Latest news with #workinggroup
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Editorial: Mayor Brandon Johnson's pension working group slinks away without a word
In a few weeks, a working group appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson is scheduled to provide preliminary recommendations on how to address Chicago's budget crisis. We have little doubt, given the mayor's understandable concerns about the city's $1 billion-plus budget shortfall for 2026, that we'll see a work product from that group. How useful it is remains to be seen, but there will be something to read. We wish we could say the same about another mayoral working group that Johnson disbanded recently. That ad hoc body, which Johnson created in mid-2023 to confront the city's desperately underfunded municipal pensions, will provide exactly zero recommendations on how to address that crisis. The mayor acknowledged last week that the group was dissolved without producing a report, a damning indictment both of the internal operations of City Hall and how this mayor doesn't take seriously the cost side of Chicago's ledger while obsessing over finding more revenue to feed the government beast. The two issues — pensions and the city's structural fiscal woes — are tied together inextricably. The main reason taxpayers keep seeing their taxes, fees and fines rise while government services barely improve is the ever-increasing cost of meeting obligations tied to Chicago's four employee pension funds. Chicago is paying $2.9 billion this year for pensions, 17% of its total $17.1 billion budget. That is by far the highest percentage of any major U.S. city. For example, New York City, which also has a pension-debt issue, allocated 9% of its budget to pensions in fiscal 2025. Chicago would love for its pensions to eat up just 9% of its budget. Chicago's pension problem just got exponentially more dire with Gov. JB Pritzker's signing earlier this month of legislation substantially sweetening retirement benefits for Chicago police and firefighters who'd been hired after 2010 — so-called Tier 2 employees. That measure alone added $11 billion to Chicago's pre-existing $36 billion pile of pension debt, a mind-boggling 30% increase. Police and fire pension funds that had just 25% of the assets needed to meet present and future obligations saw that percentage reduced to just 18% in one fell swoop. If Johnson's pension working group had managed to produce any recommendations, we'd have hoped that close to the top of the list would have been not to dig the city's pension hole any deeper. Or, certainly not any deeper than what is minimally necessary to comply with federal rules requiring that pension benefits at least match what Social Security would provide. Instead, Chicago got crickets. As recently as last April, we asked the mayor's office when the pension report would be released and were told at the time that it would be 'within the next two weeks barring unforeseen edits.' Two weeks came and went; we checked back on the matter a month later. We were told the group 'needed to go back and do some more work on it.' But it was coming, we were assured. Sort of the municipal-government equivalent of the 'check is in the mail,' we guess. Let's go back to the establishment of the pension working group. In the opening months of his mayoral term, Johnson rightly identified pension debt as perhaps the most important issue affecting Chicago's future. The group he appointed, unfortunately, was made up mainly of public sector union leaders and Democratic lawmakers allied with those unions. There was virtually no representation for taxpayers and businesses. So given its composition the group wasn't likely to offer bold ideas for securing Chicago's future solvency. Johnson apparently quickly realized as much because a year after the group's formation the administration sharply narrowed its focus from a broad look at the crisis to merely ensuring Tier 2 benefits are compliant with federal law. Even given that simple task, the group couldn't make what should have been an easy call. Johnson told reporters last week that members of the ad hoc panel who supported the unaffordable and unfunded sweeteners signed by Pritzker won the internal debate. Johnson called the result 'a disappointment.' What's disappointing is evidence once again of a lack of leadership from this mayor. When you appoint a working group made up overwhelmingly of those representing public sector unions and their political supporters, what sort of result do you expect? Do you expect them to call for sacrifice for their members? Do you expect them to give taxpayers any consideration? Apart from continuing his predecessor's practice of paying more into Chicago's pension funds than is minimally required, Johnson has failed on the issue that is most threatening to Chicago's future. That failure is symbolized most starkly in the mute dissolution of his own group, formed to help save Chicago from its pension morass but which instead silently acquiesced in making that threat markedly worse. A group whose members couldn't even summon the courage to give official voice to further imperiling Chicago's fiscal health and simply slunk away, knowing their favored outcome would win the day anyway. Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@ Solve the daily Crossword
National Post
22-07-2025
- Health
- National Post
'Significant health risks' from second-hand fentanyl smoke in Vancouver supportive housing offices
