It’s an established fact that music comes in many different types of cycles. A sound and style will be big for a while, reach a peak with the public, and then slowly fade out. But once established, it’s unusual for a sound to completely disappear, never to be heard from again.

The only genre I can think of is—maybe alt-rock-style rockabilly? It was big in the very early 80s with bands like The Stray Cats. But then it just kinda went away. There’s never been a rockabilly revival—at least in the sense and style and scope of what we heard way back then when it was huge for about 18 months.

Instead, after enjoying a time at the forefront of music, many of the cycle-prone rock sounds recede into the shadows, never really going away. They lie in wait until someone comes along—often a generation or two later—to rediscover and reactivate it.

When that happens, it’s usually given a sonic update and if the timing is right, the sound enjoys a new period in the sun before the cycle repeats yet again.

The longer you live and the more music you become familiar with, the more you begin to see these cycles play themselves out, sometimes over and over again. We see it every decade.

The 2010s were no different. We saw a series of revivals, rediscoveries, and comebacks, all based on the musical DNA of what had come before. Let’s examine that. This is the history of the 2010s, part 4.

Songs heard on this show:

• • Tool, Fear Inoculum
  • Tame Impala, Elephant
  • Besnard Lakes, People of the Sticks
  • The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die
  • Radiohead, Burn the Witch
  • The Struts, Body Talks
  • PUP, Kids
  • DC Fontaines, Boys in the Better Land
  • The Interrupters, She’s Kerosene

• Of course, Eric Wilhite has a playlist for us.

The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on the following stations:

• • 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
  • Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
  • Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
  • 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
  • FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
  • Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 11pm
  • Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
  • The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
  • The Fox/Vancouver – Sunday at 11pm
  • Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
  • WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm

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© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Next to spring, fall is the most interesting time for new releases. Not only is this New Music Friday material out now but some of it also sets up the kind of material we’re going to get this winter.

Singles

1. AWOLNATION, Candy Pop (Eleven Seven Label Group)

Okay, so I missed this one last week so I need to make good. AWOLNATION has released this new single (and its accompanying short film) as the third part of a trilogy. Frontman Aaron Bruno describes everything as “a story about escaping from never-ending technological advancements and constant connectivity and scrutiny…The adventure of a lifetime can come from ‘tuning out.” An EP with the trilogy and more will be available on November 10,

2. Black Pumas, Mrs. Postman (ATO Records/Cadence Music Group)

Black Pumas have already been nominated for seven Grammy awards, so the anticipation for this sophomore record is pretty intense. With Chronicles of a Diamond due on October 27, Eric Burton and Andrian Quesada (along with keyboards JaRon Marshall) want to take their view of rock and soul a little further. The first advance single, More Than a Love Song, already managed some chart success, so let’s see where this piano-based song takes them.

3. Sum 41, Landmines (Rise Records)

When I spoke to Deryck Whibley earlier this year, he told me that the new Sum 41 album could very well be a double record and that all he had to do was finish the vocals. The first single from that record is now here. Deryck is still recovering from a bout of pneumonia that landed him in the hospital, but the band is still scheduled to play the When We Were Young festival in Las Vegas on October 21 and 22.

4. Depeche Mode, My Favourite Stranger (Columbia)

Depeche Mode will tour the Memento Mori album deep into the fall. This is now the fourth single form the album and was co-written with Richard Butler of Psychedelic Furs. It comes with another enigmatic video shot by Anton Corbijn. Who’s the guy in the hat? And what does he want?

Albums

1. Art Bergman, ShadowWalk (weewerk)

Art Bergman, one of Canada’s most beloved indie cult artists, has dedicated this album to Sherri, his late wife of 31 years. The album “capture the darkness, grief and desolation that comes from such a soul-crushing loss, while also offering genuine hope that life will go on.” It might make for gut-wrenching listening.

2. Bakar, Halo (Black Butter)

All right, all right. I missed this one, too. British singer Bakar is just about ready with a highly-anticipated (and inevitably difficult) second album entitled Halo. He describes it as a song “fit for the indie sleaze generation.” Maybe this has something to do about most of the record being recorded in AirBnB’s and hotels between London and LA while he was in tour.

