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Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed on what you need to know today…
Tourism operators face heavy debt, even as business roars back
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Military members urged to contact Habitat for Humanity amid housing crisis
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OTTAWA — An email encouraging members of the Canadian Armed Forces to consider contacting Habitat for Humanity if they can’t find affordable housing is casting a spotlight on a growing challenge facing many military personnel and their families.
The email was sent by a senior officer at 19 Wing Comox to other members at the Royal Canadian Air Force base on northern Vancouver Island, which is home to the military’s search-and-rescue school as well as several squadrons of aircraft.
“Further to our discussion this morning, one potential housing option for our folks is Habitat for Humanity,” said the email dated May 5. “Should this be of interest to any of your personnel, please have them review the information located here.”
The email, confirmed as authentic by the Department of National Defence, included a link and contact information for the charity’s northern Vancouver Island chapter along with a list of criteria to apply for a home.
Defence Department spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande said members were not being directed to Habitat for Humanity, but rather that it was being presented as an option to those having “significant difficulty” finding housing.
“To the best of our knowledge,” she added, “this has not been an option presented or explored by CAF members in other regions of the country.”
But the email has highlighted growing complaints and concerns about the impact that skyrocketing home and rental prices are having on members of Canada’s Armed Forces – and Ottawa’s repeated failure to provide enough military housing.
Chief of the defence staff Gen. Wayne Eyre warned last month that his troops were feeling the bite of escalating housing prices and other costs of living as a result of their unique lifestyles, which include constant moves throughout their careers.
At the same time, Eyre lamented a shortage of military housing, saying: “Now we’re somewhere in the neighbourhood of 4,000 to 6,000 units short on our bases, which is also accentuating the housing problem.”
Online forums are rife with Armed Forces members discussing the current housing crunch, with some on the verge of moving desperate for advice on how to find affordable accommodation in markets where even rental prices are sky high.
While several Armed Forces members contacted by The Canadian Press declined to comment because they did not have permission to conduct an interview, realtors say they have seen firsthand the stress that many troops and their families are facing.
“The last couple years have been exceptionally, exceptionally tough for them,” said realtor Tracy Fogtmann, who works with military families relocating to the Comox area. “I’ve been in the business for 19 years and have never seen anything like this.”
The situation is similar in other military communities such as Kingston, Ont., where broker Luca Andolfatto has seen the stress many troops, their families and even their realtors are feeling.
“It’s a lot of stress and a lot of pressure both on the personnel themselves and on the realtors,” said Andolfatto, who has worked with military families for 34 years. “Anyone who isn’t ranked as an officer would find it a struggle.”
Jeff West is the executive director of Habitat for Humanity Vancouver Island North. He said the charity has had a long-standing working relationship with 19 Wing Comox, with Armed Forces members having previously volunteered to build local homes for those in need.
While he could not say exactly how the May 5 email came about, West suspected it had to do with a recent meeting the organization had with a senior officer.
“I think basically what happened is we went out and talked to him about what we’re up to, just maintaining contact, and this email came out of the leadership,” he said.
While unable to say for sure whether any of the 39 local Habitat for Humanity homes built since 2004 have gone to military members, West said he was not aware of any such arrangements to date.
But he acknowledged a “housing crisis” is affecting both military and non-military families in the area.
The Armed Forces has actually advised service members against buying a home, warning in March that some bases are located in “unpredictable and seemingly inflated housing markets,” and that a price correction was expected.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported in February that “rental affordability continues to pose a significant challenge across the country.”
Andolfatto can testify to that reality in Kingston.
“Some of our rents here I daresay are stronger than some of the rents you’d find in the GTA,” he said. “I’d say going to rent is just as problematic, and actually even more challenging.”
Many bases have military housing. But even as internal Defence Department assessments have repeatedly asserted since 2017 that at least 5,000 more units are needed to meet the military’s growing requirements, the number of homes owned by government has steadily decreased for years.
The Defence Department says the Canadian Forces Housing Agency has proposed a plan to build 1,300 new units over a 10-year period and consider “alternate delivery options” such as leases and public-private partnerships for the rest.
Four years after that plan was first raised, however, only 16 units are under construction and none have been finished.
Meanwhile, an internal review published in December warned that at current funding levels, the CFHA has not been able to properly maintain the 12,000 units now in its portfolio, with nearly one in five rated as “below average.”
Not all members of the Armed Forces are struggling, including those whose required moves resulted in them buying or selling at the right time or place, said Canadian Forces College professor Alan Okros.
The military also offers a number of benefits to help offset costs.
But Okros said there’s no denying some troops are having difficulty, and that the issue is emerging as an important factor in retaining personnel.
“The CAF is so short of people,” he said. “It becomes: ‘Do you really want to lose somebody by posting them from an inexpensive to an expensive city, which basically forces them to quit rather than take the move?’”
Back in Comox, Fogtmann continues trying to match incoming service members with new homes for themselves and their families.
““But it’s really stressful,” she said. “My heart goes out to them.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2022.
Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
Witnesses described hearing a loud blast and seeing large plumes of black smoke on Tuesday morning as a building under construction in Halifax’s north end caught fire.
A message on Halifax’s alert system said the fire was at a building in the area of Robie and St Albans streets. About an hour later, the municipality said the fire was out.
The alert warned people who live on the peninsula to close their windows due to smoke from the fire possibly being toxic.
“Residents and businesses near the fire should still keep windows closed and air exchangers turned off until air quality conditions improve in the coming hours as a precaution,” the municipality said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Halifax Regional Police were asking people to avoid the area during what is normally a time of heavy morning traffic.
James Shaw lives nearby. He said he heard a blast around 8:20 a.m. local time.
“It shook the whole house,” Shaw said in an interview at the scene. “So I came outside … and saw this incredible building here on fire. Big black smoke. Lots of sparks and stuff going.”
Mike Clark was working on the building adjacent to the one that caught fire. He said he was on the 30th floor when the roof of the other building caught fire and propane tanks blew up.
He said construction crews were then evacuated from the building.
“The elevator was shut down and everyone went down the stairs and out the door,” he said. “Everybody on each floor has a horn to check if anybody was left in the building. Sounded the horn and walked down. It was very organized.”
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Published Apr 23, 2024 • 3 minute read
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Canadian tourism operators says the tourism sector hasn’t returned to what it was pre-COVID.
Many businesses report carrying a heavy debt load, with Vancouver-based ecotourism company Maple Leaf Adventures saying it’s carrying it’s heaviest debt load in 38 years.
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Co-owner Maureen Gordon says while she and her competitors are recovering, higher interest rates are putting a damper on the post-COVID rebound.
Tourism Industry Association of Canada C-E-O Beth Potter says while the sector brought in 109-billion dollars in revenue last year, the federal government must help out by bringing in a new low interest loan program.
Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada has said tourism operators have been affected by the warmest winter on record, but will be helped by the federal carbon rebate.
Here’s what else we’re watching …
Trudeau to make announcement in Saskatoon today
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be in Saskatoon today, where he will make an announcement highlighting measures focused on youth, education, and health that were contained in last week’s budget.
Joining Trudeau at the announcement in Saskatchewan’s largest city are minister for northern affairs Dan Vandal and Women and Gender Equality and Youth Minister Marci Ien.
Trudeau has faced conflict with the Saskatchewan Party government, whose leader, Premier Scott Moe, has been a vocal and long-standing opponent of the federal carbon levy.
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Moe is one of several premiers who have asked Trudeau to host a meeting to discuss alternatives to the consumer carbon price.
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‘Perfect storm’: Quebec farmer protests continue
Quebec farmers are continuing a series of protests that have brought slow rolling tractors to communities across the province’s agricultural regions.
The president of Quebec’s farmers union Martin Caron says producers are struggling with higher interest rates, growing paperwork and fees on plastic products, like containers of seeds, fertilizer and pesticides.
His organization is asking the current Coalition Avenir Quebec government to ensure farmers can get loans with interest rates of three per cent.
A spokesperson for Quebec’s agriculture minister says farmers can get emergency financial aid through a new program and that the government is consulting with the farmers union about reducing paperwork.
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Study shows caribou growth at wolves’ expense
New research suggests western Canada’s caribou population is growing.
But the same study also shows the biggest reason for the rebound is the slaughter of hundreds of wolves, a policy which will likely need to continue.
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Thirty-four researchers compared notes on herds in Alberta and British Columbia based on a study in Ecological Applications and found between 1991 and 2023, the caribou population dropped by half.
However, over the last few years the numbers have begun to slowly rise, as it’s estimated there are now more than 1500 caribou than there were had not restoration effort been made.
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Second World War hangar in Edmonton burns in fire
An aircraft hangar built during the Second World War at Edmonton’s former municipal airport has been destroyed by fire.
A spokesman for the City of Edmonton says in an email firefighters were called to Hangar 11 just before 7 p.m. Monday.
The city’s email says 11 fire crews were dispatched to the scene to deal with the heavy smoke and flames and the wooden building later collapsed.
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How a Newfoundland town shaped creepy ‘King Tide’
A new movie shot in Newfoundland showcases a community heavily reliant on a magical child.
“The King Tide” is about an isolated villagers having their lives forever changed after a mysterious infant washes up on their shores, the sole survivor of a devastating boat wreck.
They name the baby Isla, raise and learn she has healing powers promising immunity from injury and illness.
As the years pass, they become reliant on Isla’s abilities, but when her powers start to fade, a panic sets in as the community begins to fracture.
The movie was shot by Newfoundlander Christian Sparkes in Keels, Newfoundland, a former bustling fishing community which he says he’s been looking to film in for years, but couldn’t until recently due to the cost.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2024.
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We're still stockpiling reusable bags. Big grocers have adopted solutions, but experts have concerns – CBC News
Canada’s plastic bag ban has had an unintended consequence: a proliferation of reusable bags piling up in basements, closets and, eventually, landfills.
