All posts by Curtis Panke

Liquified Natural Gas Shows Concern Between B.C. Government and Treaty 8 First Nations

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The B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation has expressed concern about how to approach Liquefied Natural Gas Development on Treaty 8 First Nations Land.

“Resource use with Treaty 8 and the provincial government has been, let’s call it strained,” says Scott Fraser, who is the MLA for Alberni-Pacific Rim and Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation spokesperson for the B.C. NDP Caucus Team.

Documents obtained through B.C.’s Freedom of Information Law reveal a Human Health Risk Assessment was completed in November 2014 that covered six Treaty 8 First Nations communities: Blueberry River, Doig River, Halfway River, McLeod Lake, Saulteau, and West Moberly First Nations.

The assessment provides two similar options suggested by the Ministry of Health about how to present the finding s to the Treaty 8 communities. The first suggestion involves the Ministry of Health hiring a consultant to hold community meetings explaining the results and fielding questions. While the second approach involves a cross-ministry approach, lead by the Ministry of Health or another Ministry where consultants would be hired to lead a public information campaign to provide information on the assessment’s findings.



(*) What is the Documentation? – The information is the two options proposed by the B.C. Ministry of Health about how to present the findings of the Human Health Risk Assessment.
(*) From which department did these pages come? – These pages came from the B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
(*) Why was this information helpful? The information was helpful because it shows the concern the B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation and the B.C. Ministry of Health have when it comes to presenting information to the Treaty 8 First Nations.

“We just want to be at the table at the beginning, not towards the end,” explains Rodney Nelson, a lecturer at Carleton University and CEO of Global Governance Group, a consulting firm that specializes in working with Indigenous governments. “If you’re thinking about any problems just bring them on board,” explains Nelson because “some of the First Nations out there are very interested in projects like this” and being able to be partners with the government and various companies.

The assessment concluded that the risks of chemicals of potential concern (COPC) “were not predicted to result in adverse health effects in people living or visiting the study area.”
The assessment also determined that even though some areas exceeded exposure limits for certain COPC’s, it is not expected to create adverse health effects due to the rarity of it happening combined with the safety measures put into the assessment.



(*) What is the information? – The information is the findings from the Human Health Assessment. The HHRA claims that the potential for adverse human health effects is low due to potential exposure from Chemicals of Potential Concern (COPC)
(*) From which department did these pages come? – These pages came from the B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
(*) Why was this information helpful? – This information is helpful because it provides the information that the B.C. government is using as they pursue Liquefied Natural Gas developments on Treaty 8 First Nations Land.



(*) What is the information? – The information is the findings from the Human Health Assessment. The HHRA claims that Chemicals of Potential Concern risks in the air were determined to not result in adverse health effects for people on Treaty 8 First Nations Land
(*) From which department did these pages come? – These pages came from the B.C. Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation
(*) Why was this information helpful? – This information is helpful because it provides the information that the B.C. government is using as they pursue Liquefied Natural Gas developments on Treaty 8 First Nations Land.

In recent years Liquefied Natural Gas development has been promoted by Premier Christy Clark as a new way to create billions of dollars in economic development within the province. The process involves fracking, where drilling takes place into the ground and a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals is injected in order to crack the rocks and allow the natural gas to flow to the surface.

Despite the assessment’s findings regarding human health, there are still questions for some that are left unanswered. One of the main concerns about liquefied natural gas is the potential environmental effect on the Treaty 8 First Nations land. Scott Fraser remembers vividly the last time he visited the Treaty 8 First Nations, flying late one night where “there’s flaring all over the place. The landscape is being changed in huge ways. Including the wildlife corridors, potential destruction of water supplies. It potentially impacts the way of life that has existed for Treaty 8 people for millennia.”

Rodney Nelson believes the process that the B.C. government is using plays a big role in how they view the environment. The process they’re using was developed in Europe, and in Europe it’s not a concern anymore. They don’t have vast amounts of wilderness to worry about. Here we do,” he explains, “a lot of people are still living off the land or supplementing off it.

In response to reports and assessments made by the provincial government, Treaty 8 First Nations have been conducting there own research about liquefied and its effects. The Treaty 8 Tribal Association among other First Nations groups have hired Dr. Gilles Wendling, a hydrogeologist who is doing work on the potential risk of aquifers and water supplies because of these practices.

“The Treaty 8 First Nations have a treaty,” says Scott Fraser, “this is a treaty nation. The government is pursuing this as though they don’t have a treaty and as though they don’t exist.”

FOI BC

FOI Request CSC-2016-61376

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Access to Information Request – Heritage Canada

PANKE – City of Toronto ATIP

Panke - completed ATI request

Canadian Tobacco Exports Keep Puffing Along

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Over the past five years Canada has seen a consistent increase in tobacco manufacturing exports. According to trade data provided by Industry Canada tobacco manufacturing exports reached a total of just over $170 million in 2015. An increase of 118 per cent compared to the approximate $78 million worth of tobacco Canada exported in 2011.

