nationalobserver--2020-09-15--The Conservative Party has a new direction on climate. Will it work?

“ We weren ’ t solid enough on this issue in the last few years , ” he told CBC News on Sept. 8 , in one of his first one-on-one interviews as leader .
Like former leader Andrew Scheer , O ’ Toole has rejected the current Liberal government ’ s carbon tax .
And like Scheer , O ’ Toole has been friendly toward emissions-intensive oil and gas in Western Canada .
But where Scheer delivered a climate plan that was roundly criticized for being ineffective and unpopular with voters in the 2019 election , O ’ Toole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ promising voters something more concrete and less divisive .
Already , Conservative Party leader Erin O ’ Toole is striking a different tone on climate than his predecessor .
Even beyond the devastating impacts of the climate crisis , the question of how O ’ Toole ’ s conservatives will handle environmental policy is also high-stakes politically .
The issue dragged the Conservatives down during the last election .
“ The art of politics is ultimately the art of the possible , ” Albas said in a phone interview with Canada ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know if you do n't try.
” On that front , B.C .
MP Dan Albas — the Conservative Party ’ s new environment critic , appointed last week by O ’ Toole to help write this new vision — has his work cut out for him .
The big question , however , is how O ’ Toole can write a plan stringent enough to get Canada to hit its Paris goal to reduce emissions by a third , yet remain appealing to the Conservative base in oil-friendly Western Canada .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we have to ... have a serious plan to get there.
” “ We are going to work with provinces in a way that the Trudeau government has n't .
We are going to be focused on more practical , results-oriented things .
You know , we want to see good things happen in this country .
And so , those are my marching orders.
” “ We want to be serious players on this file , ” he said .
Albas says he ’ s working on it , though he ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ job .
He ’ s tasked with examining the Conservative approach to climate and environment as a whole with “ fresh eyes , ” he added .
“ Most people , even in the regions where extractive industries are important , recognize that this debate has got to go beyond rhetoric and things need to be done.
” Some longtime Tories are watching for a stronger stance on climate , too .
In a phone interview last week , conservative media commentator Tim Powers said he wants to see the party have a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approach it .
Two-thirds of voters who are open to choosing the Tories but didn ’ t do so in the last election are looking for strong climate commitments , according to a poll by Leger and the non-profit Clean Prosperity , released Tuesday .
Although both O ’ Toole and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have said they don ’ t want a snap election this fall , that possibility is on the table after Trudeau , whose Liberals hold a minority government , prorogued Parliament last month .
No matter when the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ likely need to win over the vote-rich 905 region of Toronto ’ s suburbs , where swing voters in 2019 spurned Scheer ’ s climate plan .
He was re-elected by a relatively tight two per cent margin in 2015 , but won a decisive victory in 2019 .
Albas received national praise in 2012 for a private members ’ bill that made it easier to sell B.C .
wine in the rest of Canada , and writes regular “ MP reports ” that are picked up by local news outlets .
Albas @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interior B.C .
riding of Central Okanagan – Similkameen – Nicola since 2011 , ran a martial arts gym before he ran for a seat in Parliament .
He was also a Penticton , B.C.
, city councillor .
“ Dan Albas is one of the extremely good ones , ” wrote James Miller , then-managing editor of the Penticton Herald , in a 2014 column endorsing Albas ’ bid to run again in his riding .
In 2016 , Albas endorsed former MP Maxime Bernier in the race to become Conservative leader @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — but he publicly distanced himself from Bernier when the former Tory left the party in 2018 and started his own far-right conservative party .
“ When you work with someone building this country up , it ’ s regrettable to use descriptions that aren ’ t positive or productive , ” he said at the time .
“ Dan is viewed as very good with stakeholders , ” Powers said .
“ Those who have worked with him in different capacities say that he gets trying to strike a balance.
” Balance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ out a path forward , Albas said : “ Democracy is getting enough people to say yes.
” Coming from the Okanagan , Albas said he understands the urgency of acting on climate : his riding has experienced the fires and floods that are quickly becoming B.C.
’ s new normal .
But he also said that coming from B.C .
has allowed him to see the “ opportunities ” presented by liquified natural gas ( LNG ) , which he and O ’ Toole have promoted as a way for Canada to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which is far more emissions-intensive .
( That idea , also boosted by federal Liberals , has been disputed by analysts . )
He ’ s not the only one to support B.C .
LNG — B.C.
’ s provincial NDP government has a similar stance — however , it has also been controversial in some regions .
Earlier this year , groups opposed to a natural gas pipeline project blockaded key railroad lines across the country .
“ It 's not the only step , obviously , ” Albas said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ list of environmental issues he ’ d like to tackle : improving access to clean energy for Indigenous communities , reforestation programs and initiatives to address invasive species on freshwater lakes .
And O ’ Toole has his own ideas , outlined in his platform for the leadership race .
Among them , investments in research on carbon capture , working with the oil and gas industry to write a plan that would get them to net-zero emissions , supporting regions affected economically and environmentally by the climate crisis and increased reliance on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said he would support any province that wants to pursue carbon tax , but beyond an industrial polluter-pay program , he ’ s not generally in favour of pursuing the policy .
Some form of carbon pricing plan isn ’ t entirely off the table , Albas said , though he also pointed to findings that B.C.
’ s carbon tax has not decreased overall emissions .
( Experts say that the rise in emissions is due to economic growth , and that emissions would have increased more if not for the program @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thinks it ’ s important to work with the provinces closely to find a plan they ’ re actually willing to implement , rather than policies such as a carbon tax that have inspired resistance .
He said he ’ s also talking to municipalities , First Nations , environmental organizations and anyone else who wants to chat .
“ Quite frankly , if we always talk about carbon tax , it 's very divisive , ” Albas said .
“ What are some things that we can do that are practical ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ looking forward to working with Liberal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson , a fellow B.C .
resident who Albas said he has a lot in common with .
Powers said he thinks the right conversations are happening .
If the Conservatives were to suddenly change course on a carbon tax , that wouldn ’ t feel genuine , he said .
“ Look , we have to get there on climate policy while at the same time respecting the power of the resources and the economic impact that they have now , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to happen overnight.
” How to win the 905 How the Conservatives move forward on the climate file has the potential to define their performance in the next election .
But if they ’ re willing to pen a strong plan , they may be able to unlock a wide swath of swing voters in Ontario ’ s 905 region , according to the poll by Leger and Clean Prosperity .
Of voters who indicated they were open to voting Conservative but didn ’ t do so in 2019 , 68 per @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a carbon tax that gave rebates to Canadians , the survey found .
( The current Liberal plan does give households a rebate . )
“ If they want to win over 905 voters on the climate file , a good first step would be to think about their own version of carbon taxes , ” said Clean Prosperity executive director Michael Bernstein .
“ The challenge is that this policy has become , for unfortunate reasons , so partisan.
” If the party is looking for its own spin on a carbon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ survey found about 61 per cent of all voters in the 905 said they ’ d support a carbon tax that used all the proceeds to cut personal income taxes , with 28 per cent overall saying such a plan would make them more likely to vote blue .
( Former Conservative Party leadership contestant Michael Chong , who is still an MP , pitched such a plan in 2016 . )
Though Bernstein said he thinks it ’ s possible the Tories could sell Canadians on a climate plan that includes LNG @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a suite of tougher measures .
“ I would say ( LNG ) should not be a marquee part of a climate policy , ” he added .
Bernstein said he knows a carbon tax is a tougher sell in the Prairies than in the 905 , but he hopes the Conservatives could play a role in getting the West on board .
“ Maybe the Conservatives could really help forge a consensus around climate change policy in Canada , ” he said .
“ It ’ s an appealing vision , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of steps away .
We still need to see what kind of policies are going to be presented.
” Powers said he thinks so far , O ’ Toole is closer than other recent Conservative leaders to embracing thoughtful environmental policy .
With oil and gas companies investing in clean technologies , he sees an opportunity to work with the industry to move forward .
Still , forging ahead will require courage , he said .
He said he hopes O ’ Toole , Albas and the rest of the Conservative caucus are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ n't be afraid to take some so-called risks here that may be viewed as risky by the base , ” he said .
“ Do the work of selling people on why some gradual changes are necessary .
”

