TEMPO.CO , Jakarta - Finlandia sedang mengusulkan kerja selama empat hari dalam seminggu kepada seluruh warga negaranya. Kebijakan ini ditujukan agar masyarakat punya lebih banyak waktu dengan keluarga. Dikutip dari mirror.co.uk, Perdana Menteri Finlandia Sanna Marin juga menyerukan agar dilakukan enam jam kerja per hari. Sebelumnya Swedia telah lebih dulu memberlakukan jam kerja enam jam per hari mulai 2015. Rencana pemerintah Finlandia itu pun disambut gembira oleh sebagian besar masyarakat. Banyak dari mereka mengungkapkan kegembiraan di dunia maya. “Saya tentu saja menyukai hal ini,” tulis seorang warga Finlandia di Twitter.
Ilustrasi bekerja (pixabay.com).jpg Marin, 34 tahun, pada Desember 2019 mencatatkan diri sebagai kepala negara termuda kedua di dunia. Ibu satu anak itu memimpin pemerintahan koalisi yang didukung oleh empat partai yang semuanya diketuai oleh perempuan, dimana 3 orang diantaranya berusia di bawah 35 tahun. Marin mengatakan proposal kebijakan itu akan membuat warga negaranya memiliki waktu bersama keluarga atau menjalankan hobi-hobi mereka. “Saya rasa orang berhak menghabiskan lebih banyak waktu dengan keluarga, dengan orang terkasih, hobi atau aspek lainnya di kehidupan, seperti budaya. Ini akan menjadi langkah berikutnya dalam kehidupan kita,” kata Marin. Ketika Marin masih menjabat sebagai Menteri Transportasi Finlandia, Marin sudah menyarankan agar jam kerja dikurangi demi meningkatkan produktifitas karyawan. Finlandia saat ini masih memberlakukan jam kerja normal, yakni 8 jam per hari dan 5 hari dalam seminggu. Gagasan Marin itu disambut positif oleh Menteri Pendidikan Finlandia Li Andersson. Menurutnya penting memberikan waktu pada warga negara Finlandia untuk tidak hanya fokus pada pekerjaan, namun mengurangi jam kerja. Sebelumnya pada November 2019, Microsoft Jepang memperkenalkan kebijakan libur tiap akhir pekan selama tiga hari, bukan dua hari. Hasilnya, produktifitas kerja karyawan naik sampai 40 persen.
Liputan6.com, Jakarta - Memasuki musim penghujan, Kementerian Pariwisata dan Ekonomi Kreatif ( Kemenparekraf ) dan Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) kembali berkoordinasi untuk mengantisipasi bencana di tempat wisata. Kedua lembaga sepakat menyusun proposal untuk menjamin keamanan dan kenyamanan para wisatawan dari risiko bencana yang ada.
Menparekraf Wishnutama Kusubandio menyebut keamanan dan kenyamanan merupakan dua faktor penentu turis memilih destinasi wisata. Maka itu, manajemen krisis harus jelas agar wisatawan bisa merasa aman dan nyaman.
"Dengan ciptakan rasa aman dan nyaman, rasanya pariwisata sangat meningkat signifikan, terlepas dari infrastruktur dan daya tarik," kata dia di Jakarta, Jumat (3/1/2020).
Kepala BNPB Doni Monardo menerangkan langkah pertama sebelum mengajukan proposal tersebut adalah melakukan kajian akademis. Hal itu meliputi kajian geologis, vulkanologis, dan ekonomis.
"Karena setiap daerah punya karakteristik ancaman berbeda. Kita ketahui dulu ancaman yang ada, baru siapkan SDM-nya, infrastrukturnya, hingga anggarannya," kata Doni.
Pemetaan risiko bencana diprioritaskan untuk 10 destinasi wisata prioritas , termasuk lima destinasi super prioritas yang ditetapkan pemerintah. Apalagi, pemerintah menargetkan pariwisata menyumbang devisa terbesar pada 2020.
Di sisi lain, kewenangan BNPB juga terbatas. Badan Penanggulangan Bencana Daerah (BPBD) lah yang bertanggung jawab langsung menangani masalah kebencanaan di lapangan. Sementara, BPBD adalah instrumen pemerintah provinsi dan kabupaten/kota.
