adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

Business

Nunavut family of 11 goes without hot water for duration of COVID-19 outbreak – CBC.ca

Published

 on


For one family of 11 in Arviat, a COVID-19 lockdown and a broken boiler means there hasn’t been hot water in their three-bedroom public housing unit for more than two weeks. While everyone is well, Cecilia Akammak says she has to boil water to hand wash and disinfect surfaces. 

The lockdown ended on Wednesday in the rest of Nunavut, where the number of active cases has fallen consistently throughout the week, leaving only a handful in Whale Cove and none in Rankin Inlet.  

But Arviat still has 44 active cases as of Friday. The community of about 2,550 people remains in full isolation with no travel in or out of the community while health staff work to curb community transmission. 

300x250x1

With schools closed and families confined to their homes in winter, the outbreak is highlighting the territory’s ongoing struggles with overcrowding and inadequate housing.  

WATCH | Nunavut’s chief public health officer on restrictions in Arviat:

Nunavut’s chief public health officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, warns Arviat needs to keep its tight restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19. 1:04

Emergency repairs only

Because maintenance staff with the local housing authority are isolating, too, the Nunavut Housing Corporation says only emergency repairs are possible. 

“I was even thinking to call the Health minister,” said Akammak, who lives with her husband, children and grandchildren. “It’s a kind of urgent emergency because we have to have hot water in hand, too. We have to boil it to be clean.”

We have nothing, absolutely nothing in our community.– Jenny Gibbons, Arviat resident

Federal relief funds helped the municipality send food hampers to families who can’t go out to the store. Essential workers are delivering water more often and cleaning supplies are being given out.

Resident Jennifer Aulatut says these kinds of supports are helping a lot. But she says because her unit is old and run down, she still doesn’t feel safe using her water without boiling it.

The water in her home is yellow and makes her children sick, she said.

“It’s not good water to drink or wash your hands,” she said. “If I want to have coffee, I buy some water at the store.” 

However, due to financial constraints, Aulatut said buying water is often not an option for her.  

Jennifer Aulatut, seen here with her children, said their Arviat home doesn’t have safe drinking water, but they can’t stay with family because it isn’t safe to visit during lockdown. (Submitted by Jennifer Aulatut)

Usually, she stays with family when her 60-year-old dilapidated home needs urgent repairs. 

But right now, she said, it isn’t safe to visit. 

A recent territorial survey on hidden homelessness found that more than 140 people in Arviat are homeless, and over 60 children live in unstable housing situations. 

There is no homeless shelter in the community and the territory’s Department of Family Services said to get one, a non-profit community group would have to organize it. 

Jenny Gibbons, another Arviat resident, has been working to build support for a shelter in her community for the last two years, but faces her own struggles, like lack of Internet to access the forms and information from the government.

Gibbons says she knows what it’s like to rely on other people for housing.

Nunavut’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Michael Patterson says there aren’t enough separate spaces in Arviat for people sick with COVID-19 to isolate away from their households. (Submitted by Dylan Clark)

“There are too many people in one house,” she said. “We have nothing, absolutely nothing in our community, and we need it.” 

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Michael Patterson said there are some separate isolation spaces identified in Arviat to help deal with the COVID-19 outbreak, but that these spaces are nowhere near the amount that would be needed to keep all sick people separate. 

Because many households have a large number of people living together, Patterson said isolating one person isn’t helpful when others may already be infected. He also said it may be harmful to remove people from their support network while they’re ill. 

However, by following safety measures like cleaning and mask wearing, he said contact tracing teams are seeing that not everyone in a household will become ill.

Housing corp. can’t meet demand

Since 2018 there have been 45 public housing units built in Arviat, bringing the community to ninth place out of 25 on the territory’s list of communities most in need of housing. 

Territory-wide, the Nunavut Housing Corporation says more than 3,000 units are needed. But President Terry Audla says the 120 to 130 units the territory is able to build annually are not enough to keep up with demand. 

Each year, it costs the territory around $20,000 in upkeep for each of its 5,000 plus public housing units, and Audla said these overall maintenance costs increase as more units are built. Water and electricity are the highest bills, he said. 

