Archives for November 4, 2019

It would be difficult to get products to market if western provinces split from Canada, experts say

International trade experts say it’s a pipe dream to think the landlocked oil-producing western provinces would have an easier time getting their product to international markets if they were to split from Canada.

“Wexit” — an apparent play on the word “Brexit” used to describe the United Kingdom’s planned departure from the European Union — was trending on social media after the Liberals secured a minority government in last week’s federal election, but were shut out of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Peter Downing, a founder of the western separatist movement that wants a referendum on separation, has said an independent country in the middle of the Prairies could leverage the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to gain coastal pipeline access.

“We have more freedom as an independent country to get our resources to the coast than as part of Canada,” he said the day after the election.

“We’ll have the best of both worlds: We’ll keep our money and we’ll have access to the coast.”

The UN convention, adopted in 1982, does say that “landlocked states shall enjoy freedom of transit through the territory of transit states by all means of transport.”

However, it goes on to say that terms “shall be agreed between the landlocked states and transit states concerned through bilateral, subregional or regional agreements,” and that transit states have the right to ensure their “legitimate interests” aren’t infringed upon.

“It’s not an unqualified right. They can’t just say, ‘OK, we need to get through here,”‘ said Silvia Maciunas, a fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ont.

“They have to talk to the other state, which would be Canada.”

The “means of transport” in the convention refers to railways, waterways, roads and even porters and pack animals, but the treaty specifies that landlocked and transit states would have to agree to add pipelines to the list.

Landlocked countries such as Ethiopia and Switzerland have long had agreements to use ports in other countries.

Bolivia, on the other hand, lost its ocean access in a war with Chile in the 1800s and has been fighting to regain it ever since. The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled last year that Chile has no obligation to engage in talks with Bolivia.

“Had the court ruled in the favour of Bolivia, Chile would have theoretically been obligated to enter into ‘good faith’ negotiations, whatever the heck that means,” said Carlo Dade, director of the Trade and Investment Centre at the Canada West Foundation.

“You can imagine how that would play out up here if Alberta, Saskatchewan leave … We’ve seen enough out of B.C. to know how that would play out,” said Dade.

The British Columbia government has resisted, primarily through court actions, the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion that would triple the amount of crude shipped between Alberta and the Lower Mainland.

Add to that there is no real enforcement mechanism through the international court, Dade said.

“The only thing the ICJ gives you is the ability to go from saying, ‘Please give us access’ to ‘Pretty please give us access.”‘

The privately-run company has been collecting trash on the small island for years

Trash may soon be piling up on Mayne Island, one of B.C.’s southern Gulf Islands, with the announced end of the island’s only garbage-disposal service. 

Mayne Island Garbage Services said this week it will cease operations starting on Jan. 1, 2020 because of a land-use dispute.  

The privately-run company, which has been operating on the island for the past five years, parks its commercial trucks on private land in a residential area — which is against Mayne Island’s zoning bylaws. 

“They [the Islands Trust] say we’ve been running it illegally because of where we park,” said Mikael Sauvageau, who runs the company. 

“So, I guess we’re going to sell everything.”

The island doesn’t have any municipal waste removal services. Instead, the roughly 1,000 residents rely on the privately run company to pick up garbage and other items, from fridges to old car parts, for a fee. 

The announcement of the company’s closure on Facebook generated dozens of comments, with many expressing concern that trash will ended up being burned or dumped with the lack of a disposal service. 

“We just need to hang tight and not speculate and assume anything at this point,” said Raven Mayne, who’s been living on the island for two years. 

“As a community and as a village, we’re going to just have faith and see what happens.”

‘A lot of misunderstanding’

On social media, much of the blame has been directed toward the Islands Trust, a federation of local governments that operates under the provincial government to oversee conservation and preservation for islands in southern B.C. 

About a month before announcing the closure, Mayne Island Garbage Services posted on social media that “recently, the Islands Trust has reinitiated efforts to close down our service.”

Dan Rogers, chair of the local trust committee for Mayne Island, says it’s not a blame-game. 

“There’s a lot of misunderstanding about our role and what our intentions are in this matter,” Rogers said. 

“We have no motivation to shut down this business.”