“Most people expect tobacco farming is either on the serious decline or is almost ceased in Canada,” says David Hammond, a professor with the school of public health and health systems at the University of Waterloo. For Hammond, the trade data says, “this industry isn’t dead, quite clearly and that tobacco farming in Canada is not dead. I think that runs counter to most people’s assumptions.”

Tobacco exports have been steadily increasing in Canada despite the reduction of smoking in Canadian culture. According to the Canadian Tobacco Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CTADS), conducted by Statistics Canada on behalf of Health Canada in 2013, the percentage of the population who smoked was 15 percent (4.2 million smokers). In 2013, daily smokers smoked on average 13.9 cigarettes per day, decreasing from the 2012 average of 15 cigarettes per day. According to the survey it’s the lowest national smoking rate that has ever been recorded. It has been the result of countless anti-smoking initiatives by groups from the local level to provincial and federal governments in the attempt to make Canada smoke free.

Jamey Essex, an environmental studies professor at the University of Windsor, views the trend as the tobacco industry successfully finding different markets overseas. “If they can’t find a market domestically then they try to find a new one abroad, because they are not going to just shut down production.

Canada’s biggest tobacco export partners in 2015 were the United States ($108.8 million), China ($32.8 million), the United Arab Emirates ($8.4 million), and Vietnam ($4.1 million). For Essex the “decline in smoking at home is offset by an increase in smoking in other countries. That’s where they’ve focused on exports to make up the gap.”

In countries like the United Arab Emirates, 25-30 per cent of the male population smokes tobacco and there’s concern that smoking is on the rise not only in the country but also across the Middle East. Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization, has seen an increase in the estimated number of smokers from approximately 16.3 million smokers in 2010 to approximately 17.3 million in 2015. While most of the remaining countries in the top ten list have either stagnating or decreasing smoking populations, they are still comparable or higher than Canada’s smoking population.



The survival of the Canadian tobacco industry isn’t just about which countries tobacco is being shipped to. It has also been about how tobacco manufacturers have been able to adapt to the ever-changing business landscape. One aspect of tobacco farming that Jamey Essex points out is the physical size of the farms. “Tobacco farms are usually really small because it doesn’t take a lot of land to produce a lot of tobacco in terms of value,” he said.

When looking at the trade data David Hammond sees a different international trend at work for Canada’s tobacco exports. “Looking at some of the countries. It would suggest it might be some of the big multinationals (tobacco manufacturers).” Imperial Tobacco Canada for example, moved it’s tobacco manufacturing to Mexico after closing down facilities in Guelph (2006) and Aylmer Ontario (2007). American tobacco company Philip Morris International is now headquartered in Switzerland and owns Canadian tobacco brands such as Rothmans, Craven A, and Belmont. The Chinese National Tobacco Corporation, owned by the Chinese government manufactured about 2.5 trillion cigarettes in 2013 alone.

As for when the success might end Essex believes that it won’t last for more than ten years because “there’s a limit of how much tobacco they can pump into those countries,” along with the potential rise of health concerns in those countries. But until then the Canadian tobacco industry continues to find ways to stay in business.

25 years later: Gulf War veterans get recognized

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When Canadians think about Canada’s military history there are many examples that come to mind: Vimy Ridge, Juno Beach, Afghanistan, and peacekeeping missions around the world.

But rarely, if at all, do people talk about the men and women who served during the Gulf War according to those who served. For some veterans like Sylvia Vickers, who served for 11 years as a naval combat information operator, they believe that The Gulf War is a “forgotten war.” But 25 years later it looks like things might change.

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of the Gulf War and events are taking place across the country to honour veterans and their families. After originally not having plans to commemorate the anniversary in 2015, Veterans Affairs Canada announced in August it would recognize the ending of the Gulf War.

Approximately 4,000 members of the Canadian Forces served overseas in the Persian Gulf between August 1990 and February 1991 to help liberate Kuwait from invading Iraq. It was the first time that Canada sent the military into a war since The Korean War. The navy deployed three ships: HMCS Terra Nova, HMCS Athabaskan, and HMCS Protecteur.

It’s an anniversary that veterans no longer have to celebrate themselves and feel neglected.

When Vickers first heard the announcement, she remembered the warm response the military received when they went overseas to the Persian Gulf. Where at times, she says they felt spoiled as famous news anchors and hockey stars would visit them. The announcement “made us feel the way felt when we were in the Gulf,” Vickers said.

Last year Canadian Gulf War veterans began celebrating the anniversary of the war amongst themselves. For Vickers and other veterans it’s been a different kind of battle just to get the recognition.

“As soon I complained a little bit to the media that they weren’t commemorating the Gulf War we got the same overwhelming warm response,the legion phone rang off the hook,” said Vickers.

But for Vickers, her overseas experience doesn’t always conjure warm memories. She says there were times on the Protecteur where “I remember praying that I would be brave when the time came” to protect the people around her as she monitored radar for enemy missiles.

