Minnesota lawmaker proposes making it legal for women to go topless, citing 'gender identity'

A Minnesota lawmaker wants to make it legal for women to go topless in public after a resident was sentenced to jail for “indecent exposure” related to uncovered breasts.

“This to me seems really wrong,” Minnesota House Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura told The Star Tribune regarding the conviction. “Particularly now, as we as a society are thinking differently about gender and gender identity, I think this law feels very antiquated.”

Sencer-Mura, a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, admitted that her proposal would likely not be heard this year, but she hopes it will spark widespread discussions on shifts in gender identity and expression.

Eloisa Plancarte was sentenced to 90 days in jail following an arrest by Rochester police in 2021, who responded to a call that a woman was walking around a convenience store parking lot with her breasts out.

MINNESOTA LEGISLATURE POISED TO AMEND RULE LIMITING LAW ENFORCEMENT IN SCHOOLS

Samantha Sencer-Mura

Samantha Sencer-Mura is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). She represents District 63A in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes parts of Minneapolis in Hennepin County. (Minnesota House of Representatives)

Plancarte appealed the conviction and claimed it violated her constitutional right to equal protection under the law. She noted that men would not be charged if their chests were exposed in public. The Minnesota Court of Appeals later voted 2-1 to uphold the decision.

In the motion to deny the appeal, Judge Kevin G. Ross referenced a nearly 40-year-old decision that upheld a conviction for a woman who was seen sunbathing topless in Minneapolis Park.

The dissenting voice on the case was Judge Diane B. Bratvold, a woman, who said the decision “raises more questions about criminal conduct than it clarifies.”

She also questioned whether it would be illegal for a transgender man who did not have breast removal surgery to be exposed in public. Judge Jon Schmidt, who upheld the conviction, also expressed concern about what the decision meant for transgender individuals.

TRANS ACTIVIST ROSE MONTOYA DOUBLES DOWN ON GOING TOPLESS AT THE WHITE HOUSE, SAYS IT WAS ‘PERFECTLY LEGAL’

Minnesota law indecent exposure going topless

Minnesota law defines indecent exposure as “willfully and lewdly exposes the person’s body, or the private parts thereof.” ((Photo by Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images))

Sencer-Mura, who has co-authored the proposed amendment with fellow Democrat Rep. Brion Curran, told the media that current laws allow too much flexibility for officers when it comes to a suspect’s gender identity.

“If law enforcement believes that someone identifies as a female, then they’re going to treat them differently if they have their shirt off than they would someone that they perceive to be a male,” Sencer-Mura said. “As we have a shifting understanding of gender, that law just doesn’t make sense anymore.”

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Minnesota law currently defines indecent exposure as an incident where someone “willfully and lewdly exposes the person’s body, or the private parts thereof.”

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March 21, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday, March 21.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday, March 21. Evelyn Hockstein/Pool/Reuters

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the “gaps are narrowing” between Israel and Hamas to get a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages, but conceded that “there’s still real challenges.”

“We’ve been working, as you know, with Egypt, with Qatar and with Israel to put a strong proposal on the table. Hamas responded to that,” Blinken said during news conference in Cairo, Egypt, with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.

Blinken said he still believes a deal is possible, despite “difficult work to get there.”

“The teams are working every single day on this,” he said. “There’s still real challenges. We’ve closed the gaps but there are still gaps.”

As Israel prepares for a possible operation in the Rafah region of Gaza, Blinken said the US believes Hamas “can be effectively dealt with without a major ground operation in Rafah.” He said a ground operation would “be a mistake,” and officials will outline alternative plans when an Israeli delegation goes to Washington, DC, next week.

Meanwhile, Shoukry said he and Blinken agreed to plan “concrete steps” to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The minister stated that the US and Egypt are aligned in their “total rejection of military operations in Rafah.”

The minister added that Egypt would do “whatever is possible, whatever is required to facilitate a cessation of hostilities and an end to the military activity.” 

