In The News is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to kickstart your day. Here is what’s on the radar of our editors for the morning of May 11 …
What we are watching in Canada …
Drivers can expect more pain at the pumps this morning as gasoline prices push new records.
Natural Resources Canada says the average price across the country for regular gasoline hit 197.4 cents per litre on Tuesday for an all-time high.
The average price inched up slightly from 197.1 cents per litre on Monday, while prices are up more that twelve cents from a week ago.
Prices averaged about $2.23 a litre in Vancouver, while in Toronto prices averaged slightly under $2 a litre and in Edmonton the average was just under $1.30 a litre.
Gasoline prices have spiked as oil tops US$100 a barrel, in part because of supply disruptions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The higher prices also come as the reopening of the economy has led to high demand for gasoline that refiners have limited capacity to meet.
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Also this …
About four in five Canadian respondents to an online survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies say they are in favour of a woman’s right to an abortion if she so chooses, while 14 per cent say they are opposed.
The poll offers a picture of how Canadians feel about the issue as the United States faces turmoil over the possible overturning of the right to have an abortion.
Seventy per cent of all respondents say they are concerned about the leaked draft opinion to overturn Roe v. Wade, and almost half say they think the situation in the U.S. on the right to an abortion may have an effect in Canada.
Christian Bourque, Leger executive vice-president, says the high level of concern is interesting given the near-consensus shared among Canadians in supporting the right to choose.
The right to an abortion doesn’t exist in Canada in the same way it is enshrined in Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision in the U.S.
Abortion is decriminalized in Canada because of a 1988 Supreme Court decision, but no bill has ever been passed to enshrine access into law and it’s also not considered a constitutionally protected right under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
The online survey of 1,534 Canadians between Friday and Sunday cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based polls are not considered random samples.
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And this too …
The federal government is set to launch an online portal for Canadian businesses to donate to Ukrainians who need help to get set up in Canada after fleeing war in their country.
For now, the portal is designed to accept large-scale goods and services like housing, gift cards for high-priority items, transportation and jobs.
Loblaws, Canadian Tire, Metro and Couche-Tard have already donated the equivalent of more than $400,000.
The government says the portal is being launched today after Canadian companies expressed an interest in supporting people who have been impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Canada has opened the door to an unlimited number of Ukrainians and their families to work and study here for three years before deciding their next steps.
The portal is expected to be updated regularly with lists of priority items needed for families settling in Canada.
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What we are watching in the U.S. …
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. _ The U.S. Interior Department says it will release a report Wednesday that will begin to uncover the truth about the federal government’s past oversight of Native American boarding schools.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced an initiative last June to investigate the troubled legacy of boarding schools, which the government established and supported for decades. Indigenous children routinely were taken from their communities and forced into schools that sought to strip them of their language and culture.
Catholic, Protestant and other churches also led some of the schools, backed by U.S. laws and policies.
The Interior report was prompted by the discovery of hundreds of unmarked graves at former residential school sites in Canada that brought back painful memories for Indigenous communities. Haaland has said her agency’s report will identify past schools, locate known and possible burial sites at or near those schools, and uncover the names and tribal affiliations of students.
The first volume of the report will be released Wednesday. The Interior Department hasn’t said how many volumes were produced.
At least 367 boarding schools for Native Americans operated in the U.S., many of them in Oklahoma where tribes were relocated, Arizona, Alaska, New Mexico and South Dakota, according to research by the National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition.
Children at the schools often were subjected to military-style discipline and had their long hair cut. Early curricula focused heavily on vocational skills, including homemaking for girls. Some children never returned home.
Accounting for the number of children who died at the schools has been difficult because records weren’t always kept. Ground penetrating radar has been used in some places to search for remains.
Later this week, a U.S. House subcommittee will hear testimony on a bill to create a truth and healing commission modelled after one in Canada. Several church groups are backing the legislation.
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What we are watching in the rest of the world …
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine _ Ukraine’s natural gas pipeline operator said Wednesday it would stop Russian shipments through a key hub in the east of the country, while its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Kyiv’s military had made small gains, pushing Russian forces out of four villages near Kharkiv.
