Greek PM: Vaccine hesitancy driving high death rate

ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s prime minister has issued an appeal for elderly Greeks to get vaccinated, blaming hesitancy for persistently high rates of death and hospitalization. “The data we have from ICUs and intubated patients are clear: 95% of them, who are fellow citizens of ours, are not fully vaccinated,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Wednesday. Greece’s vaccination program has remained roughly in line with the European Union average, but deaths are higher and the number of COVID-19 patients requiring intensive care unit treatment is at its highest level since the start of the pandemic. Health experts say Greeks over age 80 and below 70 are failing to make or skipping vaccination appointments in significantly larger numbers than those in the 75 to 79 age bracket. The government has appealed to the Greek Orthodox Church and retiree associations to help with the vaccination campaign. Separately Wednesday, a 37-year-old man in northern Greece has been jailed for 60 days for endangering public safety after refusing to wear a face mask and being fined for the violation for a second time. ___ Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak The Associated Press

Epidemiologist, teachers union left with questions as Regina schools return to in-person classes

The decision for Regina-area schools to return to in-person classes next week has left at least one epidemiologist surprised. The majority of Catholic and public schools in Regina will be returning to the in-person classes on May 3, the school divisions announced late on Monday. Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan, said Tuesday that his assessment of the case numbers in Regina didn't convince him it is safe to return to class Monday. "I really don't see the case numbers and the rate per capita in Regina really taking a downward dip," he said. Muhajarine acknowledged that collateral consequences of remote interaction — such as isolation and mental health issues — are factors, but said the decision to go back to in-person learning is concerning when you look at the broader Canadian context. Nazeem Muhajarine is a professor of community health and epidemiology at the University of Saskatchewan. (University of Saskatchewan/HO) COVID-19 variants have led to more younger people being hospitalized and placed in the ICU, and others dying. "All of that tells me that it is not really a prudent thing to do," said Muhajarine. Patrick Maze, the president of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation, shares that opinion. He said union members have been trying to figure out if they can refuse to work due to what they see as unsafe conditions. "Never before in my career has that come up on this level, where en masse, lots of lots of employees are asking about that," Maze said Tuesday. Regina Public Schools (RPS) said pre-K to Grade 8 are returning to regular class on May 3. Students in grades 9 to 12 will be alternate days in person. Regina Catholic Schools (RCS) said elementary students and the majority of high schools will return to class with face-to-face education, with masks. Both organizations said the decision to return to in-person classes came after extensive consultation and the endorsement of public heath officials. Neither school board said they had a specific metric guiding their decision, but RPS said it had information that "indicate[s] a distinct reduction in [cases among] school aged students." "[We] continue to have conversations regularly with the [medical health officers] in Regina. We are education experts relying on the expertise of medical experts to make these decisions," said Twylla West, a spokesperson for RCS. Numbers have worsened It's hard to determine whether there has been a distinct reduction among school-aged students. The province only publicly provides a provincewide age breakdown for cases, with no region-specific age information. Overall metrics available for the Regina area say it is actually in a worse state than March 19, when both school districts announced they would begin remote learning. On that day, there were 583 known active cases in the Regina area. When the districts announced there were reopening, there were 884. Hospitalizations in the Regina area have increased to 58 from 37 in that time, while the number of people in the ICU more than doubled to 27 from 13. Even the positivity rate climbed, to 10.88 per cent from 8.7. "In terms of the new cases... per capita, we are really in a no better place than we were at the height of that surge in in Regina," Muhajarine said. He said that's why he doesn't think it make sense to go back to in-person classes. At the very least, he said, it means school divisions need to explain what has changed and why it is now safe. Muhajarine said he isn't aware of a distinct reduction in cases among school aged children, but made it clear that he's not privy to that data. He said it's important that decisions are based on evidence. "A date doesn't mean anything in relation to a surge, in a surge of numbers," he said. "What we do has to depend on the numbers of of cases in a community rather than a date on the calendar." Embracing rapid testing a good thing RPS confirmed it had been provided with some information on rapid testing kits late on Monday, but said it had yet to review that information. "Once we do, we will be in a better position to comment on how the kits may be deployed in schools," said Terry Lazarou, a RPS spokesperson. Muhajarine said rapid testing is a good idea, but noted educators have been calling for it for months. "We cannot keep talking about doing rapid testing. We have to do that." Open to changing course Lazarou said the public school division has made decisions over the past two years based on the best information from health partners and direction from the province. He said any future decision on in-class education will continue to be based on that advice. RCS had a similar tone, with West saying the division is "absolutely committed" to adjust decisions as the situation with COVID-19 changes.

Woman, 67, dead after being run over by large vacuum truck in north Edmonton

Edmonton police are investigating after a 67-year-old woman was run over by a large vacuum truck in north Edmonton Tuesday afternoon. Police said officers were called to the scene around 3:40 p.m. near 122nd Street and 143A Avenue. Insp. Erik Johnson with Edmonton police said it appears the woman was out for a walk in her neighbourhood and the driver of the truck did not see her. "[The driver] was going to pull over toward a curb in the neighbourhood and unfortunately didn't see the pedestrian," Johnson said at the scene Tuesday. Johnson said the woman was killed near her home. "It was a very traumatic scene," he said. "The driver of the truck is absolutely devastated as well and it's never easy on our police officers either to see such a scene, it's pretty traumatic on our members as well." In a news release, police said investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the collision. Police there is no indication the driver of the truck was speeding or impaired.

So, you sold your house? What comes next isn't always smooth sailing

Michael Margaritis just sold his 1.8-hectare property in Oldcastle just south of Windsor, Ont., for $1.35 million. Suddenly, he and his family were in a race against time to purchase a new home. "I was a rich man without a house," said Margaritis. He went from being a seller cashing in on a hot market to a buyer trying to get a home in the same environment, a tough transition that's catching sellers by surprise. Margaritis put offers in on four or five homes with no success — and was resistant to get into bidding wars, which he says are unfairly driving up the prices of homes. "It's unethical, or dirty," he said, adding he was told, 'If you don't go up [in an offer], you will never get a house.' We had to get a house because we have to get out of here." Margaritis sold his property for $1.35 million, but had difficulty landing one to move into in a hot housing market. (Katerina Georgieva/CBC) Eventually, he and his wife bid $804,000 on a Windsor house listed at $700,000. The day the offers were being considered, he said, his real estate agent told him to go up to $850,000 to seal the deal. Margaritis resisted, but finally settled on $825,000 and the house was theirs — though Margaritis insists the house isn't worth what he paid. "I was a poor man when I came to this country, and I don't like to throw money away, especially thousands, hundreds of thousands." He said he bought that particular home because it was large enough to house his daughters and their spouses — he worries they'll never be able to buy homes on their own, given the market. Financing issues What followed was another roadblock. He gets possession of the new home May 13, while his current home's closing is the end of June, meaning he needed a bridge mortgage to help cover the costs in the interim. Given both he and his wife are pensioners, together making around $75,000, it was a difficult process. Margaritis says it was stressful navigating the bridge mortgage he needed to make up for the period of time between the closing dates for his current home and his new one.(Katerina Georgieva/CBC) "With that money, the bank cannot even look at you," he said, despite the fact he had a number of other assets. Though he finally secured a short-term mortgage to cover the period between closing dates, it was a stressful experience that left them feeling stranded According to Damon Winney, president of the Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors, some of this stress could have been alleviated had the current home been sold after the new home had been purchased, to ensure the closing dates were in sync. Some sell, then get stuck renting Mortgage broker Rasha Ingratta says that in the past, the advice was always to sell first. But that's flipped in today's climate. "Make sure you purchase a home before you sell your home because what we're finding is a lot of people are selling their homes — but [don't] have homes to go to," Ingratta said. There are more sales falling through than ever before. - Rasha Ingratta, mortgage broker She said a number of her clients sold their homes first, but unable to purchase what they wanted with that cash, are now renting. Rasha Ingratta, with Mortgage Intelligence, says she's seeing more sales fall through now than ever before.(CBC) Transition from seller to buyer Margaritis is dumbfounded by the state of the market. "It's easy to sell," he said. "But when you buy, you'll find out that the money you got probably won't be enough." He's frustrated so many homes are listed well below market value to attract more attention, suggesting it's to "fool" people. But Winney said that ultimately, real estate agents serve their clients by offering advice, never forcing their hands. Damon Winney, president of the Windsor-Essex County Association of Realtors, says it's rare for sales to fall through, but it happens.(CBC) "We cannot force them to do anything. We can simply provide guidance for them. If the seller and/or the buyer wishes to take our advice, it's given in the best interest of them, the client." Winney also acknowledged the tough transition from seller to buyer. "Their euphoric high that they've just had when they've just cashed out on the sale of their home, that's a marvellous time," he said. "But it is the realization shortly thereafter that now you're in the mix with everybody else. But the thing they've got in their back pocket that a lot of people don't have is knowing that they've got a lot of equity position sitting in the sale of their home." According to Ingratta, another growing issue is not all sales work out. "There are more sales falling through than ever before." Money falls through Winney said it's rare for sales to fall through, but it does happen. "When you put your heart and your energy into buying and sale of a home, because it's a very emotional process, when it happens, it's absolutely devastating for the parties involved," Winney said. It's a seller's market in housing, meaning the sell-first, buy-later strategy has flipped. (Katerina Georgieva/CBC) Financing is one of the key reasons a sale might not proceed. A buyer might be financed for a certain amount, so places a bid within that price range. If that offer is accepted at $500,000, for example, but following an appraisal the bank decides the house is only worth $450,000, you won't get the full financing required, leaving the purchaser having to make up the difference. "And that's difficult sometimes when that's, say, $50,000," said Ingratta. She said it's challenging to encourage clients to put any kind of financing condition on their offers, because that usually means killing any chance of getting the home. It's a risk not only for the buyer, but for the seller, too. It forces them to consider whether to accept an offer that's well above the estimated market value, at the risk of it hinging on a mortgage approval that could go awry. What happens when a sale goes bad? In cases where financing falls through and the purchaser backs out, the seller gets to keep the deposit and could choose to sue for damages. According to Ingratta, though, normally the house would be put back on the market, and, in this climate, would likely sell for that same price or higher. She said some mortgage brokers have access to their own systems to help them do a "desktop appraisal," to see if putting an offer on a house is worth it by helping determine whether it'll be appraised at the offer price. Ingratta advises her clients to do this before making a bid — especially in a market where houses are sometimes selling tens of thousands of dollars over asking price.

