Canada

What is the economic cost of wildfire smoke?

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Air quality in Windsor, Ont., was among the worst in the world in late June, as wildfires raged in northeastern Canada and Quebec. Here, the Detroit skyline is barely visible through smoke and haze on June 29. (Dax Melmer/CBC) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton When tallying the economic toll of climate change, flooding tops the list in Canada. But the wildfire smoke that has blanketed many parts of North America this summer also comes with a financial cost. Wildfires release fine particulate matter known as PM2.5, which is made up of tiny particles 2.5 microns in diameter or less (that’s roughly 30 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair). Those particles can enter the lungs and bloodstream and are particularly harmful for those with pre-existing conditions. At the height of the haze in June, baseball games and Broadway shows were cancelled, schools closed and flights postponed. A growing body of research is trying to put a dollar figure on the larger economic fallout. A forthcoming paper in the Review of Economics and Statistics estimates that between 2007 and 2019, U.S. earnings were reduced by an average of $125 billion a year because of wildfires.  “Air quality matters for more than just health outcomes,” David Molitor, the study’s co-author and an associate professor of finance and economics at the University of Illinois, said in an interview. “It shows up in the statistics for economic productivity.” The researchers found smoke exposure can decrease income across a range of sectors, from manufacturing to farming to real estate, and that older workers and people of colour were disproportionately affected. The paper drew on satellite imagery of wildfire smoke, air quality records and labour market data in the U.S. “One of the things that really surprised me about wildfire smoke is that in the United States, the geography of wildfire smoke is very different from the geography of fires,” said Molitor. “It turns out that the Midwest U.S. experiences, on average, some of the highest number of days of smoke per year. We don’t have a lot of fires there, but just a lot of smoke.” Another study, published last month in the journal Science of the Total Environment, concluded smoke particulates from wildfires could ultimately lead to between 4,000 and 9,000 premature deaths in the U.S. and cost a staggering $36 billion to $82 billion a year in health care. Shuai Pan, the lead author, had previously looked at the effects of pollution from the transportation sector, but became interested in the consequences of wildfire smoke while doing his doctoral work in the U.S.  Epidemiological research suggests exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with increased mortality and certain common respiratory diseases, Pan said.  “It’s not news that wildfire causes air pollution that has an impact on human health, but we really wanted to provide some numbers,” said Pan, a postdoctoral researcher at Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology in China. For the study, Pan and his fellow researchers used satellite wildfire emission and air quality data gathered from 2012 to 2014 to create a model estimating how smoke from wildfires could impact human health and economies. For instance, Los Angeles — downwind from many of the fires in the western U.S. — may see 119 premature deaths annually, and $1.07 billion in financial burden, the study said. Those numbers would be far higher if the research had drawn on this summer’s smoky air, Pan said.  In the midst of Canada’s record wildfire season this year, Dave Sawyer, an environmental economist at the Climate Institute of Canada, tried to calculate the health cost of smoke in this country.  He figured that during a particularly smoky stretch from June 4 to 8, the estimated price tag of smoke-related health care alone was $1.28 billion. Sawyer said the economic toll of wildfire smoke is yet another reason to act on climate change.  In the meantime, Molitor said more research is needed on the most effective ways to reduce harmful exposure. “I think that’s where behavioural adjustments and adaptations have the potential to play a big role,” he said. “Putting air filtration in your home … or in offices or in public schools may go a long way to helping to reduce the effects.” Let me tell you an interesting story “My spouse and I were discussing our next vehicle. I suggested that by the time we need one, there will be (hopefully) more infrastructure for electric vehicles and buying an electric car would be a smart, and responsible, move. His comment was that in abandoning a gas-powered car, you’re just substituting for a natural gas power plant, i.e., swapping one source of emissions for another, and so you might as well go for the gasoline vehicle. “My response was that Canada’s electricity was 80 per cent renewables/hydro-electric and there was a fair chance the source of electrical power would not use fossil fuels. But in truth, in the Greater Toronto Area, I’m not sure what the real answer would be. “Do you know? Personally, I think it’s useful for anyone across Canada to know where the power that feeds into their homes comes from. Can you shed light?” Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Nishad Islam co-ordinates planting events at the Friends of the Rouge Watershed, and sees direct benefits for local residents near restored habitats. (Inayat Singh/CBC) Home CCTV Camera in Brampton Metals like cobalt, copper, nickel and manganese have been mined on land for years, but as the global energy transition gathers pace, there is a consensus that the terrestrial reserves of these minerals aren’t enough. Making things like electric car batteries and wind turbines will require many more “critical minerals.” For example, the International Energy Agency estimates the world will need 19 times more nickel by 2040 to meet its decarbonization targets. And so interest has turned to the critical minerals lurking deep in the ocean — specifically, in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean called the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ). The company