Terry Audla, president of the Nunavut Housing Corporation, said the recent COVID-19 outbreak in the area has highlighted the strains that a territory-wide housing crisis puts on residents. (Kieran Oudshoorn/CBC)

Audla hopes to access COVID-19 funding from a $1 billion pandemic-related rapid housing initiative announced through the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation. So far, he said COVID-19 support funds have only gone to personal protective equipment for his staff. 

“We are continuing to try and lobby for more dollars because of the housing crisis here in Nunavut, and the COVID-19 pandemic just magnifies it all,” Audla said. 

He views Arviat as a prime example of the crisis with “how it spread so quick, so fast.”

Housing units built in the territory are allocated based on the number of housing applications filed with a local housing office, as well as population growth and rates of overcrowding. 

The Nunavut government is currently having an independent review of that allocation method conducted, after MLAs said the housing wait lists reported for their communities did not accurately reflect what is needed on the ground. Audla said the report is expected to be done by summer of next year. 

No pandemic money  

In an interview with CBC News last week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called housing one solution to poor health, low education and high rates of family violence experienced in Nunavut. 

“We know how important it is to invest in housing and this pandemic has only exacerbated that and highlighted the need for more investments, and we will be there to do more for housing in the North,” Trudeau said. 

But in a news conference following last month’s announcement of $19.36 million in federal relief money for Nunavut, Premier Joe Savikataaq said pandemic funds so far aren’t meant for housing.

In the meantime, residents like Cecilia Akammak, Jennifer Aulatut and their families are doing their best to follow the public health restrictions despite the shortfalls of their living conditions now amplified by the pandemic.

“We have to be clean but it’s kind of hard without hot water,” Akammak said. “It’s tiring, too.” 

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Business

US February PCE core inflation +2.8% y/y vs +2.8% expected – ForexLive

Published

 on


US core PCE yy

  • Prior month 2.8% (revised to 2.9%)
  • PCE core m/m +0.3% vs +0.3% expected (unrounded +0.261%)
  • Prior m/m core +0.4% (revised to +0.5%)
  • Headline PCE +2.5% y/y vs +2.5% expected (prior 2.4%).
  • Headline m/m +0.3% vs +0.4% expected (unrounded +0.333%)
  • 6 month core annualized 2.9% vs 2.6% prior
  • Full report

Consumer spending and consumer income for February:

  • Personal income +0.3% versus +0.4% expected. Prior month 0.3%.
  • Personal spending +0.8% versus +0.5% expected. Prior month +0.2%
  • Real personal spending +0.4% vs -0.1% last month (revised to -0.2%)

The revisions to the January data are a touch higher but it didn’t bump up the Feb y/y numbers.

Overall, it’s a tad hot but the dollar is a tad softer, perhaps focusing on the lower headline m/m reading.

300x250x1

Looking deeper at spending, goods rose 0.5% with services up 0.9%. On the inflation side, goods prices were down 0.2% y/y while services prices rose 3.8% y/y.

US core PCE mm

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Business

What’s open and closed Good Friday, Easter Monday in Hamilton, Burlington and Niagara Region – Global News

Published

 on


The Easter long weekend is upon us, bringing a rare four-day holiday to some in the Hamilton area. Several businesses and services will be closed on Good Friday (March 29), Easter Sunday (March 31) or Easter Monday (April 1).

Here’s a list of some things that will or will not be operating in Hamilton, Burlington and Niagara Region.

300x250x1

Administrative offices: Offices are closed on Friday and Monday.

Licensing and bylaw services: Licensing and bylaw phone queue line will be closed on Friday and Monday. Service will resume on Tuesday.

Green bin, garbage and recycling: No collection on Good Friday. Friday’s pickup will occur on Saturday (March 31). Monday will be a regular collection day (April 1). The city says all materials must be at the curb by 7 a.m. Community recycling centres and transfer stations will be closed Friday and Monday.

HSR bus: Buses will operate on a Sunday/holiday schedule Friday and a regular schedule on Monday.

GO Transit: Trains and buses are operating on a Sunday schedule Friday.