"Bukan vertikal, BNPB hanya bisa masukkan saran. Presiden juga mengingatkan agar pusat dan daerah bisa bekerja sama," ujarnya.
Untuk itu, pihaknya bersama Kemenparekraf mencari formula terbaik agar semua pihak bisa bahu membahu untuk mengantisipasi, memitigasi, hingga merespons bila bencana terjadi. Wishnutama menargetkan proposal tersebut sudah bisa diajukan dalam waktu kurang dari dua bulan.
"Semuanya tentu harus disiapkan. Kelembagaan BPBD yang mumpuni, kapasitas yang bagus akan bisa mengurangi dampak bencana," imbuh Doni.
ILUSTRASI. Kementerian ESDM masih menanti pengajuan proposal Kontraktor Kontrak Kerja Sama (KKKS) pada Blok Jabung. Reporter: Filemon Agung | Editor: Komarul Hidayat KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA . Kementerian Energi dan Sumber Daya Mineral (ESDM) masih menanti pengajuan proposal Kontraktor Kontrak Kerja Sama (KKKS) pada Blok Jabung. Sekedar informasi, Blok Jabung yang saat ini dikelola oleh PetroChina selaku operator (27,85%), Petronas Carigali (27,85%), Pertamina Hulu Energi Jabung (14,28%) dan PT PP Oil & Gas (30%) akan habis masa kontraknya pada Februari 2023 mendatang. Nasib Blok Jabung sedikit berbeda dengan dua blok migas lain yang juga habis kontraknya pada 2023 mendatang yakni Blok Rimau dan Blok Corridor yang telah memperoleh kepastian soal kontrak pengelolaan blok tersebut. PT Medco E&P Rimau akan melanjutkan pengelolaan pada Blok Rimau selama 20 tahun setelah masa terminasi blok tersebut pada 23 April 2023 mendatang. Sementara itu, Blok Corridor masih akan dikelola oleh ConocoPhilips (Grissik) Ltd, Talisman Corridor Ltd (Repsol), dan PT Pertamina Hulu Energi Corridor selepas masa terminasi pada 19 Desember 2023. Pelaksana Tugas Direktur Jenderal Minyak dan Gas Bumi Kementerian ESDM Djoko Siswanto mengungkapkan, hingga saat ini pihaknya masih menanti proposal perpanjangan kontrak dari para KKKS. Baca Juga: SKK Migas Sumbagut proyeksikan lifting minyak mentah lampaui target "Jabung, kita tinggal nunggu proposal dari KKKS. Tahun depan (2020)," kata Djoko ditemui di Kantor Kementerian ESDM, Senin (30/12). Djoko menambahkan, pengajuan proposal besar kemungkinan akan dilakukan pada Januari ini. Kendati demikian, Djoko pun belum bisa memastikan apakah nantinya para KKKS mengajukan proposal terpisah atau digabung seperti yang terjadi pada Blok Corridor. "Operator sekarang kan Petrochina, bisa gabung, bisa sendiri," terang Djoko. Dalam catatan Kontan.co.id, pada Oktober 2019 lalu, Petrochina telah mengajukan proposal perpanjangan kontrak kepada Kementerian ESDM. Wakil Menteri ESDM saat itu, Arcandra Tahar kala itu mengungkapkan proses evaluasi untuk blok tersebut sedang berlangsung. Sayangnya hingga kini belum ada kejelasan soal kelanjutan pengelolaan blok ini. Tak hanya Petrochina, Pertamina melalui PHE Jabung bahkan sempat dikabarkan berminat untuk mengelola blok tersebut. Wakil Kepala SKK Migas Fatar Yani Abdurahman menuturkan pengajuan proposal oleh Pertamina juga telah diserahkan oleh SKK Migas kepada Kementerian ESDM kala itu. "Tanya ke ESDM saja karena mereka yang memutuskan. Kami sudah serahkan ke sana, tinggal ESDM saja melihat," ujar Fatar kala itu. Baca Juga: Pertamina: Investasi Blok Rokan untuk tahun 2020 sudah disiapkan Sekedar informasi, merujuk data SKK Migas, hingga akhir Agustus 2019 lalu, produksi kondensat Blok Jabung tercatat sebesar 16.000 barrel oil per day (bopd) atau lebih tinggi 3 ribu bopd dari target Rencana Kerja dan Anggaran dan Belanja (RKAB) 2019. Realisasi produksi tersebut juga lebih tinggi dari target APBN sebesar 14.000 bopd. Reporter: Filemon Agung Editor: Komarul Hidayat