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[World] Trump’s hush-money trial to begin 15 April

BBC News world-us_and_canada 

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump will face the first ever criminal trial of a former US president on 15 April, a judge has ruled, over hush money payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Mr Trump faces four criminal cases, but this may be the only one to make it to a courtroom before November’s election.

The presidential candidate’s lawyers had aimed to delay or dismiss the case.

Mr Trump, 77, faces fraud charges over payments he made to Ms Daniels before the 2016 election.

He has pleaded not guilty to all 34 charges, arguing the claims do not constitute “a crime”.

During his bid to retake the White House, the former president and his legal team have sought to delay as many of his trials as possible.

But Justice Juan Merchan ruled on Monday that there was no reason to delay Mr Trump’s hush money trial any further, despite the defence’s arguments, and ordered the case to begin on 15 April.

After spending much of Monday morning sitting next to his attorneys inside the courtroom, Mr Trump told reporters that the case should be considered “election interference”.

“It’s a disgrace, and we will obviously be appealing,” he said. “But this is a pure case of voter intimidation and election interference, and it shouldn’t be allowed to happen.”

The trial was originally set to begin with jury selection on Monday, but it was delayed after thousands of documents were released last week from the 2018 federal investigation into the payments to Ms Daniels.

Justice Merchan instead held a hearing on Monday centred on whether there had been any wrongdoing in the sudden release last week of more than 100,000 pages of documents related to the federal prosecutors’ case.

Mr Trump’s team had argued the Manhattan district attorney’s office had engaged in misconduct by not doing enough to get the federal prosecutors to hand over the documents in a timely manner. They alleged prosecutors were attempting to “suppress” evidence.

The document release followed a request by Mr Trump’s attorneys in January for records from the federal case. Justice Merchan questioned why the defence had not discussed the long wait with him earlier.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office had agreed to a delay of 30 days for the documents to be reviewed, but prosecutors said at the hearing that they believed only 300 new documents needed to be considered.

They said that they would be ready to go to trial in mid-April.

But Mr Trump’s legal team pushed for more time to review the documents.

On Monday, Justice Merchan grilled Mr Trump’s lawyer to specify how many of the “thousands” of documents they would consider relevant and requiring review for this case.

Mr Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, painted a broad picture of what was in the new batch, which he said included records from the Robert Mueller investigation – the federal inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

He alleged that the relevant records numbered in the thousands, rather than the 300 figure offered by prosecutors. Mr Trump’s legal team required time to thoroughly study the documents, he argued.

“We got the material a week ago,” Mr Blanche said. “We’re still going through them.”

The judge, however, appeared impatient and unpersuaded by the attorney’s arguments, including the claim that prosecutors had acted unethically.

“You’re literally accusing the Manhattan DA’s office, and people assigned to this case, of engaging in prosecutorial misconduct and trying to make me complicit in it,” Justice Merchan said.

Before adjourning for a break, the judge made it clear that he felt unconvinced by the arguments.

“It’s odd that we’re even here and that we’ve taken this time,” he said.

 

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Trump suggests conviction in hush money case could make him more popular

Just In News | The Hill 

Former President Trump on Monday brushed off the prospect that a conviction in an upcoming trial over alleged hush money payments could cost him the election in November, suggesting it could actually help him if he’s found guilty.

“Well, it could also make me more popular because the people know it’s a scam,” Trump said when asked if he was concerned about the political fallout of a possible conviction.

“It’s a Biden trial. There is no trial. There’s a Biden trial,” Trump added, claiming without evidence that President Biden was responsible for his myriad legal problems.

Trump’s base has rallied by his side and dug in despite his legal problems, propelling him to the GOP nomination. But there are signs a criminal conviction would damage his chances to win the general election.

Exit polling from Super Tuesday earlier this month found 37 percent of primary voters in Virginia and 31 percent of primary voters in North Carolina said Trump would not be fit to be president if he’s convicted of a crime.

An exit poll from the South Carolina GOP primary in February found 32 percent of voters said Trump would not be fit to serve if he were convicted.