3. Black Stone Cherry, Screamin’ at the Sky (Mascot Records/Mascot Label Group)

This Kentucky band has been enjoying some decent success with the first single from this album (Out of Pocket was released in January) and now finally have a full album for fans. The video for Nervous was shot in an old piano factory that had been turned into a production studio filled with old TV and movie sets.

4. Taproot, SC/SSRS (THC Music/Amplified Distribution)

If you remember the nu-metal era of the late 90s, Taproot was a band from Michigan that was always hanging in the shadows of Limp Bizkit and Korn. Just when it seemed that they were going to break through, the whole scene seemed to evaporate in a puff of testosterone. Taproot stayed together, however, but haven’t released an album since 2012. Is nu-metal back? We’ll see.

5. Wilco, Cousin (dBpm Records/Sony Music)

This is the thirteenth album over the Jeff Tweedy and company have been in business and early reviews point out that there’s a slight change in attitude and approach, although it has to be said that this is still very definitely a Wilco record. The record is slower than most with little that can be described as being anything more than mid-tempo. It’s helped along by Welsh producer Cate Le Bon who has a reputation of being someone experimental.

 

 

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Back when Pearl Jam was at their height, they had the clout to do anything they wanted. Anything.

On September 26, 2000, the band released 25 double CD live albums—what they referred to as “official bootlegs”—featuring performances from virtually every show they played on European tour in support of their Binaural album. Of those 25, five immediately made the top 200 album chart. This was the first time any act ever saw more than two new albums show up on the chart in the same week.

Two other sets just missed the cut. Had they made the charts that week, Pearl Jam would have joined The Beatles, The Monkees, and U2 as the only acts to that point with seven albums on the charts at the same time.

This was decades before Taylor Swift came along.

© 2023 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Six years after a devastating injury on an Ontario farm, Leroy Thomas says he’s finally feeling hopeful about the future.

The former seasonal worker from Jamaica dislocated his spine while working at a Simcoe, Ont., tobacco farm in 2017, an injury that left him unable to continue as an agricultural worker and in deep financial distress after his compensation for being injured on the job ran out after 12 weeks.

Now, after Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal found that he and injured migrant workers in similar situations deserved better treatment, Thomas says he feels optimistic at last.

“I was devastated, I’ve faced hungry times, it’s been the roughest time of my life. But now I feel a bit better,” the 48-year-old said in a phone interview from Jamaica.

“I feel like justice has been served.”

When asked about the tribunal ruling delivered this month, Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board said it will be conducting a review of how claims for people in the federal Seasonal Agricultural Worker program are handled.

Thomas, who began working as a seasonal migrant worker on Ontario farms in 2001, was getting on a wagon while working on a farm in 2017 when he fell. He heard a snap in his back as he landed on concrete and was in excruciating pain. His employer took him to a hospital where he learned he had dislocated his spine.

Thomas said he was repatriated after the injury because it prevented him from continuing to work on the farm. Once back in Jamaica, he said he could not afford to continue medical treatment because the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board stopped long-term income loss benefits after 12 weeks.

Thomas said he was also unable to keep working as a barber in Jamaica, a job he held for years while not farming in Ontario.

He and three other injured migrant workers in similar situations went to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal to argue for better compensation.

The tribunal ruled this month that the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board was wrong to assume seasonal migrant workers were eligible for a maximum of 12 weeks of income-loss compensation through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program if they had been injured.

It noted that the loss-of-earnings provisions of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act assumed that after three months, all workers could return to work either in Ontario or their home country, without taking into account workers’ actual circumstances, such as whether they had recovered from their injury, were capable of working or finding a job.

The tribunal ruled that was not appropriate.

“It is not appropriate to limit their entitlement to long-term (loss of employment) benefits to 12 weeks in every case without regard for their individual circumstances,” it wrote.

“For the reasons set out in this decision, the panel concludes: The long-term (loss of earnings) benefits for migrant agricultural workers ought to be based upon their ability to earn in their actual local/regional labour market.”

The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board said its review of the handling of claims in the Seasonal Agricultural Worker program is expected to take six months.

“This was a decision we made that takes the latest decision into account and our determination to treat people with humanity and respect, taking into account the realities of their local labour markets,” spokesperson Christine Arnott wrote in a statement.

