PRA earnings call for the period ending December 31, 2020.
The Biden administration has withdrawn its support for a federal lawsuit in Connecticut that seeks to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls' high school sports. Connecticut allows high school athletes to compete in sports according to their gender identity. The lawsuit was filed a year ago by several cisgender runners who argue they have been deprived of wins, state titles and athletic opportunities by being forced to compete against two transgender sprinters. The Justice Department and the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights withdrew their support for the case ahead of a hearing scheduled for Friday on a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The Trump administration’s intervention in the case last year came as state legislatures around the country debated restricting transgender athletes’ participation to their gender assigned at birth. Seventeen states considered such legislation, and Idaho passed a law. The Republican-controlled Mississippi legislature overwhelmingly approved a similar bill earlier this month. Supporters of restrictions on transgender athletes argue that transgender girls, because they were born male, are naturally stronger, faster and bigger than those born female. Last March, then-Attorney General William Barr signed what is known as a statement of interest in the Connecticut lawsuit, arguing the state's policy runs afoul of Title IX, the federal law that allows girls equal educational opportunities, including in athletics. In a filing Tuesday, Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham and other department officials withdrew Barr's statement, saying, “The government has reconsidered the matter.” Attorneys for the plaintiffs declined to comment. The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference has said it is following a state law that requires all high school students be treated according to their gender identity. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights last spring and summer sent letters threatening to cut off some federal funding to Connecticut school districts that followed the policy. On Tuesday, the office notified those involved that it was withdrawing those letters “as well as the underlying findings and determinations,” and does not wish to become a party in the lawsuit. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity in school sports and elsewhere. Former president Donald Trump had rolled back protections for transgender people while in office. Dan Barrett, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, which represents the two transgender athletes in the lawsuit, said Tuesday's action represents “a hint that the government, the Department of Education, may now have a different view of Title IX.” CIAC executive director Glenn Lungarini has said the organization’s transgender policy was formed with federal and state guidance and that multiple courts and federal agencies, including the Justice Department, had previously acknowledged that the term “sex” in Title IX is ambiguous. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said Tuesday he was pleased with the Justice Department's decision to withdraw Barr's statement. “Transgender girls are girls and every woman and girl deserves protection against discrimination. Period,” he said in a statement. Pat Eaton-Robb, The Associated Press
Vaccine and pandemic research in the province will be receiving a boost after the province announced that they are committing $15 million of new funding to the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan. In a press conference with VIDO Director Dr. Volker Gerdts on Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe announced the funding, which is contingent on the federal government providing $45 million in funding that the province has requested. Moe explained that vaccine scarcity in the world shows the need for projects of this type adding that Canada can lead in research and development through facilities like VIDO’s proposed Centre for Pandemic Research. “This will not only serve Saskatchewan residents but it will serve all Canadians through research, development and ultimately the production of new vaccines. This would be a level 4 containment facility,” Moe said. The provincial funding commitment is contingent on the Government of Canada committing and flowing funds to the project, which has already received committed funding committed by the City of Saskatoon and significant contributions from several private donors. Moe explained that the funding would greatly enhance the facilities research and development capabilities. Currently the only level 4 facility in Canada is the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg and they have expressed support for the idea. Moe and Minister for Innovation Saskatchewan Jeremy Harrison have written and have had conversations with senior federal ministers about the proposal. “We are hopeful and quite confident that we will be able to obtain the necessary federal support for this project to go ahead,” VIDO has already begun to expand their vaccine manufacturing capabilities with a project that began in October 2020 and expected to be completed in October 2021. “Production of vaccines could then begin sometime in 2022 with the capability to produce up to 40 million vaccines per year,” Moe said. He added that the development of that project would not make a change to the current COVID-19 vaccination drive in the province where they expect Saskatchewan residents to be vaccinated by the end of 2021. “However we should be ready to produce millions of doses of vaccines to respond to any new viruses that may present or variance of the COVID-19 virus that may present in the future and respond as required,” Moe expects the province to be a leader in producing and developing vaccines for all Canadians. “We are asking the federal government and the Prime Minister to support this proposal to insure that Canada always has the ability to develop and produce our own lifesaving vaccines and to insure that the vaccine shortage that we are experiencing now at the most critical moment in our lifetime never happens again,” Moe said. Gerdts thanked the province for the commitment and called it fantastic news for VIDO and will allow them to establish their Canadian Centre for Pandemic Research. He explained that it would benefit both humans and livestock. “It will help us to prepare and be better prepared for future emerging diseases both affecting humans and animals and it will build on existing infrastructure that we already have at the University of Saskatchewan,” Gerdts said. VIDO is already home to the countries largest high containment laboratory and soon will have vaccine manufacturing capabilities. Gerdts explained that the existing elements are critical to rapidly responding to new and emerging diseases. “What today’s announcement and hopefully the commitment from the federal government will allow us to do is to now build on that existing infrastructure and leverage those previous investments to upgrade our containment abilities to the highest level,” Gerdts said. They will also allow the organization to build a new animal facility to work with animals that new diseases emerge from. Gerdts explained VIDO’s track record as the first to isolate the COVID-19 virus and an animal model to test vaccines. “We are now also the first university lab to actually have a vaccine in clinical trials, our trials are ongoing right now, we are in phase one and phase two trials and we are looking forward to taking our vaccine into development as that is possible,” Gerdts said. The province’s commitment will support VIDO’s Centre for Pandemic Research, which will include an upgrade to Level 4 containment facilities. Containment Level 4 laboratories provide the capability to work safely with the most serious and deadly human and animal diseases “Today’s announcement is really a great honour for us and great for the organization and we are looking forward to the federal government to come up with the $45 million that we have asked for plus some operating funding,” Gerdts said. According to Gerdts, VIDO is already doing research on emerging variants with the UK variant already being worked on in their facility. He explained that they are testing if their vaccine and other Canadian vaccines are effective against the variants and have adjusted their own vaccine to the variant so in the future it will be more effective. VIDO was originally designed and built to accommodate the possible future enhancement to Level 4 containment capability. This includes 2000 square feet of existing lab space that can be readily upgraded to meet Level 4 containment requirements The Centre will also provide critical animal housing for multiple species and significantly reduce the time required to advance vaccine development to human clinical trials. In addition, this Centre for Pandemic Research gives VIDO the capacity to develop the workforce and train the talent needed for a strong vaccine and therapeutic ecosystem in Canada. Since the beginning of the pandemic the province has provided VIDO-InterVac with additional funding of $4.2 million to support the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and construct a new small-scale manufacturing facility to be completed later this year. This funding is in addition to annual operations funding of $3.8 million in 2019-20 and $4.1 million in 2020-21. Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince Albert Daily Herald
In an effort to Lift Each Other Up, the preschool students and after school program participants at Little Badgers Early Learning Program and Nature School (LBELP) have been focused on learning about the Superheroes of Kindness curriculum. LBELP has spent a few weeks teaching about the importance of caring for yourself and for others in support of Pink Shirt Day (PSD). “Children have great empathy for their friends and loved ones,” said Evy Walker, LBELP early childhood educator (ECE). “While they are still learning to have gentle hands and kind words, they do understand the importance of helping their friends feel happy. Children tend to understand more than we give them credit for.” PSD is a Canadian movement that began in Nova Scotia when the charity CKNW Kid’s Fund began a partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs and 980 CKNW to raise funds to support anti-bullying programs. Their team’s goal is to focus on raising awareness about bullying and creating programming that supports a health self-esteem in children. The CKNW’s PPSD website says representing hope, opportunities and the pride of LGBTQ2+ youth is especially important to the cause so that bullying in the community can be mitigated. According to CKNW Kid’s Fund, 59,000 youth were impacted by PSD funded programs in 2020. However, one in five children are affected by bullying. Annually on Feb. 24, 2021, Canadians are urged to wear a pink shirt to raise awareness about bullying or to purchase official PSD merchandise to support anti-bullying initiatives in B.C. through www.PinkShirtDay.ca or at London Drugs stores this month across Canada. However, the PSD’s official pink shirt launched for 2021 is actually not pink - it’s a white t-shirt with a pink graphic — a decision that was made with the hopes that all anti-bullying advocates could wear their shirt all year long as opposed to only on Feb. 24. “We have been learning about the importance of kindness and how small acts can make someone's day,” said Walker. “ We also have been learning about Bucket Filling and the importance of filling our friends' buckets. At the preschool level, we try to focus on the Golden rule of treating others how you like to be treated year round.” Walker anticipates ECEs at LBELP, along with all program participants, will be demonstrating the importance of caring for their neighbours on PSD this week. With PSD in mind, use the #LiftEachOtherUp all year long and continually advocate for vulnerable populations in your communities. Breanne Massey, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Columbia Valley Pioneer
