How do you use your vehicle

The last time I sought insurance for my automobile I was asked about the way I use it. I related that I drove back and forth from work and took the car to do errands for groceries and supplies. Since then, I have retired and we have gone through two years of COVID. I am pretty confident that my use of the vehicle is well within the bounds required by my insurance contract. I wonder if the companies that insure the trucks involved in the occupation of Ottawa and the disruption of essential traffic in Canadian cities are including this usage in the coverage offered by their policies.

 Insurance Premium and Terms and Conditions

In my province, when I renew my vehicle permit, I may be required to settle outstanding tickets charged against my vehicle to complete the process. It seems to me that my driving record is something that helps determine my insurance premium. James Menzies writes that many trucking companies have decided to steer clear of Ottawa protests. Derek Koza, of Wellington Motor Freight, pointed out another reason company equipment can’t be seen in such events. 

“Due to insurance concerns we would not allow company branded equipment to participate in the convoy as the usage would be outside of the scope of our policy use. Wellington Group of Companies will not block ​individuals from using their personal vehicles and participating in the convoy should they wish as we support freedom of speech in a respectful and peaceful delivery.”1

Sierra Alley reports about violations that might be hurting  trucking insurance rates. An interview on November 16, on TalkCDL Trucking Podcast featured a REV insurance representative who discussed rates and the tangible steps truckers can take to keep their premiums down.

Accidents on record

Speeding tickets

Open containers or illegal substances on the truck

Safety violations that are logged on DOT reports

Tickets or accidents as a result of using handheld devices

 

There are common coverages recommended.

• General Liability Coverage: This covers the actions of a driver who is operating on someone else’s premises, such as loading docks and truck stops. It provides coverage for bodily injury to others and damage to the property of others due to a vehicle accident.

• Primary Liability Coverage: This does not cover your truck, but rather covers the damage you may do to others while operating your truck.

• Physical Damage Coverage: Provides coverage to repair or replace damage to your equipment in the event of an accident or other risks, such as fire, theft, glass breakage, or vandalism.

• Non-Trucking Liability Coverage: Coverage for damages or injuries to others while the truck is not under dispatch from the company you are currently leased with.

• Cargo Coverage — Protects your cargo against damage or loss while in transit, whether that be stolen goods, wet load, refrigeration breakdown, debris removal, etc.

• Trailer Interchange: Covers a non-owned trailer being used under a trailer interchange agreement.

• Medical Payment: This covers medical bills if you or a passenger is injured while driving or riding in the tractor, this coverage varies from state to state.

• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists: This coverage protects you if someone hits you and does not have liability coverage to repair whatever you need repaired2

•  

I imagine that enforcement personnel moving from vehicle to vehicle asking for proof of insurance, issuing tickets, and possibly more serious warrants would create a disincentive for truck operators to remain in a situation that threatens their ongoing cost for vehicle insurance.

 

References

1	(2022, January 29). Trucking companies steer clear of Ottawa protests. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://www.trucknews.com/transportation/trucking-companies-steer-clear-of-ottawa-protests/1003156700/
2	(2020, December 11). These violations might be hurting your trucking insurance rates. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://cdllife.com/2020/these-violations-might-be-hurting-your-trucking-insurance-rates/

 

Energy Democracy Action for Nova Scotia

In the online discussion of the role of residential solar power in the transition to reduce GHG emissions in energy generation in Nova Scotia the idea of organizing around the concept of Energy Democracy has been suggested.

Consider Energy Democracy

 

The International Energy Democracy alliance hopes different groups over the world can be connected in the fight for energy democracy. They have created an open knowledge platform (Energy-democracy.net) maintained by the International Energy Democracy Alliance.

Over 300 groups and persons from across the world exchange via the energy democracy mailing list key developments and materials to advance the struggle for a just transition towards energy democracy. The website and mailing list are open spaces in which we welcome your contributions and participation. Let us know your stories on (fights for) energy democracy and relevant resources.1

Image source: https://energy-democracy.net/ 

The Climate Justice Alliance addresses the question of “What is Energy Democracy?” 

