🍞Canada's industry minister 'disappointed' in grocers' cost stabilization measures

Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says he's "disappointed" in the lack of transparency Canadian grocery store giants have offered so far when it comes to tackling food inflation.

As a result, he's sending a letter to Canada's Commissioner of Competition Matthew Boswell, to express his dissatisfaction with their lacking cooperation, but so far is stopping short of independently pursuing further remedies such as the once-threatened tax measures.

Citing "record profits" in the grocery retail sector, Champagne says he's confident the Competition Bureau will be empowered to "further address the concerns of Canadian consumers."

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🏳️‍⚧️Alberta's new transgender rules: From restricted treatments to pronouns and parental rights

In a seven-minute video posted to X on Wednesday afternoon, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said the province is banning medical treatments for some transgender minors, creating biological female-only sports leagues and will require parental consent to attend sexual education in schools.

Smith announced government policies after resolutions on gender and sexuality were brought forward by the United Conservative Party caucus at its annual general meeting last November.

🔹Alberta will ban puberty blockers and hormone therapy for youths under the age of 16, with an exception for those who are already undergoing treatment.

🔹For those aged 15 and under, parents will be notified and will be required to give consent to their child’s new name or pronoun.

#Alberta #Smith
🍁 Maple Chronicles

💰📈Conservative Party reports record-breaking fundraising haul in 2023

The Conservative Party reported a record-breaking fundraising haul in the fourth quarter of last year: more than $11.9 million collected from about 66,000 donors, according to Elections Canada data.

That eye-popping figure made 2023 one of the party's best fundraising years since its founding two decades ago.

The party collected more than $35 million from about 200,000 donation over 2023.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

👶📉 Canada's 2022 fertility rate lowest on record, StatsCan reports

Canada's total fertility rate dropped to its lowest point in more than a century of data-keeping in 2022, hitting just 1.33 children per woman, Statistics Canada said Wednesday.

The 7.4 per cent decline in the rate from 2021 to 2022, the agency said, was the steepest drop since the 7.6 per cent decline from 1971 to 1972, which took place at the height of the baby bust following the 1946-1965 baby boom.

Fertility rates were highest in Saskatchewan (1.69), Quebec (1.49), and Alberta (1.45) and lowest in B.C. (1.11), Nova Scotia (1.18), and Newfoundland and Labrador and P.E.I., both of which recorded a rate of 1.22.

#stats #Saskatchewan #Alberta #Quebec #BritishColumbia #NovaScotia
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🚀 The 15,000-subscriber milestone reached!

Only one month into a new year and we've reached a big number of 15,000 subscribers!

Thank you so much for reading us! It means a lot to us! We try to provide interesting and verified news and analytical materials about Africa! More will be coming in the future.

On this occasion, we'd like to share the channels we read ourselves and who support us! We hope they will be useful to you as well.

@CIG_telegram – broad range of news from a healthy point of view

@meriblood – News, maps, author videos, and great analysis from the U.S. and Latin America

@arabwar – geopolitics and conflict news in arabic

@SouthAfricaReports – the most important news from South Africa.

@TheMediterraneanMan – news and healthy analytics from Egyptian point of view

@Middle_East_Spectator — analytics and everything important about the Middle East region

@BellumActaNews – stay aware of the world conflicts

@topicdujour – current agenda with great sense of humour

@asianomics – fine analytics on the state of things in Asian states

@songofoil – must-read to understand the current energy market

@southafricanminorityunion – the most pressing issues on the South African agenda

@ZA_future_of_the_West – reports about South Africa riots, farm attacks, attacks on civilians in towns

@maplechronicles – all Canadian news in one channel

@DDGeopolitics – newsfeed and analytics about hot topics from allover the world

@actualiteFR – French channel with great analysis of current geopolitics

@rnintel — aggregator of world breaking news

And of course our dear followers — providers of a wide variety of news and issues that have prompted us to write a number of material!

Yours,

🌍 @africaintel

💸 Immigration minister announces $364.2 million for refugee housing

Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Wednesday his government will provide an additional $362.4 million to provinces and cities to house thousands of asylum claimants who are coming to Canada in record numbers.

Miller has been under pressure from both Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow and Quebec Premier François Legault to provide more funding for housing, as asylum claimants end up staying in shelters as they wait for their claims to be processed.

Legault has called on the government to provide $470 million to his province to cover costs for previous years with additional funding on top of that. Miller said $100 million of the $362.4 million will go to Quebec. He said a number for Toronto has been decided, but he was not prepared to reveal it yet.

#Ontario #Quebec #immigration #housing
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🦝 Raccoon mischief triggers blackout in Toronto, trapping people in elevators

An inquisitive raccoon fiddled with electricity equipment in Toronto and cut power for thousands in the downtown core late on Thursday, knocking out traffic lights in Canada's largest city and trapping some people in elevators.