The province reported on Tuesday that a resident of the North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, has had the B1.351 SA (South Africa) COVID-19 variant detected in their test, the individual was tested at the end of January and Public Health’s investigation is ongoing. According to Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab in a press conference on Tuesday the experience with the variants is not different from what other provinces have seen. “What it means for us is basically the variants of concern respond exactly the same as the previous COVID-19 strains,” Shahab said. He reminded people to take all of the common steps such as social distancing and other steps to reduce transmission as well as minimizing interprovincial and international travel. He explained that six per cent of all samples are screened for all variants by referring them to the National Microbiology Lab (NML) in Winnipeg including travel related cases, outbreaks, cases of people under 50-years-old in ICY and random samples. “That will also help us increase the portion that we can screen, it will also shorten the time it takes to get the results from one to two weeks to a few days,” Shahab said. “All of that must start once the initial test comes back positive. We shouldn’t wait for it to be diagnosed for the variants of concern for us to take further action,” he added. According to Premier Scott Moe work in under way to receive certification for the Roy Romanow Laboratory in Regina to expand to testing for variants of COVID-19. “That process does take a period of time, working with the lab in Winnipeg. That process is underway and I would expect that we would be able to identify the variants at the Roy Romanow Lab within the province of Saskatchewan sometime in early March,” Moe said. Shahab and Moe both said that the province expected to see the variant in the province. The B1.1.7 UK (United Kingdom) variant has been detected in two residents in the Regina zone. These individuals were tested at the end of January. Based on the contact investigation to date, there is no link to travel at this time but public health's investigation is ongoing. There is also a presumptive case of B1.1.7 UK in one individual in the Saskatoon zone. The individual was transferred from out of province to Saskatoon for acute care. Whole genome sequencing will need to be completed to confirm the results and health's contact investigation is ongoing. “All residents with a confirmed COVID-19 test are required to isolate to reduce the risk of transmission. If required, public health will issue a public service announcement to alert the general public to any risk due to any confirmed case of a variant of concern. The Government of Saskatchewan continues to plan for the impact of variants on COVID-19 including any required increase to public health measures and surge capacity planning,” the province’s release explained. This brings the provincial total of confirmed variant of concern cases to seven. Meanwhile, there were four deaths related to COVID-19 reported in the province on Tuesday. There were three deaths reported in the Regina zone with two in the 80 plus age group and one in the 70 to 79 age group. There was also a death reported in the 80 plus age group in the Saskatoon zone. The number of deaths in the province currently sits at 376. There were 122 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the province on Tuesday. The North Central zone, which includes Prince Albert, reported four new cases. One additional case was added to North Central that had tested positive out of province. North Central 2, which is Prince Albert, has 36 active cases. According to Shahab the province is in the 12th consecutive week of a consistent slow decline in numbers with a slight uptick last weekend. The overall seven day average has dropped from 16.6 on Feb. 9 to 12.7 on Feb. 23. “And our test positivity is also gradually trending down to around seven per cent right now. Similar to many other provinces we are seeing a decline but some provinces are also seeing a bit of a plateauing,” he said. North Central 1, which includes communities such as Christopher Lake, Candle Lake and Meath Park, has 47 active cases and North Central 3 has 19 active cases. There are currently 174 people in hospital overall in the province. Of the 158 reported as receiving in patient care there are 17 in North Central. Of the 16 people reported as being in intensive care there is one in North Central. The current seven-day average 156, or 12.7 cases per 100,000 population. Of the 27,923 reported COVID-19 cases in Saskatchewan, 1,530 are considered active. The recovered number now sits at 26,017 after 244 more recoveries were reported. The total numbers of cases since the beginning of the pandemic is 27,923 of those 77,238 cases are from the North area (2,917 North West, 3,192 North Central and1,129 North East). There were 549 doses of COVID-19 vaccine administered yesterday in Saskatchewan bringing the total number of vaccines administered in the province to 62,342. There were no doses administered in the North Central yesterday. Doses were administered in the adjacent North East zone, North West, Far North Central, Central East, Regina and Saskatoon zones. An additional 21 doses were administered in the Central East zone on Feb.17 and an additional 52 doses were administered in the South Central zone on Feb. 19. There were 1,872 COVID-19 tests processed in Saskatchewan on Feb. 21. As of today there have been 563,055 COVID-19 tests performed in Saskatchewan. Michael Oleksyn, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Prince Albert Daily Herald
Resupplying Fort Chipewyan with enough fuel and supplies for the next year has quickened. This past Sunday, drivers were told the winter road linking the community to Fort McMurray could now support up to 27,500 kilograms, allowing more fuel and cargo shipments to travel more than 220 kilometres north. But the window of safe travel on the winter road, which includes four ice crossings, has become increasingly short. After seeing late starts and temporary closures this winter and last, community leaders are again arguing for a permanent road. “It’s time to talk about road options and what these transportation problems are causing,” said Chief Peter Powder of the Mikisew Cree First Nation (MCFN). “We’ve had shorter and shorter times of the road being open to heavy loads that we need for transporting materials to build schools or homes.” Usually, the winter road opens shortly before Christmas and trucks full of enough gasoline, diesel and non-perishable food to make it until next winter journey north. The impacts of this can be seen at Fort Chipewyan's grocery stores. Before the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) opened a community grocery store, the K’ai Tailé Market, in 2018, the Northern was the community's only grocery store. A four-litre jug of milk cost up to $16 until the new store opened, where food costs roughly halved thanks to subsidies and support from the First Nation. But getting fresh food into the community is still expensive. People complain that the food quality is questionable at the Northern, which is not subsidized. “It’s really hard to transport goods,” said Powder. “If you can’t get things in on the winter road, you have to wait for summer for the barge because it’s expensive to fly things in.” Until recently, the winter road opens when river ice is thick enough to support a small truck or car. As winter gets colder, this limit increases to 45,000 kilograms. At around 15,000 kilograms, small trucks carry up to five million litres of fuel to Fort Chipewyan's power plant. Another 400 truckloads of supplies and food keep the hamlet stocked. But the past 20 years has seen this timeline shrink, particularly during the last five years. The road has been open for fewer than 100 days since the 2016-17 season. Warm weather has caused the road to temporarily close in 2005-06, 2006-07 and in 2008-09. In 1998, ice crossings were too weak to support any traffic. Adjusted for inflation, the province spent $1.5 million for cargo planes to deliver food, oil and gasoline. Another airlift would have been needed last year if a crew was unable to strengthen an ice road crossing at the Des Rochers River. "It's always a concern when the winter road goes out in Fort Chip," said Chief Allan Adam of ACFN. Adam said warm weather is just one hurdle facing the community. The release of water from the Bennett Dam in northeastern B.C. floods the Peace-Athabasca Delta and makes it harder to build the winter road. “That was the cause of what happened here last winter. It was because of high water,” said Adam. “The warm weather didn’t help either, but we had a hell of a time to get our winter road in and the same thing happened this year.” Adam has discussed an all-season road with the municipality, which has been supportive in the past. As recently as 2018, council asked the provincial government to study the idea. Talks quickly die down after engineering and building costs are raised, but Fort Chipewyan's leadership are still pressing for its construction. “Those are the factors that plague us and if we don’t do anything about them, they will continue to happen,” said Adam. Kendrick Cardinal, president of the Fort Chipewyan Métis Local #125, believes relationships with industry will keep the hamlet sustained through future winter road problems, but a permanent road would help with living costs. “I really think that if the road was to stay closed forever, our people will still live their daily lives,” said Cardinal. “Of course, the winter road does bring in fresh foods and fuel but we’re turning to solar power and soon we wouldn’t have to really worry about fuel.” Some people active in trapping, hunting and foraging would prefer Fort Chipewyan limit outside travellers, said Powder. There are also environmental concerns about building a permanent road through the delta south of the community. “I see both sides. Protecting the land is one of the biggest things, but I also see the part where the younger generation wants to build houses and a new band office," said Powder. “All these things require us to maneuver around the winter road schedule.” -With files from Laura Beamish and Vincent McDermott swilliscraft@postmedia.com Sarah Williscraft, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Fort McMurray Today
