Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - April 2, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2024 B4 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM NEWS I CANADA / WORLD Trudeau announces national school food program to feed 400,000 more kids per year O TTAWA — The upcoming federal budget will include funding for a national school food program that will aim to provide meals to 400,000 more kids per year across the country, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday. Trudeau made the announcement in Toronto with Finance Minister Chrys- tia Freeland and Families Minister Jenna Sudds as part of the Liberal gov- ernment’s ongoing pre-budget tour. Ottawa plans to spend $1 billion over the next five years on the program. While education doesn’t fall under federal jurisdiction, a national pro- gram would allow Ottawa to partner up with provinces and territories, many of which are already doing the work alongside community groups. In the past year, British Columbia, Manitoba and Nova Scotia have allo- cated money toward school lunches, but on-the-ground organizations have argued for a federal partner. “We’re going to get this done by work- ing together with provincial, territorial and Indigenous partners, and expand- ing access to school food programs across the country,” Freeland said. “And we want to get started as early as the 2024-25 school year.” The Liberal government has long promised to launch such a program, and Trudeau campaigned on that pledge during the 2021 election. New Democrats have been pushing the Liberal government to fulfil that promise ahead of the federal budget, which Freeland is set to present on April 16. As cost-of-living issues continue to dominate the public discourse and the federal Conservatives maintain a siz- able lead over the Liberals in opinion polls, Trudeau is pitching the budget as an effort to restore “fairness” for younger generations. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has focused on the plight of young people in today’s economy, commonly referring to millennials who continue to live with their parents because they can’t afford a home. That’s spurred the Liberals to try out a new strategy ahead of the budget to garner media attention, dispatching cabinet ministers to all corners of Can- ada to promise and promote new feder- al spending measures. Last week, Trudeau announced new tools aimed at renters, including a plan to work with financial institutions to make rent payments count toward a credit score. Monday’s announcement on the cre- ation of a national school food program was applauded by community and advo- cacy groups. “These programs can improve chil- dren’s learning and mental health and reduce their risk of developing chron- ic disease, including heart disease and stroke,” said Doug Roth, CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. The Breakfast Club of Canada, which has lobbied the government for the cre- ation of the program since 2017, also hailed the announcement. “This significant advancement marks a turning point in the country’s commitment to the well-being of all children as one in three are at risk of going to school on an empty stomach,” the school nutrition organization said in a news release. According to Statistics Canada, 18 per cent of households in 2022 reported experiencing food insecurity during the previous 12 months. The Liberal government offered few details on what a national school food program would look like and how feder- al funds would be allocated across the country. Sudds later said many of her provin- cial counterparts are thrilled about the prospect of the national program and are looking to the federal government for help to expand their own initiatives. She also said the federal government is taking a flexible approach with the program so that it meets the diverse needs of different regions. “The needs are different, certainly in different parts of the country. It may be breakfast, it may be lunch, it may be snacks,” Sudds said. “We’ll look to our partners to engage in that dialogue as to what would be of best use in these unique circum- stances.” During a news conference later on Monday, Poilievre called the program “federal food bureaucracy” and blamed the Liberal government’s price on car- bon for food insecurity. “My common sense plan is to axe the carbon tax to lower the cost of food for everyone so that we can reverse the malnutrition that Justin Trudeau’s eight years have caused,” Poilievre told reporters. Before the latest increase in the car- bon levy on Monday, Statistics Can- ada estimated that carbon pricing in- creased the price of food by about 0.3 per cent since its inception. — The Canadian Press NOJOUD AL MALLEES CHRIS YOUNG / THE CANADIAN PRESS Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks to children as he sits next to chef Jason Simpson as they prepare food for a lunch program at the Boys and Girls Club East Scarborough, in Toronto, Monday. State advances bill requiring fossil fuel companies