The big question, however, is how O’Toole can write a plan stringent enough to get Canada to hit its Paris goal to reduce emissions by a third, yet remain appealing to the Conservative base in oil-friendly Western Canada.
“When we sign an international accord, we have to ... have a serious plan to get there.”
“We weren’t solid enough on this issue in the last few years,” he told CBC News on Sept. 8, in one of his first one-on-one interviews as leader.
Like former leader Andrew Scheer, O’Toole has rejected the current Liberal government’s carbon tax. And like Scheer, O’Toole has been friendly toward emissions-intensive oil and gas in Western Canada. But where Scheer delivered a climate plan that was roundly criticized for being ineffective and unpopular with voters in the 2019 election, O’Toole has so far made a point of promising voters something more concrete and less divisive.
Already, Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole is striking a different tone on climate than his predecessor.
Even beyond the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, the question of how O’Toole’s conservatives will handle environmental policy is also high-stakes politically. The issue dragged the Conservatives down during the last election.
“The art of politics is ultimately the art of the possible,” Albas said in a phone interview with Canada’s National Observer Friday. “You never know if you don't try.”
On that front, B.C. MP Dan Albas — the Conservative Party’s new environment critic, appointed last week by O’Toole to help write this new vision — has his work cut out for him.
“Most people, even in the regions where extractive industries are important, recognize that this debate has got to go beyond rhetoric and things need to be done.”
Some longtime Tories are watching for a stronger stance on climate, too. In a phone interview last week, conservative media commentator Tim Powers said he wants to see the party have a “mature conversation” about how to approach it.
Two-thirds of voters who are open to choosing the Tories but didn’t do so in the last election are looking for strong climate commitments, according to a poll by Leger and the non-profit Clean Prosperity, released Tuesday.
Although both O’Toole and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have said they don’t want a snap election this fall, that possibility is on the table after Trudeau, whose Liberals hold a minority government, prorogued Parliament last month. No matter when the next election happens, the Conservatives will likely need to win over the vote-rich 905 region of Toronto’s suburbs, where swing voters in 2019 spurned Scheer’s climate plan .
“We are going to work with provinces in a way that the Trudeau government hasn't. We are going to be focused on more practical, results-oriented things. You know, we want to see good things happen in this country. And so, those are my marching orders.”
“We want to be serious players on this file,” he said.
Albas says he’s working on it, though he’s only a few days into the job. He’s tasked with examining the Conservative approach to climate and environment as a whole with “fresh eyes,” he added.
Conservative Party Leader Erin O'Toole, pictured in 2018, has said his party is committed to a plan that would help Canada meet its climate targets under the Paris Agreement. File photo by Alex Tétreault
‘Democracy is getting enough people to say yes’
Albas, an MP who has represented the interior B.C. riding of Central Okanagan – Similkameen – Nicola since 2011, ran a martial arts gym before he ran for a seat in Parliament. He was also a Penticton, B.C., city councillor.
He was re-elected by a relatively tight two per cent margin in 2015, but won a decisive victory in 2019. Albas received national praise in 2012 for a private members’ bill that made it easier to sell B.C. wine in the rest of Canada, and writes regular “MP reports” that are picked up by local news outlets.
“Dan Albas is one of the extremely good ones,” wrote James Miller, then-managing editor of the Penticton Herald, in a 2014 column endorsing Albas’ bid to run again in his riding.
In 2016, Albas endorsed former MP Maxime Bernier in the race to become Conservative leader that Scheer would go on to win — but he publicly distanced himself from Bernier when the former Tory left the party in 2018 and started his own far-right conservative party.
“When you work with someone building this country up, it’s regrettable to use descriptions that aren’t positive or productive,” he said at the time.
“Dan is viewed as very good with stakeholders,” Powers said. “Those who have worked with him in different capacities say that he gets trying to strike a balance.”
Balance will be critical as the Conservatives figure out a path forward, Albas said: “Democracy is getting enough people to say yes.”
Coming from the Okanagan, Albas said he understands the urgency of acting on climate: his riding has experienced the fires and floods that are quickly becoming B.C.’s new normal.
But he also said that coming from B.C. has allowed him to see the “opportunities” presented by liquified natural gas (LNG), which he and O’Toole have promoted as a way for Canada to help foreign countries move away from coal, which is far more emissions-intensive. (That idea, also boosted by federal Liberals, has been disputed by analysts.)
He’s not the only one to support B.C. LNG — B.C.’s provincial NDP government has a similar stance — however, it has also been controversial in some regions. Earlier this year, groups opposed to a natural gas pipeline project blockaded key railroad lines across the country.
“It's not the only step, obviously,” Albas said, regarding LNG.
He also outlined a list of environmental issues he’d like to tackle: improving access to clean energy for Indigenous communities, reforestation programs and initiatives to address invasive species on freshwater lakes. And O’Toole has his own ideas, outlined in his platform for the leadership race. Among them, investments in research on carbon capture, working with the oil and gas industry to write a plan that would get them to net-zero emissions, supporting regions affected economically and environmentally by the climate crisis and increased reliance on nuclear power.
O’Toole has said he would support any province that wants to pursue carbon tax, but beyond an industrial polluter-pay program, he’s not generally in favour of pursuing the policy.
Some form of carbon pricing plan isn’t entirely off the table, Albas said, though he also pointed to findings that B.C.’s carbon tax has not decreased overall emissions. (Experts say that the rise in emissions is due to economic growth, and that emissions would have increased more if not for the program.)
Still, Albas said he thinks it’s important to work with the provinces closely to find a plan they’re actually willing to implement, rather than policies such as a carbon tax that have inspired resistance. He said he’s also talking to municipalities, First Nations, environmental organizations and anyone else who wants to chat.
“Quite frankly, if we always talk about carbon tax, it's very divisive,” Albas said. “What are some things that we can do that are practical?”
Albas also said he’s looking forward to working with Liberal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson, a fellow B.C. resident who Albas said he has a lot in common with.
Powers said he thinks the right conversations are happening. If the Conservatives were to suddenly change course on a carbon tax, that wouldn’t feel genuine, he said.
“Look, we have to get there on climate policy while at the same time respecting the power of the resources and the economic impact that they have now,” he said. “It’s not going to happen overnight.”
Before Albas was an MP, he owned a martial arts gym. He easily won his home riding in 2019. Photo from Kick City Martial Arts
How to win the 905
How the Conservatives move forward on the climate file has the potential to define their performance in the next election. But if they’re willing to pen a strong plan, they may be able to unlock a wide swath of swing voters in Ontario’s 905 region, according to the poll by Leger and Clean Prosperity.
Of voters who indicated they were open to voting Conservative but didn’t do so in 2019, 68 per cent said they were in favour of a carbon tax that gave rebates to Canadians, the survey found. (The current Liberal plan does give households a rebate.)
“If they want to win over 905 voters on the climate file, a good first step would be to think about their own version of carbon taxes,” said Clean Prosperity executive director Michael Bernstein.
“The challenge is that this policy has become, for unfortunate reasons, so partisan.”
If the party is looking for its own spin on a carbon pricing scheme, Bernstein said, the survey found about 61 per cent of all voters in the 905 said they’d support a carbon tax that used all the proceeds to cut personal income taxes, with 28 per cent overall saying such a plan would make them more likely to vote blue. (Former Conservative Party leadership contestant Michael Chong, who is still an MP, pitched such a plan in 2016.)
Though Bernstein said he thinks it’s possible the Tories could sell Canadians on a climate plan that includes LNG, it has to be part of a suite of tougher measures.
“I would say (LNG) should not be a marquee part of a climate policy,” he added.
Bernstein said he knows a carbon tax is a tougher sell in the Prairies than in the 905, but he hopes the Conservatives could play a role in getting the West on board.
“Maybe the Conservatives could really help forge a consensus around climate change policy in Canada,” he said.
“It’s an appealing vision, but it’s still quite a number of steps away. We still need to see what kind of policies are going to be presented.”
Powers said he thinks so far, O’Toole is closer than other recent Conservative leaders to embracing thoughtful environmental policy. With oil and gas companies investing in clean technologies, he sees an opportunity to work with the industry to move forward.
Still, forging ahead will require courage, he said. He said he hopes O’Toole, Albas and the rest of the Conservative caucus are willing to show some.
“Don't be afraid to take some so-called risks here that may be viewed as risky by the base,” he said.
“Do the work of selling people on why some gradual changes are necessary.”
Emma McIntosh / Local Journalism Initiative / Canada’s National Observer


nationalobserver--2020-09-15--Wildfire smoke smothering B.C. stark indicator of climate change, researchers say

The acrid blanket of smoke from wildfires raging in the U.S that is cloaking southwest British Columbia and Vancouver Island is expected to continue for the next couple of days .
Very high air quality health risk advisories established over the weekend are still impacting the lower half of the province .
Though immediate air quality health risks will abate shortly , the cloying wall of smoke is a stark indicator of what ’ s in store as climate change continues to amplify the risk and ferocity wildfires , said air quality researcher Erik Krogh .
“ It does n't @ @ @ @ @ @ @ moment , whether you ’ re in Campbell River , Nanaimo or Abbotsford , ” he said .
Air quality health risk was very high ( 10+ ) in most communities across southwester British Columbia on Monday .
Photo : BC Air Quality .
The B.C .
government ’ s air quality health Index ( AQHI ) map indicated most communities in the south of the province were at the highest range of risk due to the smoke , as of Monday .
“ You only have to look out the window right @ @ @ @ @ @ @ change , ” Erik Krogh , Vancouver Island University air quality researcher , as smoke from U.S. wildfires smothers southern B.C .
@ VIUniversity # wildfires # climatechange The public , especially the elderly , children and pregnant people , is advised to avoid any strenuous outdoor activity until the air quality improves .
Environment Canada also warned that individuals with heart or breathing problems are at greater risk and should follow medical advice about exercising and managing any health conditions .
The smoke should dissipate Tuesday through Thursday in B.C.
, according @ @ @ @ @ @ @ researcher with the Earth , Ocean and Atmospheric Science department at the University of British Columbia .
A trough of low pressure and southerly winds drove the wildfire smoke into B.C.
, Rodell said .
“ But winds are shifting to the typical westerlies we see in this part of the world , and the smoke will be transported east , ” Rodell said , adding the smoke will likely move into Alberta .
The BlueSky Canada smoke forecast page show smoke dispersing across B.C .
and moving east over next two days @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Canada Post announced it was suspending mail delivery due to poor air quality in several areas of B.C.
, including Metro Vancouver , much of Vancouver Island and in the Oakanagan Valley and Similkameen regions .
The wildfires in the western U.S. , and the environmental and health impacts currently being experienced in B.C.
, pose no real surprise to scientists , Krogh said .
Scientists have long been measuring and expecting impacts from global warming , he said .
But , given the gradual changes over extended periods of time , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to envision or grasp how climate change will impact them , Krogh said .
However , this year , a number of events have demonstrated the impacts of climate change clearly and concretely to the public , he said .
Wildfires ravaging California , Oregon and Washington states provide a vivid image of the negative impacts of global warming , he said .
While conversely , the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated a positive effect tied to drops in global emissions , he said .
Early in the pandemic , large urban centres worldwide saw @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lockdowns and attendant declines in vehicle traffic and industrial activity dropped emissions , Krogh said .
“ People all of a sudden got a clear view or vision of the human environmental footprint , particularly on the atmosphere and air quality , ” he said .
“ The connection between us , what we do , and the environmental impacts became undeniable.
” “ And this fire event has also shone a light on the more difficult , or more nebulous , connection between human activities and climate change.
” Although contrary in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the emissions drop tied to the COVID-19 crisis underscore fact that climate change impacts and solutions transcend borders , Krogh said .
“ It 's not unique , local political problems that we have to solve here , ” he said .
“ It ’ s a global problem which requires global solutions .
”