Berita Liga Italia : Tawaran Inter Milan untuk Marcos Acuna ditolak Sporting CP. Nerazzurri siap datang dengan proposal baru. Menurut laporan surat kabar yang berbasis di Lisbon, A Bola , Inter Milan sudah mengajukan tawaran awal untuk meminjam Marcos Acuna dengan opsi pembelian seharga 10 Juta Euro. Namun sayang, tawaran tersebut ditolak oleh pihak Sporting CP. Namun Nerazzurri belum menyerah, Beppe Marotta dkk dikabarkan akan kembali mengajukan proposal baru demi bisa membawa Acuna ke Giuseppe Meazza. Menurut laporan dari Tuttosport dan Calciomercato, Inter Milan akan berusaha merayu pihak Sporting CP dengan menaikkan tawaran menjadi 12 juta Euro. Tekad keras ini ditunjukkan setelah proses negosiasi untuk mengamankan bek kiri Chelsea , Marcos Alonso, tidak mencapai kata sepakat. Namun sayang, laporan tersebut mengatakan jika proposal baru yang akan dikirimkan pihak La beneamata masih jauh dari tuntutan klub Portugal tersebut. Sebelumnya, pihak Sporting CP siap melepas pemain andalannya tersebut dengan mahar 20 juta Euro. Acuna sendiri dikabarkan sudah siap untuk hijrah ke Milan. Bahkan pemain 28 tahun tersebut menyatakan sangat tertarik menjajal peruntungannya di Serie A . Jika proses negosiasi untuk Marcos Acuna kembali menemui jalan buntu, Inter Milan masih punya opsi lainnya yang lebih masuk akal, yakni Layvin Kurzawa dari Paris Saint Germain. Namun sayang, Conte dikabarkan tidak menyukainya karena performanya yang menurun. Artikel Tag: Inter Milan , Marcos Acuna , Sporting CP
Klub Serie A Liga Italia, Inter Milan, siap memberikan penawaran ini untuk bisa menyingkirkan Juventus dalam perebutan pemain Chelsea, Emerson Palmieri.
INDOSPORT.COM - Klub sepak bola Serie A Liga Italia, Inter Milan, siap memberikan penawaran ini untuk bisa menyingkirkan Juventus dalam perebutan pemain Chelsea, Emerson Palmieri .
Beberapa waktu yang lalu, dua raksasa dari Serie A Liga Italia, Inter Milan dan Juventus , memang pernah dirumorkan ingin merekrut bek kiri Chelsea yang bernama Emerson Palmieri. Namun, kala itu Juventus lebih sering menjadi sorotan lantaran memasukkan Palmieri dalam target utama mereka.
Meski tak begitu santer digosipkan, tapi Inter atau Nerazzurri ternyata juga serius dalam mendatangkan pemain berusia 25 tahun itu ke Giuseppe Meazza. Hal ini dikarenakan upaya mereka untuk mendapatkan pemain Chelsea lainnya, Marcos Alonso, menghadapi kendala terkait masalah dana.
Dilansir dari laman portal berita olahraga Sempre Inter , Nerazzurri dikabarkan bakal melayangkan penawaran pertama mereka kepada The Blues, yaitu dana transfer sebesar 29,5 juta euro atau sekitar Rp459 miliar. Harga setinggi itu masuk akal, mengingat kontrak sang pemain masih akan habis pada akhir musim 2021/22.
Meski demikian, karena Inter Milan belum secara resmi mengajukan penawaran tersebut, Chelsea sendiri juga belum memberikan respons mereka, apakah akan melepas Palmieri ke pemuncak Serie A Liga Italia 2019/20 itu ataukah menunggu langkah dari Juventus yang juga meminatinya .
Namun yang pasti, pelatih The Blues, Frank Lampard, dikabarkan memang berniat untuk mendepaknya dari Stamford Bridge pada bursa transfer musim dingin 2020. Sebagai gantinya, ia meminta pihak klub untuk mengejar Ben Chilwell dari Leicester City atau Youcef Atal dari OGC Nice.