ATS DARTS: Service will be operating with holiday service hours on Friday and Monday. Subscription trips on DARTS, with the exception of dialysis, are cancelled for Friday and Monday. ATS customer service will also be closed on Friday and Monday.

Ontario Works: The program, including the special supports, will be closed Friday and Monday. Phone service will resume on Tuesday.

Recreation centres: Closed on Friday and Monday.

Hamilton civic museums: Dundurn National Historic Site, the Hamilton Military Museum and the Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology will be closed on Friday and Monday.

Tourism Hamilton visitor information centre: Closed Friday to Monday.

Hamilton Public Library: All HPL branches are closed on Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Branches are open on Saturday and regular hours resume Tuesday, April 2

Social services: All Ontario Works offices, special supports and the housing services office will be closed on Friday and Monday.

Senior centres: Closed Friday and Sunday. Senior clubs will be running modified program schedules from Friday to Monday.

Arenas: Closed to public programming Friday, Sunday and Monday.

Animal services: Closed Good Friday, Sunday and Easter Monday.

Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope: Open Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday. Closed Easter Monday.

Burlington

Government offices: Local government such as city hall, municipal offices and facilities will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday.


Breaking news from Canada and around the world
sent to your email, as it happens.

Administrative services: Services including parks, roads and forestry will be closed on Friday and Monday. Only snow removal and urgent services will be provided.

Animal Shelter and Control: Closed all weekend, Friday through Monday. Emergencies can be called in to 905-335-7777.

Recreation centres: Some city pools, arenas and community centres will be operational on a limited schedule. Visit burlington.ca/dropinandplay for details. Some outdoor recreation facilities will also be open, weather permitting. Visit burlington.ca/outdoorplay for more information. Tyandaga Golf Course will be closed. The tentative season opener is set for April 6.

Halton Provincial Offences Court: Closed on Friday and Monday.

Free parking: Available Friday and Monday in the downtown core in municipal lots, on-street and in the parking garage, however, the Waterfront parking lots (east and west) do not provide free parking on statutory holidays. Parking exemptions are required to park overnight on city streets and for longer than five hours. Visit burlington.ca/parkingexemptions for more.

Burlington Transit: Transit will operate a holiday schedule Sunday. The downtown transit terminal, specialized dispatch and the administration office will be closed on March 29. Monday is a regular schedule.

Niagara Region

Government offices: City halls, the Enterprise Centre and administration offices are all closed on Good Friday. Some offices, like St. Catharines, will reopen on Easter Monday.

Parks, recreation and culture services: All City recreation centres are closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Administration offices are all closed on Friday. Some will be closed on Monday. St. Catharines Kiwanis Aquatics Centre is closed Friday, but open on Saturday. Seymour-Hannah Sports and Entertainment Centre is closed Friday, but open regular hours through the weekend and Monday.

Community centres: All older adult centres and arenas will either be closed or have reduced hours on Friday, Sunday and Monday.

St. Catharines Museum; Welland Canals Centre: Both facilities will be closed on Good Friday but open the rest of the long weekend between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Niagara Regional Transit: Both St. Catharines and Niagara Falls buses will operate on a holiday schedule for Good Friday. Regional, Fort Erie and Welland service will not be running Friday. The agency will have regular hours on Easter Sunday and Monday.

Canada Post: No collection or mail delivery on Monday. Most post offices operated by the private sector will also be closed during business hours.

Grocery stores: Major grocery stores like Fortinos, Metro, FreshCo and No Frills will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Shoppers Drug Mart: Some locations in the city will be open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but not all. Holiday hours can be seen on the Shoppers store locator map.

Rexall: Some outlets are open on a holiday schedule, but not all. Visit the Rexall website for store hours.

Malls: All major shopping centres in Hamilton, Burlington, St. Catharines and Niagara Falls will be closed on Good Friday. Exceptions include:

  • Outlet Collection at Niagara Falls: Open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • CF Toronto Eaton Centre: Open noon to 7 p.m.
  • Toronto Premium Outlets in Halton Hills: Open Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Pacific Mall in Toronto: Open between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
  • Vaughan Mills will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

In Toronto, retailers in designated tourist areas such as Yorkville, downtown Yonge, Queen’s Quay West and the Distillery District can stay open Good Friday, according to City of Toronto bylaws.

