Category Archives: General

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Politicians Are Using EI To Rob Workers, Not Help Them

Robbing Workers for Fun and Profit

Employers and employees continue to pay into EI, but due to the major restrictions on eligibility, the EI fund has pulled in massive surpluses for decades. From 1989 to 1999 alone, worker and employer contributions to EI’s account generated a surplus in today’s dollars of more than 67 billion. For perspective, Canada’s student loans are worth about $28 billion, and the recent CERB program cost an estimated $71 billion.

The EI surplus intended for the unemployed has been raided by Liberal and Conservative governments alike. Prime Minister Paul Martin used the fund’s surpluses to pay off the deficit, meaning banks and bond-holders received worker-generated funds intended to support the unemployed. In 2010, the Stephen Harper government folded a $57 billion balance into the government’s general revenues. Harper also continued, as Martin did, to use EI funds to balance the budget.

August 2, 2020

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Ottawa taps the brakes on huge coal mine expansion near Jasper National Park; Alberta’s UCP stays mum for now

Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson tapped the brakes Thursday on the Vista coal mine expansion near Hinton with an announcement Ottawa will take a look at the environmental impact of the project after all.

In a report in the Globe and Mail, Mr. Wilkinson hinted he had concluded the mine’s owner — a subsidiary of Plano, Tex.-based Cline Group Inc. — may have been trying to pull a fast one by breaking its application to double or triple the output of the thermal coal mine into two parts. “That would lead me to be concerned that this is, perhaps, an exercise in project splitting for the purpose of avoiding a federal assessment,” the minister said.

So, according to the Globe, Mr. Wilkinson explained that Ottawa’s initial determination that no federal review would be needed was based on the first application alone, but with a second one submitted more recently its assessment had changed.

Source: Ottawa taps the brakes on huge coal mine expansion near Jasper National Park; Alberta’s UCP stays mum for now – Alberta Politics

This entry was posted in General and tagged alberta, coal, environment, Jonathan Wilkinson on August 2, 2020 by Steve.

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Peat fires, like those raging in Siberia, will become more common in Canada | CBC Radio

Peat fires not only release CO2, but other, more potent greenhouse gases such as methane, as well as particulate matter, “which is the stuff that gets into our lungs, it can cause respiratory disease and asthma attacks,” said Turetsky.

A study published earlier this year in the journal Nature showed that peatlands in Canada are drying up and that fires will become more common in the future.

One recent example was the 2018 wildfire at Alkali Lake in B.C., which scorched the Tahltan Nation community of Telegraph Creek.

Chad Thomas, a member of the Tahltan First Nation and CEO of Yukon First Nations Wildfire, a group of Indigenous firefighters who have worked in Canada as well as overseas, said peat fires are trickier to handle than more conventional wildfires.

For one thing, unlike crown fires, which take place in trees, peat fires happen largely underground. Because the heat can become trapped many feet below the forest floor, peat fires can be “very hard to extinguish,” Thomas said.

“The fires can creep underground and pop back up along your control lines.”

August 1, 2020

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Peat fires, like those raging in Siberia, will become more common in Canada | CBC Radio

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A study published earlier this year in the journal Nature showed that peatlands in Canada are drying up and that fires will become more common in the future.

One recent example was the 2018 wildfire at Alkali Lake in B.C., which scorched the Tahltan Nation community of Telegraph Creek.

“The fires can creep underground and pop back up along your control lines.”

Peat fires, like those raging in Siberia, will become more common in Canada | CBC Radio: Peat fires not only release CO2, but other, more potent greenhouse gases such as methane, as well as particulate matter, “which is the stuff that gets into our lungs, it can cause respiratory disease and asthma attacks,” said Turetsky.A study published earlier this year in the journal Nature showed that peatlands in Canada are drying up and that fires will become more common in the future.One recent example was the 2018 wildfire at Alkali Lake in B.C., which scorched the Tahltan Nation community of Telegraph Creek.Chad Thomas, a member of the Tahltan First Nation and CEO of Yukon First Nations Wildfire, a group of Indigenous firefighters who have worked in Canada as well as overseas, said peat fires are trickier to handle than more conventional wildfires.For one thing, unlike crown fires, which take place in trees, peat fires happen largely underground. Because the heat can become trapped many feet below the forest floor, peat fires can be “very hard to extinguish,” Thomas said.“The fires can creep underground and pop back up along your control lines.”Read More

This entry was posted in General, Social on August 1, 2020 by .

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A Quarter of Bangladesh Is Flooded. Millions Have Lost Everything.

The inequity is striking, no matter which way you slice it. One recent analysis found that the world’s richest 10 percent
are responsible for up to 40 percent of global environmental damage,
including climate change, while the poorest 10 percent account for less
than 5 percent. Another estimated that warming had reduced incomes in the world’s poorest countries by between 17 percent and 30 percent.

Poor
countries have long sought a kind of reparations for what they call
loss and damage from climate change. Rich countries, led by the United
States and European Union, have resisted, mainly out of concern that
they could be saddled with liability claims for climate damage.

It
doesn’t help that the rich world has failed to deliver on a $100
billion aid package to help poor countries cope, promised as part of the
2015 Paris accord.

August 1, 2020

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