Emerson Palmieri sendiri baru memperkuat Chelsea pada 2018 yang lalu. Bersama raksasa sepak bola Liga Inggris tersebut di kancah domestik musim ini, ia baru dimainkan 12 kali, memiliki akurasi umpan 85% per laga, melakukan satu kali clean sheet , dan memiliki tingkat kesuksesan duel 70 persen.
United Methodist Church Announces Proposal to Split Over Gay Marriage
Enlarge this image toggle caption Charlie Riedel/AP Charlie Riedel/AP
The United Methodist Church announced a proposal Friday to split the denomination over what it called "fundamental differences" regarding its beliefs on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ clergy.
The proposal, signed by 16 church leaders from around the world, will be voted on at the church's 2020 general conference in May. If passed, it would allow for a "traditionalist" denomination to separate from the United Methodist Church, the second largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., with more than 12 million members worldwide.
Currently, ordained pastors are not allowed to perform same-sex marriages, risking disciplinary action if they do, and "practicing" LGBTQ people also cannot become ordained pastors, according to the church's book of discipline.
The new traditionalist denomination, once separate, would open the door for the existing United Methodist Church to repeal the church's ban on same-sex marriages and LGBTQ clergy.
"If this actually passes, it will be a great relief," says the Rev. Tom Berlin, a pastor at the Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Va., who signed the protocol and described himself as representing groups who hold a centrist view in the ideological conflict.
"What this proposal allows us to do is be a more inclusive United Methodist Church," Berlin says. "It also allows us to put a controversy to rest. The controversy itself has been a stumbling block toward our larger mission."
The nine-page plan, dated Dec. 17, 2019, was mediated by Kenneth Feinberg, a well-known lawyer who oversaw the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and other high-profile compensation programs. The plan largely focused on the distribution of financial assets.
Under the plan, the church's General Council on Finance and Administration would provide $25 million to the new traditionalist denomination over a period of four years. An additional $2 million is allotted in the plan for any other new denominations that might be created. Pension plans for current clergy and lay employees would also remain in place.
Local churches would be able to choose whether they want to stay in the United Methodist Church or join a new denomination. Those decisions must be made by the end of 2024, according to the proposal, and any church moving to another Methodist denomination would maintain its assets and liabilities.
The question of whether to allow LGBTQ marriage and clergy has existed almost since the founding of the United Methodist Church in 1968, says the Rev. Keith Boyette, president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, who signed the protocol representing traditionalist views.
"Every other mainline denomination in the United States has faced this conflict," says Boyette. "This agreement models how a conflict can be addressed in an amicable way." He said that the separation was bittersweet for him, but that each faction can now move forward "unhindered by the other."
The conflict came to a head last February at a special session of the church's general conference, when 53% of church leaders in attendance voted to uphold the ban on same-sex marriage and clergy. Leaders at that conference also introduced tougher measures against clergy who officiate at same-sex marriages. The measures included a one-year suspension for the first offense and removal from the clergy after that and were set to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2020.
The vote and measures introduced at that conference signaled a growing divide between Methodists in the United States and those in less-developed, more socially conservative countries, particularly in Africa and Asia. In the U.S., 60% of United Methodist members say homosexuality should be accepted, according to a 2014 survey by the Pew Research Center.
"In the congregation I serve, they're delighted that I was appointed to be their pastor. They would describe it as an answer to prayer," says the Rev. David Meredith, a pastor at the Clifton United Methodist Church in Cincinnati. Meredith is gay and has been married since 2016.
Meredith, who signed the protocol representing progressive groups, says that he is under complaint from the church for marrying a man, but that his immediate supervisors and his congregation are happy to have him continue to serve as pastor. The protocol immediately puts into effect an abeyance, which means that complaint goes "into a drawer where it can collect dust."
"When my husband and I made it legal, suddenly they had this piece of evidence — my marriage license — to get me," Meredith says. "The United Methodist Church post-separation will be a place where the injury and the harm of LGBTQ clergy and of LGBTQ couples, their families, their congregations, their communities, will be removed. Part of that begins immediately."
