Canada

The scene of Canada’s iconic polar bears scrounging among chip bags and milk jugs stands in stark contrast to the majestic images of bears traversing the sub-Arctic shores that feature in global tourism campaigns for the Hudson Bay region. It’s a sore point for the town of Churchill, Manitoba. For nearly two years now, the “Polar Bear Capital of the World” that welcomes international photographers and tourists as “one of the best places” to see wild polar bears has been the site of a markedly ugly scene: bears scrounging for human garbage.

In April 2024, Churchill’s waste management facility—an old military building known as L5—burned to the ground. Spontaneous combustion in the gaseous garbage pile was the likely cause. The warehouse had been capable of storing up to three years’ worth of the town’s garbage at a time. Overnight, the town’s 900 or so residents were left with nothing. Garbage piled up in town. Dumpsters overflowed.

In the wake of the fire, the town was forced to dump all of its waste on top of the tundra, on an old landfill, about six kilometres from the L5 site, where a hard fence and an electric fence kept the bears at bay. It remains a tenuous stopgap. By that fall, as hundreds of hungry polar bears arrived on the shore of Hudson Bay to wait for the sea ice to freeze, an inconvenience had turned into a crisis. Bears congregated at the fence line, biding their time. When an ice storm fatefully knocked out the fence’s power supply, more than thirty ravenous polar bears stormed the enclosure to gorge on the garbage.

After two years, Churchill is still without a solution. The Manitoba government did not respond to requests for an interview. The town is looking at replacing the old waste storage building with a steel option, but cost (hindered by price hikes for steel due to the United States’ tariffs) and uncertainty around the location have stalled the decision. In the meantime, camera traps set up around Churchill’s makeshift facility filmed polar bears—lone males, females with cubs, subadults—trying their luck almost every single day this past fall, scientists say.

Prime Minister Mark Carney touched down in Norway early Friday where he will get important face time with the Nordic country’s leader and the German chancellor before taking in a major NATO wargaming exercise that includes Canadian troops.

Both countries are backing a bid by German submarine-maker TKMS to sell Canada 12 new submarines — a multi-billion dollar program that has been fast-tracked by the Liberal government.

Despite the high-stakes — militarily, economically and diplomatically — Carney said he doesn’t expect the submarine bid to be discussed among the three leaders.

"The short answer's no," he said, when asked about the possibility in Yellowknife prior to boarding a flight to Europe, "because we're at a phase in that process where the final bids have been submitted."

With war in the Middle East keeping the critical Strait of Hormuz fuel route closed, the international community is reaching into its oil reserves to fill the supply gap.

On Wednesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to release 400 million barrels from its emergency reserves — its largest-ever release — in order to help ease a disruption of "unprecedented" scale, the IEA said.

That's drawing scrutiny of Canada's oil reserves — or, rather, its lack of them, as Canada is the only nation in the G7 that doesn't maintain a strategic reserve.

While Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson said on Wednesday that Canada would "do its part" to help contribute to the global oil supply, Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre criticized the Liberal government for not having any reserves.

I wonder whether the major providers will use this as an excuse to jack up the prices, internet specifically, or try to be more competitive. Telus was ready to buy me out of contract, install a line that doesn't exist and offer month to month from get go, so logically I would assume it could help drive prices down, but then again greed beats logic.

At the very least I hope the cellphone plan changes should help those who don't usually shop around and don't sign up for plans when providers offer to "cover" the connection fee or w/e they call that bullshit.

A while ago I was browsing my feed on Sharkey and saw someone from a Mastodon instance ask if it was just him, or if there appeared to be a lot more people using the #yeg tag (for Edmonton) than the #yyc tag (for Calgary).

It's had me thinking since then that perhaps having a resource thread in these communities listing accounts such as politicians, local organisations, even local specialty accounts would be helpful to onboard people to Mastodon and retain people's involvement and interest in the Fediverse.

Having lists like this would also likely help onboard people as there would be a resource available to help showcase to those sceptical of joining that there are people in their own community that have an interest in the Fediverse, and post content that's relevant to them.

Would this be a worthwhile idea, or perhaps a bit too far out of scope?

Awwww, #americans opinions of #canada is way down according to gallup polls. Let me go find a quiet place to cry about it. 🤣

The Oil Sands Alliance — rebranded from the Pathways Alliance — has a history of misleading the public about the fossil fuel industry's support for climate action, all the while pushing to expand production.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/56692760

The European Parliament approved, with 482 votes in favor, 108 against, and 42 abstentions, the recommendation to the European Council, the European Commission, and High Representative Kaja Kallas regarding enhanced EU-Canada cooperation in the current geopolitical context, which also includes threats to Canada's economic stability and sovereignty.

The report, authored by German MEP Tobias Cremer, highlights the benefits of strengthening relations with Ottawa, which he described as "arguably the most European country outside Europe." Strengthening relations with Canada means cooperating to "address security threats such as Russia's war against Ukraine, hybrid attacks, terrorism, foreign interference, and China's assertiveness and economic coercion."

...

Engaging with Ottawa would also allow for "coordinated sanctions and diplomatic efforts to further isolate Russia" and "jointly promote relations with the United States." Strasbourg also emphasized the need to "fully implement the partnership for security and defense," complementing NATO's efforts with the SAFE program and the ReArm Europe plan. Finally, the approved text emphasizes the need to promote the benefits of CETA and calls on the 10 member states that have not yet ratified it, including Italy, to do so promptly.