“They’re everywhere,” said environmental researcher Tony Walker. “We’re drowning in them, and we shouldn’t be.”
To combat the problem, several of Canada’s big grocers have introduced solutions. Last week, Walmart launched a free national recycling pilot program for the retailer’s reusable blue bags. Competitors Sobeys and chains owned by Loblaw Companies Ltd. use recyclable paper bags for grocery delivery.
But some environmental experts argue that paper bags are also problematic and that the best solutions are those that help customers actually reuse their reusable bags.
“We just can’t keep giving [them] out,” said Walker, a professor at Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies in Halifax. “We’re only meant to have a few of them, and we’re meant to use them until they fall apart.”
In late 2022, the federal government rolled out a ban on the manufacture, import and sale of several single-use plastics, including checkout bags. The regulations are being contested in court, but in the meantime, they remain in effect.
The regulations have made single-use shopping bags scarce in Canada, but they’ve also led to the proliferation of reusable bags, especially for grocery delivery.
“It just creates more waste, which is what we’re trying to avoid in the first place,” Walmart customer Udi Sela said in a CBC News interview in late 2022.
At the time, Sela, who lives in Maple, Ont., estimated his family had acquired about 300 reusable Walmart bags via grocery delivery.
“We can’t return them, we can’t do much with them.”
Now, a little more than a year later, Walmart has launched a pilot project to address the problem.
It allows customers to pack up their unwanted reusable Walmart blue bags and ship them — at no charge — to a facility where they’ll get a second life.
How it works
According to Walmart, bags in good condition will be laundered and donated to charity, primarily Food Banks Canada. Damaged bags will get recycled into other materials. Reusable bags typically can’t go in blue bins because they’re costly and difficult to recycle.
Customers must sign up for Walmart’s program, and enrolment is limited.
Jennifer Barbazza, Walmart’s senior manager of sustainability, said the retailer will fine-tune the details as the program progresses.
“[We] know that some customers have more reusable bags than maybe they need,” she said. “One of the things that we’re really excited to learn about from the pilot is customer acceptance and customer feedback.”
WATCH | Is your home overrun with reusable bags? Join the club:
Reusable bags are living rent free in closets and car trunks across the country. Most major retailers made the switch away from single-use plastic bags about a year ago, but it’s taking time for some customers to catch on. They’re forgetting to bring their bags with them, and buying more every week.
Udi Sela has already signed up.
“I definitely think it’s a step in the right direction,” he said in an interview on Friday. “It’s something that needed to be done a while ago. God knows we’ve got a ton of bags kind of piled up.”
He said he’s concerned that some customers may find mailing the bags a hurdle. However, it’s not deterring Sela, who soon plans to ship hundreds.
Passing the buck?
Not everyone is keen on Walmart’s project. Emily Alfred, a waste campaigner with Toronto Environmental Alliance, said donating the bags to the food bank is just passing on the problem.
“We need to remove waste from the system entirely, and just sending these somewhere else for someone else to deal with is not really a solution,” she said.
Alfred said a better option is a program Walmart piloted in Guelph, Ont., in 2022. For a fee, customers could check out reusable bags from an in-store kiosk and later return them to be cleaned and reused.
“That’s a real circular reuse system,” she said.
Walmart’s Barbazza said the retailer is continuing to explore different reusable bag programs, including ones placed in stores.
She also said she’s confident Canada’s food banks will make good use of the bags.
“There’s definitely a need for sturdy items to distribute materials to the food bank clients.”
The paper problem
Among Canada’s major grocers, only Walmart offers a reusable bag program for all customers.
Loblaw recently switched from reusable to recyclable paper bags for grocery delivery. Sobeys did not respond to requests for comment, but according to its website, the grocer also uses paper bags and “reusable options” for home delivery.
Several environmental experts say paper bags aren’t a good solution, because their production leaves a sizable carbon footprint.
“Paper bags are a problem,” Alfred said. “It takes a lot of energy to recycle paper, takes a lot of trees and energy to make new paper.”
Loblaw said it continues to explore a variety of more sustainable solutions. “It’s a challenge we’re committed to addressing,” spokesperson Dave Bauer said in an email.
Both Walker and Alfred applaud Metro for its grocery delivery program, because the grocer, which operates in Ontario and Quebec, reuses delivery materials.
Metro said customers can get their goods delivered in a cardboard box or reusable bags, which can be returned and used for another delivery. Or customers can opt for a plastic bin and remove their groceries from it upon arrival.
Metro does not offer similar programs for in-store shoppers.
Alfred said the federal government should introduce regulations that mandate retailers adopt effective reusable bag programs for all customers.
“It’s up to our governments and people to demand that these companies do better,” she said.
But Walker suggested that the regulations would be hard to enforce and that incentives could be a better tactic.
For example, if retailers increased the price of reusable bags, shoppers might be less likely to forget them when they head to the store, he said.
“When the cost is a disincentive to do an activity, people change their behaviour.”
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