“This review will clarify how the claims are adjudicated and will determine whether previous decisions should also be adjusted. People whose claims are under review will be contacted directly by the WSIB in the coming weeks.”

A lawyer for Thomas and the three other migrant workers in the case called the tribunal’s ruling “significant.”

“It was a fundamental problem of the seasonal worker programs that workers were disposed of when they were injured,” said Maryth Yachnin, a lawyer with a Toronto-based legal clinic.

“This decision agrees that this practice is wrong.”

Yachnin said she expects other injured migrant workers could seek compensation in light of the ruling.

“We hope that other migrant workers will hear about this decision and if they’ve been permanently injured on the job here in Ontario, we hope that they will reach out and seek the support that they should have been getting,” she said.

Thomas said he has been in touch with his case manager and will begin the process of obtaining his lost income in the coming days. With the money he receives, he said he hopes to pay off his debts and start a business.

“I could kind of get my life on track,” he said.

© 2023 The Canadian Press

TORONTO – It’s time to put the champagne on ice at Rogers Centre. The Toronto Blue Jays are on the cusp of locking up a playoff berth.

The Blue Jays can clinch a playoff berth if they beat the visiting Tampa Bay Rays tonight and the Seattle Mariners lose to the Texas Rangers.

Toronto shut out the New York Yankees 6-0 on Thursday to remain in sole possession of the second American League wild-card spot.

Toronto is one game ahead of the Houston Astros, who hold the third wild-card spot. The Blue Jays are two games ahead of the Mariners.

The Rays have secured the first wild-card spot.

After their three-game series in Toronto, they will return to Florida to host a best-of-three wild-card series starting Tuesday.

The Blue Jays were swept in the wild-card series in 2020 and 2022.

Toronto last won a playoff game in 2016 and last won the World Series in 1993.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2023.

© 2023 The Canadian Press

While National Day for Truth and Reconciliation happens on Sept. 30 every year, the weight of truth and reconciliation is something Indigenous people live with every day.

“We are always there, all year long in that place, concerned and worried and working towards the healing of our people,” said Marilyn Jensen, a dancer, speaker and educator.

“As Indigenous people, there’s a lot of pain, there’s a lot of trauma that we’re trying to navigate through.”

Leading up to events like National Day for Truth and Reconciliation often involves a lot of emotional labour for Indigenous people.

Their friends and co-workers ask them what they can do to mark the day, where they can buy an orange shirt or beadwork and what events might be happening in the city, and organizations ask them to speak. Sharing this information can be beneficial, but it’s also taxing.

While many are involved in events on the day — whether that be organizing an intergenerational march or speaking to community — the weeks of buildup and work come to a point and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation often necessitates self-care.

“I try to spend it with my family and take the time to work on myself — sometimes I’m lucky to have the opportunity to engage in ceremony,” Jensen said. “What we can do is we can really focus on ourselves and our children and our family and take the time to really work on our own broken hearts and spirits.”

The weight of Sept. 30 is heavy for Indigenous people because of the lasting impacts of colonialism and the intergenerational trauma the Indian residential school system has caused communities.

This year, Jensen will be spending part of the day dancing. She’s the founder and leader of Dakhká Khwáan Dancers — her troupe was part of the delegation that went to the Vatican — and finds healing through dance.

“It’s one of the ways that healing has really been fostered in my life. Our dance group is a dance family and we’re often dancing on this day,” Jensen said. “But we somehow manage to navigate that. Yes, we’re sharing our culture, we’re sharing ourselves with other people, but at the same time, we’re really enriching ourselves, our wellness, our connection to our ancestors and the strength within us.” 

Summer Tyance is a dancer too; they dance fancy shawl and plan on spending a bit of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation dancing, which they see as a means of prayer.

“There’s a powwow being put on by the Songhees Nation, I think praying is going to be huge for me — remembering my ancestors and those who need healing but also for myself,” they said.

“I went to a sweat last weekend and the lodge keeper was reminding us to pray for ourselves too.”

They also plan on spending time with family virtually, and sleeping.

“So many of us are so burnt out mentally, physically, emotionally,” Tyance said. “We’re always thinking ahead because we have to. We’re living in survival mode a lot of the time and that emotional labour of education is a lot. So I think if I’m sleeping, I can avoid that.”