The acrid blanket of smoke from wildfires raging in the U.S that is cloaking southwest British Columbia and Vancouver Island is expected to continue for the next couple of days. Very high air quality health risk advisories established over the weekend are still impacting the lower half of the province. Though immediate air quality health risks will abate shortly, the cloying wall of smoke is a stark indicator of what’s in store as climate change continues to amplify the risk and ferocity wildfires, said air quality researcher Erik Krogh. “You only have to look out the window right now to see the effects of climate change,” said Krogh, a co-director of the applied environmental research laboratory (AERL) at Vancouver Island University. “These images are vivid, dramatic and scary, and have a big impact on human health.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFFXaaVBm4G/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link “The frequency and intensity of those events will increase with climate change,” he said. “And consequently, the frequency and intensity of poor air quality events will also increase.” Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions Krogh, who monitors atmospheric data in the Vancouver Island region, said the air quality currently was “severely impacted” across the southern swath of the province.
“It doesn't really matter where you are at the moment, whether you’re in Campbell River, Nanaimo or Abbotsford,” he said. “You only have to look out the window right now to see the effects of climate change,” Erik Krogh, Vancouver Island University air quality researcher, as smoke from U.S. wildfires smothers southern B.C. @VIUniversity #wildfires #climatechange Air quality health risk was very high (10+) in most communities across southwester British Columbia on Monday. Photo: BC Air Quality. The B.C. government’s air quality health Index (AQHI) map indicated most communities in the south of the province were at the highest range of risk due to the smoke, as of Monday. The public, especially the elderly, children and pregnant people, is advised to avoid any strenuous outdoor activity until the air quality improves. Environment Canada also warned that individuals with heart or breathing problems are at greater risk and should follow medical advice about exercising and managing any health conditions.
The smoke should dissipate Tuesday through Thursday in B.C., according to Chris Rodell, a weather forecast researcher with the Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science department at the University of British Columbia. A trough of low pressure and southerly winds drove the wildfire smoke into B.C., Rodell said. “But winds are shifting to the typical westerlies we see in this part of the world, and the smoke will be transported east,” Rodell said, adding the smoke will likely move into Alberta.


nationalobserver--2020-09-15--Supersize chicken: A good idea?

Supersize chicken: A good idea?

The avian games were part of a recent study co-led by Torrey , an assistant professor of animal science at the University of Guelph , that found making chickens grow slower was better for their well-being .
The most popular chicken breed raised today can be market ready in as little as a month .
And while those birds may not be the healthiest , the Canadian poultry industry says slower growing birds would be bad for business , the environment — and consumer 's pocketbooks The contest resulted in a cross between two older breeds , the White Plymouth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , that now makes up roughly 90 per cent of the global poultry population .
“ Breeding companies have selected birds that grow quickly and efficiently , ” Torrey said .
( Efficiency , Torrey said , is how quickly the birds convert grain into meat . )
“ And , particularly over the last couple of decades , that have large breast yields because that ’ s what consumers are willing to pay for.
” That ’ s led to chickens that are so large and grow so quickly — some strains @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they have chronic mobility , cardiovascular system and muscular issues .
# Chicken made up 37 per cent of # global # meatproduction in 2017 — about 122 million tonnes .
Last year , @ ChickenDotCa produced about 771 million birds worth $ 2.8 billion .
Most of these birds come from a single # breed : the Cornish Rock .
Some strains of Cornish Rock chickens can reach market size in a little over a month .
Photo by Earthdirt/Wikimedia Commons .
That ’ s where Torrey ’ s study , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Texas-based animal welfare certification program , comes in .
“ What we were doing was benchmarking the welfare and productivity of 16 strains of broiler chickens to understand if there was a better breed of broilers — and to understand if there was a relationship between growth rates , body weights and welfare.
” Thus the obstacle course : One of the experiments forced the chickens to hop across a wooden beam to reach their food and water , to help the researchers evaluate how well they could move .
They found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and ranked better on standardized animal welfare tests .
Still , the benefits of an industry-wide transition to slower-growing birds is far from simple .
“ Widespread implementation , in Canada , of slower-growing birds would have a significant negative impact on the environment and affordability , ” said Lisa Bishop-Spencer , director of brand and communications for the Chicken Farmers of Canada , an industry organization representing and regulating Canadian chicken farmers .
Converting a third of Canada ’ s flock to birds that take two weeks longer to grow — roughly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ most chickens now — would require more than 668 million extra litres of water and about 213 million kilos of extra feed , she said .
The additional weeks of growth would also cost about $ 391 million a year she said , likely raising the price for consumers .
Yet even slower-growing chickens “ would be a lot more efficient than other meat , ” Torrey said .
As a follow-up to our announcement of the broiler chicken study , G.A.P .
is publishing a series of blogs to help frame the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Check out our first installment here : https : //t.co/HF1Nw3F76S # MakeitGAP # farmanimalwelfare # betterchickenproject pic.twitter.com/JS0ZMBuGWY — Global Animal Partnership ( @ CertifiedGAP ) September 10 , 2020 The equation between animal welfare , environmental impact and costs is particularly complicated in Canada , because of the poultry industry ’ s unique management regime .
Like dairy , Canada ’ s poultry industry is regulated under a supply management system that limits the number of chickens ( and eggs ) that Canadian farmers can produce and sets the price of chicken @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Under the system , farmers need to purchase the right to raise a percentage of the total number of birds in the country — known as quota — and register with Chicken Farmers of Canada , which manages how much they can produce in concert with the federal government .
“ Knowing who each of these farmers is allows us to implement very strict farm food safety , animal care , and sustainability programs , ” Bishop-Spencer said .
That sets Canadian chicken farmers apart from regions where poultry isn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the E.U.
, Bishop-Spencer said .
Without a central governance body to enforce animal welfare standards and a resulting lack of limits on production , non-Canadian farms are motivated to grow birds as quickly and cheaply as possible .
That ’ s not good for their welfare — or consumers .
“ Supply management is really good , for not only food security , but food sovereignty in Canada , ” Tina Widowski , a co-author with Torrey on the study , said .
That ’ s because it stabilizes the market @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it profitable for smaller farmers to stay in business , she said .
Torrey and Widowski studied 7,500 chickens from 16 different strains to assess the impact that growth rates had on their well-being .
Part of this assessment meant they measured how much the birds moved around their pen .
Photo by Stephanie Torrey In contrast , Canadian farmers who aren ’ t in supply-managed sectors , such as vegetable and grains , have seen their net incomes crash over the past 20 years , due to increased costs of production .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ divisive practice .
“ People are against it , ” Widowski explained , noting that some commentators argue it artificially increases the price of dairy , eggs and poultry .
“ But we have control , and those are the industries that have been able to make changes in terms of animal welfare a lot more readily , because they have the income to do it , ” she said .
And those changes might include raising slower-growing birds , Torrey and Widowski noted .
They ’ re both members of the expert @ @ @ @ @ @ @ welfare standards — the National Farm Animal Care Council — and it ’ s likely their research will inform the next review of these standards .
But in the meantime , it will be up to farmers — and consumers — to decide how long their chickens grow .
And the answer isn ’ t clear .
“ It ’ s going to be a balance , ” Widowski said .
“ But in the grand scheme of things , we should point out that chicken meat is the most efficient compared to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fish and eggs .
”