He says the plan doesn't acknowledge the historical legacy of homophobia in the church, though he pointed to the plan's allotment of $39 million over four years to "support communities historically marginalized by the sin of racism" as a step toward such an acknowledgement.
Meredith says the protocol speaks to where he believes the United Methodist Church is called to go. He referenced a banner outside his church that reads, "No matter what the politician, the TV preacher, your income, your diagnosis, your documents, your relationship says about you, you're a beloved child of God."
He says people have called him weeping because the sign brought them solace.
CLOSE
Could Rotary Park be Lansing’s next matchmaking hot spot?
In December, Ben Wood proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Mara Porritt, in what might be the new park’s first marriage proposal.
Rotary Park, with riverside tables and chairs, a fireplace, beach and “lighted forest,” opened in late summer along the Grand River near downtown Lansing.
Ben Wood surprises his longtime girlfriend, Mara Porritt, with a marriage proposal Dec. 14, 2019 at Lansing's new riverfront park, Rotary Park. (Photo: Courtesy of Mandy Lee Photography)
Brett Kaschinske, director of Lansing Parks and Recreation, said the Holt couple's engagement marks the first proposal at the site as far as he knows.
“I think it is wonderful,” Kaschinske said in an email. “You have many marriage proposals in public spaces, and parks are great public spaces that people enjoy and have a lot of fun at on dates."
The romantic overlook at Frances Park is likely the site of most proposals at city parks, he said. But Rotary Park could be a contender.
"I think this just highlights everything that we know about Rotary Park, which is that people absolutely love this riverfront space," Kaschinske said.
Saugatuck was on his mind
It almost didn’t happen. Wood was thinking he might pop the question on an upcoming trip to Saugatuck.
“Then I started to think of somewhere a little more locally,” he said.
Ben Wood and Mara Porritt got engaged Dec. 14, 2019 by the fireplace at Rotary Park in Lansing. (Photo: Courtesy of Mandy Lee Photography)
Wood, 23, turned to his brain trust – two female coworkers who sit near him at Auto-Owners Insurance where he’s employed as an underwriting field service representative. He’s often on the road but when he’s at his desk, he bounces ideas off his colleagues.
“They’ve been planning my proposal for me for the last year and a half,” he said and laughed.
Workplace connection
One of them suggested Rotary Park, an $1.8 million waterfront development. Auto-Owners contributed $75,000 to the project, and its name is on a plaque on the fireplace.
The idea of a park with a connection to his employer appealed.
Wood said he loves his job. He started as an intern while attending Michigan State University, where he graduated in 2018 with a degree in food industry management.
“I just went to sort of scope it out. I really liked it. It was right along the river, and I saw the fireplace,” he said.
He planned to propose to her next to the river on Dec. 14.
“I went back to work the next day and told them, ‘It’s a go. Let’s do that,’” he said.
Wood said his friends were hiding with cameras at the park – one behind a garbage can and another by the now-closed Lansing City Market.
They texted him en route and suggested he skip the river and propose by the fireplace where the lighting was ideal and they could capture the moment from their hidden perches.
Mara Porritt, right, said yes to a marriage proposal by Ben Wood Dec. 14, 2019, in what could be Rotary Park's first engagement. The Holt couple plan an April 2021 wedding. (Photo: Courtesy of Mandy Lee Photography)
“I made a quick, on-the-fly adjustment to go with the fireplace,” he said.
Porritt said she knew they would eventually get engaged but wasn’t expecting it so soon.
“When we started talking about it a couple of years ago, I told him I had to be graduated from college. I wanted to focus on nursing school,” she said.
Porritt, 22, finished her nursing classes at Lansing Community College Dec. 11 but she wasn’t anticipating the proposal just three days later.
The idea of a beach in downtown Lansing on the Grand River is wacky, and I like it.
That night, she said she was puzzled about why he parked at the Lansing Center to walk to meet friends at the nearby MP Social, a bar at Marketplace Apartments.
They walked to the fireplace.
“I honestly just thought he wanted to show me that. He loves his job and the company he works for so that’s how he got me over there,” she said. “There was nobody else there, and the lights were all on.”
He talked about her support of him and how important she is to him.
Then he popped the question.
She said, “yes.”