Walmart: All Walmarts in the GTHA will be closed Good Friday and Easter Sunday except the Niagara Falls Supercentre on Oakwood Drive, which is open between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. on those days.

Alcohol

The Beer Store: All stores will be closed Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

LCBO: All stores will be closed Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

More on Canada

Wine Rack: Most Hamilton locations will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday except for the Wilson Street West location in Ancaster and the Guelph Line outlet in Burlington.

Wilson Street will be open Noon to 5 p.m. on Good Friday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Easter Sunday. Guelph Line will open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Sunday.

Tourist destinations

Niagara Falls: Some Niagara Falls attractions are closed during the early spring, including the Whirlpool Aero Car and Wildplay Whirlpool Adventure Course, and the White Water Walk.

However, some, like the Niagara City Cruises, Journey Behind the Falls, Niagara Falls History Museum and The Exchange, and the Niagara Power Station are open and will be operating on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Hours of operation can be seen on the Niagara Parks website.

The Butterfly Conservatory will be open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Toronto: Most Toronto attractions are either closed or have adjusted hours on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

  • The Hockey Hall of Fame will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • The Toronto Zoo will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
  • The Ontario Science Centre will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Ripley’s Aquarium will be open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.
  • The Art Gallery of Ontario will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  • The Royal Ontario Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
  • The Aga Khan Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Business

CRA pausing new 'bare trust' reporting requirement just days before filing deadline – CBC News

Published

 on


The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is hitting pause on a new “bare trust” reporting requirement with just a few days remaining before the deadline.

New reporting requirements for such trust arrangements were introduced for the 2024 tax season. Anyone with a bare trust was required to file a T3 tax return form naming the trustees, beneficiaries and settlors of each trust by April 2.

But on Thursday — with four days before the deadline to file — the CRA announced that it would be pausing the reporting measures.

300x250x1

“In recognition that the new reporting requirements for bare trusts have had an unintended impact on Canadians, the Canada Revenue Agency will not require bare trusts to file a T3 … for the 2023 tax year, unless the CRA makes a direct request for these filings,” a statement released by the tax agency said.

John Oakey, a vice president with the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada, said the government hasn’t done a great job of communicating the changes.

“There’s no advertising from the government saying these are coming. You don’t see an ad on the television. You don’t see ads in magazines,” he said.

“The only way that individuals are really finding out is from advisers, financial institutions … people that are already aware of these rules.”

No definition of ‘bare trust’ in Income Tax Act

There is no definition of a bare trust in the Income Tax Act. The CRA defines a bare trust as “arrangement under which the trustee can reasonably be considered to act as agent for all the beneficiaries under the trust with respect to all dealings with all of the trust’s property.”

Unlike express trusts, where people seek out a lawyer to create a trust, bare trusts can happen almost accidentally — when a parent cosigns a mortgage for a child and becomes partial owner, or when an aging parent puts their kids down as partial owners of their house in anticipation of an impending death.

Oakey said a bare trust could also be something as simple as a shared bank account.

“If I put my name on [my parents’] bank account in order to help them pay their bills, that creates a trust relationship,” he said.

“I have no real control over the asset. I still have to adhere to their wishes. All I’m doing is acting as an agent on their behalf to do whatever they want me to do.”

In those cases, the bare trust does not earn any money for the trustee to report in a given tax year.

Even though Canadians wouldn’t have been taxed on a trust’s value, failure to report being a member of a bare trust could have resulted in a fine of $2,500, or five per cent of the value of all property in the trust, whichever is higher.

The requirement was meant as a way to crack down on tax avoidance. Corporations and wealthy individuals sometimes hold properties in bare trusts so they can avoid paying property transfer taxes. Oakey said the move was also likely an effort to crack down on money laundering.

The CRA said it would be working to “to further clarify its guidance on this filing requirement” over the coming months.

Adblock test (Why?)

728x90x4

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending