nationalobserver--2020-05-14--Norway's wealth fund excludes Cdn oilsands investments over emissions

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says news that one of the world 's largest investment funds will exclude four Canadian oilsands producers from consideration for investing is part of a continuing shift in global attitudes for which oil companies will have to adjust .
On Wednesday , Norges Bank Investment Management , which manages Norway 's sovereign wealth fund , announced it would stop investing in Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. , Cenovus Energy Inc. , Suncor Energy Inc. and Imperial Oil Ltd. after concluding they produce unacceptable levels of greenhouse gas emissions .
It also excluded three other non-Canadian companies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for human rights reasons .
It said its holdings in all of the companies have been sold .
`` We 've seen investors around the world looking at the risks associated with climate change as an integral part of investment decisions they make , '' Trudeau said Wednesday in Ottawa .
`` That is why it is so important for Canada to continue to move forward on fighting climate change and reduce our emissions in all sectors , and I can highlight that many companies in the energy sector have understood that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a need for clear leadership and clear targets to reach on fighting climate change to draw on global capital . ''
• 'Alberta didn ’ t contain it ' : COVID-19 outbreak at oilsands camp has spread across the country • Yes , oil is dead .
Just read the writing on the wall .
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said , `` To be blunt , I find ( the decision ) incredibly hypocritical .
`` Norway is actually engaged in exploring to develop new massive offshore fields to increase their production of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be lectured to by a state sovereign wealth fund 100 per cent of whose primary revenues are generated by oil development . ''
The fund said it is following its Council on Ethics ' recommendations in making the decisions .
It listed the council 's reasons for its outlook for the four oilsands companies individually but the four summaries of reasons were almost identical .
In each case , the council said the producer should be excluded `` due to an unacceptable risk that the company is contributing to or is itself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the aggregate company level , lead to an unacceptable level of greenhouse gas emissions . ''
It added each company has `` a substantial output of oil from oil sand ( sic ) resources in Alberta , Canada , '' and declares that such production results in `` far higher greenhouse gas emissions than the global average . ''
It says the companies have no specific plans to reduce emissions to an acceptable level `` within a reasonable period of time '' and adds their GHG emissions are not subject to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Union GHG emissions trading system .
Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage said Norges Bank ’ s decision to blacklist four Canadian energy companies is `` poorly informed and highly hypocritical . ''
`` Canada ’ s energy producers have some of the highest environmental , social and governance standards ( ESG ) in the world , '' she said in an email .
Savage added that Alberta-based companies are doing their part with active strategies to reduce emissions .
`` When it comes to the environment , Alberta ’ s overall average oil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cent from 2011 to 2017 alone , with further reductions anticipated in the coming years through industry led innovation . ''
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers criticized the bank 's move , noting that the industry is making environmental progress as the country 's leading investor in environmental protection and innovation .
`` Attempts to stifle Canadian production by restricting financing can have only one effect ; countries with lower environmental standards — and in many cases lower social , human rights and governance standards — will fill the void , '' @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Canadian oil companies were not immediately available for comment .
All are on record as saying they have reduced GHG emission intensity in recent years and some have set targets for more reductions .
Suncor and Cenovus have said they will reduce emission intensity per barrel by 30 per cent by 2030 and Cenovus has said it will aim for zero GHG emissions by 2050 .
Canadian Natural has pledged to work toward a zero-emissions target without giving a specific date , using technology to improve efficiency and earning credits through its carbon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it reduced the carbon intensity of each oilsands barrel by more than 20 per cent between 2013 and 2018 , and is developing technologies that could reduce intensity by 25 to 90 per cent for future oilsands production .
Norges Bank says it 's the first time that GHG emissions have been used as the reason for excluding companies on ethical grounds .
However , it has warned since 2017 that the Canadian oilsands producers could be excluded because their emissions are higher than the global average .
`` One of the largest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oil sands emperors have no clothes when it comes to action on climate change , so they 're out , '' said Greenpeace Canada senior energy strategist Keith Stewart in an email .
`` This is the way the world is heading . ''
The investment exclusion comes as oilsands producers are cutting spending plans , salaries , production and dividends because of a dramatic decline in prices for their products as well as limited pipeline capacity to transport it .
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 13 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Edmonton .

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says news that one of the world's largest investment funds will exclude four Canadian oilsands producers from consideration for investing is part of a continuing shift in global attitudes for which oil companies will have to adjust. On Wednesday, Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway's sovereign wealth fund, announced it would stop investing in Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Cenovus Energy Inc., Suncor Energy Inc. and Imperial Oil Ltd. after concluding they produce unacceptable levels of greenhouse gas emissions. It also excluded three other non-Canadian companies, two over environmental concerns and one for human rights reasons. It said its holdings in all of the companies have been sold. "We've seen investors around the world looking at the risks associated with climate change as an integral part of investment decisions they make," Trudeau said Wednesday in Ottawa. "That is why it is so important for Canada to continue to move forward on fighting climate change and reduce our emissions in all sectors, and I can highlight that many companies in the energy sector have understood that the investment climate is shifting and there is a need for clear leadership and clear targets to reach on fighting climate change to draw on global capital."
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said, "To be blunt, I find (the decision) incredibly hypocritical. "Norway is actually engaged in exploring to develop new massive offshore fields to increase their production of oil, so we're not going to be lectured to by a state sovereign wealth fund 100 per cent of whose primary revenues are generated by oil development." Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions The fund said it is following its Council on Ethics' recommendations in making the decisions. It listed the council's reasons for its outlook for the four oilsands companies individually but the four summaries of reasons were almost identical.
In each case, the council said the producer should be excluded "due to an unacceptable risk that the company is contributing to or is itself responsible for actions or omissions which, at the aggregate company level, lead to an unacceptable level of greenhouse gas emissions." Norway's wealth fund excludes oilsands investments over greenhouse gas emissions It added each company has "a substantial output of oil from oil sand (sic) resources in Alberta, Canada," and declares that such production results in "far higher greenhouse gas emissions than the global average." It says the companies have no specific plans to reduce emissions to an acceptable level "within a reasonable period of time" and adds their GHG emissions are not subject to a regulatory regime as stringent as the European Union GHG emissions trading system. Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage said Norges Bank’s decision to blacklist four Canadian energy companies is "poorly informed and highly hypocritical." "Canada’s energy producers have some of the highest environmental, social and governance standards (ESG) in the world," she said in an email.
Savage added that Alberta-based companies are doing their part with active strategies to reduce emissions. "When it comes to the environment, Alberta’s overall average oil sands emission intensity has decreased 19 per cent from 2011 to 2017 alone, with further reductions anticipated in the coming years through industry led innovation." The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers criticized the bank's move, noting that the industry is making environmental progress as the country's leading investor in environmental protection and innovation.


nationalobserver--2020-05-14--B.C. $120 million plan to clean up inactive oil and gas wells revealed

British Columbia has announced details on how it plans to spend $ 120 million in federal funds earmarked for cleaning up inactive oil and gas well sites across the province .
Premier John Horgan says restoring more than 2,000 inactive oil and gas wells would support upwards of 1,200 jobs in B.C .
The federal government announced $ 120 million for cleaning up so-called orphan wells in B.C .
in mid-April , money the province says it intends to spend on three new programs once a final agreement is reached with Ottawa .
B.C .
says up to $ 100 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that have been inactive for five consecutive years and are n't likely to come back into service .
That would provide oil and gas companies based in B.C .
with up to $ 100,000 , or up to half the total costs of site clean up , whichever is less .
• 'Alberta didn ’ t contain it ' : COVID-19 outbreak at oilsands camp has spread across the country • Yes , oil is dead .
Just read the writing on the wall .
The province says a second program managed by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ provide $ 15 million to reclaim oil and gas sites operated by companies that are insolvent , can not be located or no longer exist .
That 's on top of $ 27 million already planned to clean up those wells through the end of next year .
Finally , B.C .
says a legacy sites reclamation program would provide $ 5 million to address the ongoing environmental and cultural impacts of historical oil and gas operations .
The province says more than 350 of about 25,000 oil and gas well sites in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are dormant .
Elizabeth Aquin , president and CEO of the Petroleum Services Association of Canada , says the funding will provide much-needed jobs for the oil and gas sector while benefiting the environment .
In a statement released by the province , she said the funding is in line with the association 's advocated approach to cleaning up the well sites `` during this unprecedented downturn . ''
B.C .
lays out $ 120 million plan to clean up inactive oil and gas wells `` This will also help to retain key @ @ @ @ @ @ @ energy development and stewardship of the land . ''
Interim B.C .
Green Leader Adam Olsen says the money spent to clean up inactive wells is welcome , but the companies should be held responsible .
`` We should have never allowed a situation where companies were able to profit off the extraction of a public resource only to walk away from the mess they created in the process , leaving taxpayers to clean up after them , '' he said in a news release .
This report by The Canadian Press was @ @ @ @ @ @ @

British Columbia has announced details on how it plans to spend $120 million in federal funds earmarked for cleaning up inactive oil and gas well sites across the province.
Premier John Horgan says restoring more than 2,000 inactive oil and gas wells would support upwards of 1,200 jobs in B.C.
The federal government announced $120 million for cleaning up so-called orphan wells in B.C. in mid-April, money the province says it intends to spend on three new programs once a final agreement is reached with Ottawa.
B.C. says up to $100 million would be used to reclaim wells that have been inactive for five consecutive years and aren't likely to come back into service.
That would provide oil and gas companies based in B.C. with up to $100,000, or up to half the total costs of site clean up, whichever is less.


nationalobserver--2020-05-14--RCMP attendance at Indigenous ceremony raises ire of chief

An Indigenous leader is telling the RCMP to stay off reserve land after armed officers were dispatched to break up a sacred ceremony .
`` These are First Nations lands .
This is Indian land .
Stay off our lands unless you are invited , '' said Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations .
Public health orders do not supersede First Nations law and treaties , asserts Cameron , who added that maintaining tradition and ceremony is even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic .
`` Our ceremonies , our sun dances , our sweat lodges @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no matter what any government or what the RCMP may try to say or do , those ways are going to continue . ''
While powwows across the country have been cancelled , traditional ceremonies can not be delayed , Cameron said .
They can not move online , like many church services , because they are inherently connected to the land .
• 'Alberta didn ’ t contain it ' : COVID-19 outbreak at oilsands camp has spread across the country • Yes , oil is dead .
Just read the writing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weekend when about 35 people took part in a sun-dance ceremony organized by Clay Sutherland on the Beardy 's and Okemasis Cree Nation , about 90 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon .
An elder had received a vision that it was important to hold the sacred ceremony to support people during COVID-19 and to empower scientists and researchers to find a cure , Sutherland said .
`` We were doing this , not only for our communities and our loved ones , but we were doing this for all of mankind , '' he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get a pushback from the government .
We did not expect all these things to happen . ''
Sutherland said precautions were put in place and direction from the First Nation 's leadership was followed .
People coming to the ceremony from off-reserve had their temperatures checked and were advised to self-isolate for the following two weeks .
The sun-dance ceremony began Friday when a nine-metre-wide circular lodge was built using poplar trees .
For three days , from sun-up to sundown , people danced , prayed and fasted .
On Friday @ @ @ @ @ @ @ First Nation 's chief that he had been contacted by the federal First Nations and Inuit Health branch and was directed to shut down the ceremony .
However , Sutherland said , the chief allowed it to continue .
'Stay off our lands : ' RCMP attendance at Indigenous ceremony raises ire of chief Saskatchewan RCMP say they received two reports of a large public gathering at the First Nation on Sunday .
Sutherland said RCMP vehicles pulled up outside the lodge .
Officers had their firearms on them , which are not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` I told them firearms and RCMP are not allowed on these grounds , '' he said .
`` I did n't want to be confrontational , basically because of RCMP , guns and the history of native people .
They do n't have a good history . ''
The officers left , but returned later and had a brief confrontation with another person , Sutherland said .
No one was arrested or ticketed , but it reminded many people of the days ceremonies had to go underground , he said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ potlatchs came into place in 1884 and lasted until the 1950s .
Sutherland said Indigenous people are unwilling to go back to that time .
`` I was actually willing to go to jail for my people . ''
RCMP Cpl .
Rob King said at no time did officers ask for the ceremony to stop .
`` Our focus continues to be on educating members of the public of the potential health and enforcement consequences that can result from non-compliance with the public health order , '' King said in an email @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a request for comment .
Premier Scott Moe said he planned to get in touch with Cameron .
`` The virus is indiscriminate , '' Moe said during a news conference Wednesday .
`` There are other religious and cultural gatherings that have gone to great lengths to modify their worship services . ''
The ceremonies are how Indigenous people heal and find strength , said Andre Bear , a ceremonial dancer and law student .
He said if there were real concern for the community 's health , the federal government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care and supplies like personal protective equipment for Aboriginal people .
Bear knows of two lodges that have decided to go underground because of what happened at Beardy 's .
He said any action by the federal government or RCMP against a constitutional right to ceremony is never acceptable .
`` What we do for traditional healing practices and what we have been doing for thousands of years is absolutely none of their concern .
We need to set that precedent right now . ''
This report by The Canadian Press was first @ @ @ @ @

An Indigenous leader is telling the RCMP to stay off reserve land after armed officers were dispatched to break up a sacred ceremony. "These are First Nations lands. This is Indian land. Stay off our lands unless you are invited," said Chief Bobby Cameron of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations. Public health orders do not supersede First Nations law and treaties, asserts Cameron, who added that maintaining tradition and ceremony is even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Our ceremonies, our sun dances, our sweat lodges, our pipe ceremonies will continue and no matter what any government or what the RCMP may try to say or do, those ways are going to continue." While powwows across the country have been cancelled, traditional ceremonies cannot be delayed, Cameron said. They cannot move online, like many church services, because they are inherently connected to the land.
Concern arose last weekend when about 35 people took part in a sun-dance ceremony organized by Clay Sutherland on the Beardy's and Okemasis Cree Nation, about 90 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon. An elder had received a vision that it was important to hold the sacred ceremony to support people during COVID-19 and to empower scientists and researchers to find a cure, Sutherland said. "We were doing this, not only for our communities and our loved ones, but we were doing this for all of mankind," he said. "We did not expect to get a pushback from the government. We did not expect all these things to happen." Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions A public health order in Saskatchewan limits gatherings to 10 people.
Sutherland said precautions were put in place and direction from the First Nation's leadership was followed. People coming to the ceremony from off-reserve had their temperatures checked and were advised to self-isolate for the following two weeks. 'Stay off our lands:' RCMP attendance at Indigenous ceremony raises ire of chief The sun-dance ceremony began Friday when a nine-metre-wide circular lodge was built using poplar trees. For three days, from sun-up to sundown, people danced, prayed and fasted. On Friday night, Sutherland was informed by the First Nation's chief that he had been contacted by the federal First Nations and Inuit Health branch and was directed to shut down the ceremony. However, Sutherland said, the chief allowed it to continue. Saskatchewan RCMP say they received two reports of a large public gathering at the First Nation on Sunday. Sutherland said RCMP vehicles pulled up outside the lodge. Officers had their firearms on them, which are not allowed on sacred grounds, he said.
"I told them firearms and RCMP are not allowed on these grounds," he said. "I didn't want to be confrontational, basically because of RCMP, guns and the history of native people. They don't have a good history." The officers left, but returned later and had a brief confrontation with another person, Sutherland said. No one was arrested or ticketed, but it reminded many people of the days ceremonies had to go underground, he said. A federal ban on Indigenous ceremonies and potlatchs came into place in 1884 and lasted until the 1950s. Sutherland said Indigenous people are unwilling to go back to that time.


nationalobserver--2020-05-14--Small farmers are big players in food security during pandemic

Every May , long-time farmer Tamara McPhail ’ s day begins and ends with frog song .
Followed closely by the chatter of birds .
McPhail , her partner and their two kids live off-grid in a fortified yurt with a dugout basement , which means even inside the walls of their home , the family maintains a close connection to nature .
“ We ’ re essentially living in a glorified tent , so in the mornings I awaken to the dawn chorus right now , ” said McPhail .
“ It ’ s just such a great way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ being awakened from your slumber by sounds of the outside world saying , ‘ Come on .
We ’ re waking up … let 's go.
’ ” McPhail , is executive director , a resident steward and all-around labourer at Linnaea Farm — a 314-acre organic co-operative land trust dedicated to sustainable agriculture , the environment and education on Cortes Island , B.C .
• 'Alberta didn ’ t contain it ' : COVID-19 outbreak at oilsands camp has spread across the country • Yes , oil is dead .
Just read @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frogs and birds herald the day , she has a cup of coffee and a conversation with her partner and Linnaea ’ s market gardener , Adam Schick , about the tasks that need doing in the fields by the farm ’ s team of residents .
Then , she must respond to the bellowing of the farm ’ s dairy cows , Zinnia and Quill , nagging to be milked .
McPhail , 47 , has been working the land at Linnaea for 20 years , and this spring , as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is the same .
“ If I don ’ t lift my head up from farming , everything still feels very much the same .
This time of year , you need to hit the ground running … that whole spring quickening , ” McPhail said .
“ Getting seeds in the ground , getting potatoes planted .
It ’ s still business as usual in the plant world.
” But the pandemic has proved a powerful catalyst for change in her small island community .
“ All of a sudden , there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around food security , what it means for us , and how we can all look after one another , ” Tamara McPhail , executive director of Linnaea Farm on COVID-19 boosting local food production .
“ All of a sudden , there 's been a paradigm shift and conversations around food security , what it means for us , and how we can all look after one another , ” McPhail said .
In the early stages of the pandemic , isolated islanders were fearful about potential food shortages where they are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supply chain .
But as the weather improved and dramatic food shortages due to COVID-19 didn ’ t materialize , the mood has shifted .
People are more excited about the opportunity to increase food production locally , McPhail said .
“ People are bread baking and raising chickens .
They are excited about reviving their gardens and saying how much solace they have provided , ” she said .
“ It ’ s been pretty fantastic.
” Cortes , off the east coast of Vancouver Island , is a tiny community of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plane , boat , or ferry from the neighbouring island of Quadra .
Food is trucked onto the island and dependent on the coastal ferry system to arrive .
Linnaea has always contributed to the island ’ s food supply .
The farm ’ s stewards tend production gardens or raise chickens , cattle and sheep , which then supply produce , meat and eggs to the Friday market in Manson ’ s Landing or the Cortes Natural Food Co-op .
But it ’ s not just about feeding the island locally sourced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ community-supported agriculture ( CSA ) food programs , Linnea is also offering guild members the opportunity to work on the farm and attend workshops on sustainable farming or on preparing or preserving seasonal produce with the overall hope of boosting the island ’ s food production capacity .
People will have the opportunity to really get their hands dirty , McPhail said .
“ We ’ re really wanting our Cortes Island community to come out , learn and work beside people who have been tending the soil for decades here at Linnaea @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experiential learning piece is a such a valuable part to food security.
” Linnaea is also concentrating on expanding its seed program .
In addition to putting more land into cultivation for food , the farm will also ensure enough space for seed crops , McPhail said , since suppliers have been overwhelmed by demand during the pandemic .
Linnaea is hoping to establish an island seed bank to ensure the island ’ s future ability to grow its own food .
“ People sometimes don ’ t consider seeds when thinking about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ Making sure we can still produce seeds is of utmost importance because you ca n't grow food without it.
” Linnaea will also put the focus on locally adapted seeds that will flourish in Cortes ' climate and allow islanders to grow more produce , she added .
Small-scale , regenerative farmers and local resiliency measures are playing big roles as COVID-19 disrupts the global food system , expert Ken Mullinix believes .
Local food producers can adjust more nimbly to changes in markets and demand than massive corporate entities , said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University .
Small scale regenerative farmers are big players in establishing food security as COVID-19 disrupts the global supply chain says Kent Mullinix , director of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University .
Photo : courtesy Kent Mullinix .
“ The pandemic has absolutely revealed the fragility and tenuousness of our highly industrialized monolithic food system , ” Mullinix said .
As COVID-19 paralyzes meat-processing plants across North America , the risks of being dependent on a large corporate food system has become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ put all our food system ’ s eggs in one basket … and that results in an inability to adapt to perturbance and , ultimately , a lack of resilience , ” Mullinix said .
“ Conversely , we ’ re seeing the small-scale , community-focused farming and food system sector respond very quickly.
” Sustainable farmers are seeing increased local demand and are expanding production accordingly , he added .
“ They ’ re developing new ways to connect with consumers , develop new distribution schemes and working together more , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hearing about all sorts of efforts by this sector to grow.
” To consolidate local food security gains , smaller farms need to remain diverse and focus on regional food needs , he added .
And all levels of government need to prioritize developing regional food systems while mitigating climate change and increasing productivity and farm profitability , Mullinix said .
That means targeted support for small-scale regenerative farmers and the development of regional infrastructure or hubs to aggregate , sort , sell and distribute their goods , he said .
“ One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ every strategy to address food system resilience and community food security must be unique to that community , ” he said .
“ We have been culturally obsessed with uniformity .
And if there is anything nature teaches us , it is that the ability to adapt to change resides in diversity.
” Despite Linnaea ’ s role in fortifying Cortes Island ’ s food security during the pandemic , the farm ’ s core funding has taken a big hit , said McPhail .
Each summer , the farm typically hosts post-secondary @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as well as tours and group stays from people interested in learning about sustainable farming .
Linnaea Farm is a land trust on Cortes Island that hosts field schools , workshops and tours each summer for groups interested in sustainable farming and permaculture .
Photo : courtesy Linnaea Farm .
“ It ’ s quite stressful for us right now , ” McPhail said .
“ We ’ ve had a lot of cancellations in direct correlation to COVID-19 and our inability to gather.
” And since Linnaea is an unusual hybrid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ organization and a charity , it can ’ t access any provincial or federal relief funding , which tends to be very sector-specific .
“ Yes , we ’ re agriculturalists , but we also have an education role , ” McPhail said .
“ So , we sometimes fall between the funding cracks of those two entities.
” Linnaea is not relying on the food security guild to ease the farm ’ s financial load .
“ We ’ re not looking at the food security piece as a way to meet @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two different conversations , ” McPhail said .
The guild initiative has had a strong response and Linnaea has capped the number of members as it pilots the project , she said .
But McPhail is hopeful the interest signals a lasting commitment to local food security and farming even after the pandemic wanes .
“ COVID , as awful as it is has been , is a catalyst for these amazing community conversations at a real deep level , ” she said .
“ And if we are moving into a time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ making Cortes Island food-secure , that ’ s an amazing conversation to be having . ''

McPhail, is executive director, a resident steward and all-around labourer at Linnaea Farm  — a 314-acre organic co-operative land trust dedicated to sustainable agriculture, the environment and education on Cortes Island, B.C.
“It’s just such a great way to wake up because you’re being awakened from your slumber by sounds of the outside world saying, ‘Come on. We’re waking up … let's go.’”
“We’re essentially living in a glorified tent, so in the mornings I awaken to the dawn chorus right now,” said McPhail.
McPhail, her partner and their two kids live off-grid in a fortified yurt with a dugout basement, which means even inside the walls of their home, the family maintains a close connection to nature.
Every May, long-time farmer Tamara McPhail’s day begins and ends with frog song. Followed closely by the chatter of birds.
McPhail, 47, has been working the land at Linnaea for 20 years, and this spring, as the COVID-19 pandemic blossomed, everything and nothing is the same.
Then, she must respond to the bellowing of the farm’s dairy cows, Zinnia and Quill, nagging to be milked.
After frogs and birds herald the day, she has a cup of coffee and a conversation with her partner and Linnaea’s market gardener, Adam Schick, about the tasks that need doing in the fields by the farm’s team of residents.
In the early stages of the pandemic, isolated islanders were fearful about potential food shortages where they are at the end of a very long supply chain.
“All of a sudden, there's been a paradigm shift and conversations around food security, what it means for us, and how we can all look after one another,” McPhail said.
But the pandemic has proved a powerful catalyst for change in her small island community.
“Getting seeds in the ground, getting potatoes planted. It’s still business as usual in the plant world.”
“If I don’t lift my head up from farming, everything still feels very much the same. This time of year, you need to hit the ground running … that whole spring quickening,” McPhail said.
Cortes, off the east coast of Vancouver Island, is a tiny community of about 1,000 permanent residents only accessible by plane, boat, or ferry from the neighbouring island of Quadra. Food is trucked onto the island and dependent on the coastal ferry system to arrive.
“People are bread baking and raising chickens. They are excited about reviving their gardens and saying how much solace they have provided,” she said. “It’s been pretty fantastic.”
But as the weather improved and dramatic food shortages due to COVID-19 didn’t materialize, the mood has shifted. People are more excited about the opportunity to increase food production locally, McPhail said.
Linnaea has always contributed to the island’s food supply. The farm’s stewards tend production gardens or raise chickens, cattle and sheep, which then supply produce, meat and eggs to the Friday market in Manson’s Landing or the Cortes Natural Food Co-op.
Cortes Island's Linnaea Farm has always contributed to feeding the community through it's market stall in Manson's Landing. Photo; Courtesy of Linnaea Farm.
But during the pandemic, Linnaea is at the forefront of the island’s organized efforts to bolster food security and community resiliency. In response, Linnaea has started its Farm Food Security Guild.
Residents can purchase a membership that guarantees them fresh produce and farm products weekly. Members will get a list of what’s available and shop online for what they’d like.
But it’s not just about feeding the island locally sourced food, said McPhail.
Unlike other community-supported agriculture (CSA) food programs, Linnea is also offering guild members the opportunity to work on the farm and attend workshops on sustainable farming or on preparing or preserving seasonal produce with the overall hope of boosting the island’s food production capacity.
People will have the opportunity to really get their hands dirty, McPhail said.
“We’re really wanting our Cortes Island community to come out, learn and work beside people who have been tending the soil for decades here at Linnaea,” McPhail said.
“That experiential learning piece is a such a valuable part to food security.”
Linnaea is also concentrating on expanding its seed program.
In addition to putting more land into cultivation for food, the farm will also ensure enough space for seed crops, McPhail said, since suppliers have been overwhelmed by demand during the pandemic.
Linnaea is hoping to establish an island seed bank to ensure the island’s future ability to grow its own food.
“People sometimes don’t consider seeds when thinking about food security,” McPhail said.
“Making sure we can still produce seeds is of utmost importance because you can't grow food without it.”
Linnaea will also put the focus on locally adapted seeds that will flourish in Cortes' climate and allow islanders to grow more produce, she added.
Small-scale, regenerative farmers and local resiliency measures are playing big roles as COVID-19 disrupts the global food system, expert Ken Mullinix believes.
Local food producers can adjust more nimbly to changes in markets and demand than massive corporate entities, said Mullinix, director of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Small scale regenerative farmers are big players in establishing food security as COVID-19 disrupts the global supply chain says Kent Mullinix, director of the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University. Photo: courtesy Kent Mullinix.
“The pandemic has absolutely revealed the fragility and tenuousness of our highly industrialized monolithic food system,” Mullinix said.
As COVID-19 paralyzes meat-processing plants across North America, the risks of being dependent on a large corporate food system has become obvious, he said.
“We put all our food system’s eggs in one basket … and that results in an inability to adapt to perturbance and, ultimately, a lack of resilience,” Mullinix said.
“Conversely, we’re seeing the small-scale, community-focused farming and food system sector respond very quickly.”
Sustainable farmers are seeing increased local demand and are expanding production accordingly, he added.
“They’re developing new ways to connect with consumers, develop new distribution schemes and working together more,” Mullinix said. “I’m hearing about all sorts of efforts by this sector to grow.”
To consolidate local food security gains, smaller farms need to remain diverse and focus on regional food needs, he added.
And all levels of government need to prioritize developing regional food systems while mitigating climate change and increasing productivity and farm profitability, Mullinix said.
That means targeted support for small-scale regenerative farmers and the development of regional infrastructure or hubs to aggregate, sort, sell and distribute their goods, he said.
But local food security requires local solutions, Mullinix stressed.
“One thing we need to recognize is that every strategy to address food system resilience and community food security must be unique to that community,” he said.
“We have been culturally obsessed with uniformity. And if there is anything nature teaches us, it is that the ability to adapt to change resides in diversity.”
Despite Linnaea’s role in fortifying Cortes Island’s food security during the pandemic, the farm’s core funding has taken a big hit, said McPhail.
Each summer, the farm typically hosts post-secondary permaculture field schools, ecological youth camps, as well as tours and group stays from people interested in learning about sustainable farming.
Linnaea Farm is a land trust on Cortes Island that hosts field schools, workshops and tours each summer for groups interested in sustainable farming and permaculture. Photo: courtesy Linnaea Farm.
“It’s quite stressful for us right now,” McPhail said. “We’ve had a lot of cancellations in direct correlation to COVID-19 and our inability to gather.”
And since Linnaea is an unusual hybrid between a working farm, an educational organization and a charity, it can’t access any provincial or federal relief funding, which tends to be very sector-specific.
“Yes, we’re agriculturalists, but we also have an education role,” McPhail said. “So, we sometimes fall between the funding cracks of those two entities.”
Linnaea is not relying on the food security guild to ease the farm’s financial load.
“We’re not looking at the food security piece as a way to meet core funding. They are kind of two different conversations,” McPhail said.
The guild initiative has had a strong response and Linnaea has capped the number of members as it pilots the project, she said.
But McPhail is hopeful the interest signals a lasting commitment to local food security and farming even after the pandemic wanes.
“COVID, as awful as it is has been, is a catalyst for these amazing community conversations at a real deep level,” she said.
“And if we are moving into a time where we really want to look at making Cortes Island food-secure, that’s an amazing conversation to be having."
Rochelle Baker/Local Journalism Initiative/Canada's National Observer


nationalobserver--2020-05-14--High social value workers must never become invisible again

Has the absence of National Hockey League players affected the distribution and sale of groceries ?
Has the absence of Major League Baseball players impacted the level of care to seniors or those with disabilities ?
Clearly , the answer to both of these questions is “ No.
” Now imagine the impact on society of an extended absence of grocery store workers , truck drivers , warehouse workers and personal support workers ( or PSWs ) .
These workers , and others in similar roles , are central to the effective and efficient operation of basic social and economic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ distribution and care for our most vulnerable citizens .
These types of workers have a high social value .
In normal pre-pandemic times , these high social value workers have been largely ignored by political policy-makers , employers and even customers .
Their skill sets have been seen as low and easily replaced .
As a result , their pay has typically been low compared to other classes of workers whose social value is not as high .
Remember the arguments early in Doug Ford ’ s Ontario government about changing the minimum @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for sure is there will be other social and economic crises in our future .
We can never allow our high social value workers to become invisible again .
Their position in our society and economy must be secure .
There are five ways to go about this .
First , high social value workers must have a voice , one that is heard by policy-makers , employers and customers .
In many industrial sectors , labour unions have played a central and effective role by providing this voice .
Where unions don @ @ @ @ @ @ @ well-advised , right now , to create real , open and honest channels of communications , such as employee councils .
• 'Alberta didn ’ t contain it ' : COVID-19 outbreak at oilsands camp has spread across the country • Yes , oil is dead .
Just read the writing on the wall .
Employers unfamiliar with effective employee communications might think about inviting unions to meet with their employees and management .
The bottom line here is simple .
High social value workers must be given the opportunity to effectively influence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who have a high sense of control over their employment will stay committed and engaged .
Second , policy-makers must think long and hard before meddling in compensation and benefits structures for high social value workers .
We must allow workers , their representatives and their employers to develop a mutual understanding of their real social value beyond a simple accounting for skills or ease of replacement .
Pay is a very tangible way to communicate a simple , but compelling , message : “ You are valued .
You are essential and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Employers who take the initiative and pay people in line with this message might never have to negotiate wages again .
Third , high social value workers must be given opportunities to develop skills beyond the minimum required to do the job .
They must also be provided with career tracks that use these new skills .
Pay scales must also reflect their increasing skills and contributions .
Nobody wants to have doors to the future closed .
Workers who see a positive future of growth for themselves are much more likely @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , with their employer and in their sector .
Fourth , where appropriate , there should be processes for professional accreditation and regulation .
This may be especially applicable to PSWs and similar workers .
These processes would provide workers and employers with agreed standards for basic behaviours and discipline .
For example , professional colleges now provide this foundation for a host of health-care workers , from audiologists to traditional Chinese medicine practitioners .
These colleges can also foster workers ’ pride and engagement .
As an urgent priority , policy-makers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this model in specific sectors , such as long-term care homes for seniors and homes for citizens with disabilities .
Finally , our current focus on high social value workers must be maintained and sharpened .
Right now , in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic , memes are circulating online dubbing , for example , grocery store workers as “ superheroes.
” These are lovely and perhaps comforting for those of us who have never really seen or acknowledged these workers before .
These memes , however , are just fluff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blow away in post-pandemic breezes .
The profile of high social value workers must be developed and managed with the goal of ensuring policy-makers and employers never lose sight of people who may have been somewhat invisible in the past or , at best , seen as interchangeable parts in complex social and economic systems .
`` The profile of high social value workers must be developed and managed with the goal of ensuring policy-makers and employers never lose sight of people who may have been somewhat invisible in the past . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ taken on by unions , employee councils or appropriate and newly formed professional colleges .
Smart political policy-makers and employers will take the initiative and join this effort .

Has the absence of National Hockey League players affected the distribution and sale of groceries? Has the absence of Major League Baseball players impacted the level of care to seniors or those with disabilities? Clearly, the answer to both of these questions is “No.” Now imagine the impact on society of an extended absence of grocery store workers, truck drivers, warehouse workers and personal support workers (or PSWs). These workers, and others in similar roles, are central to the effective and efficient operation of basic social and economic systems, such as food supply and distribution and care for our most vulnerable citizens. These types of workers have a high social value. In normal pre-pandemic times, these high social value workers have been largely ignored by political policy-makers, employers and even customers. Their skill sets have been seen as low and easily replaced. As a result, their pay has typically been low compared to other classes of workers whose social value is not as high. Remember the arguments early in Doug Ford’s Ontario government about changing the minimum wage? One thing we can know for sure is there will be other social and economic crises in our future. We can never allow our high social value workers to become invisible again. Their position in our society and economy must be secure. There are five ways to go about this. First, high social value workers must have a voice, one that is heard by policy-makers, employers and customers. In many industrial sectors, labour unions have played a central and effective role by providing this voice. Where unions don’t exist, employers would be well-advised, right now, to create real, open and honest channels of communications, such as employee councils.
Employers unfamiliar with effective employee communications might think about inviting unions to meet with their employees and management. The bottom line here is simple. High social value workers must be given the opportunity to effectively influence their employment and work environment. Workers who have a high sense of control over their employment will stay committed and engaged. Second, policy-makers must think long and hard before meddling in compensation and benefits structures for high social value workers. We must allow workers, their representatives and their employers to develop a mutual understanding of their real social value beyond a simple accounting for skills or ease of replacement. Pay is a very tangible way to communicate a simple, but compelling, message: “You are valued. You are essential and we want you to stay with us.” Employers who take the initiative and pay people in line with this message might never have to negotiate wages again. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions Third, high social value workers must be given opportunities to develop skills beyond the minimum required to do the job. They must also be provided with career tracks that use these new skills. Pay scales must also reflect their increasing skills and contributions. Nobody wants to have doors to the future closed. Workers who see a positive future of growth for themselves are much more likely to remain fully engaged in their employment, with their employer and in their sector.


nationalobserver--2020-05-14--Ontario monitors rare inflammatory illness in children for COVID-19 connection

Ontario will require hospitals to report the number of children who develop a rare inflammatory illness that has been retroactively linked to COVID-19 infections elsewhere , the province said Wednesday .
The move comes as Toronto ’ s main children ’ s hospital reports a slight uptick in the number of children being treated for Kawasaki disease , a rare blood vessel disorder , in recent weeks .
The Hospital for Sick Children would typically deal with between 100 and 150 Kawasaki cases a year , or at least two a week , according to the hospital ’ s associate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the last week or 10 days , we definitely have seen more than that , ” Dr. Jeremy Friedman said , noting the five cases the hospital has recently treated are still a small number , but have also emerged outside of a typical fall-winter peak .
The provincial government said it was adding multi-system inflammatory vasculitis , which appears to be similar to Kawasaki Syndrome , as an atypical presentation to its case definition for COVID-19 in children .
• 'Alberta didn ’ t contain it ' : COVID-19 outbreak at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ • Yes , oil is dead .
Just read the writing on the wall .
“ While the link between this inflammatory illness and COVID-19 is not confirmed at this time , we are taking immediate action to better monitor this emerging issue so that we can effectively respond to the illness and protect Ontario 's children , ” the province ’ s health minister , Christine Elliott , said in a statement on Wednesday .
Symptoms of the illness include persistent fever , abdominal pain , gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a rash .
Parents should contact their health-care providers immediately if their children are having these symptoms .
Fewer than five cases have been seen at the Children 's Hospital of Eastern Ontario ( CHEO ) in Ottawa since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in mid-March , according to Dr Jason Brophy , a clinical investigator at the hospital .
None of these patients were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 , which public health data suggests affects fewer young people than the general population .
But both CHEO and Sick Kids will be reviewing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to COVID-19 following a May 6 report in the British medical journal The Lancet pointing to an “ unprecedented cluster ” of eight children at a London-area pediatric intensive care unit presenting with “ hyperinflammatory shock ” similar to Kawasaki .
“ We ’ ve had some cases of Kawasaki , but because this is new , if they presented before these reports started to come out it would n't have been thought about if they were COVID-negative , ” CHEO ’ s Brophy said .
Ontario requires monitoring as Toronto 's @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ closer look at COVID-19 link to uptick in cases of rare inflammatory illness in children Health Canada on Tuesday approved the first COVID-19 serological test for use in the country to detect antibodies specific to the virus .
“ We suggest that this clinical picture represents a new phenomenon affecting previously asymptomatic children with SARS-CoV-2 ( COVID-19 ) infection manifesting as a hyperinflammatory syndrome with multi-organ involvement similar to Kawasaki disease shock syndrome , ” the authors wrote in The Lancet .
Those children , one of whom later died , had mostly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but later antibody tests had shown they had in fact contracted the illness .
Dr. Barbara Yaffe , Ontario ’ s associate chief medical officer , said the emergence of the Kawasaki-like symptoms seems to appear weeks after a child may have contracted COVID-19 without symptoms , meaning its emergence would likely have little impact on the timeline for when schools in the province may reopen .
“ I have to say , I don ’ t think it would have any impact , to be honest , ” she said at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ First of all , it is a very rare complication , it happens usually several weeks or a month after the acute infection .
In fact , the child might not have even had any acute symptoms .
And when they develop this , it ’ s as far as I know , not infectious .
”

Ontario will require hospitals to report the number of children who develop a rare inflammatory illness that has been retroactively linked to COVID-19 infections elsewhere, the province said Wednesday. The move comes as Toronto’s main children’s hospital reports a slight uptick in the number of children being treated for Kawasaki disease, a rare blood vessel disorder, in recent weeks. The Hospital for Sick Children would typically deal with between 100 and 150 Kawasaki cases a year, or at least two a week, according to the hospital’s associate pediatrician-in-chief. “If we look back over the last week or 10 days, we definitely have seen more than that,” Dr. Jeremy Friedman said, noting the five cases the hospital has recently treated are still a small number, but have also emerged outside of a typical fall-winter peak. The provincial government said it was adding multi-system inflammatory vasculitis, which appears to be similar to Kawasaki Syndrome, as an atypical presentation to its case definition for COVID-19 in children.
“While the link between this inflammatory illness and COVID-19 is not confirmed at this time, we are taking immediate action to better monitor this emerging issue so that we can effectively respond to the illness and protect Ontario's children,” the province’s health minister, Christine Elliott, said in a statement on Wednesday. Symptoms of the illness include persistent fever, abdominal pain, gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, as well as a rash. Parents should contact their health-care providers immediately if their children are having these symptoms. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions Fewer than five cases have been seen at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) in Ottawa since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged in mid-March, according to Dr Jason Brophy, a clinical investigator at the hospital.
None of these patients were confirmed to have contracted COVID-19, which public health data suggests affects fewer young people than the general population. Ontario requires monitoring as Toronto's @SickKidsNews and Ottawa's @CHEO plan closer look at COVID-19 link to uptick in cases of rare inflammatory illness in children But both CHEO and Sick Kids will be reviewing those cases now for a possible link to COVID-19 following a May 6 report in the British medical journal The Lancet pointing to an “unprecedented cluster” of eight children at a London-area pediatric intensive care unit presenting with “hyperinflammatory shock” similar to Kawasaki. “We’ve had some cases of Kawasaki, but because this is new, if they presented before these reports started to come out it wouldn't have been thought about if they were COVID-negative,” CHEO’s Brophy said. Health Canada on Tuesday approved the first COVID-19 serological test for use in the country to detect antibodies specific to the virus. “We suggest that this clinical picture represents a new phenomenon affecting previously asymptomatic children with SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection manifesting as a hyperinflammatory syndrome with multi-organ involvement similar to Kawasaki disease shock syndrome,” the authors wrote in The Lancet.
Those children, one of whom later died, had mostly tested negative for COVID-19 via nasal swabs, but later antibody tests had shown they had in fact contracted the illness. Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’s associate chief medical officer, said the emergence of the Kawasaki-like symptoms seems to appear weeks after a child may have contracted COVID-19 without symptoms, meaning its emergence would likely have little impact on the timeline for when schools in the province may reopen. “I have to say, I don’t think it would have any impact, to be honest,” she said at a daily briefing on Wednesday. “First of all, it is a very rare complication, it happens usually several weeks or a month after the acute infection. In fact, the child might not have even had any acute symptoms. And when they develop this, it’s as far as I know, not infectious.”


nationalobserver--2020-05-14--Northwood, a blueprint for how COVID-19 raged through long-term care homes

Northwood is the largest long-term care home in the Atlantic region .
It is a not-for-profit facility , run by a community board and located in central Halifax .
Forty-one residents have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began nearly two months ago .
That accounts for 87 per cent of the coronavirus deaths in Nova Scotia .
All told , there have been 47 deaths in the province .
As of May 8 , 229 Northwood residents and 95 staff tested positive for COVID-19 .
Some residents who have recovered have been moved to a nearby hotel , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ full .
The Public Health Agency of Canada puts that number higher .
The agency says 82 per cent of coronavirus-related deaths in Canada have taken place in long-term care homes .
As of May 2 , Canadian long-term care residents accounted for 63 per cent of all deaths from COVID-19 .
According to the International Long-Term Care Policy Network ( ILTCPN ) , Canada has the highest share of deaths in long-term care homes of 13 countries .
Built in 1962 , Northwood is a large institution , with dozens of rooms @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a 10-storey building .
It is crowded ; there is little privacy .
Residents spend time in the hallways and the common spaces .
The close contact between residents , and between residents and staff , could be a breeding ground for any influenza , or communicable disease .
Nursing home designers and architects have to answer for building institutions on this model .
First , like many long-term care homes across the country , many of the 485 residents of Northwood are living two and three to a room , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a hospital in several ways .
Several problems have converged — most were predictable , some were not .
But these issues shine a light on some of the reasons why COVID-19 is raging through long-term care facilities across Canada .
How can Northwood , the pre-eminent “ public ” care facility in Nova Scotia , one that was only last year accredited “ with exemplary standing , ” be in such a desperate situation now ?
Schwarz finishes his article this way : “ Society should be able to create a better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their rights and freedoms for a fulfilling old age .
This is not a utopian goal.
” Above are drawings of a traditional double room and a single room for a conventional nursing home .
Here ’ s how most nursing homes are designed : the long hallways , with little natural light , mean residents park themselves in their wheelchairs in the hallways to enable easier social contact .
Aside from the obvious health risks , nursing homes ’ box-like and crowded settings are themselves a problem .
As Schwarz points out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ setting of the American nursing home reflects our collective moral heart — it is fairly grim.
” Nursing home design from 50 or 60 years ago often had residents share a room , which allowed the home to house more seniors , more cheaply .
This was an incentive for the privately owned nursing homes .
But two to four to a room can present serious risks to residents ’ health .
For for-profit long-term care homes , economizing is attractive because when they double-bunk , their profits ratio go up .
While @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Halifax , accommodating two or three to a room does increase capacity , without the cost of building a new or expanded structure .
According to Schwarz , “ … the public health services experts who drew up the requirements ( for nursing homes ) were heavily affected by their hospital orientation , which is why to this day most nursing homes look so much like mini-hospitals.
” According to one U.S.-based architecture professor , Benyamin Schwarz , nursing home design seems to “ clash with efforts to satisfy the non-medical needs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that nursing homes must cater to competing interests , which include those of the residents , the medical teams , the government that controls their financial strings , the institutions ’ economic exigencies and the social needs of the senior community .
Northwood ’ s president and CEO , Janet Simm , said the 2016 cuts amounted to $ 360,000 for her institution ; in 2017 , the cut was nearly $ 600,000 .
Two successive Stephen McNeil governments have cut the budgets of most of the province ’ s 132 nursing homes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to 2017 , Premier McNeil ’ s Liberal government reduced grants to long-term care by $ 8.1 million .
While Northwood turned to group purchasing and other measures to economize , the biggest challenge was food .
In part , this was because more and more residents had special diets .
On average , N.S .
nursing homes spent $ 6 per resident per day for food .
Some residents complained that a meal supplement drink ( such as Boost ) was offered at meal times in order to trim the food bills @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ With rising costs of food and the decreasing budget , it ’ s a real challenge to meet the growing demands .
This is where people live and you want to make sure the food is high-quality because it is a big piece of quality of life.
” Unifor , the union that represents more than 400 workers at Northwood , agreed that the quality of care was affected by the funding cuts ; staff hours were also reduced , so staff noticed they had less contact time with residents .
This @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and potatoes was taken by Colin Sproul , April 29 , 2017 , a month before the provincial election .
This was the meal served to Sproul ’ s mother at a transitional care unit inside Middleton Soldiers Memorial Hospital in the Annapolis Valley , N.S.
, where his mother had been waiting for a long-term care bed .
Sproul said , “ This is a direct consequence of Stephen McNeil ’ s cuts in Annapolis County and the effect it ’ s having on people.
” Sproul was the NDP candidate in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It was just before the May 2017 election that I ran into the premier himself , who was electioneering along the boardwalk on Halifax ’ s waterfront .
I stopped him , introduced myself , and asked him if he would have cut a nursing home ’ s food budget if his mother had lived there .
He became furious – so angry that his principal secretary at the time , former CTV news reporter Laurie Graham , had to pull him away , insisting they had to go .
Just before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gary Burrill , in a bid to restore the $ 8.1 million McNeil ’ s government cut from long-term care , promised that , if elected , an NDP government would put $ 8.3 million back into long-term care .
Then , in the 2019-20 budget , the government added a further $ 2.8 million .
But to fully restore that initial $ 8.1 million and inflation , the government would have had to add $ 8,764,120 .
Instead , the McNeil government restored a total of $ 6,000,000 — a net loss @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2,764,120 .
However , from 2013 to 2016 , McNeil did put $ 55 million into homecare .
The idea was to support seniors who wanted to stay in their own homes .
In fact , at the time , increased funding for homecare was a trend in government budgets right across the country .
Though Anthony Taylor agreed homecare deserved to be bolstered , he did not think it should have been at the cost of long-term care .
Taylor is the administrator of a 111-bed nursing home , Oakwood Terrace , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Oakwood suffered a budget cut of $ 82,000 , and in 2016 another cut of $ 86,000 .
Said Taylor , “ Those two years , back to back , this government has cut more money from this nursing home than any other government has done to this home in the 34 years we have existed.
” The crisis in staffing : before and during COVID-19 Finally , there is the urgent issue of staffing before and during the COVID-19 crisis .
Provincial regulations call for one Licensed Practical Nurse ( LPN @ @ @ @ @ @ @ residents , and a Registered Nurse ( RN ) to be on the premises 24 hours a day .
Both of these rules have been contravened many times in nursing homes across Nova Scotia , which frequently “ run short ” — meaning fewer care workers are on the job than needed .
In Nova Scotia , long-term care homes are workplaces that pay from $ 17 to $ 25 per hour ( of course , the RNs earn more ) .
Before you call that a good wage , think about this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and tedious work of an LPN , or a personal care worker ( PCW ) , for that wage ?
Given full time hours , you could earn about $ 40,000 per year .
However , in Nova Scotia , with the budget cuts to long-term care , many care workers whose hours were cut in one home had work at part-time jobs at one or two other long-term care homes to earn enough to live .
Until recently , there was no restriction on the number of care homes at which staff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks ago , in response to the pandemic , Ontario ’ s premier issued an emergency order that prohibits nursing home staff from working at more than one facility .
This was done to help contain transmission of the virus by the staff who could carry it from one care home to another .
Premier McNeil declared no such rule in Nova Scotia .
In fact , having staff work at two or three homes worked in the government ’ s favour , because there was little pressure to raise wages .
Until @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seemed to care that staff were going in and out of Northwood and other nursing homes , wearing the same clothes , and potentially becoming vectors for disease .
As of April 23 , Nova Scotia was one of the last provinces to discourage staff from working at more than one long-term care facility .
Historically , employees in long-term care facilities earn less than what they would in an acute care hospital .
On May 7 , the McNeil government finally agreed to give a pay increase to front-line workers in nursing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Rather than offering a top-up on their hourly pay , the Nova Scotia government insists on paying the care workers a bonus of $ 2,000 for the estimated four month duration of the COVID-19 crisis .
As there is high demand for care workers , who are finally getting 35- to 40-hour work weeks , employees will receive the bonus , which works out $ 2.90 an hour .
The sticking point is they have to have worked the whole four months , and won ’ t collect if they fall sick themselves @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about dangers facing groups of people in confined spaces .
Nova Scotia closed all schools , from daycares to universities .
Gyms , libraries , theatres and community centres also had to shut .
But there was little to no attention paid to nursing homes and elder care residences .
However , many public health experts know how dangerous viruses can be to residents of nursing homes .
According to an article in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases : “ The common occurrence and dire consequences of infections disease outbreaks in nursing homes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , these facilities provide an ideal environment for acquisition and spread of infection : susceptible residents who share sources of air , food , water , and health care in a crowded institutional setting .
Moreover , visitors , staff , and residents constantly come and go , bringing in pathogens from both the hospital and the community.
” While nursing homes could not be closed , arrangements could have been made .
The arrangements we see at Northwood today , such as devoting a floor of the building to isolating those who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to those recovering , made around April 20th , could have been made sooner .
And when did Northwood begin spatial distancing measures such as moving people from double to single rooms , or if that option was off the table , moving some healthier residents who required less care to hotel rooms ?
Public Health warned us a pandemic was coming to all regions of Canada .
By early March we all knew .
Now , eight weeks later , as a result of mandatory social-distancing and isolation , we are seeing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but deaths in nursing home are still rising .
Prisoner rights activists , and lawyers representing prisoners , have warned us that prisons will become a killing ground for prisoners and jailers alike once COVID-19 begins to spread inside .
The prison guards go home to their families after their shifts , and return to the jail every workday .
We didn ’ t heed the warnings in time to save thousands of elderly people in institutions across the country .
Are we listening to the warnings about the risk to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next COVID-19 frontier .