Stephanie Torrey designs obstacle courses. Obstacle courses for chickens. The avian games were part of a recent study co-led by Torrey, an adjunct professor of animal science at the University of Guelph, that found making chickens grow slower was better for their well-being. The most popular chicken breed raised today can be market ready in as little as a month. And while those birds may not be the healthiest, the Canadian poultry industry says slower growing birds would be bad for business, the environment — and consumer's pocketbooks Poultry made up roughly 37 per cent of global meat production in 2017 — accounting for about 122 million tonnes. Last year alone, Canada’s 2,800 chicken farmers produced about 771 million birds worth $2.8 billion. And most of these birds, worldwide, come from a single breed: the Cornish Rock.
Chicken hasn’t always been popular for its meat, at least in North America. Until the Second World War, most chickens were raised in people’s backyards to produce eggs and, eventually, be turned into a stew. Chicken wasn't eaten daily, or even weekly. But during the war, most red meat (beef, lamb and pork) produced in Canada and the U.S. was sent to support the war effort, leaving those on the home front to find alternate protein sources. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions Nudged by supermarkets and the poultry industry, who had framed chicken as an affordable, accessible alternative, demand for fowl started to increase. To meet this growing demand, grocery store chain A&P held a competition in the 1940s aimed at developing a new breed that grew fatter, faster.
The contest resulted in a cross between two older breeds, the White Plymouth Rock chicken and the Red Cornish Hen, that now makes up roughly 90 per cent of the global poultry population. #Chicken made up 37 per cent of #global #meatproduction in 2017 — about 122 million tonnes. Last year, @ChickenDotCa produced about 771 million birds worth $2.8 billion. Most of these birds come from a single #breed: the Cornish Rock. “Breeding companies have selected birds that grow quickly and efficiently,” Torrey said. (Efficiency, Torrey said, is how quickly the birds convert grain into meat.) “And, particularly over the last couple of decades, that have large breast yields because that’s what consumers are willing to pay for.” That’s led to chickens that are so large and grow so quickly — some strains reach maturity in a month — that they have chronic mobility, cardiovascular system and muscular issues. Some strains of Cornish Rock chickens can reach market size in a little over a month. Photo by Earthdirt/Wikimedia Commons. That’s where Torrey’s study, which was commissioned by Global Animal Partnership, a Texas-based animal welfare certification program, comes in.
“What we were doing was benchmarking the welfare and productivity of 16 strains of broiler chickens to understand if there was a better breed of broilers — and to understand if there was a relationship between growth rates, body weights and welfare.” Thus the obstacle course: One of the experiments forced the chickens to hop across a wooden beam to reach their food and water, to help the researchers evaluate how well they could move. They found the slower-growing chickens had fewer mobility issues and ranked better on standardized animal welfare tests.


nationalobserver--2020-09-15--The science of light and California's orange skies

To be fair , I stole that punch line from Twitter , and nerd-lit snark about Donald Trump ’ s apparent choices in his alleged makeup won ’ t fix climate change and the worst North American fire season on record .
Nearly 100 fires are burning across the West , driven by lightning sieges and dry wind blasting through drought-parched , beetle-eaten forest and chaparral .
So far flames have consumed 3.4 million acres , including entire towns and more than 1,000 homes .
All that gunk literally blocked out the sun .
At least , some of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ I ’ ve never seen anything like that .
I ’ ve been to polluted cities , but you never get that deep orange , ominous color , ” says Sanaz Vahidinia , a physicist at NASA Ames Research Center who studies aerosols and light scattering .
“ Usually in polluted cities , it ’ s this mucky color , more like the sepia color I ’ m seeing now , maybe a little dimmer .
It was really fascinating.
” More proximately , the cause was , duh , fires @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hot that they create pyrocumulonimbus clouds , or “ fire thunderstorms , ” that send soot and smoke all the way up the atmospheric column , 50,000 feet into the stratosphere .
The heat also generated unusual winds that carried smoke from the Sierra Nevadas to the coast .
Residents of California ’ s Bay Area didn ’ t think it was funny to wake up Wednesday morning to a sunless sky the color of the Golden Gate Bridge .
Street lights didn ’ t turn off ; the massive Sutro broadcast antenna @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Eye of Sauron ; and an angry-magma glow suffused everything , like being caught in just one stripe of a fabulous sunset .
Amid despondent half-jokes about plagues of darkness , twilight at noon , and a city cosplaying Blade Runner 2049 , westerners wondered : No but really , why is the sky that color ?
First , the chemistry side .
Smoke is what ’ s left after something burns , reduced to particles ; that might be hydrocarbon molecules or soot , which is just straight-up black carbon .
Now @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that even though unfiltered noontime sunlight looks roughly whitish or whitish-yellow , it actually contains a roughly equal amount of every wavelength of light , from the reddish end of the visible spectrum to the bluish , all mixed up in a subatomic pointillist spray .
And even though you ’ re likely to associate carbon-heavy things like oil or coal with the color black—absorbing light from across the visible spectrum—carbon atoms actually have a preference .
They absorb and also scatter more longer-wavelength red hues than shorter-wavelength blues .
“ The soot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the sun , and we don ’ t see it , ” says Mark Marley , a researcher at NASA ’ s Ames Research Center who studies the atmospheres of planets outside Earth ’ s solar system .
Those particles absorbed or scattered back the blue—but let that Mordorish red-orange through .
That smoke wasn ’ t the only layer in the sky .
A marine layer of moist air slid beneath it—San Francisco ’ s famous Karl the Fog , creeping in like steamed milk beneath the foam of a third-wave latte @ @ @ @ @ @ @ creeps in as well .
Unlike carbon , water vapor typically absorbs more on the red-orange side of the visible spectrum .
But those water molecules , just two hydrogens and an oxygen , are also bigger than most particles in smoke .
And in the physics of light scattering , size matters .
Down at the scale of a molecule or two , some hundreds of nanometers , light might refract and change direction around a particle or bounce off it and head back the way it came depending on its wavelength @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particles interact differently with different colors of light .
In fog , “ those are bigger particles , so they scatter at all wavelengths , ” Vahidinia says .
“ Normally that layer would ’ ve been a diffuse gray.
” Bay Area standard , in other words .
But on Wednesday , the smoke acted like a filter , so Karl the Fog couldn ’ t play the blues .
“ You get a filter on top of the blanket of the marine layer , and that marine layer is multiply scattering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Vahidinia says .
“ It ’ s not coming directionally .
It was an orange haze all over the place.
” That ’ s why the orange light seemed so omnipresent , so there .
Some folks said that the effect was like being on Mars , but the red light there ( if there is any ) comes from rusty dust blown into the thin atmosphere—aerosolized Martian regolith , if you ’ re a planetary scientist or a marooned astronaut .
But well actually , Downtown Frisco , as no one is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more like Saturn ’ s moon Titan .
Its thick atmosphere is full of blue-scattering hydrocarbons .
The earthly airborne orange event was less The Martian , more The Expanse .
It was also just plain gross .
Something about the light was pallid , an ill wind .
Vahidinia thinks that gloomy lack of intensity might have been because of the sheer height of the smoke cloud—the stratospheric column of particles the light had to pass through before reaching the ground .
That ’ s what put the light into the twilight @ @ @ @ @ @ @ column , that will play a role in dimming .
If it ’ s pretty high and pretty thick , then it ’ ll play a role in how subdued the light is , ” she says .
“ It won ’ t be vivid .
Like if you ’ re looking at a sunset , the light has to go through more .
It has this longer path , so it has more chances to scatter.
” So , why so orange ?
Smoke gave the specific hue .
The ubiquity came @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the wan desaturation was probably from the height of the cloud .
The result : A photonic pachinko game that stopped at the light receptors of the human retina .
( That ’ s a whole other thing . )
It wasn ’ t the end of the world , but it makes sense that it looked like it—after all , these intense fires were driven by drought and climate change .
Unless people stop coughing so much carbon into the atmosphere , well , sometimes things look apocalyptic because they are @

This article was originally published by Wired and appears here as part of Canada's National Observer's collaboration with Climate Desk. The sky above San Francisco was the color of television, tuned to the president. To be fair, I stole that punch line from Twitter, and nerd-lit snark about Donald Trump’s apparent choices in his alleged makeup won’t fix climate change and the worst North American fire season on record. Nearly 100 fires are burning across the West, driven by lightning sieges and dry wind blasting through drought-parched, beetle-eaten forest and chaparral. So far flames have consumed 3.4 million acres, including entire towns and more than 1,000 homes. But none of that explains what happened to the sky. Residents of California’s Bay Area didn’t think it was funny to wake up Wednesday morning to a sunless sky the color of the Golden Gate Bridge. Street lights didn’t turn off; the massive Sutro broadcast antenna poked through the haze like a mechatronic Eye of Sauron; and an angry-magma glow suffused everything, like being caught in just one stripe of a fabulous sunset. Amid despondent half-jokes about plagues of darkness, twilight at noon, and a city cosplaying Blade Runner 2049, westerners wondered: No but really, why is the sky that color?
The reason for the orange—and for the wan yellows and sickly grays that followed—is a combination of atmospheric chemistry and the physics of teeny-tiny things. More proximately, the cause was, duh, fires. Many are so big and so hot that they create pyrocumulonimbus clouds, or “fire thunderstorms,” that send soot and smoke all the way up the atmospheric column, 50,000 feet into the stratosphere. The heat also generated unusual winds that carried smoke from the Sierra Nevadas to the coast. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions All that gunk literally blocked out the sun. At least, some of the sun—the devilish hue was in the details. “I’ve never seen anything like that. I’ve been to polluted cities, but you never get that deep orange, ominous color,” says Sanaz Vahidinia, a physicist at NASA Ames Research Center who studies aerosols and light scattering. “Usually in polluted cities, it’s this mucky color, more like the sepia color I’m seeing now, maybe a little dimmer. It was really fascinating.”
First, the chemistry side. Smoke is what’s left after something burns, reduced to particles; that might be hydrocarbon molecules or soot, which is just straight-up black carbon. Now, the thing to remember here is that even though unfiltered noontime sunlight looks roughly whitish or whitish-yellow, it actually contains a roughly equal amount of every wavelength of light, from the reddish end of the visible spectrum to the bluish, all mixed up in a subatomic pointillist spray. And even though you’re likely to associate carbon-heavy things like oil or coal with the color black—absorbing light from across the visible spectrum—carbon atoms actually have a preference. They absorb and also scatter more longer-wavelength red hues than shorter-wavelength blues. “The soot particles are absorbing the blue light from the sun, and we don’t see it,” says Mark Marley, a researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center who studies the atmospheres of planets outside Earth’s solar system. Those particles absorbed or scattered back the blue—but let that Mordorish red-orange through. "It wasn’t the end of the world, but it makes sense that it looked like it—after all, these intense fires were driven by drought and climate change." #CaliforniaFires That smoke wasn’t the only layer in the sky. A marine layer of moist air slid beneath it—San Francisco’s famous Karl the Fog, creeping in like steamed milk beneath the foam of a third-wave latte. Here’s where some physics creeps in as well. Unlike carbon, water vapor typically absorbs more on the red-orange side of the visible spectrum. But those water molecules, just two hydrogens and an oxygen, are also bigger than most particles in smoke. And in the physics of light scattering, size matters. Down at the scale of a molecule or two, some hundreds of nanometers, light might refract and change direction around a particle or bounce off it and head back the way it came depending on its wavelength. Which is to say, different-sized particles interact differently with different colors of light. In fog, “those are bigger particles, so they scatter at all wavelengths,” Vahidinia says. “Normally that layer would’ve been a diffuse gray.” Bay Area standard, in other words. But on Wednesday, the smoke acted like a filter, so Karl the Fog couldn’t play the blues. “You get a filter on top of the blanket of the marine layer, and that marine layer is multiply scattering whatever is coming to it,” Vahidinia says. “It’s not coming directionally. It was an orange haze all over the place.” That’s why the orange light seemed so omnipresent, so there.
Some folks said that the effect was like being on Mars, but the red light there (if there is any) comes from rusty dust blown into the thin atmosphere—aerosolized Martian regolith, if you’re a planetary scientist or a marooned astronaut. But well actually, Downtown Frisco, as no one is supposed to call it, probably looked more like Saturn’s moon Titan. Its thick atmosphere is full of blue-scattering hydrocarbons. The earthly airborne orange event was less The Martian, more The Expanse. It was also just plain gross. Something about the light was pallid, an ill wind. Vahidinia thinks that gloomy lack of intensity might have been because of the sheer height of the smoke cloud—the stratospheric column of particles the light had to pass through before reaching the ground. That’s what put the light into the twilight zone. “The thickness of the column, that will play a role in dimming. If it’s pretty high and pretty thick, then it’ll play a role in how subdued the light is,” she says. “It won’t be vivid. Like if you’re looking at a sunset, the light has to go through more. It has this longer path, so it has more chances to scatter.” So, why so orange? Smoke gave the specific hue. The ubiquity came from diffusion by the marine layer, and the wan desaturation was probably from the height of the cloud. The result: A photonic pachinko game that stopped at the light receptors of the human retina. (That’s a whole other thing.)


nationalobserver--2020-09-15--Trudeau asked to enshrine top scientist's position in law

Canada 's scientific community is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 's government to enshrine its federal science adviser in law , saying it is crucial that the country has the right tools at hand to cope with the uncertain future it faces from COVID-19 and the climate crisis .
Chief Science Advisor Mona Nemer plays several prominent roles in the government ’ s COVID-19 response , from proposing and stickhandling the virus research network CanCOVID , to working as a leader in the government-funded Immunity Task Force , and providing comments to cabinet members and parliamentarians on the pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s three-year term is coming to a close on Sept. 24 , 2020 , and the government is staying quiet as to what will happen to her office after her term expires .
A years-old order-in-council laying out her mandate only mentions the possibility of renewal .
“ Information regarding the position of Chief Science Advisor will be made available in due course , ” said Privy Council Office spokesperson Pierre-Alain Bujold in an emailed response to questions on Monday from Canada 's National Observer .
Nemer 's office declined comment .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Advisor Mona Nemer announce government support for COVID-19 research on April 23 , 2020 , in Ottawa .
Mona Nemer Twitter Photo Science should stay in federal decision-making , group says On Sept. 14 , the organization Evidence for Democracy released an open letter from “ over 2,000 scientists and science supporters ” it sent to Trudeau , Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains calling for Nemer ’ s role to be put into legislation .
• What 's on your plate could make the difference in climate crisis “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year , and as we continue into an uncertain future , this response sends a strong message that the public wants science advice to continue playing a meaningful role in the federal decision-making landscape in Canada , ” said Kimberly Girling , interim executive director of Evidence for Democracy .
The group said the lack of communication over the position is creating uncertainty during a “ critical time , ” as Ottawa faces major upcoming decisions on both the pandemic and the climate crisis .
The letter points out that Nemer ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , despite the fact that “ COVID-19 presents new threats that will need to be addressed with novel solutions.
” The lack of an updated mandate also makes the role “ vulnerable to future cuts or changes in government , ” it stated .
“ As well , there have been no budget boosts to the office in light of the new challenges and responsibilities the office is facing.
” Evidence for Democracy wants to see an additional $ 2-million annual injection for Nemer ’ s office , effectively doubling what it was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ E4Dca open letter is calling on the Trudeau govt to enshrine its science adviser in law , saying it is crucial that the country has the right tools at hand to cope with the uncertain future it faces from COVID-19 and the climate crisis .
The letter also calls for the adviser to take on the job of developing a “ national science and technology strategy , ” bringing in the provinces , territories and Indigenous governments , as well as supporting equity , diversity and inclusion work , integrating Indigenous knowledge @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lens ” in the COVID-19 recovery .
The request comes on the heels of another call from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario asking Trudeau to reinstate the role of a national chief nursing officer .
The call to make Nemer ’ s role permanent has been voiced by Canadian scientists for years .
A December 2018 position paper from the Royal Society of Canada , for example , specifically recommended that the chief science adviser “ be formally recognized as the government ’ s key interlocutor connecting external science and government , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legislation.
” As the Royal Society pointed out , dating back to the 1960s , the federal government has created a chief science adviser role in a “ series of arrangements that never lasted more than a few years.
” The former Stephen Harper government ’ s decision to close the office of the former national science adviser in 2008 helped lay the groundwork for a 2015 campaign promise by the Liberals to create a chief science officer that would help ensure government scientists could speak freely about their work .
According to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commissioner that wrapped up in 2018 , the Harper government had also broken its own rules meant to inform the public at six government bodies , including Environment and Climate Change Canada , Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Natural Resources Canada .
Trudeau took until September 2017 , almost two years into his majority government , to appoint Nemer to the position , following a search for the right candidate .
When he introduced her to Canadians , Trudeau portrayed the move as helping fulfil a promise to “ do more to promote @ @ @ @ @ @ @ decisions we make as a government.
” But the open letter points out that the federal landscape has changed considerably since 2017 .
For one , while Nemer was originally an adviser to both Trudeau and the former minister of science , the Liberals disappointed the scientific community when they dropped the dedicated science minister role from cabinet after being re-elected to a minority government last year .
Bains has taken on the science minister title , in addition to Industry .
One of Nemer ’ s main jobs early on was to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ involved in scientific undertakings , with directives against actions such as falsifying data , destroying records , plagiarizing and ignoring conflicts of interest .
She introduced those rules in July 2018 , and they were then adopted by government departments .
Environment Canada ’ s version , for example , took effect in April 2019 , and commits in part to ensuring its research and science are “ free from political , commercial , client and stakeholder interference .
”

Canada's scientific community is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government to enshrine its federal science adviser in law, saying it is crucial that the country has the right tools at hand to cope with the uncertain future it faces from COVID-19 and the climate crisis. Chief Science Advisor Mona Nemer plays several prominent roles in the government’s COVID-19 response, from proposing and stickhandling the virus research network CanCOVID, to working as a leader in the government-funded Immunity Task Force, and providing comments to cabinet members and parliamentarians on the pandemic, among other responsibilities. But Nemer’s three-year term is coming to a close on Sept. 24, 2020, and the government is staying quiet as to what will happen to her office after her term expires. A years-old order-in-council laying out her mandate only mentions the possibility of renewal. “Information regarding the position of Chief Science Advisor will be made available in due course,” said Privy Council Office spokesperson Pierre-Alain Bujold in an emailed response to questions on Monday from Canada's National Observer. Nemer's office declined comment. Industry Minister Navdeep Bains and Chief Science Advisor Mona Nemer announce government support for COVID-19 research on April 23, 2020, in Ottawa. Mona Nemer Twitter Photo
Science should stay in federal decision-making, group says On Sept. 14, the organization Evidence for Democracy released an open letter from “over 2,000 scientists and science supporters” it sent to Trudeau, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains calling for Nemer’s role to be put into legislation. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions “We’ve faced unprecedented challenges this year, and as we continue into an uncertain future, this response sends a strong message that the public wants science advice to continue playing a meaningful role in the federal decision-making landscape in Canada,” said Kimberly Girling, interim executive director of Evidence for Democracy.
The group said the lack of communication over the position is creating uncertainty during a “critical time,” as Ottawa faces major upcoming decisions on both the pandemic and the climate crisis. The letter points out that Nemer’s mandate has not been updated since 2017, despite the fact that “COVID-19 presents new threats that will need to be addressed with novel solutions.” An @E4Dca open letter is calling on the Trudeau govt to enshrine its science adviser in law, saying it is crucial that the country has the right tools at hand to cope with the uncertain future it faces from COVID-19 and the climate crisis. The lack of an updated mandate also makes the role “vulnerable to future cuts or changes in government,” it stated. “As well, there have been no budget boosts to the office in light of the new challenges and responsibilities the office is facing.” Evidence for Democracy wants to see an additional $2-million annual injection for Nemer’s office, effectively doubling what it was set at initially in 2017. The letter also calls for the adviser to take on the job of developing a “national science and technology strategy,” bringing in the provinces, territories and Indigenous governments, as well as supporting equity, diversity and inclusion work, integrating Indigenous knowledge and “maintaining a science and technology lens” in the COVID-19 recovery. The request comes on the heels of another call from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario asking Trudeau to reinstate the role of a national chief nursing officer.
Long, complex history of the role The call to make Nemer’s role permanent has been voiced by Canadian scientists for years. A December 2018 position paper from the Royal Society of Canada, for example, specifically recommended that the chief science adviser “be formally recognized as the government’s key interlocutor connecting external science and government, and that this role be embodied in legislation.” As the Royal Society pointed out, dating back to the 1960s, the federal government has created a chief science adviser role in a “series of arrangements that never lasted more than a few years.”


nationalobserver--2020-09-17--What is a ranked ballot anyway?

