Food & Energy

24% Of Borrowers Struggling

By Valerie / September 12, 2023 /

A quarter of mortgage holders, 24 percent, are having difficulty keeping up with monthly debt payments, says CMHC data. And barely half said they expect the value of their home to grow over the next year.

“The current economic context and rise of interest rates has had a significant negative impact on many consumers’ financial situation,” said the 2023 Mortgage Consumer Survey. “A significant proportion of mortgage consumers are struggling to make ends meet and fulfill their debt obligations, especially those under 35. This context is also affecting respondents’ general mood.”

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Trans Mountain could be delayed until 2025 due to ‘sacred tree’

By Valerie / September 12, 2023 /

It would truly be a feat of engineering — if and when the Trans Mountain expansion comes into service. If it ever does at all.

That’s because tunnelling under a ‘sacred tree’ near Kamloops would cost almost $100 million and delay completion until December 2024, according to documents filed with the Canadian Energy Regulator (CER) on Monday.

That means it wouldn’t actually start pumping oil until the first quarter of 2025. In a technical report filed with the CER, Trans Mountain detailed the challenges — and costs — to equipment and manpower if it is not allowed to reroute one of the final remaining sections of the line.

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Liberal MPs confronted outside Conservative Party convention

By Iron Will / September 12, 2023 /

The Conservative Party of Canada held its convention in Quebec City at the Centre des Congrès from September 7-9.

Over the course of the three-day convention, multiple discussions and debates occurred about the party’s constitution and new policies for the upcoming election. Three times, Liberal MPs holding press conferences outside of the convention spoke angrily in response to what the Conservatives had said.

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SMOKIN’: Canadian pot stocks light up TSX as US reconsiders legalization

By Valerie / September 11, 2023 /

Shares in Canadian marijuana companies are on fire amid reports the US government is considering loosening federal restrictions on the drug.

The Associated Press reported last week the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made a recommendation to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) that cannabis be reclassified from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance.

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JUST BUGGY: Feds spent $420,000 on ‘human consumption’ crickets corporate welfare

By Valerie / September 11, 2023 /

The federal government has spent $420,023 since 2018 supporting companies that make human food from crickets.

“Canadians are struggling as inflation pushes up grocery bills, but subsidizing snacks made out of bugs doesn’t sound like the right solution for taxpayers,” said Franco Terrazzano, federal director of Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).

“If Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to take a bite out of crunchy crickets, he can do it without taking a bite out of taxpayers’ wallets.”

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House Flipping Is Back: Feds

By / September 11, 2023 /

House flipping is back despite a new federal tax targeting speculators, data show. Bank of Canada figures indicated nationwide the incidence of flipping had reached pre-pandemic levels.

“House flippers are individuals who buy homes and resell them a short time later,” said a Bank report Indicators Of Financial Vulnerabilities. “Although a rise in house flipping activity may improve the quality of the housing stock if renovations are involved, it may also signal that a local market is becoming increasingly influenced by speculative behaviour.”

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Parent Initiates Class-Action Lawsuit Following E. Coli Outbreak at Calgary Daycares

By Iron Will / September 10, 2023 /

A class-action lawsuit has been initiated following what experts call a “historic” E. coli outbreak at nearly a dozen Calgary daycares, which sent up to 50 children to hospital and infected more than 100 children with the dangerous bacteria.
Calgary lawyer Maia Tomljanovic, who focuses on medical malpractice, personal injury, and professional negligence, filed the lawsuit on Sept. 8 at the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, with one parent serving as the representative plaintiff, reported the National Post.
“As a result of negligence, unsanitary and unsafe food storage, preparation and handling practises, it resulted in these students suffering,” Ms. Tomljanovic alleged.
Ms. Tomljanovic said she expects more parents will join, as she has spoken to dozens of parents whose children were infected and was aware there are many others. She added that a class-action lawsuit is a common course of action when there are large numbers of individuals impacted by an event.

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Bill Gates is funding a scheme to cut down 70 million acres of forests in North America

By Roli / September 9, 2023 /

Bill Gates and other investors are betting Kodama Systems can reduce carbon dioxide in the air by chopping down and burying trees. The move will see 70 million acres of forests, mostly in the Western United States, cut down over the next decade.

After cutting down the trees, Kodama plans to bury them – to reduce global warming. However, “global warming” is a scam to enable the rich to become richer and the real reason for the destruction of forests is to reap saleable carbon offsets.

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No Recession Here: Macklem

By Valerie / September 8, 2023 /

There will be no recession, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem yesterday assured reporters. Macklem quickly modified his remarks to caution there could be a “technical recession” but not what most Canadians “think of when they think of a recession.”

“I don’t think we are in a recession,” said Macklem, adding: “Where we are headed, of course no one can know the future for certain.”

“What are we expecting? We are expecting low, positive growth,” said Macklem. “If you take the average of the last three quarters, growth’s been a little less than one percent. We’ll put out a new forecast in late October. I expect it will be something around the recent trend for the next few quarters before it picks up once again.”

“Is that a recession? No

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40% Use Replacement Labour

By Valerie / September 8, 2023 /

Replacement workers are used in 40 percent of strikes and lockouts in the federally regulated private sector, according to labour department figures. Cabinet has promised by year’s end it will introduce a bill to ban the practice.

“Between June 2011 and October 2022 there were 75 work stoppages in federally regulated sectors,” said a department memo Legislation To Prevent The Hiring Of Replacement Workers. “Labour program research suggests replacement workers or managers were used in 40 percent of these work stoppages, that is 30 of the 75, to perform some or all of the work of bargaining unit members who were on strike or locked out.”

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