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Dartmouth, Nova Scotia — The Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Minister of State (Agriculture) today announced that the United States has accepted an offer from the Government of Canada to help to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The Government of Canada is providing offshore booms to assist with oil spill clean up efforts underway in the Gulf of Mexico.
“When faced with an environmental tragedy like the one in the Gulf of Mexico, we must not forget that we are all global citizens who must be prepared to lend a hand where it’s needed,” said Minister Shea. “Canada and the United States have a long-standing tradition of helping one another in times of need, and we stand ready to assist our American neighbours.”
The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) has examined its environmental response capacity and determined that it can assist the United States by providing at least 3,000 metres of ocean boom at this time, which is in addition to technical and scientific support already being provided by Canada.
"Canada is pleased to share our leading edge scientific and environmental response capability with a friend and neighbour in need" said Minister Blackburn. "Our government will continue to work closely with the U.S. to ensure we can maximize Canada's contribution to the cleanup effort in the Gulf of Mexico."
Our Government has acted without delay to assist the United States and a number of Canadian federal departments or agencies have already provided considerable expertise and support to the cleanup efforts:
For many years DFO has conducted research on oil spill mitigation in the marine environment. At the U.S.’s request, DFO sent a team of scientists from its Centre for Offshore Oil and Gas Environmental Research, headed by internationally recognized oil spill remediation expert Dr. Kenneth Lee, to assist U.S. officials with monitoring the effectiveness of their clean-up operations.
Transport Canada and Environment Canada have been working closely together to provide aerial surveillance of the spill area to help determine the course and location of the oil, and to target cleanup operations.
Transport Canada deployed a Dash 8 aircraft, which was been helping at the Louisiana coast since May 1st, along with a Marine Aerial Reconnaissance Team. The team and the aircraft remain in the area to provide aerial surveillance in support of ongoing U.S. efforts.
Environment Canada, Canadian Coast Guard, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada have sent experts to attend meetings in Louisiana, at the request of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to provide advice and best practices on the use of dispersants.
The Government of Canada will continue to stand ready to assist cleanup efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.
[See also]:
Larry Trigatti, Superintendent of Environmental Response, Canadian Coast Guard in Central & Arctic Region, says the CGC would be ready for a spill. [theweathernetwork.com]
The biggest impediment to refugee and immigration reform in this country is the federal Liberal caucus. That has always been the case, but their backbench's obstinacy became even more glaring with the collapse last week of a bipartisan deal between the governing Tories and the main opposition party to speed up the refugee determination process.
Since last August, Tory Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has sought to reduce the number of appeals available to refugee claimants from "safe countries," nations such as the United States and the European Union members. Unsuccessful asylum-seekers from those countries do not face torture or other forms of abuse if deported back home. So Ottawa would like to streamline the process for determining the legitimacy of refugee requests from safe-country applicants.
At present, most unsuccessful claimants can make six appeals of determination rulings that go against them, first to the refugee bureaucracy, then to the courts and finally to the minister himself. That process can take five to eight years, by which time applicants may have put down roots here, married, begun families and established a home.
The longer it takes to make a final ruling, the less likely Ottawa is to be able to expel anyone who is here under false pretences. And that's on top of Ottawa's already dismal record of enforcing deportation orders that happen to make it through the maze of appeals.
The fastest way to help true refugees might be to winnow out bogus claimants faster, thereby freeing refugee determination investigators and review board members to deal in a timely manner with real applicants. Yet the Liberal caucus are so beholden to ethnic political chiefs, immigration industry activists and their own ideological sappiness that they oppose any move that might reduce the influx of new immigrants and refugees.
Contraband tobacco sales are continuing to grow rapidly — and that is putting hundreds of corner store owners out of business, says a national group representing the retailers.
Representatives of the Canadian Convenience Stores Association stopped in St. Catharines Monday as part of a 25-city campaign to draw attention to the plight of members.
The association is pushing the federal and provincial governments to take a harder line on smugglers who sell tax-free cigarettes for less than half the price charged for legal smokes at legitimate shops.
Not only do the cut-rate prices make it difficult for convenience stores to stay afloat, they deprive governments of hundreds of million of dollars in tax revenue, association president Dave Bryans said.
"Tobacco (contraband) is becoming a huge societal issue," he said, standing out front of a north-end convenience store at Linwell Plaza.
"We need action now. This can't be allowed to continue."
Bryans maintained tobacco smugglers are making greater inroads by plying their trade with underage high school students.
To back his contention, he pointed to a recent butt "sweep" by his association in a student smoking area near Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School.
The association has examined cigarette butts found at numerous high schools across the country in its campaign to battle contraband. What they found outside Sir Winston in April showed nearly 20% of the cigarettes had come from smugglers, Bryans said.
The association said it generally gathers 200 to 250 butts during school sweeps.
"I think parents, teachers politicians … should be shocked," he said.
Convenience store operators strictly enforce provincial government regulations that make it illegal to sell tobacco to anyone under the age of 18, Bryans said.
Variety stores generally depend on tobacco sales for 45% to 65% of their overall sales, Bryans said.
But eroding sales have forced hundreds of store owners to close their doors — roughly three per day across the country — over the past few years, according to the association.
"Contraband continues to rob all of these families of their livelihood," Bryans said.
The association wants governments to take steps to reduce contraband smokes sales to no more than 10% of all tobacco sales. Smugglers had 32.7% of the market in 2008, according to the numbers provided by the association.
St. Catharines MP Rick Dykstra pledged his support for the campaign, standing alongside Bryans in the plaza parking lot.
He said the federal government is trying to crack down on illegal tobacco sales through increased enforcement by the RCMP and Canada Border Services.
"I'm certainly prepared to do what I can do," he told Bryans.
Bryans slammed the provincial government, arguing it hasn't done enough counter-contraband tobacco work.
He maintained the incoming HST is bound to make the problem worse, forcing smokers to steer clear of higher-priced legal smokes.
"You're actually adding more fuel to an already large fire," he said.