to pay for damage caused by climate change THE Vermont legislature is advancing legislation requiring big fossil fuel companies pay a share of the damage caused by climate change after the state suffered catastrophic summer flooding and damage from other ex- treme weather. The state Senate is expected to give final approval this week to the propos- al, which would create a program that fossil fuel companies would pay into for climate change adaption projects in Vermont. It will then be considered in the House. “In order to remedy the problems created by washed out roads, downed electrical wires, damaged crops and repeated flooding, the largest fossil fuel entities that have contributed to climate change should also contribute to fixing the problem that they caused,” Sen. Nader Hashim, a Democrat from Windham County, said to Senate col- leagues on Friday. Maryland, Massachusetts and New York are considering similar measures, but Vermont’s bill is moving quicker through the legislature. Critics, including Republican Gov. Phil Scott, who is up against a veto- proof Democratic majority, warn that it could be a costly legal battle for the small state to go first. “Of all the fossil fuel companies in the world, we’re a mosquito compared to a giant,” said Republican state Sen. Randy Brock on Friday after he voted against it. “We might win but the cost in doing so alone is huge.” He referenced the fact that Exxon- mobil’s annual sales are US$344.6 bil- lion, while Vermont’s annual budget is about US$8.5 billion, saying he’d rather see New York or California or another state be first. Under the legislation, the Vermont state treasurer, in consultation with the Agency of Natural Resources, would provide a report by Jan. 15, 2026, on the total cost to Vermonters and the state from the emission of greenhouse gases from Jan. 1, 1995, to Dec. 31, 2024. The assessment would look at the af- fects on public health, natural resour- ces, agriculture, economic develop- ment, housing and other areas. It’s a polluter-pays model affecting companies engaged in the trade or busi- ness of extracting fossil fuel or refining crude oil attributable to more than 1 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions during the time period. The funds could be used by the state for such things as upgrading stormwater drainage systems; upgrading roads, bridges and railroads; relocating, ele- vating or retrofitting sewage treatment plants and making energy efficient weatherization upgrades to public and private buildings. Exxonmobil did not immediately pro- vide a comment. The American Petrol- eum Institute sent a letter to the state Senate last week opposing the bill, say- ing it believes it’s bad public policy and may be unconstitutional. The top lobbying group for the oil and gas industry said it’s extremely concerned the legislation “retroactive- ly imposes costs and liability on prior activities that were legal, violates equal protection and due process rights by holding companies responsible for the actions of society at large; and is pree- mpted by federal law,” the letter states. “Additionally, the bill does not provide potentially impacted parties with no- tice as to the magnitude of potential fees that can result from its passage.” Jennifer Rushlow, dean of the Mav- erick Lloyd School for the Environment and a professor of law at the Vermont Law and Graduate School, said Monday that she thinks Vermont will face legal challenges if the bill becomes law but expects the state to win. Several en- vironmental law clinics have offered to provide support, which could offset the costs, she said. “Somebody has to go first. And I think the conditions for passage in Ver- mont are pretty optimal for depressing reasons … because the costs we’ve in- curred recently as a result of climate change are very significant and really top of mind and visible,” she said. House Speaker Jill Krowinski said in a statement on Monday that she looks forward to reviewing the bill and as- sessing its impact toward the state’s cli- mate change goals. She said she’s eager for House committees to look at this and other climate change policies in the second half of the legislative session. Hashim, the Democratic senator from Windham County, said the real- ity is that severe weather patterns are here and will happen more frequently and become more damaging over time. Adapting and becoming more resilient costs money and Vermont has few op- tions to pay for the damage. “We can place the burden on Vermont taxpayers or we can keep our fingers crossed that the federal government will help us or we can have fossil fuel companies pay their fair share,” he said. — The Associated Press LISA RATHKE Kansas paper and its publisher suing over police raids TOPEKA, Kan. — A weekly central Kansas newspaper and its publisher filed a federal lawsuit Monday over po- lice raids last summer of its offices and the publisher’s home, accusing local officials of trying to silence the paper and causing the death of the publisher’s 98-year-old