Danilo Caron has been busy helping plan the Intergenerational March at the University of British Columbia on Sept. 30 for the past several weeks.

“Things are just so chaotic for me right now, so I’m kind of just pushing everything down,” Caron said. “But the first week in October is my community’s fall harvest, so on Sunday, we’ll fly to Ontario and then I’ll spend a week with harvesting, doing some fun stuff with the kids, so that will be restorative.

“I basically just remind myself, as I’m trying to balance too many things that I’ve got this week coming, and it’s going to be awesome.”

Priscilla Omullo, a mother, law student, community organizer, author and filmmaker, has spent the better part of the last month engaging with her community and sees National Day for Truth and Reconciliation as a day of rest.

“This leading up has been very exhausting,” she said. “Emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually draining, so I find that after I’m done doing all of the consulting work that I do, I just want to be with family and friends and just be there for each other.

“It’s important to take care of yourself as an Indigenous person, so I really just want to spend time watching a movie, chat, eat, (and) do the things my family enjoys together.”

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Warning: This story deals with disturbing subject matter that may upset and trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.

Sept. 30, 2023 will mark 10 years of Orange Shirt Day and three years since National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was formally recognized as a statutory holiday in Canada.

It’s the first year British Columbia will join Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island to make it a provincial stat as well — providing an opportunity for Canadians to meaningfully mark the day.

While people are encouraged to wear an orange shirt, how can Canadians go beyond that and engage more actively in truth and reconciliation?

Global News spoke with five Indigenous people to get their thoughts:

Note: The following interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Angela White is the executive director of the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, an organization that provides essential services to residential school survivors and families. 

Q. How can people meaningfully mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?

Angela White: I think the biggest and most important part of people working towards meaningful reconciliation is to educate themselves and not just relying on Indigenous people to be that voice. Pick up the books, watch the movies, be actively resourceful so they can have a more interactive experience when we do get to Sept. 30. It’s about meaningfully and respectfully engaging in culture.

Listening to survivor stories, even if it’s not in person, there’s enough survivor stories out there on video, on podcasts, in books that people can actually start to understand where survivors are coming from — how residential schools have impacted their families, communities, and what that healing journey looks like. It’s believing those stories too.

Donating to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society is a meaningful way for people to participate because we’re out here doing the work. We’re here to ensure that our communities are taken care of mentally, spiritually and emotionally.

It’s really important to understand residential school survivors’ journeys — that they’re difficult, vulnerable, and a lot of them feel alone, so just walk beside them. We don’t need to say anything, we just need to let them know that they are not alone. And our goal here is to help move from being in survivor mode towards thriving.

Summer Tyance is a first-year law student at the University of Victoria. They’re also an artist, poet and podcaster.

Q. How can people meaningfully mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?

Summer Tyance: I think education is huge and really thinking about Call to Action 62 when it comes to education of the residential school system. It’s a 20-page document, 94 Calls to Action; if you sit there and read that document, I think that’s a great step to learn about the impacts and what Indigenous peoples want to see happen.

These pieces help people understand that this is not just history. These systems are still impacting us and colonialism is rippling across generations.

I really hope people take this time to learn and educate themselves. It’s hard for Indigenous people to constantly be educating. I hope people will realize the importance of taking the time themselves to unlearn (and) seek out resources, but also contemporary Indigenous works, like art and novels.

Try and find an event near you and listen to elders’ stories, listen to our songs, celebrate our culture because residential school systems were about getting rid of our culture. So if you go out there and celebrate it, acknowledge that it’s still alive and it’s thriving … that’s huge.

Another way is to think about the term reconciliation, that it’s not just an act, it’s not a one-time thing but a lifelong commitment to unlearning. Try and spend some time thinking about the colonial systems we engage, and stand up, be a voice for Indigenous people, but also remember not to take up too much space.

Marilyn Jensen is an educator who shares Indigenous culture and history with non-Indigenous people. She’s also a dancer, works in community wellness and healing, and is a champion of Indigenous tourism.

Q. How can people meaningfully mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?

Marilyn Jensen: It’s up to companies, organizations and governments to say that yeah, this is a stat holiday but we’re going to participate in whatever kind of activities are going on in the community — especially if they are giving the opportunity to engage with Indigenous people.

People should be going to community events where survivors of residential school are being held or remembered.

If you want to be really proactive, you could donate your day’s salary or do something that actually benefits Indigenous people — like purchasing art, beadwork or an Indigenous experience. That’s engaging in reconciliation.

You know we can’t do everything on this one day. Reconciliation can’t be accomplished today, but there are little ways that we can work towards every day.

And Indigenous tourism is a great way to start. You’ll get to hear stories shared by Indigenous people who are generously giving you the opportunity to form a unique connection.

Priscilla Omulo is a mother, law student, community organizer, author and filmmaker. 

Q. How can people meaningfully mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?

Priscilla Omulo: People should familiarize themselves with Phyllis Webstad, her story and the significance of the orange shirt.

The day is really about being able to take the time to unlearn. People should think about what they can do in their lives to meet the Calls to Action, know what they are and be comfortable with being uncomfortable. You need to start by doing the work yourself, then doing it in the community and at your job and slowly building it into your day-to-day.

An activity that might be helpful for non-Indigenous people is spending time figuring out what their connection to the land is. Going back to recognizing coming here as a settler, how long your family has been here, what brought your family here, what were some of the struggles and triumphs that were experienced in doing so — knowing who you are and where you come from is something that’s very meaningful when addressing colonization.

It’s important for people to think of colonization and the pain it has caused our people. Learning about history will help provide folks with a greater appreciation and a much deeper understanding.

Danilo Caron is a PhD student studying civil engineering and will help run the Intergenerational March at UBC on Sept. 30.

Q. How can people meaningfully mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?

I believe that we all have a circle of influence around us which varies for different people, and there’s power within that.

I see reconciliation at the personal level as conversations over the fence with your neighbour, with your children — how you hear news stories and you explain it to them and let them question why.

People should make an attempt to learn through listening to knowledge keepers or people with lived experience and as they expand their understanding and are exposed to more truths, that will encourage them to challenge the status quo.

I used to work in construction, so what that would look like in that setting would be in the construction trailer. When you hear racism at its source, you’re the person who shuts that down.

Truth and reconciliation are small actions, but they’re also institutional actions and national actions and that sphere of influence is how you can have impact.

Still unsure where to start? Check out this list compiled by Culture Days for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

The Indian Residential School Survivors Society operates the Lamathut Crisis Line a 24-hour crisis line (1-800-721-0066) to support survivors and families. 

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

A close associate of the B.C. Sikh leader who was gunned down outside a Surrey gurdwara this summer says he, too, was warned about threats against his life.

Gurmeet Singh Toor sits on the executive committee of the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara where Hardeep Singh Nijjar served as president before his death.

Through an interpreter Thursday, he told Global News that police and the RCMP Integrated National Security Enforcement Team came to his home late at night on Aug. 24, and warned him about a potential threat.

“He and the family was made aware … that there was a threat to his life, he was given a duty to warn,” the interpreter said.

“When he asked what was the reason and who was behind the threat, the police and INSET were unable to offer that information.”

Like Nijjar, Toor is a strong advocate for Khalilstan, an independent Sikh state in the Indian subcontinent, and was working on a referendum promoting the idea.

He told Global News he is one of three people in the Sikh community to receive the warnings from the RCMP.

The notice delivered to Toor reads, “the police have determined by way of one or more investigative avenues that your life may be in peril.”

He signed it and was allowed to photograph the document for his own records.

“The police has stationed their vehicle for one or two weeks in front of Mr. Toor’s house, and there were some suspicious activities afterward as well, and when the police were called they did patrol that area,” the interpreter said.

“(The suspicious activity was ) related to photography of Mr. Toor’s premises.”

The RCMP did not respond to requests to verify the authenticity of the notice in Toor’s photograph. However, Global News has verified that the document is consistent with forms used by the BC RCMP.

“He feels that they will be able to protect him and he hopes for that as well, but he is more confident now,” Toor said through the interpreter.

Police continue to investigate Nijjar’s killing, which became a diplomatic flashpoint with India after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Parliament there were “credible allegations” of a “potential link” between “agents of the government of India” and his death.