The trust, which is tasked with land use zoning and planning, received multiple complaints about the bylaw infraction, he said, and were obligated to investigate.

“Once it’s decided that it’s a valid complaint, we have to do something,” he said. 

“We’re trying to work with the land owner but so far we’ve been unsuccessful.” 

David Maude, who owns the private land where the garbage company runs its operations, declined to comment. 

He’s also a Mayne Island trustee with the Island Trust but wasn’t part of any meetings about the issue, according to Rogers. 

“We are trying to resolve things as a community and not in the media,” Maude wrote in an email to CBC News. 

Necropsy indicates fishing gear likely caused death of right whale

Necropsy results indicate a North Atlantic right whale found in waters off the eastern U.S. in September died after being entangled in Canadian fishing gear.

The 40-year-old male known as Snake Eyes was last seen entangled in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Aug. 6 off the Magdalen Islands. Its badly decomposed carcass was discovered off Long Island, N.Y., on Sept. 16.

The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society did the necropsy a few days after the whale was found.

“They (scientists) determined that the likeliest cause of death was entanglement,” said Jennifer Goebel, a spokeswoman for the fisheries arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Goebel said the necropsy found no evidence of blunt force from hitting a vessel. While the internal organs were “significantly decomposed,” no signs of disease indicated death from natural causes.

No gear was found on its body but Goebel said scientists found wrap marks on the whale that matched what had been observed when the animal was last seen entangled.

“They were able to find linear wounds that were wrapping the rostrum and pectoral flippers as well as wounds to the fluke, which is the tail,” Goebel said. “Those were consistent with what was documented while the animal was alive, as were the head wounds.”

Death from entanglements, she said, can be “rather gruesome” for marine animals.

“Animals can get severe cuts from the entanglements, it can limit their ability to forage, they can get infections from the cuts — it’s a very painful way to die.”

So far this year, eight right whale are known to have died in Canadian waters out of an endangered population numbering about 400 animals. Twenty-nine right whales have died in North American waters since 2017.

It’s believed the death of Snake Eyes is the first this year as a result of entanglement. Three other whales were also sighted entangled in the Gulf this year.

Goebel said it’s not certain the fishing gear spotted on the whale last summer was Canadian but the evidence points that way.

“What we do know is that it was seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence in July without any gear and then the next sighting was in August with a severe entanglement in the Gulf of St. Lawrence,” she said.

Barring inmates access to clean needles unconstitutional: activists

Barring drug-using federal prisoners from access to clean syringes puts them at risk for serious diseases and violates their rights, an Ontario court is set to hear.

For two days starting Monday, prison and other activists are expected to make the case that Ottawa’s rules and policies around needles in prisons are unconstitutional.

“The absolute prohibition on sterile injection equipment is arbitrary, overbroad and grossly disproportionate,” the applicants say in their filings in Superior Court.

“Prisoners are particularly vulnerable to infringement of their (constitutional) rights because the government has total control over every aspect of their daily lives, including their access to health care.”

The case was initially launched in 2012 by Steven Simons, who was imprisoned from 1998 to 2010. Court documents show Simons became infected with the hepatitis C virus and was potentially exposed to HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS, while behind bars. He says another prisoner used his injection materials, and that they had no access to sterile equipment.

The problem, the applicants say, is that prison authorities regard syringes as contraband, making inmates found with them subject to punishment. The tough approach comes despite mounting evidence that in-prison access to sterile needles helps prevent the spread of serious illnesses.

“The sharing of drug-injection equipment poses a high risk for transmitting blood-borne infections,” the applicants state.

“The prevalence of HIV and (hepatitis C) among Canadian prisoners, including those in federal penitentiaries, is significantly higher than among the population as a whole.”

Activists note that more than 90 per cent of prisoners are eventually released. Like Simons, some will have become infected with serious illnesses from sharing needles and syringes behind bars.

“Correctional authorities’ refusal to ensure access to sterile injection equipment inside prisons not only jeopardizes the health and lives of prisoners, it also contributes to a public health problem beyond prisons.”

In recognition of the problem, the federal government recently began a pilot needle-exchange program in which inmates are given access to sterile equipment. However, The pilot has only been implemented in half a dozen of Canada’s 43 federal prisons, according to court filings.