First Canadian navy vessel to visit Antarctica returns to its home port in Halifax
HALIFAX – A Halifax-based warship has returned to its home port after becoming the first Royal Canadian Navy vessel to visit Antarctica.
HMCS Margaret Brooke, an Arctic and offshore patrol ship, left Halifax on Jan. 10.
During its visit to Antarctica, the ship supported the first all-Canadian scientific research expedition to the world's southernmost continent.
Officials say the research was aimed at improving the understanding of the effects of climate change, especially for those living in polar environments.
The science team conducted marine and geoscience research.
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
The team included academics and scientists from Natural Resources Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Environment and Climate Change Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2025.
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CTV News
21 hours ago
- CTV News
‘Inevitably going to implode': Here's what experts think about Trump and Musk's relationship as it unravels online
Psychologist Simon Sherry shares what he thinks may be behind public fallouts in the wake of Trump and Musk's online fight. It may be the most high-profile breakup between two of the most powerful and richest men in the world. Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who not too long ago was a strong ally and adviser to the U.S. president, captured the world's attention this week with their war of words on social media, including X, which Musk owns. What could be happening with the alliance between two of the world's most influential men, or what could similar feuds mean? reached out to a wide variety of experts, from a psychologist to Trump's biographer, asking what they think. Simon Sherry, a registered psychologist, said he couldn't speak directly about Trump or Musk since he has not assessed or diagnosed them. However, he said he could speak of individuals who may have certain personality traits and relationship styles that could lead to a similar public fallout. Sherry says people who exhibit narcissistic qualities generally 'don't play nicely' with each other. 'Speaking in general terms, when two narcissistic individuals interact, it often becomes a struggle for dominance,' Sherry, a professor from the department of psychology and neuroscience at Dalhousie University in Halifax, said in a video interview with on Friday. 'So if you've got traits like grandiosity and entitlement, you have a great need for admiration.' 'So if you've traits like grandiosity and entitlement, you have a great need for admiration.' These types of individuals may also be 'low on empathy' and 'cold' during interactions, he adds. 'And if you have that cold and unempathetic style, it's more likely that you're going to escalate conflict, as opposed to move toward repairing a relationship or any sort of a reconciliation.' Bree McEwan, a communication professor at the University of Toronto Mississauga, told in a video interview Friday that the public unravelling between Trump and Musk raises questions. 'This is perhaps an unusual moment where we're having power players in the U.S. government air out all of their beef in online settings,' said McEwan, who specializes in social media's role in personal communication and public discourse. 'It does allow for a lot of conversation and chatter to occur around their discussion, but it also brings up the question of how much of this is a performance, who's that performance for, and how much of this is sort of serious business of these major players,' McEwan added. The high-profile feud also has significant consequences, she adds. 'From a responsibility perspective, when you are two major players whose every action has a huge influence on world markets, there's a point here where maybe you should be picking up the phone and talking to each other, maybe have a conversation in the Oval Office,' she said. Breakup was 'inevitable': Trump biographer Marc Fisher, co-author of the 2016 book 'Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power,' called the duo's breakup 'inevitable.' 'This is a case of two wealthy and narcissistic billionaires, who are very accustomed to having the spotlight entirely to themselves and find that, when someone challenges them, they tend to push back pretty hard,' Fisher said in a video interview with on Friday. He added that the fallout 'makes perfect sense,' with Musk moving on as a top White House adviser. 'He had endangered his own businesses by devoting himself entirely to his time in Washington, and so he's now abandoned Trump and Trump doesn't like that,' he said. 'He doesn't like when people separate from him or critique him in any way, and so we have this battle of the wits and battle of the wills going that very much reflects the personalities of both men.' Both Musk and Trump are prone to 'overreactions' and 'emotional reactions,' Fisher added. 'Both of them see this kind of dispute as something that ought to play out in public, because that gives them even more attention, and attention is really the currency by which they measure their own success,' he said. Fisher adds that the public fight positions Trump as standing up to a billionaire, while Musk may be trying to prove to his stockholders that he's paying attention to his business. 