Daily Archives: June 22, 2022

Former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray says he'll announce his decision Wednesday on whether or not he wants another chance at the job.

There has been speculation about whether Murray will enter the 2022 race to replace Mayor Brian Bowman, and hisname has come up in recent mayoral polls.

In an interview Tuesday, the city's former leader saidWinnipeg has regressed over the past four years to the point where it now faces some of the same financial challenges it did when he first became mayorin 1998.

"I think the city has more potential than it ever has," Murray said. "I'm very optimistic about the future of the city, but I don't think the cityhas ever faced such great challenges."

Murray was Winnipeg's mayor from 1998 to 2004, when heresigned to run for the federal Liberal party.

He lost that race, but was elected a Liberal member of provincial Parliament in Ontario in 2011. During that time, he held different cabinet positions until 2017, when he resigned and briefly left politics.

In 2020, Murray ran to replace Elizabeth May as the leader of the federal Green Party, but lost.

In 2018, heendorsed Bowman's re-election campaign.The current mayor is not running again this fall.

At that time, Murraysaid he didn't want to run for any level of office in Manitoba.

Now, that may have changed.

Murray said he's talked with75 to 100 people over the past few months to gauge whether he has support from business, labour, social, environmental, cultural and Indigenous communities.

"I don't think the next mayor can do this on his own," he said.

"Whoever does best is going to have to be prepared to build a broad coalition of community leaders,to really renegotiate arrangements with the province, and to really start to deliver solutions,because the city is going to have the challenge that it can't fix itself."

Murray said during those conversations, many people brought up the city's financial situation. He said when he was first elected, the city had a low credit rating and high debt. He said he cut debt in half and brought in the gas tax to support infrastructure costs.

Murray said he also addressed Indigenous land claim issues, downtown concerns and worries about suburban infrastructure.

"Those people came to me and said, 'We're right back with those situations. And we want someone who has the experience,'" he said.

"So I sat down with them and listened to them, because it is so much worse than it wasfour years ago."

Murray said he is only considering entering the race now because he was attending to his elderly mother's housing situation.

If he does registerhis mayoral campaign,he will be the 11th person to do so.

The 10 candidateswho have already registered are Idris Adelakun, Chris Clacio, Rana Bokhari, Scott Gillingham, Shaun Loney, Jenny Motkaluk, Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Rick Shone,Desmond Thomas and Don Woodstock.

Winnipeg's municipal election is Oct. 26.

Follow this link:

Former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray to announce decision on making another run - CBC.ca

SYRIA has vowed to retake control of the parts of the country under the control of Turkish-backed and US occupying forces.

Syria will go ahead in liberating every occupied territory, fully eliminating the terrorist groups and rejecting projects of partition, Foreign Minister Fayssal Mikdad said on Monday.

The remarks appeared to be partly aimed at the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the countrys north-east which havestrengthened relations with Washington, which has builtmilitary bases and plunderedthe regions resources, including oil and wheat.

Its leader Mazlum Abdi finds himself at odds with both Damascus and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose military leader Cemil Bayik advocates reconciliation with President Bashar al-Assads government.

Last year Mr Assad said that his plans for decentralisation should be implemented and claimed that this approach would allow for the elimination of inequality between rich and poor regions, and rural and central areas.

The offer should be explored, Mr Bayik has previously stated, however the dominant Kurdish forces say that it does not do enough to address their civil and political rights.

Mr Abdi, who reportedly lives in a US military base, instead continues to press Washington for political recognition of the Autonomous Area of North East Syria (AANES) and the de facto partition of Syria.

Mr Mikdad was speaking in the Syrian Peoples Assembly when he said that Syria had many unusual challenges to deal with, including the crippling economic blockade imposed by the US and European Union.

We know the precious prices paid by our people and state, from the souls of citizens to the destruction of infrastructure, private and public properties, in addition to the looting of oil, gas and wheat, he said.

Last month US government official Victoria Nuland agreed to a partial waiver of the sanctions to areas outside of the Syrian governments control to allow US companies to conduct business there.

She said that the general licence, which excludes oil, would allow investment in agriculture, health, education and other areas to bring much-needed investment to help reconstruction.

The news has been welcomed by a number of Western liberal academics and supporters of the AANES which had lobbied for the exemptions.

But critics said it was a clear attempt by the US to annex northern Syria and divide the country.

Read more from the original source:

Syria vows to retake land and drive out Turkish and US occupying forces - Morning Star Online

As Americans, we take comfort in the idea that we have the right to plan our own lives. We are unique in our confidence that it is within our power to move to a better life, as so many of our ancestors did. Where other countries talk about managing stagnation and even decline, we stand undaunted in our assurance that the limits of our wealth and the frontier of innovation lay well into the future. Liberated from Old World hierarchies, we Americans fancy our home a place where any person, regardless of their color, creed, or class background, can improve their lot. And if there are broader forces that threaten our way of life, so much the worse for them; progress, and the change it brings, is intrinsic to who we are.

The idea that a stodgy rule book could set the terms of our lives from on high is fundamentally at odds with our national ethos. And yet, such is the state of America under zoning. From unremarkable origins, the arbitrary lines on zoning maps across the country have come to dictate where Americans may live and work, forcing cities into a pattern of growth that is segregated and sprawling. Once the exclusive domain of local planners, concurrent crises surrounding housing costs, underwhelming economic growth, racial and economic inequality, and climate change have thrust zoning into the public consciousness.

Now more than ever, there is an appetite for reform. Yet we can do better: It's time for America to move beyond zoning.

At surface level, zoning is an impossibly boring topic, even by the terms of public policy debate. The mere thought of a weeknight zoning hearing or a 700-page zoning ordinance is enough to make even the most enthusiastic policy wonk's eyes glaze over. Until recently, zoning might have been blithely dismissed as a mere technical matter, simply a way of rationalizing our cities, a planning policy so obvious as to be beyond reproach.

But zoning is at once so much less and so much more. While occasionally used as a stand-in for city planning or building regulations more broadly, its scope is far more limited: At a basic level, all zoning does is segregate land uses and regulate densities. Your local zoning ordinance sets out various districts, each with detailed land use and density rules, while an associated local zoning map establishes where these rules apply. The bread and butter of what most people think of as city planningsuch as street planning or building regulationshas almost nothing to do with zoning.

Yet from these seemingly innocuous zoning rules have emerged a set of endlessly detailed parameters controlling virtually every facet of American life. Arbitrary lines on zoning maps determine where you can live by way of allowing housing to be built here but not there. Through a dizzying array of confusing and pseudoscientific rules, from "floor area ratio" restrictions to setback mandates, zoning serves to heavily restrict the amount of housing that may be built in any given neighborhood and the form it may take. In most major cities, zoning restricts roughly three-quarters of the city to low-slung, single-family housing, banning apartments altogether.

The combined effect is that, in already built-out cities, zoning makes it prohibitively difficult to build more housing. As a result of the further tightening of zoning restrictions beginning in the 1970s, median housing prices have dramatically outpaced median incomes in many parts of the country over the past half-century, such that millions of Americans now struggle to make rent or pay their mortgage each month. That is if they have the luxury of having a stable home at all: In places where demand for new housing is especially highas in cities like New York and Los Angeleszoning restrictions have facilitated acute housing shortages, with attendant surges in displacement and homelessness. The COVID-19 pandemic has only expedited these trends, with home prices in 2020 rising at the fastest rate since 1979.

The arbitrary restrictions that zoning places on cities also show up in our capacity to grow and innovate as a nation. By severely limiting new housing production in a handful of our most productive citiesincluding San Jose and Bostonwe have made moving to our most prosperous regions a dubious proposition. Your income might double if you were to move from Orlando to San Francisco, but your housing costs would quadruple. Should we be surprised that many people are turning down that deal? For the first time in history, Americans are systematically moving from high-productivity cities to low-productivity cities, in no small part because these are the only places where zoning allows housing to be built. According to the 2020 census, the population of Californiaone of our most productive and innovative statesis now basically stagnant, such that the Golden State will be losing a congressional seat for the first time in its 170-year history.

The downstream economic implications of this unprecedented reversal of historic trends are hard to overstate. After all, big cities make us more productive, in that they allow us to find a job perfectly suited to our talents and exchange ideas with colleagues working on the same issues. They provide a platform for individuals to experiment and innovate, nursing the young firms that go on to remake the American economy every few decades. To the extent that zoning has made it exponentially more difficult for Americans to move to these hubs of activityfor a software engineer to relocate to San Jose or for a medical researcher to relocate to Bostonwe are all poorer as a result.

Even beyond so-called "superstar cities," zoning shapes American life in many subtle but nefarious ways. As the Black Lives Matter movement has thrown into stark relief, America still has a long way to go in providing equal opportunity for all. And yet, few American cities recognize the fact that their zoning codes were drafted with the express intention of instituting strict racial and economic segregation. To this day, "the wrong side of the tracks" is not merely a saying but a place that is written into law as a zoning district drawn on a zoning map. To the extent that zoning can prohibit apartments in this neighborhood, or require homes to sit on a half-acre lot in that suburb, zoning is perhaps the most successful segregation mechanism ever devised.

This state of affairs is as true in the conservative suburbs of southern cities like Nashville and Atlanta as it is in progressive midwestern college towns like Ann Arbor and Madison. Tucked away behind a veil of "protecting community character," zoning has been used to determine who gets to live where since its inception. In practice, this has been used toward the end of rigid economic segregation, which in the American context often means racial segregation. In virtually every suburb in America, zoning maintains a kind of technocratic apartheid, preserving those areas most suitable for housing for the wealthy while locking less privileged Americans into neglected areas far from good jobs and quality public services.

Similarly, zoning makes more environmentally friendly forms of urban growth effectively illegal. By banning developers from building up, zoning forces them to build out. In the 2020s as in the 1950s, the lion's share of American housing growth continues to occur out on the edge of town, gobbling up farmland and natural areas that might otherwise have remained unbuilt. Despite burgeoning demand among a cross-section of Americans for apartments and town houses closer to job centers, zoning locks cities into an urban design patternsingle-family homes sitting on vast lawnsthat increasingly doesn't make environmental sense. Smaller homes with a shared wall can dramatically reduce residential energy consumption, and thus emissions, yet this is precisely the type of housing that zoning makes most difficult to build.

At the same time, zoning assumes universal car ownership and all the emissions and traffic violence this entails. It does so by strictly segregating usesno more corner groceries in neighborhoodsand forcing developers to build giant parking garages even in contexts where most residents or employees might prefer to bicycle or take the train. If you have ever wondered why more Americans don't walk or ride buses to work, as in most other developed countries, the simple answer is that it's illegal. In most American cities, zoning prohibits the densities needed to support regular bus service, let alone light rail. The type of walkable, mixed-use, reasonably dense development patterns that might help to ameliorate climate changepatterns that prevailed before the 20th centuryare outright prohibited under most American zoning codes.

The good news is that it doesn't have to be this way. Reform is in the air, with cities and states across the country critically reevaluating zoning. In cities as diverse as Minneapolis; Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Hartford, Connecticut, the key pillars of zoning are under fire, with apartment bans being scrapped, minimum lot sizes dropping, and off-street parking requirements disappearing altogether. Misbehaving suburbs find themselves under increasingly strict state scrutiny, with tighter rules requiring that each municipality allow its fair share of housing. More broadly, American urbanists are looking abroad for alternative ways to regulate land, including Japan's liberal approach to zoning.

But we can do better than small reforms. After all, zoning isn't merely a good policy misapplied toward selfish ends. Zoning is a fundamentally flawed policy that deserves to be abolished. Set aside for a moment the debilitating local housing shortages, the stunted growth and innovation, the persistent racial and economic segregation, and the ever-expanding sprawl: The very concept of zoningthe idea that state planners can rationally separate land uses and efficiently allocate densityhas repeatedly failed to materialize. Far from the fantastical device imagined by early 20th-century planners, zoning today has little to do with managing traditional externalities and works largely untethered from any guiding comprehensive plan.

It's high time we accept the need for zoning abolition and start thinking about what comes next. Happily, zoning is hardly the final word on managing urban growth. Cities found ways to separate noxious uses and manage growth for thousands of years before the arrival of zoning, and they can do the same after zoning. Indeed, some American citiesincluding Houston, America's fourth-largest cityalready make land use planning work without zoning. To the extent that zoning has failed to address even our most basic concerns about urban growth over the past century, it's incumbent on our generation to rekindle this lost wisdom and undertake the project of building out a new way of planning the American city.

The very first zoning code turned 100 years old in 2016a zoning code predicated on keeping poor Jewish factory workers away from the posh Fifth Avenue shopping district. The Supreme Court decision that deemed zoning constitutional will turn 100 in 2026a decision that infamously referred to apartments as "parasites" and tacitly endorsed class segregation. These dual centennials may be interpreted in either of two ways. On the one hand, they might speak to the inevitability of zoning. Perhaps zoning has been chiseled too deeply into the American city to be removed, leaving wounds too deep to be healed. Maybe the best we can do would be to make zoning ever so slightly less bad. If that's the case, so be it.