Vickers remembers telling her worried family, “it’s OK, I’m happy that I’m doing this and don’t feel bad if I die,” she said. Vickers volunteered to work on the Protecteur when she was on the HMCS Nipigon because, as she jests, “my lucky horseshoe was being in danger.”

Stephane Tremblay served on the Athabaskan as an electrician and spent 24 years in the navy. He volunteered to join the ship from the HMCS Algonquin when there was a need for extra electricians.

On the Athabaskan he rarely paid attention to any news concerning the war and instead focused on his job. Tremblay stayed focused because he noticed that the people following regular news became stressed about the war. “The best thing was to just go on, and like your own ship just go with the flow,” he said.

For Tremblay, commemorations for any conflict need to be done sooner rather than later in order to recognize veterans before they pass away.

Harold Davis spent 31 years with the air force straight out of high school in 1978. He served on the Athabaskan and is now the president of the Persian Gulf Veterans of Canada advocacy group, which helps members with their medical conditions.

For Davis the anniversary is significant because “for 25 years nobody even remembered us,” he said after returning to Halifax Harbour after the war. But he does understand that “it took 50 years for the Korean veterans to get recognized. I think we’re doing pretty good at 25.”

Davis hopes that the anniversary can help create a better relationship with Veterans Affairs Canada. He hopes that it’s the beginning step to help meet the needs of Gulf War veterans, in particular medical treatment.

But like the anniversary it seems only time will tell.

Documentation – Gulf War Veterans – What ever hapened to story

Indigo: Reinventing the Bookstore

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Indigo Books & Music is no longer your mother and father’s bookstore.

The willingness to branch outside of selling books has the retailer seeing positive results as it heads into the third quarter of its financial year in early February.

The company’s second quarter financial report released on November 3, 2015 revealed their revenue from general merchandise grow to $62.4 million in September 2015 from $50.9 million in the previous year.

General merchandise saw the biggest revenue increase for Indigo, which includes items such as household furnishings, stationary, toys, music, DVD’s, and electronic devices.

A portion of Indigo’s financial statement annotated in DocumentCloud



Source: Indigo Books & Music

Emily Deveaux, the executive director of the School of Retailing at the University of Alberta says that Indigo has had a “very specific strategy to diversify” over the past year to turn itself into a “cultural department store.” Where customers can purchase more than just books.

In their second quarter investor call transcript, CEO Heather Reisman stated that “We’re really happy with the positive impact of the investments we’ve made, and we feel that Indigo has positioned itself extremely well to continue on this trend.”

So far their strategy seems to be panning out for the bookstore giant.

According to Bruce Winder, who is a retail consultant and co-founder of Retail Advisors Network in Toronto, Indigo realized that their world changed because of Amazon, and at one point were “in the headlights of Amazon.”

For Winder, Indigo recognized that they were not going to win the price war with Amazon, and as a result they expanded to other areas with more exclusive items with better margins. He uses Indigo’s expansion into children’s learning toys as an example of exclusive items.

Emily Deveaux cites Indigo’s partnership with the American Girl doll line, as one of the ways the company has been able to increase revenue. With these kinds of products now available at Indigo she says, “you can see shopper continuously returning to the store.”

This is because “they’re going after a specific customer,” says Deveaux, in particular families with young children.

Indigo is seeing this increase in revenue with a big help from general merchandise, but print still remains at the heart of Indigo’s revenue. Revenue from print may have dropped by 2.5 per cent from Indigo’s overall revenue stream, but it still increased to $134 million in September 2015 from $127.9 million in September 2014.

A portion of Indigo’s financial statement annotated in DocumentCloud



Source: Indigo Books & Music

“I think people still genuinely like having a hard copy of the book,” says Deveaux. She believes there’s a certain psychology involved when someone finishes a hard copy book.

During their second financial quarter the company saw an 8.7 per cent increase of revenue in their large bookstores, and 9.5 per cent increase from their smaller bookstores and a 14.2 per cent increase online.

A portion of Indigo’s financial statement annotated in DocumentCloud



Source: Indigo Books & Music

“The lines are blurred in retail,” says Paul McElhone, the Dean of the Mihalcheon School of Management at Concordia University of Edmonton. As a result, Indigo’s customer needs are changing in terms of what products they want to buy as well as how they are able to buy them.

The layout of the stores plays a major factor in how the company has been able to increase revenue. According to McElhone, the stores tend to put the gifts and specialty items at the front of the store before the bookshelves so customers can cross-shop. Where someone can walk into the store looking for a book and come out with someone else like a candle or a toy.

Indigo’s stores have become a place for “experimentation as much as a place to buy something,” says Winder.

When a company diversifies, it can be more harmful than good if done incorrectly. But Indigo seems to be on the right page to succeed going forward.

Indigo Stock Price



Indigo Books & Music Inc Stock PRice by CPanke on TradingView.com

Source: TradingView

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2698851-Indigo-FY16-Q2-Report.html