'Neither of them has much to lose here,' he said. 'A marriage of convenience' Fisher doesn't believe Trump and Musk had a genuine connection. 'It was a marriage of convenience, really more of an accident than anything else, doomed from the start,' Fisher said. 'It's the kind of relationship that was perhaps mutually beneficial for a short time but was inevitably going to implode.' For Trump, Musk provided 'extraordinary energy' to allow Trump and his officials to show they were 'really tearing the federal government apart,' Fisher said, noting Trump seems to have less energy now than during his first administration. 'For Musk, this was an opportunity to push forward his business interests, get in close with the president who had a significant sway over whether large government contracts, which are at the heart of Musk's operations, would come his way and stay with his companies,' Fisher said. 'And so this was really, something that seemed mutually beneficial for a time.' 'Kerosene being thrown on this fire' Jeffrey Dvorkin, a media observer and former director of the journalism program at University of Toronto, had some ideas on what may be happening with the insults between the two men online. He called social media the 'kerosene being thrown on this fire.' 'I think that what we're seeing is the acting out of these unresolved issues that stem from childhood, but now have a terrible impact on the rest of us,' the senior fellow of Massey College at the University of Toronto said in a video interview with on Friday, referring to their 'very demanding' fathers. 'It is a destabilizing situation in the United States in the American government, which is never good for anybody.' Meanwhile, he said Musk is 'a disruptor.' 'He's throwing his toys around the room, hoping someone will pick up after him,' Dvorkin said. 'There may be some rationalization of what they're doing and why they're doing it, but I think deep down, we're dealing with two deeply flawed people, who have never really learned how to play well with others.' But Dvorkin sees one benefit in the feud. 'The only advantage I can see is that Canada now has a new prime minister who seems to be a grown up, the adult in the room, and he will now be able to exercise a level of control that maybe the previous prime minister was unable or unwilling to do,' he said.
Toronto Star
a day ago
- Toronto Star
Coal mines on Alberta's eastern slopes could push fishery ‘beyond recovery': study
CALGARY - Old coal mines on the eastern slopes of the Alberta Rockies are leaching chemicals that are poisoning the fish downstream, says a new study by Alberta government scientists. It also suggests any new coal developments could result in 'population collapse' of fish species in a nearby lake. The findings were made in a provincial government study posted online May 27. The paper is awaiting peer review. The scientists who authored it were not made available to speak to reporters. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The other authors not employed by the province did not respond to requests for comment. Alberta has responded to the study with an advisory saying people should consider 'limiting consumption' of three fish species drawn from Crowsnest Lake, a fishing spot downstream from the coal mines. Those species were found to have dangerously high levels of selenium, a mineral found in coal-rich deposits, in their body tissue. The authors write the study shows that 'biological impacts of (mountaintop removal) coal mining can persist long after mining operations end.' They suggest that 'any further coal mine development may well push the Crowsnest fishery beyond sustainability.' The study comes after the Alberta Energy Regulator, or AER, granted an Australia-based coal company permission to start a controversial coal exploration on the eastern slopes. The project was initially rejected in 2021 when a panel ruled the likely environmental effects on fish and water quality outweighed potential economic benefits. But the regulator said last month it's possible there will be runoff from the nearby pit lake that Northback Holding Corp. is using. It ultimately concluded the project won't have any effect on the water quality downstream. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The AER said that 'out of an abundance of caution,' Northback will have to comply with a directive for managing drilling waste in response to concerns over selenium. The new study measured selenium levels in fish from Crowsnest Lake, which is fed by creeks connected to Tent Mountain and Grassy Mountain – both former coal mine sites. Alberta has a fish tissue selenium guideline of four micrograms per gram. The authors write that every single fish sample analyzed exceeded this value. Average selenium concentrations were highest in Brown Trout, coming in at 18 micrograms per gram. The authors write that the selenium levels could lead to 'behavioural changes, physical symptoms ... respiratory issues, reproductive issues and ultimately population collapse.' Accumulating fluid in body tissue or fin and tail damage are among other side effects. Most people are exposed to healthy levels of selenium through grains and flours, but Health Canada says elevated consumption can lead to hair loss, decreased cognitive function and gastrointestinal disorders. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW The high selenium concentrations can only be explained by 'the incorporation of legacy coal mine pollution,' the authors write. The study goes on to say selenium levels in fish in Crowsnest Lake are similar to those found in water bodies near Fernie, B.C., that resulted in Teck Mining Company, which owned and operated a nearby mine, being forced in 2021 by B.C. provincial court to pay a $60 million fine – the largest fine ever imposed under the Fisheries Act. Fish populations in those mining-impacted streams were found in 2011 to have an average selenium concentration of 7.6 micrograms per gram. Nine years later, the adult westslope cutthroat population had suffered a 93 per cent decline, the study says. The authors conclude that factors including the emergence of Whirling Disease, drought conditions, high fishing activity — and now high selenium levels in fish — make the Crowsnest Lake and River 'an especially vulnerable system.' 'Any new development of coal mining along the eastern slopes may well push the Crowsnest fishery beyond recovery,' they write. Colin Cooke, one of the authors, published a 2024 study that found a former coal mine in the Crowsnest River watershed was releasing selenium to fish at rates more than dozens of times higher than federal and provincial guidelines. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Cooke is a senior aquatic scientist with the Alberta government, according to LinkedIn. Peter Doyle, CEO of Evolve Power Ltd., formerly Montem Resources Ltd., which previously sought to restart an old mine on Tent Mountain, said in an email that the company is complying with terms set out by the AER. 'As reflected in other work by the author, there are numerous contributors to water quality in the Crowsnest River valley, not related to Tent Mountain, including changes in upstream conditions, changes in weathering rates and other anthropogenic changes in the watershed,' Doyle wrote, referring to Cooke's 2024 study. That report notes those factors, among others, could be contributing to contaminant levels and concluded that coal mining activities in the Crowsnest River watershed 'have been impacting ecosystems downstream for decades.' Northback, in an email, wrote that Crowsnest Lake is unrelated to its Grassy Mountain project. 'However, with our own project, Northback is committed to adhering to the highest environmental standards and ensuring a safe water supply.' ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Ryan Fournier, press secretary for Alberta's environment ministry, deferred questions about monitoring and enforcement to the AER. He said the province is funding a series of studies and submitting them to peer-reviewed academic journals as the province revises its coal policy. He also said the authors were not available to speak to media because they 'are not trained spokespeople.' The AER told The Canadian Press that it has directed Evolve Power, the Tent Mountain owner, to submit a 'selenium management plan proposal' that targets reductions in selenium in mine-affected water. Evolve was to submit that plan by July 31 of last year, but the AER said it granted the company an extension to March 31, 2026. The energy regulator also said that while selenium levels are elevated, 'there is no evidence of non-compliance on monitoring or selenium management requirements at this time.' The province announced in December it would allow coal mining to take place in Alberta under certain conditions. However, it exempted Northback and Evolve Power's projects from those rules because they were considered 'advanced.' Fisheries and Oceans Canada said in a statement that it doesn't comment on provincial permitting decisions and it hasn't been asked to review the local impacts to wildlife in the area. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Coal mines on Alberta's eastern slopes could push fishery ‘beyond recovery': study
CALGARY – Old coal mines on the eastern slopes of the Alberta Rockies are leaching chemicals that are poisoning the fish downstream, says a new study by Alberta government scientists. It also suggests any new coal developments could result in 'population collapse' of fish species in a nearby lake. The findings were made in a provincial government study posted online May 27. The paper is awaiting peer review. The scientists who authored it were not made available to speak to reporters. The other authors not employed by the province did not respond to requests for comment. Alberta has responded to the study with an advisory saying people should consider 'limiting consumption' of three fish species drawn from Crowsnest Lake, a fishing spot downstream from the coal mines. Those species were found to have dangerously high levels of selenium, a mineral found in coal-rich deposits, in their body tissue. The authors write the study shows that 'biological impacts of (mountaintop removal) coal mining can persist long after mining operations end.' They suggest that 'any further coal mine development may well push the Crowsnest fishery beyond sustainability.' The study comes after the Alberta Energy Regulator, or AER, granted an Australia-based