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Housing, food prices top of mind as MPs return to Ottawa following summer break

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

OTTAWA — MPs are returning to the House of Commons today determined to find relief for Canadians feeling the pinch of inflation.While some of the most heated debates this fall will surround bail reform, gun restrictions and climate change, it is housing costs and grocery bills that will likely dominate the agenda. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne will get things moving this morning when he meets with the heads of Canada’s biggest grocery chains, seeking a plan to curb the growing cost of food.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the heads of Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, Costco and Walmart Canada have until Thanksgiving to show a plan to lower prices or the government may step in to force the issue.Recent Canada food price reports from Dalhousie University show the average family is expected to pay another $1,065 for food this year.Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the meeting is nothing more than a photo op that will do nothing to lower food prices.This report by...

Residents of Hay River and surrounding communities return after month-long evacuation

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

HAY RIVER, N.W.T. — Jennifer Coleman has lived in and around Hay River in the Northwest Territories her whole life, but the highway into the community felt like a strange place as she and other wildfire evacuees were allowed to return there Saturday for the first time in over a month.“It’s almost like muscle memory when you drive that highway, it’s almost like you shut your mind off and just drive, and you end up at home,” Coleman said in an interview Sunday.“It wasn’t like that coming up. I didn’t recognize anything. It was quite hard actually.”Coleman and her husband had been staying in Peace River, Alta., since Hay River, as well as the nearby hamlet of Enterprise and K’atl’odeeche First Nation, were evacuated on Aug. 13. They made the six-hour drive home Saturday in separate vehicles when the evacuation order was finally lifted at 9 a.m. She had a podcast playing but turned it down. From the turnoff to Enterprise to abo...

Decision expected in sex workers’ Charter challenge of criminal prostitution laws

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

TORONTO — The Ontario Superior Court is expected to release its decision this morning on a constitutional challenge launched by an alliance of groups advocating for the rights of sex workers. The Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform argued in court last fall that Canada’s prostitution laws violate the industry workers’ Charter rights.They say the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act brought in by the former Conservative government is fostering stigma, inviting targeted violence and preventing sex workers from obtaining meaningful consent before engaging with clients.That law was passed in 2014, about a year after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down previous anti-prostitution laws after lawyers argued existing provisions were disproportionate, overbroad and put sex workers at risk of harm.Even though prostitution was legal under the previous laws, nearly all related activities — such as running a brothel, pimping and communicating in a public...

Trajectory for ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers’ trial uncertain as third week begins

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

OTTAWA — Lawyers on both sides of the trial of key “Freedom Convoy” organizers are working to keep the proceedings from coming to a standstill.Tamara Lich and Chris Barber are facing charges related to their role in the demonstration that had big-rig trucks blocking downtown Ottawa streets to protest COVID-19 public health measures.The Crown had thought it would take about 10 days to present its case in a trial originally scheduled for 16 days.But as the trial begins its third week in an Ottawa courtroom, just two of the Crown’s 21 planned witnesses have appeared so far.Legal arguments over the admissibility and disclosure of evidence has slowed the proceedings, and the lawyers were left wondering last week how best to move forward. Justice Heather Perkins-McVey says the goal is to ensure the trial is fair to everyone, and that they will get there eventually.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2023.The Canadian Press

Calgary hosts global oil-producing nations at 24th World Petroleum Congress

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

CALGARY — Hundreds of executives and government officials from oil-producing nations around the world are gathering in Calgary this week, against the backdrop of growing global pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.The 24th World Petroleum Congress, one of the largest oil-and-gas conferences in the world, runs from Monday to Thursday. The event, which has not been held in Canada since 2000, will count among its attendees heavyweights such as Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods, Repsol CEO Josu Jon Imaz and Amin Nasser, the CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest oil company. The congress, which occurs every three years, is taking place at a time when the issue of global energy security remains heightened in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In addition, Saudi Arabia and Russia recently agreed to extend their voluntary oil production cuts through the end of this year, sending commodity prices higher. Last week, the U.S. benchmark crude price West Texas Intermediat...