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22-year-old mother of 2 identified as homicide victim as B.C. city sets new homicide record

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Friends and family have identified 22-year-old Isabelle Thomas as the victim of a recent Prince George homicide. (Submitted by Leslie Thomas) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Family and friends have identified a Prince George homicide victim as Isabelle Thomas, describing her as a loving and outgoing mother of two who “always had a smile on her face.”  Thomas was the victim of one of two unrelated and, at the time, suspicious deaths that happened in the B.C. community in mid-July within a 24-hour period — both of which are now being investigated as homicides, helping push the deadly crime rate in the city to the highest on record.  Thomas’s family has identified her as the victim in the second death, which police said resulted from a home invasion on July 18.  One man has been arrested, but police have not announced any charges. Thomas, who was born and raised in Prince George, had six-year-old and six-month-old daughters. “The girls meant the world to her,” said Leslie Thomas, Isabelle’s mother. “She did everything in her power to make sure they were happy, that they were taken care of.”  Isabelle Thomas was outgoing, loyal and always willing to help a friend out, according to her mother.  She had many different interests and loved learning new things. As a member of the Nadleh Whut’en First Nation, Isabelle Thomas liked learning about her culture and participated in community activities. She took classes in ribbon skirt making and drum making, her mother said.  She said her daughter was also very outspoken and upfront.  “She told you how it is, and she showed the same amount of love in return.” Thomas said her daughter’s children were in the room with her when she died.  “To have both of her babies with her while that thing was happening to her was just unimaginable and so maddening that they had to be put through that,” she said.  Thomas said both children are in the care of immediate family now, and the family is fundraising to be able to send the older daughter to a child trauma therapy specialist in Vancouver.  “The babies needed their mother,” Thomas said.  Thomas said she has received an outpouring of support from the community as several hundred people came out to a memorial service for her daughter last weekend.  Isabelle Thomas is survived by her two daughters, Addelynn and Eleanore, as well as her siblings, Aleynna Pedersen, Anabelle Pedersen, Jeff Pedersen, Dan Pedersen, Wesley Pedersen, Jasmaine Thomas, and Dakota Thomas, and her parents, Kent Pedersen and Leslie Thomas.  With the death of Isabelle Thomas, the City of Prince George is now recording its deadliest year ever, with eight confirmed homicides since January. That’s more than the previous high set in 2010, when the city recorded seven homicides — and was labelled Canada’s most dangerous city by Maclean’s magazine for the first of three consecutive years, based on the publication’s use of data provided by Statistics Canada. The same year also saw two additional homicides in rural areas outside municipal boundaries. In a report released Thursday, Statistics Canada found that violent crime in Prince George in 2022 was the highest of any city in B.C., with a population of more than 15,000 people. The agency makes the determination using the Crime Severity Index (CSI), based on police-reported incidents of violent crimes across Canada. Cpl. Jenn Cooper with the Prince George RCMP said in a statement to CBC News that all of the eight homicides in 2023 appear targeted, and there is no increased risk to the community.  “We are working diligently to identify those responsible for the recent spike in violence and have units throughout the detachment focusing their efforts on these and other supporting investigations,” Cooper wrote.  According to police, five of this year’s homicides are connected to the drug trade, with Supt. Shaun Wright telling CBC News earlier in the year that there has been competition among different organizations and individuals aiming to control the region. However, the two victims from the July homicides were not engaged in criminal activity at the time of their deaths, said Cooper. In a report commissioned and presented to Prince George council last year, a trio of criminologists found that Prince George RCMP are dealing with more crime than almost any other city in the province, leading to high levels of burnout and an inability to effectively police the community. In response, council approved funding for four additional officers and two civilian support staff at a cost of more than $1 million. Provincially, the city has been earmarked as one of 12 communities to pilot a project that will see police, prosecutors and probation officers work together to target violent offenders.  Feb. 4: A woman is found dead in her home on 17th Avenue at Fir Street in the city’s Millar Addition area between midnight and 1 a.m. Police say the death appears to have been targeted and connected to the city’s drug trade. Feb. 14: A woman is found dead inside a home in the Sunrise Valley Mobile Park between midnight and 1 a.m. One woman is charged with second-degree murder in the death. RCMP say the death appears to be targeted and connected to the city’s drug trade. March 7: RCMP are called to an “altercation” at the Connaught Hill Residences, a highrise apartment block less than 500 metres from city hall, around 9 p.m. A man is found dead, and RCMP later charged a man with manslaughter with a firearm. RCMP link this death to the drug trade, as well. April 1: A man is found dead in a private residence in the 2200 block of Quince Street just before 8:30 p.m. RCMP say the death is being treated as a homicide victim connected to the city’s drug trade. April 19: A man identified as James Archibald Webb is found deceased in a rural location approximately 80 kilometres northeast of Prince George. RCMP say Webb’s death was a targeted killing with links to the drug trade. June 19: RCMP are called to a report of a home invasion shortly after 8 p.m. in the 300-block of Nicholson St.