Crews investigating the outage determined that the nocturnal mammal made contact with equipment at a downtown Toronto station, Utility Hydro One said on social media.

The power outage on Thursday hit areas about 2 km from the CN Tower landmark and left about 7,000 people in the dark for nearly three hours.

#Ontario
🍁 Maple Chronicles

Medically assisted death for mental illness delayed until 2027

The Liberal government is delaying the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for people solely suffering from a mental illness until 2027.

Health Minister Mark Holland and Justice Minister Arif Virani made the announcement on Thursday morning, while discussing new legislation to formalize the delay. Holland says all of his provincial and territorial counterparts have told him their health system is not ready for the expansion.

#MAID
🍁 Maple Chronicles

📈 Asylum seekers coming through Montreal airport in record numbers

Roxham Road, a notorious unofficial border crossing, might be closed but as advocates predicted, asylum seekers have found another way to enter Canada in record numbers: Montreal’s Trudeau Airport.

Immigration Canada numbers show that in 2023, Quebec processed a total of 25,755 asylum claims at the airport. That’s more than double the amount of 2022, which was 11,665. In general, asylum requests in Quebec have exploded in the past two years, according to the province’s immigration ministry.

In 2021, Quebec received 10,085 requests, compared to 59,740 in 2023. Most of the requests come from people of Mexican citizenship.

#Quebec #Mexico #immigration
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🏠🚫Ottawa to extend foreign home buyer ban another two years

The federal government is extending its existing ban on foreign ownership of Canadian housing an additional two years, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Sunday.

The ban is currently set to expire on Jan. 1 2025, and will be extended to Jan. 1 2027.

By extending the foreign-buyer ban, we will ensure houses are used as homes for Canadian families to live in and do not become a speculative financial asset class.

Freeland said.

#housing #Freeland
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇺🇸🇲🇽5 Canadians facing extradition to the U.S., after authorities dismantle drug-smuggling ring

Authorities have dismantled a drug-smuggling operation that they say involved large quantities of narcotics coming into Los Angeles from Mexico before being distributed in the U.S. and Canada by long-haul truckers.

The cross-border operation dubbed "Operation Dead Hand" saw 19 people charged in two U.S. federal indictments for their alleged roles in the organized crime syndicate, including Roberto Scoppa, a Montreal man alleged by authorities to be a large-scale Canadian trafficker and Italian Mafia figure.

A total of 10 people were arrested, including five from Quebec, Ontario and Alberta. Arrest and search warrants were executed in Montreal, Toronto and Calgary as well as in Texas, Florida and California.

The RCMP said in a news release the Canadians arrested will face extradition to the United States to stand trial.

#US #Mexico
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇺🇸🇾🇪 Canada provides support to U.S. for strikes on Yemen’s Houthis

Canada was among several allies that provided support to the United States and United Kingdom during their second wave of attacks against Houthi targets in Yemen, the Department of National Defence said Saturday.

Canada issued a joint statement with the U.S., U.K., Australia, Bahrain, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand in response to the Houthis’ continued attacks against international and commercial ships travelling in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Three Canadian Armed Forces personnel continue to provide planning support under Operation Prosperity Guardian, a multinational coalition formed in December to counter the Houthis’ attacks. That includes two planners and one intelligence analyst.

No Canadian military weapons were used in the strikes against the Houthi positions, a Department of National Defence spokesperson said on Sunday.

#US #Yemen
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇬🇧👑 King Charles diagnosed with cancer, to postpone public-facing duties

King Charles III has been diagnosed with "a form of cancer" and will be postponing public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace said Monday.

Doctors made the discovery while the King was undergoing tests for his enlarged prostate. The statement did not specify which form of cancer doctors had found.

His Majesty has today commenced a schedule of regular treatments, during which time he has been advised by doctors to postpone public-facing duties.

#KingCharles
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🩺 Deal to prop up Liberals will be off if Ottawa doesn’t meet pharmacare deadline, Jagmeet Singh says

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Monday his party’s deal to prop up the minority Liberals will be off if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government doesn’t meet the deadline to introduce long-promised pharmacare legislation.

However, the New Democrat wouldn’t rule out still supporting the government on confidence votes, such as the budget, even if the two parties no longer have a formal deal.

Mr. Singh spoke to reporters in the House of Commons before meeting with Mr. Trudeau for the two leaders’ quarterly meetings, scheduled as part of the formal supply-and-confidence deal that has given the Liberals a stable minority government since March, 2022.

As part of the deal, the Liberals agreed to “continuing progress” toward a universal national pharmacare program by passing a Canada Pharmacare Act by the end of 2023. However, the NDP agreed to extend the deadline until March 1 after the fourth-place party rejected an early draft of the bill to give the two sides more time to agree on the contents of the new legislation.

If the Liberals miss the revised deadline for pharmacare legislation, Mr. Singh said it would amount to the government “breaking the deal.”

#healthcare
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🇨🇦🇺🇦 Prime Minister invited Waffen-SS veteran Hunka to his official reception for Zelensky

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invited Yaroslav Hunka, the Ukrainian Waffen-SS veteran who received two ovations in the House of Commons during a visit by Volodymyr Zelensky, to a reception he hosted in the Ukrainian President’s honour the same day.

Mr. Hunka did not attend the Toronto reception, but his invitation by the Prime Minister to the event with the Ukrainian President has raised fresh questions about who approved the Waffen-SS veteran’s attendance, and if his background had been checked.

The invitation from the Prime Minister to “a special event” at Fort York Armoury in Toronto on the evening after Mr. Zelensky’s appearance in Parliament on Sept. 22 was sent to Mr. Hunka on Sept. 19 by the Office of Protocol of Canada.

Dear Yaroslav Hunka, The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, is pleased to invite you to a special event. The event will take place on Friday, September 22, 2023, at 8.30 p.m. in Toronto, Ontario.

the invitation reads.

#Ukraine
🍁 Maple Chronicles

💰🔌Crypto mining company loses bid to force B.C. Hydro to provide power

A cryptocurrency firm has lost a bid to force B.C. Hydro to provide the vast amounts of power needed for its operations, in a court ruling that upholds the provincial government’s right to pause power connections for new crypto miners.

Conifex Timber Inc., a forestry firm that branched out into cryptocurrency “mining,” had gone to the B.C. Supreme Court to have the policy declared invalid.

But Justice Michael Tammen ruled Friday that the government’s move in December 2022 to pause new connections for cryptocurrency mining for 18 months was reasonable and not unduly discriminatory.

Energy Minister Josie Osborne said when the policy was introduced that cryptocurrency mining consumes “massive amounts of electricity” by running banks of high-powered computers around the clock, but adds “very few jobs” to the local economy.

#BritishColumbia
🍁 Maple Chronicles

👶 Child poverty is on the rise in Canada, putting over 1 million kids at risk

Based on current rates of and overall progress in reducing child poverty, the latest UNICEF report card ranks Canada 11th out of 39 of the world’s wealthiest countries. Initially, it seems Canada is doing well; between 2012 and 2021, child poverty fell by 23 per cent.

In reality, since 2021, the number of children living in monetary poverty has sharply risen from 15.2 per cent in 2020 to 17.8 per cent in 2021, and more than one million Canadian children live in poverty today.

This means that one in five children live in persistent fear and stress, face barriers to having their basic needs met, such as stable housing and nutritious food, and experience a lack of opportunity, including access to quality early childhood experiences.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

📉Canadian market experts see interest rates starting to drop in April, BoC survey finds

Canadian market participants expect the Bank of Canada (BoC) to start lowering its key policy rate from a 22-year high of 5 per cent in April, the same as their previous forecast, according to a survey released by the central bank on Monday.

By the end of 2024, the market experts’ median forecast is for the policy rate to come down to 4 per cent, the same as their forecast in the previous survey released in November.

🍁 Maple Chronicles

🌱🔌💰Canada tops China in global rankings for battery supply chains, research firm says

Canada dethroned China last year as the world’s most promising jurisdiction for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries such as those used in electric vehicles, according to a global ranking released Monday.

While Canada produces barely any batteries today, BloombergNEF singled it out as the best placed of the 30 countries it monitors to participate in future global battery supply chains. The strength of its raw materials sector, recently announced large cell manufacturing plants, and rising domestic demand for batteries all helped push Canada ahead.

That doesn’t mean that Canada is better overall than China: What we’re saying is that within the lens of 2023, Canada performed better than China.

said Kwasi Ampofo, BloombergNEF’s head of metals and mining. He added that the ranking reflects the country’s potential in six to 10 years’ time.

Canada’s strong showing reflects the tens of billions of dollars of subsidies announced by the federal government as well as Ontario and Quebec to attract battery manufacturing plants (sometimes referred to as “gigafactories”) and related suppliers.

#energy #China #Ontario #Quebec
🍁 Maple Chronicles

🚫Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he opposes puberty blockers for minors

Pierre Poilievre offered further support for Alberta’s policy on transgendered youth on Wednesday, endorsing the province’s move to stop treating young people with puberty blockers.

During a news conference on Parliament Hill, the federal Conservative Leader answered “yes” when asked by a journalist to confirm, in the context of Alberta’s proposed policy, that he was against the use of puberty blockers for people under 18.

Mr. Poilievre also said the government should protect the rights of parents to make decisions for their children.

#Poilievre #Alberta
🍁 Maple Chronicles

❗️Justin Trudeau says Pierre Poilievre wants to “Make Canada Great Again” and “that is not what Canadians want.”

#Trudeau #Poilievre
🍁 Maple Chronicles