Archives for January 13, 2020

Study says wildfires permanently changing boreal forest

The increasing frequency of wildfires in Canada’s boreal forest may be permanently changing one of the largest intact ecosystems left on Earth, research suggests.

“We feel pretty confident these effects will persist,” said Ellen Whitman, a forest ecologist at Natural Resources Canada and the University of Alberta.

Whitman is a co-author on a recently published paper examining what happens when stands of boreal forest — the huge belt of green that stretches over the northern reaches of most Canadian provinces — are burned over more often as a result of climate change.

She and her colleagues paired up forest areas that had similar climate and soil conditions and had last been burned by the same fire. One half had been previously burned no more than 17 years before, while the other half’s last fire had been at least 30 years ago.

The differences were striking.

The short-interval stands were far more open with fewer trees. Aspens dominated instead of conifers. Growth beneath the trees — shrubs and grasses that cover a normal forest floor — was far less luxuriant with many fewer species. Areas of exposed mineral soil, where all organic material had been burned off, were larger and more common.

They felt completely different.

“You have a landscape where you’re surrounded by short, stunted trees,” Whitman said. “You have a crust of lichen or some sparse grasses. It’s almost like walking through the edge of a prairie where you’re shifting from a grassland into a forest edge.

“At a lot of the long-interval sites, you’ve got quite dense conifers, closer together. You’ve got moss on the ground and flowers and shrubs. It’s more what looks like a young forest.”

The boreal forest has evolved for fire. Many of its tree species need it to germinate.

Normally, fires don’t come around more often than every 30 years and often much longer. The lack of fuel in recently burned stands helps regulate that frequency.

Climate change is breaking those rules, Whitman said.

“We’re experiencing more hot, dry windy days — the main trigger for large fire years. As more years experience more extreme fire weather, (the blazes) are able to overwhelm that resistance that recently burned sites have.”

Nor are the parkland-like areas likely to evolve into a conventional boreal forest. Previous studies have found that the look of a forest is set early after a fire.

“Immediate post-fire condition is an extremely strong predictor of what the stand will look like further down the road,” said Whitman.

Whitman emphasizes that short-interval stands in her research are still small and most stretches of boreal forest burned in recent wildfires are regrowing normally. Wetlands are also less affected by short-interval fires than drier regions.

She said the forestry industry is unlikely to be affected any time soon — although forest-dependent animals such as caribou and songbirds will feel impacts.

And those impacts are growing.

“With a longer fire season, larger fires, more of the landscape burning each year, the likelihood of encountering a recently burned area increases. We’re undergoing a shortening of the fire frequency in the boreal forest.”

All Canadians stand with you, Trudeau tells memorial

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it’s been “gut-wrenching” to listen to stories from relatives of 57 Canadians who perished in the downing of a Ukrainian jetliner in Iran last week.

Speaking at a memorial in Edmonton on Sunday, Trudeau said he has learned many of the victims came to Canada in search of new opportunities for their families, but those families are now consumed by grief and outrage.

The plane was shot down by an Iranian missile moments after taking off from Tehran on Wednesday. All 176 on board were killed, including 138 who were headed for Canada.

Iran has admitted the plane was mistaken for a hostile target amid soaring tensions with the United States.

While the tragedy has hit the Iranian-Canadian community hard, Trudeau called it a Canadian tragedy.

“While no words can ease the pain, the grief, the outrage, it is my sincere hope that you can find some comfort in knowing that all Canadians stand with you,” he said.

“This tragedy should never have occurred.

“We will not rest until there are answers. We will not rest until there is justice and accountability.”

Trudeau said some of those who died were brilliant minds at the University of Alberta.

One was a husband who lost his wife and 10-year-old son, a boy who one day wanted to be prime minister.

He also spoke of a successful dentist in Iran who had moved with his family to Canada but returned often to Iran so he could pay for courses to become a dentist here. He received his qualifications a few weeks ago.

“He was finally coming here for good, to build the best possible future for his kids,” Trudeau said. “Except that he was on that flight, and now his family has no idea what their future holds.”

Other memorials were held Sunday across the country.

At the Vancouver Art Gallery, National Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan called the crash a national tragedy and said the government will work tirelessly to get answers for grieving families.

At the University of Toronto, many cried throughout the ceremony as speakers listed victims, including a one-year-old. People broke out in raucous applause several times when various speakers and politicians said Iran would be held accountable.

Fati Mortazavi, whose best friend died in the crash, said having a community come together helped her cope with the tragedy.

“It’s so comforting for us,” said Mortazavi. “As long as we know that someone cares for these people, that’s so important for us.”

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland attended the vigil in Toronto and said the loss goes well beyond the university.

“This is Toronto’s loss, this is Ontario’s loss and this is Canada’s loss,” an emotional Freeland told the vigil. “Nothing will ever replace these brilliant lives that have been cut short. We will always … bear these scars.”

The Canadian Press has independently confirmed at least 74 victims with ties to Canada, many of them students and professors returning after spending the December break visiting relatives in Iran.

Timbits cereal a novelty, but may dilute Tim Hortons brand

Once best known for coffee and baked goods, the offerings at Tim Hortons today boast ground coffee, made-to-order sandwiches and gourmet doughnut flavours. In the latest foray beyond the brand’s roots, the humble Timbit wants a home in Canadians’ breakfast bowls.

The expansion into the cereal aisle seeks to introduce sugar-loving tots to the Tim Hortons brand with Timbits cereal, but experts say this continued diversification may leave consumer confused about what the coffee chain’s brand represents. Cereal-maker Post Foods Canada Inc. may fall on the winning side of the partnership, they suggest.