A lifelong passion has earned Timmins basketball sensation Jadyn Weltz a full scholarship with Binghamton University, a Division-1 NCAA program in upstate New York. The former O'Gorman Knight point guard, like all amateur athletes, has been unable to play any competitive games for over a year now due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent restrictions. For the past two years, and after two standout years with the Knights, Weltz has attended St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School in Hamilton to play for the highly regarded Lincoln Prep program which operates out of the school, and is a member club of the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association (OSBA). “I came here in Grade 11, and got to play my first full season here. We ended up falling short in the playoffs, which was unfortunate, but everything happened season-wise. Then our off-season was cut short, and we didn't get to build off our previous season,” said Weltz. The frustration and disappointment of the lack of game action has been sweetened considerably with the scholarship offer, which has been a lifelong dream of hers. The shutdown has forced her to revamp her training regiment. “It's been a lot of trying to be creative, and trying to come up with ways that I could still get effective training in, with everything going on. So it's been a lot of individual work, rather than team work and competition.” Weltz and her teammates are still holding out hope that some of the OSBA season can be salvaged. “It's been pushed back multiple times. They're looking to start it again somehow. Not sure what that's going to look like or if that's going to happen, but they've been talking out a way that we could get maybe a couple of games in, because the whole season has been altered,” she said. Weltz will bring a very solid resume to the Binghamton Bearcats program. She is a two-time OFSAA 'A' gold medallist with the Knights, and was invited to two Canletes Provincial High School All-Star Showcases in Toronto, which includes Ontario's best players. She represented Team Ontario's Under-15 team at the 2018 Canada Basketball National Championships in New Brunswick winning a silver medal, and was later awarded the Hazel Miner Award by Ontario Basketball, which goes to players “who uphold the finest qualities of sport in their pursuit of athletic excellence.” Weltz has also played summer ball in the Kia Nurse Elite program, and has been invited to tryouts for Team Canada. Her former coach with O'Gorman, Marcy McCarty, was ecstatic with the news of Weltz's achievement. “Pretty big. It's been a dream of hers, and we've worked behind the scenes to see that come true, so it's been nice being part of that process a little bit too. To finally see that happen for her is absolutely awesome. I can't even put into words how proud I am of her.” From her first day of high school, Weltz had a big role to fill on the Knights, as her big sister Emma had been recruited to play for Southwest Academy in London, which left the highly important starting point guard position available. “I was in Grade 9 when I got that experience of playing on the senior team. That in itself was a challenge, having to adapt to a new environment, going from Grade 8 to Grade 12 right away kind of. It was a great experience all around because we hosted OFSAA that year, and we had a lot of support from people in town,” she said. “Basketball wise, I would say it pushed me to be a leader early on in my playing career, because I was this Grade 9 playing on the Grade 12 team and I was expected to do things that maybe I didn't think I was ready for. But it taught me how to push through those uncertainties, and be a leader when I had to be, and what I had to do, and how hard I had to work in order to prove that I belonged there.” She proved much more than that, leading the Knights to the provincial championship, including a dominant performance in the finals. Although that kind of responsibility being placed on a Grade 9 is rare, particularly for a program as successful as the Knights, McCarty was more than comfortable with it. “To have her basically walk in to a starting point guard position on a senior team in Grade 9 was an easy fit for me and Cathy (Beard) as coaches. But it was big pressure, it was a big year for her.” She wasn't completely new to the coaches, as Weltz's days down the street at O'Gorman Intermediate provided her with some early experience. McCarty and Beard have been tireless promoters of the talent of local girls. “When she was in Grade 8, we really started to push these girls down south, and to travel and to really say 'hey we've got a great group of girls here who really have a passion, and that want to go places.' So we started to travel, and we brought her up to a couple of big tournaments when she was in Grade 8. So she had some experience playing for Cathy and I at that level, and we knew she could.” Weltz appreciated the responsibility. “She put a lot of trust in me early on, which really helped push me to be the vision she had of me. She put a lot of faith in me and helped me become the player that I am.” According to Weltz, McCarty deserves a tonne of credit for her development. “She knew how competitive I was, and knew how hard I wanted to work. She really influenced how I developed as a player early on, and how I play today as well.” Weltz is also a product of the Timmins Selects youth basketball program, which she played for six years, starting when was just eight years old. “I would say that definitely helped as well. I was coached by my dad, so that was obviously very motivating. A couple of my other coaches, like Jamie Lamothe, played a huge part in my success as well. They taught me the early basics of the sport, and what I needed to do in order to get to where I am today,” she said. “They guided me, and helped me a lot with decisions like coming to Lincoln Prep, and preparing me for this experience.” Considering all of the complications surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, Weltz said she feels fortunate to have earned the NCAA scholarship. “It's been a different recruiting process for everyone I'd say, because normally you'd play tournaments and games, then coaches would come see you play, or you'd send game film of yourself. But right now, everything you're sending is from a year ago, and you're a completely different player usually. “It's a completely different process, having to send video of yourself just training instead of playing. I got lucky.” Her father Ted, a former Ottawa University baller himself, is proud of the achievement, especially with the challenges of recruiting over the past year. “For sure, but over the years, she's played for Team Ontario, and she's had tryouts with Team Canada, and is in the Team Canada training regimen. So between Team Ontario, Team Canada, Lincoln Prep, and her summer teams with Kia Nurse, she's been exposed over the last three or four years, and she's had a number of schools approach her, and she finally made the decision to go with Binghamton,” he said. She will officially sign in April, and is leaning towards studying business, one of Binghamton's most reputable programs. At this point, she's still uncertain of when exactly she'll be joining her new team. “Normally I would go down in early July for a month, and train with the team, and get set up at school and stuff like that, but they're not really sure how that's looking. So we'll wait and see on that, but I'm still going to be doing some individual training, and hopefully get to have my season a little bit. I really want to take this time to prepare because like everyone says, once you get to university, the level just exceeds even more. Everyone is faster, and stronger, and smarter.” McCarty is very confident that Weltz will be more than ready for the next level, like she was just a few years ago as a Grade 9 playing senior ball. “To see her develop from then, to where she is now, has been wonderful. She attacks everything head-on. She has a huge passion for the sport which just drives her to take not only herself but her team with her, and she usually does that flawlessly.” Over the next few months, Weltz is planning on putting in plenty of hours in the gym to prepare for the new atmosphere she'll be entering. With sister Emma in her second year on the varsity team at Queen's University in Kingston, she has a bit of inside information on what to expect the jump to be like. “She's told me the same thing. You think you're ready to go, and then you get there, and it's just completely different from what you're used to. You're pushed beyond your comfort zone. But she said if you work hard in the summer and you put the necessary work in, you'll succeed.” Andrew Autio is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for The Daily Press. LJI is a federally funded program. Andrew Autio, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Daily Press
AUSTIN, Texas — Top board leaders of Texas’ embattled power grid operator said Tuesday they will resign following outrage over more than 4 million customers losing electricity last week during a deadly winter storm, including many whose frigid homes lacked heat for days in subfreezing temperatures. The resignations are the first since the crisis began in Texas, and calls for wider firings remain in the aftermath of one of the worst power outages in U.S. history. All of the five board directors who are stepping down, including Chairwoman Sally Talberg, live outside of Texas, which only intensified criticism of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The resignations are effective Wednesday — a day before Texas lawmakers are expected to sharply question grid managers and energy officials about the failures during hearings at the state capitol. Another candidate for a director position, who also does not live in Texas, said he was withdrawing his name. Four of the departing board members acknowledged “concerns about out-of-state board leadership" in a letter to grid members and the state's Public Utility Commission, which oversees ERCOT. During the crisis, ERCOT officials removed contact information for board members off its website, saying they had become the target of threats. The board members did not reflect on their own performance in the letter. “Our hearts go out to all Texans who have had to go without electricity, heat, and water during frigid temperatures and continue to face the tragic consequences of this emergency," the letter read. The other board members are vice chairman Peter Cramton, Terry Bulger and Raymond Hepper. Talberg lives in Michigan and Bulger lives in Wheaton, Illinois, according to their biographies on ERCOT's website. Cramton and Hepper spent their careers working outside Texas. The fifth board member leaving is Vanessa Anesetti-Parra. There are a total of 16 members on ERCOT's board, which appoints officers who manage the grid manager’s day-to-day operations. Historic snowfall and single-digit temperatures in Texas last week left millions without power and water for days. The storm was part of any icy blast across the Deep South t hat is blamed for more than 80 deaths, roughly half of which were in Texas. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has largely blamed the outages on ERCOT and called for investigations. But the problems were wider than ERCOT, including power plants that were knocked offline by the extreme cold and natural gas producers didn’t protect wellheads from freezing. “The lack of preparedness and transparency at ERCOT is unacceptable, and I welcome these resignations," Abbott said in a statement. “The State of Texas will continue to investigate ERCOT and uncover the full picture of what went wrong, and we will ensure that the disastrous events of last week are never repeated.” ERCOT president Bill Magness has said Texas' power grid — which is uniquely isolated from the rest of the U.S. — was on the brink of collapse in the early hours of Feb. 15 as power plants froze in the cold and a record demand for electricity to heat home overwhelmed the system. He has defended the outages as a necessity, while Abbott has accused ERCOT of misleading Texas about the readiness of the grid. As governor, Abbott picks the commissioners of the Public Utility Commission that oversees ERCOT. The selection of “unaffiliated” ERCOT board members — like most of those who are resigning — must be approved by the PUC. According to tax filings from 2018, Cramton received $87,000 in compensation and worked an average of five hours a week. Bulger got $65,250 and worked an average of eight hours a week. Three others on the board at the time were paid between $92,600 and $100,100, though it was not immediately known how many hours they worked. ERCOT valued Magness’ total compensation that year at $883,264. After ERCOT removed board members' information from the website, Magness conceded it was public information in a call last week with reporters but did not describe the nature of the threats. “It was a security, safety idea," Magness said. Cramton, whose page on the professional networking site LinkedIn lists him as living in California, declined comment when contacted Tuesday. Hepper also declined comment beyond the resignation letter, and other board members did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Meantime, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the Public Utility Commission of Texas is as responsible for the loss of electric power as ERCOT. “ERCOT alone should not be made the scapegoat," said the Democratic ex-state lawmaker who presides over the largest city in the state and one of the hardest hit by recent weather. "When I was in the Texas Legislature, I filed a bill in 2011 relating to the PUC to ensure ERCOT has adequate reserve power to prevent blackout conditions. That bill never got a hearing. “The PUC oversees ERCOT, and the governor appoints all three commissioners. The resignations do not change the fact that the PUC and the Texas Legislature failed to provide oversight or enact common-sense policy," Turner said. ___ Koenig reported from Dallas. Paul J. Weber And David Koenig, The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s first bilateral meeting with Canada’s Justin Trudeau since taking office was high on policy, low on pomp and featured a very large swipe at Biden's predecessor as the coronavirus forced the two leaders to convene virtually Tuesday rather than gathering with customary Oval Office fanfare. The two leaders — Biden in the Roosevelt Room at the White House and Trudeau in the prime minister's office in Ottawa — delivered friendly opening remarks in front of the media, with flags from both countries on display at both ends of the long-distance conversation. “The United States has no closer friend, no closer friend, than Canada,” Biden said. Trudeau, in turn, commended Biden for quickly rejoining the Paris climate accord, a worldwide pact to curb climate emissions that President Donald Trump walked away from early in his term. The prime minister, who had a frosty relationship with Trump at times, worked in a jab at Trump as he praised Biden. “U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years,” Trudeau said. “And I have to say as we were preparing the joint rollout of the communiqué on this, it’s nice when the Americans are not pulling out all the references to climate change and instead adding them in.” In remarks at the end of the talks, Biden for the first time publicly spoke out against the detention of two Canadian citizens imprisoned in China in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of a top Huawei executive. “Human beings are not bartering chips,” Biden said of the two Canadians. “We are going to work together until their safe return.” Trudeau, for his part, publicly thanked Biden for his support in seeking the men’s release. Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig were detained in China following the arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou in Canada after the U.S. requested her extradition to face charges that the Chinese telecom company executive committed wire and bank fraud and violated U.S. sanctions on Iran. She denies the allegations. China lashed out at Canada last week for joining the U.S. and 56 other countries in endorsing a declaration denouncing state-sponsored arbitrary detention of foreign citizens for political purposes. Trudeau's broadside of Trump was a notable coda to a relationship marked by some notably undiplomatic moments. The Republican president, in a fit of pique in 2018, took to Twitter to label the prime minister “dishonest and weak” after Trudeau voiced objections to Trump raising tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Trump blew up again at Trudeau in 2019, calling him “two-faced” after the Canadian leader was caught on video mocking the American president as he spoke to other world leaders on the sidelines of a NATO conference at Buckingham Palace. In pre-pandemic times, the Biden-Trudeau meeting would have been held with far more fanfare: Biden welcoming the Canadian prime minister with great ceremony upon his arrival, an Oval Office talk between the two leaders, a joint news conference and perhaps a luncheon. But with both leaders stressing caution to their citizens, Biden and Trudeau set aside the typical protocol in favour of talks by video conference. U.S. presidents traditionally invite the Canadian prime minister for their first meeting with a world leader. While cable stations in the United States stuck with breaking news about pro golfer Tiger Woods' serious car crash, Canada's CTV and CBC carried the leaders' opening remarks live. The two leaders agreed to a “road map” outlining how the neighbouring countries will work together to fight COVID-19, curb climate emissions and pursue other shared priorities. Trudeau again raised with Biden the idea of allowing Canada, which is struggling to vaccinate its population, to buy vaccines produced in the U.S, according to a senior Canadian government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to detail the private talks. Canada currently is getting vaccines shipped from Pfizer and Moderna plants in Europe. Trudeau brought up the issue when the two leaders spoke by phone last month, Biden's first call to a foreign leader as president. But Biden's “first priority” remains “ensuring every American is vaccinated,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said ahead of the meeting. Biden's team offered the same message to Trudeau privately. The prime minister's office said in a statement that Biden and Trudeau discussed how the pandemic “will not end until everyone, everywhere has access to a vaccine” and "the importance of avoiding measures that may constrain the critical trade and supply-chain security between our countries.” Neither leader in public remarks mentioned differences over Biden's “Buy American” executive order or his decision to halt construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, a transcontinental project that was to bring oil from the tar sands of Alberta to the Texas Gulf Coast, passing through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. The Keystone decision came up in the talks with Biden standing by his decision to stop the project as he promised to do during his campaign, according to the Canadian government official. Trudeau, who supported the project, expressed his disappointment with Biden's decision when the two spoke by phone last month. The Canadian side also raised concerns about the “Buy American” executive order that Biden signed during his first week in office. It is designed to encourage the federal government to spend more of the roughly $600 billion earmarked for procurement to boost U.S. factories and hiring. Biden previously said that as part of the push he was creating a “Made in America” office to evaluate contracts and make sure waivers are used only in “very limited circumstances.” The issue is crucial to Canada since the U.S. accounts for about 75% of its exports. White House officials say no decisions have been made on waivers. ___ Madhani reported from Chicago and Gillies from Toronto. Aamer Madhani, Rob Gillies And Josh Boak, The Associated Press
