A few hundred people gathered at Place Émilie-Gamelin in downtown Montreal on Tuesday to commemorate and remember those who have died from opioid overdoses.
Advocates who took part in the event are trying to spread awareness and educate the public on the effects and dangers of opioid use.
“We are in the middle of a federal election and nobody has proposed any measures that are sound to address the crisis,” said Jean-François Mary, the director at Cactus Montreal, an organization that provides help for drug users, sex workers and trans people.
“We need a systemic change,” he added.
There is an ongoing opioid epidemic in Canada and it seems it’s getting worse.
In the last year alone, overdose deaths in Montreal have more than doubled from 28 in 2019 to 64 in 2020, according to Montreal police.
Advocates say while there are many factors that have likely contributed to the increase in overdose deaths, including underlying health issues made worse by the pandemic, lockdowns and curfews, nobody deserves to die from their drug use.
“They choose to alleviate the burden of everyday life,” said Mary. “They choose to party at night, they choose to relieve their mental health for a certain amount of time and they die because of it.”
Isabelle Fortin’s daughter passed away alone in her Ottawa U dorm room when she was just 24 years old. Fortin says society needs to change the way it thinks about drug users.
“We need regulation, we need safe supply, we need to end the stigma related to drug use,” Fortin said.
“We need to decriminalize drugs so people who are using are not considered as criminals but people who have health issues.”
Charlene Vacon agrees. Her son Archie passed away in a Montreal bar two years ago after he ingested drugs laced with fentanyl. He was 19 years old and was about to begin university at Concordia.
She says she has seen a shift in the way people view drug users and a lot more education surrounding drug use, but there is a long way to go.
“I need to advocate for systemic change that is actually going to make a difference and save someone else’s son,” she said.
As of January 2021, Montreal police carry naloxone kits, something they didn’t have when her son overdosed. She says it’s a good start but it’s just one of many things that still needs to be done.
The overdose crisis has worsened, have politicians noticed?
The overdose crisis has worsened, have politicians noticed?
Enlace Arquitectura, the architectural firm I established in Venezuela in 2007, was invited to be part of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition at the Biennale di Venezia, curated by the Lebanese architect and dean of the MIT Faculty of Architecture, Hashim Sarkis, which examines the question “How will we live together?” The installation is part of the segment dedicated to “emerging communities” at Le Corderie of the Arsenale.
Instead of proposing “improvements” for the barrio La Palomera, a small neighborhood of 16 hectares in Caracas and just under 6,000 inhabitants, the installation focuses on showing the spatial and cultural richness that already exists. It acknowledges a piece of the city that is the home of more than half of Caracas’s residents.
Barrios have been naturalized as “informal” and “marginal.” Deep-seated feelings of discrimination, condescension, and fear cloud the perception of many, the approaches of well-intentioned professionals, and determine the way public funds are invested.
Interested in addressing this problematic perception and taking advantage of a close relationship with the community of the barrio La Palomera, Enlace Arquitectura, Ciudad Laboratorio, and neighbors began the cultural program “Integration Process Caracas (IPC)” in 2018. The Foundation Bigott, the City of Baruta, La Hacienda La Trinidad, artists, journalists, educators, and designers also participated. In this project, making the Histories of Place visible, and celebrating the existing experiences and ways of living, has become an integral element of architectural design. Emphasis is placed on participation and the temporal dimension of practice as strategies for encouraging awareness.
Over the course of a year and a half, multiple excursions were organized for people to get to know La Palomera. Activities included the public reading of the Manifesto to the Complete City on February 9, 2019 written by the Venezuelan writer and activist Cheo Carvajal which calls for an integrated city that overcomes prejudices and exclusions. Artists were invited to work with the community on shared projects. A wide audience participated in walks, bocce games, celebrations, dances, music, mapping exercises of the barrio, and listened to the stories of its founders. Another fundamental activity was the mapping of the vegetation that grows in La Palomera and a tour of its gardens. Twenty-four gardens were identified and recorded with portraits of their owners and their stories.
A synthesis of the IPC experience was exhibited for the first time at La Hacienda La Trinidad Parque Cultural in February 2020. The exhibition on view in Venice builds on this work, and includes the Ethnobotanical Dictionary of the plants from the gardens of La Palomera, which identifies 260 species in the barrio with information on their use, whether medicinal, culinary or ornamental, and a description of how they are reproduced and cultivated. It is complemented by drawings of 18 gardens and 3 public spaces where all the plants, objects, and paraphernalia that make up these places are detailed. The 1.75 hectares of public space in the barrio which consist of walkways, stairs, and squares, in addition to the gardens, are also celebrated in the format of a wooden model that measures 8 meters by 4.5 meters and hangs suspended from the high ceilings of Le Corderie. The model also includes both cultivated and spontaneous vegetation in acrylic reproductions. Images of these plants are reproduced on long scrolls suspended from the ceiling. The species, gardens, public spaces, as well as events and celebrations in La Palomera are documented in www.lapalomera.org as part of the exhibition.