What is a ranked ballot anyway?

Toronto 's city clerk says the COVID-19 pandemic has made it impossible to provide ranked ballots to Toronto voters for the 2022 municipal election .
But what is a ranked ballot , and why should you care ?
What it is and how it works A ranked ballot is , as the name suggests , a form of voting where you can order - or rank - your preference for several candidates from the field of candidates .
On voting day , instead of voting for just one candidate , constituents may be able to make first , second and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CERB winds down , calls for universal basic income intensify • How 393 million firearms may lead to carnage in America ’ s streets after Nov. 3 • When it comes to WE , there are unanswered questions that go beyond politics In essence , voters end up voting for their second choice if their first choice is eliminated , their third choice if the second is also removed , and so on .
A candidate must get more than half the votes , 50 per cent plus one , to win .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the votes on the first count of the ballots then the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated from the race .
The votes the eliminated candidate received are then transferred to that voter ’ s second choice .
These rounds of voting are repeated until a candidate wins more than half the votes , or the votes are exhausted ( meaning no further preferences have been recorded ) .
An eventual winner may win without a majority of votes if a lot of candidates are running or many voters only select @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they come from ?
Ranked ballots emerged from Europe in the mid- to late-19th century , and by the early 1900s , were being used in Australia , Malta , Ireland , and a number of municipalities in the United States , including in New York City and Cincinnati .
Would you rather not vote for the least bad option ?
Then perhaps you want to use a ranked ballot The use of ranked ballots in the U.S. jurisdictions was largely repealed after it led to the election of women and people of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1962 , only Cambridge in Massachusetts still used multi-winner ranked choice voting .
But it has made a resurgence in the States ( where it is known as ranked choice voting , or RCV ) in local and regional votes in the last 20 years .
“ The movement was closely allied with the progressive movement of the time and had a number of successes , ” the U.S. advocacy group says on its website .
“ However , a backlash in the 1940s leveraged RCV ’ s success in electing diverse identities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and ultimately push for repeal.
” Ranked ballots had been used in Alberta and Manitoba from the mid-1920s to the mid-1950s , and Ontario 's previous Liberal government changed provincial law in 2016 to allow for their use in future municipal elections on the 2013 request of Toronto city council .
Why should you care ?
With ranked ballots voters are more likely to select the candidate they most want to win rather than “ the least bad option ” in any race in which a leading opposing candidate is far from securing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ That ’ s because if their candidate is bundled out , the vote transfers .
It can also mean that the eventual winner is not the candidate who had the most first-choice votes , but rather the one that garnered the broadest base of support .
Advocates say ranked ballots encourage a more diverse field of candidates , since it removes the pressure for candidates to withdraw to avoid splitting the vote .
They say it also means that more of the electorate ends up supporting the winner .

Toronto's city clerk says the COVID-19 pandemic has made it impossible to provide ranked ballots to Toronto voters for the 2022 municipal election. But what is a ranked ballot, and why should you care? What it is and how it works A ranked ballot is, as the name suggests, a form of voting where you can order - or rank - your preference for several candidates from the field of candidates. On voting day, instead of voting for just one candidate, constituents may be able to make first, second and third choices or more. In essence, voters end up voting for their second choice if their first choice is eliminated, their third choice if the second is also removed, and so on.
A candidate must get more than half the votes, 50 per cent plus one, to win. If no candidate gets more than half the votes on the first count of the ballots then the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated from the race. The votes the eliminated candidate received are then transferred to that voter’s second choice. These rounds of voting are repeated until a candidate wins more than half the votes, or the votes are exhausted (meaning no further preferences have been recorded). Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions An eventual winner may win without a majority of votes if a lot of candidates are running or many voters only select a single preferred candidate.
Where did they come from? Ranked ballots emerged from Europe in the mid- to late-19th century, and by the early 1900s, were being used in Australia, Malta, Ireland, and a number of municipalities in the United States, including in New York City and Cincinnati. Would you rather not vote for the least bad option? Then perhaps you want to use a ranked ballot The use of ranked ballots in the U.S. jurisdictions was largely repealed after it led to the election of women and people of colour, acccording to FairVote. By 1962, only Cambridge in Massachusetts still used multi-winner ranked choice voting. But it has made a resurgence in the States (where it is known as ranked choice voting, or RCV) in local and regional votes in the last 20 years. “The movement was closely allied with the progressive movement of the time and had a number of successes,” the U.S. advocacy group says on its website. “However, a backlash in the 1940s leveraged RCV’s success in electing diverse identities and viewpoints in order to create insecurity and ultimately push for repeal.” Ranked ballots had been used in Alberta and Manitoba from the mid-1920s to the mid-1950s, and Ontario's previous Liberal government changed provincial law in 2016 to allow for their use in future municipal elections on the 2013 request of Toronto city council.
Why should you care? With ranked ballots voters are more likely to select the candidate they most want to win rather than “the least bad option” in any race in which a leading opposing candidate is far from securing a majority in the first round. That’s because if their candidate is bundled out, the vote transfers. It can also mean that the eventual winner is not the candidate who had the most first-choice votes, but rather the one that garnered the broadest base of support.


nationalobserver--2020-09-17--Toronto city clerk seeks pause on ranked ballot plans

A senior city staffer is recommending Toronto council ditch plans for promised municipal electoral reform , saying the COVID-19 pandemic had made it too difficult to implement ranked ballot voting for the 2022 election .
The recommendation , if taken up by the council when it meets on Sept. 30 , would be yet another setback for advocates who have for a decade now argued that ranked ballots improve politics .
Ranked ballots give voters the choice to rank candidates in order of preference .
If no candidate secures more than half the vote , the candidate with the least @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the votes they secured are given out to each voter ’ s second choice .
The process is repeated until a candidate secures a majority .
Toronto ’ s city clerk , Ulli Watkiss , said the city should order her to ” cease any further work ” on the plan because “ the delays and risks introduced by the pandemic ” meant the legislative and regulatory requirements to make the change could not be met .
Watkiss also asked permission to consider “ alternative voting methods used in other jurisdictions that may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pandemic ” , in the agenda for the Sept. 23 executive council meeting , which was posted online this week .
• As CERB winds down , calls for universal basic income intensify • How 393 million firearms may lead to carnage in America ’ s streets after Nov. 3 • When it comes to WE , there are unanswered questions that go beyond politics “ The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have long-term impacts on the ways in which electors feel comfortable voting , ” Watkiss said in an accompanying report ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ existing vote-counting equipment needs replacing , but it might struggle to do so in time , the clerk ’ s report said .
A procurement process is underway and remote voting options are also being considered for 2022 .
The Supreme Court of Canada is also expected to rule on the city ’ s challenge to the provincial government dismantling and amalgamation of ward boundaries by mid-to-late 2021 , and so staff must prepare for both 25 and 47 ward scenarios , the report said .
A majority of the 25-seat council ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had pledged as candidates in 2018 that if elected they would support the implementation of ranked ballots for the 2022 vote .
They voted in November last year to move forward with public consultations , which were planned for the summer .
But city staff cancelled those plans when COVID-19 hit , and have yet to announce new dates .
“ The City Clerk is now recommending this work not continue .
I strongly disagree with this approach and will continue to advocate strongly for ranked ballots when this comes to City Council @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Shelley Carroll , who moved the motion last year .
Advocates say that ranked ballots lead to more diverse fields of candidates encouraged to pitch ideas rather than throw smears .
They say it can also improve governance , since winning candidates need wider support and there is a better chance policy aligns with majority opinion .
Michael Urban , the co-chair of the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto ( RaBIT ) , said that the clerk had presented “ a laundry list ” of challenges , but that he didn ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a show stopper.
” Urban said he would be working on a rebuttal over the weekend asking council to again ask her to do the work .
He said he had advised members of RaBIT ’ s mailing list earlier this week that the move might be coming .
“ While obviously the clerk ’ s recommendation carries some weight , it ’ s not actually the clerk ’ s decision , it ’ s council ’ s decision , ” he said .
“ Given the urgency of this issue , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a more diverse council , as I think has been demonstrated by recent events , I think that it 's incumbent on council to make that urgency clear to the clerk and to say this needs to be a priority even if it 's going to be a little difficult , ” he said in a phone interview .
Urban pointed out that other city bodies were moving ahead with plans for public consultations , including one to discuss non-police mental health crisis response teams .
Watkiss and her office did not respond @ @ @ @ @ @ @ city spokesperson confirmed that the focus had turned .
“ COVID-19 has significantly impacted planning for the 2022 election , with planning now shifting to respond to the ongoing pandemic and prioritize the health and safety of electors and Election Day staff , ” Alex Burke wrote in an emailed statement .
“ The pandemic has also delayed the implementation of Ranked Ballot Elections in Toronto.
” Council had given the clerk ’ s office $ 1.1 million to run the consultations and outreach related to ranked ballot , but only $ 8,145.89 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the subsequent lockdown , the clerk 's report said .