'Fetal heartbeat' in abortion laws taps emotion, not science

NASHVILLE — Dr. Michael Cackovic has treated his share of pregnant women. So when Republican lawmakers across the U.S. began passing bans on abortion at what they term “the first detectable fetal heartbeat,” he was exasperated. That's because at the point where advanced technology can detect that first flutter, as early as six weeks, the embryo isn’t yet a fetus and it doesn’t have a heart. “You cannot hear this ’flutter,’ it is only seen on ultrasound,” said Cackovic, a maternal fetal medicine specialist at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, where some 5,300 babies are born each year. Yet bans pegged to the “fetal heartbeat” concept have been signed into law in 13 states, including Cackovic’s home state of Ohio. None has taken effect, with all but the most recently enacted being struck down or temporarily blocked by the courts. Now, one of the most restrictive, signed by Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee last year, goes before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday. Proponents of these so-called “heartbeat bills” are hoping for a legal challenge to eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court, where they look for the conservative coalition assembled under President Donald Trump to end the constitutional right to abortion protected under the high court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. The notion that abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy “stops a beating heart” was arguably the stroke of political genius that eventually helped the measures rise above persistent constitutional concerns in the states that have backed them. The concept's originator, Ohio anti-abortion activist Janet Folger Porter, spoke openly about her strategy in an email to supporters last year — deftly side-stepping whether the packaging of the bill was medically true. “The slogan, ‘Abortion stops a beating heart,’ has long been an effective way to highlight the injustice and inhumanity of abortion,” Porter wrote of the state's law, the Ohio Heartbeat Protection Act. And, she found, hearts were easy to market. During the decade-long battle to pass Ohio’s law, Porter punctuated her lobbying efforts with heart-shaped balloons and teddy bears. She urged supporters to “take heart” when faced with obstacles — and beseeched lawmakers to “have a heart” and vote “yes" despite their constitutional concerns. Then Republican Gov. John Kasich twice vetoed the Ohio “heartbeat bill,” citing constitutional issues. His GOP successor, Gov. Mike DeWine, signed it in 2019 amid a flurry of similar bills that year. For now, abortion remains legal in all 50 states, though 43 have some form of restriction on the procedure after a fetus becomes viable outside the womb, generally between 24 and 28 weeks. John Culhane, a law professor at Widener University who co-directs its Family Health Law and Policy Institute, said the anti-abortion lobby's marketing of “heartbeat bill" legislation is “all an attempt to make a fetus into a person.” “The ‘heartbeat,’ it literally tugs at the heartstrings, it makes you feel like, ‘Why would you do this?' Never mind that there’s not a heart” yet in the embryo, he said. However, attorneys are quick to point out that medical inaccuracy is not a legal argument. “Legislatures are free to define things any way they want and give it the force of law,” said Andrew Koppelman, a law professor at Northwestern University. “The reality of medical science is not a constraint on what a legislature can do. What is a constraint on what a legislature can do are the constitutional rights of women.” In the war of words over abortion, however, battles have erupted before over politically charged, inaccurate or vague terminology used in abortion laws. “Dismemberment abortion” is a term abortion opponents use to describe dilation and evacuation, a common second trimester abortion method. They use “partial-birth abortion” to describe what is medically called intact dilation and extraction. Abortion rights groups dub heartbeat laws “six-week abortion bans,” though the bills don't mention such a duration. “It is very common to use non-medical language to publicly talk about a medical procedure,” said David Cohen, professor of law at Drexel University’s Kline School of Law. “The law needs precision in order to know exactly what is being regulated,” Cohen said. “So in medicine it would be by using medical terminology.” Cackovic, the fetal medicine specialist, said the current “heartbeat laws," are based only on “our amazing technological advances" that allow detection of the earliest signs of embryonic cardiac activity, “and nothing else.” A pioneering 2013 University of Leeds study, for example, found that while four clearly defined chambers appear in the human heart from the eighth week of pregnancy, they remain “a disorganized jumble of tissue” until around the 20th week, much later than previously expected. Abortion opponents don’t see it that way, viewing the use of antiseptic medical terms to describe what happens in pregnancy as a political tactic of its own. The hosts of CareCast, a podcast sponsored by the anti-abortion non-profit Care Net, called out news outlets last year for using terms such as “pulsing” or “fetal cardiac activity” rather than “heartbeat,” accusing them of employing “euphemisms” and “verbal gymnastics” in order to dehumanize the unborn. “They are literally inventing new ways of talking about a heartbeat so that they can try to avoid giving any sort of human attributes to the fetus,” said Vincent DiCaro, the group’s chief outreach officer. President and CEO Roland Warren asserted that abortion rights groups use medical terms so they can “maximize the atrocity” against human life. He equated it to the Nazis’ dehumanization of the Jews. Culhane said vague or imprecise language could be a powerful argument against “heartbeat laws" in the courts — should the battle ever advance beyond the laws’ impacts on a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. “These days, courts are really vigilant about looking at statutes to make sure that they provide notice about what conduct exactly is prohibited,” the Widener University law professor said. “Because we don’t want people to have to guess and then find that they’re on the wrong side of the law.” ___ Smyth reported from Columbus, Ohio. Julie Carr Smyth And Kimberlee Kruesi, The Associated Press

Nurse practitioner grads can't get jobs in N.B., despite minister's promise to public