Just as knowledge of vegetation is worth celebrating, there are also many other remarkable attributes to recognize and appreciate in the barrio. Integrating a fragmented Caracas is both a symbolic and spatial process. Recognizing the inherent value in gardens and public spaces represents a fundamental premise in the process of advancing urban integration and in strengthening the notion of a complete city.
Furthermore, these activities have generated concrete opportunities to rehearse a Complete City in terms of integrating territories and leveling differences. For example, since October 2019, a new waste collection strategy is in place in La Palomera. Barrios typically have a large open-air container at their entrance where all residents deposit their garbage, since conventional garbage trucks cannot navigate the barrio’s narrow alleys. Instead, a door-to-door waste collection strategy through seven pedestrian routes has been implemented by the company Fospuca and the city of Baruta which in turn allowed the container to be removed and its place is now occupied by a planter cared for by residents of the sector. A second example is a project to transform an abandoned space into a center for art and culture. It aims to be not only a place for artistic expressions, but also a platform for thoughts and discussions that can feed urban transformations focused on integrating the city.
It’s the last day of August and the weather has been feeling more fall-like, but it looks like we’re not done with thunderstorms just yet.
A severe thunderstorm watch was put back in place for Calgary and Brooks-Strathmore-Vulcan at 6:54 p.m. on Tuesday.
The severe thunderstorm warning ended for Calgary, as well as for Okotoks-High River-Claresholm just before 7 p.m. The warning remains in place for Drumheller-Three Hills.
Environment Canada says people in Calgary should be on the lookout for adverse weather conditions and take necessary safety precautions. Watch this page for updated weather statements.
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Meanwhile for the Drumheller-Three Hills area, the national weather agency is warning that the thunderstorm is capable of producing strong wind gusts, nickel to ping-pong ball size hail and heavy rain.
This thunderstorm is located near Victor and is moving to the east at 50 km/h.
Severe thunderstorm warnings are issued when imminent or occurring thunderstorms are likely to produce or are producing one or more of the following: large hail, damaging winds, torrential rainfall.
Dallas, TX, Aug. 31, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Associa, the industry’s largest community management company, has been certified as a great workplace by the independent analysts at Great Place to Work®. This is the fifth consecutive year the company has received this designation in the United States and the second year in Canada.
Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture, employee experience, and the leadership behaviors proven to deliver market-leading revenue, employee retention, and increased innovation. The Great Place to Work® certification is based on direct feedback from employees, provided as part of an extensive and anonymous survey about the workplace experience.
“Employee engagement and development have always been at the forefront of Associa’s strategy for success,” stated Chelle O’Keefe, Associa executive vice president and chief human resources officer. “To be recognized with the Great Place to Work® certification for the fifth year in a row in the US and second consecutive year in Canada is a celebration of our commitment to cultivating a company culture that celebrates all our valued team members. Our people are our greatest asset, so we are incredibly proud to witness our dedication to the employee experience result in this designation once again.”
About Great Place to Work Certification™
Great Place to Work® Certification™ is the most definitive “employer-of-choice” recognition that companies aspire to achieve. It is the only recognition based entirely on what employees report about their workplace experience – specifically, how consistently they experience a high-trust workplace. Great Place to Work Certification is recognized worldwide by employees and employers alike and is the global benchmark for identifying and recognizing outstanding employee experience. Every year, more than 10,000 companies across 60 countries apply to get Great Place to Work-Certified.
About Great Place to Work®
Great Place to Work® is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees worldwide and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Their employee survey platform empowers leaders with the feedback, real-time reporting and insights they need to make data-driven people decisions. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a great place to work For All™.
With more than 200 branch offices across North America, Associa delivers unsurpassed management and lifestyle services to nearly five million residents worldwide. Our 10,000+ team members lead the industry with unrivaled education, expertise, and trailblazing innovation. For more than 40 years, Associa has provided solutions designed to help communities achieve their vision. To learn more, visit www.associaonline.com.
Severe thunderstorm watches were also called for regions in the northeast part of the province. As of 11:15 a.m., the watches are in place for:
Calgary
Brooks-Strathmore-Vulcan
Okotoks-High River-Clareholm
Fort McMurray-Fort MacKay
Bonnyville-St. Paul-Cold Lake-Lac Le Biche
"The threat of severe weather is expected to continue through the evening," read the warning.