Building loyalty with the next generation of consumers is important for a brand with as many “fanatics” as Tim Hortons, said David Soberman, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. The company needs to corner young Canadians now to maintain its position in the market for years to come.

The new product — a partnership with Post, purveyor of cereals such as Oreo O’s and Honey Maid S’mores — is geared toward a younger audience, he said. Kids love Timbits, and children begging for the new cereal now will theoretically evolve into loyal Tim Hortons customers as they get older.

That’s likely the intended outcome, Soberman said, but the launch could also dilute the brand’s image as a go-to for the best coffee and doughnuts in the country.

“There’s a confusion as to what the brand is,” he said. “This is even a further example of that.”

In recent years the company has battled a spate of negative news as it faced off with a dissident group of franchisees that accused the chain’s parent company, Restaurant Brands International, of mismanagement. Tim Hortons watched its reputation slip in the court of public opinion and its earnings stall.

RBI CEO Jose Cil recently said earnings were “not where we want them to be” at the chain. For its most recent quarter, RBI reported comparable sales, a key retail metric, at Tim Hortons fell 1.2 per cent in Canada and system-wide sales in the country dropped by 0.1 per cent, according to financial documents.

A bevy of pilot programs and product launches arrived in an effort to boost sales.

Whether that quest for sales led the company to extend its reach too far is a topic of frequent discussion among the faculty of Centennial College’s food media program, said the program’s culinary ambassador Rodney Bowers.

Tim Hortons targeted young, urban professionals with its Innovation Cafe in downtown Toronto, pouring nitro coffee and serving premium doughnuts and sandwiches.

It launched several of its soups and chili in supermarkets. It trialled Beyond Meat burgers and breakfast sandwiches, eventually dropping the burger and keeping the plant-based protein breakfast option in select locations.

All that happened in 2019.

“Can you be all the things to all the people and still be a strong brand?” asked Bowers.

The latest Timbit cereal innovation is “completely polar opposite to the last big splash they made” putting plant-based proteins on the menu. One promotes a seemingly healthier plant-based meal, while the other offers a sugary breakfast option.

Tim Hortons deferred inquiries about the cereal to Post Foods, and did not respond to emailed questions about why it decided to collaborate with the cereal maker or the nature of the partnership.

“The grocery and retail business is a small and exciting part of our overall business and although you will see us launch new products from time to time, our focus remains on growth through our famous, core categories,” spokeswoman Sarah McConnell said in an emailed statement.

Post Foods was unable to make anyone available for an interview or answer questions via email by deadline.

A Post Foods Canada statement announcing the product indicates that the company has licensed the Timbits registered trademark from Tim Hortons. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The winner in this arrangement appears to be Post Foods, said Bowers, in acquiring the right to use such a well-known symbol — the Timbit — in its cereal.

Every category within a grocery store depends on innovation to grow sales and protect shelf space, said Braden Douglas, a founding partner of Surrey-based Crew Marketing Partners.

Grocery stores allot a certain amount of shelf space to each company, but new entrants sometimes crowd out existing products. Companies innovate, in part, to avoid the label of poor performer and having their shelf space reduced.

Consumers will jump at the chance to try the doughnut-hole breakfast, he predicted, but it’s unlikely many will add it to their regular breakfast repertoire.

Consumer trends toward healthier eating work against the novelty product. One cup of the birthday cake flavour packs 130 calories and 13 grams of sugar, while the same portion of the chocolate glazed variety runs 140 calories and 17 grams of sugar, according to Post’s website.

As well, the way people eat breakfast has changed, Douglas said, with “so many alternatives” available, such as cereal bars, handy grab-and-go options and more convenient places for people to pick up their first meal of the day.

Douglas believes the product will be “an in-and-out innovation” — around for a few years and then fade out.

“In a year or two, I don’t think you’re going to see it on shelves anywhere … because it’s not in line with health trends and what’s going on with consumers anyways.”

Michael McCain says he’s ‘very angry’ in Twitter thread mourning loss of colleague’s family

The CEO of Maple Leaf Foods spoke out against the United States government days after an Iranian missile accidentally shot down a Ukrainian jetliner, killing all 176 people on board — including, he said, the family of a company employee.

In a series of tweets on Sunday, Michael McCain said the time since Wednesday’s crash has not quelled his anger over what he describes as a “needless, irresponsible series of events in Iran.” The tweets were sent from the official Maple Leaf Foods account, though McCain characterized them as “personal reflections.”

Fifty-seven Canadians were among the 176 people killed on Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752. There have been vigils and memorials across Canada commemorating the victims, as well as protests calling for de-escalation in the region.

McCain said he feels that “a narcissist in Washington” destabilized the region, ultimately leading to the crash.

Flight PS752 was mistakenly shot down minutes after taking off from an airport on the outskirts of Tehran, just hours after Iranian missiles targeted bases where Americans were stationed in Iraq.

They were retaliating for the U.S. killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Iran has admitted the plane was mistaken for a hostile target amid those soaring tensions with the United States, after first pinning the crash on a mechanical failure.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said Iran must take full responsibility for shooting down the plane. He said that must include a full and credible investigation, but he’s steered clear of pinning the crash on the Americans.

“I think it is too soon to be drawing conclusions or assigning blame or responsibility in whatever proportions,” he told reporters last week.

McCain said he’s both livid and mourning for his colleague’s wife and 11-year-old son, who were killed on the plane.

CBC News reached out to McCain for further comment. In response, Janet Riley, the company’s vice-president of communications and public affairs, said in an email that McCain “would prefer to let the messages in his tweets speak for themselves. He felt the tragedy warranted his response.”