Daily horoscope for September 18, 2023

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

Moon Alert: After 1 a.m. EDT today, there are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The Moon is in Scorpio.Happy Birthday for Monday, Sept. 18, 2023:Your personal freedom is important to you, which is why you swing between being with others versus seeking privacy. You are attractive but elusive; devoted and independent. This is a year of learning and teaching for you. Take time to renew your spiritual or religious beliefs. Explore ideas and philosophies.ARIES(March 21-April 19) ★★★Start this week with the determination to reduce debt or get out of debt. This is the perfect day to draw up a budget. It’s an excellent day for discussions about how to deal with inheritances, shared property, taxes, estates and your debt. Get real. Tonight: Check your finances.TAURUS(April 20-May 20) ★★★★Discussions with partners and close friends will be productive today; however, they will focus on practical, down-to-earth matters. You might discuss how to deal with the divisi...

Svietlana Tsikhanouskaya to MEPs: Support Belarusians’ European aspirations 

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

Belarusians want to hear that their country will not be given to Putin as a consolation prize, the exiled Belarusian opposition leader told MEPs on Wednesday (13 September).Addressing the plenary, the leader of Belarus’ democratic forces Svietlana Tsikhanouskaya (pictured) called on MEPs to support Belarus’ European perspective and urged Parliament to take its relationship with democratic Belarus to a new level, She proposed the signing of a memorandum before the 2024 EP elections as the basis of cooperation between the European Parliament and democratic Belarus. “Belarusians want to hear that our country will not be given to Putin as a consolation prize,” she said.Ms Tsikhanouskaya said they would need help in their fight to bring democracy to Belarus. Lukashenka does not deserve place in the international community, but a ticket to the international court in Hague, she said. Next year Belarusian democratic forces should start issuing their own passports that would confirm Belarusi...

Harriette Cole: Her dress made me upset, and it didn’t even stick to my wedding theme

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

DEAR HARRIETTE: One of my close friends wore a very revealing dress to my wedding. While I want to be open-minded and understanding of her choices, I couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable and distracted throughout the day.Related ArticlesAdvice | Harriette Cole: How do I keep my employee from leaving? Advice | Harriette Cole: It was a bad moment on Zoom. How can I smooth things over? Advice | Harriette Cole: How can I get my co-workers to let me go out with them? Advice | Harriette Cole: I’m forgetting chunks of time, and my husband says it’s no big deal Advice | Harriette Cole: I had an idea for a video, and it showed up under her name I even had a few guests ask me if I was upset with how my friend was dressed. I lied and told them it was fine.I think what offends me the most is the fact that my friend generally dresses very modestly, but she chose my wedding to wear something flashy an...

Miss Manners: I unintentionally insulted a stranger in the store

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I was shopping at a local grocery store, looking for Italian breadcrumbs. Searching the aisles, I couldn’t find them. I came upon a lady also obviously looking for something, and I innocently asked her if she’d seen the breadcrumbs.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Miss Manners: I was berated by the mothers of the rude sing-along girls Advice | Miss Manners: It was awkward to see her after this emotional episode Advice | Miss Manners: This newbie player is always holding up our game Advice | Miss Manners: I’m tired of being mistaken for a wife rather than an exec Advice | Miss Manners: Is it OK to point a knife at someone? What about a piece of cake? Her response floored me. She said, “Why — because I’m a woman?”My response was, “No, because I’m making meatloaf.”I took a boys’ cooking class in ninth grade, and I have spent a...

Dear Abby: How can I break my wife of her rude obsession?

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 10:39:24 GMT

DEAR ABBY: I have been happily married for 30 years. Since my wife recently retired, her crossword hobby has become an obsession. She does them all day, whether we are watching TV, talking or eating meals.Related ArticlesAdvice | Dear Abby: I take all these tests, and I still don’t know what I’m good at Advice | Dear Abby: She was offended that I called her son’s behavior creepy Advice | Dear Abby: My boss doesn’t see what the new co-worker is doing Advice | Dear Abby: I’m afraid if I say anything, my fiance will halt our wedding plan Advice | Dear Abby: Does my husband’s brother deserve another chance after what he did? When we go out, she carries crossword puzzles to do or does them on her phone. When our kids visit, she ignores them and does crossword puzzles. During the last holiday celebrations, she sat staring at her phone crosswords instead of participating in f...