Case of whooping cough confirmed on flight from Whitehorse to Vancouver

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Liberal and NDP leaders highlighted platform pledges related to housing and support for small businesses Friday, as Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston campaigned outside of Halifax.

During an announcement at party headquarters in Halifax, Zach Churchill confirmed that the Liberals’ plan to get 80,000 homes built in order to ease a provincial housing shortage by 2032 would not include the construction of more public housing.

Churchill said he isn’t philosophically opposed to public housing, but he thinks it costs more and takes longer to build.

“We have to build more quickly,” he said. “We have to empower the private sector to develop market housing and we have to lean on the models that are working the best in our province, and that is the not-for-profit model … and co-op options.”

As of May this year, the Progressive Conservative government had committed to building 273 new public housing units — the first to be built since 1993 — with the intent of housing 700 people.

“We are not going to adjust the current plan for public housing that this (Tory) government has initiated, but we know that government housing is not the answer,” Churchill said.

The Liberal plan, which was previously announced in the party’s platform, would build homes faster and make them more affordable, he argued.

Churchill said a Liberal government would establish provincewide municipal zoning standards and spur housing innovation through the use of modular and factory-built housing. It would also offer $37.5 million a year to build more non-profit housing and $20 million over four years to build and support co-operative housing.

Churchill said there would also be a review with the intent of lowering property taxes in order to encourage the building of more housing or additions to homes.

The Tory platform has few measures to address the province’s housing crisis aside from a plan to make more vacant land available to communities and reduce the minimum down payment for a home to two per cent.

The NDP meanwhile, has promised to build 30,000 new affordable rental homes as part of a plan that will also expand public housing stock by giving priority to the use of prefabricated housing.

Also in the Halifax area on Friday, NDP Leader Claudia Chender discussed her party’s promise to cut the small business tax to 1.5 per cent from 2.5 per cent. Chender said the move is important because the money spent at small businesses helps drive Nova Scotia’s economy.

“People have been working harder but they are often falling further and further behind,” Chender told reporters, adding that small businesses can often not afford to hire the workers necessary to expand their companies.

She said the NDP would also work with local businesses to build a program that would encourage Nova Scotians to buy local.

Houston had no announcements planned on Friday and spent most of the day campaigning in Colchester and Pictou counties.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.

— With files from Cassidy McMackon in Halifax.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

LIMA, Peru – Canada has concluded trade negotiations with Indonesia, paving the way to sign a deal with the world’s fourth-most populous country next year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the news alongside Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Trudeau’s office says both sides must iron out some of the technical details of the agreement, but it should be signed by next year.

The prime minister has also announced a new focus on exporting Canadian nuclear energy, and co-operation across the Indo-Pacific region.

Trudeau says the Indonesia deal will include goods, services and investment as well as standards for small business, labour, the environment and gender.

Indonesia has a soaring economy, buoyed by a population of 280 million, of which young people make up a large portion.

The country has asked for Canada’s help over the past two years to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, with Indonesians grappling with high carbon emissions and threatened biodiversity.

Subianto said the deal with Canada will allow greater trade in the digital and renewable energy sectors.

“We are blessed with possibilities,” he said. “We have a lot of energy outside of the fossil fuels, so we are very confident.”

Trudeau called Indonesia “the most important economy in Southeast Asia” and a place where Ottawa could collaborate on nuclear technology. Canada is planning to send a trade mission to Indonesia next year.

Also on Tuesday, Trudeau told corporate leaders that Canada was looking to partner on nuclear energy in Southeast Asia, particularly as countries in the region raise concerns about the large amounts of energy needed to power artificial intelligence.

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy made no direct mention of the nuclear sector when the Liberals released it two years ago.

But now, Trudeau says Canada will use its “trade gateway” initiative to not only link businesses but also help broaden local knowledge of nuclear technology, such as how to create a viable market for nuclear goods and adequately train personnel.

Ottawa will also “identify opportunities for Canada’s broader nuclear industry to supply products and services to support Canadian and regional objectives,” Trudeau’s office wrote in a statement.

His office said this might involve small modular reactors, a new technology that aims to provide low-carbon energy without building a large nuclear plant, including in remote areas.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.

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TORONTO – The sound of chants, whistles and drum beats filled the air outside a downtown Toronto hotel Thursday night as a crowd of hospitality workers gathered to demand salary increases amid skyrocketing accommodation costs during Taylor Swift’s concerts in the city.

Unite Here Local 75, the union representing 8,000 hospitality workers in the Greater Toronto Area, says Fairmont Royal York employees have not seen a salary increase since 2021, and have been negotiating a new contract with the hotel since 2022.

Employees of Royal York and other hotels rallied as Swift began her series of six sold-out concerts in Toronto, with the last show scheduled for Nov. 23.

Shelli Sareen, the union’s secretary treasurer, said the rally aims to highlight the need for fair compensation for hospitality workers amid soaring profits for the industry during the concert period.

“Our members are predominantly women. They are people of colour. They are the heart and soul of the hospitality industry,” said Sareen.

“We wanted to draw attention to, while Taylor Swift is an economic force in the city, our members are fighting for their fair share.”

The union, which represents employees including food service workers, room attendants and bell persons, says those who will be serving Swifties during the Toronto stops are bargaining for raises to keep up with the cost of living.

During show weekends, some hotel rooms and short-term rentals in Toronto are priced up to 10 times more than other weekends, with some advertised for as much as $2,000 per night.

Sareen said fans are being “gouged on ticket and hotel prices,” while hospitality workers are often the first people who greet them when they arrive in the city.

Royal York workers have been demanding a wage increase since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the hospitality industry, Sareen said.

Many workers have had to take on multiple jobs to support themselves and their families, Sareen added.

The union says Royal York workers have fallen behind what union members have negotiated at other Toronto-area hotels. Sareen noted that she believes hotel management has been negotiating “in good faith” and further bargaining sessions have been planned.

Fairmont Royal York did not respond to requests for comment.

Grace Guanzon, who has worked at the Royal York as a room attendant for more than 30 years, was among those demonstrating on Thursday. She said she loves her job and providing service to guests, but more compensation is needed to get by.

“We would like to send a message to our employer that we’re really serious about this rally today,” Guanzon said, noting that many workers, including those at other city hotels, had taken the day off to join them.

A wage increase would make a big difference in their lives, she said.

“Our family, our transportation, our rent, our housing, our groceries, and cost of living — we can’t afford that anymore, and we cannot wait any longer,” Guanzon said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.

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