A New York judge scheduled Trump’s hush money trial to begin April 15, rejecting efforts from Trump and his legal team to postpone the case in light of new documents that were recently turned over.

It will be the first of Trump’s four criminal cases to go to trial, with Trump still facing felony charges in Washington, D.C., and Georgia based on his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, along with charges in Florida based on his handling and retention of classified materials.

Trump is charged in the New York case with 34 counts of falsifying business records of reimbursements to his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, who paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 just before the 2016 election to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump.  

The former president on Monday indicated he would be willing to testify, though he repeatedly questioned if the trial would actually move forward in the middle of campaign season, and it’s unclear if his lawyers would support him taking the stand.

“I would have no problem testifying,” Trump said. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”

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Some ancient Greek wisdom on why America shouldn’t ban TikTok

Just In News | The Hill 

For a brief shining moment, Congress put aside partisan stupidity to focus on something that was common in the America I grew up in, but which is seen less often today — bipartisan stupidity. In this case, the House moved quickly to force the social media app TikTok to either be sold to a company not under Chinese control or face a ban in the United States.

The two parties are motivated by substantially the same concerns about TikTok and seek substantially the same remedies. While the problems with TikTok are real, the remedies are totally inappropriate on basic philosophical grounds that should be obvious in a republican society — but, alas, clearly are not.

The core concern of proponents of the bill is that the Chinese state could use TikTok to disseminate the narrative it chooses, suppress narratives it does not, and foment social and political unrest (though I note we are doing fairly well at that by ourselves). The critical question, which I can find raised nowhere, is whether it follows that we must try to remove those dangers through the strong arm of the state.

Those critiques of the bill which can be found focus on whether its measures would be effective, whether other less extreme measures would be equally or more effective, whether the socially valuable aspects of TikTok are being inadequately considered, and so forth. Nearly all of these arguments have merit, but they are policy critiques. Deeper down is a more fundamental philosophical concern.

A more practical guide to these issues can be found in Pericles. In his famous funeral oration, he remarked on Athenian society:

We throw open our city to the world, and never by alien acts exclude foreigners from any opportunity of learning or observing, although the eyes of an enemy may occasionally profit by our liberality; trusting less in system and policy than to the native spirit of our citizens; while in education, where our rivals from their very cradles by a painful discipline seek after manliness, at Athens we live exactly as we please, and yet are just as ready to encounter every legitimate danger.

Taking this justly celebrated passage phrase by phrase may put us on a wiser path.

As a republic, America too “throws open our city to the world” and allows Chinese nationals to enter and participate in our society both physically — as the Athenians did the Spartans — and through the internet. Pericles freely acknowledges the danger in this, but does not, as our congressmen do, conclude that the danger should be removed. We must be “ready to encounter every legitimate danger,” but not through “system and policy.” Instead, Pericles intends to strengthen and renew “the native spirit of our citizens,” the open and “liberal” culture of Athens that he believes will make it stronger and more resilient than comparatively authoritarian and martial Sparta. Athenians do not run from danger, but meet it with the virtue of their citizens.

Crucially, this is not a moral claim but a practical and political one. Democratic virtue is believed to be a stronger and more reliable force than authoritarian discipline; genuine consent from the people more powerful than any authoritarian coercion. In the end, Athens fell to Sparta, but perhaps because it inadequately heeded Pericles’s advice. In any event, Periclean sentiments and similar sentiments from Cicero and Tacitus went on to inform Milton and Pope, and, eventually, Jefferson and Madison. I would see them continue far into the future.

We cannot rely on authority, whether large tech companies removing content deemed pernicious or the government banishing propaganda deemed too dangerous for the American people. These are attempts to circumvent the public; despairing of its ability to make good choices, these measures attempt to prevent the public’s confronting any choice at all. We ought instead to strengthen the public and reinforce our traditional virtues with civic education and strong moral and political leadership.

