The mayor of Terry Fox’s hometown is encouraging people in his community to honour the Canadian her’s legacy by making a donation to the Terry Fox Foundation to benefit cancer research.
Port Coquitlam mayor Brad West says the defacing of a statue of Terry Fox near Parliament Hill has ignited disbelief among residents in the national hero’s hometown, and he’s calling on them to channel their frustration into doing something positive.
West said residents revere Fox and don’t support anyone using his image to make political statements that Fox would not have supported.
“For us in Poco, but I think for millions of Canadians across the country, Terry Fox is above politics,” West said Monday.
He joined others, including Ottawa Mayor, Jim Watson, who denounced demonstrators for placing an upside down Canadian flag on Fox’s statue, along with a sign opposing COVID-19 mandates, during protests that drew thousands to the capital as part of a convoy of long-haul truckers.
Police in Ottawa are investigating the defacing of the Fox statue, along with allegations that protesters also desecrated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the National War Museum by dancing on it during the “Freedom Convoy.”
West said he has encouraged people in his community in Metro Vancouver to honour Fox’s legacy by making a donation to the Terry Fox Foundation to benefit cancer research.
He said the annual Terry Fox Run has brought people around the world together for decades to carry on Fox’s dream to find a cure for cancer, but the desecration of his statue in the nation’s capital says more about divisiveness.
Fox’s name graces several places across the country, including schools and streets, a mountain peak in British Columbia as well as hiking trails, parks and monuments.
Last October, Port Coquitlam unveiled a new public plaza, calling it the Terry Fox Hometown Square, as part of a recreation centre that will house three hockey rinks, a pool, gym, library and a space for seniors.
The city is also commissioning a new sculpture of Fox for the site, and West said it is expected to be unveiled in about a year.
In April 1980, Fox embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money for a cure for cancer after his right leg was amputated above the knee due to bone cancer.
He started his Marathon of Hope in St. John’s, N.L., but after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres on the road, he was forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ont., because cancer had appeared in his lungs.
He died in June 1981 at the age of 22.
The foundation has raised over $850 million for cancer research since then.
Fox’s family did not wish to speak about the misuse of his statue, but the Terry Fox Foundation said in a Tweet on Saturday that Fox “believed in science and gave his life to help others.”
Leslie Courchesne, CEO of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce, which includes Port Coquitlam, said she was horrified to see images of how Fox’s statue was treated in Ottawa on the weekend.
“My jaw dropped,” she said. “I just had no words. It just cut right into my heart.”
Courchesne remembered when she was first inspired by Fox’s courage to run on one leg.
“I was 10 years old when his marathon was happening and it just made such an impression on me, how one person, in the face of such adversity, could just rise up and dedicate the remainder of his life to fighting cancer and inspire others to join the cause,” she said.
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OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Quebec wants to curb excessive tipping.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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