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Metro workers latest to strike as Canada sees a wave of job actions

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton A woman walks pass a Metro grocery store in Toronto on Wednesday Nov. 1, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Doug Ives Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Thousands of unionized Metro workers walked off the job Saturday in what is the latest in a series of strike actions taken across the country in the past year. Some 3,700 members of Unifor Local 414 went on strike, described as the largest in the union’s history and affecting 27 Metro locations in the Greater Toronto Area. It comes as unionized workers at British Columbia’s ports rejected a tentative agreement late Friday night and as Manitoba Liquor Mart employees stayed off the job Saturday in their continued strike action. “Interest rates, inflation, CEO profits soaring, profits in terms of what corporations are making soaring, while our members are struggling to get by,” Unifor national president Lana Payne said Saturday as Metro workers held their strike. Although Unifor endorsed a deal with Metro, with Payne describing it as the “best agreement in decades,” the membership did not support it. Payne added that it is not enough for the workers to live on or support their families, with 70 per cent of jobs part-time and average pay between $16 and $17 an hour. She said that the workers, who put their lives on the line during the height of COVID-19 and later saw their pandemic pay cut, deserve a share of the money that they helped Metro earn. Gord Currie, president of Unifor Local 414, added that some have resorted to food banks. Canada’s Competition Bureau released a study in June that found the three largest grocery companies in the country — Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro — reported more than $100 billion in sales collectively and $3.6 billion in profits last year. “Working people are fighting back everywhere, from the ports of Vancouver to grocery store workers here to Teamsters workers in the United States. This is not just happening here at Metro stores. It is the moment that we’re in and, you know, you can only push it so long where corporations are doing so well, the CEOs are doing so well and workers are getting crumbs. That is not going to work anymore,” Payne said. A statement from Metro Ontario, a subsidiary of Metro, said it was “extremely disappointed” that a strike occurred despite the union endorsing the deal. “The company has been negotiating with the union for the past few weeks and reached a fair and equitable agreement that meets the needs of our employees and our customers while ensuring that Metro remains competitive,” the statement said. “The settlement provided significant increases for employees in all four years of the agreement, as well as pension and benefits improvements for all employees, including part-time employees.” Larry Savage, a labour studies professor at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ont., told CTV National News that workers have a heightened sense of their own worth coming out of the pandemic. “I think there’s a lot of anger and resentment as a result of the pandemic and the high cost of living,” he said. “Grocery store workers, for example, literally put their lives on the line for their employers and for society more generally during the pandemic and now lots of them can’t even afford to pay their rent or their utility bills. So I think there’s a sense out there that workers are fed up and they’re demanding more and they’re using the right to strike to do that.” Last month, about 1,800 striking Halifax-area education support workers returned to work after ratifying their latest contract. More than 155,000 unionized federal public servants went on strike earlier this year, including 35,000 Canada Revenue Agency employees. Last year, thousands of education support workers in Ontario also went on strike. “I think there will be lots of labour disruption in the future, lots of labour militancy going into the future, until we see some of these companies redistribute their profits back into their workforces,” Savage said. Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Workers hold signs at a picket line outside a Metro grocery store in Toronto as workers rejected a tentative deal triggering a strike of nearly 3,700 grocery store workers in the Greater Toronto Area, July 29, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston Home CCTV Camera in Brampton Twenty-seven Metro grocery stores in the Greater Toronto Area will be closed beginning Saturday as thousands of workers will be striking after they voted down a tentative deal. Unifor, the union representing 3,700 Metro workers at 27 GTA locations, announced Friday evening the results of the ratification vote. “This decision to go on strike comes after years of these workers being nickelled and dimed while facing increased precarity and eroded job quality. It comes after having pandemic pay stripped away. It comes at a time of record profits and soaring CEO compensation. It comes at a time when life has become simply unaffordable for so many of these workers who risked their health and safety during the pandemic,” Unifor National President Lana Payne said in a statement. “We brought the tentative agreement to our members because it contained considerable gains, but our members are clear that it simply isn’t enough.” A tentative deal was reached on July 18, following weeks of bargaining to initially avert a strike. In June, members voted 100 per cent in favour of striking. Union officials previously said fair pay for all workers, greater access to better benefits, and more secure work hours and full-time jobs were the three main priorities ahead of the negotiations. “You know the system is broken when frontline Metro workers can’t afford food, rent, or gas,” Unifor Local 414 President Gord Currie said in a statement on Friday. “Frontline grocery workers at Metro deserve the utmost respect, especially after working tirelessly through the pandemic.” Workers are expected to form picket lines at each store starting at 8 a.m. Saturday. Unifor said the affected Metro stores will include those in Toronto, Brantford, Orangeville, Milton, Oakville, Brampton, North York, Islington, Willowdale, Mississauga, Etobicoke, Newmarket, and Scarborough. In a