Several problems have converged — most were predictable, some were not. But these issues shine a light on some of the reasons why COVID-19 is raging through long-term care facilities across Canada.
How can Northwood, the pre-eminent “public” care facility in Nova Scotia, one that was only last year accredited “with exemplary standing,” be in such a desperate situation now?
Northwood is the largest long-term care home in the Atlantic region. It is a not-for-profit facility, run by a community board and located in central Halifax. Forty-one residents have died from COVID-19 since the pandemic began nearly two months ago. That accounts for 87 per cent of the coronavirus deaths in Nova Scotia. All told, there have been 47 deaths in the province. As of May 8, 229 Northwood residents and 95 staff tested positive for COVID-19. Some residents who have recovered have been moved to a nearby hotel, as the designated recovery rooms at Northwood are full.
The Public Health Agency of Canada puts that number higher. The agency says 82 per cent of coronavirus-related deaths in Canada have taken place in long-term care homes.
As of May 2, Canadian long-term care residents accounted for 63 per cent of all deaths from COVID-19. According to the International Long-Term Care Policy Network (ILTCPN), Canada has the highest share of deaths in long-term care homes of 13 countries.
Built in 1962, Northwood is a large institution, with dozens of rooms down each side of long windowless corridors in a 10-storey building. It is crowded; there is little privacy. Residents spend time in the hallways and the common spaces. The close contact between residents, and between residents and staff, could be a breeding ground for any influenza, or communicable disease. Nursing home designers and architects have to answer for building institutions on this model.
First, like many long-term care homes across the country, many of the 485 residents of Northwood are living two and three to a room, and they share a bathroom. It resembles a hospital in several ways.
Aside from the obvious health risks, nursing homes’ box-like and crowded settings are themselves a problem. As Schwarz points out, “If the depressing and frightening setting of the American nursing home reflects our collective moral heart — it is fairly grim.”
Nursing home design from 50 or 60 years ago often had residents share a room, which allowed the home to house more seniors, more cheaply. This was an incentive for the privately owned nursing homes. But two to four to a room can present serious risks to residents’ health. For for-profit long-term care homes, economizing is attractive because when they double-bunk, their profits ratio go up. While profit is not an incentive for Northwood in Halifax, accommodating two or three to a room does increase capacity, without the cost of building a new or expanded structure.
According to Schwarz, “… the public health services experts who drew up the requirements (for nursing homes) were heavily affected by their hospital orientation, which is why to this day most nursing homes look so much like mini-hospitals.”
According to one U.S.-based architecture professor, Benyamin Schwarz, nursing home design seems to “clash with efforts to satisfy the non-medical needs of the frail elderly.” Schwarz writes that nursing homes must cater to competing interests, which include those of the residents, the medical teams, the government that controls their financial strings, the institutions’ economic exigencies and the social needs of the senior community.
Schwarz finishes his article this way: “Society should be able to create a better architectural model for frail elderly which asserts their rights and freedoms for a fulfilling old age. This is not a utopian goal.”
Above are drawings of a traditional double room and a single room for a conventional nursing home. Here’s how most nursing homes are designed: the long hallways, with little natural light, mean residents park themselves in their wheelchairs in the hallways to enable easier social contact.
Cuts to long-term care budgets
Two successive Stephen McNeil governments have cut the budgets of most of the province’s 132 nursing homes and residential care facilities. From 2015 to 2017, Premier McNeil’s Liberal government reduced grants to long-term care by $8.1 million.
Northwood’s president and CEO, Janet Simm, said the 2016 cuts amounted to $360,000 for her institution; in 2017, the cut was nearly $600,000.
While Northwood turned to group purchasing and other measures to economize, the biggest challenge was food. In part, this was because more and more residents had special diets. On average, N.S. nursing homes spent $6 per resident per day for food. Some residents complained that a meal supplement drink (such as Boost) was offered at meal times in order to trim the food bills.
Cuts to food
Northwood’s Simm said, “With rising costs of food and the decreasing budget, it’s a real challenge to meet the growing demands. This is where people live and you want to make sure the food is high-quality because it is a big piece of quality of life.”
Unifor, the union that represents more than 400 workers at Northwood, agreed that the quality of care was affected by the funding cuts; staff hours were also reduced, so staff noticed they had less contact time with residents.
This photo of a plate of baked beans and potatoes was taken by Colin Sproul, April 29, 2017, a month before the provincial election.
A picture of a plate of beans that Colin Sproul says was served to his mother at a long-term care home in Nova Scotia.
This was the meal served to Sproul’s mother at a transitional care unit inside Middleton Soldiers Memorial Hospital in the Annapolis Valley, N.S., where his mother had been waiting for a long-term care bed. Sproul said, “This is a direct consequence of Stephen McNeil’s cuts in Annapolis County and the effect it’s having on people.” Sproul was the NDP candidate in Premier McNeil’s riding of Annapolis.
It was just before the May 2017 election that I ran into the premier himself, who was electioneering along the boardwalk on Halifax’s waterfront. I stopped him, introduced myself, and asked him if he would have cut a nursing home’s food budget if his mother had lived there. He became furious – so angry that his principal secretary at the time, former CTV news reporter Laurie Graham, had to pull him away, insisting they had to go.
Just before the May 2017 election, NDP leader Gary Burrill, in a bid to restore the $8.1 million McNeil’s government cut from long-term care, promised that, if elected, an NDP government would put $8.3 million back into long-term care.
In his 2017-18 budget, McNeil reinstated $3.2 million.
Then, in the 2019-20 budget, the government added a further $2.8 million. But to fully restore that initial $8.1 million and inflation, the government would have had to add $8,764,120. Instead, the McNeil government restored a total of $6,000,000 — a net loss of funding to long-term care of $2,764,120.
However, from 2013 to 2016, McNeil did put $55 million into homecare. The idea was to support seniors who wanted to stay in their own homes. In fact, at the time, increased funding for homecare was a trend in government budgets right across the country.
Though Anthony Taylor agreed homecare deserved to be bolstered, he did not think it should have been at the cost of long-term care. Taylor is the administrator of a 111-bed nursing home, Oakwood Terrace, in Dartmouth, N.S. In 2015, Oakwood suffered a budget cut of $82,000, and in 2016 another cut of $86,000. Said Taylor, “Those two years, back to back, this government has cut more money from this nursing home than any other government has done to this home in the 34 years we have existed.”
The crisis in staffing: before and during COVID-19
Finally, there is the urgent issue of staffing before and during the COVID-19 crisis. Provincial regulations call for one Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) to care for up to 30 residents, and a Registered Nurse (RN) to be on the premises 24 hours a day. Both of these rules have been contravened many times in nursing homes across Nova Scotia, which frequently “run short” — meaning fewer care workers are on the job than needed.
In Nova Scotia, long-term care homes are workplaces that pay from $17 to $25 per hour (of course, the RNs earn more). Before you call that a good wage, think about this: Would you do the physically demanding and tedious work of an LPN, or a personal care worker (PCW), for that wage? Given full time hours, you could earn about $40,000 per year.
However, in Nova Scotia, with the budget cuts to long-term care, many care workers whose hours were cut in one home had work at part-time jobs at one or two other long-term care homes to earn enough to live. Until recently, there was no restriction on the number of care homes at which staff were allowed to work.
Nearly four weeks ago, in response to the pandemic, Ontario’s premier issued an emergency order that prohibits nursing home staff from working at more than one facility. This was done to help contain transmission of the virus by the staff who could carry it from one care home to another.
Premier McNeil declared no such rule in Nova Scotia. In fact, having staff work at two or three homes worked in the government’s favour, because there was little pressure to raise wages. Until the arrival of COVID-19, no one seemed to care that staff were going in and out of Northwood and other nursing homes, wearing the same clothes, and potentially becoming vectors for disease.
As of April 23, Nova Scotia was one of the last provinces to discourage staff from working at more than one long-term care facility.
Historically, employees in long-term care facilities earn less than what they would in an acute care hospital. On May 7, the McNeil government finally agreed to give a pay increase to front-line workers in nursing homes, backdated to March 13. Rather than offering a top-up on their hourly pay, the Nova Scotia government insists on paying the care workers a bonus of $2,000 for the estimated four month duration of the COVID-19 crisis.
As there is high demand for care workers, who are finally getting 35- to 40-hour work weeks, employees will receive the bonus, which works out $2.90 an hour. The sticking point is they have to have worked the whole four months, and won’t collect if they fall sick themselves.
Dangers in confined or crowded spaces
This brings us to the point about dangers facing groups of people in confined spaces. Nova Scotia closed all schools, from daycares to universities. Gyms, libraries, theatres and community centres also had to shut. But there was little to no attention paid to nursing homes and elder care residences.
However, many public health experts know how dangerous viruses can be to residents of nursing homes. According to an article in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases: “The common occurrence and dire consequences of infections disease outbreaks in nursing homes often go unrecognized and unappreciated. Nevertheless, these facilities provide an ideal environment for acquisition and spread of infection: susceptible residents who share sources of air, food, water, and health care in a crowded institutional setting. Moreover, visitors, staff, and residents constantly come and go, bringing in pathogens from both the hospital and the community.”
While nursing homes could not be closed, arrangements could have been made. The arrangements we see at Northwood today, such as devoting a floor of the building to isolating those who test positive, or assigning a floor to those recovering, made around April 20th, could have been made sooner. And when did Northwood begin spatial distancing measures such as moving people from double to single rooms, or if that option was off the table, moving some healthier residents who required less care to hotel rooms?
Pandemic and prisons
Public Health warned us a pandemic was coming to all regions of Canada. By early March we all knew. Now, eight weeks later, as a result of mandatory social-distancing and isolation, we are seeing a slight fall in the community spread, but deaths in nursing home are still rising.
Prisons could well be the next place COVID-19 will spread if we don't heed the risks seen in long-term care homes.
Prisoner rights activists, and lawyers representing prisoners, have warned us that prisons will become a killing ground for prisoners and jailers alike once COVID-19 begins to spread inside. The prison guards go home to their families after their shifts, and return to the jail every workday.
We didn’t heed the warnings in time to save thousands of elderly people in institutions across the country. Are we listening to the warnings about the risk to the prison populations? They will be the next COVID-19 frontier.