The Southern Baptist Convention’s executive committee voted Tuesday to oust four of its churches, two over policies deemed to be too inclusive of LGBTQ people and two more for employing pastors convicted of sex offences. The actions were announced at a meeting marked by warnings from two top leaders that the SBC, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, was damaging itself with divisions over several critical issues including race. “We should mourn when closet racists and neo-Confederates feel more at home in our churches than do many of our people of colour,” said the SBC’s president, J.D. Greear, in his opening speech. The two churches expelled for LGBTQ inclusion were St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, and Towne View Baptist Church, in Kennesaw, Georgia. Towne View’s pastor, the Rev. Jim Conrad, told The Associated Press last week that he would not appeal the ouster and plans to affiliate his church, at least temporarily, with The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which lets churches set their own LGBTQ policies. Towne View began admitting LGBTQ worshippers as members in October 2019 after a same-sex couple with three adopted children asked Conrad if they could attend, a decision he defends as the right thing to do. “The alternative would have been to say, ‘We’re probably not ready for this,’ but I couldn’t do that,” said Conrad, pastor there since 1994. St. Matthews Baptist was among more than 12 churches that lost their affiliation with the Kentucky Baptist Convention in 2018 because they made financial contributions to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which had recently lifted a ban on hiring LGBTQ employees. In a statement Tuesday, St. Matthews said the SBC's decision to oust it was based on its LGBTQ-inclusive membership policy — which asserts that “a belief in Jesus as personal Savior is the sole criterion for membership in our Church.” “Nothing in the Southern Baptist Convention’s decision changes St. Matthews Baptist Church’s deep commitment to carrying out what God calls us to do in our worship and spiritual growth,” the church said. SBC officials said West Side Baptist Church in Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, was ousted because it “knowingly employs as pastor a registered sex offender,” while Antioch Baptist Church in Sevierville, Tennessee, has a pastor who was convicted of statutory rape. Baptist Press, the SBC's official news agency, identified the Antioch Baptist pastor as John Randy Leming Jr., and said he had pleaded guilty in 1998 to two counts of statutory rape for oral sex with a 16-year-old congregant when he pastored at nearby Shiloh Baptist Church in Sevier County in 1994. The Associated Press was unable to find a working phone number for Leming’s church and there was no immediate reply to a message sent via its Facebook page. West Side Baptist had made clear on its website that its pastor, David Pearson, has a troubled past. “Over 29 years ago Pastor David lived as a great sinner and rebel,” the site says. “But Christ Jesus is a great Savior! Today Pastor David has gone from disgrace to amazing grace and now has served the Lord Jesus Christ at West Side for 18 years.” Pearson is listed on Florida's sex-offender registry as having been convicted of sexual assault of a child in Texas in 1993. Also on Tuesday's agenda was a report by an executive committee task force about the SBC's public policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and its president, the Rev. Russell Moore. Moore has dismayed some SBC conservatives with various stances — including criticism of former President Donald Trump and support for a more welcoming immigration policy. But the executive committee took no action on the report, declining to embrace some recommendations aimed at reining in Moore's outspokenness. The two-day meeting opened Monday in Nashville, Tennessee, with a schedule featuring speeches by Greear and executive committee president Ronnie Floyd bemoaning the multiple acrimonious divisions within the denomination. “This sound of war in the camp of Southern Baptists is concerning to me, and I know it is also concerning to many of you,” Floyd said. “While we hear and see how the American culture is so out of control, my friends, our own culture within the Southern Baptist family is also out of control.” Floyd noted that the divisions mirror ideological, political and racial differences nationwide. “In this fever-pitch environment, each of us needs to be very careful with the words we write, speak, tweet or post,” he said. “As SBC leaders and followers of Jesus, our public behaviour matters.” Greear addressed racial tensions in the SBC, a longstanding problem that has recently been rekindled. Some Black pastors have left the SBC and others are voicing dismay over pronouncements by the SBC’s six seminary presidents — all of them white — restricting how the subject of systemic racism can be taught at their schools. Going forward, Greear said, Black Southern Baptists should be included in discussions on this topic, including the SBC’s stance toward the concept of Critical Race Theory, which the seminary presidents repudiated. “The reality is that if we in the SBC had shown as much sorrow for the painful legacy that racism and discrimination has left in our country as we have passion to decry CRT, we probably wouldn’t be in this mess,” Greear said “Do we want to be a Gospel people, or a Southern culture people? Which is the more important part of our name — Southern or Baptist?” After the two speeches, the executive committee unanimously adopted an expansion plan called Vision 2025. It would increase full-time Southern Baptist international missionaries from 3,700 to 4,200, boost the number of congregations by 5,000 and seek to reverse the decline in baptizing 12- to 17-year-olds. Floyd said SBC churches are baptizing 38% fewer teenagers than in 2000. ___ Associated Press reporter Travis Loller in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report. ___ This story has been corrected to reflect that the Pennsylvania church's name is West Side, not Westside. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support from the Lilly Endowment through The Conversation U.S. The AP is solely responsible for this content. David Crary, The Associated Press
(Evan Mitsui/CBC - image credit) Two COVID-19 outbreaks have been confirmed at separate Toronto police facilities, according to a statement Tuesday night, but police say there has been no impact "to date" on their service to the community. Over the past two weeks, Toronto Police Services said they've been battling outbreaks at 31 Division in North York and the Toronto Police College in Etobicoke. In an emailed statement, police said they are making extensive contact tracing a priority to ensure members get tested, self-isolate and self-monitor. "At 31 Division, resources from other areas of the city have been assigned to assist with calls for service. To date, there has been no impact on our ability to provide front-line policing to the community," Toronto Police Const. Laura Brabant said in a statement. There's been no confirmation of the number of positive cases at each facility. At the college, police said in-person training has been suspended and they are offering virtual training where possible. In the statement, police said both locations have undergone "multiple cleanings and thorough disinfections." Safety measures have been implemented to stop the spread of the virus, including self-screening by every member before duty and wearing a surgical mask at all times when inside a police facility, the statement reads.
TAMPA, Fla. — Tobias Harris had 23 points to lift the Eastern Conference-leading Philadelphia 76ers to a 109-102 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. Norman Powell had 24 points while Pascal Siakam added 22 to lead the Raptors (16-16), who saw their four-game win streak end in the loss. Fred VanVleet finished with 12 points, Aron Baynes had 11 and OG Anunoby and Chris Boucher chipped in with 10 points apiece. Kyle Lowry sat out his fourth consecutive game with a left thumb injury. Two nights after a 110-103 win over the Sixers, the Raptors struggled from the opening whistle. They gave up 37 points in the first quarter and trailed by 21 in the second quarter. Down 79-65 to start the fourth, the Raptors clawed back and a driving dunk from Siakam and three-pointer from Boucher made it a six-point game with 5:07 to play. But, despite a couple of long three-pointers from VanVleet, the Raptors would come no closer and, when Joel Embiid knocked down two free throws with 1:48 to play, the Sixers (21-11) were back up by 17 points. But the battling Raptors didn't let the game go easily. A pair of Sixers turnovers led to consecutive Toronto dunks -- by Powell and Siakam, respectively -- and it was a six-point game with 21.6 seconds to play. Sixers free throws in the final few seconds clinched the game for Philly. Tuesday marked the final two-game mini-series for Toronto in the first half of the season. The Raptors swept Charlotte and Milwaukee but split games with Miami and Indiana, losing the second games in both series. Raptors coach Nick Nurse predicted Game 2 against Philly would be a challenge. "This one feels like it's gonna be tougher tonight," Nurse said in his pre-game media availability. The NBA implemented the mini-series format this season to limit travel amid COVID-19. Nurse was non-committal when asked if he likes it. "I mean, listen, going to Milwaukee and getting that first one, I woulda just as soon got out of town and forgot about them for a while, and probably be the same the other night, getting Philly and just as soon move on to the next team," he said. Furkan Korkmaz, a 30 per cent shooter from distance this season, had four three-pointers and 16 points in the first quarter and his shot from behind the arc with 7.8 seconds left in the quarter had the Sixers up 37-17 to start the second. Philly built a 21-point lead in the second, but the Raptors replied with a 13-3 run to slice the difference to 11. Toronto trailed 55-42 at the halftime break. Powell's driving floater capped a 9-0 Raptors run that pulled them to within six, but the Sixers responded with a quick 7-0 run and led by 14 with one quarter to play. The Raptors have no time for rest. They face the Heat in Miami on Wednesday, and are back "home" to host Houston at Amalie Arena on Friday. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2021. The Canadian Press