The pipeline operator said Russian shipments through its Novopskov hub, in an area controlled by Moscow-backed separatists, would be cut beginning Wednesday. It said the hub handles about a third of Russian gas passing through Ukraine to Western Europe. Russia’s state-owned natural gas giant Gazprom put the figure at about a quarter.
The move marks the first time natural gas supply has been affected by the war that began in February. It may force Russia to shift flows of its gas through territory controlled by Ukraine to reach its clients in Europe. Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom initially said it couldn’t, though preliminary flow data suggested higher rates moving through a second station in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The operator said it was stopping the flow because of interference from “occupying forces,” including the apparent siphoning of gas. Russia could reroute shipments through Sudzha, a main hub in a northern part of the country controlled by Ukraine, it said. But Gazprom spokesperson Sergei Kupriyanov said that would be “technologically impossible” and questioned the reason given for the stoppage.
Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the military was gradually pushing Russian troops away from Kharkiv, while Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba voiced what appeared to be increasing confidence _ and expanded goals, suggesting Ukraine could go beyond just forcing Russia back to areas it held before the invasion began 11 weeks ago.
Kuleba told the Financial Times that Ukraine initially believed victory would be the withdrawal of Russian troops to positions they occupied before the Feb. 24 invasion. But the focus shifted to the eastern industrial heartland of the Donbas after Russian forces failed to take Kyiv early in the war.
Ukraine said Tuesday that Russian forces fired seven missiles at Odesa a day earlier, hitting a shopping centre and a warehouse in the country’s largest port. One person was killed and five wounded, the military said. Images showed a burning building and debris _ including a tennis shoe _ in a heap of destruction in the city on the Black Sea.
One general has suggested Moscow’s aims include cutting Ukraine’s maritime access to both the Black and Azov seas. That would also give Russia a corridor linking it to both the Crimean Peninsula, which it seized in 2014, and Transnistria, a pro-Moscow region of Moldova.
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On this day in 1984 …
A federal law created the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, CSIS, to replace the RCMP when dealing with espionage and terrorism.
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In entertainment …
Charlotte Cardin doesn’t need to explain why she’s beaming as she sits down at the piano in her Montreal studio ahead of the Juno Awards.
There’s plenty to smile about these days, considering she holds a leading six nominations at Canada’s most prestigious music awards show this weekend, including artist of the year and single of the year for “Meaningless.”
That puts her ahead of Justin Bieber and the Weeknd, who each have five nominations heading into an industry show Saturday, when the bulk of trophies will be handed out. The televised bash for marquee categories airs Sunday on CBC.
“I’m still trying to process it,” she says, freely gesticulating near the keyboard — almost teasing that she might improvise and turn the conversation into a private concert.
“It’s rare that female artists from Quebec receive as many nominations and are able to get that platform across Canada.”
In 2021, Cardin’s debut album, “Phoenix,” made her the first Canadian female artist to spend two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian album chart since Quebec’s renowned diva Céline Dion, in September 2016.
The Junos, where she was nominated as breakthrough artist four years ago, is certain to introduce her to a whole new audience. Already, most of the stops on her 2022 international tour are sold out. “It makes me so proud to represent a female project, from Quebec but in English,” she says.
On Sunday, she’ll perform at the Junos, which airs live from Budweiser Stage in Toronto, with actor Simu Liu as host and performers that include Arcade Fire, Mustafa and Avril Lavigne.
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Did you see this?
Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children says it has identified seven probable cases of severe acute hepatitis of unknown origin.
The research and pediatric hospital, also known as SickKids, says the mysterious cases were identified between Oct. 1, 2021 and April 30, 2022 and reported to Public Health Ontario.
Dr. Upton Allen, the hospital’s division head of infectious diseases, said Tuesday that large children’s hospitals such as his regularly see children with severe hepatitis and that the overall numbers “seems to be pretty consistent with what we’ve seen before.”
“But we’re really carefully looking at those numbers in really great detail,” Allen added.
World Health Organization officials said last week they had reports of almost 300 probable cases in 20 countries. More than 100 possible cases have emerged among children in the United States, including five deaths.
Allen could not say if the seven cases singled out by SickKids are different from what they would have seen in prior years.