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Ontario man smuggled people from India to U.S., through Calgary, Toronto, Montreal

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Simranjit Singh, a 41-year-old man from Brampton, Ont., pleaded guilty to nine counts of human smuggling before the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of New York on Friday. The case has revealed more information on a network that potentially moved hundreds of people from India across the Canada-U.S. border. Best CCTV Camera in Brampton An Indian national from Brampton, Ont., pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court on Friday to human smuggling as part of a network that potentially moved hundreds of people from India across the Canada-U.S. border. Simranjit (Shally) Singh, 41, pleaded guilty to six counts of alien smuggling and three counts of conspiracy to commit alien smuggling during an appearance in Albany, N.Y., before Judge Mae A. D’Agostino.  Singh appeared in a short-sleeved orange jumpsuit with “ACCF Inmate” written on the back, which stands for Albany County Correctional Facility. He wore black-rimmed glasses, with salt and pepper stubble spread down his cheeks and chin. There was a small tattoo behind his left ear and another scrawled down his left forearm.  None of Singh’s family or friends appeared at the hearing. Singh’s plea agreement included an admission that he arranged to smuggle people into the U.S. from India by flying them to Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, before transporting them to Cornwall, Ont. Singh then moved the Indian nationals by boat across the St. Lawrence River through Akwesasne, a Haudenosaunee community that straddles the Canada-U.S. border and sits about 120 kilometres west of Montreal. U.S. authorities said Singh bragged he smuggled more than 1,000 people into the U.S. from Canada. The case against Singh was based on evidence gathered through surveillance, Facebook messages and human sources related to four failed smuggling attempts across the St. Lawrence River between March 2020 and April 2022, according to court records.  Singh acted as a broker, charging $5,000 to $35,000 per person to smuggle mainly Indian nationals into the U.S. He then paid people in Akwesasne between $2,000 to $3,000 per person to take them across the river through the community’s territory. Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Crews search for bodies on the St. Lawrence River in Akwesasne on March 31, 2023, following a fatal smuggling attempt that left eight people dead. (Christinne Muschi/Reuters) Home CCTV Camera in Brampton Singh’s indictment is not connected to the deaths of eight suspected migrants — including four Indian citizens — on the St. Lawrence in March.  However, there are similarities in Singh’s routes and tactics, and those used by the network behind the fatal human smuggling attempt, which also left a Romanian family of four dead. The plea agreement included the admission that Singh, using locals, loaded Indian nationals on boats which launched from Cornwall Island in Akwesasne, across the water to the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River, where they were picked up in vehicles and taken to nearby New York state motels. This was the same route followed by the Indian and Romanian families who died in March. After the hearing, Singh’s lawyer, Lee Kindlon, told CBC News that his client was likely exaggerating when he claimed he smuggled 1,000 people over the border. Kindlon said Singh was just a cog in a much bigger network.  “Hopefully through sentencing, we can show that his role in this larger enterprise was actually quite small,” said Kindlon, with the Albany-based Kindlon Law Firm. “I’m not sure how much he entirely knows about the larger network. Everyone answers to somebody else, but who is on top of the food chain, I am not sure he knew or understood.”  Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Defence lawyer Lee Kindlon says his client, Simranjit Singh, was just a cog in a much larger network. (Jorge Barrera/CBC) Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Singh was also suffering from depression and anxiety in jail, Kindlon said. Singh’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 28, 2023. He faces a potential prison sentence ranging from five to 15 years and deportation to India. “He has always been regretful about getting carried away in this whole thing,” said Kindlon. “Saying guilty here is the first step toward redemption and ultimately acceptance of punishment and responsibility.” Evidence gathered by U.S. authorities shows Singh exploited vulnerable Akwesasne members facing addiction and poverty as part of his operation.  Singh, who was facing deportation from Canada when he was arrested and extradited, originally arrived in Montreal from India in 2010 with his then-wife and one child, and filed refugee claims. His mother then arrived with his other child and also filed refugee claims. All five were ultimately rejected, according to court records. Canadian authorities could not return them to India because the Indian Consulate refused to provide travel documents.  Singh attempted to stay in Canada after marrying a second wife, who sponsored him. That application was pending at the time of his arrest in the summer of 2022. The U.S. case against Singh grew from his failed attempt to smuggle three Indian nationals into the U.S. in March 2020, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic triggered a shutdown of the border.  In this instance, he used a single mother of two from Akwesasne dealing with severe trauma and facing care-related costs for one of her children, who required extensive hospitalization, according to court records.  The woman is said to have picked up three Indian nationals after they crossed the St. Lawrence River, driving them to a motel over the eastern border of Akwesasne, which was under watch by U.S. Border Patrol.  Agents stopped her vehicle the next day, after she returned and picked up the three Indian nationals, who tried running from the traffic stop. The woman also tried to flee, eventually crashing into four Border Patrol vehicles.  In another case in late winter 2021, a family in India allegedly paid Singh thousands of dollars to smuggle a family member into the U.S. Singh drove the individual to a motel in Cornwall, Ont. “Singh bragged about smuggling over 1,000 people and that [the Indian national] had nothing to worry about,” according to U.S. records. The Indian national boarded a boat on March 4 with three other migrants, and landed on a U.S. portion of Akwesasne governed by

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Labour minister threatens possibility of imposed agreement after B.C. port workers reject latest deal