India, which alleges Nijjar was a member of a terrorist organization, has denied the killing.

Nijjar’s supporters staged demonstrations outside Indian consulates across the country on Monday, and Canada and India have each expelled diplomats over the allegations.

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Although better wages and safety are points of contention in contract negotiations between the city and transit workers, a demand to operate Hamilton’s forthcoming $3.4-billion Light Rail Transit (LRT) system is just as big a snag.

The president of the union representing Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) staffers admits it’s a big unanswered question and a “sticking point” the city ultimately may not have control over since most elements of the LRT fall under the purview of Metrolinx.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 107 boss Eric Tuck believes his members have “historical rights” to operate and maintain the service since it’s really a conversion of a B-LINE route they agreed to operate over a decade ago during the conception of a rapid transit system.

“We are the transit union that’s provided safe, efficient, reliable transit for 150 years. We’ve developed the gold star brand and should get first bid at that work,” Tuck insists.

On Monday, a presentation to a city subcommittee presented the second of three reports for councillors outlining four potential operation models for the LRT which included complete city control or full privatization of day-to-day operations.

Two other plans split the operation of the line between city staff and a third party.

A fifth model sought to not only take on operation but also maintenance of the line, however the city’s director of the LRT project office, Abdul Shaikh, said Metrolinx insisted on optioning that out to a third party.

“They mentioned that this should not be considered for evaluation because all of the maintenance activities will be performed by a third party,” Shaikh said.

A group advocating for the municipal operation of Hamilton’s future LRT suggests a public inquiry into Ottawa’s version can teach city politicians the importance of transparency through the process.

Members of the Keep Transit Public Campaign appearing before the committee urged councillors to employ HSR Transit, insisting that privatization was behind a report that said “deliberate malfeasance” was rampant in the capital’s $2.1 billion system.

That inquiry pointed the finger at city officials and contracted companies saying they were at fault for delivering an error-ridden, unreliable system after a 16-month delay.

Keep Transit Public’s Katie King suggested that the city not only operate the line but insisted they negotiate with the Ford government to put maintenance in the hands of the HSR.

“Solutions to problems that will inevitably come up will be easier and quicker to solve because oversight will be centralized and local so the public will know who to hold accountable, the HSR, ATU and the city,” King explained.

Tuck argues Ottawa’s P3 operating model — a contractual arrangement between public and private entities — brought subcontractors into the mix and left little accountability and responsibility when things went wrong in Ottawa.

“Why would we go to a private corporation that is going to put profits over people,” Tuck insisted.

“Why give them more money when they have nowhere near the history and the record that HSR has of providing proper service and accountability day in and day out.”

City staff are hoping to have a decision on a preferred model for the line’s operation by the end of 2023.

The final staff recommendation is expected to go before a city subcommittee in December.

In the meantime, the city has requested a formal no-board notice from the Minister of Labour in the hopes of “expediting an agreement” in the current contract talks with the ATU.

Tuck says the union has not planned any specific action at this point, but says either side can do something after Oct. 25.

“We have four more days of negotiations, at which point we will report back to our members and we’ll see where we go from there.”

© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

The British Columbia government has issued an environmental assessment certificate for the contentious container port expansion project at Roberts Bank, saying the province “could not prohibit the project from going forward.”

In a written statement, the government says the three-berth marine container terminal in Delta, B.C., south of Vancouver, rests almost entirely on federal land.

With the project gaining approval from the federal government in April, the province says it has decided to issue the certificate with requirements to safeguard provincial interests.

The government has set out 16 conditions to offset adverse effects the expansion will have on the area, including a wetland management plan, a wildlife management plan and a greenhouse-gas reduction plan for emissions.

The province says it is aware that two parties are asking for a judicial review of the federal decision to approve the expansion, but B.C.’s ministers decided to issue the certificate to make sure the project doesn’t go forward without addressing their concerns.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, which proposed the project, says the expansion is needed to prevent a capacity bottleneck at the Canada Pacific Gateway, the country’s most important trade corridor with more than $275 billion in trade passing through each year.

Five environmental groups launched a combined legal challenge in May against the expansion plan, saying the project would disrupt “critical habitat” for the roughly 70 endangered southern resident killer whales that are in the waters near the port.

© 2023 The Canadian Press