Stephanie Connell never grew out of her childhood dream of becoming an astronaut. While the 29-year-old student has a long way to go before venturing into outer space, she came one step closer last week — when the Perseverance rover landed on Mars. “I was watching it from my living room, on my laptop … sweating,” she recalls of the moments Thursday, leading up to the successful spacecraft parachute. Connell, a fourth-year environmental sciences student, is part of the University of Winnipeg team at the Centre for Terrestrial and Planetary Exploration involved with NASA’s latest probe. “If you would’ve told eight-year-old Steph I’d be doing this, I would be ecstatic,” she said. Led by centre director Ed Cloutis, the Winnipeg team is working with international scientists who are scanning the Red Planet’s surface geology for signs of life to record findings during the expedition. Last week’s landing was eight years in the making for Cloutis, who has been supporting the development of the rover’s cameras since 2013. He recruited students to take part in the latest project in the summertime, at which point, Connell and Nathalie Turenne began to train for Mars exploration through shadowing experts in pre-mission operations. “This is a very high-profile mission and I’m proud of the fact we can contribute,” said Cloutis, a geography professor at U of W. Throughout his quarter-century of doing planetary exploration work, Cloutis has been a part of five missions, including Curiosity, in which a rover landed on Mars in 2012. He got involved with Perseverance after NASA scientists inquired about his interest in the project, given U of W’s unique facilities and expertise to support missions to Mars. The Centre for Terrestrial and Planetary Exploration is home to a chamber that can mimic the surface of Mars, in terms of atmospheric pressure, temperature and its carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere. Before Perseverance launched, Cloutis’ team used the dishwasher-sized device to test calibration targets — equipment that was mounted onto the rover to help cameras collect images and scientific data — to ensure the pictures taken on Mars are in true colour. Two rock samples from the Winnipeg lab’s collection were also installed on the rover as part of its SuperCam instrument’s calibration pane, Cloutis said. Now that Perseverance has landed, the team is supporting the search for signs of life by taking part in “rover shifts.” Turenne, a recent U of W graduate who wants to pursue a thesis involving planetary science, had her second shift as a documentarian late Monday night, when it was daytime on Mars. The 25-year-old observed a panorama taken by cameras aboard the rover and took notes about what the mission’s science support team learned from the imagery. “It’s incredible seeing images,” she said. “It’s a great feeling to just be in awe.” When asked whether he suspects there were once living creatures on Mars, Cloutis said his answer to the question changes daily. “But if we’re going to find signs of life on Mars, they will be signs of past, microbial life.” NASA plans to explore the rover’s landing site in the Jezero Crater region for at least one Mars year, which is the equivalent of two years on Earth. Maggie Macintosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press
If and when a new slate of legislators is elected in Newfoundland and Labrador, one of the first orders of business might be to ensure the chaos of the past two weeks never happens again. That’s going to require changes to the Elections Act. The outbreak of the COVID-19 variant caused an emergency that no legislation was equipped to handle. No one, it seemed, had the authority to do anything substantial about the election, other than to delay the vote for a day or two. For a couple of days, the chief officers of health and elections — Dr. Janice Fitzgerald and Bruce Chaulk, respectively — tossed responsibility back and forth like a hot potato. Fitzgerald finally put her foot down after getting legal advice that her sweeping public health emergency powers did not extend to the core mechanisms of democracy itself. Chaulk, finally, pulled the plug himself. There was no precedent, no clause that gave him the authority. With poll clerks quitting all over the province and a total pandemic lockdown imminent, he just did it, indefinitely postponing the election in the St. John’s region, and then later calling it all off in favour of mail-in ballots. “Some provinces have the ability — like Nova Scotia or Ontario — if there’s an emergency or some unforeseen event, to outright cancel the election in a particular district or riding,” says Ottawa lawyer Lyle Skinner. In provinces like New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador, that ability doesn’t exist. Skinner, whose specialization in parliamentary and emergency management law has made him a popular reference on Newfoundland’s current dilemma, says the lack of a sitting legislature during the election created a classic Catch-22. “The tricky part in Newfoundland right now is that there is no House of Assembly. There’s no MHAs, so they can’t fix the legislation,” he said “What’s happening right now is what could have happened in New Brunswick.” In fact, anyone who followed the New Brunswick election campaign last August would have seen there was a potential time bomb. Like Newfoundland, New Brunswick’s law gives its chief elections officer the ability to take some actions in unforeseen circumstances, but then throws a monkey wrench in the works by exempting the ability to change the hours or timing of the election. That fact was even brought up during the campaign. New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs and Chief Electoral Officer Kim Poffenroth publicly proclaimed neither of them had the authority to halt or postpone an election. Poffenroth went so far to say she didn’t want to have that power. “As the chief electoral officer, I did not want the authority to determine whether an election should be paused or put on hold," she told a committee hearing. Higgs said later he had received a legal opinion informing him that he did, in fact, have the power, though the legal process was not clearly spelled out. The election went ahead in September as planned, and Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey has often cited it as an example of how an election can be held during a pandemic. The potential legal pitfalls were not cited. On Jan. 21, a week after the writ was dropped in Newfoundland, Kim Poffenroth filed her report on the New Brunswick election with a series of recommendations. No. 3 on the list was, “The chief electoral officer recommends that the Elections Act be amended to provide the chief electoral officer with the authority to adapt the provisions of the act to the execution of its intent and to protect public safety in the event of a declared state of emergency, including a public health emergency.” The recommendation goes on to say the call during a pandemic, combined with a short campaign period, “created a perfect storm” for election administrators. It describes how Poffenroth had appeared before a committee to explain the hole in legislative authority during an emergency. However, she stuck with her original belief that postponing an election should not be in her purview. “The chief electoral officer should not be permitted to extend the time for filing nominations papers nor to postpone ordinary polling day,” the recommendation read. “It is the opinion of the chief electoral officer that this is not an appropriate discretionary authority to be granted to the chief electoral officer and that this authority should rest with either the Legislative Assembly or the Lieutenant-Governor in Council.” The lieutenant-governor in council is another term for cabinet. Skinner says no one is questioning whether the Newfoundland and Labrador election should have been put on ice. “The issue right now is not whether it’s the correct thing to do to postpone the election,” he said. “I think anybody can point to that now as probably being the best course of action. The issue is, with respect to the rule of law and the fact that this touches on an issue that’s so close — the democratic rights of citizens — is it appropriate for somebody to claim powers that they may not actually have.” The latter part of Poffenroth’s recommendation points to a procedure already spelled out in some jurisdictions, Skinner says. The two best examples are Manitoba and the Government of Canada. Section 52 of the Manitoba act states, “If the chief electoral officer certifies that it is impossible for any reason to close nominations on the day specified in Subsection 56(1) or to hold an election in an electoral division on the day set in the order for election, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may order that a new writ be issued and may, despite any other provision of this act, specify in that order a new closing day for nominations, or a new election day, or both.” That, says Skinner, is a two-party process. “The person who says there’s a problem is the chief electoral officer, and then it’s cabinet that says, yup, we agree with that. So the decision is coming from somebody that is appointed for their impartiality.” In the meantime, Skinner says, there are numerous avenues for anyone to challenge the Newfoundland and Labrador election as it exists now, as the legislation clearly gives no leeway to substantially extend the timeline for counting votes, as Chaulk has done. And that could be a whole new can of worms. Peter Jackson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Telegram
RED DEER, Alta. — A central Alberta man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of his wife. Satnam Singh Sandhu of Sylvan Lake was originally charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty Tuesday to the lesser charge. The 43-year-old is to be sentenced in Red Deer Court of Queen’s Bench on Friday. Court heard that he got into a physical fight with his wife, Kulvinder Sandhu, on Sept. 11, 2019, over money. According to the agreed statement of facts, during the struggle they were choking each other and she hit her head on a heater while falling to the floor. The 36-year-old was taken to hospital but was taken off life-support a few days later. Crown prosecutor Bruce Ritter is seeking a sentence in the range of seven to 12 years, while defence lawyer Dan Murphy is asking for a sentence of four years, less time served. When given the chance to speak on Tuesday, Sandhu declined through an interpreter. (rdnewsNOW) This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2021 The Canadian Press