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan, seen here in October 2022, said Saturday that binding arbitration or an imposed agreement could be coming to end job action that shut down B.C.’s ports earlier in July. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Federal Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan says he may be looking at binding arbitration to end a job dispute at B.C.’s ports after union workers rejected a mediated deal. In a Saturday statement, O’Regan said that he had directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) to find out if the rejection meant a negotiated agreement was impossible. “If the Board determines that to be the case, I have directed them to either impose a new collective agreement on the parties or impose final binding arbitration to resolve outstanding terms of the collective agreement,” the statement reads. Labour Minister O’Regan adds that the federal government was “prepared for all options” in the job action, leaving open the possibility of back-to-work legislation. International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada (ILWU) workers had rejected the agreement on Friday, extending job action that prevented billions in goods from moving for almost two weeks earlier this month. In a letter posted on the union’s website, union president Rob Ashton says workers are now calling on their employers to “come to the table” and negotiate directly, instead of doing so through the B.C. Maritime Employers Association (BCMEA). In a statement, the BCMEA says it is disappointed the four-year tentative agreement was rejected, calling it a “good deal that recognized the skills and efforts of B.C.’s waterfront workforce while providing certainty and stability for the future of Canada’s West Coast ports.” Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton The 13-day strike had shut down ports across B.C. was initially ended by a tentative deal, but the union attempted to restart the strike shortly after. That was deemed illegal by the Canada Industrial Relations Board. (Ben Nelms/CBC) Home CCTV Camera in Brampton The four-year agreement between the union and maritime employers went to a vote of about 7,400 workers on Thursday and Friday, after union leaders presented the deal to local chapters on Tuesday. ILWU workers staff more than 30 port terminals and other sites across the province, including Canada’s largest port in Vancouver. The deal worked out with federal mediators had put a temporary halt to a 13-day strike that had commenced July 1, but its fate see-sawed wildly as the union leadership then rejected it and tried to go back to picket lines. When that was deemed illegal by the CIRB, the union submitted a new 72-hour strike notice, only to withdraw it hours later. On July 20, the union announced it was recommending the deal and would put it to a full membership vote. Mark Thompson, a professor emeritus at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, says he is perplexed over union membership rejecting the latest deal. “I’m surprised, but I can understand why it didn’t pass,” said Thompson. “The package simply didn’t meet the union’s priorities.”  Thompson says because the union was so adamant about the issues of job security and outside contracting, those issues may have been unaddressed on the contract before them.  “That’s the signal, that something which is important to them is going left unaddressed.” On Friday evening, the BCMEA revealed details of the deal. It says the four-year package rejected by the ILWU included a compounded wage increase of 19.2 per cent and a signing bonus of $1.48 per hour worked to be paid to each employee. “Regrettably, ILWU’s rejection once again leaves businesses, Canadians and all those who depend on a stable, well-functioning supply chain hanging in the balance,” reads a statement from the employer. Thompson says the federal government under Justin Trudeau has been supportive of collective bargaining in the past, and has been unwilling to impose a settlement by legislation. The deal’s current failure will, however, give impetus to calls for back-to-work legislation that came earlier from industry groups and politicians, including Alberta Premier Danielle Smith. On Saturday, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business characterized the rejection of the deal as “irresponsible” and said they were extremely disappointed. “If the union issues another 72-hour strike notice, government will have to immediately introduce back-to-work legislation,” read a statement from the business group. Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh — whose party has a supply-and-confidence deal with the Liberals in Parliament — said the better course of action is to get both sides of the dispute back to the negotiating table. “Port workers in British Columbia are fighting for fairness; they want to know that they’ll have stability and a good wage so that they can continue supporting their families for years to come,” Singh said in a statement. “We cannot lose sight of what is at stake for B.C. port workers, but also for all workers. Going to work to earn a living that feeds your family and puts a roof over your head is not too much to ask when CEOs are enjoying record profits.” The earlier job action was serious enough that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau convened the government’s incident response group to discuss the matter, an occurrence typically reserved for moments of national crisis. Best CCTV Camera in Brampton Port workers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Canada remove a strike sign from a picket line outside the despatch hall in Vancouver on July 13. (Chris Helgren/REUTERS) Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton A 13-day strike stopped billions of dollars’ worth of goods from moving through province’s ports More large-scale disputes like the industrial action at British Columbia’s ports may be on the horizon, a labour movement researcher is warning, as longshore workers gathered to consider a possible agreement with employers. The local chapters of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union held meetings Tuesday to discuss the deal, which the B.C. Maritime Employers Association says is the same agreement union leaders had previously rejected without a full-membership vote. McGill University associate professor of sociology Barry Eidlin said it is likely union leaders are under pressure to sell the deal to members due to the possibility of back-to-work legislation — even if federal officials have said publicly that resolution-by-negotiation is the preferred outcome. But Eidlin

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“India’s export ban on non-basmati rice triggers panic buying at Sask. grocery stores”