“What we can say is that we have cases that fit the World Health Organization case definition. But we’re not yet able to say definitively that these cases truly represent a new signal,” he said.
SickKids said its infectious disease specialists were on the lookout for youngsters with liver disease symptoms that could include new onset of dark urine, pale stool and/or jaundice, which can turn the whites of eyes a distinctive yellow colour. Other key symptoms to look out for include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and joint pain.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2022.
OTTAWA – The rate at which Canadian rental prices are increasing should slow in the coming years as the government’s plan to cut back immigration numbers takes hold, a new report from Desjardins says.
“Our outlook is for a slowdown in the pace of rent inflation over the next few years, in line with a rising unemployment rate and weaker population growth,” it predicted.
Rents have been rising fast and rent inflation is “much higher” than increases in the price of owned homes, it said. Inflation of rented accommodation was 8.3 per cent in the third quarter of this year, “the fastest pace since the early 1980s.”
Last month, the federal government announced plans to slash Canada’s immigration targets by 20 per cent as the government faced increased pressure to address the cost and availability of housing.
Ottawa is also aiming to reduce the proportion of temporary residents, which includes temporary foreign workers and international students.
The Desjardins report noted that non-permanent residents “are more likely to rent than purchase a home due to the temporary or uncertain nature of their stay in Canada.” Many permanent residents also rent once they arrive in Canada, it noted.
“Lowering the number of newcomers should halt or possibly even reverse Canada’s population growth, slowing demand for rental accommodation,” the report said.
But while Desjardins expects rent inflation to slow, it said there is uncertainty around how the federal government will implement its new immigration policies.
“If the population slows faster than anticipated, the demand for rental accommodation will slow and price pressures will ease,” it said.
On the other hand, higher-than-anticipated population growth that are more in line with the Bank of Canada’s recent outlook wouldl put more sustained pressure on rent prices, the report said.
The effects will also vary by region, the report says. Rent inflation in provinces like British Columbia and Ontario will increase more slowly. And while rent inflation is expected to come down in all major cities, it will “ease more” in Calgary and Edmonton, Desjardins said.
“Alberta and Saskatchewan should see rents slow the fastest given the highly cyclical nature of the economy and rental market in those provinces. In contrast, still-elevated rent inflation is expected in Quebec,” it predicted.
Desjardins noted that across the country, the number of households that rent has “risen dramatically,” meaning “rapidly rising rents impact a large and growing share of households across the country.”
It also warned any improvements may be temporary, with “longer-term solutions requiring substantial increases in housing supply and policy efforts to address affordability across both rental and ownership sectors.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
TORONTO – Will Taylor Swift bring chaos or do we all need to calm down?
It’s a question many Torontonians are asking this week as the city braces for the arrival of Swifties, the massive fan base of one of the world’s biggest pop stars.
Hundreds of thousands are expected to descend on the downtown core for the singer’s six concerts which kick off Thursday at the Rogers Centre and run until Nov. 23.
And while their arrival will be a boon to tourism dollars — the city estimates more than $282 million in economic impact — some worry it could worsen Toronto’s gridlock by clogging streets that already come to a standstill during rush hour.
Swift’s shows are set to collide with sports events at the nearby Scotiabank Arena, including a Raptors game on Friday and a Leafs game on Saturday.
Some residents and local businesses have already adjusted their plans to avoid the area and its planned road closures.
Aahil Dayani says he and some friends intended to throw a birthday bash for one of their pals until they realized it would overlap with the concerts.
“Something as simple as getting together and having dinner is now thrown out the window,” he said.
Dayani says the group rescheduled the gathering for after Swift leaves town. In the meantime, he plans to hunker down at his Toronto residence.
“Her coming into town has kind of changed up my social life,” he added.
“We’re pretty much just not doing anything.”
Max Sinclair, chief executive and founder of A.I. technology firm Ecomtent, suggested his employees avoid the company’s downtown offices on concert days, saying he doesn’t see the point in forcing people to endure potential traffic jams.
“It’s going to be less productive for us, and it’s going to be just a pain for everyone, so it’s easier to avoid it,” Sinclair said.