nationalobserver--2020-05-14--Ontario's reopening plan: You can go shopping Tuesday, but you can't visit family

Starting Tuesday , people in Ontario can go shopping , play sports that allow physical distancing and undergo scheduled surgeries as the province begins the first phase of its COVID-19 reopen plan .
But they still should n't see family members they do n't live with , and they still are n't allowed to gather in groups larger than five , at least for now , Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday .
`` I understand the pain you 're going through , '' Ford said .
`` I just ask , hang in there a little bit longer .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ of workplaces and service providers that will be allowed to open for the Victoria Day long weekend as of 12:01 a.m. Saturday : golf courses , marinas and private parks .
Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province considers it safe to move ahead with the reopen plan because new cases have steadily declined outside long-term care homes , local health units have been able to effectively do contact tracing on 90 per cent of new cases , and the province has significantly stepped up its struggling testing regime — all requirements the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ plan on April 27 .
• 'Alberta didn ’ t contain it ' : COVID-19 outbreak at oilsands camp has spread across the country • Canada wants to extend U.S. travel ban Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said in a statement that the government still has n't consistently met its own target of 16,000 COVID-19 tests per day , and the province should n't reopen until it expands testing further .
Ontario met that 16,000-test benchmark Thursday , but missed it three other days this week .
`` No one wants to see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ steps back , '' Horwath said in a statement .
`` We do n't want to see more people getting sick , and freshly reopened businesses having to close again . ''
In the coming days , the government will have more updates on possible changes to the size limit on gatherings , and on when schools might reopen , said Finance Minister Rod Phillips .
`` Turning on the economy is not as simple as flicking on a switch , '' he said .
The reopening also comes with caveats .
Elliott @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to wear a mask in situations where it may be difficult to stay two metres apart .
Only businesses that can maintain physical distancing can reopen .
And Ford said the province is watching for a resurgence in COVID-19 cases .
`` Businesses should open only if they are ready , '' Ford added .
`` I ’ ll repeat that : Only if they ’ re ready .
And all of this is dependent on the numbers . ''
The first phase of Ontario 's re-opening plan begins Tuesday .
`` Businesses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , '' Premier Doug Ford said .
# onpoli Restaurants remain closed .
In-person religious services are also not allowed , though Elliott said the province is looking at ways to bring them back .
Elliott also announced the province is expanding its COVID-19 testing criteria to allow anyone with symptoms to be checked for the virus .
So far , Ontario has prioritized testing residents and staff of long-term care homes .
( Epidemiologists have recommended widespread testing , including sampling in the community to detect people who may be asymptomatic , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Here 's a full list of what will be allowed to reopen or resume in the coming days .
On Saturday , May 16 at 12:01 a.m. : • Golf courses ( clubhouses can open only for washrooms , and restaurants open only for take-out ) • Private parks and campgrounds , but only to prepare for the season or allow access for trailer and RV owners who have a full-season contract • Stables and other businesses that board animals , but only to allow owners to visit , ride or care for @ @

Starting Tuesday, people in Ontario can go shopping, play sports that allow physical distancing and undergo scheduled surgeries as the province begins the first phase of its COVID-19 reopen plan. But they still shouldn't see family members they don't live with, and they still aren't allowed to gather in groups larger than five, at least for now, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Thursday. "I understand the pain you're going through," Ford said. "I just ask, hang in there a little bit longer." The government also announced another round of workplaces and service providers that will be allowed to open for the Victoria Day long weekend as of 12:01 a.m. Saturday: golf courses, marinas and private parks. Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province considers it safe to move ahead with the reopen plan because new cases have steadily declined outside long-term care homes, local health units have been able to effectively do contact tracing on 90 per cent of new cases, and the province has significantly stepped up its struggling testing regime — all requirements the government laid out when it unveiled its plan on April 27.
Opposition NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said in a statement that the government still hasn't consistently met its own target of 16,000 COVID-19 tests per day, and the province shouldn't reopen until it expands testing further. Ontario met that 16,000-test benchmark Thursday, but missed it three other days this week. "No one wants to see Ontario take one step forward and two steps back," Horwath said in a statement. "We don't want to see more people getting sick, and freshly reopened businesses having to close again." Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions In the coming days, the government will have more updates on possible changes to the size limit on gatherings, and on when schools might reopen, said Finance Minister Rod Phillips.
"Turning on the economy is not as simple as flicking on a switch," he said. The first phase of Ontario's re-opening plan begins Tuesday. "Businesses should open only if they are ready," Premier Doug Ford said. #onpoli The reopening also comes with caveats. Elliott asked Ontarians to maintain physical distancing and to wear a mask in situations where it may be difficult to stay two metres apart. Only businesses that can maintain physical distancing can reopen. And Ford said the province is watching for a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. "Businesses should open only if they are ready," Ford added. "I’ll repeat that: Only if they’re ready. And all of this is dependent on the numbers." Restaurants remain closed. In-person religious services are also not allowed, though Elliott said the province is looking at ways to bring them back. Elliott also announced the province is expanding its COVID-19 testing criteria to allow anyone with symptoms to be checked for the virus. So far, Ontario has prioritized testing residents and staff of long-term care homes. (Epidemiologists have recommended widespread testing, including sampling in the community to detect people who may be asymptomatic, as a condition of reopening.)
Here's a full list of what will be allowed to reopen or resume in the coming days. On Saturday, May 16 at 12:01 a.m.: Golf courses (clubhouses can open only for washrooms, and restaurants open only for take-out)
Marinas, boat clubs and public boat launches
Private parks and campgrounds, but only to prepare for the season or allow access for trailer and RV owners who have a full-season contract
Stables and other businesses that board animals, but only to allow owners to visit, ride or care for their animals