coal company permission to start a controversial coal exploration on the eastern slopes. The project was initially rejected in 2021 when a panel ruled the likely environmental effects on fish and water quality outweighed potential economic benefits. But the regulator said last month it's possible there will be runoff from the nearby pit lake that Northback Holding Corp. is using. It ultimately concluded the project won't have any effect on the water quality downstream. The AER said that 'out of an abundance of caution,' Northback will have to comply with a directive for managing drilling waste in response to concerns over selenium. The new study measured selenium levels in fish from Crowsnest Lake, which is fed by creeks connected to Tent Mountain and Grassy Mountain – both former coal mine sites. Alberta has a fish tissue selenium guideline of four micrograms per gram. The authors write that every single fish sample analyzed exceeded this value. Average selenium concentrations were highest in Brown Trout, coming in at 18 micrograms per gram. The authors write that the selenium levels could lead to 'behavioural changes, physical symptoms … respiratory issues, reproductive issues and ultimately population collapse.' Accumulating fluid in body tissue or fin and tail damage are among other side effects. Most people are exposed to healthy levels of selenium through grains and flours, but Health Canada says elevated consumption can lead to hair loss, decreased cognitive function and gastrointestinal disorders. The high selenium concentrations can only be explained by 'the incorporation of legacy coal mine pollution,' the authors write. The study goes on to say selenium levels in fish in Crowsnest Lake are similar to those found in water bodies near Fernie, B.C., that resulted in Teck Mining Company, which owned and operated a nearby mine, being forced in 2021 by B.C. provincial court to pay a $60 million fine – the largest fine ever imposed under the Fisheries Act. Fish populations in those mining-impacted streams were found in 2011 to have an average selenium concentration of 7.6 micrograms per gram. Nine years later, the adult westslope cutthroat population had suffered a 93 per cent decline, the study says. The authors conclude that factors including the emergence of Whirling Disease, drought conditions, high fishing activity — and now high selenium levels in fish — make the Crowsnest Lake and River 'an especially vulnerable system.' 'Any new development of coal mining along the eastern slopes may well push the Crowsnest fishery beyond recovery,' they write. Colin Cooke, one of the authors, published a 2024 study that found a former coal mine in the Crowsnest River watershed was releasing selenium to fish at rates more than dozens of times higher than federal and provincial guidelines. Cooke is a senior aquatic scientist with the Alberta government, according to LinkedIn. Peter Doyle, CEO of Evolve Power Ltd., formerly Montem Resources Ltd., which previously sought to restart an old mine on Tent Mountain, said in an email that the company is complying with terms set out by the AER. 'As reflected in other work by the author, there are numerous contributors to water quality in the Crowsnest River valley, not related to Tent Mountain, including changes in upstream conditions, changes in weathering rates and other anthropogenic changes in the watershed,' Doyle wrote, referring to Cooke's 2024 study. That report notes those factors, among others, could be contributing to contaminant levels and concluded that coal mining activities in the Crowsnest River watershed 'have been impacting ecosystems downstream for decades.' Northback, in an email, wrote that Crowsnest Lake is unrelated to its Grassy Mountain project. 'However, with our own project, Northback is committed to adhering to the highest environmental standards and ensuring a safe water supply.' Ryan Fournier, press secretary for Alberta's environment ministry, deferred questions about monitoring and enforcement to the AER. He said the province is funding a series of studies and submitting them to peer-reviewed academic journals as the province revises its coal policy. He also said the authors were not available to speak to media because they 'are not trained spokespeople.' The AER told The Canadian Press that it has directed Evolve Power, the Tent Mountain owner, to submit a 'selenium management plan proposal' that targets reductions in selenium in mine-affected water. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Evolve was to submit that plan by July 31 of last year, but the AER said it granted the company an extension to March 31, 2026. The energy regulator also said that while selenium levels are elevated, 'there is no evidence of non-compliance on monitoring or selenium management requirements at this time.' The province announced in December it would allow coal mining to take place in Alberta under certain conditions. However, it exempted Northback and Evolve Power's projects from those rules because they were considered 'advanced.' Fisheries and Oceans Canada said in a statement that it doesn't comment on provincial permitting decisions and it hasn't been asked to review the local impacts to wildlife in the area. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025.