On the other hand, the fact that zoning is only now turning 100 might speak to the fact that we shouldn't take it for granted. A 100th anniversary is as good a time as any for a reevaluation: When zoning first started to come online in the 1920s, nationwide alcohol prohibition was the law of the land, the doctrine of "separate but equal" defined race relations, and eugenics captured the imagination of governing elites. Needless to say, the times have changed. This is certainly true of cities: Around the time of zoning's widespread adoption, nearly every major American city had doubled in size over the preceding 30 years, urban industry was still viable, and mass suburbanization and car ownership were only beginning to ramp up. The conditions that defined American cities have changed dramatically over the past century. Why shouldn't the way we plan them also change?

The premise behind zoning was simple: By defining and segregating different land uses and controlling densities, city planners would be able to separate incompatible neighbors and plan for orderly growth. Of course, it hasn't worked out that way; zoning has failed to efficiently deal with the messy spillover effects that nip at urban life, at once ignoring those activities that actually drive conflictbe it noise, or traffic, or lightingwhile segregating uses with no such compatibility issuessuch as the common zoning prohibition on small apartment buildings in single-family neighborhoods. At the same time, zoning has undermined the goals of efficient growth management, driving growth out onto the periphery, where new infrastructure must be built and new services must be provided, and out of existing urban areas, which could have accommodated additional growth at little additional cost.

The good news, at this ominous centennial, is that it doesn't have to be this way. In the near term, reforming zoning makes sense. Reining in the worst excesses of zoning, such as single-family zoning, minimum lot sizes, and off-street parking requirements, would certainly help to stop the bleeding. But we can do better. In no uncertain terms, zoning should be abolished. Zoning is not only ineffective in achieving its stated goalsit's also unnecessary. In our focus on drawing district boundaries or listing out permitted uses, we have lost touch with the innumerable ways that cities organize themselves, from the natural use separation helped along by land markets to the bottom-up agreements formed by neighbors. Where these institutions fail, a robust set of impact regulations for new development and a civil service committed to managingrather than stallinggrowth would do a far better job than zoning at keeping neighbors happy and quality of life up. Now is the time to rediscover these lost traditions and start planning for what comes after zoning.

This isn't to say that an urban utopia lies on the other side of zoning. Housing will always be slightly more expensive in superstar cities. There will always be considerations besides the cost of living that keep folks from moving to thriving cities. Healing the scars of racism and classism will take decades, if not centuries. And national actionbetter yet, international actionis needed to address issues like climate change. Indeed, zoning isn't even the only policy that stands in the way of better cities. In some states, misguided environmental review mandates are at least as likely as zoning to stymie new housing. State-based occupational licensing regimes often keep people locked in place. Historic preservation tools are increasingly misappropriated toward exclusionary ends. And subdivision regulations play no small role in driving sprawl, mandating wide roads and wasted open space.

Yet the fact remains that abolishing zoning is a necessaryif not sufficientchange if we want to build a more affordable, prosperous, equitable, and sustainable American city. While earlier generations may have been excused for ignoring the arbitrary lines that have impoverished American life, we don't have that luxury. We now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our century-long experiment with zoning has been a failure. But rather than a condemnation, this realization should serve as an invitation: an invitation to rethink the rules that will shape American lifewhere we may live, where we may work, who we may encounter, how we may travelacross the century to come. If the task before us seems daunting, the good news is that we have nowhere to go but up.

This essay is adapted from Nolan Gray's new book, Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It, by permission of Island Press.

Here is the original post:

Abolish Zoning to Cut Housing Costs and Boost Supply - Reason

LSA is investing nearly $4.5 million in grant funding for four innovative new faculty research projects. The four winning proposals address climate change, the carceral state, systemic racism, and the impact of microplastics on the environment.

The grants are part of the Meet the Moment Research Initiative, a new program focused on faculty research and scholarship across the liberal arts that address todays most pressing societal issues with the intention of creating real, lasting change.

These projects showcase the breadth and depth of LSAs research capabilities and represent a monumental investment in an internal research competition by a liberal arts college.

We are thrilled to announce the first round of winners of our new Meet the Moment Research Initiative, said LSA Dean Anne Curzan. The liberal arts and sciences inform so much of how and why we navigate our own lives socially, economically and politically in the past and present, and help explain the mysteries of the natural world.

There are so many challenges our society is facing right now that have long-term effects for generations to come. With this research initiative, we can address these issues in a way that will encourage and empower people to make positive, purposeful change.

The project teams are led by LSA faculty and will include undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, staff and other colleagues across the humanities and social and natural sciences, as well as community members.

After the initial announcement of the programs launch, faculty members spent months preparing and developing proposals for grant funding.

Proposals fall into two grant categories:

All four projects will begin between July 1 and Sept. 1, 2022. The inaugural Meet the Moment research projects are:

As conversations around anti-racism continue across the country, this project investigates and exposes the historical and current state of the U.S. carceral system, including mass incarceration, police brutality, wrongful convictions, racial criminalization and immigrant detention.

The team will partner with community organizations and affected individuals to center the voices and lived experiences of incarcerated people and criminalized communities, to bring transparency and democratic accountability to law enforcement, and to change the narrative around the carceral state in an effort to dismantle systemic racism and promote social justice.

Project team: Heather Ann Thompson, Christian Davenport, Matthew Lassiter, Kentaro Toyama, Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof, Melissa Borja, Ruby Tapia, and William Lopez

Total award: $1,999,834

The harmful effects of microplastics in water and on land have been the topic of many scholars research in recent years, but little is known about its impact in the air.

This team will research how microplastics pollution in the atmosphere has impacted residents in Michigan, and how racial, economic, and geographic disparities have played a role in exposure levels. The research will help inform how to better address this issue and promote environmental justice.

Project team: Anne McNeil, Andrew Ault, Ambuj Tewari, Paul Zimmerman, Allison Steiner and Mary Starr

Total award: $2 million

This project explores wild rice restoration in the Matthaei Botanical Gardens Willow Pond at the University of Michigan.

The team will evaluate water, sediment and biodiversity by examining the Mnomen plant. The project will be an inclusive partnership with Michigans tribal communities, as the Mnomen is an at-risk native plant and traditional food for the Anishinaabek community.