While I am deeply opposed to the attempt to construct a new Cold War either with China or with global authoritarianism, I do believe the liberal-democratic model and the authoritarian model are, and for a long time will be, engaged in a kind of competition. It seems a deep irony that those Americans who claim to be most greatly invested in the democratic model and its triumph over authoritarianism are often the first to sand away those things that make us democratic.

Keep America open and keep TikTok. If TikTok can overthrow our republic, we do not deserve to keep it.

David Ottlinger is a freelance writer focusing on politics and culture, especially from a philosophical perspective. Follow him @DavidOttlinger.

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Dramatic video shows California woman rescued from raging river

Just In News | The Hill 

Story at a glance

A 35-year-old woman was swept away by rushing water in the Los Angeles River after a brief but intense rainstorm.

Rescuers tried throwing a flotation device and lowering a ladder.

They ultimately used a helicopter to lower a rescuer down to grab the woman, who was then treated for minor injuries.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KTLA) – A 35-year-old woman is recovering after being swept away by fast-moving water in the Los Angeles River, prompting a tense air rescue by first responders Sunday.

Crews with the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to calls about the incident near Laurel Canyon Boulevard at around 5 p.m. just after a brief but intense rainstorm, department officials said.  

It is unclear exactly how the woman ended up in the river, but according to officials, she was first spotted in the flood control channel near Whitsett Avenue where less than knee-deep water was moving at speeds estimated at around 15 miles per hour. Rescuers threw her a flotation device as she moved slowly downstream toward Laurel Canyon Boulevard.  

The woman was reportedly able to stand up at one point but was again swept away by the rushing water.

Firefighters then lowered a portion of a 24-foot wooden ladder along the vertical concrete wall of the channel, but the current was too much, and she was swept a short distance downstream, authorities said.  

L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)L.A. firefighters rescue a woman swept away in the storm-flooded L.A. River on Mar. 24, 2024. (KTLA)

After several tense moments, an LAFD helicopter crew lowered a rescuer down by hoist who was able to grab the woman as she was in the middle of the channel. She was pulled to safety aboard the aircraft where authorities said she received treatment for minor injuries and hypothermia.  


California woman violently attacked after road-rage incident

She was flown to a nearby hospital for evaluation.  

Firefighters said the woman reported that no other persons or animals were with her at the time she was swept away.  

​Natural Disasters, Changing America, News, Resilience, flooding Read More 

Sacha Baron Cohen denies Rebel Wilson’s claim he was an ‘a–hole’ on movie set

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

Rebel Wilson called out Sacha Baron Cohen by name as the “a–hole” she wrote about in her upcoming memoir, “Rebel Rising.”

A representative for Cohen slammed Wilson’s accusation as “demonstrably false.”

“While we appreciate the importance of speaking out, these demonstrably false claims are directly contradicted by extensive detailed evidence, including contemporaneous documents, film footage, and eyewitness accounts from those present before, during and after the production of ‘The Brothers Grimsby,'” the representative told Fox News Digital.

The “Pitch Perfect” star chose to name Cohen as the “a–hole” she wrote about after he allegedly “bullied” her with lawyers and PR.

REBEL WILSON SAYS WEIGHT LOSS RECEIVED ‘PUSHBACK’ FROM MANAGEMENT TEAM

“I will not be bullied or silenced by high priced lawyers or PR crisis managers,” Wilson wrote on her Instagram story. “The ‘a–hole’ that I am talking about in ONE CHAPTER of my book is: Sacha Baron Cohen.”

Representatives for Wilson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Wilson and Cohen starred together in the 2016 film “The Brothers Grimsby” as a husband and wife of nine kids. Later, Wilson accused Cohen of “harassing” her on the movie set during a radio show interview, according to Variety.

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The actress first revealed she had written about an “a–hole” with whom she previously worked in an Instagram post shared on March 15.

“When I first came to Hollywood, people were like, ‘Yeah I have a no a–hole policy. Means like, yeah I don’t work with a–holes.’ I was like, ‘Oh yeah, that sounds sensible, logical,'” Wilson said in the shared video.

“But then it really sunk in what they were meaning by that – older people in the industry – because I worked with a massive a–hole, and yeah, now I definitely have a ‘no a–holes policy,'” she further explained. “The chapter on said a–hole is chapter 23. That guy was a massive a–hole.”

“Rebel Rising” will be released April 2.

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‘The View’ bashes NBC over ‘despicable’ hiring of ‘shapeshifter’ Ronna McDaniel

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

“The View” co-hosts bashed NBC News on Monday over its “despicable” hiring of former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, who they called a “shapeshifter.” 

McDaniel was hired by NBC News on Friday and sat down for her first interview as a contributor with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday during “Meet the Press,” and co-host Ana Navarro was among the many voices deriding her new contract.

“I think she’s a shapeshifter, and she says and does what’s convenient for her to say and do when it’s convenient. She’s from Michigan, where the Romney, which is her name, she used to use. When she was in Michigan she was a Romney, when she became the RNC chair, and it was under Trump, who did not like Romney, she took out the word, the name Romney,” Navarro said. 

Navarro applauded NBC News’ Chuck Todd for criticizing his own network after Welker’s interview. Todd said NBC News owed Welker an apology and ripped the network for bringing on McDaniel in remarks that went viral.

RONNA MCDANIEL CLASHES WITH NBC NEWS HOST IN HEATED INTERVIEW: ‘DO YOU OWE THIS COUNTRY AN APOLOGY?’

Navarro said the move was a mistake because of “credibility issues.” Co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said there were better Republicans NBC News could have brought on as contributors, who “never dabbled” in denying President Biden’s victory in 2020. 

“You cannot have election deniers given these types of roles in major network news,” co-host Sara Haines argued. “Questioning an election is fine, denying every result that proves you wrong is not fine.”

Co-host Sunny Hostin accused McDaniel of being “involved in actively suppressing” the Black vote in Detroit, Michigan, alluding to her and Trump’s efforts to not certify Biden’s victory there in 2020.

“I think there could have been more pushback,” Hostin said of McDaniel’s interview with Welker. “She is still pushing the same exact narrative, she is being rewarded basically for trying to take away the votes of Americans and I think it’s a despicable decision.”

EX-RNC BOSS RONNA MCDANIEL FINDS NEW HOME AT NBC, MSNBC AS POLITICAL ANALYST

McDaniel clashed with Welker on Sunday during a contentious interview after she was hired by NBC to be a contributor. 

Welker questioned McDaniel’s support for Trump as the head of the RNC during the heated interview, and asked if McDaniel enabled the former president to “spread election lies.” Liberals, including many figures within NBC, have lambasted the network for hiring McDaniel, calling the move “appalling.”

“I think what people struggle with is, by the time Jan. 6 happened, all of those court cases, more than 60 court cases had already been litigated. Donald Trump had lost, the Supreme Court said they’re not going to take up concerns; as the head of the RNC, did you not have a responsibility to say Joe Biden won?” Welker asked. 

McDaniel argued that she had said that Biden won. 

“At the time? At the time, before January 6th? Before January 6th, and you’re still saying there are concerns this morning as you sit here,” Welker said. 

“Saying there’s concerns about the election doesn’t mean he didn’t win, and that’s the only thing I’m going to say,” McDaniel responded.

 

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Suspect critical after Milwaukee officers return gunfire during foot pursuit

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News 

Milwaukee police officers responding to reports of gunfire shot and critically wounded a 20-year-old man overnight after he fled the scene on foot and fired at officers, police said Monday.

ILLINOIS SHERIFF’S K-9 INJURED DURING ARREST OF 16-YEAR-OLD WHO CRASHED STOLEN CAR, AUTHORITIES SAY

After police received 911 calls about gunshots in the area late Sunday, officers arrived at the scene and found an armed suspect who ran from officers and ignored their commands to stop, said Assistant Chief Craig Sarnow of the Milwaukee Police Department.

The 20-year-old man ran about two blocks before he fired at officers who returned fire about 11:15 p.m., hitting the suspect several times, Sarnow said early Monday during a news conference.

Emergency responders took the young man with life-threatening injuries to a hospital, where he was listed in critical condition, police said.

No one else was injured and police said a gun was recovered on the scene.

Three officers were placed on administrative duty, a routine step following shootings involving police officers. The Milwaukee Police Department said the Wauwatosa Police Department will lead the investigation into the shooting.

 

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[World] Canada’s maple syrup reserve hits 16-year low

BBC News world-us_and_canada 

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Maple syrup is stored by the barrel at Quebec’s iconic Strategic Maple Syrup Reserves

Canada’s maple syrup reserve – the world’s only – has reached a 16-year low, raising questions about the future of a globally loved sweet staple in the face of climate change.

The reserve, located in Quebec, is designed to hold 133 million pounds of maple syrup at any given year.

But in 2023, the supply fell to 6.9 million pounds (3.1 million kg).

Experts link the shortage to both a rise in demand and warmer weather, which has disrupted production.

But they say that this will not affect the availability or price of maple syrup to consumers – at least for now.

“The strategic reserve is holding its lowest amount of maple syrup since 2008,” Simon Doré-Ouellet, the deputy director general of the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, told the BBC. “But we do not foresee any supply issues in the near future.”

Canada’s billion-dollar maple syrup industry accounts for 75% of the world’s entire maple syrup production.

According to national data, a majority of that – around 90% – is produced in the province of Quebec, where the world’s sole strategic reserve of maple syrup was set up 24 years ago.

The amount of maple syrup in the national reserve – stored in tens of thousands of barrels in several warehouses across Quebec – has dwindled significantly since 2020. That year, the reserve had more than 103 million pounds of the sticky product.

Now, the amount in the reserve is only 7% of what it was four years ago.

Part of the reason why, Mr Doré-Ouellet said, is because of poor harvest seasons over the last few years.

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Media caption,

Watch: Maple syrup’s bittersweet future in face of climate change

Maple syrup production, which is typically done between early March and late April, relies heavily on a delicate balance of below freezing overnight temperatures and warmer daytime temperatures above 0C (32F).

The cold temperatures help the maple tree absorb water from the soil, while the warmer weather during the day creates pressure that pushes water down to the bottom of the tree, making it easier to harvest the sap.

In 2021 and 2023, warmer spring temperatures felt across the country resulted in a reduction in maple syrup production, which fell 21% in 2021 from the year prior.

This reduction, however, came on the heels of two consecutive record years of production, in 2020 and 2019.

Mr Doré-Ouellet said that because of the harvest unpredictability, fluctuations in the reserve’s supply are not unusual.

“The strategic reserve was put in place to stabilise supply – which is highly weather dependent – for buyers,” he said. “In the last four years, that is exactly what it has done.”

Coupled with the poor harvest years is a rising demand for for the golden product.

In 2021, Canada exported 161 million pounds of maple syrup to 71 countries worldwide – an increase of more than 19% from the year before.

Mr Doré-Ouellet said the growth in demand is tied to Quebec’s efforts to promote Canadian maple syrup and its benefits to other countries, primarily the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan.

With the reserve supply dwindling in the face of growing demand, many are keen to see how the upcoming harvest season unfolds.

Canada is coming out of one of its warmest winters on record. Temperatures in December, January and February were the warmest since record-keeping began in 1948.

Despite this, Mr Doré-Ouellet said there is reason to be optimistic.

“The sugaring season has come early this year and is still underway,” he said. “So far, production has been plentiful and the weather forecasts are encouraging for the next few weeks all across Quebec.”

Because the reserve stabilises the maple syrup market for producers and buyers, he said it is important that it be built back up.

Efforts to do so are already underway, including the release of 14 million new taps to producers over the last three years to bolster harvesting efforts, he said.

Mr Doré-Ouellet did note that replenishing Canada’s maple syrup supply is a “multi-year process”, adding that he believes the outcome of the 2024 season will not “make or break” the future of Canada’s most iconic export.

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