The couple, who live in Holt, is planning an April 2021 wedding.
They first met in high school. Porritt was a junior at Haslett High School and Wood was a senior at East Lansing High School. He was a baseball player and she attended the games.
Porritt said she is outgoing and chatty while Wood is quiet. But when he does talk, he’s witty. One of her girlfriends says shed wants “a Ben” for herself, she said.
Wood said Porritt is selfless, and they share a love of family.
“Family is very important to me, and I saw how much her family means to her,” he said.
Then he flashes the wit Porritt loves: “And she likes sports. That was the real reason.”
Judy Putnam is a columnist with the Lansing State Journal. Contact her at (517) 267-1304 or at jputnam@lsj.com.Follow her on Twitter @judyputnam.
Read or Share this story: https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/opinion/columnists/judy-putnam/2020/01/06/she-said-yes-what-could-rotary-parks-first-marriage-proposal/2798610001/
Watch: Durban proposal goes viral as car performs donuts around couple
This Durban couple's proposal has gone viral on social media. Pic: Dala U Crew Durban - In what can be described as adrenaline fueled proposal, a Durban couple promised to spend the rest of their lives together while a car performed donuts around them. The 3-minute video posted on Dala U Crew has gone viral on social media with over 20k view in less than 15 hours. In the video the man is seen on one knee holding a balloon with the words "Will you Marry Me", while a BMW performs donuts around them. The couple seemed unfazed as the car performs donuts around them and continue with their proposal. The man then places a ring on the woman's finger and her agreement is met with cheers from friends, family and on-lookers.
A biker then arrives and lets off purple smoke and the woman is given the balloons.
Towards the end of the video, a Metro Police vehicle is seen approaching the fanfare.
Many took to social media to express their well-wishes and opinions:
Ashley Naidu: Congratulations...On behalf of the metro here is your wedding gift. Fine!!! Dawa u been served hot hot hot just like the wedding briyani lol
Yusuf Cassim: Because the smell of burning rubber adds so much of romance to any situation...
Vinash Vini Singh: Congratulations guys! Drove past on my way from beach bums yesterday couldn't help but to slow down and admire the bikes.
Saw metro and saps there as well.
Salisha Maharaj: Congratulations to the couple... and well done to the driver..
Vanessa Pillay: Beautiful gesture...... But it could have gone so wrong.
POST
An Alphabet company's vision for a "smart city" project in Toronto includes buildings made of timber that are five times the current limit, potentially steering the company into the challenges of timber innovation in Canada.
TORONTO: An Alphabet company's vision for a "smart city" project in Toronto includes buildings made of timber that are five times the current limit, potentially steering the company into the challenges of timber innovation in Canada.
Sidewalk Labs' proposal includes developing 30-plus story buildings made of timber, close to Toronto's central business district, as part of their commitment to sustainability.
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Sustainability is a "key factor" in evaluating the proposal, said Andrew Tumilty, spokesman for Waterfront Toronto, the government-mandated agency in charge of the Quayside development.
The issue typifies the multitude of challenges Sidewalk faces in getting its smart city off the ground - including governmental regulations that are years behind current technology, and a shrunken geography for the project that brings into question the viability of many of their proposals.
Sidewalk's project will be voted on by Waterfront Toronto's board for final approval on March 31, 2020.
Timber buildings have long been popular in Europe, because of their climate-friendly potential. The trees used to build them hold carbon, are cleaner to produce than concrete and steel, and are less carbon-heavy to transport, according to the United Nations.
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In North America they have been slow to catch on.
David Hine, a building code consultant with 30 years of experience in Ontario who has worked on timber buildings in the past, said that without "huge political influence," he doubted a 30-story building would be permitted in code in the next 20 years.
Toronto has "become significantly more bureaucratic and (shown) reluctance to being the leaders in Ontario to reviewing uniquely configured buildings," Hine said.
Sidewalk has defended the choice, stating that the Quayside land is permitted to be high-density, and the tall timber buildings are accommodating that.
But they acknowledge it is not a given.
"We're trying to push as far as we can with the mass timber," Karim Khalifa, Sidewalk's director of buildings innovation, said in a phone interview, adding that they would look at hybrid buildings if necessary to satisfy the code.