Natasha Stephen, along with six of her classmates, will graduate from UNB Fredericton's nurse practitioner program this summer, but she isn't hopeful they will be hired by Horizon Health to care for New Brunswickers. Stephen and other members of her class have sent their resumés to officials with the health authority but haven't heard back from anyone. The lack of interest, Stephen said, has come as a surprise since the province is in desperate need of primary care providers, and Health Minister Dorothy Shephard has pointed to nurse practitioners as the solution. "We've been very persistent and proactive, but we have no indication from Horizon that they actually want us," Stephen said. "It's led to some of us exploring options in other provinces such as Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island." Stephen said she and her classmates are being "actively recruited" by other provinces, which are offering signing bonuses and "more robust salaries." Students want to stay Earlier this month, Shephard said "every physician and nurse practitioner should be working within the Medicare system," and pointed to 18 vacant nurse practitioner positions that she would "dearly love to fill." Shephard told CBC News, "I will hire them today." Raelyn Lagace, president of Nurse Practitioners of New Brunswick, was doubtful this could happen. Health Minister Dorothy Shephard insists she would hire 18 nurse practitioners immediately to fill the gaps for primary care in the province, but graduates say hiring policies mean they don't qualify for the positions.(Ed Hunter/CBC) "It would be nice if it would be that simple, but it's not," Lagace said. "There's a little bit of disconnect, I think, between the health authorities and government … hopefully they can figure that out and help these students get some jobs." Shephard said her goal is to eliminate the wait list for primary care in the province within six months by hiring 18 nurse practitioners. As of Dec. 31, there were 44,226 people registered with Patient Connect New Brunswick, which pairs residents with a family doctor. As Premier [Blaine] Higgs has said many times — it's not always about needing more but using what you have. And here we are, we're sitting here in New Brunswick, and we're ready to be part of that solution. - Natasha Stephen Stephen agrees there is clearly a "bit of a disconnect" between what the health minister is saying and what is happening. "From February until now, we have all, as a class of seven, repeatedly sent our resumés not just to the general application pool, but for specific job postings, and just no contact whatsoever." "As Premier [Blaine] Higgs has said many times — it's not always about needing more but using what you have. And here we are, we're sitting here in New Brunswick, and we're ready to to be part of that solution." Shephard said earlier this month that she has "not been satisfied" with New Brunswick's "recruitment process" and that the Department of Health was now leading recruitment, rather than Horizon and Vitalité. That prompted criticism from Horizon's board chair John McGarry, who has since been fired by Shephard. Jobs requirements exclude grads One of the hurdles for nurse practitioner graduates is a hiring requirement by Horizon Health that you have "at least two years of primary health-care experience." All nurse practitioner graduates are already certified registered nurses with several years of clinical experience, but that doesn't meet the baseline set by the health authority. In job postings for registered nurse practitioners, Horizon Health lists two years of experience in primary health care as a required qualification.(careerbeacon.com) Stephen said the requirement might make sense in some rare circumstances, for instance in rural places where there wouldn't be other health-care providers to offer support, but nurse practitioners are graduating with the experience and education they need to start practising right away. "We already have well-established professional judgment … I just want to make it clear that we really will be equipped to do the job that we've been trained to do when the time comes for us to graduate." "It's concerning," Lagace said. "Because they put all of this effort in with expectations that there is a need, which we know there is, and then at the end of it, they come out and they can't get hired and they're at risk of losing everything. It's sad." In a statement, Horizon Health Network's chief human resource officer Maura McKinnon said representatives met with the graduating class in February and "our interest was expressed." She said some, but not all, nurse practitioner positions require experience and suggested any of the grads who want an update on the status of their application write to a general Horizon email address. CBC asked what positions are available to nurse practitioner grads but has not yet received a response. On Wednesday afternoon, Shephard said "provisionary offers" will be going out in May to some who have applied for available positions. She added that since many of the nurse practitioner grads are currently employed by Horizon as registered nurses, "they would know that there is a collective agreement which would guide the whole process." Shephard said there is no disconnect between her department and Horizon and that she is looking "at every possibility to keep every New Brunswicker out here." Nurse practitioners want to provide care Stephen has three young sons and after years of working in the Northwest Territories and Nunuvut she wants to stay in Saint John and would love to work with high-risk populations. "My hope is to be able to become a primary care provider in the Saint John area, which is my hometown, where I have my roots and my family. So that really is my goal." Raelyn Lagace, president of Nurse Practitioners of New Brunswick, said her members want more flexible options to provide care and ultimately would like to have Medicare billing numbers, similar to doctors. (Submitted by Raelyn Lagace) Stephen said unless the health authorities will hire them, new grads will have to either leave the province, or return to nursing and waste their new education. In the past they could have opened a practice outside of Medicare, but recent policy changes by the Department of Health make that impossible. As of April 1, any health-care provider who charges a patient directly will be billed by the Horizon or Vitalité health authorities for any diagnostic or lab tests they order for a patient. "I think a great place to start would be for human resources in Horizon to sit down with each of us and get to know us better," Stephen said. "So it's just a matter of starting those talks." She graduates this summer from the two-year program and will be able to work as a graduate nurse practitioner until she writes and passes the licensing exam in October, at which point she is fully qualified to practise. "I've lived away for most of my adult life and it's been a real joy to be back in my home province and reconnecting with people and really feeling rooted in a place," she said. "So my hope is absolutely to stay here and to provide a much needed service to my fellow New Brunswickers."

RCMP looks to redraft its entrance exam as it pushes for a more diverse police service

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is looking to scrub its entrance exam of cultural biases and "outdated criteria" as it tries to confront what's been called its "toxic culture" and the problem of systemic racism in the ranks. The RCMP posted a tender this week looking for a contractor to provide pre-screening exams for applicants. It's part of the RCMP's modernization plan, known as Vision 150, which also includes changes to the criteria for becoming an RCMP officer. "A thorough review of these processes has determined that despite significant changes made to the processes and tools over the past decade, systemic challenges remain," says the tender. "Most notably, a gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) review of the current RCMP exams concluded that even when prospective applicants possess both the interest and qualifications, there is evidence that the exams themselves may create barriers to a diverse applicant pool. Outdated criteria, lacking strong supporting evidence, may result in high-potential candidates being unable, or unwilling, to apply." RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki has been signalling that changes are coming to the recruitment process. She told a House of Commons committee late last year that the force needs to better reflect the communities it serves. "We're looking at our organization as a whole, and we're looking at those systems and those processes, those policies and procedures that will eliminate systemic racism," she said in November. "We are going to be testing for those types of behaviours that could negatively impact their interactions." RCMP faces a decline in applicants The move to redraft the exam comes as the RCMP struggles with a staffing crunch — particularly when it comes to attracting candidates of colour. As of April 1, 2020 (the most recent period for which statistics are available), just under 12 per cent of the RCMP's 20,000 rank-and-file members identified as visible minority, according to figures posted online late last week. That figure hasn't changed dramatically over the past few years and remained lower than the general rate in the workforce nationwide. Women represent about 21.7 per cent of regular members — a slight increase from 20.1 per cent in 2011. "Further exacerbating these challenges, changes to the Canadian social and demographic context, such as the decreasing unemployment rate and increased urbanization, have contributed to a decline in applicants over recent years despite increased attempts to attract a broader candidate base," says the tender document. "Within this context, the RCMP cannot afford to deter applicants or exclude high-potential candidates based on outdated criteria, tools and techniques." RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki has been signalling that changes are coming to the recruitment process. She told a House of Commons committee late last year that the force needs to better reflect the communities it serves. (CBC) To be accepted into the RCMP's training program, applicants must complete two testing components. The first is a six-factor personality questionnaire, which evaluates applicants on the basis of their agreeableness, independence, industriousness, methodicalness, openness to experiences and the degree to which they are extroverts. The second is the RCMP aptitude test. That exam — which the RCMP says about 10,000 applicants write annually — tests seven skills that are considered essential to being a Mountie: memory, composition, logic, judgment, comprehension, computation and observation. Tensions with Indigenous communities But as the RCMP's own tender call admits, the pre-training testing has served as a barrier to some applicants. "Individuals from different groups have an unequal probability of obtaining the same score on a particular item, and [the test] potentially favours one group over another," said the document. "Secondly, applicants' perception of the types of questions and supporting materials can affect their likelihood of completing the test. Finally, the test demonstrates inherent cultural biases that suggest the existing choice of vocabulary and situations are outdated." Lucki promised to build a better national police force after former Supreme Court justice Michel Bastarache issued a blistering report last year in the wake of a series of sexual assault and harassment allegations. His report, released in November, concluded that the RCMP's culture "encourages, or at least tolerates, misogynistic, racist and homophobic attitudes among many members ..." The RCMP — which provides contract policing in all three territories and most provinces — was accused of tolerating a climate of systemic racism following a number of controversial incidents caught on camera involving Indigenous Canadians last year. In the fall, Lucki also faced questions about her defence of RCMP officers who policed a tense dispute between Mi'kmaw lobster harvesters and non-Indigenous commercial fishers in Nova Scotia. Federal Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said the RCMP had failed to properly protect Indigenous people there. Sipekne'katik First Nation Chief Mike Sack called the force "useless" and said it hadn't sent enough officers to protect his members. The tender for a new exam closes June 7.

'It was a huge disruption for me': Hundreds of international students looking to study in Windsor are in limbo