Premier Scott Moe and VIDO-InterVac Director Dr. Volker Gerdts made an announcement today in Regina regarding $15 million to support world-leading research in Saskatchewan. The Government of Saskatchewan has committed this new money to further support the pandemic research that is done by Vaccine and Infectious Disease (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan. Premier Moe stated, “COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of Canada being a leader in research, development and production of new vaccines. The place that should happen is right here in Saskatchewan, at VIDO-InterVac in Saskatoon.” The City of Saskatoon has already committed funding to this project as well several private donors have made significant contributions. VIDO-InterVac has requested $45 million in funding from the federal government and Premier Moe said his government has also formally written to Ottawa to support this request. The Premier stated that this funding will support VIDO’s Centre for Pandemic Research upgrade to a Level 4 containment facility. Laboratories which are rated as a Level 4 containment facility have the safety measures necessary to work safely with the most serious and deadly human and animal diseases. Currently, the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg is the only such facility in Canada. VIDO’s original design of the 2000 square foot lab made it possible for future enhancement to Level 4 capability. The Centre will also provide critical animal housing for multiple species and significantly reduce the time required to advance vaccine development to human clinical trials. The Premier affirmed that he has, in his discussions with his federal colleagues, received very positive responses to calls for the support of VIDO. Premier Moe was adamant that this is a good investment not only for people in Saskatchewan but also for the people of Canada. Dr. Gerdts that he as well has had numerous conversations with relevant ministries including the Prime Minister’s office and the Privy Council, of the importance of having a centre dedicated to emerging diseases here in Canada. “The investment [from the Government of Saskatchewan] will help ensure the necessary infrastructure is in place to protect Canadians from future emerging infectious diseases.” The Premier also shared that the Roy Romanow Lab in Regina is currently working through the process of getting accredited to test for the new variants of COVID-19 that are now being discovered in the province and he expects that process to be completed by early March. To date there are six confirmed cases of the new variants and one suspected case in the province and once that accreditation is completed the results of new variants testing will be available within a few days as opposed to a week or two as currently exists. The production facility that is being built at the University is not only being built to manufacture VIDO’s vaccine, but it will also be capable of manufacturing all the vaccines currently available except for the mRNA ones as they require some very specialized material and processes. If a facility such as the one being built ahd already existed in the province, Dr. Gerdts stated that the vaccine developed by VIDO-InterVac would have been in clinical trails six months earlier. The research and development that was carried out by VIDO was among the first in the world, but they were stymied by having to wait for outside agencies to manufacture the materials needed to progress to those critical trials. An in-house facility would have totally eliminated that lag time and we could have been vaccine developed and produced here in Canada rather than playing the waiting game that we are now. The infrastructure is already in place and the facility at the University of Saskatchewan is the largest high containment facility in Canada and to Dr. Gerdts it only makes sense that the funding should be approved so that all research and development can be done in one place where they can house the animals these new virus’ are transmitting from and give scientists the advantage they need to meet new emergent diseases head on. The Centre for Pandemic Research will give VIDO “the capacity to develop the workforce and train the talent needed for a resilient vaccine and therapeutic ecosystem in Canada.” Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Wakaw Recorder
(Mehrdad Nazarahari/CBC - image credit) The Ontario government is in talks with the city and neighbourhood groups over the fate of the Dominion Foundries heritage site in the West Don Lands. A court date set for Friday on the issue has been adjourned. The case had been scheduled to be heard by a three-judge panel in Ontario Divisional Court. All parties involved in the case agreed to have the court date adjourned in the hopes of negotiating a settlement. The Dominion Wheel and Foundries Ltd. Manufacturing Complex, located at 153 to 185 Eastern Ave., is at the centre of a fight between the province, local residents and the city. The site is provincially owned. Community members have been fighting to stop the province from demolishing four industrial heritage buildings on the site. One building is already damaged by a demolition crew. The St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association had filed an application for an injunction to halt the demolition. Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam, who represents Ward 13, Toronto Centre, said on Tuesday the province had asked for the adjournment. She said the city agreed to see if both parties could reach a settlement out of court, adding the city will only drop the case for good if the province agrees to all the conditions set out by city lawyers. In an email on Tuesday, the Ontario municipal affairs and housing ministry said it has sent invitations for virtual talks to the West Don Lands Committee, the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association and the Corktown Residents and Business Association. "These meetings will be taking place shortly," Stephanie Bellotto, press secretary for Steve Clark, municipal affairs and housing minister, said in the email. Bellotto said the ministry has encouraged the neighbourhood groups to bring members of the International Resource Centre for Performing Artists (IRCPA) to the talks. The group has proposed to "regenerate" the buildings as a place for musicians to work and perform and as a community hub for Corktown. "As the government has been clear, the Heritage Impact Assessment for the site determined that it requires demolition to allow for environmental remediation," Bellotto said. "The government is seeking feedback from stakeholders, residents' groups and the public on how some elements of the existing structures could inform any future development, following the completion of environmental remediation." Community members have been fighting to stop the province from demolishing four industrial heritage buildings on the site. One building is already damaged by a demolition crew. Wong-Tam said the city presented the province with a list of conditions for the talks. She said the province must agree to comply with the Ontario Heritage Act and Subdivisions Agreement, to follow its own provincial policies on heritage properties, and to hold meaningful consultations with the community to ensure local residents can work together with the province on the redevelopment of the site. If the province fails to do so, the court action will resume, she said. "We're not going to let the province off the hook, per se, meaning that we're going to drop the case, but we're going to engage with them right now and try to get all the things we would have gotten hopefully through a court hearing, without having to go through the court hearing," Wong-Tam said. The city solicitor is drafting potential minutes of settlement in consultation with city planning and heritage staff, she said. Then the city will give the minutes of settlement to the province for it to consider. "We aim to secure FULL compliance with the Ontario Heritage Act, the Subdivision Agreement and to have the Province address all of our issues. If this happens, then the court hearing will no longer be necessary," Wong-Tam said on Twitter. "If the Province is not agreeable to what the City believes are appropriate terms, including the nature of public consultation, there will be no settlement. We will then seek a new court hearing date." This Heritage Toronto plaque contains historical information about the Dominion Wheel and Foundries Ltd. Manufacturing Complex. Suzanne Kavanagh, chair of the development committee of the St Lawrence Neighbourhood Association and a member of Friends of the Foundry, said the province needs to consult with the community. "I think what we want out of this whole process is to have a discussion with the province about this particular site," she said. "We want to make sure they are following due process. What we are concerned about is that they have followed due process and that they are following their own rules and regulations as far as disposal of public lands." CBC News revealed on Monday that the government reached an agreement of purchase and sale of the site last fall after months of negotiations with an unnamed buyer. The government has said the site has not been sold but refuses to say why there have been no open call for bids on the property. On Monday, Steve Clark, Ontario Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, said the province is now interested in consulting the community on the matter. "The site hasn't been sold," Clark told reporters. "Now, our focus is different. Our focus is ensuring that there is consultation on that site." The ministry has set up online public consultation on the government's website and it is open until March 4.
A $1-million bond program has been created by the provincial government to support future rural organic waste processing facilities administered by Manitoba-based company Innovative NRG. Such facilities are being considered for the communities of Cartier, Rossburn, and Carman, the province said Monday. The sites would take organic materials — such as animal byproducts and sludge generated in wastewater treatment — and, using a gasification process and proprietary technology, capture thermal energy released to heat buildings or water for industrial uses. The $1-million Green Impact Bond will provide the upfront costs for the facilities, and a third party will ensure Innovative NRG is meeting targets for waste diversion, greenhouse gas reductions and job creation, the province said. Conservation and Climate Minister Sarah Guillemard said the program would help to lower greenhouse gas emissions from organic materials decomposing in landfills, but also reduce the pressure on landfills nearing capacity. “Our (rapid organic conversion) innovation represents a leap forward in reducing GHG emissions and costs, disrupting the existing centralized waste landfill disposal system,” said Del Dunford, chief executive officer of Innovative NRG. The NDP critic for environment and climate change, Lisa Naylor, said she would rather see the province work with municipalities to create composting programs and return funding to environmental organizations such as the Green Action Centre. “Manitoba families want to do their part to create a cleaner environment, but this announcement amounts to nothing more than ‘greenwashing.’ The government has failed to release their targets for job creation and environmental impact, so Manitobans have no way of knowing if this program benefits their community,” Naylor said. Provincial estimates provided to media indicated investors have the opportunity to earn returns of up to eight per cent over the lives of the projects. Sarah Lawrynuik, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press
Golf superstar Tiger Woods needed surgery after a car crash in Los Angeles on Tuesday that left him with multiple leg injuries. Officials say he was conscious when pulled from the wrecked SUV and the injuries are not life threatening.