Project Team: Selena Smith, Kerstin Barndt, Nathan Sheldon, Tony Kolenic, David Michener, Michael Kost and Roger LaBine

Total award: $249,572

Climate change is one of the most challenging issues the world faces today. This project examines how to improve communication about the effect of climate change on municipal water supplies.

To do this, the team will study Californias Mono Lake, one of Los Angeles main water supplies. They will combine hydrology and geochemistry research with community engagement to help make projections of Mono Lakes future water levels and translate those results into everyday language for the public.

Project team: Naomi Levin, Benjamin Passey, Andrew Gronewold, and Arya Harp

Total award: $249,855

More here:

Four projects receive nearly $4.5M in LSA research initiative | The University Record - The University Record

Published:10:32 AM June 22, 2022

Updated: 10:34 AM June 22, 2022

Candidates for a twin set of by-elections in a Thetford neighbourhood have been revealed.

The votes are being held to replace Conservative councillor Mark Robinson, who represented Thetford Boudica ward on both the town council and Breckland Council until his resignation due to personal reasons last month.

Only the Conservatives and Labour have decided to stand candidates to fill the two vacant seats left by Mr Robinson. No independents, Liberal Democrats, Greens or other parties will appear on the ballot papers.

The Conservatives are standing the same candidate in both elections - Mac MacDonald.

Conservative candidate Mac MacDonald is standing for Thetford Town Council and Breckland Council in the by-elections on July 14. - Credit: Supplied by the candidate's agent

The RAF veteran of 39 years served around the globe before settling in the town with his wife Sue eight years ago.

He has been a member of the Safer Thetford Action Group and started a monthly litter pick on the Admiral Estate six years ago.

Conservative candidate Mac MacDonald is standing for both Thetford Town Council and Breckland Council in the by-elections on July 14. - Credit: Supplied by the candidate's agent

The local Conservative association said: Mac is a great believer in listening to residents, he will ensure that he does his very best for the community within the bounds of his role and he will keep local residents informed as to how things are progressing.

He will carry out his duty with honesty, integrity, and determination but with a sense of realism in what can be achieved.

Labour is meanwhile standing HGV driver Stuart Terry for the town council seat.

Stuart Terry, Labour's candidate to represent Boudica ward on Thetford Town Council. - Credit: Supplied by the candidate's agent

Mr Terry has served as a district councillor for the area since 2019. He lives on Fairfields with his wife and young son, and volunteers as a coach for Thetford Ladies Football Club.

And for the district council, Labour is standing 62-year-old former journalist Terry Land.

Terry Land, Labour's candidate to represent Thetford Boudica ward on Breckland Council. - Credit: Supplied by the candidate's agent

Now retired, Mr Land is a volunteer at the community shop at the Charles Burrell Centre and is a regular attendee at community litter picks across Thetford.

The local Labour party said both candidates hoped to improve public transport, ease car parking at Drake School, promote the areas heritage and environment and support children, young people and families through voluntary, community and sports groups.

The election is on Thursday, July 14. The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday, June 28. Visit: https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote

See more here:

Candidates revealed for Thetford Boudica by-elections - Eastern Daily Press

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Thanks for reading Ottawa Playbook. Today, ZI-ANN LUM reports on the Freeland-Yellen get-together in Toronto. We have news on NORAD and the latest on the hybrid House. Plus, NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY drops names after CHRIS HALLs farewell at The Met. And MAURA FORREST has the latest on the politics of plastic.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia (fourth from the top) and her staff on Monday in Toronto. | Zi-Ann Lum

THE F WORD Deputy Prime Minister CHRYSTIA FREELAND rolled up to her bilat with U.S. Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN on her bike before swapping a black tee and pants for a three-piece blue blazer set.

Freeland and Yellen met inside a converted exhibit space in Torontos Royal Ontario Museum on Monday. They were flanked by displays of glittering metal artifacts, swapping notes on major economic influences facing both the U.S. and Canada: Global inflation, critical minerals, energy security, Russia and friend-shoring.

Yellens definition: Friend-shoring is the idea that countries that espouse a common set of values about international trade, conduct in the global economy should trade and get the benefits of trade so we have multiple sources of supply and are not reliant excessively on sourcing critical goods from countries where we have geopolitical concerns.

Translation: Russian President VLADIMIR PUTINs war in Ukraine made western economies realize they dont like relying on Russia and China.

The challenge: Redrawing trade relations in the name of friend-shoring is long-term work that will be costly. Inflation and rising food and energy prices are also driving the cost of living around the world. Incumbent governments are under pressure to find solutions now, which is setting the tone of political debate in the U.S. and Canada.

Both Freeland and Yellen brought their A-teams, kinda. A government official tells Playbook they chose the ROM as the venue for bilat talks partly because they wanted to show off the city plus, its in Freelands riding.

But even the best-laid plans have twists (#pandemic). Some A-team bilat talk members got knocked out by Covid, prompting some last-minute subs.

The final seating chart on Freelands side of the table: The DPMs chief of staff LESLIE CHURCH, Canadas ambassador to the U.S. KIRSTEN HILLMAN, Deputy Finance Minister MICHAEL SABIA and her DComm ALEX LAWRENCE.

Representing Team U.S.A. with Yellen: Deputy assistant secretary for banking CRAIG RADCLIFFE, U.S. Ambassador to Canada DAVID COHEN and international economist and senior adviser JAKE OWENS.

Hanging question: Freeland mentioned off the cuff to a Toronto business crowd following the bilat that new institutions may be needed to help navigate a new era of economic and geopolitical uncertainties. She offered no specifics.

Setting the stage for next weeks G-7 meeting in Germany, Yellen teased future news on a potential price cap on Russian oil to further starve Putins coffers as talks continue with Canadian and other international partners.

She told reporters, Stay tuned.

The gifts: Freeland's crew knew Yellen was an avid rock collector, so gifted the secretary a piece of limestone from Centre Block with a maple leaf carved into it. The Canadians also gave her a French edition of a book written by her husband, Nobel laureate GEORGE AKERLOF, ordered from a Montreal bookstore.

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NEXT-GEN NORAD Canada's enemies and allies all know at least one thing to be true. NORAD's North Warning System, which dates to the end of the Cold War, is obsolete.

That was the backdrop for Defense Minister ANITA ANAND's Monday announcement of C$4.9 billion in spending over six years on a variety of continental defense initiatives, including four surveillance systems designed to detect and deter ultra-fast hypersonic missiles.

As she spoke, Anand was backed by a fighter jet and transport aircraft and flanked by the chief of the defense staff, Gen. WAYNE EYRE, and NORAD deputy commander Lieut.-Gen. ALAIN PELLETIER. Notably absent was JUSTIN TRUDEAU, who's still working remotely after testing positive for Covid last week.