“We’re a hybrid company, so we can be flexible. It just makes sense.”
Swift’s concerts are the latest pop culture moment to draw attention to Toronto’s notoriously disastrous daily commute.
In June, One Direction singer Niall Horan uploaded a social media video of himself walking through traffic to reach the venue for his concert.
“Traffic’s too bad in Toronto, so we’re walking to the venue,” he wrote in the post.
Toronto Transit Commission spokesperson Stuart Green says the public agency has been working for more than a year on plans to ease the pressure of so many Swifties in one confined area.
“We are preparing for something that would be akin to maybe the Beatles coming in the ‘60s,” he said.
Dozens of buses and streetcars have been added to transit routes around the stadium, and the TTC has consulted the city on potential emergency scenarios.
Green will be part of a command centre operated by the City of Toronto and staffed by Toronto police leaders, emergency services and others who have handled massive gatherings including the Raptors’ NBA championship parade in 2019.
“There may be some who will say we’re over-preparing, and that’s fair,” Green said.
“But we know based on what’s happened in other places, better to be over-prepared than under-prepared.”
Metrolinx, the agency for Ontario’s GO Transit system, has also added extra trips and extended hours in some regions to accommodate fans looking to travel home.
A day before Swift’s first performance, the city began clearing out tents belonging to homeless people near the venue. The city said two people were offered space in a shelter.
“As the area around Rogers Centre is expected to receive a high volume of foot traffic in the coming days, this area has been prioritized for outreach work to ensure the safety of individuals in encampments, other residents, businesses and visitors — as is standard for large-scale events,” city spokesperson Russell Baker said in a statement.
Homeless advocate Diana Chan McNally questioned whether money and optics were behind the measure.
“People (in the area) are already in close proximity to concerts, sports games, and other events that generate massive amounts of traffic — that’s nothing new,” she said in a statement.
“If people were offered and willingly accepted a shelter space, free of coercion, I support that fully — that’s how it should happen.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Hundreds of Taylor Swift fans lined up outside the gates of Toronto’s Rogers Centre Wednesday, with hopes of snagging some of the pop star’s merchandise on the eve of the first of her six sold-out shows in the city.
Swift is slated to perform at the venue from Thursday to Saturday, and the following week from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23, with concert merchandise available for sale on some non-show days.
Swifties were all smiles as they left the merch shop, their arms full of sweaters and posters bearing pictures of the star and her Eras Tour logo.
Among them was Zoe Haronitis, 22, who said she waited in line for about two hours to get $300 worth of merchandise, including some apparel for her friends.
Haronitis endured the autumn cold and the hefty price tag even though she hasn’t secured a concert ticket. She said she’s hunting down a resale ticket and plans to spend up to $600.
“I haven’t really budgeted anything,” Haronitis said. “I don’t care how much money I spent. That was kind of my mindset.”
The megastar’s merchandise costs up to $115 for a sweater, and $30 for tote bags and other accessories.
Rachel Renwick, 28, also waited a couple of hours in line for merchandise, but only spent about $70 after learning that a coveted blue sweater and a crewneck had been snatched up by other eager fans before she got to the shop. She had been prepared to spend much more, she said.
“The two prized items sold out. I think a lot more damage would have been done,” Renwick said, adding she’s still determined to buy a sweater at a later date.
Renwick estimated she’s spent about $500 in total on “all-things Eras Tour,” including her concert outfit and merchandise.
The long queue for Swift merch is just a snapshot of what the city will see in the coming days. It’s estimated that up to 500,000 visitors from outside Toronto will be in town during the concert period.
Tens of thousands more are also expected to attend Taylgate’24, an unofficial Swiftie fan event scheduled to be held at the nearby Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Meanwhile, Destination Toronto has said it anticipates the economic impact of the Eras Tour could grow to $282 million as the money continues to circulate.
But for fans like Haronitis, the experience in Toronto comes down to the Swiftie community. Knowing that Swift is going to be in the city for six shows and seeing hundreds gather just for merchandise is “awesome,” she said.
Even though Haronitis hasn’t officially bought her ticket yet, she said she’s excited to see the megastar.
“It’s literally incredible.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