mother. The lawsuit did not include a specific figure for potential damages. However, in a separate notice to local officials, the paper and its publisher said they believe they are due more than US$10 million. The lawsuit from the Marion Coun- ty Record’s parent company and Eric Meyer, its editor and publisher, accuses the city of Marion, the Marion Coun- ty Commission and five current and former local officials of violating free press rights and the right to be free from unreasonable law enforcement searches guaranteed by the U.S. Con- stitution. The lawsuit also notified the defendants that Meyer and the news- paper plan to add other claims, includ- ing that officials wrongly caused the death of Meyer’s mother the day after the raids, which the lawsuit attributes to a stress-induced heart attack. The raids put Marion, a town of about 1,900 people set among rolling prairie hills about 241 kilometres southwest of Kansas City, Missouri, at the centre of a national debate over press freedoms. It also highlighted the intense divisions over a newspaper known for its aggres- sive coverage of local issues and its strong criticism of some officials. The city’s former police chief — who later resigned amid the ongoing furor — justified the Aug. 11 raids by saying he had probable cause to believe the newspaper and a reporter potential- ly committed identity theft and other computer crimes in obtaining and verifying information about a local business owner’s driving record. The lawsuit claims the paper and its re- porters did nothing illegal, the search warrants were improper and officials had longstanding grudges against the newspaper. “The last thing we want to do is bank- rupt the city or county, but we have a duty to democracy and to countless news organizations and citizens na- tionwide to challenge such malicious and wanton violations,” Meyer said in a statement. The city of Marion’s budget for 2023 was about US$8.7 million, while the county’s budget was about US$35 mil- lion. Besides the city, defendants in the lawsuit include former Marion May- or David Mayfield, who retired from office in January; former Police Chief Gideon Cody, who stepped down in Oc- tober; and current Acting Police Chief Zach Hudlin, who as an officer partici- pated in the raids. Marion County Sher- iff Jeff Soyez, the county commission and a former deputy who helped draft the search warrants used in the raids are the other defendants named. The newspaper had investigated Cody’s background before the city hired him last year. The lawsuit alleges Soyez regularly said that he did not ap- prove of Meyer’s “negative attitude.” The newspaper’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes, noted that when police raided the home that Meyer and his mother shared, she told the former police chief, “Boy, are you going to be in trouble.” “My job is to make sure Joan’s prom- ise is kept,” Rhodes said in his own statement. Jennifer Hill, an attorney repre- senting the city and former and current city officials, declined to comment. Jeffrey Kuhlman, an attorney repre- senting the county commission, the sheriff and his former deputy, said he couldn’t comment because he hasn’t had time to review the lawsuit. The lawsuit from Meyer and the newspaper was the fourth filed in fed- eral court in Kansas over the police raids, which also involved sheriff’s dep- uties and even an officer from the state fire marshal’s office. Deb Gruver, now a former reporter, filed the first lawsuit less than three weeks after the raids, and a trial is set for September 2025. Current Record reporter Phyllis Zorn filed the second lawsuit in February, and the defendants want it dismissed. The third was filed last week by Cheri Bentz, the newspaper’s office manager. The latest lawsuit says it was filed to seek justice over “intolerable” vio- lations of constitutional rights and “to deter the next crazed cop from threat- ening democracy.” While federal civil rights laws al- lowed Meyer and the newspaper to sue immediately, Kansas law requires par- ties intending to sue local governments to give them 120 days’ notice so that officials can pay the claim first. In a 10- page notice, Rhodes said Meyer is due reimbursement for his mother’s funer- al expenses; the newspaper, for harm to its accounting system; and both, for their legal expenses. The notice also says that Meyer and his mother suffered “extreme and se- vere distress” and that their estate is entitled to US$4 million in damages for that. It also argues that the newspaper deserves US$2 million for its damages and punitive damages should exceed US$4 million. “Many of those who perpetrated storm-trooper style bullying with a needlessly huge contingent of armed officers remain in office or have been promoted,” Meyer said in his statement. “Even newly elected officials have re- fused to disavow the tactics used.” — The Associated Press JOHN HANNA JOHN HANNA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The Marion County Record newspaper office is seen in Marion, Kan. ;