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Best CCTV Security Camera in Brampton Sriram Ramamurthy, Manager of Iqbal Halal Foods in Toronto, says customers have been stockpiling rice after India moved to ban export on non-basmati rice. (Nisha Patel/CBC) Best CCTV Camera in Brampton India’s decision to ban the export of non-basmati rice has led to consumers panic-buying and stockpiling Indian rice around the world, driving up prices in the process. In Canada, the U.S. and abroad, reports of panic-buying are flourishing on social media, with stores that cater to South Asian communities implementing caps on the amount that any customer can buy, and adjusting prices. Sriram Ramamurthy, the manager of Iqbal Halal Foods in Toronto, told CBC News in an interview Monday that he saw an immediate increase in demand for rice once word of the ban spread on Thursday of last week. “They started coming in here and they wanted to buy more and more,” he said. He soon implemented a limit of one bag per customer, but that quickly proved futile as customers would come back with more family members, “each one trying to pick two or three at a time.” Some customers would even approach other customers in line who were not buying rice, trying to get them to purchase it on their behalf, he said. Ramamurthy says he carries more than 40 different brands of rice in his store, mostly from India, but the majority of what he sells is basmati rice, a premium grade of rice that isn’t even included in the export ban. But that hasn’t stopped customers from trying to buy up every grain they can, of basmati and varieties included in the ban, just in case, he said. Siraj Mohammed said he heard about the ban, so decided to come “down to the grocery store expecting that this is not gonna be the case in Canada. But I guess the worst happened,” he said. He prefers one specific type of basmati rice, one that the store doesn’t have any more of right now. “Now I’m not going to be able to get my hands on it, I guess.” Ramamurthy says he hasn’t raised his prices yet, but he’s expecting his suppliers to soon. Stores that cater to the South Asian market elsewhere in Canada are reporting similar scenes, including Savor Supermarket in Saskatoon, where purchases are being limited. Stores in the U.S., Australia and elsewhere are also seeing unprecedented demand, Bloomberg and others reported Tuesday, although CBC News has not been able to independently verify the authenticity of videos showing hoarding and panic buying. India has taken the extraordinary step in order to ensure domestic supply, and bring down prices, which have soared due to excess rains and drought in rice-producing regions. According to government data, the domestic price of non-basmati rice has increased by almost 10 per cent this month. In September of last year, a metric tonne of non-basmati rice in India would cost about $330 US. Today it tops $450, according to pricing in the most-traded Indian rice futures contract. Cheap CCTV Camera in Brampton Stores have started to ration bags of rice after India’s move to ban imports prompted stockpiling. (Nisha Patel/CBC) Sophia Murphy, executive director for the Minneapolis-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, says rice is such a staple for India and its 1.2 billion people that the government manages supply closely. Unlike other food commodities, she says the global rice market is very domestically oriented, as less than 10 per cent of all the rice in the world ever crosses a border. Home CCTV Camera in Brampton Best CCTV Camera in Brampton While India is far and away the world’s largest exporter of rice, with more than 40 per cent of international trade in it, their primary concern is maintaining domestic supply, which is why they have had export bans in the past, she says. “If they ban or someway limit the exports, it should keep more production in the country and it should reduce the inflation pressure that is there on food prices,” she said. Canada imported about $650 million worth of rice last year, according to government data. Within that, about $140 million came from India — and only a tiny percentage of that is of the small- and medium-grain varieties of non-basmati rice that the ban applies to. Murphy says while supply of basmati may also be strained, the government did not move to ban exports since it is a more premium product. Local concern is on the other staple varieties, which is why the government used the dramatic step of halting exports. “Bans are easy to explain to the public,” she said, “we’re not selling food abroad, we’re looking after people at home. It’s often a pretty blunt — not necessarily very effective — instrument but it has domestic political capital associated with it.” India’s move to ensure domestic supply is the second major announcement from a major exporter this year, as in May Vietnam announced plans to limit its own exports to four million tonnes a year by 2030. That’s down from more than seven million tonnes a year right now, and it’s aimed at “ensuring domestic food security, protecting the environment and adapting to climate change,” the government said in a release. In recent years, India has emerged as one of the largest exporters of rice, a staple crop that feeds millions around the world. However, a significant shift occurred when the Indian government implemented a sudden ban on rice exports, leaving many nations, including Canada, struggling to cope with the repercussions. This article delves into the reasons behind India’s decision to ban rice exports and explores the far-reaching consequences it has had on the global rice market. From shortages in Canada to stockpiling on a global scale, the implications of this decision have reverberated through economies and food security networks worldwide. India’s agricultural sector plays a pivotal role in its economy, with rice being a crucial crop cultivated across vast regions. Over the years, India’s rice production has increased significantly, making it one of the leading exporters in the world. The country’s abundance

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