British Columbia
British Columbia to halt new power connections for crypto miners
A state-owned electric utility provider in the Canadian province of British Columbia is set to halt all new electricity-connection requests from cryptocurrency miners for a period of 18 months. The British Columbia government made the announcement in a statement on Dec. 21 stating that the pause will allow the government and BC Hydro to develop a permanent framework that can better balance the needs of crypto miners and both its residents and businesses in the region. Josie Osborne, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation said that the move was made to preserve the clean energy it provides for its residents and businesses that create jobs and are more environmentally friendly. “Cryptocurrency mining consumes massive amounts of electricity to run and cool banks of high-pow...
Pope says Canada school discovery painful, but stops short of apology
Pope Francis said on Sunday that he was pained by the discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former Catholic school for indigenous students in Canada and called for respect for the rights and cultures of native peoples. However, Francis stopped short of the direct apology some Canadians had demanded. Two days ago, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Catholic Church must take responsibility for its role in running many of the schools. Indigenous leaders and school survivors said the Church needed to do much more. “We’re all pained and saddened. Who isn’t?” said Bobby Cameron, chief of the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations in Saskatchewan. Speaking to pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly blessing, Francis urged Canadian political and Catholic...
Mass grave reopens wounds among indigenous survivors of colonial Canadian school system
The discovery of the remains of 215 children at a former residential school in Canada has reopened wounds for survivors of the system, they said, as the government pledged to spend previously promised money to search for more unmarked graves. The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc indigenous nation in British Columbia announced last week it had found the remains of 215 children, some as young as three, buried at the site of the Kamloops Indian Residential School, once Canada’s largest such school. Between 1831 and 1996, Canada’s residential school system forcibly separated about 150,000 children from their homes and subjected them to abuse, rape and malnutrition at schools across the country in what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 called “cultural genocide”. Run by the government and c...
Canadian court disappoints Huawei over CFO’s case
A Canadian court ruled against Huawei’s chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, on Wednesday in her extradition case to the US on fraud charges. However, the company said it has faith her innocence will ultimately be maintained. Meng, the CFO of the telecom giant and eldest daughter of its founder is wanted by the U.S for alleged fraud. The US authorities alleged that she lied to HSBC Bank about Huawei’s relationship with its Iran-based affiliate Skycom, putting the bank at risk of violating US sanctions against Tehran. In a statement posted on Twitter, Huawei Canada said; “Huawei is disappointed in the ruling today by the Supreme Court of British Columbia, we have repeatedly expressed confidence in Ms Meng’s innocence”. “Huawei continues to stand with Ms Meng in her pursuit for justice and...