VANCOUVER — The presence of second-hand fentanyl smoke is so severe at some British Columbia supportive housing facilities that workers cannot escape 'substantial exposure,' even if they stay in their offices and don't venture into hallways or tenants' rooms. Article content That is the among the findings of tests conducted at 14 British Columbia supportive housing facilities, results that contributed to the province's decision to form a working group aimed at tackling safety issues — including second-hand fentanyl exposure. Article content Article content The assessments, conducted by Sauve Safety Services for BC Housing, tested facilities in Vancouver and Victoria and found elevated levels of airborne fentanyl even in the main offices of all three buildings tested in Vancouver. Article content Article content In a statement, the B.C. Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs said it takes the concerns about possible worker exposure to airborne fentanyl seriously. Article content 'We'll be working with our partners to ensure providers can take fast action to protect staff and tenants in supportive housing,' the statement said. 'The immediate need is to mitigate the known risks based on the exposure assessment and air quality testing that has been done.' In June, the province announced the formation of a working group to tackle safety in supportive housing, including second-hand exposure to fentanyl. Article content The announcement of the group came after a number of recent incidents in the housing units, including a June 11 fire at the former Howard Johnson hotel in Vancouver that injured two people. Article content Article content The ministry said at the time that testing on the 14 facilities in Vancouver and Victoria showed some may be 'more likely to have elevated levels of airborne fentanyl, above the limit WorkSafeBC has established.' Article content Article content Details can be found in more than 600 pages of assessments conducted by Sauve. Article content It recommended that all three Vancouver facilities improve ventilation to the main office, as well as mandating workers to wear respiratory protection in some cases and strengthening smoking policy enforcement for tenants. Article content In its assessment of the Osborn facility on West Hastings Street, testers found occupational fentanyl exposures over a 12-hour shift that 'grossly exceeded applicable regulatory limits,' including WorkSafeBC's limits. Article content 'This trend held true across all sampled work activities, including time spent in the main office, working in the kitchen, cleaning shelter areas, and performing general duties on the shelter floor,' the report said.
CTV News
21-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
‘Grossly exceeded': Fentanyl in air at Vancouver supportive housing offices
VANCOUVER — The presence of second-hand fentanyl smoke is so severe at some British Columbia supportive housing facilities that workers cannot escape 'substantial exposure,' even if they stay in their offices and don't venture into hallways or tenants rooms. That is the among the findings of tests conducted at 14 British Columbia supportive housing facilities, results that contributed to the province's decision to form a working group aimed at tackling safety issues — including second-hand fentanyl exposure. The assessments, conducted by Sauve Safety Services for BC Housing, tested facilities in Vancouver and Victoria — finding elevated levels of airborne fentanyl even in the main office of all three buildings tested in Vancouver. In a statement, the B.C. Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs said it takes the concerns about possible worker exposure to airborne fentanyl seriously. 'We'll be working with our partners to ensure providers can take fast action to protect staff and tenants in supportive housing,' the statement said. 'The immediate need is to mitigate the known risks based on the exposure assessment and air quality testing that has been done.' In June, the province announced the formation of a working group to tackle safety in supportive housing, including second-hand exposure to fentanyl. The announcement of the group came after a number of recent incidents in the housing units, including a June 11 fire at the former Howard Johnson hotel in Vancouver that injured two people. The ministry said at the time that testing on the 14 facilities in Vancouver and Victoria showed some may be 'more likely to have elevated levels of airborne fentanyl, above the limit WorkSafeBC has established.' Details can be found in more than 600 pages of assessments conducted by Sauve. It recommended that all three Vancouver facilities improve ventilation to the main office, as well as mandating workers to wear respiratory protection in some cases and strengthening smoking policy enforcement for tenants. In its assessment of the Osborn facility on West Hastings Street, testers found occupational fentanyl exposures over a 12-hour shift that 'grossly exceeded applicable regulatory limits,' including WorkSafeBC's limits. 'This trend held true across all sampled work activities, including time spent in the main office, working in the kitchen, cleaning shelter areas, and performing general duties on the shelter floor,' the report said. 'At the time of assessment, none of the mental health workers were observed wearing respiratory protection.' Airborne fentanyl levels at the other facilities in Vancouver — Al Mitchell Place on Alexander Street and Hotel Maple on East Hastings — also exceeded exposure limits in office space. The assessments also found higher concentrations in the air of fluorofentanyl, a 'structurally modified' version of fentanyl that can be twice as potent as the original opioid, at all three Vancouver facilities. 