adplus-dvertising
Connect with us

News

Paris wants to honor late Ugandan Olympian Cheptegei by naming sports venue after her

Published

 on

 

PARIS (AP) — The city of Paris wants to honor the late Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei by naming a sports venue after her.

The proposal was announced by city mayor Anne Hidalgo on Friday and will be discussed by city officials in October.

Cheptegei died on Thursday at a Kenyan hospital where she was being treated after 80% of her body was burned in an attack by her partner. She was 33.

Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month ago and finished 44th.

“Paris will not forget her and we will dedicate a sports venue to her, so that her memory and her story will remain among us, and help us carry even stronger the message of equality, which is a message carried by the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” Hidalgo said.

City hall said in a statement, “Paris joins its elected representatives in expressing its support for the family of the athlete, victim of a femicide a few weeks after her participation in the Olympic Games.”

Trans Nzoia County Police Commander Jeremiah ole Kosiom said this week that Cheptegei’s partner, Dickson Ndiema, bought a can of gasoline, poured it on her and set her ablaze during a disagreement last Sunday. Ndiema was also burned and was being treated at the same hospital.

Every 11 minutes on average, a woman or girl is killed by an intimate partner or family member somewhere in the world, according to figures from UN Women, the agency promoting gender equality, and the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

“An emotional thought for Rebecca Cheptegei,” Hidalgo said. “She dazzled us here in Paris. We saw her — her beauty, her strength, her freedom — and it was in all likelihood her beauty, strength and freedom which were intolerable for the person who committed this murder,”

Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

News

All premiers aligned on push for Canada to have bilateral trade deal with U.S.: Ford

Published

 on

TORONTO – All 13 provincial and territorial premiers are aligned on a push for the federal government to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with the United States, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Wednesday.

Ford, who is the current chair of the Council of the Federation, the group of Canada’s 13 premiers, said they had a call and there is a clear consensus that the country needs separate agreements with the U.S. and Mexico.

“All the premiers, we know Mexico is bringing in cheap Chinese parts, slapping made-in-Mexico stickers on, shipping it up through the U.S. and Canada, causing American jobs to be lost, and Canadian jobs,” he said after the call wrapped up. “We want fair trade.”

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland has said members of the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden and advisers of incoming president-elect Donald Trump have expressed “very grave” concerns to her about the issue of Mexico becoming a “back door” to Chinese goods.

Freeland has sought to reassure nervous Canadians that the country is in a good position with the incoming Trump administration, even as it threatens new tariffs, because Ottawa is moving in lock-step with the U.S. on Chinese trade irritants.

The Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement is up for review in 2026. 

The premiers are calling for a meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his officials to discuss the idea of bilateral negotiations.

This week, Trudeau said he highlighted concerns directly with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ summit in Brazil.

Ford, meanwhile, has spoken frequently about establishing relationships with governors across the U.S., appealing directly to his subnational counterparts and reminding them that Ontario is the No. 1 trading partner to 17 states and No. 2 to 13 others.

The premiers are set to meet in Toronto in mid-December and Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has suggested inviting some governors to the meeting, Ford said.

“I’m not too sure if any will show up, because they’re in transition right now,” he said. 

“We plan on heading down there as Team Canada sometime in February … maybe March, as everyone comes back to Washington, and there’s a governors’ meeting as well in February, if I’m not mistaken. We’d love to be down there at the governors’ meeting.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.

— With files from Kyle Duggan.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

Liberals, NDP to blame for Nova Scotia housing crisis, says Tory Leader Houston

Published

 on

HALIFAX – Previous Liberal and NDP governments are to blame for Nova Scotia’s housing crisis, Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston said Wednesday on the campaign trail, boasting that his party’s plan to build more homes is bearing fruit.

At a Halifax warehouse the Tories turned into their campaign headquarters, Houston, who is running for a second term as premier, said his government has supported thousands of new housing builds.

“We’re building more, we’re building faster … we have a plan that is working,” he told reporters, as housing affordability has become one of the main themes of the Nov. 26 election.

Nova Scotia is in a housing crisis because previous governments have failed to build enough homes, he said. “I wish these units were built five years ago, 10 years ago, 12 years ago. But they weren’t and we’re trying to catch up.”

Before Houston’s Tories took office in 2021, Nova Scotia had been governed by a series of Liberal and NDP governments; the last time the Progressive Conservatives were in power was in 2009.

Prior to last year, however, the province had not built new public housing since the 1990s.