A senior city staffer is recommending Toronto council ditch plans for promised municipal electoral reform, saying the COVID-19 pandemic had made it too difficult to implement ranked ballot voting for the 2022 election. The ballots give voters the choice to rank candidates in order of preference. If no candidate secures more than half the vote, the candidate with the least votes is removed from the running and the votes they secured are given out to each voter’s second choice. The process is repeated until a candidate secures a majority. Toronto’s city clerk, Ulli Watkiss, said the city should order her to “cease any further work” on the plan because “the delays and risks introduced by the pandemic” mean the legislative and regulatory requirements to make the change cannot be met. The recommendation, if taken up by the council when it meets on Sept. 30, would be yet another setback for advocates who have for a decade now argued that ranked ballots improve politics. “Strategic voting in Toronto has been incredibly disheartening over the past few elections,” said Miriam Fine, a founding board member and long-standing secretary of the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto (RaBIT), a volunteer advocacy group.
“I know so many people, and so many young people especially, who feel like every election that comes up they have to decide which is the least-worst option instead of voting for the person who they want to be their mayor or their councillor,” said Fine, who joined RaBIT in 2013, soon after returning home to Toronto after graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. Miriam Fine has been pushing for municipal electoral reform since joining other early members of the Ranked Ballot Initiative of Toronto (RaBIT) in 2013. Photo supplied by Miriam Wise Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions “I studied psychology. I didn't specialize in motivation, but I can tell you anecdotally that that is not motivating,” she said of the current first-past-the-post system. “It is not exciting to go in there and cast a vote for the least-worst option.”
Watkiss also asked council's permission to consider “alternative voting methods used in other jurisdictions that may provide electors with additional options during a pandemic” in the agenda for the Sept. 23 executive council meeting, which was posted online this week. “If we can get a council that's really representing the city, that's close to the voters, that is accountable and transparent," said one ranked ballot advocate, "then all the other stuff will fall into place." “The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have long-term impacts on the ways in which electors feel comfortable voting,” Watkiss said in an accompanying report (PDF). Existing vote-counting equipment needs replacing, but the city might struggle to do so in time, the clerk’s report said. A procurement process is underway and remote voting options are also being considered for 2022. The Supreme Court of Canada is also expected to rule on the city’s challenge to the provincial government's dismantling and amalgamation of ward boundaries by mid- to late-2021, and so staff must prepare for both 25 and 47 ward scenarios, the report said.
Most of council backed ranked ballots pre-COVID A majority of the 25-seat council (14 councillors plus Mayor John Tory) had pledged as candidates in 2018 that if elected, they would support the implementation of ranked ballots for the 2022 vote. They voted last November to move forward with public consultations, which were planned for the summer. But city staff cancelled those plans when COVID-19 hit, and have yet to announce new dates.


nationalobserver--2020-09-17--Trump's bewildering solution for California wildfires : 'It Will Start Getting Cooler'

This article was originally published by Huffington Post and appears here as part of Canada 's National Observer 's collaboration with Climate Desk .
Minutes before , when Trump had just disembarked his plane , reporters repeatedly asked him to acknowledge how climate change has influenced the situation .
But Trump wouldn ’ t budge on his claims that the disaster is simply a matter of cleaning up the state ’ s forests .
At a roundtable discussion about the wildfires , California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot said Trump ’ s focus on forest management was obscuring the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the historically high temperatures and years of drought .
Trump arrived in Sacramento as more than two dozen major wildfires burned across the state .
More than 2 million acres in the state have burned this year , a nearly 2,000 % increase in land burned compared to this time last year .
President Donald Trump touched down in California on Monday to survey the wildfire damage and immediately launched into his usual talking points about poor forest management while denying the role of climate change .
“ I think this is more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said to one of the reporters .
“ If you look at other countries , if you go to other countries in Europe , Austria and Finland and numerous countries ... they don ’ t have problems like this , ” even with “ explosive ” trees .
“ When trees fall down , after a short period of time they become very dry — really like a matchstick ... and they can explode , ” he continued .
“ Also leaves .
When you have dried leaves on the ground , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” For the last three and a half years , the Trump administration has denied and downplayed the role of climate change in driving extreme wildfires in the West .
During the wildfires that plagued California in 2018 , for example , then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told KCRA-TV that the inferno had “ nothing to do with climate change , ” only to declare days later that “ of course ” it ’ s a factor .
Instead , Trump and his team have spent their time threatening to withhold federal relief funds @ @ @ @ @ @ @ push partisan policies and working to boost logging on millions of federal acres .
The president has also repeatedly blamed California ’ s wildfire problem on the state , claiming that it has failed to properly manage ― more specifically , “ rake ” and “ sweep ” ― its forests .
The reality , however , is that the federal government owns far more of the state ’ s 33 million forest acres than the state does ― and it is on those federal lands that some of the state ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acknowledge our role and responsibility to do more in that space , ” Gov .
Gavin Newsom said at the roundtable Monday .
“ But one thing is fundamental — 57 % of the land in this state is federal forest land , 3 % is California [ land ] .
” He stressed that California needs support from the federal government in order to address the infernos .
Earlier on the airstrip , Trump had nothing to say when a reporter asked him if he viewed climate change as an issue in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ll have to ask the governor that question .
I don ’ t want to step on his toes , ” said Trump , who regularly picks fights with Newsom over his policies .
The only time the president came close to acknowledging that climate change is real was when he took a jab at other countries .

This article was originally published by Huffington Post and appears here as part of Canada's National Observer's collaboration with Climate Desk. President Donald Trump touched down in California on Monday to survey the wildfire damage and immediately launched into his usual talking points about poor forest management while denying the role of climate change. Trump arrived in Sacramento as more than two dozen major wildfires burned across the state. More than 2 million acres in the state have burned this year, a nearly 2,000% increase in land burned compared to this time last year.
At a roundtable discussion about the wildfires, California Secretary for Natural Resources Wade Crowfoot said Trump’s focus on forest management was obscuring the grim reality that climate change was behind the historically high temperatures and years of drought. “It will start getting cooler. You just watch,” Trump fired back at Crowfoot, adding, “I don’t think science knows actually.” Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions Minutes before, when Trump had just disembarked his plane, reporters repeatedly asked him to acknowledge how climate change has influenced the situation. But Trump wouldn’t budge on his claims that the disaster is simply a matter of cleaning up the state’s forests.
“I think this is more of a management situation,” Trump said to one of the reporters. “If you look at other countries, if you go to other countries in Europe, Austria and Finland and numerous countries ... they don’t have problems like this,” even with “explosive” trees. “When you get into climate change, well, is India going to change its ways? Is China going to change its ways? Is Russia? We’re just a small speck.” #DonaldTrump on California wildfires and #climatechange. “When trees fall down, after a short period of time they become very dry — really like a matchstick ... and they can explode,” he continued. “Also leaves. When you have dried leaves on the ground, it’s just fuel for the fires.” For the last three and a half years, the Trump administration has denied and downplayed the role of climate change in driving extreme wildfires in the West. During the wildfires that plagued California in 2018, for example, then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told KCRA-TV that the inferno had “nothing to do with climate change,” only to declare days later that “of course” it’s a factor. Freedom, responsibility and a good father figure. A Seattle man takes to the streets to protest injustices and poor leadership displayed by President Trump. Picture taken in Seattle, WA. USA. Photo by Jose M. on Unsplash. Instead, Trump and his team have spent their time threatening to withhold federal relief funds for California, using the disasters to push partisan policies and working to boost logging on millions of federal acres. The president has also repeatedly blamed California’s wildfire problem on the state, claiming that it has failed to properly manage ― more specifically, “rake” and “sweep” ― its forests. The reality, however, is that the federal government owns far more of the state’s 33 million forest acres than the state does ― and it is on those federal lands that some of the state’s largest fires have burned.
“We acknowledge our role and responsibility to do more in that space,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said at the roundtable Monday. “But one thing is fundamental — 57% of the land in this state is federal forest land, 3% is California [land].” He stressed that California needs support from the federal government in order to address the infernos. Earlier on the airstrip, Trump had nothing to say when a reporter asked him if he viewed climate change as an issue in California at all. “You’ll have to ask the governor that question. I don’t want to step on his toes,” said Trump, who regularly picks fights with Newsom over his policies.


nationalobserver--2020-09-17--‘Climate arsonist’: Biden slams Trump’s west coast wildfire response with a new insult

This article was originally published by Grist and appears here as part of Canada 's National Observer 's collaboration with Climate Desk .
2020 has been such a bizarre year , it ’ s given rise to its own alarming vocabulary — “ firenado , ” “ social distancing , ” and “ super-spreader , ” to name a few newly common terms .
But now , as thick , choking smoke and ash ripple across the West , Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is adding one more : “ climate arsonist.
” Meanwhile , a Pew poll released in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t among the top 10 issues that voters deemed very important .
It stacked up behind concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic and racial inequality , both of which have been all over the news for months .
But as hurricane season approaches its usual fall peak and the whole country feels the effects of wildfire smoke — a NASA model predicts that , by Wednesday , smoke from the Western blazes will reach all the way to the East Coast — climate change ’ s importance as a voter issue could change quickly @