New or nah? Anand initially stressed that this was new money, over and above the C$252 million committed to NORAD and Arctic security in Budget 2021, and Budget 2022's C$8-billion injection of defense spending spread over five years. But her office later clarified that it wasn't new money, and was baked into the most recent budget. Clear as mud.

What was clear: Anand's audience wasn't reaaaally the journalists in front of her and any curious Canadians watching at home. This was, at least in part, a signal to the other half of NORAD south of the border.

The backstory: Last summer, then-defense minister HARJITSAJJAN and U.S. Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN released a joint statement on NORAD modernization that laid out priorities in broad strokes.

Two weeks ago, Anand joined Trudeau at NORAD HQ in Colorado for a tour and classified briefings. Austin was there, too.

Anand's Monday announcement comes just a week before Trudeau heads to the NATO Summit in Madrid, where his office says discussions will include "ongoing and future transatlantic security threats and challenges."

One of the predictable elephants in the room at these gatherings is Canada's lackluster per capita defense spending.

The commitment: The fancy new tech is called "over-the-horizon" radar. The binational alliance will use one system to track threats between the Canada-U.S. border and the Arctic Circle, and another to keep an eye on Arctic islands and beyond.

A third system, called "Crossbow," will add sensors in northern Canada. Anand would only say that particular network would employ "classified capabilities." NORAD will also take advantage of space-based surveillance.

The timeline: Uncertain. Anand didn't offer clarity on when the North Warning System would be replaced, only insisting that a C$600-million maintenance contract would have to do for now. But in an interview with CP, NORAD deputy commander Lieut.-Gen. ALAIN PELLETIERadmitted the gaps in surveillance.

"The reality right now is that long-range aviation has an ability to launch cruise missiles outside of the North Warning System's detection range," he said.

The fine print: Also uncertain. Journalists waited all afternoon for a detailed backgrounder as questions mounted on how this would all be funded. The department published a press release at 10:15 p.m.

SETTLE YOUR BETS Anyone in your office pool who guessed the House will sit until the end of the June calendar will take home the big bucks. Government House Leader MARK HOLLAND said he anticipates needing every minute available before adjourning until September.

The traditional griping: Holland gathered journalists for an end-of-session check-in on the Liberal legislative agenda. His Conservative counterpart, JOHNBRASSARD, followed suit with his own media availability.

Holland accused Tories of using obstructionary tactics 17 times in 14 weeks. "C-8 took months to get through where we waited and we waited and waited for that obstruction to end," he complained.

The Conservatives voted against the government 45 out of 51 times, he added to which every Tory in the House would likely reply: "Uh, yeah. So?"

At his own presser, Brassard fired back that Liberals had moved 16 time allocation motions on government bills. He reminded journalists that New Democrats, who insist they maintain an adversarial relationship with Liberals, still sided with them 95 percent of the time.

The final debate: Expect a last hurrah of House theatrics after Holland tables a motion that would extend hybrid measures another year and then run out the clock debating it.

Brassard in a word: unimpressed. He told reporters that hybrid sittings have run their course, and Liberals have presented no evidence to justify extending them. "There's no reason we can't flip a switch" in the case of a new Covid variant, he said.

The Tory House leader added that voting app malfunctions have disrupted proceedings, and he complained that translators have suffered health issues due to poor audio quality in the House and at committee.

An olive branch: Holland committed to having a full front bench in-person for QP. "I was in opposition for a long time and I understand very well that accountability is essential, and the ability to pose questions in question period and get answers in-person is extraordinarily important," he said.

Not good enough, said Brassard. MPs are elected to go to Ottawa. They should go there.

How the vote will go: New Democrats will side with the government, so hybrid sittings will almost certainly run well into 2023.

Brassard will introduce amendments to Holland's motion, which he says are reasonable. New office pool: What are the odds the other parties agree?

Related reading:Youre on mute. Is it time to end the work from home House?

9 a.m. The Parliamentary Budget Officer will post a new costing note on veterans survivor pension benefits.

DPM Freeland is in Toronto for "private meetings," but will attend Cabinet and QP virtually.

4:35 p.m. Innovation Minister FRANOIS-PHILIPPE CHAMPAGNE settles in for the first of two days at Collision in Toronto. On tap: A "fireside chat" with FRANZ FAYOT, Luxembourg's minister of the economy and minister for development cooperation and humanitarian affairs.

PLASTIC WASTE As Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT declared Monday, a ban on making six single-use plastic items bags, straws, cutlery, takeout containers, stir sticks and ring carriers will be in place by the end of this year. Thats a mere three and a half years after Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU first announced his intent to ban single-use plastics.

The ban isnt nothing Guilbeault estimated it will reduce plastic waste by 1.3 million metric tons over the next decade. But he also illustrated the scale of the challenge the Liberals are up against with their promise to eliminate plastic waste by 2030, telling reporters that just eight percent of the plastic produced in Canada each year is recycled.

To wit: Its taken three years to tackle what is clearly the lowest-hanging fruit when it comes to plastic waste six items that are easily replaced with other materials. The Liberals other policies, which include requiring plastic packaging to contain 50 percent recycled material by 2030 and creating a public registry of plastics produced in Canada, are in much earlier stages of development.

SAVE THE FARM Heppell's Potato Corp. wants to save hundreds of acres of federally owned agricultural land from developers, and they've hired a lobbyist to make their case on the Hill. JOHN MOONEN will rep the farmers from a rural corner of Surrey, B.C.

The Heppells say they've farmed the 300-acre property here's the Google Street View since 1972. But they don't own it. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada does. Decades ago, the feds built a transpacific radio transmission facility there, and over the years various departments used it for radio monitoring. Now, ISED is looking to divest itself of the "Cloverdale Site."

Pushback: The farmers have launched a petition, gathering more than 20,000 signatures. They claim "3050 million servings of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, parsnips and squash are produced from the land annually," which is "enough fresh food to put a vegetable serving on every Metro-Vancouverite's dinner plate for 23 weeks."

What they want: A long-term lease for a farmer.

Future of Good's VINOD RAJASEKARAN says CHRYSTIA FREELAND's affordability plan doesn't rise to the challenge in a country where people are turning to crowdfunding sites to pay for their basic needs.

The Narwhal investigates allegations of bullying and harassment at the Pacific Wild Alliance, an environmental non-profit in British Columbia.

The Hub quizzes ADAM PANKRATZ, a UBC business school lecturer and 2015 Liberal candidate, about whether self-described "Blue Liberals" like him fit into the party.

On NPR's Planet Money, listen to JOHN COCHRANE, aka The Grumpy Economist, go halfway to agreeing with PIERRE POILIEVRE on inflation's root causes. Cochrane blames federal Covid spending for American inflation, but absolves the Fed of responsibility.

MP GREG FERGUS is on the latest episode of the Hot Room to talk about expanding the parliamentary precinct.

Birthdays: HBD to Senator ROSA GALVEZ and Heritage Minister PABLO RODRIGUEZ.

Also celebrating: Sportscaster GORD MILLER, a Met regular, and former Nova Scotia MLA BROOKE TAYLOR.

Retirement gift: A custom baseball card, framed for the baseball fanatic | Nick Taylor-Vaisey/POLITICO

Spotted at CHRIS HALL's Met retirement party: Hall's wife, the Toronto Star's TONDA MACCHARLES; Cabmins DOMINIC LEBLANC, MONA FORTIER, OMAR ALGHABRA, MARCO MENDICINO and GUDIE HUTCHINGS; Liberal whip STEVEN MACKINNON and MP JOHN MCKAY; Tory MPs MICHAEL CHONG and GARNETT GENUIS; NDP leader JAGMEET SINGH (and daughter ANHAD) and NDP MP HEATHER MCPHERSON; Green MPs ELIZABETH MAY and MIKE MORRICE.

Also in the crowd: MATTHEW DUB, YAROSLAV BARAN, JANET SILVER, ANDREW BALFOUR, JEREMY BROADHURST, TIM POWERS, RENE FILIATRAULT, ANNE MCGRATH, MEGAN LESLIE, ZITA ASTRAVAS, TOM CLARK, CORY HANN, ROB SILVER, TOM WALSH, ALYSON FAIR, SUSAN SMITH, KEVIN BOSCH, GREG MACEACHERN, CHRIS MCCLUSKEY, JIM ARMOUR, DON NEWMAN and GRAHAM FOX.

Journalists in the room: SUSAN DELACOURT, JOHN IVISON, VASSY KAPELOS, ROB RUSSO, CORMAC MAC SWEENEY, ALTHIA RAJ, BILL CURRY, RAISA PATEL, IAN BAILEY and countless CBC parliamentary bureau reporters and producers.

The House team: JENNIFER CHEVALIER, EMMA GODMERE and CHRISTIAN PAAS-LANG.

Movers and shakers: Tory MP BLAKE RICHARDSbrings on MACKENZIE FRANKLIN as a parliamentary assistant.

CATHERINE CLARK will receive an honorary degree from Algonquin College this week.

Former PM JEAN CHRTIEN will pick up an honorary doctorate today from Carleton University.

Media mentions: Digital editor DANI-ELLE DUBmoves from CityNews Ottawa to CFRA, where she'll start a new gig as talk show producer.

If youre a POLITICO Pro subscriber, dont miss our latest policy newsletter:Word of the day: Friendshoring.

In news for POLITICO Pro subscribers:

Justice or overreach?: As crucial test looms, Big Greens are under fire. Manchin resistance to clean energy provision could harm Bidens climate goals. CDC recommends Pfizer, Moderna Covid-19 vaccine for babies and toddlers. U.S. officials weigh doubling the number of rocket launchers sent to Ukraine. Biden races against time to unlock Ukraines trapped grain.

Parliament Hill | POLITICO Canada

Keep up to House committee schedules here.

Find Senate meeting schedules here.

9:30 a.m. The Senate national finance committee meets to go over clause-by-clause consideration of Bill C-19, Finance Minister CHRYSTIA FREELANDs budget implementation bill.

11 a.m. The House fisheries and oceans committee continues its study of science at the federal department.

11 a.m.The House procedures committee will hear from Sergeant-at-Arms PATRICK MCDONELL and LARRY BROOKSON, acting director of the Parliamentary Protective Service, as it studies the boundaries of the parliamentary precinct.

3:30 p.m. Sen. PIERRE-HUGUES BOISVENU is in the other place, appearing at the House justice committee to speak on the governments obligations to victims of crime.

3:30 p.m. The House industry committee will spend the first part of its meeting hearing from experts on small and medium-sized enterprises. DAVID MACDONALD of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is among the witnesses scheduled to appear.

3:30 p.m. PBO YVES GIROUX will discuss military expenditure at the House committee on government operations and estimates.

3:30 p.m. Yukon Community Services Minister RICHARD MOSTYN answers questions at the House Indigenous and northern affairs committee as part of MPs study of Arctic sovereignty, security, and emergency preparedness of Indigneous peoples.

6:30 p.m. Former Ottawa police chief PETER SLOLY is a witness at the joint parliamentary committee on the declaration of emergency. Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner THOMAS CARRIQUE will be in the hot seat first.

6:30 p.m. The House subcommittee on human rights will receive briefings on the situation in the Tigray region.

Behind closed doors:

11 a.m.The House environment committee meets in camera to consider a draft report of its study on nuclear waste governance in Canada.

11 a.m.The House public accounts committee meets in camera to consider a draft report of its study digging into the Public Accounts of Canada 2021 reports. A discussion of committee business is also on the agenda.

Mondays answer: The Animals in War Dedication can be found in Confederation Park in downtown Ottawa.

Props to JOSEPH CHAMOUN, NANCI WAUGH, BRAM ABRAMSON, CULLY ROBINSON, SHANE ONEILL, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, DOUG RICE, NATHAN GORDON, MICHAEL SUNG, DOROTHY MCCABE and BOB GORDON.

Tuesdays question: Who is the first person to have led the White House Council of Economic Advisers, the Federal Reserve, and the U.S. Treasury Department?

Send your answers to [emailprotected]

Have a petition you want signed? A cause youre promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Alejandra Waase to find out how: [emailprotected].

Read the original:

Yellen and Freeland's shore thing- POLITICO - POLITICO

On Sunday, 19 June 2022, the hopes of millions of Colombians working for a more democratic, safer, ecological, and socially just country came true. Senator Gustavo Petro, in a duo with his Afro-Colombian vice-presidential candidate, environmental expert Francia Mrquez, received approximately 50.44 per cent or 11,281,013 of the votes cast, and has been elected the 42nd President of Colombia. Both his predecessor Ivn Duque and his opponent Rodolfo Hernndez publicly congratulated him on his election victory.