Arpith Sengupta was supposed to travel to Windsor from India in May and start studying at St. Clair College, but a temporary flight ban has derailed those plans. "In an already chaotic world, it was a huge disruption for me," Sengupta told CBC News. And he's not the only one scrambling to figure out what's next. Hundreds of international students looking to study in Windsor are currently in limbo due to the temporary flight ban on India and Pakistan that was imposed by the federal government last week. Given the rising COVID-19 case counts in India — with 300,000 COVID-19 cases being reported daily — and concerns about mutations of the coronavirus, the federal government banned passenger flights from India and Pakistan for 30 days. Sengupta said the country's worsening COVID-19 crisis is scary. He also said that his entire immediate family has contracted the disease, so he is self-isolating. Ron Seguin, the vice-president of international relations at St. Clair College, says the college was expecting more than 700 students to arrive within the span of six to eight weeks starting on Monday. (Mrinali Anchan/CBC) "The only option we see is traveling from India to another country quarantining ourselves there for 14 days and then traveling to Canada, which is ... something that, as a student, I don't think I can afford," he said. "And it's not right on my part to be honest, I'll be traveling from India, and it's not safe." He said he planned to land in Windsor in a few weeks and spent more than $30,000 dollars to get to Canada. But now he's left trying to figure out how to reschedule a flight for a ban that may be extended. The college and the University of Windsor said it's trying to help students affected by the flight ban. "Everybody knows this is beyond the control of St. Clair College or the students that flights from India were curtailed for safety reasons," said Ron Seguin, the vice-president of international relations at St. Clair College. "We know they will open up when the time is right, so again we're preaching patience, we're answering inquiries. Students have to talk to landlords. We're talking to landlords on their behalf. It's an organized mess," he said. He also said the college was expecting more than 700 students to arrive within the span of six to eight weeks starting on Monday. Christopher Busch, the associate vice-president of enrolment management at the University of Windsor, says the university has reassured international students that they can start their program remotely from their home.(Mrinali Anchan/CBC) Seguin said the college received a barrage of worried emails from students when the temporary ban was first announced, adding that it impacts students starting in the summer semester. He said international students can still do their programs remotely, which was also the plan for them when they landed in Canada. "I left my job to fly to Canada and I'm unemployed right now ... I'm studying and my loans all started. So it definitely affects me financially." - Arpith Sengupta, international student "We are here to support them remotely, including here to provide counselling services and support. The COVID pandemic has really put a lot of pressure on international students both financially and on a mental health basis," said Christopher Busch, the associate vice-president of enrolment management at the University of Windsor. Schools offering classes, support services remotely He said the university has reassured international students that they can start their program remotely from their home and that studies completed outside of Canada will still count toward future postgraduate work permit eligibility. The university was expecting approximately 900 international students from Pakistan and India to start their degree in May, but only about 75 to 100 students would be immediately impacted as many were planning on starting their programming remotely. Busch said the university continues to provide counselling services and other supports, including language classes, for students who need the additional help. As for program costs, St. Clair College says it has kept tuition the same for international students throughout the pandemic, while the university says some of its fees have increased. For Sengupta, he's still left feeling disappointed. He was looking forward to living and studying in the city. "I left my job to fly to Canada and I'm unemployed right now ... I'm studying and my loans all started. So it definitely affects me financially," he said. "Secondly, the main reason to go to Canada was to understand the culture, experience it physically. Since I cannot do that, this is all very difficult to study online."

No new measures against COVID-19 even as Saskatoon is 'on red alert'

No new measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 are being announced in Saskatchewan — even as the province's chief medical health officer says Saskatoon is "on red alert" following the city's "very concerning" uptick in new cases. On Tuesday, the Saskatoon area reported more new cases of COVID-19 than Regina, which has led all areas of the province in new infections since variants of concern began dominating during the third wave. Officials recorded 70 new cases in Saskatoon on Tuesday, compared to 30 in Regina. Only the previous day, the situation was essentially reversed, with Regina reporting 80 new cases versus Saskatoon's 39. Saskatoon also took the lead in new cases of variants of concern and recorded its first case of the highly-transmissible P1 variant of concern associated with Brazil, which has yet to be confirmed in Regina. The abrupt switcheroo between Saskatoon and Regina came the day after University of Saskatchewan researchers flagged an alarming spike in viral load in Saskatoon's wastewater — a finding they said potentially augurs a significant impending increase in COVID-19 cases in Saskatoon. During a COVID-19 news conference on Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe said that while there have been discussions about ensuring there are enough vaccines in Regina and Saskatoon to protect those cities' ICU capacities, the province has not had conversations about benchmarks for tightening measures in Saskatoon. Opposition Leader Ryan Meili said the government should have taken action in Saskatoon two weeks ago. "It's incredibly, incredibly short sighted. It's going to kill people. And that was completely avoidable," Meili said. Shahab makes recommendations but the Saskatchewan government ultimately decides whether to enact new measures. The province's chief medical health officer said the rules already in place, including a ban on restaurant dining in Regina and a province-wide clampdown on mixing between households, are already very strict. "I think Saskatoon is on red alert status and if required, specific measures may be needed," Shahab said. "But at the end of the day, it is [about] the individual actions, especially care when we're out and about. Minimize unnecessary visits to public indoor places, order more takeout, use curbside pickup whenever you can. "At the same time, [we need to] make sure the pace of vaccination remains high." Shahab also strongly encouraged anyone who can work from home to do so, citing a high preponderance of transmissions within workplaces. "We absolutely don't want to see the surge that we saw in Regina happen in Saskatoon," he said. That surge took place in spite of the tightened measures in Regina, which also included a strong recommendation against travel in and out of the city. This slide, shared among Saskatchewan Health Authority physicians on April 22, shows how the number of ICU admissions increased in Regina even after the province tightened public health rules there. (Saskatchewan Health Authority) The surge has been most keenly felt in Regina's intensive care wards. On March 28, the day the ban on in-restaurant dining went into effect, the Regina area had 59 COVID patients in hospital, including 17 people under intensive care. On Monday, the area had fewer people in hospital (57) but a higher proportion of them were in ICU (27). Many patients too young to get vaccinated Scott Livingstone, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority, said many people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 variants of concern are not immunized because they're not old enough. "Or they actually meet the criteria for age-based vaccination while they're in hospital with COVID so they're not being vaccinated," Livingstone said. On Wednesday, the age eligibility for booking a COVID-19 vaccine appointment is dropping to 42 and will drop to 40 on Friday. As for benchmarks that might position Saskatchewan closer to lifting broad COVID-19 restrictions, Moe said he watches the province's fatality rate. Saskatchewan has recorded 476 deaths related to COVID-19 since the pandemic began.Two-thirds of those deaths, or 323 of them, have happened in 2021. Moe said hospitalizations and ICU admissions are also monitored. "Ultimately, what drives both of those metrics is our vaccination rate," he said.

Indian man with COVID-19 says he was stuck in hotel quarantine for days without medical help

A man on the last flight allowed into Canada from India says he was stuck in a Mississauga hotel for days waiting for a call from a public health official after he tested positive for COVID-19 following his arrival in Toronto. Sandeep Kathuria, 24, from the city of Hisar in the state of Haryana in northwestern India, says more support is needed from the Canadian government for international travellers coming into the country who are in need of medical help. He is here on a study permit and enrolled in marketing management at Seneca College. "I was really hopeless," Kathuria said on Tuesday. "I was terrified and confused also about what next I should do." Kathuria had not yet received medical attention as of Tuesday night but he said he is feeling better and resting a lot. "Nobody yet has come to check on me. They told me if I want medicines, I can call the Red Cross. They will bring it to you." Kathuria said he arrived on Friday, April 23 from Delhi and he believes his flight was the last one permitted into Canada after the federal government announced on Thursday, April 22 that it was suspending flights from India and Pakistan. He said he thinks he got COVID-19 at the Delhi airport. "Actually, I did a COVID test two days before the flight and ... very truthfully, I think that I got COVID on the airport itself," Kathuria said. "I was feeling perfectly fine when I was with my family in my hometown." Sandeep Kathuria is pictured here on the far right on the flight from India to Canada.(Submitted by Sandeep Kathuria) He said his symptoms developed during the 15-hour flight. They included fatigue, sneezing, headache and fever that got progressively worse. Kathuria attributed the symptoms initially to the long flight. Upon arriving at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, he got tested again for COVID-19. On Saturday, he learned by email that he had tested positive. He searched the Internet to find out what he was supposed to do. He found out he had to stay in his room and a quarantine officer would call him. At that point, he was already under mandatory travel quarantine. 'Nobody assured me that everything was going to be fine' Then he waited until Tuesday morning for the call. He said he called the Public Health Agency of Canada, Peel Public Health and Canadian Red Cross himself and tried to enlist the help of the hotel in which he was staying. "I was frustrated mentally and physically," he said. While he waited and called, his symptoms, including fever and chills, worsened. "I had no medications. It kept gradually increasing. I was feeling more and more fatigued when I was feeling very cold," he said. The situation was making him tense because the hotel cost was $400 a day, and as a student, he said he could not afford to stay longer. The quarantine officer finally called at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Now, he has been moved to another hotel, about a kilometre away, for the remaining 10 days of quarantine. Kathuria had essentially been without medical attention for days. "Nobody contacted me. Nobody assured me that everything is going to be fine." 'Nobody contacted me. Nobody assured me that everything is going to be fine,' Sandeep Kathuria says.(Submitted by Sandeep Kathuria) Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Peel Public Health said they cannot comment on individual cases. Anne Génier, spokesperson for Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, said in an email on Wednesday that the federal government provides online information for international travellers who have COVID-19 symptoms while they are in Canada. "At this time, I can tell you that, as stated on our website, if a person develops COVID-19 symptoms during their stay — they must stay in their room with a few exceptions, such as seeking medical treatment or service, or for a medical emergency," Génier wrote. System not equipped to help newcomers, doctor says Dr. Shazeen Suleman, a staff physician in the department of pediatrics and outreach services at St. Michael's Hospital, said Kathuria's experience is not surprising. She is also the physician lead for the hospital's Newcomers to Canada clinic and said the health-care system is unjust and unfair to newcomers. Before the pandemic hit, the health-care system was not equipped to help newcomers navigate the system on their own, she said. It's not centralized, she added. "During the pandemic now, when we have these new processes, when there is a very real health risk that's involved, when you cannot access care expediently and it's a completely different system, it's even more of a difficulty and placing more people's lives in danger," Suleman said.

