nationalobserver--2020-09-18--The biggest-ever protest, a modern Southern Gothic, and an early VIFF review

Caution though .
If you see a title already sold out , it may not mean that .
It may be that terms of availability aren ’ t settled yet and no tickets have been sold at all .
See why it ’ s good to check it out early ?
Best site I ’ ve come across is the tab called “ 2020 VIFF Connect Online Screenings ” at https : //viff.org/ It ’ s not too early to get up to speed for the Vancouver International Film Festival .
Most of VIFF this year will be streaming , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your computer , your TV or a hybrid of the two .
Some films will also be in theatres .
And a few films will only be in theatres .
The schedule is now online .
Robert Pattinson is the new preacher in town with a mesmerizing raspy sermon style and a special interest in the teenage girls in his congregation .
There ’ s also a pair of serial killers about ( Jason Clarke and Riley Keough ) who prey on hitchhikers by luring them with offers of sex .
She ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s sheriff and therefore never suspected .
In a separate incident , Mia Wasikowska is stabbed to death with a screwdriver by a character who equates death and God .
It ’ s almost too much to watch this much brutality and corruption amassed in one place , but it fits a long literary tradition in the American South and with both star quality and fine acting is most engrossing on screen .
Donald Ray Pollock , who wrote the novel , leads us through it with voiceover narrator with a drawl , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ranging from mountain folk songs to country and other oldies create the ambience .
The meaning of it all is elusive , but the film is more than watchable .
( Netflix ) 3½ out of 5 THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME : A former Spider-Man and a future Batman cross paths in this sprawling southern gothic and bring along enough perversity and piety to rivet all the sinners and the devout among us .
Andrew Garfield plays a young man still hurting with the trauma of finding his father , a death @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he had set up in the woods to pray at .
The dad had been traumatized himself by an incident in the South Pacific during the Second World War .
The film flips around in three different decades to assemble this epic set in a small West Virginia town , a hamlet in southern Ohio , and on the road between .
The film then tells how morale collapsed among the protesters .
So many had marched and affected nothing .
The war went ahead anyway .
To this day , it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in it , but the film does say what we all know : It was based on lies and no good reason .
Le Carré calls it “ a crime of the century.
” Remarkably the film ends on an up-note .
The protest inspired other movements .
This is an important film by Amir Amirani , a British documentarian who was also co-producer of the Iran history flick , Coupe 53 , which played VIFF last year .
This new film is coming to theatres next week , to VOD next year @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the International Day of Peace .
( You can find details here : wearemany.com ) 4½ out of 5 WE ARE MANY : Seventeen years ago , on Feb. 15 , the largest protest event in human history took place .
Millions of people in 600 cities around the globe marched against an impending war on Iraq .
Pressure was building inexorably for one .
This bristling film shows the efforts on both sides with remarkable detail .
The march organizers recall their sense of urgency and both insiders and observers analyze @ @ @ @ @ @ @ war .
Since it ’ s a British film , Tony Blair ’ s toadieness gets much attention .
But Colin Powell ’ s lies to the United Nations are here , too , as are several clips of George W. Bush ’ s fake sincerity , including his “ axis of evil '' speech .
David Frum , who wrote it for him , isn ’ t there , but a terrific bunch of others are , including Colin Powell ’ s former chief of staff , UN arms investigator at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Carré , musician Brian Eno , actors Danny Glover , Susan Sarandon , and many more .
A young Indigenous woman ( Lisa Hill played by Grace Dove ) has had visions for years of her brother ’ s death .
The novel starts with a phone call telling her he ’ s lost at sea .
The film takes some time before she hears that , rushes home from Vancouver to Kitamaat and sets out to find him .
There are dark creatures in the woods , a supernatural aura and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ work with and not deny her mystical side .
That ’ s hard to tell in a movie ; We ’ re not used to what Todd calls elliptical storytelling based on association rather than a linear narrative .
I can ’ t say that I got it all , but I did get the journey she was on .
Tina Lameman gives encouragement as her grandmother and Adam Beach as her impish uncle is a more contemporary voice .
Ultimately , this is a potent story of cultural survival .
( It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but also gets one free screening in theatres around B.C.
, VanCity , the Rio and Cinematheque in Vancouver , Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver , CineCenta in Victoria , Imagine Whistler Village 8 , Civic Theatre in Nelson , Kamloops Film Society , Classic Salmon Arm and Tillicum Twin Theatres in Terrace . )
3 out of 5 MONKEY BEACH : The opening film at VIFF this year is an almost completely B.C.-grown product .
It ’ s filmed in Haisla territory up coast , involves Haisla mythology and culture and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who lives up there .
The director , Loretta Todd , is a Métis Cree born in Alberta , but has worked a lot in documentaries around here and has done a respectful job of transferring the novel to the screen .
She lets it get off to a slow start , though , with a certain vagueness until the story really takes hold .
H IS FOR HAPPINESS : How about a cheerful quirky film to offset the gloom out there ?
This one is from Australia and you can watch it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the very young or the older teens , but anybody else who can take a bit of optimism mixed with silliness .
It has won awards both in its home country and at the Berlin Film Festival and comes from a popular novel by Barry Jonsberg called My Life as an Alphabet .
Daisy Axon , a red-haired and much-freckled girl I ’ ve never seen before , is delightful as 12-year old Candice Phee .
She ’ s a brown-noser at school and eternally sunny , even though her home life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a distant dad , who is also estranged from his brother and his former business partner known as Rich Uncle Brian .
A new kid in class ( Wesley Patten ) who calls himself “ Douglas Benson from another dimension ” becomes her friend and inspires her .
How can she fix her family ?
It is fun , funny and heartwarming .
There ’ s a good dose of that irreverent and ironic Australian humour to divert it from getting mawkish .
Well-known actors like Miriam Margolyes and Richard Roxburgh are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who has done a lot of TV and stage work before this debut feature .
The denouement is a hoot .
( Video on demand ) 3 out of 5 BLACKBIRD : Good actors doing good work and even then this is an uncomfortable film to watch .
Especially if you know somebody who has been involved a similar drama .
I do .
The subject is assisted suicide .
Susan Sarandon plays a woman who wants to die while she still has her dignity .
She has a terminal illness and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fed through a tube .
Sam Neill plays her doctor husband who will give her a drug in a glass .
They ’ ve invited family and others over for an early Christmas celebration the day before it is to happen .
The guests are played by a great cast : Kate Winslet and Mia Wasikowska as her daughters , Lindsay Duncan as her best friend and Rainn Wilson , Bex Taylor-Klaus and Anson Boon as relatives of some of them .
Old times are recalled and a few secrets are spilled .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , hasn ’ t told his parents he wants to be an actor .
Mia ’ s spent time in a psychiatric hospital and berates her dad .
When the mood isn ’ t volatile like that , it ’ s at least awkward .
Until a bizarre plot twist arrives .
It could have made a story all on its own , but here distracts from the central one .
Not forever , but long enough to be a bother .
Maybe it 's there ’ s to keep us interested and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ events .
The theme is relevant ; the presentation feels staged .
( Available digitally and video on demand ) 2½ out of 5 THE NEST : This is a psychological thriller that also exposes cracks in a couple ’ s life together and censures the money-chasing excesses of the 1980s .
In other words , there ’ s a lot going on here , but it doesn ’ t play out elegantly .
The story strains to fit it all together .
Jude Law plays a former star stockbroker in London , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while in New York , and now returns home with an American wife ( Carrie Coon ) and two children .
In a way , that matches the life of the writer/director .
Sean Durkin was born in Canada , was moved to England when he was a baby and then to New York when he was 12 .
He made this film outside Toronto .
His focus here is on the pretentious ambitions of Jude Law ’ s character .
He wants to start his own company , but never manages to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strives for a gentry lifestyle without the money to support it .
As he does , he subverts his wife ’ s ambitions and drifts from his children , particularly the teen daughter who gets in with a hearty-party crowd .
I suppose it ’ s meant to reflect the fixations of the Reagan era , but we ’ ve seen it said before and better .
The house is spooky , which doesn ’ t fit .
The wife is a horse woman , but that leads to an absolutely bewildering incident @ @ @ @ @ @ @ part ?
The prickly arguments by the couple that perfectly show their splintering relationship .
I credit Carrie Coon ’ s forceful acting from mild resentment to fiery snap back for making that work .
( This one is in theatres : International Village , 5th Avenue and three in the suburbs ) 3 out of 5 ANTEBELLUM : A couple of advertising men make their feature film directing debut and that may explain the unusual ( innovative ? )
storytelling style .
Imagine this : Opening with a Gone With the Wind @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lawn before a southern mansion , leading to scenes of brutality against slaves and Confederate soldiers cheering their general , and so on and then a cellphone rings .
Huh ?
We ’ re suddenly in a sleek middle-class house today .
The phone wakes up a woman ( Janelle Monáe ) , who we learn is an author .
Was it all a dream ?
Maybe , but later , she ’ s back in that Civil War time , on that plantation where soldiers are told not to use their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way of illustrating the point of the William Faulkner quote that opens the movie : “ The past is never dead.
” The film shows it affecting the present so persistently that Monáe ’ s character exists in both times .
As a slave , she ’ s subject to extreme brutality , is raped and suffers a miscarriage .
In the present time , she ’ s assaulted in the back seat of an Uber car .
That ’ s after a lecture she gives censuring the patriarchy .
“ Their arrogance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is now.
” Back in the Civil War days , Jack Huston plays a particularly brutal overseer of slaves .
He gets done in with a kettle and a knife .
The parallel is extreme .
A final scene explains what ’ s been going on and justifies some of it , but not the excesses of the film ’ s message .
Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz are the ad men who made it .
( Available in Premium Video On-Demand ) 2½ out of 5 RADIOACTIVE : Marie Curie won the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ studying radiation and this is twice ( that I know of ) that her story has been told in a movie .
This time , the emphasis is on a very modern point of interest : Equal recognition for women .
Marie , according to this version which originated in a graphic novel , didn ’ t feel she got that with the first prize .
She won jointly with her husband Pierre , but only he was invited to Oslo to receive it .
Before that , the film shows a series @ @ @ @ @ @ @ science .
“ Maybe it ’ s because I ’ m Polish , ” she says , “ or a woman.
” She presses ahead though , insisting , “ I will find my own way ” and becomes a model assertive woman in this film by the Iranian-French director Marjane Satrapi and with an eloquent performance by Rosamund Pike .
That ’ s all fine , but the film feels less strong than its central figure .
It could use more punch in pushing its theme .
Instead , it gets distracted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ radiation .
She even gave the phenomenon that name .
The film brings up the issue of radiation sickness .
People accuse her of inventing a poison .
She didn ’ t invent ; she identified and studied .
Worse , the film cuts away now and then to nuclear bomb blasts and radiation leakage at Chernobyl as if she led to them .
Misinformed , I ’ d say .
( Available video on demand at Google Play , YouTube and others ) 2½ out of 5

Caution though. If you see a title already sold out, it may not mean that. It may be that terms of availability aren’t settled yet and no tickets have been sold at all. See why it’s good to check it out early? Best site I’ve come across is the tab called “2020 VIFF Connect Online Screenings” at https://viff.org/
It’s not too early to get up to speed for the Vancouver International Film Festival. Most of VIFF this year will be streaming, so learn how to view it on your computer, your TV or a hybrid of the two. Some films will also be in theatres. And a few films will only be in theatres. The schedule is now online.
WE ARE MANY : Seventeen years ago, on Feb. 15, the largest protest event in human history took place. Millions of people in 600 cities around the globe marched against an impending war on Iraq. Pressure was building inexorably for one. This bristling film shows the efforts on both sides with remarkable detail. The march organizers recall their sense of urgency and both insiders and observers analyze the work of the hawks calling for war. Since it’s a British film, Tony Blair’s toadieness gets much attention. But Colin Powell’s lies to the United Nations are here, too, as are several clips of George W. Bush’s fake sincerity, including his “axis of evil" speech. David Frum, who wrote it for him, isn’t there, but a terrific bunch of others are, including Colin Powell’s former chief of staff, UN arms investigator at the time Hans Blix, author John le Carré, musician Brian Eno, actors Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, and many more.
THE DEVIL ALL THE TIME : A former Spider-Man and a future Batman cross paths in this sprawling southern gothic and bring along enough perversity and piety to rivet all the sinners and the devout among us. Andrew Garfield plays a young man still hurting with the trauma of finding his father, a death by suicide, at the wooden cross he had set up in the woods to pray at. The dad had been traumatized himself by an incident in the South Pacific during the Second World War. The film flips around in three different decades to assemble this epic set in a small West Virginia town, a hamlet in southern Ohio, and on the road between.
The film then tells how morale collapsed among the protesters. So many had marched and affected nothing. The war went ahead anyway. To this day, it’s not clear how many Iraqis died in it, but the film does say what we all know: It was based on lies and no good reason. Le Carré calls it “a crime of the century.” Remarkably the film ends on an up-note. The protest inspired other movements. This is an important film by Amir Amirani, a British documentarian who was also co-producer of the Iran history flick, Coupe 53, which played VIFF last year. This new film is coming to theatres next week, to VOD next year and to a special virtual streaming Monday on the International Day of Peace. (You can find details here: wearemany.com ) 4½ out of 5
Robert Pattinson is the new preacher in town with a mesmerizing raspy sermon style and a special interest in the teenage girls in his congregation. There’s also a pair of serial killers about (Jason Clarke and Riley Keough) who prey on hitchhikers by luring them with offers of sex. She’s the sister of the town’s sheriff and therefore never suspected. In a separate incident, Mia Wasikowska is stabbed to death with a screwdriver by a character who equates death and God. It’s almost too much to watch this much brutality and corruption amassed in one place, but it fits a long literary tradition in the American South and with both star quality and fine acting is most engrossing on screen. Donald Ray Pollock, who wrote the novel, leads us through it with voiceover narrator with a drawl, while superb art direction and music choices ranging from mountain folk songs to country and other oldies create the ambience. The meaning of it all is elusive, but the film is more than watchable. (Netflix) 3½ out of 5
MONKEY BEACH: The opening film at VIFF this year is an almost completely B.C.-grown product. It’s filmed in Haisla territory up coast, involves Haisla mythology and culture and comes from a novel by Eden Robinson who lives up there. The director, Loretta Todd, is a Métis Cree born in Alberta, but has worked a lot in documentaries around here and has done a respectful job of transferring the novel to the screen. She lets it get off to a slow start, though, with a certain vagueness until the story really takes hold.
Courtesy VIFF
A young Indigenous woman (Lisa Hill played by Grace Dove) has had visions for years of her brother’s death. The novel starts with a phone call telling her he’s lost at sea. The film takes some time before she hears that, rushes home from Vancouver to Kitamaat and sets out to find him. There are dark creatures in the woods, a supernatural aura and the weight of the demands she feels to work with and not deny her mystical side. That’s hard to tell in a movie; We’re not used to what Todd calls elliptical storytelling based on association rather than a linear narrative. I can’t say that I got it all, but I did get the journey she was on. Tina Lameman gives encouragement as her grandmother and Adam Beach as her impish uncle is a more contemporary voice. Ultimately, this is a potent story of cultural survival. (It starts streaming Thursday by VIFF CONNECT, but also gets one free screening in theatres around B.C., VanCity, the Rio and Cinematheque in Vancouver, Kay Meek Centre in West Vancouver, CineCenta in Victoria, Imagine Whistler Village 8, Civic Theatre in Nelson, Kamloops Film Society, Classic Salmon Arm and Tillicum Twin Theatres in Terrace.) 3 out of 5
H IS FOR HAPPINESS: How about a cheerful quirky film to offset the gloom out there? This one is from Australia and you can watch it with the whole family. Maybe not with the very young or the older teens, but anybody else who can take a bit of optimism mixed with silliness. It has won awards both in its home country and at the Berlin Film Festival and comes from a popular novel by Barry Jonsberg called My Life as an Alphabet.
Courtesy A71
Daisy Axon, a red-haired and much-freckled girl I’ve never seen before, is delightful as 12-year old Candice Phee. She’s a brown-noser at school and eternally sunny, even though her home life is dull with a deeply depressed mom and a distant dad, who is also estranged from his brother and his former business partner known as Rich Uncle Brian. A new kid in class (Wesley Patten) who calls himself “Douglas Benson from another dimension” becomes her friend and inspires her. How can she fix her family? It is fun, funny and heartwarming. There’s a good dose of that irreverent and ironic Australian humour to divert it from getting mawkish. Well-known actors like Miriam Margolyes and Richard Roxburgh are in the cast directed by John Sheedy, who has done a lot of TV and stage work before this debut feature. The denouement is a hoot. (Video on demand) 3 out of 5
BLACKBIRD: Good actors doing good work and even then this is an uncomfortable film to watch. Especially if you know somebody who has been involved a similar drama. I do. The subject is assisted suicide. Susan Sarandon plays a woman who wants to die while she still has her dignity. She has a terminal illness and fears the prospect of having to be fed through a tube. Sam Neill plays her doctor husband who will give her a drug in a glass. They’ve invited family and others over for an early Christmas celebration the day before it is to happen.
Courtesy A71
The guests are played by a great cast: Kate Winslet and Mia Wasikowska as her daughters, Lindsay Duncan as her best friend and Rainn Wilson, Bex Taylor-Klaus and Anson Boon as relatives of some of them. Old times are recalled and a few secrets are spilled. Boon’s character, for instance, hasn’t told his parents he wants to be an actor. Mia’s spent time in a psychiatric hospital and berates her dad. When the mood isn’t volatile like that, it’s at least awkward. Until a bizarre plot twist arrives. It could have made a story all on its own, but here distracts from the central one. Not forever, but long enough to be a bother. Maybe it's there’s to keep us interested and not be trapped by the maudlin main events. The theme is relevant; the presentation feels staged. (Available digitally and video on demand) 2½ out of 5
THE NEST: This is a psychological thriller that also exposes cracks in a couple’s life together and censures the money-chasing excesses of the 1980s. In other words, there’s a lot going on here, but it doesn’t play out elegantly. The story strains to fit it all together. Jude Law plays a former star stockbroker in London, who chased the American dream for a while in New York, and now returns home with an American wife (Carrie Coon) and two children. In a way, that matches the life of the writer/director. Sean Durkin was born in Canada, was moved to England when he was a baby and then to New York when he was 12. He made this film outside Toronto.
Courtesy Elevation Pictures
His focus here is on the pretentious ambitions of Jude Law’s character. He wants to start his own company, but never manages to succeed with his biggest ideas. He strives for a gentry lifestyle without the money to support it. As he does, he subverts his wife’s ambitions and drifts from his children, particularly the teen daughter who gets in with a hearty-party crowd. I suppose it’s meant to reflect the fixations of the Reagan era, but we’ve seen it said before and better. The house is spooky, which doesn’t fit. The wife is a horse woman, but that leads to an absolutely bewildering incident that detracts from the film. Best part? The prickly arguments by the couple that perfectly show their splintering relationship. I credit Carrie Coon’s forceful acting from mild resentment to fiery snap back for making that work. (This one is in theatres: International Village, 5th Avenue and three in the suburbs) 3 out of 5
ANTEBELLUM: A couple of advertising men make their feature film directing debut and that may explain the unusual (innovative?) storytelling style. Imagine this: Opening with a Gone With the Wind feel of a little girl skipping across a lawn before a southern mansion, leading to scenes of brutality against slaves and Confederate soldiers cheering their general, and so on and then a cellphone rings. Huh? We’re suddenly in a sleek middle-class house today. The phone wakes up a woman (Janelle Monáe), who we learn is an author. Was it all a dream? Maybe, but later, she’s back in that Civil War time, on that plantation where soldiers are told not to use their cellphones.
Courtesy Lionsgate Films
It’s a different way of illustrating the point of the William Faulkner quote that opens the movie: “The past is never dead.” The film shows it affecting the present so persistently that Monáe’s character exists in both times. As a slave, she’s subject to extreme brutality, is raped and suffers a miscarriage. In the present time, she’s assaulted in the back seat of an Uber car. That’s after a lecture she gives censuring the patriarchy. “Their arrogance is their greatest vulnerability. Our time is now.” Back in the Civil War days, Jack Huston plays a particularly brutal overseer of slaves. He gets done in with a kettle and a knife. The parallel is extreme. A final scene explains what’s been going on and justifies some of it, but not the excesses of the film’s message. Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz are the ad men who made it. (Available in Premium Video On-Demand) 2½ out of 5
RADIOACTIVE: Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize twice for her work in studying radiation and this is twice (that I know of) that her story has been told in a movie. This time, the emphasis is on a very modern point of interest: Equal recognition for women. Marie, according to this version which originated in a graphic novel, didn’t feel she got that with the first prize. She won jointly with her husband Pierre, but only he was invited to Oslo to receive it. Before that, the film shows a series of slights and impediments as she does science. “Maybe it’s because I’m Polish,” she says, “or a woman.” She presses ahead though, insisting, “I will find my own way” and becomes a model assertive woman in this film by the Iranian-French director Marjane Satrapi and with an eloquent performance by Rosamund Pike.
Courtesy MK2
That’s all fine, but the film feels less strong than its central figure. It could use more punch in pushing its theme. Instead, it gets distracted with another modern concern. Curie studied radiation. She even gave the phenomenon that name. The film brings up the issue of radiation sickness. People accuse her of inventing a poison. She didn’t invent; she identified and studied. Worse, the film cuts away now and then to nuclear bomb blasts and radiation leakage at Chernobyl as if she led to them. Misinformed, I’d say. (Available video on demand at Google Play, YouTube and others) 2½ out of 5


nationalobserver--2020-09-18--Shell shock: B.C.’s oyster industry hopes to weather climate change

B.C .
oyster farmer Steve Pocock said he can ’ t see many upsides for shellfish aquaculture when it comes to dealing with the effects of climate change .
“ I ’ m struggling to see where there would be any real potential benefits , ” said Pocock , owner of Sawmill Bay Shellfish and someone who has been in the business for 12 years .
“ An oyster may grow faster in warmer water , but that ’ s not necessarily a good thing , ” he said .
`` When we see increased temperature , we often see @ @ @ @ @ @ @ susceptible to stress . ''
• How 393 million firearms may lead to carnage in America ’ s streets after Nov. 3 • Climate strikers are trying to trademark Erin O ’ Toole ’ s ‘ Take Back Canada ’ slogan • As CERB winds down , calls for universal basic income intensify Pocock has six oyster leases on or near Read Island , which is between Quadra and Cortes islands .
All the islands are part of the Discovery Islands archipelago wedged between Vancouver Island and the B.C .
coast .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ B.C.
’ s shellfish farming industry because of its clean , remote and cool waters , said Pocock .
Oysters made up 80 per cent of B.C.
’ s farmed shellfish harvest in 2018 , or 7,200 tonnes .
And oysters accounted for 61 per cent ( almost $ 26 million ) of the wholesale value of all farmed shellfish in the province .
Recent research out of the University of British Columbia ( UBC ) indicated shellfish aquaculture might benefit from climate change by gaining a 46 per cent increase in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
However , B.C.
’ s shellfish aquaculture sector isn ’ t really hamstrung by a lack of appropriate farming sites , said Timothy Green , a researcher at Vancouver Island University ( VIU ) .
`` You have this whole mix of stressors that these oysters are trying to adapt to , ” VIU researcher Timothy Green , on the need for a selective breeding program to mitigate climate change impacts on shellfish farming .
@ viunews @ UBC # climatechange The sector is more likely limited by market demand and where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coast , said Green , a Canada Research Chair in Shellfish Health and Genomics at VIU .
Plus , ocean acidification and new diseases tied to warming ocean waters — both significant threats to the viability of B.C.
’ s shellfish aquaculture sector — would likely negate any potential benefits from climate change , he said .
“ So , you have this whole mix of stressors that these oysters are trying to adapt to , ” Green said .
Timothy Green , Canada Research Chair in Shellfish Health and Genomics at VIU @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by climate change are threats to B.C .
's oyster farming industry .
Photo supplied by VIU .
His research aims to mitigate climate change impacts by examining Pacific oysters ’ ability to evolve and adapt to changing ocean conditions , Green said .
One of the biggest problems for shellfish worldwide and in B.C .
waters is ocean acidification , Green said .
Acidification takes place as the increasing carbon in the atmosphere gets absorbed by the ocean , turning waters more acidic .
The acidification then drops the levels of calcium @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oysters , or spats , and other shellfish need to build their shells , Green said .
Another threat to B.C .
oysters is new pathogens brought about by warming oceans and global transport , he added .
“ We have diseases that are moving around the world with increased globalization and vessels moving between ports , ” Green said .
“ They 're often spreading toxic species of algae , as well as other pathogens of oysters.
” Green is studying the genetics of shellfish adaptation to stressors and establishing a selective @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more resilient .
“ So , we have breeding program and a research program trying to look at how oysters actually adapt to ocean acidification and other disease stressors that are also alarming , ” he said .
“ Hopefully , in the next year we 'll start to see how the baby oysters we ’ re producing fare with their laboratory challenges and these diseases.
” Oyster brood stock used in VIU 's research breeding program for climate change adaptation are identified by tags and their performance is measured throughout the farming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Although B.C .
oysters , and shellfish in general , face challenges from global warming , they are a good way to help stem climate change , Green said .
“ I can see that people will start to look more closely at the sorts of foods they are eating and making sure they are sustainable , ” Green said .
“ Shellfish ticks a number of those boxes .
And so , I can see a market drive towards not just oysters , but other shellfish we produce , like scallops @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 's basically the lowest carbon producer per gram of protein of all animal protein sources , including some vegetable proteins , ” he said .
“ There is very little fossil fuel use and no emissions from oysters causing green house gases.
” Additionally , oysters don ’ t require extra feed but filter nutrients from the ocean , said Pocock .
And in doing so , they improve water quality and reduce excess nutrients that can cause harmful algal blooms and can result in oxygen starved marine zones , research shows .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pocock worries about their ability to withstand negative impacts themselves .
The shellfish farmer hasn ’ t noticed a gradual trend toward warming waters , but rather ocean temperatures ricocheting up and down .
In May 2019 , the surface temperature of the waters around his shellfish operations shot up to 20 degrees Celsius .
“ That is quite exceptional for that time of year , ” Pocock said , adding marine heat waves can lead to increased mortality .
“ I ’ m concerned that oysters will find it stressful , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ m more apprehensive as to what the future will bring .
”

Marine heat waves, ocean acidification, toxic algae blooms. B.C. oyster farmer Steve Pocock said he can’t see many upsides for shellfish aquaculture when it comes to dealing with the effects of climate change. “I’m struggling to see where there would be any real potential benefits,” said Pocock, owner of Sawmill Bay Shellfish and someone who has been in the business for 12 years. “An oyster may grow faster in warmer water, but that’s not necessarily a good thing,” he said. "When we see increased temperature, we often see a more sensitive creature that's more susceptible to stress."
Pocock has six oyster leases on or near Read Island, which is between Quadra and Cortes islands. All the islands are part of the Discovery Islands archipelago wedged between Vancouver Island and the B.C. coast. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions The area has long been a hotbed for B.C.’s shellfish farming industry because of its clean, remote and cool waters, said Pocock.
Oysters made up 80 per cent of B.C.’s farmed shellfish harvest in 2018, or 7,200 tonnes. And oysters accounted for 61 per cent (almost $26 million) of the wholesale value of all farmed shellfish in the province. Recent research out of the University of British Columbia (UBC) indicated shellfish aquaculture might benefit from climate change by gaining a 46 per cent increase in the marine areas favourable to farming Pacific oysters. "You have this whole mix of stressors that these oysters are trying to adapt to,” VIU researcher Timothy Green, on the need for a selective breeding program to mitigate climate change impacts on shellfish farming. @viunews @UBC #climatechange However, B.C.’s shellfish aquaculture sector isn’t really hamstrung by a lack of appropriate farming sites, said Timothy Green, a researcher at Vancouver Island University (VIU). The sector is more likely limited by market demand and where seafood processing sites are based on the coast, said Green, a Canada Research Chair in Shellfish Health and Genomics at VIU. Plus, ocean acidification and new diseases tied to warming ocean waters — both significant threats to the viability of B.C.’s shellfish aquaculture sector — would likely negate any potential benefits from climate change, he said.
“So, you have this whole mix of stressors that these oysters are trying to adapt to,” Green said. Timothy Green, Canada Research Chair in Shellfish Health and Genomics at VIU, says ocean acidification and disease fuelled by climate change are threats to B.C.'s oyster farming industry. Photo supplied by VIU. His research aims to mitigate climate change impacts by examining Pacific oysters’ ability to evolve and adapt to changing ocean conditions, Green said.


nationalobserver--2020-09-18--COVID-19 changed how Canadians eat. But are we wasting less food?

The average Canadian wasted two kilograms of food a week before the pandemic .
Not anymore .
That ’ s according to a survey released earlier this month by Love Food Hate Waste , an international campaign working to reduce household food waste , which found Canadians are wasting less food since the pandemic started .
“ Consumers are really motivated right now to reduce their food waste , and see food waste as a national issue , ” Joanne Gauci , campaign manager for Love Food Hate Waste and a senior policy adviser for Metro Vancouver , said .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ already had before making a shopping trip , while a third were using shopping lists and meal plans to help them shop more strategically .
About half said this change was primarily motivated to reduce costs , with the remainder mentioning social and ecological concerns as the driving force behind their behavioural changes .
About 70 per cent of respondents also said they were freezing leftovers to make them last longer , while between 44 per centand 55 per cent reported making better use of their fridge , freezer , and ingredients they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ # Canadians are motivated , they know that wasting # food is not great .
That is amazing , ” @ TammaraSoma said .
“ But it doesn ’ t mean they ’ re going to continue to act upon it , particularly if things go back to the status quo again.
” # [ email protected ] “ It feels like we ’ ve made a small but significant step forward , at least in terms of the fight against food waste in Canada , ” Gauci said .
“ We have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behaviours moving forward.
” It ’ s a glimmer of hope amidst a difficult time .
A glimmer that might be a mirage .
Another study done by Dalhousie University ’ s Agri-Food Analytics Lab found that household food waste increased by about 13 per cent since the pandemic started .
That ’ s equivalent to about 20 to 24 million kilograms of additional organic waste a month , an increase that is consistent with waste collection data from some Canadian municipalities .
It ’ s a discrepancy that could boil down to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ professor at Simon Fraser University ’ s school of Resource and Environmental Management , explained .
In both surveys , respondents self-reported changes in their consumption and waste patterns .
That technique often doesn ’ t correlate with the actual volume of food people waste , researchers pointed out last year .
“ There ’ s a moral and ethical principal that it ’ s not good to waste food .
Whether or not you do , it is a different thing , ” Soma said .
How people eat — and what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ motivations , their skills , and their opportunities , she explained .
That means someone who might be motivated to reduce their food waste , but doesn ’ t know how to cook or have time to be in the kitchen , will waste food even if they don ’ t want to .
An August study by a team at Dalhousie University 's Agri-Food Analytics Lab found that Canadians were wasting 13.5 per cent more food since the pandemic started .
However , they also note that about 55 per cent of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ less food in percentage of volume , which means that , because people are eating more at home , proportionally they may be generating less food waste .
Graph by Dalhousie University Agri-Food Analytics Lab .
And for many Canadians , the pandemic transformed the balance between those three factors .
That meant many changed their consumption patterns and how much they wasted .
“ People aren ’ t just static .
We are influenced by the economy .
We are influenced by the built environment .
We are influenced by our job @ @ @ @ @ @ @ she said .
That means measures of household food waste can ’ t be separated from the broader social and economic patterns shaping their lives .
Those include , for example , financial security , access to a kitchen , and time — all factors the pandemic 's temporary impact might not change in the long run .
For instance , a U.K. study earlier this year found that food waste bounced back as COVID-19 lockdowns eased , after dropping during the height of the crisis .
And those patterns are largely tied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Pushing back against them as individuals is difficult and unsustainable over the long run because “ many things can influence how people act ” and might not reflect their values and motivation , Soma said .
Especially since more than three quarters of food waste is generated before it reaches consumers ’ kitchens .
Without systemic changes to how Canadians produce , transport , buy , and use food , it ’ s highly likely that food waste will return to measures similar to pre-pandemic levels .
“ Canadians are motivated , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
That is amazing , ” she said .
“ But it doesn ’ t mean they ’ re going to continue to act upon it , particularly if things go back to the status quo again .
”

The average Canadian wasted two kilograms of food a week before the pandemic. Not anymore. That’s according to a survey released earlier this month by Love Food Hate Waste, an international campaign working to reduce household food waste, which found Canadians are wasting less food since the pandemic started. “Consumers are really motivated right now to reduce their food waste, and see food waste as a national issue,” Joanne Gauci, campaign manager for Love Food Hate Waste and a senior policy adviser for Metro Vancouver, said. About 35.5 billion kilograms of food is wasted each year in Canada. It’s a staggering volume, enough to generate about 56.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents, or roughly a year’s worth of emissions for 12 million cars. Of that loss, about 14 per cent is generated by consumers — and over half of it could have been eaten.
COVID-19 might have changed that. Love Food Hate Waste's survey, which was distributed online to 1,200 participants across the country in June, found that Canadians were eating more of the food they bought. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions We asked 1,200 people how their food planning and consumption habits have changed in the wild ride that has been 2020. Swipe through for the for the good news.https://t.co/XFRGWEvVOg pic.twitter.com/1l7GdOIGNc — Love Food Hate Waste Canada (@LFHW_ca) September 15, 2020
About half were checking what food they already had before making a shopping trip, while a third were using shopping lists and meal plans to help them shop more strategically. “#Canadians are motivated, they know that wasting #food is not great. That is amazing,” @TammaraSoma said. “But it doesn’t mean they’re going to continue to act upon it, particularly if things go back to the status quo again.” #waste@MetroVancouver About half said this change was primarily motivated to reduce costs, with the remainder mentioning social and ecological concerns as the driving force behind their behavioural changes. About 70 per cent of respondents also said they were freezing leftovers to make them last longer, while between 44 per centand 55 per cent reported making better use of their fridge, freezer, and ingredients they already had in the house. “It feels like we’ve made a small but significant step forward, at least in terms of the fight against food waste in Canada,” Gauci said. “We have a unique opportunity to build on these behaviours moving forward.”
It’s a glimmer of hope amidst a difficult time. A glimmer that might be a mirage. Another study done by Dalhousie University’s Agri-Food Analytics Lab found that household food waste increased by about 13 per cent since the pandemic started. That’s equivalent to about 20 to 24 million kilograms of additional organic waste a month, an increase that is consistent with waste collection data from some Canadian municipalities.


nationalobserver--2020-09-18--Post-secondary students call on Trudeau to abandon TMX

With the Liberal government ’ s throne speech days away , groups representing 180,000 post-secondary students are asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to abandon the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project .
In an open letter signed by student unions from schools in Canada and the United States , the youth urged Trudeau to invest in Indigenous-led green infrastructure instead of pipelines .
The letter comes as the government appears to back off from its initially lofty promises of a green recovery .
“ We want Justin Trudeau and the federal government to commit to the green economy principles they promised @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they promised ( in the last federal election ) , ” said Christina Kachkarova , 21 , a spokesperson for Justice , No Pipeline , a Simon Fraser University-based student group that organized the campaign .
“ It is not only workers who are directly involved in the fossil fuel industry who struggle in the wake of the downturn in oil markets , but those who are involved indirectly , many of whom belong to marginalized groups.
” The letter also pointed to questions about whether the pipeline will be profitable , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at a time when the world is increasingly shifting away from fossil fuels .
“ Is the federal government ready to accept responsibility for putting the safety of thousands of people at risk , including those of young children , for a dirty pipeline that is not only unprofitable , but that counteracts efforts to mitigate climate change ?
” In an open letter , students urged Trudeau to invest in Indigenous-led green infrastructure instead of pipelines .
The campaign comes as the government appears to back off from its initial lofty promises @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Government plans to be outlined in throne speech next week The open letter comes at a time when everyone from provinces and lobbyists to chambers of commerce to environmentalists are doing their best to sway the government ahead of the throne speech .
The throne speech will happen on Sept. 23 .
In it , the Liberal government is expected to outline its plans for the continuing economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19 .
The speech also prompts a confidence vote .
Since the Trudeau government holds a minority of seats , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least one major opposition party to avoid an early election .
When the prime minister prorogued Parliament last month , setting the date for the throne speech , he hinted at plans to fund green infrastructure as a way to help Canada ’ s economic recovery from shutdowns caused by COVID-19 .
“ This is our chance to build a more resilient Canada , a Canada that is healthier and safer , greener and more competitive , a Canada that is more welcoming and more fair , '' Trudeau said at the time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when COVID-19 was under control .
In recent days , new case numbers have been rising again in what experts say appears to be a second wave .
The government ’ s tone has also shifted , with ministers saying COVID-19 is top priority .
“ First and foremost , we have to be sure that we ’ re doing the things with our provincial and territorial counterparts to try to stem the rise and to ensure that Canadians will be safe , ” Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson told reporters Wednesday .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speech is intended to do is to outline sort of the broad parameters and the themes that will be important for the government over the course of the coming session of Parliament .
Certainly in that context , the work to address the climate crisis is very important.
” “ I guess it ’ s a little disappointing to hear , given that Canada is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world , ” she said , referring to the government ’ s rhetoric .
“ It ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and what they want to invest in will affect us long into the future.
” In a statement , Ian Cameron , a spokesperson for Natural Resources Minister Seamus O ’ Regan , pointed to investments the government has made this year to clean up aging wells in Western Canada and reduce emissions from oil and gas .
He also pointed to investments in programs aimed at helping Indigenous communities use less diesel power , and to increase energy efficiency across Canada .
“ Lastly , we will use the revenues from TMX @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , middle-class jobs today — to invest in a clean economy that will create jobs and attract investment , ” Cameron said .
“ We ’ re going to continue to work with our natural resource sectors and all sectors of the economy to build back better , cleaner and more resilient . ''

With the Liberal government’s throne speech days away, groups representing 180,000 post-secondary students are asking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to abandon the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. In an open letter signed by student unions from schools in Canada and the United States, the youth urged Trudeau to invest in Indigenous-led green infrastructure instead of pipelines. The letter comes as the government appears to back off from its initially lofty promises of a green recovery. “We want Justin Trudeau and the federal government to commit to the green economy principles they promised us, and the climate action that they promised (in the last federal election),” said Christina Kachkarova, 21, a spokesperson for Justice, No Pipeline, a Simon Fraser University-based student group that organized the campaign. “We want to know that we will have a safe future.” Justice, No Pipeline is a subgroup of SFU350, a university club that’s connected to international environmental organization 350.org. Simon Fraser University is in Burnaby, B.C., near the endpoint of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
The open letter was backed by a litany of Indigenous, environmental and advocacy groups on both sides of the border. Kachkarova said American student groups chose to sign on because much of the oil flowing through Trans Mountain is bound for refineries in Washington state. The Trudeau government bought Trans Mountain and the expansion project (TMX) in 2018. In the letter, the students said they are concerned about the project’s impacts on carbon emissions, opposition to the project from First Nations whose traditional territory it would run through, the risk of spills off the coast of B.C., impacts on marine wildlife and estimates that it could take hours for firefighting equipment to reach a Trans Mountain tank farm on Burnaby Mountain. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions “We call on the federal government to direct funds towards green job-retraining initiatives,” the letter reads.
“It is not only workers who are directly involved in the fossil fuel industry who struggle in the wake of the downturn in oil markets, but those who are involved indirectly, many of whom belong to marginalized groups.” In an open letter, students urged Trudeau to invest in Indigenous-led green infrastructure instead of pipelines. The campaign comes as the government appears to back off from its initial lofty promises of a green recovery. #cdnpoli The letter also pointed to questions about whether the pipeline will be profitable, and whether it’s a good investment at a time when the world is increasingly shifting away from fossil fuels. “Is the federal government ready to accept responsibility for putting the safety of thousands of people at risk, including those of young children, for a dirty pipeline that is not only unprofitable, but that counteracts efforts to mitigate climate change?” Government plans to be outlined in throne speech next week The open letter comes at a time when everyone from provinces and lobbyists to chambers of commerce to environmentalists are doing their best to sway the government ahead of the throne speech.
The throne speech will happen on Sept. 23. In it, the Liberal government is expected to outline its plans for the continuing economic and health crisis caused by COVID-19. The speech also prompts a confidence vote. Since the Trudeau government holds a minority of seats, it must win the support of at least one major opposition party to avoid an early election. When the prime minister prorogued Parliament last month, setting the date for the throne speech, he hinted at plans to fund green infrastructure as a way to help Canada’s economic recovery from shutdowns caused by COVID-19.


nationalobserver--2020-09-18--Weak oil demand forecasts leave economists wondering if Trans Mountain makes sense

Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has talked about using the revenue from the Trans Mountain oil pipeline to pay for green energy projects .
But what if that revenue never comes because there ’ s little demand for oil in the first place ?
This week , three big names in the energy world all made bold predictions of a much-diminished future for oil .
The large energy company BP shocked analysts when it said it expects oil demand to peak this decade , and never recover , even before factoring in government actions to cut carbon pollution @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Energy Agency and the 13-nation oil export group OPEC slashed their oil demand forecasts , citing a weaker rebound from the COVID-19 economic slowdown than had been expected .
In an open letter to Wilkinson and other cabinet ministers that was published on Thursday , more than 100 Canadian economists and policy experts pointed to the flurry of recent oil market predictions , calling into question the economic viability of the government-owned oil pipeline and its contentious expansion project .
“ For a long time , ‘ peak oil ’ was peak supply @ @ @ @ @ @ @ oil .
And now it ’ s peak demand , and the reason for that is climate change , ” said Thomas Gunton , director of resource and environmental planning at Simon Fraser University , and a former B.C .
deputy minister of environment , in an interview .
• How 393 million firearms may lead to carnage in America ’ s streets after Nov. 3 • Climate strikers are trying to trademark Erin O ’ Toole ’ s ‘ Take Back Canada ’ slogan • As CERB winds down , calls for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s unprecedented , really , for one of the largest oil companies in the world to come out with a forecast as pessimistic as BP ’ s. ” Gunton and other signatories to the letter — including Canada research chairs Carolyn Fischer , Kyla Tienhaara and Nicholas Rivers , former World Bank adviser David Wheeler , and former BC Hydro CEO Marc Eliesen — also point out that , at the same time oil markets are weakening , the cost of the expansion project has climbed .
“ We are concerned that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ escalating construction costs have undermined the viability of TMX and put taxpayers ’ money at risk , ” reads the letter .
“ Your government has not provided an updated evaluation to justify this investment in light of these deteriorating conditions.
” The authors said they recognize that Albertans are suffering due to the drop in oil prices , and deserve support .
But they urged the federal government to choose “ more effective ways of directly assisting workers in the oil sector , ” such as expanding a program to clean up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Trans Mountain is still in its very early stages of development , and so it ’ s still an opportunity to do a re-evaluation , ” said Gunton .
“ You ( the federal government ) have a basic obligation to provide a due diligence business case to the public to justify investment of taxpayer funds.
” Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Burnaby North-Seymour MP Terry Beech announce the Climate Action and Awareness Fund in Stanley Park in Vancouver on Sept. 17 , 2020 .
Photo CPAC screenshot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ' In a conference call with media on Thursday , Canada ’ s National Observer asked Wilkinson if he was concerned that weak oil demand will jeopardize the anticipated tax-related pipeline revenues the Trudeau government is counting on to fund the greening of the economy .
Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has talked about using the revenue from the Trans Mountain oil pipeline to pay for green energy projects .
But what if that revenue never comes , because there ’ s little demand for oil in the first place ?
Wilkinson said the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ revenues to fund green projects remains the same and it intends to stick by that commitment .
“ In terms of world energy demand , there are certainly lots of different forecasts , as you will have seen from different agencies over the past couple of weeks , and certainly from some of the major oil companies , ” he said .
“ I think the collective understanding is that we are going to be going through a transition over the next couple of decades .
Certainly we all recognize that we need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are not using carbon-polluting fuels if we are going to achieve net zero by 2050 , but clearly we are going to be moving through that transition.
” Three per cent of new light-duty vehicle sales in Canada last year were zero-emission vehicles , up significantly from two per cent in 2018 , but still a tiny fraction of all the cars being put on the road , Wilkinson pointed out .
“ We need to ensure that we are aggressively moving in that direction , of more deployment of zero-emission vehicles and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with transportation .
But that will be a process of a number of years before we see that come to some conclusion , ” he said .
The minister was speaking after giving a speech alongside Burnaby North-Seymour MP Terry Beech in Vancouver ’ s Stanley Park .
Wilkinson announced a new $ 206-million Climate Action and Awareness Fund , meant to help projects that will reduce carbon pollution .
Up to $ 50 million over five years will be earmarked for community-based climate action projects , the government said , while the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ youth awareness of climate , advancing climate science , and supporting the work of think tanks and academics studying the transition to net-zero .

Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has talked about using the revenue from the Trans Mountain oil pipeline to pay for green energy projects. But what if that revenue never comes because there’s little demand for oil in the first place? This week, three big names in the energy world all made bold predictions of a much-diminished future for oil. The large energy company BP shocked analysts when it said it expects oil demand to peak this decade, and never recover, even before factoring in government actions to cut carbon pollution. Meanwhile, both the Paris-based International Energy Agency and the 13-nation oil export group OPEC slashed their oil demand forecasts, citing a weaker rebound from the COVID-19 economic slowdown than had been expected. In an open letter to Wilkinson and other cabinet ministers that was published on Thursday, more than 100 Canadian economists and policy experts pointed to the flurry of recent oil market predictions, calling into question the economic viability of the government-owned oil pipeline and its contentious expansion project. “For a long time, ‘peak oil’ was peak supply — we didn’t have enough oil. And now it’s peak demand, and the reason for that is climate change,” said Thomas Gunton, director of resource and environmental planning at Simon Fraser University, and a former B.C. deputy minister of environment, in an interview.
“It’s unprecedented, really, for one of the largest oil companies in the world to come out with a forecast as pessimistic as BP’s.” Gunton and other signatories to the letter — including Canada research chairs Carolyn Fischer, Kyla Tienhaara and Nicholas Rivers, former World Bank adviser David Wheeler, and former BC Hydro CEO Marc Eliesen — also point out that, at the same time oil markets are weakening, the cost of the expansion project has climbed. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions “We are concerned that the decline in world oil markets and the escalating construction costs have undermined the viability of TMX and put taxpayers’ money at risk,” reads the letter. “Your government has not provided an updated evaluation to justify this investment in light of these deteriorating conditions.”
The authors said they recognize that Albertans are suffering due to the drop in oil prices, and deserve support. But they urged the federal government to choose “more effective ways of directly assisting workers in the oil sector,” such as expanding a program to clean up orphaned and inactive oil and gas wells. Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has talked about using the revenue from the Trans Mountain oil pipeline to pay for green energy projects. But what if that revenue never comes, because there’s little demand for oil in the first place? “Trans Mountain is still in its very early stages of development, and so it’s still an opportunity to do a re-evaluation,” said Gunton. “You (the federal government) have a basic obligation to provide a due diligence business case to the public to justify investment of taxpayer funds.” Environment and Climate Change Minister Jonathan Wilkinson and Burnaby North-Seymour MP Terry Beech announce the Climate Action and Awareness Fund in Stanley Park in Vancouver on Sept. 17, 2020. Photo CPAC screenshot 'There are certainly lots of different forecasts' In a conference call with media on Thursday, Canada’s National Observer asked Wilkinson if he was concerned that weak oil demand will jeopardize the anticipated tax-related pipeline revenues the Trudeau government is counting on to fund the greening of the economy.
Wilkinson said the government’s promise to use TMX revenues to fund green projects remains the same and it intends to stick by that commitment. “In terms of world energy demand, there are certainly lots of different forecasts, as you will have seen from different agencies over the past couple of weeks, and certainly from some of the major oil companies,” he said. “I think the collective understanding is that we are going to be going through a transition over the next couple of decades. Certainly we all recognize that we need to get to the point where we are not using carbon-polluting fuels if we are going to achieve net zero by 2050, but clearly we are going to be moving through that transition.”


nationalobserver--2020-09-18--What happened when voters in London used ranked ballots?

