Matthews leaves Leafs practice early, coach Berube says it’s an ‘upper body thing’

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — As the first St. Lucian to win an Olympic medal, sprinter Julien Alfred already has poems, paintings and even a calypso song dedicated to her.

On Tuesday, officials announced that Sept. 27 would be Julien Alfred Day, as the 23-year-old known as “JuJu” returned home to the eastern Caribbean island where she once ran barefoot as a child.

“I’m truly lost for words,” she told Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre and other government officials who gathered to celebrate her before organizing a motorcade for thousands of impatient fans waiting outside, some of whom came from as far away as London.

The gold medal that Alfred won in the 100-meter sprint at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the silver medal she earned in the 200-meter sprint hung around her neck.

She thanked her mother, the government, her coach and others, including “my village.”

“So many people have guided me along the way and helped me to get to this point,” she said as her voice broke. “It didn’t come easy. It was truly a rocky road. Many days I just wanted to give up.”

Alfred quit running when she was around 12 years old after her father died. Her coach convinced her to run again and then she moved to Jamaica as a teenager to train. At the University of Texas she became a multiple NCAA champion.

On Tuesday afternoon, fire-breathing dancers greeted Alfred as she prepared to climb into a blue sports car to start the motorcade. Fans high-fived her and requested selfies, with one young girl handing her a tennis shoe for an autograph as she smiled shyly.

“Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!” yelled security as they tried to get Alfred into the car.

With a large St. Lucia flag draped on her back, Alfred waved and blew kisses to people lined up to greet her.

“Come on out, St. Lucia, let’s wave and join this celebratory moment!” said one woman who was narrating a live video of the motorcade as calypso music blared.

Gathered along the road were elderly people, young fathers holding babies and a group of schoolgirls in brown uniforms who chanted “JuJu! JuJu!” as they giggled and gathered around her for a hug as the motorcade slowed down.

Another woman shouted, “Love from Jamaica, my gyal!”

Prior to winning two Olympic medals, Alfred won a gold medal in the 60 meters at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships, also a first for St. Lucia.

At the Olympics, she ran the 100-meter race in 10.72 seconds, beating favorite Sha’Carri Richardson and dedicating the win to her father.

“He believed I could be an Olympian. That I can be here,” Alfred said at the time.

Earlier this month, Alfred also won the women’s 100 meters during the Diamond League final 2024 athletics meet in Brussels.

The celebration for Alfred on the island of 238 square miles (617 square kilometers) is expected to continue for at least two more days, with a rally scheduled for Wednesday and a visit to a primary school on Thursday.

T.C. Brown, a local songwriter and producer, told the St. Lucia Times last week that he was inspired to write “Merci JuJu” in her honor.

He was quoted as saying that at the time of the win, everyone was saying, ‘Thank you, Julien Alfred. But, he said, referring to a local dialect, “Kwéyòl has a much sweeter way of expressing the message.”

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

TORONTO – Unifor says Ontario’s labour relations board has given the union the O.K. to represent workers at a Walmart warehouse in Mississauga, Ont.

The certification allows Unifor to become the bargaining agent for about 800 workers at the site west of Toronto on Maritz Drive.

The certification marks Walmart’s first warehouse to unionize in Canada.

The staff falling under Unifor now include workers who complete picking, packing and maintenance jobs but omits managers, supervisors and other team leads.

Unifor president Lana Payne previously said workers were keen to unionize because they face challenging working conditions, a lack of benefits and poor pay when compared with the massive profits their employer makes.

She expected the certification of the Walmart warehouse in Mississauga to inspire staff at the retailer’s other sites to want to organize.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index rose Tuesday, led by energy and base metal stocks, while U.S. markets also moved higher, with the S&P 500 and the Dow again hitting new records.

The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 57.51 points at 23,952.22.

In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 83.57 points at 42,208.22. The S&P 500 index was up 14.36 points at 5,732.93, while the Nasdaq composite was up 100.25 points at 18,074.52.

The gains came on the heels of a surge in Chinese stocks after the country’s central bank introduced several measures intended to boost its economy.

“All in all, a good package for really supporting what’s been a flagging area of their economy, which is the real estate market,” said Steve Locke, chief investment officer for fixed income and multi-asset strategies at Mackenzie Investments.

The move followed last week’s half-point interest rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which Locke said was a relief to investors.

Both central banks also exceeded expectations with the magnitude of their easing policies, said Locke.

“Not everyone was calling for that big of a rate cut from the Fed,” he said.

“This has generally been good news for markets.”

Though central banks around the world aren’t moving in lockstep, Locke said larger economies have been generally easing their monetary policies after they tightened to fight inflation.

Not only are central banks including the Fed and the Bank of Canada cutting rates, they’re also indicating that more cuts are coming, said Locke.

“The Fed will likely be delivering those as long as inflation stays in a sort of downward trajectory, or at the very least is sideways,” he said.

“If we start to see an uptick in inflation or worries about that, then we may see the bond market starting to react.”

Looking ahead, the looming U.S. election “will be on the market’s mind increasingly as we go into October,” said Locke. It could be a source of volatility in the market, he said.

The Canadian dollar traded for 74.25 cents UScompared with 74.02 cents US on Monday.

Oil prices rose Tuesday, continuing a recent steady climb back above US$70 per barrel.

The November crude oil contract was up US$1.19 at US$71.56 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down six cents at US$2.79 per mmBTU.

The December gold contract was up US$24.70 at US$2,651.20 an ounceand the December copper contract was up 14 cents at US$4.49 a pound.

— With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 24, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:GSPTSE, TSX:CADUSD)

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