said Friday.People's financial and credit card information are not affected, and there's no impact to the city's payment system nor Presto, according to the city.Subscribers to the My Alerts system who use the same password for other accounts are advised to change their passwords. "Other private accounts that use the same password could be at risk. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security advises against using the same password for multiple accounts," reads the release.The affected system is currently shut down, but people who are already subscribed will continue to get notifications.Cyber security expert hired"The safety and security of all customers is our top priority. The City is investigating to determine how and when this information was accessed," reads the news release.The city says it has asked a third-party expert in cyber security to look at the system and make sure "the vulnerability that caused this issue is resolved."The city says it apologizes to My Alerts subscribers for the incident.If any subscribers have questions, they're asked to contact OC Transpo's customer service centre at 613-741-4390
- NewsThe Canadian Press
Twelve patients die in COVID-19 outbreak at London, Ont. hospital
Twelve people have died in a COVID-19 outbreak at a hospital in London, Ont., that has seen dozens of staff and patients sickened. As of Friday, the outbreak at University Hospital, which began on Nov. 10, was tied to 48 cases among staff and 64 in patients."We are doing everything in our power to keep this number from growing but trying to keep the pandemic out of a hospital is a challenge," said Dr. Paul Woods, president of the London Health Sciences Centre, which oversees the hospital. He said the hospital remains open and safe for emergencies, but has been redirecting some admissions to another facility.The outbreak began in a single unit and has since spread to five other parts of the hospital.That disruption could last through December, hospital officials said. The network has made several measures to control the growing outbreak at the hospital.It has limited movement of staff and patients between different parts of the hospital and directing staff to "work-quarantine" -- meaning they can't have social interactions outside of work.The health network has also reduced activity at the hospital to only urgent and emergent services.It said it has continued to work with Middlesex-London Health Unit to implement measures as part of its response to limit transmission.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2020.This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship. The Canadian Press
- LifestyleLocal Journalism Initiative
Ag society sprouts tree sponsorship program
The Strathmore and District Agricultural Society has started a new tree sponsorship program that will see dozens of commemorative elm trees added to its grounds. Residents and groups can recognize or commemorate individuals in the community by sponsoring the planting of rows of Brandon elm trees at the ag grounds, to be called the Row of Honour. The trees will help beautify the area, said Ryan Schmidt, general manager and CEO of Strathmore and District Agricultural Society. “Brandon elms are long-lived trees that grow very tall with a lovely canopy; they will really transform the look of our grounds.” Brandon elm are cultivars of American elm (Ulmus americana) but are more upright. They grow to about 49 feet (15 metres) at maturity, live for about 80 years or more, and have wide environmental tolerances, including growing in dry conditions and urban areas. The idea was proposed by Dale Johnson, a local arborist, because he had some people he wanted to honour, said Schmidt. “We talked about it and decided it would be a great idea to put forward, as we know there’s lots of heroes around here that deserve recognition.” Each sponsor will select a person they wish to honour, and a tree will be planted with an accompanying post and plaque to commemorate them. “So, it could be someone that has passed away and has a tree planted in their memory, or someone who is still with us they just want to appreciate,” he said. Some of the people who will be recognized will be those who have played a role in developing the agricultural society and the Strathmore Stampede, he said. But the program is open to anyone. The cost of sponsoring each tree is $1,000, which covers the cost of the tree, and its planting and lifetime maintenance. Eagle Lake Nurseries is providing the trees at cost, which typically retail for about $600, and the planting and maintenance is also being provided at cost by local arborists. “That makes it all possible for that price,” said Schmidt. The planting is being planned in two phases, with trees being planted in the inner grounds in the first phase and at the grounds’ entrance in the second. A few trees have already been planted, thanks to Johnson. The next plantings will happen in the spring, but the project will be open for multiple years. The trees in the inner grounds will line either side of the walkway between the admission building and the grandstands. “You’ll be walking down a path between these rows of trees with the canopy above you – it will be beautiful.”Sean Feagan, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Strathmore Times
- PoliticsThe Canadian Press
Surveillance tape breeds false fraud claims in Georgia
Surveillance footage of ballot processing on election night in Atlanta is fueling a false social media narrative of “suitcases filled with ballots” hidden under a cloth-covered table and tallied without supervision, even as top state officials confirm election workers followed standard procedure.The video showed regular ballot containers on wheels — not suitcases — and both a state investigator and an independent monitor observed counting until it was done for the night, finding no evidence of improper ballots, state and county officials said on Friday.That hasn’t stopped President Donald Trump, his campaign, his lawyers and his supporters from sharing the video with false fraud accusations in a spate of Facebook and Twitter posts that have racked up millions of views in less than 24 hours.Here’s a look at the facts around this viral video:CLAIM: Poll workers and partisan observers were told to leave Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on election night, but four election workers stayed behind, pulled suitcases full of ballots out from under a table, and scanned them after hours without any supervision.THE FACTS: The video doesn't show evidence of fraud, much less the “SMOKING GUN” evidence that Trump's legal team claims on social media.No one told observers they had to leave, and both an independent monitor and an investigator oversaw the vote count, according to state and county officials. Confusion arose when election workers thought they were done