Some 22,445,873 people or 57.55 per cent exercised their right to vote in the run-off election on 19 June 2022, about 3.7 per cent more than in the first round three weeks ago. Only in 1998 was the turnout higher. Getting people to the polls is not always easy in Colombia: Thousands of people in some parts of the country again had to travel for several hours, even days, to reach one of the polling stations. In some regions, heavy rain also prevented people from voting. In addition, threats, violence, and vote-buying continue to restrict voting, especially in remote rural areas.

For the first time in the countrys history, neither a conservative nor a member of the Liberal Party will lead the government of Latin Americas fifth largest economy. With Gustavo Petro, the winning streak of leftist movements and parties in Latin America continues and provides further momentum for the upcoming elections in Brazil in October 2022.

In this historic situation for Colombia, what will matter is how the losers behave. On Sunday, Petro not only relegated his direct challenger, the anti-women and anti-migrant 77-year-old self-made millionaire and populist, Rodolfo Hernndez, to second place, but with him also the countrys previous political elite. With 47.31 per cent or 10,580,412 votes, Hernndez received much less support than the polls had predicted.

However, significantly more people than in the last elections opted for neither candidate: 490,118 or 2.23 per cent gave a voto blanco. This is a Colombian peculiarity that allows voters to express their disagreement with the candidates but, unlike abstention, allows them to exercise their democratic right.

In the last four years under Ivn Duques ultra-right government, the peace process signed in 2016 with the former guerrilla group FARC was hardly implemented.

Precisely because this triumph is so unique, President Petro should now reach out to his critics, remind the losers of their responsibility in state politics and call on the opposition to work constructively. At the moment, it is unclear whether the losers will be able to accept their new role.

The military, traditionally strong in Colombia, also remains a key player in this phase of the democratic transition. It is expected that the military leadership will soon send out signals that leave no doubt about Gustavo Petros election victory. He will also be their commander-in-chief after his inauguration on 7 August. Should the recognition fail to materialise publicly, Petros presidency would be tainted from the outset and rumours of an imminent coup dtat would continue to do the rounds. Both Colombian NGOs and the international community should keep a close eye on this.

In any case, the new president faces enormous challenges. It is already questionable whether Petro will find a majority in the Colombian parliament for a fundamental change of the unequal living conditions, the high unemployment, inflation rate, national debt, and the necessary socio-ecological transformation of the country. Although quite a few deputies of his left-progressive alliance Pacto Histrico support Petro after the congressional elections in March, he lacks a legislative majority of his own. Moreover, the newly elected representatives must first prove that they can stick together and also lead a government together, especially now that the ministers are to be appointed. Tensions are already pre-programmed in the colourful spectrum of the Pacto Histrico.

The governments most urgent tasks include:

Reviving the peace process: In the last four years under Ivn Duques ultra-right government, the peace process signed in 2016 with the former guerrilla group FARC was hardly implemented. President Petro needs to relaunch it, push for its implementation, and ensure that social and local leaders are better protected from displacement, violence, and assassination. This year alone, more than 60 of these lderes sociales have been murdered. After this process, a dialogue with the guerrilla organisation ELN would be necessary too. It is up to the new government to send out signals define conditions as to whether and how negotiations can take place.

A new economic policy: Petro takes over a country with the highest inflation rate of the last 21 years from his unpopular predecessor. With a current debt of around 63 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and a budget deficit of over six per cent, the president-elect has announced that he will begin his term with a structural tax reform. This envisages an increase in the tax burden for the richest 0.01 per cent of the population. This idea is vehemently opposed by the political right. During the election campaign, they left no stone unturned to discredit Petro, accusing him of preparing the countrys economic decline.

Commitment to womens rights and greater equality: Petro proposes the creation of a Ministry of Equality led by Francia Mrquez, which would be responsible for formulating all policies to empower women, people of all sexual orientations, the different generations, and ethnic and regional diversity in Colombia. Under Petro, women in particular could expect to gain priority access to public higher education, credit, and the distribution and formalisation of land ownership.

Petro and Marquez are proposing an energy transition that will rule out new developments of future oil fields.

Land reform and protection of indigenous people, peasants, and Afro-Colombian women: The extremely unequal distribution of land is one of the structural causes of the armed conflict in Colombia. The internal displacement of recent decades has led to the expansion of arable land: the resulting tensions are at the root of conflicts between ethnic communities (indigenous and Afro-Colombian) and peasant women over access to this land. All these groups have been and continue to be excluded from the development of the country. At the same time, they are among the most affected by the armed conflicts violent dynamics. Petros government will need to ensure a more equitable distribution that enables the integration of ethnic and farming communities into the production and development circuits.

Better education for more people: During the social protests last year (and already in 2019 and 2020), the demand for more public and quality education was one of the central messages of the mostly peacefully demonstrating Colombians. Petro promises to provide them with a higher education system in which public universities and secondary schools in particular are properly funded.

More environmental protection: Under the Duque government, environmental and climate protection in Colombia was largely neglected, deforestation increased, and the first fracking pilot wells were approved. Petro and Marquez have announced fundamental change. They are focusing on a more environmentally-friendly production and service model and are proposing an energy transition that will rule out new developments of future oil fields. This process is to be accompanied by a land reform on unproductive lands mostly resulting from illegal forest clearance.

Beyond these urgent reform tasks, the president and his government will also have to find answers in other important areas, such as integrated security reform, a diversified new foreign policy, a different drug policy, and on the regulation of narcotics. At the same time, they must not disregard the necessary coalition with civil society that ultimately lifted them into office.

Gustavo Petro and Francia Mrquez achieved something historic on that memorable Sunday in June 2022. The expectations for both are huge, perhaps even unrealistic. On the one hand, the winning couple must stick together and remain capable of compromise. At the same time, both have raised many hopes and are exemplary for the new Colombia: both want a more social, a more ecological, a more secure, and a more democratic republic.

President Petro will make mistakes and he will hardly be granted the usual 100 days grace period.

The fact that the ultra-conservative and liberal power elites were voted out of office by the majority of Colombians is a political turning point for the country. The losers will hardly accept the new opposition role constructively and as an important element of a consolidated democracy. It is more likely that they will torpedo the new government from day one and do everything they can to make it fail.

President Petro will make mistakes and he will hardly be granted the usual 100 days grace period neither by his hopeful supporters from civil society, nor by the more than ten million people he has failed to convince of his programme and person.

He will have to govern openly, transparently, and with a certain flexibility to be able to react appropriately to national and international challenges. He will have to change his behaviour, which is often described as arrogant and self-centred. And he should emphasise the social team spirit that was the basis for the victory of the Pacto Histrico. That is the only way he can succeed in breathing new life into the peace process and achieve the urgently needed reforms in economic and social policy for Colombia. And he will need many allies to succeed, both at home and abroad.