New laws are on the horizon for Canada’s aquaculture industry, but environmentalists are wary the proposed legislation might not be enough to protect the country’s oceans. Canada’s $1.2-billion aquaculture industry is now regulated under a patchwork of federal and provincial laws and regulations. Confusion over that regulatory maze has fuelled a years-long effort by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) to develop aquaculture-specific legislation. The new laws would update rules on everything from licensing to the industry’s environmental impact. “We have concerns around the act that (with) the direction it is going, it may actually exempt or replace or undermine some of the other legislative protections around wild fish biodiversity,” said Stan Proboszcz, science and campaign adviser for the Watershed Watch Salmon Society. Currently, the Fisheries Act contains strong provisions aimed at protecting wild fish and wild fish habitat. Largely developed in the Trudeau government’s early years — an effort to restore protections gutted by former prime minister Stephen Harper — the rules established rigorous habitat protections, Proboszcz said. But he’s worried the proposed aquaculture laws could exempt fish farms from some of these protections. Of greatest concern to Proboszcz and other advocates are open-pen salmon farms, the largest industry in Canada’s aquaculture sector. In use on both coasts, open-pen nets pose a risk to wild Pacific and Atlantic salmon largely because the farms risk exposing wild populations to pests and disease. For instance, a 2012 report by Justice Bruce Cohen found that fish farms along salmon migration routes on the B.C. coast were contributing to the rapid decline of Fraser River salmon. Almost a decade later, in 2020 — and months after the river saw historically low returns — DFO decided to remove open-pen fish farms from the species' key migration route. Environmentalists in both the Atlantic provinces and B.C. have also been concerned for years about the farms’ impact on surrounding ecosystems because excrement, excess feed, and other waste leach beyond the floating pens — despite environmental protections under the Fisheries Act. “The open-pen salmon farming industry is in part governed by the protections of the Fisheries Act,” said Proboszcz. “We think that’s the way it should stay — we spent … years revising the Fisheries Act to protect habitats, to protect wild fish, and we don’t want to see an aquaculture act come in that amends those protections.” In a statement, DFO said the proposed act “would be derived from relevant sections of the Fisheries Act” and “would clearly and appropriately prohibit specific harmful activities … by maintaining the environmental prohibition currently found under the Fisheries Act.” But in a January letter, Watershed Watch and a coalition of other environmental organizations noted that less-stringent provincial aquaculture laws could leave open a loophole to these protections. The Atlantic provinces have some jurisdiction over aquaculture in their waters thanks to agreements between the federal and provincial governments. “The super obvious (concern) is that there doesn’t appear to be any requirement for a national standard of regulation,” said Simon Ryder-Burbidge, marine conservation officer with the Halifax-based Ecology Action Centre. “In the course of developing a federal act, you would want to mandate some kind of national standards for the protections of ecosystems at the federal level,” but the proposed act would keep the current system — where jurisdiction over fish farms is split between the federal and provincial governments — intact. “The proposed (aquaculture) act will not impede on existing areas of provincial jurisdiction,” DFO confirmed in a statement. Those aren’t Ryder-Burbidge and Proboszcz's only worries, however. Both noted that DFO’s dual responsibility to regulate and promote Canada’s aquaculture industry is a significant conflict of interest that shouldn’t be enshrined in the planned law. “We do not want to see any sort of legislation or regulation that facilitates the government’s promotion of aquaculture as an industry,” said Proboszcz. Similar concerns have been raised for years: Justice Cohen noted it in the 2012 Cohen report on Fraser River sockeye. More recently, Chief Don Tom, vice-president of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, noted the issue was central to controversy around fish farms in B.C.’s Discovery Islands. In response, the ministry said it is “committed to the conservation of wild salmon stocks” and aims to create an act that “provides greater clarity for the sector’s management and helps further enhance environmental protections.” Still, Ryder-Burbidge remains concerned. “At the end of the day, the protection of marine species falls at the foot of the federal government. We want to see them step up and take action to protect wild … salmon and other species,” he said. Marc Fawcett-Atkinson/Local Journalism Initiative/Canada's National Observer Marc Fawcett-Atkinson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, National Observer
Des jeunes immigrants afro-descendants, appellent à une meilleure éducation de la société sur les cultures africaines. Une méconnaissance généralisée de l’Afrique nourrit les préjugés et le racisme que peuvent rencontrer les personnes noires au Québec et ailleurs au pays, selon de jeunes immigrants afro-descendants, qui appellent à une meilleure éducation de la population sur les cultures africaines. Du haut de ses 12 ans, Béni Tévi souhaite vivre « dans un monde sans violence, où tous les gens seraient respectés sur un même pied d’égalité ». À ses yeux, il ne fait aucun doute que la diversité est une « richesse » qui rend « la vie plus intéressante ». Ce jeune Rimouskois, originaire du Togo, est l’un des quatre adolescents afro-descendants ayant participé, le 20 février dernier, au forum « Bâtir et grandir ensemble », organisé par le Cabaret de la Diversité. Béni agit à titre d’ambassadeur jeunesse pour cet organisme du Bas-Saint-Laurent depuis 2019. Animé par la Camerounaise Wanda Jemly, le forum ayant pris la forme d’une discussion ouverte a donné aux jeunes élèves présents l’occasion d’échanger à propos des idées reçues sur les Noirs et de proposer des solutions pour améliorer l’inclusion et favoriser les rapprochements interculturels. « On ne peut pas vivre ensemble si on ne se connaît pas », fait valoir en entrevue Lenine Nankassa Boucal, fondateur du Cabaret de la Diversité. « Il faut avoir l’humilité d’écouter, d’apprendre et de grandir avec nos enfants, pour bâtir le monde de demain d’amour, de paix, de tolérance et de mieux vivre ensemble », insiste celui qui est également porte-parole du Mois de l’Histoire des Noirs Bas-Saint-Laurent. « Nous avons le devoir de léguer un monde meilleur à nos enfants, mais le monde qu’on laissera sera tributaire de nos actes aujourd’hui. » Discutant d’abord d’identité, les jeunes étudiants ont déploré être souvent « mis dans une même case ». « Quand je dis aux gens que je viens du Togo, ils pensent que je dis Congo. Ça me dérange un peu que les gens pensent que tous les Africains viennent du Congo », a confié Béni, qui est arrivé au Québec en 2016, à l’âge de 9 ans. « Il y a une très grande diversité de cultures en Afrique, mais souvent, les gens ne prennent pas en considération les autres pays », a souligné pour sa part Marylou Djida, une Camerounaise de 14 ans née en Italie et vivant aujourd’hui à Vancouver. Confortablement assis dans son salon à Gatineau, Sébastien Cimpaye, 13 ans, a indiqué que les gens gagneraient à s’intéresser davantage aux cultures africaines. « Ce sont des cultures très riches. C’est un peu triste quand tu parles d’un pays et que les gens n’ont pas l’air de savoir où c’est. Les gens me demandent parfois si je peux leur apprendre “l’africain”, comme s’il y avait une seule langue en Afrique », a ajouté le Québécois d’origine rwando-burundaise. « Comment pourrait-on faire pour que cela change ? » a demandé l’animatrice aux jeunes. Béni s’est empressé de répondre « qu’il faudrait parler davantage des pays africains et asiatiques et montrer leur culture à travers des expositions. » Le Suisse d’origine camerounaise, Joaron Zufferey, a renchéri en proposant d’enseigner aux jeunes enfants qu’il y a 54 pays en Afrique, avant même leur arrivée sur les bancs d’école. « On pourrait leur montrer à travers des livres ou des jeux de société qu’il y a d’autres pays que le Congo, le Cameroun et le Nigeria », a précisé le résident de Vancouver âgé de 12 ans, mordu de lecture et de science. Marylou a suggéré pour sa part l’apprentissage à travers des exposés en équipe devant la classe. « Quand on nous parle de l’Afrique à l’école, on parle de guerre et d’esclavage. Je trouve qu’on pourrait parler un peu plus de culture », a-t-elle exprimé, esquissant son sourire discret. Quant à lui, Sébastien a proposé d’utiliser des mythes et des contes pour en apprendre davantage sur les pays de l’Afrique. « Dans nos cours de géographie, il y a toujours plein d’histoires pour nous aider à nous souvenir de chaque pays d’Europe, mais quand on parle de l’Afrique, on n’a pas ça. Un cours de géographie, je m’en souviens plus ou moins, mais une histoire, ça reste dans ma tête ! » a dit le jeune homme. « Une fois, dans ma classe, quelqu’un a dit le mot “race” et la professeure lui a dit qu’il ne fallait pas dire ça », a par ailleurs raconté la jeune Marylou Djida, disant ne pas toujours comprendre le malaise et l’hésitation des gens à l’égard de l’utilisation des mots « race » et « noir ». « Je crois que le problème n’est pas dans le mot, mais plutôt dans son utilisation négative envers quelqu’un », a-t-elle jugé. Parlant de son expérience en tant que métis suisse-camerounais, Joaron a expliqué : « Il y a plus que des Blancs et des Noirs. Quand j’étais au Cameroun, on me disait que j’étais blanc et je leur disais que j’étais aussi noir. Et ici au Canada, c’est l’inverse », a-t-il confié. « Le mot noir est un peu tabou, car les gens “non noirs” ont peur de nous déranger ou de nous blesser en le disant, mais c’est plutôt la connotation du mot qui dérange », a souligné Béni. « Quand les gens veulent décrire une personne noire, ils essaient de trouver un autre terme ou adjectif, alors que ce serait plus simple de dire le mot noir, a observé de son côté Sébastien Cimpaye, de Gatineau. Les gens craignent qu’on pense qu’ils sont racistes, tout ça devient compliqué. » À ses yeux, « il faut vivre et laisser vivre, mais essayer d’être empathique et se mettre à la place de l’autre pour comprendre ce qu’il peut ressentir. » Tout simplement. Le panel jeunesse « Bâtir et grandir ensemble » a été présenté dans le cadre du Mois de l’Histoire des Noirs, en collaboration avec Afrika21, le Conseil de la Communauté noire de Gatineau (CCNG) et Kacodiar. Karla Meza, Initiative de journalisme local, Le Devoir