Energy Democracy represents a shift from the corporate, centralized fossil fuel economy to one that is governed by communities, is designed on the principle of no harm to the environment, supports local economies, and contributes to the health and well-being for all peoples. CJA is committed to the goal of maintaining global temperatures at a 1.5 Celsius increase above pre-industrial levels. At the same time, we are committed to the principles that protect workers, communities, the rights of nature, and the rights of future generations.2

Scientists, economists, and scholars in public policy and community development report on the challenges and opportunities of operationalizing Energy Democracy in Vermont.

The transition away from fossil fuels toward more renewable-based energy systems is underway taking shape differently in different communities, states, and countries throughout the world (Brown et al., 2015; Princen et al., 2015). Although there is a common tendency to view the renewable transition in technical and economic terms, current energy system changes involve much more than a technical substitution from fossil fuels to renewable electricity generation; this transition also involves social, institutional, and cultural innovations (Stephens et al., 2015). Energy democracy is an emergent social movement focused on advancing renewable energy transitions by resisting the dominant energy agenda while reclaiming and democratically restructuring energy regimes (Burke and Stephens, 2017; Van Veelen and Van Der Horst, 2018). By integrating technological change with the potential for socioeconomic and political change, the movement links social justice and equity with all kinds of innovation in energy (both social and technical innovations). The energy democracy movement seeks to create opportunities for destabilizing power relations (Angel, 2016a), reversing histories of dispossession, marginalization (Duda, 2015; Farrell, 2016) and social and environmental injustices (EDANY, 2016), and replacing monopolized fossil fuel energy systems with democratic and renewable structures (Kunze, 2014). Above all, energy democracy offers a set of visionary organizing principles that provide guidance for democratically restructuring the energy and electricity sectors through the processes of shifting from fossil fuel-based systems to renewable energy systems (Sweeney, 2014; Angel, 2016b).3

Review and analysis of energy innovations in the state of Vermont provides valuable insights on operationalizing energy democracy principles and policies as part of the renewable energy transition. Vermont is one of the smallest states in the United States with a total population of only 626,560 people. It has integrated social and technical innovation in its efforts to move toward the climate-justified goal of achieving 90% renewable energy by 2050. The unique innovative environment in Vermont with respect to energy transitions and energy democracy may be a model that fits well with the demographics and tradition of cooperation in Nova Scotia.

 

References

1	(n.d.). ENERGY DEMOCRACY. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://energy-democracy.net/
2	(n.d.). Energy Democracy - Climate Justice Alliance. Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://climatejusticealliance.org/workgroup/energy-democracy/
3	(2018, October 3). Operationalizing Energy Democracy: Challenges and Opportunities .... Retrieved January 30, 2022, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2018.00043/full

 

Ponder People Power and Profit

Two of the transitions that Nova Scotia must make in the near future involve action to reduce the GHG in power generation and provide affordable housing for many of our citizens. Recent media coverage points to market forces that are apparently acting against these transitions.

 

Transition needed in Energy Generation

 

The Canadian Renewable Energy Association calls on the Nova Scotia Government to restore consumer confidence by challenging recent actions taken by Nova Scotia Power Inc. in proposing a significant system access fee for solar energy installations.

Solar Energy Installation

 

“We are calling on the Government of Nova Scotia to intervene to ensure that Nova Scotians can continue to pursue rooftop solar installations and make significant climate-friendly investments in the province,” said Brandy Giannetta, CanREA’s Vice-President of Policy, Regulatory and Government Affairs. NSPI’s proposed system access charge, of $8 per kilowatt of solar PV capacity per month, or nearly $800 per year for the average solar home in Nova Scotia, would erase approximately 60% of the economic value of solar net-metering.1

A Media Release from the Sierra Club of Canada declares it is time to break up with Nova Scotia Power. NSPI’s announcement that it wants to charge a premium on homeowners with solar panel installations is a huge step backward for renewable energy in the province.