This article was originally published by Grist and appears here as part of Canada's National Observer's collaboration with Climate Desk. 2020 has been such a bizarre year, it’s given rise to its own alarming vocabulary — “firenado,” “social distancing,” and “super-spreader,” to name a few newly common terms. But now, as thick, choking smoke and ash ripple across the West, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is adding one more: “climate arsonist.” Delivering remarks from his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday, the former vice president referred to President Trump using this eco-minded epithet. Citing the West’s wildfires, flooding in the Midwest, and hurricanes on the coast, Biden warned that the effects of global warming are becoming more obvious and more dangerous — and the man whose job he wants is ignoring them. “If you give a climate arsonist four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised if we have more of America ablaze?” Biden said. “If you give a climate denier four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised if more of America is underwater?”
Biden: "If you give a climate arsonist four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised if we have more of America ablaze? If you give a climate denier four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised when more of America is underwater?" pic.twitter.com/pUFhJ4AmgE — CBS News (@CBSNews) September 14, 2020 The fires in the western U.S. over the past week and a half have torched millions of acres and put hundreds of thousands of Americans under evacuation orders — against the backdrop of the still-ongoing pandemic. The blazes have been so bad that they turned the skies over the San Francisco Bay Area a dark orange; meanwhile, air quality in parts of Oregon has been literally off the charts. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions Amid the catastrophe — and even as his opponent blasted him on his environmental record — Trump continued to sing from the hymnal of climate denial. At a roundtable with California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday morning, the president dismissed any evidence of global warming.
“It’ll start getting cooler, you just watch,” he said, in response to a question from the state’s natural resources secretary. When challenged on this statement, Trump retorted, “I don’t think science knows, actually.” “If you give a climate arsonist four more years in the White House, why would anyone be surprised if we have more of America ablaze?” @JoeBiden #climatechange #wildfires "It'll start getting cooler, you just watch." - President Trump.
"I wish science agreed with you" - CA Natural Resources Secretary.
"I don't think science knows actually."- President Trump.#NBC7. pic.twitter.com/0tMvYX3IUN — Danny Freeman (@DannyEFreeman) September 14, 2020 It was a chilling reminder of the president’s unscientific claim, back in February, that one day the coronavirus would vanish. “One day, it’s like a miracle, it will disappear,” Trump said. (To date, there have been 6.5 million cases of the coronavirus in the United States, and almost 200,000 Americans have died.) The president also reiterated his 2018 claims that the solution to California’s fires is “raking and cleaning.” “When you have years of leaves, dried leaves on the ground, it just sets it up,” he said shortly after landing in Sacramento. “It’s really a fuel for a fire. So they have to do something about it.” Scientists agree that thinning trees, cutting back brush, and setting controlled burns can help reduce wildfire risk — but also point out that higher temperatures driven by climate change are making fires burn hotter and faster. Stopping the catastrophic fires, according to many experts, will take both aggressive emissions cuts and better forest management.
Interestingly, the responsibility for managing nearly all of the forest land in California falls on the federal government, according to Newsom. “One thing is fundamental,” the governor told Trump, “Fifty-seven percent of the land in this state is federal forest land, and 3 percent is California.” (That means 95 percent of the state’s total forest land is owned by the federal government, if you’re keeping score at home.) With the election now less than 50 days away, the president’s comments and those of his challenger stood in sharp contrast. Biden has made climate change a centerpiece of his campaign, vowing to spend $2 trillion on a clean energy transition and produce all U.S. electricity from carbon-free sources by 2035. He has also repeatedly connected the fight against climate change with creating American jobs, embracing many aspects of activist-led push for a Green New Deal. Trump, on the other hand, has been waging a war on environmental regulation since he was elected, dismantling Obama/Biden-era rules, as well as decades-old ones, and opening up federal lands for oil and gas drilling. Until this week, the president was also notably silent on the West’s disasters, distracted by political fires in Washington over the way his administration has responded to the COVID-19 crisis and his alleged comments disparaging fallen military members.


nationalobserver--2020-09-17--Parenting our way through climate and COVID-19 crises

In Vancouver , grey skies usually signify clouds of water , and after days of heat and sunshine , this confused him .
Although I was almost out the door , readying myself for polluted air and sick patients , I scooped him up into a hug and said it was wildfire smoke .
And even though he would have to stay indoors , he was going to have a good day .
As he later waved and called to me through the window , he looked perfectly happy , simultaneously warming and breaking my heart .
• As CERB @ @ @ @ @ @ @ income intensify • How 393 million firearms may lead to carnage in America ’ s streets after Nov. 3 • When it comes to WE , there are unanswered questions that go beyond politics Indeed , as our children step into the colliding crises of the climate emergency and COVID-19 pandemic , it will take all the knowledge and skill we have as parents to keep them and our communities safe and healthy .
Our trust in science and public health permeates our lives .
When we vaccinate our babies , buckle up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their meals , we know these actions increase their chances of well-being and longevity .
Each morning after I kiss my son goodbye , I don my protective pandemic armour and thank the scientific guidance and societal structures that keep us safe .
So , too , must we trust and act on what scientists are telling us about climate change .
To give our children the best chance at a livable world , we need to rapidly and deeply decarbonize , cutting our greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the University of British Columbia also tells us that ambulance calls for heart and lung disease significantly increase within one hour of wildfire smoke exposure , underscoring how neglecting environmental health can directly harm our health .
`` In public and private forums , we must continue to support our elected officials to make the smart , hard decisions we need to realize a greener , healthier future . ''
@ Melissa_Lem # wildfiresmoke Understandably , I have seen a rise in patient acuity as I have worked under smoke-filled skies .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ are no longer working .
Those with anxiety find it flaring out of control .
I have never felt so much like a parent in so many settings as I have had repeated variations of this mantra at home and work for the past six months : You can do it .
Here is a plan for safety .
I am here for you if you need help .
These words may also be useful when we press our leaders to act wisely and urgently as they craft the most important economic framework @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , we forgive our children ’ s repeated errors , optimistically encouraging them until they finally learn .
We should approach our governments with similar compassion , reminding them that even though they have made historic mistakes by investing in fossil fuel subsidies , pipelines and fracked gas , today is their opportunity to reverse course and make things right .
Canadians have already given our government a mandate for a green recovery .
In an Ipsos poll this spring , two-thirds gave equal weight to the COVID-19 and climate crises , supporting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This May , the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment joined hundreds of civil organizations in calling for a just recovery , subsequently releasing a 25-point Healthy Recovery plan embracing renewable energy , sustainable health care and connecting to nature as one path forward .
In public and private forums , we must continue to support our elected officials to make the smart , hard decisions we need to realize a greener , healthier future .
Over the past few months , we have exercised flexibility and creativity when situations feel beyond @ @ @ @ @ @ @ air is no longer safe , we find ways to create our own havens with air filters , at-home recreation and increased family time .
For social bubbles that include vulnerable loved ones , in-class education has been replaced by home-schooling ; for children who rely on schools for safety and food , we keep our places of learning open as safely as possible .
We do what we can , with whatever resources we have .
When it comes to the climate crisis , we also need to do what we can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether we donate our time or money to environmental organizations , instill a love of nature in our children , so they will work to protect it , choose a lower-waste , lower-carbon lifestyle , or vote our conscience , taking action is one of the most effective ways to reclaim our sense of power .
Last week I watched my masked first-grader twirl across a smoky playground towards his spot in a carefully spaced outdoor lineup , looking forward to the learning and new friends ahead .
And , in that moment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twindemic , there can still be joy — in the connections we make , in the sense of purpose we hold , and in the lessons we learn .
So let us surge ahead through the grim clouds of climate change and COVID-19 into a new school year with joy despite our fear .
Let us travel together with the hard-won wisdom , courage , compassion , forgiveness , optimism and flexibility that we have gained as parents .
We and our children deserve nothing less .

“Is it raining?” My five-year-old asked me this last Saturday morning as he padded out of his bedroom in his spaceship pyjamas and contemplated the muted grey sky out our front window. In Vancouver, grey skies usually signify clouds of water, and after days of heat and sunshine, this confused him. Although I was almost out the door, readying myself for polluted air and sick patients, I scooped him up into a hug and said it was wildfire smoke. And even though he would have to stay indoors, he was going to have a good day. As he later waved and called to me through the window, he looked perfectly happy, simultaneously warming and breaking my heart.
Indeed, as our children step into the colliding crises of the climate emergency and COVID-19 pandemic, it will take all the knowledge and skill we have as parents to keep them and our communities safe and healthy. Billion-dollar land deals in Ontario raise corruption suspicions
Our trust in science and public health permeates our lives. When we vaccinate our babies, buckle up their booster seats and hide vegetables in their meals, we know these actions increase their chances of well-being and longevity. Each morning after I kiss my son goodbye, I don my protective pandemic armour and thank the scientific guidance and societal structures that keep us safe. "In public and private forums, we must continue to support our elected officials to make the smart, hard decisions we need to realize a greener, healthier future." @Melissa_Lem #wildfiresmoke So, too, must we trust and act on what scientists are telling us about climate change. To give our children the best chance at a livable world, we need to rapidly and deeply decarbonize, cutting our greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, and net zero by 2050. Recent research from the University of British Columbia also tells us that ambulance calls for heart and lung disease significantly increase within one hour of wildfire smoke exposure, underscoring how neglecting environmental health can directly harm our health. Understandably, I have seen a rise in patient acuity as I have worked under smoke-filled skies. Those with asthma tell me their inhalers are no longer working. Those with anxiety find it flaring out of control. I have never felt so much like a parent in so many settings as I have had repeated variations of this mantra at home and work for the past six months: You can do it. Here is a plan for safety. I am here for you if you need help.
These words may also be useful when we press our leaders to act wisely and urgently as they craft the most important economic framework of our lifetime. As loving parents, we forgive our children’s repeated errors, optimistically encouraging them until they finally learn. We should approach our governments with similar compassion, reminding them that even though they have made historic mistakes by investing in fossil fuel subsidies, pipelines and fracked gas, today is their opportunity to reverse course and make things right.