for the night, but then were instructed to continue scanning ballots. But investigators who reviewed the entire surveillance tape confirmed it showed “normal ballot processing,” according to Gabriel Sterling, a top official in the secretary of state's office.The video, which shows clips of surveillance footage from a room where ballots were counted, began gaining traction online on Thursday after volunteer Trump attorney Jackie Pick presented it for state senators during a hearing at the state capitol.Pick claimed it showed a staff member telling partisan observers to leave the facility for the night about 10:30 p.m. After observers were “cleared out,” she said, four election workers stayed behind, pulled suitcases of ballots out from underneath a table, and counted them for two hours with no witnesses present.Fulton County Elections Director Richard Barron refuted those claims on Friday, saying in a public meeting that no observers were ever told to leave the facility.According to Barron, staff members who had been opening and flattening ballots for scanning started leaving the facility as their duties concluded.Other election workers started to pack up, Sterling told The Associated Press in an interview. They put prepared ballots back in boxes and away under a table “to close out for the night.” Members of the media and Republican observers began to leave the building too.Then, the supervisor onsite got a call from Barron, who instructed the team to continue scanning the ballots that had already been prepared. They pulled the same boxes of ballots back out, and resumed scanning, Sterling said.“These aren't magical ballots,” Sterling told the AP. “They didn't show up out of some other room."Georgia law § 21-2-408 permits observers to stay in the room the whole time, but doesn't require it for counting to take place.After a short period when observers weren't present, an independent state election board monitor arrived to oversee the scanning at 11:52 p.m., Barron said. A state investigator arrived at 12:15 a.m. Both individuals remained at the facility until the count concluded for the night, he said.The Georgia secretary of state’s office said it was aware of the late-night counting, and confirmed that both its investigator and an independent monitor observed scanning “until it was halted for the night.”The office said it had launched an investigation into why partisan poll observers left before scanning ended.The president’s team is “intentionally misleading the public about what happened at State Farm Arena on election night,” Sterling tweeted Friday. “They had the whole video too and ignored the truth.”___Associated Press writer Kate Brumback in Atlanta contributed to this report.Ali Swenson, The Associated Press
- NewsLocal Journalism Initiative
Township's snow-clearing regimen could include Port sidewalk this winter
A request from a long-time Port McNicoll resident could present a winter activities opportunity to people living along 1st Avenue. Joyce Burns is asking that the sidewalk/trail along the entirety of the busy road be plowed for safe winter use. She presented her case through a letter that Coun. Sandy Talbot read to other council members at a recent council meeting. "The mental health benefits of having it plowed is that young families can still walk and run it safely as can all the people that use it,” Burns wrote. “They will be able to use it to teach them how to cross-country ski safely when the conditions are good. “The kids that catch the buses on 1st Avenue will have a safe place to walk to get back and forth and also when they're waiting for their buses,” continued the letter. “With COVID still around this winter, people will be able to get out and enjoy the sidewalk/trail, like they have in spring and summer. They will see wildlife and birds and even a decorated Christmas tree on the sidewalk trail to brighten their day.” Burns also said in her letter that she’d counted eight sidewalks in Port McNicoll that she believes are plowed. “They plow Talbot (Street) to Davidson (Street), a two block section,” she noted in her letter. “Why not all the way down 1st Avenue? I'm hoping there will be a positive outcome to this. I don't expect it to be as wide as it is now. If it is plowed like the rest of the sidewalks, that would be great." Talbot said she had no problem supporting the request considering the cost the township would incur. “I think sometimes we have to think outside the box and there will be an increase in cost if there's an increase in service level,” she said. “It's well-utilized. Other people have trails in other communities and they make skating rinks out of them so they're multi-purpose uses.” Coun. Paul Raymond supported the idea, but also brought forth concerns. “We have a growth of young families down by that area and they are increasingly using the road or the trail in summer time,” he said. "My only concern with cleaning the trail off is that in winter we have motorized vehicles ripping up and down there. What happens if we open it up and see some destruction because of these vehicles? I think we have to put some more thought into the whole thing.” Mayor Ted Walker, who also backed the request, said the snowmobile issue could be mitigated by a 'No Snowmobiles' sign as is done in other areas. “I'd be open for a one-year trial,” he added. Where Talbot had a few peers in her corner, Coun. Barry Norris was at the other of the spectrum on the issue. “Seriously?” he asked. “Why don't we clear the whole trail then? It makes no sense. I'm sorry we're not here to turn around and allow all of this? We're talking about a two-mile sidewalk to allow a couple of pedestrians to walk it. “I don't support it one iota,” continued Norris. “I think there is a policy in place as to what sidewalks we actually do and I doubt this is actually going to be covered under it.” And not to mention the costs of having to maintain it with sand, he said. “There's more to it than just clearing it off,” said Norris. “What's the rough cost on it?” Staff didn’t have an immediate answer as to how much it would cost to clear the two-kilometre pathway and were asked to bring back a report to a December meeting for a final decision. When asked for her reaction to council's decision, Burns wrote in, "I'm hopeful that council will go ahead with plowing 1st Ave., but if not, that will be alright ... I'll try again for next year."Mehreen Shahid, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, OrilliaMatters.com
- ScienceCanadian Press Videos
SpaceX CRS-21 to deliver holiday supplies to ISS
NASA's commercial cargo provider SpaceX is getting ready to launch its 21st commercial resupply services (CRS-21) on Saturday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. CRS-21 will supply holiday food to seven astronauts in space. (Dec. 4)
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