True North

The number of Canadians working in the energy sector has dropped by nearly a quarter in the last five years, according to a report by Petroleum Labour Market Information (PetroLMI).

Petroleum Labour Market Information (PetroLMI), a division of Energy Safety Canada, came out with a report this week highlighting the aggressive decline in energy sector jobs. The report says employment of Canadians in the flailing sector has dropped by 23 per cent, or 53,200 jobs, since 2014.

It attributes low oil prices and a lack of pipeline capacity as prevailing reasons for this downward trend.

“Until such time as additional export capacity becomes available, the employment outlook for Canada’s oil and gas sector will continue to be impacted,” said Carol Howes, PetroLMI’s vice-president.

Howes added that the overall uncertainty in the market makes creating accurate forecasts for the industry very difficult.

“Many exploration and production and oil sands companies reported only limited capital and production guidance for 2019 because of the uncertain market conditions. Given PetroLMI’s reliance on capital and operating expenditures to project workforce requirements for our proprietary modelling system, we have for the first time limited our forecast to one year,” she said.

Between 2014 and 2019, PetroLMI estimates the energy sector workforce in Canada shrank from 226,500 jobs to 173,300 jobs.

Another report from PetroLMI on the energy labour market found that about 40 per cent of employees believe uncertainty in the industry will negatively affect their jobs.

As multiple pipeline projects have been cancelled or postponed, the Canadian oil and gas sector has been left barely surviving after crude oil price crash in 2014.

Canada requires increased pipeline capacity to sell to foreign markets, but so far that has failed to happen.

Since 2016, only one new pipeline project has been submitted for government approval, while in the United State 14 have been submitted, leading to what may be a permanent competitiveness crisis in Canadian oil and gas.

Until Canada can get new pipelines built or see a massive increase in prices, fear and uncertainty will be at the centre of the energy sector.

It’s too late to consider a handgun ban before the 2019 federal election this fall, but the Trudeau government will explore it if re-elected.

Bill Blair, Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Minister, refused to tell the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence if a government-initiated report on the effects of a handgun ban would be finished by the time of the election.

“Canadians expect us to take the time to do it right and I’ve been doing my very best to take that time,” Blair said.

He also inferred that further discussion on a handgun ban may have to wait until after the election this fall.

The committee was discussing the proposed Bill C-71, which amends several of the firearms rules in Canada. Some on the committee wanted to see the report before C-71 becomes law.

One senator, Liberal-appointee Marilou McPhedran, questioned Blair on waiting until after the election to deal with the report on the assumption that the Liberals will win.

“It’s not an assumption, it’s an intent,” he answered.

Bill C-71 proposes a number of changes new restrictions to the purchase of firearms and makes changes to the enforcement of current firearms laws and regulations — but comes short of any form of firearm ban.

Blair had promised a report on the effects of a handgun ban, and public consultations, by the end of 2018. Four months into 2019 the report has yet to be completed.

The Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, still discussing C-71, struck down a proposal Monday to put a handgun ban into to the bill.

McPhedran attempted to amend Bill C-71 to include a handgun ban, but that amendment failed 2-6 with three abstentions.

A spokesperson for Bill Blair said that his office plans on releasing the Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction report in “early 2019.”

The family of an American soldier Omar Khadr allegedly killed in Afghanistan has filed with a Canadian court to force Khadr to answer questions about the incident.

Khadr, who is currently living as a free man in Alberta, admitted to killing Sgt. Chris Speer in 2002 in Afghanistan, but has since changed his mind about what happened.

In a civil court in Utah, a judge has ordered Khadr to answer to the suit, but so far Khadr has refused to discuss the incident with them.

Now the plaintiffs — Speer’s family and others injured by Khadr, have filed a motion in Canada asking that he be forced to address the suit.

“What is important are Mr Khadr’s actions that day and leading up to that day,” said Jamie Schacter, the lawyer for the plaintiffs.

“The plaintiffs and the Utah court hold Mr Khadr responsible.”

Khadr, who holds Canadian citizenship, was sentenced by an American court to eight years for war crimes he committed in Afghanistan.

In 2012 Khadr was transferred to a Canadian prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.

However, he never spent a day behind bars in Canada — in 2015 he was released on bail while he appealed his war crimes charge in the United States.

In 2013, Khadr sued the Canadian government in a $20 million civil case, claiming Canada failed to protect his rights while he was in prison in the United States. Trudeau’s government decided not to fight Khadr’s claims and gave him a $10.5 million settlement.

Earlier this year a Trudeau-appointed judge cancelled the remaining three years of his sentence, saying that had never got bail his sentence would have expired by now anyway.

Khadr is now a free man, using $3 million from his taxpayer funded settlement to purchase an Alberta strip mall.

Now the Trudeau government is hunting for whoever leaked the settlement to the public before it was official.

After confessing in 2010, Khadr has since claimed that his confession was made under duress and in now denying everything — even refusing to speak about his past confession to the Utah court.

The plaintiffs still hope a Canadian judge will accept their motion and force Khadr to speak. The court date for the victims’ motion has not yet been set.

A minor from Kingston accused by police of planning a terrorist attack has been released on bail following a hearing earlier this month.

The alleged young offender was charged in January with planning to “deliver, place, discharge or detonate an explosive or other lethal devices against a place of public use with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury,” and remained in police custody until last week.

Under the bail conditions the accused, who cannot be identified because of his age, must surrender his passport, wear an ankle monitor, and be in the presence of an adult family member at all times.

Him and another person were arrested late January after a series of raids by the RCMP in Kingston.

Police began their investigation after receiving a tip from their American counterparts at the FBI.

The other person, identified as 20-year old Hussam Eddin Alzahabi, was arrested but later released without charges.

In their raids the RCMP found trace amounts of explosives — enough for the RCMP to perform a controlled demolition for disposal.

While the RCMP has not disclosed the motives of the accused, or if he was connected to any established terrorist organization, officers did say no target had been set for the planned attack.

A publication ban prevents reporting on much of the court proceedings.