The challenge of meeting the building code is that this means they do not function as a standard office or residential building, said James Ware, a building code consultant in Toronto.
"It is more performance-based than just ticking the boxes of the building code," Ware said.
Sidewalk is wading into a conversation that has been years in the making - but their timing is good, said Jamie Lim, chief executive of the Ontario Forest Industries Association, and she is optimistic about future changes to the code.
"Tall wood buildings have been taking place, we're just saying let's make sure (Canada is) keeping up," Lim said.
(Reporting by Moira Warburton; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
Ten Republican senators have signed onto Sen. Josh Hawley’s proposal to change the Senate rules to enable the chamber to dismiss President Donald Trump’s impeachment.
The Missouri Republican’s proposed rules change would empower the Senate to dismiss articles of impeachment if the House fails to deliver them within 25 days of its impeachment vote.
Hawley’s resolution, unveiled Monday, is a response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to withhold the articles of impeachment against Trump in an effort to compel the GOP-controlled Senate to call witnesses when it holds its trial of the president. Pelosi’s strategy prevents the Senate from voting to acquit Trump from the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The former Missouri attorney general has argued that a criminal prosecutor would have a case dismissed against a defendant for using similar tactics. Hawley’s proposal is meant to pressure Pelosi, a California Democrat, to hand over the articles or to give the Senate an option if the delay continues.
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“It’s been 19 days. It could be 90 days. It could be 190 days,” Hawley said in a speech Monday afternoon. “There is nothing that will stop the speaker from sitting on these articles indefinitely. They could persist into the president’s second term, if and when he is reelected. That’s the situation we are now facing.”
A change to the Senate rules requires a two-thirds majority of 67 votes. Republicans only hold 53 seats in the Senate, but Hawley hinted Monday that Republicans could bypass the requirement through a tactic often referred to as the nuclear option.
“The Constitution gives the Senate the ability to set its own rules and I don’t know that it does need 67 votes. Rules can be changed with 51 votes,” Hawley told reporters.
Laurence Tribe, a Harvard Law School professor who advised House Democrats during the impeachment process, warned that any efforts to bypass the 67-votes requirement would be “not just nuclear but thermonuclear. As long as there are any cloture rules at all, a simple majority cannot suffice to amend the Senate’s standing rules. Without cloture rules, the Senate would cease to be the Senate.”
On top of that, Tribe said that if Hawley’s proposal received the 67 votes required to change a Senate rule it could apply to future impeachments but not necessarily Trump’s impeachment.
“Attempting to apply it retroactively to the Articles voted on December 18 and thereby changing the rules in midstream would be another matter altogether and might well be unconstitutional,” said Tribe, who has advocated for delaying delivery of the articles.
Hawley’s proposal may be more useful to Republicans as a rhetorical hammer to hit Democrats with in the short-term.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has yet to say whether Hawley’s proposal will receive serious consideration, but two members of McConnell’s Republican leadership team, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, were among the 10 senators to co-sponsor Hawley’s proposal.
“Speaker Pelosi and her squad need to send over the articles so that we can get back to the people’s business. This resolution sets an important timetable that will allow us to do just that,” Ernst said in a statement.
Ernst and Barasso’s decision to sign onto Hawley’s proposal could put pressure on other members of GOP leadership, including Sen. Roy Blunt, the Missouri Republican who serves as Senate Rules chairman.
Pelosi’s office gave little indication Monday that Hawley’s proposal would cause the speaker to budge, referring to her previous comments about the need for the Senate to “proceed in a manner worthy of the Constitution and in light of the gravity of the President’s unprecedented abuses.”
Hawley said the Senate can decide whether to call witnesses after it begins the trial, arguing that the same approach was taken during President Bill Clinton’s Senate trial in 1999.
“Let’s follow the Clinton model and start the trial and we can decide about witnesses once we get into the trial. That’s exactly what we did or what they did in 1999,” Hawley said.
Lauren Gepford, the executive director the Missouri Democratic Party, said Republican senators have made it clear they won’t serve as impartial jurors during a Senate trial. She questioned Hawley’s proposal to avoid a trial by dismissing impeachment.
“Perhaps Senator Hawley isn’t as confident in the President’s eventual acquittal as the rest of his party is,” Gepford said.