“The company is gaslighting homeowners who want to be part of the climate solution,” says National Program Director Gretchen Fitzgerald.. “It’s giving the public the false impression that homeowners with solar panels are cashing in on low electricity at the expense of other customers. That’s simply not true. It takes most solar customers at least ten years just to pay off the loans for their solar panel installation.”2

The Sierra Club suggests NSPI’s proposed 10 percent rate hike over three years, while maintaining its 9 percent guaranteed profit rate underscores the problem of a private energy monopoly.

“Nova Scotians are waking up to the reality that there is no way forward with Nova Scotia Power. If we want affordable, reliable, and clean renewable energy in this province, it can’t be controlled by a private multinational and a rubber stamp review board,” says Deveaux. “We need to recognize that electricity is an essential service. We shouldn’t have to tell Nova Scotia Power that reducing greenhouse gas emissions isn’t a luxury; it’s essential too.”2

Taryn Grant, of CBC News, reports that investors make a fifth of home purchases in Halifax where real estate prices continue to soar.

CBC and Bank Of Canada Chart

 

The report provides context, although it does not directly answer the question of how much investors are responsible for driving up real estate prices.

In Halifax, the average home sale was 26 per cent higher in 2021 than the year before, and 14 per cent higher in 2020 than the year before that, according to statistics reported by the Nova Scotia Real Estate Association. Most major Canadian cities have seen investor activity grow in recent years, but Halifax has seen one of the biggest jumps. Since 2014, investor purchases rose more than four per cent in Halifax, second only to Ottawa's five per cent growth.3 

Providing power to Nova Scotia through publicly owned, community or province wide utilities would recognize the public interest in providing a high standard of electrical service while at the same time leading the transition to reduce the GHG emissions without the need to maintain shareholder dividends. Social action groups are increasingly making the case that in the often severe and constantly changing climate of Nova Scotia, adequate housing is a right and a necessity for health and welfare. When housing is bought and sold as a commodity, the cost of shelter becomes subject to the laws of supply and demand. Unfortunately, demand drives the price up and investors seem to have little interest in increasing the supply of affordable accommodations.

 

References

1	(2022, January 28). Nova Scotia Power's proposed “system access charge” would .... Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://renewablesassociation.ca/nspi-proposal-would-devastate/
2	(2022, January 28). Media Release: Time to Break Up With Nova Scotia Power. Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://www.sierraclub.ca/en/media/2022-01-28/media-release-time-break-nova-scotia-power
3	(2022, January 29). Investors make a fifth of home purchases in Halifax, where real .... Retrieved January 29, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-real-estate-home-prices-investors-bank-of-canada-1.6330903

 

Conflict As Ends Justify Means

A recent segment of the Current on CBC radio included an interview with Jon Ronson who has produced a podcast that explores the history of the development of the culture wars in areas such as abortion and sex education.

PHOTO BY ROB GURDEBEKE/THE CANADIAN PRESS/FILE

 

Some scenarios he relates reveal how the fury of these debates may have evolved because of decisions and desires not related to the values currently driving heated conflicts.

In his new podcast Things Fell Apart: Strange Tales From The Culture Wars, Jon Ronson traces the history of culture wars over issues like religion, gender, and sexuality — and finds some very weird stories along the way.1

Steven Mintz, aka Ethics Sage, asks the related question “Do the Ends Justify the Means?” He cites Niccolo Machiavelli for an early explanation of the ends justifying the means, expressed in Chapter XVIII of The Prince. The statement that “the ends justify the means” can be traced back to Niccolo Machiavelli. The closest he came to it was when he expressed his view in Chapter XVIII of The Prince:

“There is nothing more necessary to appear to have than this last quality (appearing to be religious), inasmuch as men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, because it belongs to everybody to see you, to few to come in touch withyou.”Machiavel_Offices_Florence2

Mintz explains that in this quote from Chapter 18 of The Prince about keeping faith, or being true to your word, Machiavelli is instructing a Prince on how to behave and how to keep up appearances. He says it’s very important to appear merciful, faithful, humane, upright, and religious. He also says that one must be prepared to act in a manner contrary to the appearance to keep up the appearance. This is because everyone can see what you appear to be, and only a few will get close enough to touch you and actually find out what happened. 