City council meetings in London , Ont.
, look a little bit different these days .
Of course , they are largely conducted via video-conference , this being the COVID-19 era , but its participants are also more diverse .
The slate of councillors elected in the province ’ s first ranked ballot experiment include newcomers who are young , gay , Black and Indigenous , boosting the claims of the preferential voting system ’ s advocates that it creates a more democratic , more equitable , and more inclusive political system .
It 's also a reform that Toronto @ @ @ @ @ @ @ municipal elections .
“ I chose to run because the ranked ballot seemed much more approachable as a young woman and as a Black woman , ” said Arielle Kayabaga , who won a close race for a vacant seat in London 's Ward 13 on the eighth round of counting back in 2018 .
“ I felt that I could bring something to the table and focus on that instead of focusing on who has more money and who could slander the other better.
” • How 393 million firearms may lead @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after Nov. 3 • Climate strikers are trying to trademark Erin O ’ Toole ’ s ‘ Take Back Canada ’ slogan In ranked ballots , candidates seek to win the second- and third-choice votes of their competitor ’ s supporters , which advocates in general — and some participants in London ’ s 2018 election in particular — say encourages candidates to appeal to a broader set of constituents .
Shawn Lewis , London ’ s first openly gay city councillor , said ranked ballots “ created an interesting dynamic where I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ actually talking to each other more about city-wide issues rather than just being bubbled in wards and focused on getting to that 33 per cent of the vote to win the race .
“ It took away people 's ability , I feel , to be one-issue candidates , and if they were one issue , they very quickly fell to the bottom of people 's rankings , ” he said .
Shawn Lewis , city councillor for Ward 2 in London , Ont .
Photo via Lewis 's city webpage Kayabaga said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ houses with lawn signs endorsing other candidates trying to convince them to put her down as an alternate choice .
The ranked ballot municipal election two years ago in London , Ontario offers lessons for Toronto as its council decides this month whether to stick with its pledge to deliver electoral reform “ It was really good for us to connect with everybody in the ward , not just the people who did n't have signs ” supporting other candidates , she said .
It may have paid off for Kayabaga , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her nearest rival , John Fyfe-Millar , after six other candidates were eliminated .
( She started with 107 more than him in the first round . )
“ It took quite a bit of votes before we got there , ” she said , but that meant “ some people who did n't make me their first choice still feel like they participated in electing their city councillor.
” The benefits and drawbacks of ranked ballots will be on the minds of Toronto 's 26 elected representatives this month as they consider @ @ @ @ @ @ @ council drop plans to introduce it for the 2022 election .
Jesse Barke , one of the younger members of the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto , says he is hopeful they get it done .
“ As the world and our cities become more polarized , we need a lot less negativity and ways to get together in ways that are constructive , ” he said .
Barke said that Toronto , which boasts of being the most diverse city in the world , can ’ t ignore that London 's experience @ @ @ @ @ @ @ candidates .
More than half of the people living in Toronto in 2016 identified themselves as members of a visible minority , the technical term for non-white , compared to not even one-sixth of council .
( One in six is also roughly the portion of non-white people in London , which is one-tenth the size of Toronto . )
“ City council should in some way reflect the diversity of the population , ” Barke said .
“ All the citizens of the city need to receive the attention they deserve.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto .
Photo supplied by Jesse Barke Still room for dirty tricks , for now But this new way Ontario municipalities can ( since 2016 ) collect and tabulate their local election results did not entirely remove the motivation or the space for dirty tricks in London .
A police investigation is ongoing after a political consultancy affiliated with two male candidates , Blackridge Strategy , launched anonymous personal attack websites that targeted two incumbent female councillors .
One of them was former councillor Virginia Ridley , who Kayabaga @ @ @ @ @ @ @ time.
” She said the attacks seek to remove women “ from public spaces and leadership roles by fear-mongering and fear tactics and slander and all the things they did do and will continue to do if they are not stopped.
” Two Londoners are facing charges in the affair , including candidate Randy Warden for failing to identify himself on election campaign advertising .
None of the allegations have been proven in court .
Blackridge has defended the content of the websites as accurate .
The divisive issue in London in 2018 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ rapid transit system , Lewis said , but on the doorstep , a dozen other issues would also be on voters ’ minds .
“ Green bins was another popular one .
We do n't have green bins yet , and there is a lot of interest from the public on when we are going to get those , ” said Lewis , who defeated the city ’ s longest-standing incumbent councillor , Bill Armstrong , in London ’ s Ward 2 .
The former staffer for federal NDP MP Irene Mathyssen said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ previous system , which often featured three or four candidates splitting the vote against Armstrong , if he thought another candidate had a better chance of beating him .
This time around , the only other contender entered the contest late and ended up knocking on doors with Lewis , who won in the first round with 3,483 votes to Armstrong ’ s 1,799 .
Most of the 173 first-choice votes for the other candidate , Alan Jackson , would have gone to Lewis in any run-off count .
Lewis said London could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by separating the council election from the school board election , which did stick with a first-post-the-post count .
The initial staff report ( PDF ) following the election by London city clerk Cathy Saunders noted ranked ballot results could not trickle in polling place by polling place since the 50 per cent plus one vote threshold meant every vote had to be counted .
Saunders said only one candidate was eliminated each round for the sake of transparency .
In the case of the hotly-contested mayoral race , this meant 14 rounds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ contenders before Ed Holder could be declared victorious .
The final rounds of ranked ballot vote counting in London 's 2018 mayoral race .
It took 14 rounds of counting before Ed Holder received more than 50 per cent of the vote .
The staff report said 31 per cent of voters only selected one candidate in the mayoral race , while 47 per cent ranked three candidates and 22 per cent ranked two .
The outreach to explain the new process meant staff worked evenings and weekends from March until mid-October , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city paid more than $ 470,000 plus tax to Dominion Voting Systems for a “ turnkey election management solution ” and that total costs for the 2018 election came to just under $ 1.8 million .
The report estimated that $ 515,446 of that could be directly attributable to changes needed to use ranked choice voting .
Toronto , which needs to replace its own vote-counting equipment , should note that London ’ s requests for the province to certify the equipment being used or fund an auditor to monitor the process were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , only eight winners were announced , with counting resuming the next day at 10 a.m. , and all unofficial results published by around 3 p.m .
In the end , six newcomers joined eight incumbent council members following the historic vote .

City council meetings in London, Ont., look a little bit different these days. Of course, they are largely conducted via video-conference, this being the COVID-19 era, but its participants are also more diverse. The slate of councillors elected in the province’s first ranked ballot experiment include newcomers who are young, gay, Black and Indigenous, boosting the claims of the preferential voting system’s advocates that it creates a more democratic, more equitable, and more inclusive political system. It's also a reform that Toronto is looking to use in its 2022 municipal elections. “I chose to run because the ranked ballot seemed much more approachable as a young woman and as a Black woman,” said Arielle Kayabaga, who won a close race for a vacant seat in London's Ward 13 on the eighth round of counting back in 2018. “I felt that I could bring something to the table and focus on that instead of focusing on who has more money and who could slander the other better.”
Less wedges, more connection In ranked ballots, candidates seek to win the second- and third-choice votes of their competitor’s supporters, which advocates in general — and some participants in London’s 2018 election in particular — say encourages candidates to appeal to a broader set of constituents. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions Shawn Lewis, London’s first openly gay city councillor, said ranked ballots “created an interesting dynamic where I feel like candidates across the city were actually talking to each other more about city-wide issues rather than just being bubbled in wards and focused on getting to that 33 per cent of the vote to win the race.
“It took away people's ability, I feel, to be one-issue candidates, and if they were one issue, they very quickly fell to the bottom of people's rankings,” he said. The ranked ballot municipal election two years ago in London, Ontario offers lessons for Toronto as its council decides this month whether to stick with its pledge to deliver electoral reform Shawn Lewis, city councillor for Ward 2 in London, Ont. Photo via Lewis's city webpage Kayabaga said she still knocked on the doors of houses with lawn signs endorsing other candidates trying to convince them to put her down as an alternate choice. “It was really good for us to connect with everybody in the ward, not just the people who didn't have signs” supporting other candidates, she said. It may have paid off for Kayabaga, who ended up with 139 more votes than her nearest rival, John Fyfe-Millar, after six other candidates were eliminated. (She started with 107 more than him in the first round.)
“It took quite a bit of votes before we got there,” she said, but that meant “some people who didn't make me their first choice still feel like they participated in electing their city councillor.” Coming to Toronto? The benefits and drawbacks of ranked ballots will be on the minds of Toronto's 26 elected representatives this month as they consider their city clerk’s recommendation that council drop plans to introduce it for the 2022 election.