Houston says his government’s plan to support the creation of 41,200 new housing units by 2028 is working. The government is already more than halfway there, he said, with more than 26,000 new starts in progress. 

When asked about support for renters who are on fixed-term leases, the Tory leader would not commit to making changes to the existing rental system, which allows landlords to circumvent the five per cent rent cap by leasing for fixed terms.

“Some landlords, big and small, have articulated there is a need for (fixed-term leases),” Houston said, giving the example of a landlord who works in transition housing where fixed-term leases are used to manage temporary living situations. 

“Clearly there are abuses of fixed-term leases in some cases. We’ll look for ways that we can support and catch those who are abusing them.”

A Narrative Research poll released Wednesday had Houston’s Tories in the lead with 44 per cent support. The NDP were in second place with 28 per cent, and the Liberals in third with 24 per cent. The firm used a probability sample of 800 adult Nova Scotians, surveyed between Nov. 4 and 17. The poll has a margin or error of 3.5 percentage points, 95 times out of 100.

Meanwhile, Nova Scotia Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said Wednesday that if his party is elected to govern next week, it would develop a comprehensive housing strategy for seniors. 

The proposed strategy, part of the Liberals’ previously announced platform, calls for developing small, walkable communities that offer “wellness supports” for seniors. The platform also says a Liberal government would work with non-profit agencies to ensure there is affordable housing available for seniors.

As well, Churchill wants to make it easier for healthy seniors to stay in their homes longer.

“We’ll increase funding for programs that help seniors upgrade their homes to meet their changing needs, whether that’s adding a ramp or widening a hallway,” he said at Liberal headquarters in Halifax. The platform calls for spending $5 million over four years on adapting existing housing.

“Our seniors aren’t just sitting around waiting for long-term care. Our seniors are the bulk of our volunteer force. They’re keeping many service organizations going.”

Churchill said a Liberal government would also review the property tax system, which he says penalizes seniors who want to downsize. In particular, he said the residential deed transfer tax had to be changed.

The Liberals are also promising to double the province’s annual seniors care grant to $1,500 and expand eligibility for the grant by increasing the maximum annual household income threshold to $50,000 from $45,000.

“This will help with paying for the essential expenses like home repairs, phone bills, transportation,” Churchill said.

In the past three years, an average of 32,400 seniors received the existing $750 grant each year. The total cost for the program during this fiscal year is expected to be almost $27 million. The Liberals’ proposed changes would more than double that cost to about $59 million annually.

As well, Churchill is promising to spend an additional $10 million annually to improve the working conditions of homecare workers, a move the Liberals say would help eliminate a current staffing shortage.

Also on Wednesday, NDP Leader Claudia Chender announced she would negotiate an arrangement with Ottawa to make prescription birth control drugs and devices free. An NDP government would quickly take advantage of the federal pharmacare plan announced in May, ensuring birth control pills, IUDs, implants and morning-after pills are available at no charge, she said.

British Columbia set up a free birth control system last year, while Manitoba recently signed a deal with Ottawa that has led to coverage of contraception medications and devices in their pharmacare plans.

“There is federal money on the table. This can easily be done,” Chender said during a news conference on Wednesday. “Women and gender-diverse people will no longer have to worry about paying to preserve their reproductive freedom.”

According to the Health Canada website, oral contraceptives currently cost about $25 per package, or $300 annually. Intrauterine devices, which are effective for about five years, cost about $500 per unit.

Chender also said her party would expand midwifery services, permitting midwives to prescribe mifegymiso — sometimes referred to as the abortion pill.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.

— With files from Michael MacDonald and Michael Tutton.



Source link

Continue Reading

News

Competition Bureau investigating Leon’s, The Brick for alleged deceptive marketing

Published

 on

GATINEAU, Que. – The Competition Bureau says it’s obtained a court order to advance an ongoing investigation into marketing practises by Leon’s Furniture Ltd. and its subsidiary The Brick. 

The bureau says the court order requires the companies to produce records and written information relevant to the investigation.

The bureau says the practises in question could include false or misleading claims about the time-limited nature of sales or promotions, or potentially inflated regular prices used when making claims about savings.

They could also include sale claims without specifying the discount amount, as well as the use of distinct font colours for displaying prices, which the bureau says could mislead customers into thinking they are benefitting from a sale. 

The bureau says there is no conclusion of wrongdoing at this time. 

Leon’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 20, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:LNF)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending