Author: Silas Reed

COVID-19 positivity rates are down since November, says the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s Community Respiratory Illness Surveillance Program report, but so are immunizations. Source link

2:17 Tough year ahead for beekeepers: provincial apiarist Manitoba’s provincial apiarist says some commercial beekeepers are leaving the industry due to challenges caused by pests and unstable weather conditions. “Beekeepers are struggling,” said Manitoba Agriculture’s provincial apiarist Derek Micholson. “Some have actually left the industry, others are kind of hanging on by a thread. Beekeepers are really passionate about what they do, so they want to continue hanging on, but it’s been a challenge for sure.”Canadian honeybee colonies experienced significant losses in 2022, with nearly half of all colonies dying over the winter. Parasitic varroa mites were partially to blame,…

As the federal government looks to drastically reduce its immigration targets over the next few years, the mayors of northern Ontario’s largest cities say they need more immigrants to sustain local economies and population. The mayors of Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Sudbury are calling on Ottawa to deliver on its promise to make permanent a pilot program that resettled skilled workers in their communities, saying a one-size-fits-all approach to immigration policy doesn’t benefit northern regions. Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Matthew Shoemaker said the now-closed rural and northern immigration pilot program allowed employers in the city to fill highly…

British Columbia business owner Joe Chaput will spend $5,500 a month on security guards during the holiday season and plans on upgrading his store’s video camera system for around $5,000 more. He’s not selling luxury brands or expensive jewels.Chaput sells cheese, and at Christmas, cheese is a hot commodity.He is the co-owner of specialty cheese store les amis du Fromage, with two locations in Vancouver.While cheeselifting is rare in their Kitsilano store, the outlet in East Vancouver is hit in waves, with nothing happening for a month, then three of four people trying to steal their inventory within a week.“Sometimes,…

New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt says “everything is on the table” in responding to U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s tariff threat, but cautioned she won’t take actions that could hurt her province. Her comments came as Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned his province could cut off energy exports to the U.S. in response to the proposed tariffs.Asked by The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson about Ford’s proposal, Holt stressed certain actions could cause “significant trouble” for the province, but they were still “preparing for the worst” with the president-elect’s actions.“We don’t want to cut off our nose to spite our face,” she…

A barrier to entry in some of Canada’s most expensive housing markets just got lower thanks to new changes impacting the country’s mortgage landscape. The ability to put less money down on an insured mortgage for a home worth more than $1 million will be a “game changer” for some buyers, real estate experts tell Global News.But how much extra buying power Canadians get from a higher insured mortgage cap and wider availability of 30-year amortizations will vary from household to household and market to market, they warn.The federal government’s previously announced changes aimed at making it easier for some…

Descrease article font size Increase article font size It’s meant to save Canadians money at a time when prices feel as if they won’t stop going up, but some Calgarians like James Duffy barely noticed a difference. “No I never thought about it to be dead truth,” explained Duffy. “You just buy what you buy each week, and away you go.”The list of newly GST exempt items is long, and sometimes confusing. For example, things like ski jackets are exempt, but not helmets, ski boots or goggles. As a result, those working at small businesses like Bailey Lahure at Calgary’s…

Descrease article font size Increase article font size The Calgary branch of the Salvation Army is far behind on its holiday donation campaign goal. As of Saturday, it says it has raised about $250,000 of its $850,000 goal through its annual Christmas Kettle Campaign.“Because of the postal strike primarily our donations are down,” says Ian McKenzie with The Salvation Army who adds they’ve reached about 50 per cent of its goal nationwide.“We do get a lot of donations through the mail and so there’s a significant impact and its important for us to encourage people to get out and donate…

Saturday marked ‘Delivery Day’ for 880 CHED Santas Anonymous. For weeks, the organization has collected toys, books, and monetary donations to ensure every child receives a gift this holiday season.More than two thousand Edmontonians signed up this year, volunteering to get gifts out the door and make sure roughly 20,000 kids are accommodated for. Get daily National news Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. “Turnout this morning has been incredible. We have about 200 porters in the building right now gathering up the bags to bring them out…

Christmas lights adorn Ken Gallant’s home and yard like stars in The Milky Way. Glowing, shining, and colourful, they bounce to classic Christmas tunes, and battle for centre stage. “We’re at about 80,000 lights and about 40 plus creatures and growing,” the St. Norbert – Seine River man said. Believe it or not, that’s the scaled back version of his set-up compared to a couple years ago.“We were at over 100,000 lights,” he said. “We’ll see what the future brings.” Ken Gallant stands in front of his home in Winnipeg. Arsalan Saeed / Global News Gallant started extravagantly dressing his…