'We miss her:' Father of Alberta teen who died convinced she had COVID-19 variant

MAGRATH, Alta. — Ron Strate says he has received about a thousand messages from people in Canada and around the world who have been touched by the story of his 17-year-old daughter, Sarah. The senior high school student from Magrath, a small southern Alberta town, had seemed fine before her health suddenly deteriorated Monday, said her father. She died soon after arriving at hospital. Officials have not confirmed Sarah died of COVID-19. But as cases continue to surge in Alberta — currently the province with the highest rate of new daily infections in the country — Strate said he is convinced she died because of a variant of the virus. "It's always just been numbers until you can put a face to it ... Now one is my daughter," Strate, a school teacher, said Wednesday. "I haven't even been able to go on. I've had a thousand messages of condolences and I can't get to them because I'm gonna start crying." Sarah was three classes away from graduation and was excited to attend college in Lethbridge to become a masseuse, her father said. The second youngest of the family's five children was also the life of the party, he said. "She loved to sing and dance. She was a pianist. She did percussion in band. She was a drummer." He said more than a week ago, Sarah's 20-year-old sister tested positive for COVID-19 and Sarah started complaining about a sore throat days later. She was booked to get a COVID-19 test on Wednesday. Sarah was isolating in the basement of the family's home. On Monday, Strate says her health went downhill. "She started to go delirious and was starting to lose focus on what reality was. So I said, 'We got to call 9-1-1.'" Strate said they waited about 20 minutes for an ambulance. During that time, he talked to Sarah. Her arms shook as she lay on the floor. "We talked about being strong and how much we loved her and, you know, whatever our Father and heavens will is will happen," Strate said. "We never expected her to die." Strate said a medical examiner told him Sarah had actually been sick for three weeks. A lab test is being done to see if she was infected with a COVID-19 variant. "They say her lung was really hard and heavy. And I said, 'How does that happen within a couple of days?' "They can't explain it." After her death, Strate said many people reached out to tell him that Sarah had saved their kids lives as a leader with Hope Squad, a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program. He said Sarah's death should also be a reminder for everyone to take the pandemic seriously. "This was not her time. If everyone would have just done everything right the first time when we were asked to shut down and use our brains ... we probably be out of it now," Strate said. "All these rallies, fighting the government on (restrictions) ... I totally feel for people that have businesses. Yes, we have freedoms in this country. Of course we do. But also respect what is going on so that we can try to keep our country safe." On Monday, he said students at Sarah's high school plan to wear onesies to honour her, because she loved wearing them so much. Her younger sister, 13-year-old Bree, wants to wear a unicorn onesie that Sarah always wore, said Strate. "We love her and we miss her," he said while crying. "We're always gonna miss her. But in our faith, we believe that we will see her again and I can't wait." This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2021. — By Fakiha Baig in Edmonton ___ This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship. The Canadian Press

Immigration groups launch $50 million effort for citizenship

WASHINGTON — A coalition of immigration advocacy groups is launching a $50 million effort aimed at defending President Joe Biden on immigration and pressuring lawmakers from both parties to pass a pathway to citizenship. The effort, the details of which were shared first with The Associated Press on Wednesday, is aimed in part at making sure Democrats “actually deliver concrete change in people’s lives,” according to Lorella Praeli, the president of Community Change Action. “People can no longer wait. And people are not going to absolve either party from delivering in this moment,” Praeli said. “We will not be shy about holding both or either accountable, particularly as we walk into next year, 2022 and beyond.” The effort includes a $30 million commitment from a group of advocacy organizations calling themselves We Are Home, in addition to a $20 million commitment from a handful of other immigration groups, including the Mark Zuckerberg-backed FWD.us. It kicks off with a $1.5 million television and digital ad campaign from We Are Home launching across five states and Washington, D.C., starting Saturday, and digital ads running in six more states. The coalition of groups, which includes Community Change Action, the Service Employees International Union and the United Farm Workers, among others, is also planning nearly 60 events on May 1 for May Day. And it's launching a paid field effort aimed at defending Democrats in difficult seats and supporting pro-immigrant “champions” in the House and the Senate to make sure they maintain strong support for a pathway to citizenship. Praeli said that the groups are investing $2.5 million to $5 million over the next week on their field effort in key states and that part of the focus will be pressuring Democrats to embrace the use of reconciliation — an obscure parliamentary tool that allows lawmakers to pass some policy with 51 votes in the 100-member Senate rather than the 60 votes typically needed — to pass a pathway to citizenship. “Our people delivered at the ballot box, and now it’s their time to use every tool available to them," Praeli said. “Reconciliation is one of those tools.” The Biden administration has signalled, however, it's not interested in pursuing immigration reform through reconciliation and would prefer to pass legislation with bipartisan support — an unlikely goal, considering the sharp political polarization around immigration in the evenly divided Senate. The campaign also features a $1 million ad buy launching later this week from America’s Voice and Care in Action to air a series of ads across Washington, D.C., Arizona and California defending Biden from GOP attacks that he hasn’t done enough to address the spike in immigration at the U.S. southern border. One ad, shared first with the AP, accuses the GOP of hypocrisy on the issue and declares that “Republicans don’t care about children at the border” while Biden “has a plan to fix the mess Republicans left at the border.” The ad is aimed at mitigating an issue that's fast become one of Biden's biggest political challenges — the sharp increase in migration, including record-breaking numbers of unaccompanied minors attempting to cross the border. An Associated Press-NORC survey conducted earlier this month found that 40% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of children reaching the nation’s southern border without their parents, compared with just 24% who approve. Thirty-five per cent don’t have an opinion either way. Alexandra Jaffe, The Associated Press

Specialty crew from Florida joins cleanup effort at site of Nootka Sound shipwreck oil leak

A specialty team from Florida has joined the efforts to clean up and contain an oil leak from a shipwreck in B.C.'s Nootka Sound, off the coast of Vancouver Island. The MV Schiedyk sank near Bligh Island in 1968 and has sat there ever since. When it went down, it had 35 tonnes of fuel on board. The leak, discovered late last year, has released up to 11 litres of oil into the water each day, according to Paul Barrett, federal unified commander for the Bligh Island shipwreck response with the Canadian Coast Guard. Crews from the coast guard, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and local First Nations have been working on the cleanup for four months. Since December, they've placed over seven kilometres of protection booming throughout the area. Protection booming is seen in this photo from December on site near Bligh Island, B.C., where a shipwreck has been leaking oil into the Pacific Ocean.(Supplied by Spill Response B.C.) Now, specialists from Florida's Resolve Marine Group have joined the team. "So far they've done some non-intrusive survey work of the vessel, that includes some video work with [remotely operated underwater vehicles] that included ultrasound testing to check the thickness of the plating and some patching," Barrett told All Points West host Kathryn Marlow. "As of Monday, we reached a real pinnacle point with patching and we have seen a lot less oil as of this morning and throughout the day. So, big steps." Barrett described the oil as thick like "peanut butter," making it easy to catch. Crews have been able to retrieve spilled oil with pitchforks and shovels, put it in bags and remove it from the site. "The product's weathered for the last 50 years ... and it's gotten thicker and thicker." The mission for the American crew is to assess the wreck, patch areas with leaks, and drill holes into the vessel to look for remaining oil. Barrett said this is not an unusual task for the coast guard. Oil leaks on the Manolis L in Newfoundland and the Brig.-Gen. M.G. Zalinski near Prince Rupert both involved the coast guard patching sunken vessels and removing oil from the water. Both those situations involved hot tapping, where divers install a tap and valve on the tank and pump warm water into it, displacing the oil to be pumped out. Barrett is unsure whether that will be required here. "It really depends on what the technical assessment comes back telling us." The technical assessment is expected to be completed in the next nine days. Once the spill is cleaned up, the shipwreck will be left in Nootka Sound. Barret said it's best to leave the structure and remove any harmful materials to prevent future leaks. "The moment you try to lift wrecks they stand the real potential of disintegrating and coming apart." To hear the full interview with Paul Barrett, click here:

Convicted cousin delivers agitated testimony in Hay River murder trial

Testifying against her cousin in a first degree murder trial was the last place Sasha Cayen said she wanted to be, Tuesday afternoon. It was clear from her body language, the growing agitation in her voice and an outburst under cross examination by James George Thomas's defence lawyer, John Hale, after which she declared she needed a break. She appeared in court by video, from a room elsewhere in the same courtroom. "I blacked out bits and pieces," she said, angrily, when Hale suggested she was the first to propose "jacking" Alexander Norwegian for whatever drugs and money he had after buying $60 worth of crack cocaine from him at the portage in Hay River, Northwest Territories, on Boxing Day of 2017. Hale noted Norwegian was in a remote location because he was hiding from police, and wouldn't report being robbed because there was a warrant out for his arrest. "It comes into your head it would be a good place to jack him," Hale probed. At first, Cayen shook her head no. Then she told the court, "I can't lie and say something I didn't say," noting she had sworn on a Bible to tell the truth, and the exact events were a blur because she'd been drunk. Back in early 2019, the 27-year-old woman — who lives in Hay River with the grandparents who raised her — pleaded guilty to manslaughter in Norwegian's death. She was sentenced to three years and seven months imprisonment, and has already been released from custody. Her cousin, Tyler Cayen, already took the stand in Thomas's trial and pleaded guilty to accessory to manslaughter in the same death, more than two years ago. A fourth cousin, Levi Cayen, goes to trial on a first degree murder charge in February 2022. At the time of Norwegian's death, Sasha Cayen told Crown prosecutor Duane Praught she had been on Christmas holidays from her job as a secretary at West Point First Nation and had been regularly using crack cocaine and drinking alcohol for six months. Her testimony was marred with frustrated replies, repeating phrases like "I don't know", and "I guess so." She frequently said she had been drunk and couldn't remember all the details. Boxing Day 2017 Cayhen said she spent most of Dec. 26, 2017, drinking, to her recollection, at Thomas's house. Thomas drove her to buy $60 of crack from Norwegian at the portage in the evening, and later the two of them went — along with Tyler Cayen — to pull Norwegian's vehicle out of a snowbank. Cayen said she received another piece of crack and some cash in exchange. When she and Tyler finished smoking it, roughly 30 minutes after getting back to Thomas's house, she said she was interested in getting more. "I don't know how it happened," she told the court. She said someone asked if Norwegian had lots of drugs on him, and that someone suggested stealing whatever he had. There was a pause in the courtroom. Then, Praught asked, "who said that?" "I'm pretty sure it was Jim," she replied, referring to James Thomas. When asked how she responded to the suggestion, Cayen replied "I said 'alright,' I guess, thinking I was going to get another hit out of it but I didn't get anything." Back to the portage Cayen told Praught she knew Norwegian was back at the portage because they'd been texting — his name in her phone was Buds. "Alex [Norwegian] said he was waiting for me to bring him a drink … he was out there, waiting. I didn't ask him to meet me." She said she discussed his location with her cousins but they "didn't say anything about beating him up." Cayen said Thomas and Levi Cayen went to the porch to "get ready" and then took off on a snowmobile. An hour later, when her two cousins still hadn't returned, she reached out to Norwegian. "I tried texting to see if everything was OK and he didn't reply," she said. Ten to 15 minutes later, her cousins returned and Tyler started a fire. Into the fire, she said, went a cracked white Samsung tablet, Norwegian's brown Carhartt jacket and grey wool sweater. After that, she said, Levi Cayen went to the Rooster convenience store to call police and report a drunk driver out at the portage, while Tyler Cayen and James Thomas went out to look for Norwegian's stash. "I kept trying to get ahold of Alex [Norwegian], but there was still no response or anything." Despite the call to police, the court heard earlier in the trial that Norwegian's badly beaten body was not found until more than a day later when a passerby came upon the scene. The defence will continue its cross examination Wednesday. The prosecution is expected to call a DNA expert as its next witness.

Regina resident weighs getting surgery in U.S. as Sask. hospitals grapple with COVID-19 surge

A Regina resident who has been on a priority list for esophageal surgery since last fall is now considering accessing health care outside Canada, as his surgery date continues to get pushed back due to a constant surge of COVID-19 hospitalizations. Peter Gebert said he came to the decision following a recent discussion with a Saskatchewan government cabinet minister. "They told me, 'Peter, the best thing you can do is try to get surgery in the States.'" Gebert, who is a Canadian-American citizen, declined to comment on who the cabinet minister was, as he is friendly with the individual and promised he would keep them out of the interview. However, that conversation — which occurred via text message — has Gebert feeling hopeless. "I have no faith in the ability of this government to uphold the very basics of what the Canadian health-care system is supposed to be all about," Gebert said. The Ministry of Health did not respond to a request for comment. Hospitalizations hit an all-time high A surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations has put significant pressure on the health-care system. Saskatchewan has seen more hospitalizations in the first three months of 2021 than it saw in all of 2020, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority said during a Tuesday briefing on COVID-19. This means people like Gebert, who are waiting for a planned surgery, will have to wait longer. Gebert has a hiatal hernia, and an esophagus that needs to get widened every second year. As his surgery gets pushed back month after month, he continues to live in discomfort that gets worse every day. Saskatchewan continues to have the highest rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations among the provinces. This is putting pressure on the health-care system resulting in delayed surgeries for many. (CBC) At 66, Gebert said he's at the point where most days he cannot get out of bed, and eating has become difficult. He said he's experienced several serious incidents where food gets stuck in his throat and he has a coughing fit because he can't breathe. If he doesn't get the surgery, Gebert fears he could die. "I never thought that was a possibility, but over the past few weeks, I think it is." In Saskatchewan, some triaging of ICU patients is already occurring — meaning doctors are making decisions on who can get care now and who cannot. (Cory Herperger/CBC) He hasn't seen his five kids and two grandchildren in over a year, as they all live in the United States. He worries he will become another statistic before he gets the chance to see them again. This week, Gebert will discuss options with his surgeon about getting the help he needs in the United States. "Yeah, that's going to cost a lot of money, but that's life. I want life. I've got another good gig in me," he said. Gebert said he feels empathy for others who await surgery, but may not be able to afford to go elsewhere. "On a daily basis, [the] numbers of COVID deaths are published. Perhaps right next to that number should be the number of non-COVID deaths that occur because we don't have access to basic health care," Gebert said. Triaging patients In Saskatchewan, some triaging of ICU patients is already occurring — meaning doctors are making decisions on who can get care now and who cannot. That concerns Gebert. "A right to life is not guaranteed here anymore," he said, adding the health-care system needs to be reformed. As Gebert manages his discomfort from the confines of his bed, he says he is tired of watching Saskatchewan politicians offer their commiseration. "I'm tired of hearing 'our condolences go out to so-and-so and for their family.' It doesn't cut it. They're cowards," he said. "They're all cowards."

Saudi crown prince softens Iran rhetoric in balancing act

Saudi Arabia's crown prince has taken a more conciliatory public stance towards Iran, trying to balance long-held animosity with economic considerations and bridge differences with Washington over how to tackle Tehran's regional behaviour. Tensions between Riyadh and Tehran have festered over the Yemen war, where an Iran-aligned group has increased attacks on Saudi Arabia even as the kingdom tried to lure foreign investment. Strains between the two Gulf powerhouses also grew after a 2019 assault on Saudi oil plants that Riyadh blamed on Iran, a charge Tehran denies.

• 
  Oil Crown Jewels No Longer Off Limits in Mideast Amid Deal Surge

  Bloomberg
• 
  Saudi Arabia in talks to sell stake in Aramco

  Reuters Videos

Fatal crash caused by 'extraordinarily dangerous rate of speed,' Edmonton judge says

A driver who killed an Alberta man and injured his teenage son was sentenced to three years and nine months Monday for dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing bodily harm. Three years ago James Koenig, 48, of Rimbey, Alta., and his 16-year-old son Jesse were ejected from a pickup truck when a car barrelled into them at a high rate of speed. Shortly after midnight on June 7, 2018, Dustin Clark, 28, was racing in his Cadillac sedan east on a four-lane highway just outside of Whitecourt, which has a posted speed limit of 110 km/h. Koenig was a popular resident of Rimbey, Alta., according to an obituary. (Wilson's Funeral Chapel)According to an agreed statement of facts entered in court Monday, Tyler Pletz, the driver of a Chevrolet pickup truck saw a set of headlights appear behind him, approaching quickly. But Clark never touched his brakes, the statement said. His Cadillac slammed into the truck at a speed estimated by an RCMP traffic expert to be 231 km/h. "This is much more than a brief lapse of attention or momentary loss of judgment," said Justice Nathan Whitling, Edmonton Court of Queen's Bench, after Clark pleaded guilty to the dangerous driving charges. "It was an extraordinarily dangerous rate of speed." Pletz was wearing a seatbelt, but the Koenigs were not. The truck rolled several times, landing upside down. Pletz managed to release his seat belt and crawled out the back window of his truck. James Koenig was pinned under the truck and pronounced dead at the scene. An obituary described the popular 48-year-old as "a free-spirited man who drove with the window down and his arm on the ledge, waving to everyone that passed down the street." Koenig's son Jesse was thrown from the vehicle and was spotted wandering around in a daze. He suffered two fractured vertebrae and soft tissue damage. Clark's Cadillac caught on fire but he suffered only minor bumps and bruises. According to the statement, a witness saw him get out of the vehicle, reach into the back seat, pull out a baseball bat and throw it on the ground. Then he saw Clark walk to the trunk of his vehicle and try to open it, even though the car was on fire. Dustin Clark's Cadillac caught fire after the collision. (Court exhibit/RCMP) 'Slurring his words' Two women who arrived at the scene after the collision sat with Clark while they waited for police to arrive. One of the women said Clark made a point of telling her that after the crash, he opened up his trunk, retrieved a bottle of alcohol and drank half of it. None of the witnesses on the scene spotted any liquor bottles or saw Clark drinking. An RCMP officer noted a strong odour of alcohol on Clark's breath. "He was slurring his words and had long pauses in between them," the court document states. "Mr. Clark was unsteady on his feet while walking to the ambulance." Without being asked, Clark told the officer there was alcohol in his vehicle and he had consumed all of it after the collision. He admitted he also drank before the crash. "The post-collision consumption was in part an attempt by Mr. Clark to conceal his pre-collision alcohol consumption," the statement notes. Whitling called Clark's after-crash drinking a significant aggravating factor that amounted to obstruction of justice. "It is not the policy of this court to condone or accept this kind of behaviour," Whitling said. In addition to the prison sentence, Whitling also imposed a two-year driving ban to begin once Clark is released from custody. Before he was sentenced, Clark expressed remorse for his actions. Sheriffs allowed him to hug family members before taking him to cells.

This company wants to take Boat Harbour's polluted sludge and turn it into roads

A Nova Scotia company says it could turn hundreds of millions of litres of polluted sludge from Boat Harbour into a non-toxic construction material, offering an alternative to the current plan to permanently store the dredged sediment in a massive tank on site. Boat Harbour was once a tidal estuary, but for more than 50 years it acted as a receptacle for industrial waste from the nearby and now shuttered Abercrombie, N.S., pulp and paper mill currently owned by Northern Pulp. The provincial government had previously committed to cleaning up waste from Boat Harbour that predated the current ownership, but recently took responsibility for Northern Pulp's portion of the job after the company repeatedly failed to submit a plan. In total, Crown corporation Nova Scotia Lands estimates there will be between 312 million and 517 million litres of sludge to dredge up and manage. Nova Waste Solutions wants all of it. "Our alternative solution is an affordable and certainly a socially responsible solution, and then probably the best environmental solution," CEO Stephen Mader said in an interview. Mader wouldn't say how much the process would cost, except that it's the most affordable way to deal with toxic waste, "if not in the near term, absolutely for the future." "Once we've processed the toxic and hazardous material, there's nothing left but a glassy rock substance that's inert and safe to be used for road construction," he said. This waste processing facility in France uses the same plasma furnace system that Nova Waste Solutions wants to build in Nova Scotia.(Submitted by Nova Waste Solutions) But first, the company has to build the processing facility. Before it can do that, it will need government approval. Nova Waste Solutions has not yet registered for a provincial environmental assessment — a process that can take years to complete. Mader said the company has been in talks with environment department officials and is preparing to make a submission. Toxic waste melted, neutralized by special furnace Gord Helm, Nova Waste Solution's senior vice-president of technology and chief technical officer, said the Boat Harbour cleanup isn't the only job the company wants to clinch. The proposed facility could take all kinds of waste that would typically end up in a landfill, Helm said, dry it and then melt it in a plasma furnace, turning the waste into "molten slag." As it cools, the material hardens and can be broken up, then recycled for civil construction projects. Melted and neutralized waste flows out of a plasma furnace. Once cool, it will be a glassy, rock-like material than can be broken up and recycled into construction material.(Submitted by Nova Waste Solutions) The neutralizing step is called plasma vitrification and it isn't a new process — Helm said facilities in Europe have been doing it for decades — but it would be new to Nova Scotia. 'Exponentially a better option,' company says Nova Scotia Lands' current plan would see the waste from Boat Harbour stored in a 6.7-hectare tank that sits next to the polluted lagoon. The tank, also known as a containment cell, was built in 1995 and already contains millions of litres of waste material from the mill's operations. The tank would have to expand upward by 12 to 20 metres to accommodate the remediation waste. Once full, the tank would be capped and covered in soil and vegetation. According to a Nova Scotia Lands description of the project, some short shrubs "would tie the sludge disposal cell visually into the surrounding tree line." But that wouldn't be the end of the story. The containment cell is expected to slowly and continuously generate leachate — water containing some of the contaminants from the sludge — that would have to be removed and trucked away for disposal. The Northern Pulp mill in Abercrombie Point, N.S., is viewed from Pictou, N.S., Friday, Dec. 13, 2019.(Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press) The whole remediation plan is currently under review by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. A spokesperson for Nova Scotia Lands said with the federal impact assessment underway, the Crown corporation would not provide comment on any process for remediating Boat Harbour outside the one already proposed. Regardless of what the federal review may find, Helm said processing hazardous materials until they are inert is always "exponentially a better option" compared to long-term storage. He said underground storage may be safe in the short term, but he expects long-term consequences for humans and the environment. "We have to stop polluting the planet when we have options to do otherwise," said Helm. Sludge storage not acceptable to some in Pictou Landing Nova Scotia Lands has said the containment cell is a safe way to store the sludge, but many members of Pictou Landing First Nation, which is adjacent to Boat Harbour, share Helm's skepticism on that point and say it's not an acceptable solution. This map shows the location of Northern Pulp, Boat Harbour and Pictou Landing First Nation.(Marine Pollution) Concern about the containment cell was a dominant topic in Nova Scotia Lands' consultation with the Pictou Landing community in 2019, with some saying the plan perpetuates environmental racism. Sean Fraser, the Liberal MP whose riding includes Pictou Landing First Nation, said if the community were to "formally register" its opposition to the containment cell, alternatives would have to be considered. "Every aspect of the use of Boat Harbour as an effluent treatment facility from its inception has been an example of environmental racism," Fraser said in an interview. If the community formally opposes the continued use of the containment cell and the current plan goes ahead anyway, "Yeah, I do think that would be a continuation of environmental racism," said Fraser. The band is expected to soon file a submission with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, which will eventually be made public. Pictou Landing Chief Andrea Paul did not respond to CBC's requests for an interview. Mader and Helm said they briefed Paul on their proposal last week. They said they've requested a meeting with Premier Iain Rankin to brief him on their proposal, too. MORE TOP STORIES

AstraZeneca blood clot risk similar to odds of being struck by lightning, expert says

MONTREAL — The risk of developing serious blood clots from the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is similar to the chances of being struck by lightning, the chief physician at the McGill University Health Centre said Wednesday. Dr. Marc Rodger offered the comparison following Tuesday's news that a 54-year-old Quebec woman died April 23 from a blood clot that developed after she got the vaccine. Rodger said the death of Francine Boyer is "absolutely tragic," but the risk of COVID-19 for people who aren't vaccinated is exponentially higher than for those who are. "The risk seems to be in the one-in-100,000 range," he said in an interview, about blood clots. "To put that in context, that's similar risk to being struck by lightning at some point in your lifetime." Almost 11,000 Quebecers have died from COVID-19, Rodger said, while Boyer's death is believed to be the first in Canada potentially linked to a vaccine. The virus, he added, also causes far more blood clots than the vaccine does. In a statement released late Tuesday, Boyer's family described how her health declined after she and her husband received the AstraZeneca vaccine on April 9. In the days that followed, she began to experience headaches and severe fatigue, the family said. Boyer went to a hospital before being transferred to the Montreal Neurological Institute as her condition worsened, and died of a cerebral thrombosis. Her husband did not develop side-effects. An online obituary says Boyer was originally from St-Rémi, Que., south of Montreal, and was a mother and a grandmother. Her family urged anyone who develops side-effects from the vaccine to seek medical advice using the province's phone help line. "Ms. Boyer's family would like to encourage people who receive a vaccine to stay alert for symptoms or unusual reactions and to contact Info-Santé (811) if in doubt," the statement read. Rodger said it's normal for people who have received a vaccine to feel sick afterwards and to experience symptoms such as a fever and headache. Those don't require going to an emergency room, he said. The symptoms of a rare blood clot are different: they occur later — between four and 20 days after the shot — and are much more dramatic, Rodger explained. He said signs of a blood clot in the brain include severe headaches, vision changes, speech loss or loss of function in one arm or leg. Chest pain or shortness of breath can be the sign of a pulmonary embolism, while severe pain and swelling can indicate a clot. Anyone who gets those symptoms should seek medical attention immediately, Rodger said. Health Canada has authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine for people 18 and up after concluding it is safe and effective despite evidence suggesting it may cause blood clots in rare cases. A national advisory panel has suggested the shot can be offered to those 30 and over if they don't want to wait for a different vaccine. Quebec is administering the vaccine to people between the ages of 45 and 79, and the province's public health director said Tuesday it will continue that strategy. Rodger said experts don't yet have a complete picture of which segments of the population are most at risk of clots, although women appear to be more prone than men. He said he still believes declining a vaccine is a riskier proposal for the age groups that are eligible to receive one. "We are concerned about this complication, but the flip side of not getting vaccinated has a much, much, much higher risk of complication," he said. Officials in Montreal said Wednesday there were still some doses of AstraZeneca available for those 45 and up who want to make an appointment. Mylène Drouin, the city's public health director, said the vaccine was being offered on the principle of "informed consent," meaning those who sign up will be made aware of potential risk. "I think (in terms of) the benefit versus the risk, there is still more benefit to get the vaccine, but everyone has to do their proper reflection," she said. Meanwhile, the province reported 1,094 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday and 12 more deaths attributed to the novel coronavirus, including three in the past 24 hours. Hospitalizations dropped by 24, to 643, while the number of people in intensive care dropped by nine, to 161. The vaccine program has expanded to include pregnant women, who became eligible on Wednesday to book appointments. Later in the day, Quebec's public health director said the government was studying the possibility of vaccinating children between the ages of 12 and 16 over the summer. Dr. Horacio Arruda told a meeting at the provincial legislature he was following the ongoing studies involving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and said the province could move quickly if the shot is authorized for those under 16. This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 28, 2021. Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press