These people (each with slightly different reasons and motivations) are all about appearing as they wish people to see them. Even if it is nothing like what they really are, even if they are saying the exact opposite of what they will eventually do, they know that few will see through their appearances. So, for Machiavelli, to appear to be doing something is good enough even if the actor has no intention of doing so, or achieving an end result far outweighs how we got there; what road we took; and whether our behavior was ethical or not.2

Max Fawcett shares his opinion, in the National Observer, that the anti-vaxxer truck convoy signals an insidious spread of Trumpism in Canada where Conservatives are misrepresenting reality and promoting false information and fake controversies to their base.

Take former leader Andrew Scheer’s recent tweet, in which he declared his affinity for the convoy of truckers making their way to Ottawa to protest the government’s policy. “Trudeau is attacking personal liberty and threatening everyone's ability to get groceries because of his overreach on vaccine mandates,” Scheer wrote. “He is the biggest threat to freedom in Canada.”3

The fusion of hyperbole, hatred and fear-mongering is, to Fawcett, exactly the sort of thing the Republican Party has traded in ever since Donald Trump stepped onto that Trump Tower escalator in 2015. Since then, both he and the Republican Party he controls have routinely treated the truth and those who tried to defend it with open contempt.

There’s no question supply chains are stretched right now due to a combination of factors (recent floods in B.C. and droughts on the Prairies, for example, not to mention the growing percentage of truck drivers and other key employees who are sick with the Omicron variant), and that this is showing up in the form of shortages of certain products in our grocery stores. But to pretend, as the Conservative Party of Canada has for days now, this is entirely because of the federal government’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truck drivers (a similar mandate already exists in the United States) is dishonest in the extreme.3

Fawcett finds that they have gone further than just garden variety dishonesty, too.

Reverse the mandate 🚛🚛
Sign the petition and SHARE 👇https://t.co/noPa1ZRX8e pic.twitter.com/iMF1Dhc5sX

— Melissa Lantsman (@MelissaLantsman) January 21, 2022

In a recent tweet, Thornhill MP Melissa Lantsman (who was once heralded as a bright, new moderate voice in the party) used a stock image of empty shelves in a British grocery store in a post that suggested “empty Canadian grocery store shevles [sic] could become a larger problem.” When people pointed out the obvious error — and deceit — she simply doubled down and directed people to her petition against the federal government’s vaccine mandate. These sorts of blatant lies and deliberate attempts to mislead Canadians are a threat to our democracy. But what makes the CPC’s recent conduct even more dangerous is the obvious desire on the part of its key members, including former leader Scheer and potential leadership front-runner Pierre Poilievre, to provoke a portion of the Canadian public that’s already inclined towards anti-social behaviour — and direct their fury towards the prime minister.3

The truckers, who are over 80% vaccinated, have gathered support for their freedom convoy. Unfortunately, it is likely that this demonstration has become the means for others to use misinformation, and populist demagoguery to promote ends that threaten the truth needed in a well functioning democracy.

 

References

1	(2022, January 25). The Current for Jan. 25, 2022 | CBC Radio. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-jan-25-2022-1.6326525
2	(2018, April 3). Do the Ends Justify the Means? - Ethics Sage. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.ethicssage.com/2018/04/do-the-ends-justify-the-means.html
3	(2022, January 27). Anti-vaxxer truck convoy signals insidious spread of Trumpism in .... Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.nationalobserver.com/2022/01/27/opinion/anti-vaxxer-truck-convoy-signals-insidious-spread-trumpism-canada