'Although fentanyl levels on the second floor approached the eight-hour time-weighted average, fluorofentanyl concentrations were approximately five times higher, indicating a substantial and concerning exposure risk,' the assessment for Al Mitchell Place said. In the 11 tested Victoria facilities, some main offices were found to offer 'protective environments' or had fentanyl levels below regulatory limits, while others exceeded them and created 'significant health risks' for staff. Dr. Ryan Marino, a medical toxicologist with University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, is an expert on addiction medicine and the medical toxicology of opioids such as fentanyl. He said that while he had not seen the specifics of the assessments, the main risk from fentanyl smoke is 'breakdown products' that result when the substance is burned, which can be directly noxious or toxic to a person's airway surfaces. 'It's actually very similar to smog pollution and can give people pretty significant irritation, coughing,' Marino said. '(It) could exacerbate asthma symptoms, that kind of thing. And so that is a very real concern, I would say.' However, he cautioned against overreacting to the threat of absorbing fentanyl or fluorofentanyl through the air, since the opioid does not suspend in an airborne fashion and any particles in the air must be carried through wind or physical motion. 'It would take a lot of physical powder to be in the air for someone to inhale a significant amount,' Marino said. 'For someone who's not using drugs, not ingesting anything in any way, the risk of a second-hand exposure, toxicity, overdose, whatever you want to call it, from fentanyl is pretty close to zero.' University of B.C. adjunct Prof. Mark Haden agreed, adding that he believes the problem of tenants smoking fentanyl in supportive housing is a direct symptom of drug prohibition — a more fundamental issue that should be tackled. 'This is a completely predictable outcome of a social policy that we need to fix,' said Haden, who referred to fentanyl in a health care setting as a medicine. 'We wouldn't have people using fentanyl in their rooms if they could go downstairs to some health facility and talk to a health care worker or a nurse who provided these kind of medicines within the context of a health service.' He called supervised consumption sites a big step in addressing the issue, but not enough. 'Supervised injection sites don't provide the medicine,' Haden said. 'They provide a space for people to inject illegal drugs. So, what we need to do is to provide the medicines that people take in the context of health facilities.' The province has said it is working with the BC Centre for Disease Control, WorkSafeBC and BC Housing to develop new exposure reduction guidance at supportive housing facilities, and the focus is on protecting the workers and tenants in these buildings. 'We expect to have more information from WorkSafeBC and the BCCDC about actions we can take to continue to keep people safe,' the statement said. This report by Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press, was first published July 21, 2025.
BBC News
12-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
North East shellfish die-off 'catastrophic' for fishing community
The mass-deaths of shellfish off the Teesside and North Yorkshire coast in 2021 has had a "catastrophic" impact on the mental health of the fishing community, a report has found. Thousands of crustaceans washed up dead along the area's beaches and a working group made up of councillors from across the region said the incident had affected fishers' livelihoods, as well as local tourism. No definitive cause for the die-off has been found but the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it was likely to be due to naturally occurring harmful situation had an "extremely negative" impact on communities, a meeting on Friday heard. The aftermath of the event was a "fight for survival" for the districts' ecosystem and communities, said the report by a working group made up of councillors from Redcar and Cleveland, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton councils."Clearly, the impact on fishing communities has been catastrophic in certain areas," it said."Most areas along the coast in both directions from the Tees Mouth have experienced a fall-off in catch, the marine environment has been adversely affected in certain areas, and the number of vessels involved in inshore fishing has significantly diminished."Meanwhile, a senior environmental officer said the lobster population was recovering, though it was "not back to where it was".The crab population is "still a long way from that," the officer told a council suggested the creation of a hatchery to restore crab populations in the area should be explored. In 2023, North Yorkshire Council supported calls for a public inquiry into the crustacean die-offs and a public inquiry was formally requested by the working group in July Defra advised that an inquiry was unlikely to provide substantial new insights due to the length of time since the initial the meeting, a council environmental officer said there had been "clearly no appetite" in Government for a public working group called for financial support for the affected fishers and a reduction of red tape to help improve responses to future events, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. North Yorkshire councillor Phil Trumper said: "Other areas, such as farming, get financial support and we should be pushing the Government on that."One of the recommendations of the final report, which was also put forward to North Yorkshire Council's executive committee, proposed "financial support for ventures that might aid the recovery of marine ecosystems". Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
SBS Australia
04-07-2025
- SBS Australia
Travellers are flocking to Antarctica. How can it be protected from overtourism?