In Jaffa, gentrification stokes discord as Arabs pushed out

TEL AVIV, Israel — A turreted former Catholic girl's school in Jaffa is being transformed into an exclusive Soho House club. Around the corner, a historic ex-convent is now a five-star hotel. Across the street, the glittering towers of the Andromeda Hill luxury residences overlook the Mediterranean. But farther down Yefet Street, working class Arabs of Jaffa's Ajami neighbourhood face a starkly different reality. With housing prices out of reach, discontent over the city's rapid transformation into a bastion for Israel's ultra-wealthy is reaching a boiling point. The crisis has taken on nationalistic overtones, with some Arab residents accusing the government of trying to push them out to make way for Jews. “Ninety per cent of people here barely make a living, from hand to mouth, they don’t have enough to eat," said Jaffa resident Ibrahim Tartir. "For a young man looking to get married, it’s 5,000, 6,000 shekels ($1,800) for rent, not including water and electricity and the rest. How much does he earn? 6,000 a month. How can he live?” Jaffa, the historic port at the core of the greater Tel Aviv metropolis, is home to around 20,000 Arab residents, remnants of the Palestinian population that lived there before Israel’s establishment in 1948. The district has undergone extensive gentrification in recent decades with government encouragement. That trend has accelerated in the past several years as real estate prices have skyrocketed amid surging demand. As wealthy Israelis and foreigners move from other areas of Tel Aviv into Jaffa, its mostly working-class Arab residents have been pushed out. This has added ethnic tensions to an economic phenomenon familiar in other cities around the world. “We’re reaching a point where Arab people can’t buy houses unless they are very rich,” said Youssef Masharawi, a Jaffa native and professor of physical therapy at Tel Aviv University. He said young Arabs in Jaffa have nowhere to go, unable to afford to start families in their hometown and facing discrimination in nearby Israeli cities with overwhelmingly Jewish populations. The stress is starting to reach a breaking point. Long smouldering tensions erupted last week after the rabbi and director of a pre-military religious seminary in the predominantly Arab neighbourhood of Ajami were assaulted by two Arab residents while visiting an apartment for sale. Moshe Schendowich, chief executive of the Meirim B’Yafo seminary, was injured in the incident. He said that while there have been some disagreements with Arab neighbours, those conflicts "should be solved with speech, with talking, not with violence.” Although the seminary says it isn’t out to push anyone out, some residents view it with suspicion. Its head rabbi is a former West Bank settler and was formally affiliated with Ateret Cohanim, a group that takes over Arab properties in Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers. The yeshiva’s website says its aim is to “strengthen Jewish identity and the voice of the Torah, (and) strengthen communities” in Jaffa. The incident ignited an already flammable situation. In the days following, Arab residents and Jewish supporters faced off against Jewish nationalist counter-protesters. The demonstrations devolved into clashes with police. Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai condemned the violence but insisted “what we are seeing is not a nationalist conflict between Jews and Arabs." “It is the product of ongoing frustration of a whole generation of Jaffans that can’t continue to live there,” he said. But in Israel, nationalist conflict is never far away. Before Israel's establishment in 1948, Jaffa was a predominantly Arab city of some 100,000 people. During the war surrounding Israel's creation, tens of thousands of Palestinian residents fled or were forced from their homes. Under a 1950 absentee property law, the new Israeli government confiscated thousands of empty properties and handed them to state-run public housing companies. Many of the Palestinians who remained in Jaffa ended up in these properties. Since 2011, the Israeli government has pushed to sell off these properties to develop more housing. Although occupants are given an opportunity to buy these homes, the prices are often too high, forcing many longtime residents to move out. Amidar, a public housing company that manages the buildings, said there is no intention to expel people. "The properties are offered for sale first to tenants at a significant discount and with professional guidance" and most are purchased by residents, it said. Even with generous terms, however, many low-income residents cannot afford to buy their homes. Many properties have been bought up by developers, resulting in low-income Arab residents being forced out. On Wednesday, Tel Aviv City Hall announced that it would be opening registration for an affordable housing lottery for 28 units in Jaffa for Arab residents. “In addition to the project, approval has been granted for a public housing renewal program in Jaffa’s Ajami neighbourhood,” city hall said in a statement. “The program will enable 100 existing tenants to remain in renovated properties while increasing supply by a further 200 apartments.” Ravit Hananel, a professor of urban policy at Tel Aviv University, said the Israeli government has been ridding itself of public housing since the 1980s as it abandoned the country's socialist roots and adopted neo-liberal, capitalist policies. She said the government pledged to address housing issues after mass social justice protests in 2011. But she said the response has been to push for more privatization, further hurting the disadvantaged. While this is the case across the country, Jaffa’s rapid gentrification is not simply a case of rich against poor, said Abed Abou Shhadeh, a Tel Aviv city councilman from Jaffa. “It has a national background behind it, and it’s part of the conflict,” said Abou Shhadeh. While some try to depoliticize the issue, he said "it’s more than a class war. There’s a very deep rooted political tension happening at the same time, which makes it much more difficult to come with a fair and equal solution.” Organizers of a recent protest wrote on Facebook that the “economic expulsion and gentrification that’s pushing the Arab community — and also poor Jewish residents — out of the city for the sake of real estate deals continues what was started in 1948." Graffiti on city walls say in Hebrew and Arabic: “Jaffa is not for sale.” Masharawi, the Jaffa-born professor, called for the construction of affordable housing for young Arabs in Jaffa. He said he was determined to stand his ground against the rising tide of change. “I will never leave Jaffa even if I am going to die within a small room in the end," he said. “This is my home, my house, my way of life.” Ilan Ben Zion, The Associated Press

French PM condemns 20 retired generals who warned of 'chaos'

PARIS — French Prime Minister Jean Castex condemned on Wednesday an open letter in a right-wing magazine by 20 retired generals that raised the spectre of chaos in France and hinted the military could take action if nothing were done to prevent it. Castex also took issue with far-right leader Marine Le Pen for backing the retired generals. Their “call to honour” was published a week ago in the magazine Valeurs Actuelles but gained traction after Le Pen, a candidate in next year's French presidential election, expressed support and encouraged the letter-writers to join her National Rally party. Defence Minister Florence Parly castigated the commentary and Le Pen on Twitter this week, before the prime minister weighed in. Castex, speaking after a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, said sanctions could be forthcoming. Even in retirement, generals are expected to maintain the rules of silence that are a duty within the military. In their commentary, the retired generals painted a picture of an unravelling nation that had lost its honour and risked losing itself. “The hour is grave. France is in peril,” their letter read, portraying the country as a society “disintegrating." They listed as threats "Islamism and the hordes from the suburbs” where poverty and delinquency are high, and said anti-racism efforts could create “hate between our communities.” “Those who run our country must imperatively find the needed courage to eradicate these dangers,” the commentary read, going on to state that firmly applying the laws of the land often sets things right. If not, civil war could “end the growing chaos.” Castex said Wednesday that he condemned “with the greatest firmness this initiative which is contrary to all our republican principles, to the honour and responsibilities of the army.” He stressed that the retired generals "only represent themselves,” not the French army. “It might have been an insignificant affair had it not been exploited politically.…How can people, and Madame Le Pen in particular, who aspires to exercise the responsibilities of the nation, condone an initiative that doesn’t exclude turning against the republican state?” he said. Le Pen’s remarks carried special weight because, she could face President Emmanuel Macron if he seeks reelection in 2022. She lost to him in a 2017 runoff. After publicly agreeing with the retired generals, Le Pen, whose popularity is rising, reiterated her backing and said Tuesday she was surprised by the denunciations their statement drew. Because they had committed themselves to France with their service, “Even if one doesn’t agree with them, we owe them respect,” she said on France-Info. The generals' statements about leaders needing to take action were ambiguous. They said they were ready to back politicians in the “safeguard of the country” and predicted that if nothing was done there would be “an explosion and intervention of our active comrades in a perilous mission to protect our civilizational values and safeguard our compatriots.” France has thousands of retired generals, so the 20 who signed off on the commentary are but a handful. A preface by the magazine stated that some 100 ranking officers and more than 1,000 other military personnel signed the letter. The Associated Press