![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6827145.1711719458!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
BREAKING Louis Gossett Jr., 1st Black man to win supporting actor Oscar, dies at 87
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries 'Roots,' has died. He was 87.
Federal politicians are expected to make a significant announcement on ocean protection during an international conference in Vancouver on how to take action on promises to protect the marine world made at recent global environment meetings.
Fisheries and Oceans Minister Joyce Murray and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault are both to attend the IMPAC5 conference, joining thousands of delegates from 123 countries. Conference sessions begin Saturday and will last through the week.
"It is the first major international congress following COP15 in Montreal, where we will plot a course to protecting 30 per cent of the ocean by 2030," said Ben Stanford, spokesman for the conference organizers.
In December, delegates from around the world met in Montreal to hammer out an agreement to protect global biodiversity. Included in that deal was a pledge to put 30 per cent of the world under some form of environmental protection by 2030, including the oceans.
"While COP15 was the 'what', IMPAC5 is the 'how,"' said Stanford.
Big announcements aren't likely to come until the final days of the conference, Feb. 8-9. That's when government, First Nations and industry leaders come together to review the discussions.
"We're hopeful there's going to be a really positive announcement on the (Marine Protected Area) network in B.C.," said Alexandra Barron of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, one of the conference's co-hosts.
Government sources confirm an announcement is likely.
But mostly, the IMPAC5 conference is designed to bring experts together to discuss how to achieve goals already agreed to, Barron said.
One of the main issues to be discussed is how to improve already existing marine protected areas that don't, in fact, offer much protection.
"It's effectively where you have a line on a map without any enforcement or management or even regulation," Barron said.
Canada, to some extent, has established what the conference agenda calls "paper parks," she said.
A section of the Scott Islands Marine Protected Area off the northern tip of Vancouver Island still allows bottom trawling, which damages reefs and other habitats along the sea bottom. The Gully, a protected area off Nova Scotia's east coast, has oil and gas leases within it.
Ensuring that protected status actually means something on the water will be a major focus of the conference, Barron said.
"Generally, we have very weak regulations or a real lack of enforcement on the water," she said.
"There are problems in Canada and there are problems in other countries as well. It's a challenge globally."
Other goals Barron hopes to achieve include a call for a moratorium on deepsea mining. She said delegates are also likely to call on governments to finally complete the High Seas Biodiversity Treaty, an ongoing global negotiation that aims to set some basic rules for the sustainable use of ocean resources from fisheries to minerals.
"There are lots of things being looked at," Barron said.
"IMPAC5 comes at an opportune moment. We have an opportunity now to take those global biodiversity framework commitments that were agreed to in Montreal and dig down into how we do that."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2023.
Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries 'Roots,' has died. He was 87.
Warnings of up to 60 millimetres of rain and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces and one territory ahead of the Easter weekend.
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Luxury operator Regent Seven Seas Cruises is raising their price tag to eye-watering levels, with a suite on an upcoming 140-day world voyage costing US$1.7 million.
The estate of minimalist contemporary artist Donald Judd filed a lawsuit against Kardashian this week, claiming the fashion and beauty mogul promoted 'cheap knockoffs' of his furniture designs.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
An Ontario man who built a garage on his property has been locked in a battle with his electricity provider for a year and half over a severed power line.
Buckingham Palace officials say King Charles III and Queen Camilla will attend an Easter service at the chapel at Windsor Castle on Sunday.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.