The number of tourists heading to Antarctica has been skyrocketing. From fewer than 8,000 a year about three decades ago, nearly 125,000 tourists flocked to the icy continent in 2023–24. The trend is likely to continue in the long term. Unchecked tourism growth in Antarctica risks undermining the very environment that draws visitors to the region. This would be bad for operators and tourists. It would also be bad for Antarctica — and the planet. Over the past two weeks, the nations that decide what human activities are permitted in Antarctica have convened in Italy. The meeting incorporates discussions by a special working group that aims to address tourism issues. It's not easy to manage tourist visitors to a continent beyond any one country's control. So, how do we stop Antarctica from being loved to death? The answer may lie in economics. Future visitor trends We recently modelled future visitor trends in Antarctica. A conservative scenario shows by 2033–34, visitor numbers could reach around 285,000. Under the least conservative scenario, numbers could reach 450,000 — however, this figure incorporates pent-up demand from COVID-19 shutdowns that will likely diminish. The vast majority of the Antarctic tourism industry comprises cruise-ship tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula. A small percentage of visitors travel to the Ross Sea region and parts of the continent's interior. The vast majority of the Antarctic tourism industry comprises cruise-ship tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula. Source: Getty / Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket Antarctic tourism is managed by an international set of agreements, together known as the Antarctic Treaty System, as well as the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). The treaty system is notoriously slow-moving and riven by geopolitics, and IAATO does not have the power to cap visitor numbers. Pressure on a fragile continent About two-thirds of Antarctic tourists land on the continent. The visitors can threaten fragile ecosystems by compacting soils, trampling fragile vegetation, introducing non-native microbes and plant species, and disturbing breeding colonies of birds and seals. Even when cruise ships don't dock, they can cause problems such as air, water and noise pollution — as well as anchoring that can damage the seabed. Then there's carbon emissions. Each cruise ship traveller to Antarctica typically produces between 3.2 and 4.1 tonnes of carbon, not including travel to the port of departure. This is similar to the carbon emissions an average person produces in a year. Tourism in Antarctica can compound damage from climate change, tipping delicate ecosystems into decline. Source: AAP / Mary Evans Global warming caused by carbon emissions is damaging Antarctica. In the Peninsula region, glaciers and ice shelves are retreating and sea ice is shrinking, affecting wildlife and vegetation. Of course, Antarctic tourism represents only a tiny fraction of overall emissions. However, the industry has a moral obligation to protect the place that maintains it. And tourism in Antarctica can compound damage from climate change, tipping delicate ecosystems into decline. Some operators use hybrid ships and less polluting fuels, and offset emissions to offer carbon-neutral travel. IAATO has pledged to halve emissions by 2050 — a positive step, but far short of the net-zero targets set by the International Maritime Organization. Can economics protect Antarctica? Market-based tools — such as taxes, cap-and-trade schemes and certification — have been used in environmental management around the world. Research shows these tools could also prevent Antarctic tourist numbers from getting out of control. One option is requiring visitors to pay a tourism tax. This would help raise revenue to support environmental monitoring and enforcement in Antarctica, as well as fund research. Such a tax already exists in the small South Asian nation of Bhutan, where each tourist pays a tax of US$100 ($152) a night. But while a tax might deter the budget-conscious, it probably wouldn't deter high-income, experience-driven tourists. Alternatively, a cap-and-trade system would create a limited number of Antarctica visitor permits for a fixed period. The initial distribution of permits could be among tourism operators or countries, via negotiation, auction or lottery. Unused permits could then be sold, making them quite valuable. Caps have been successful in managing tourism impacts elsewhere, such as on Lord Howe Island, although no trades are allowed in that system. Any cap on tourist numbers in Antarctica and rules for trading must be based on evidence about what the environment can handle. But there is a lack of precise data on Antarctica's carrying capacity. And permit allocations amongst the operators and nations would need to be fair and inclusive. Alternatively, existing industry standards could be augmented with independent schemes certifying particular practices — for example, reducing carbon footprints. This could be backed by robust monitoring and enforcement to avoid greenwashing. Looking ahead Given the complexities of Antarctic governance, our research finds the most workable solution is a combination of these market-based options, alongside other regulatory measures. So far, parties to the Antarctic treaty have made very few binding rules for the tourism industry. And some market-based levers will be more acceptable to the parties than others. But doing nothing is not a solution.