German and European politicians would be well advised to pledge their support to the new president and strengthen the peace process along the way. At the same time, this would contribute to the consolidation of democratic institutions after this historic change of government. Both remain crucial for a sustainable, peaceful development of the country, and necessary for a Colombia of social justice.

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With the election of Gustavo Petro and Francia Mrquez, the hopes of millions of Colombians working for a more democratic, safer, ecological, and...

The Conservative Party faces yet another 'Blue Wall' by-election challenge from the Liberal Democrats after Neil Parish resigned as the MP for Tiverton & Honiton for watching pornography in the House of Commons in April. Boris Johnson retained the Brexit-backing safe seat during his landslide 2019 General Election victory with a thumping majority of 24,239. Despite finishing in a distant third-place, Sir Ed Davey remains bullish about the Liberal Democrats' prospects.

Sir Ed Davey said: The momentum is with the Liberal Democrats as we enter the final week of the campaign.

People across Devon are sick of having a liar and law breaker as a Prime Minister, seeing their health services driven into the ground and farming communities neglected.

On every visit Ive heard loud and clear that people are ready for change.

This election is a choice between Boris Johnsons candidate and a committed, passionate and hard-working local champion in Richard Foord.

The future of our country is hanging in the balance.

This week Devons towns and villages can get rid of Boris Johnson once and for all.

JUST IN:Train drivers and nurses aim to undermine government with summer of strike action

Mr Johnson's political capital took a tumble late last year when partygate hit the headlines.

The Prime Minister has since been issued with a fixed penalty notice by the Metropolitan Police for attending a lockdown-breaking birthday bash when Covid-curbing restrictions were in place and even saw off 148 Tory rebels earlier this month in a confidence vote.

However, an emboldened Sir Ed Davey will also be buoyed by findings from an internal opinion poll released yesterday which put his party neck-and-neck with the Conservatives on 45 percent.

Speaking about the internal poll, a Liberal Democrat spokesperson toldExpress.co.uk: We are now level pegging with the Conservatives and it comes down to these final days.

Voters are fed up with being taken for granted by the Conservatives and are rallying behind the Liberal Democrats.

We are the only party that can beat Boris Johnson's candidate.

We're fighting hard for every vote and to bring real change to Devon.

Sir Ed Davey, who replaced Jo Swinson after the Liberal Democrats failed to land a blow in the 2019 election, has enjoyed previous success in the so-called 'Blue Wall'.

The Kingston & Surbiton MP and ex-Environment Secretary won in true blue Chesham & Amersham and North Shropshire in 2021.

The Liberal Democrats also made significant inroads in recent local election contests across England, including in nearby Somerset.

However, while the South West was once a bedrock of English liberalism, the party has seen its number of MPs drop from 16 in 2005 to just one in 2019.

But internal polling shared withExpress.co.ukhas suggested the Liberal Democrats could mount a comeback resulting from a sense of neglect in rural England.

A Savanta ComRes survey found 43 percent of rural Conservative voters think Mr Johnson's party has taken rural communities for granted.

Among all adults living in rural communities the number rises to 49 percent.

DON'T MISS:Boris Johnson health: PM taken to hospital as Raab forced to step up[REVEAL]Labour chaos as Lammy faces SLEAZE probe just days after Starmer[INSIGHT]When will the train strikes end?[REACT]

Many agricultural communities have even voiced concerns about the UK's post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, which the National Farmers' Union fears could undermine the market with cheaper and lower quality products.

North East Hampshire MP and Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena, who voted to leave the EU in 2016, claimed farmers need not be concerned.

Speaking toExpress.co.uklast month, Mr Jayawardena said: I genuinely do not believe that British farmers need to fear.

In fact, I see it as a huge opportunity for British farmers, not just for the opportunity to sell quality British beef, British lamb to Australia but as a gateway to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which of course we are in the ascension process to join.

However, farmers are also worried about the Direct Payments system being replaced by an Environmental Land Management Scheme in 2027.

The swing away from the Tory Party could also help explain why Tiverton's Conservative candidate Helen Hurford was jeered at a hustings held last week.

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Sir Ed Davey urges voters to boot Boris Johnson out of No10 ahead of Tiverton by-election - Express

News OnTheWight always welcomes a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers unsurprisingly they dont always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something youd like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below.

This from Cllr Andrew Garratt, Isle of Wight Councillor for Parkhurst and Hunnyhill (Liberal Democrat). Ed

Ive noted with great concern the Conservative Groups proposals for the Island Planning Strategy, particularly in its references to Camp Hill.

Their document refers to Camp Hill, as defined in the draft strategy published in 2021.

Camp Hill site includes greenfield landIts important to understand that the reference to Camp Hill is not just that of the former prison building, but of green fields to the west and north that border Parkhurst Forest, which has designations of environmental importance, and other Ministry of Justice (MoJ) land around the prisons.

Former housing allocation As well as an allocation of 1,200 on this MoJ land, the 2021 draft has an allocation of a further 240 on three nearby sites on Noke Common and Horsebridge Hill. These include green fields.

The total allocation in this small area would be 1,440.

Environmental impact and the pressure on infrastructure The 2022 revised strategy recognised the concerns set out by local residents and myself in the councils consultation.

These concerns are both in terms of the environmental impact and the pressure on infrastructure and services.

Revised strategy has lower allocationThe revised strategy has a lower allocation to the former prison and surrounding MoJ land of 750, though there was an increase in the total for the other three sites to 275.

The development boundary was also drawn away from the forest edge, though still covering some green fields.

Overall, the revised strategy proposes a housing allocation of 1,025, compared to the 1,440 which appears to be favoured by the Conservative proposals.

Conservative proposals impact green fieldsI have written to the leader of the Conservative Group, Cllr Joe Robertson, setting out these concerns.

I have offered to walk him and members of his group around the area so that they can appreciate the impact their proposals would actually have on green fields, on environmentally important sites in the forest, and in building further pressure on infrastructure and services in this part of Newport.

Lower lower housing allocation neededA sensible and lower housing allocation than even that set out in the 2022 draft strategy is needed, combined with an overarching masterplan for the area.

I hope that this will be recognised and taken up by the Conservative Group.

See page 31 in document below for 2021 boundary

Read more:

Letter: Conservative councillors appear to favour more homes at Camp Hill, which includes green fields and ... - On The Wight