"Be prepared for severe weather. Take cover immediately, if threatening weather approaches. Lightning kills and injures Canadians every year. Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors."
Rainfall warnings are also in place for areas in northern and northwest Alberta, including:
Grande Prairie-Beaverlodge-Valleyview
Hinton-Grande Cache
Peace River-Fairview-High Prairie-Manning
Slave Lake
Wabasca-Peerless Lake-Gift Lake-Cadotte Lake
Whitecourt-Edson-Swan Hills-Fox Creek
To report severe weather, send an email to ABstorm@canada.ca or tweet reports using the hashtag #ABStorm.
The New Orleans Saints plan to place Michael Thomas on the physically unable to perform list and the star receiver is expected to miss the team's first five games of the season, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Players added to the PUP list are required to sit out the first six weeks of the regular season, however, Thomas will only be forced to miss five games as the Saints have a bye in Week 6.
The three-time Pro Bowler could return to the field for New Orleans' Monday Night Football matchup vs. the Seattle Seahawks in Week 7.
The 28-year-old receiver has been out since undergoing ankle surgery in June, but Saints coach Sean Payton said on Aug. 14 that Thomas is "ahead of schedule" in his recovery.
Thomas was sidelined for nine games last year after he suffered the injury in Week 1 of the 2020 season. The six-foot-three, 212-pound received finished the campaign with 40 catches for 438 yards after suiting up for a total of seven games.
In 2019, Thomas led the NFL with 1,725 receiving yards on 149 receptions, and caught nine touchdowns.
Over the course of his five-year career, the Ohio State product has tallied 5,950 yards and 32 TDs on 510 catches.
For nearly 40 years, Lyle’s Place in the 700-block of Yates Street has been an institution for music lovers of all stripes.
While it’s been a destination new-and-used record shop on that block since it opened in 1982, Lyle’s has also been a second home for many, a school for those looking to broaden their musical horizons, a marketplace and meeting place for musicians and for years it was the place to get tickets for shows of all sizes in the city.
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It has also been the centre of Janice and Rod Lyle’s world since they opened the door in 1982, four years after starting a book shop in James Bay.
Rod Lyle, who suffered a major stroke four years ago, said a confluence of factors ranging from his own health, family priorities, increased rent due to rising taxes and the effects of COVID have forced his hand.
“It’s just time,” he said Monday, while preparing the inventory for a clearance sale that will start this week. “We’ve had a great run. It’s becoming too much for the two of us.”
Lyle said the outpouring of love and support since they announced they would be closing has been incredible and a little overwhelming.
“We’re hearing from a lot of people over Facebook saying they will miss us and that’s really a good feeling,” he said. “It’s really wonderful, I couldn’t believe it.”
He said they had even held out a little hope for a while that things might continue, but increased costs forced the decision to close.
Lyle said he takes pride in the fact the store lasted so long, offered a wild range of music, clothing, movies and posters and sold tickets to music shows around the region without a markup for 25 years — they eventually had to add a service charge to cover staff costs.
“One of my favourite memories was hearing from a relative of a customer who had passed away, and they told me that Lyle’s was his Disneyland. He would come in once a week and looked forward to it so much,” he said.
“Hearing that made my day. Lets me know all the work was worthwhile, that we could have that much effect on someone.”
Customer Ryan Wilcox said most of his music collection is from Lyle’s, including some special Pearl Jam recordings.
“Back in the ’90s bootleg CDs were a real hot commodity and hard to find,” he said. At the time, he lived in Duncan and would have to drive to Victoria, when he had a few bucks in his pocket, to find new, obscure live recordings.
“I remember going to Lyle’s all the time and heading straight to the glass case where the rare things were. Lyle’s was my go-to place and the staff was always really good.”
Wilcox, who now lives a few blocks from Lyle’s, said a few years ago he took his nephew to the store to get his vinyl collection started.
“It’s really sad to see it go,” he said. “There’s something really cool about walking into a record store, there’s the smell of vinyl and it’s a little grungy and you’ve got to dig around a little.”
Mike Smith-Knutsen, who worked at Lyle’s between 2002 and 2013, said the store was definitely more than just the things it did.
“It felt like home,” said the Edmonton native. He said what he remembers most are the people, both the staff and owners, and customers who would come through the door with multiple generations. “There were so many people who would bring their kids and their grandkids in some cases.”
Lyle’s was often the only place to get independent releases from local bands, he said. “Lyle even started his own record label and put out some stuff that otherwise you just couldn’t get.”
Jamie Fulton, who worked at Lyle’s for 27 years before moving on about 10 years ago, said it is sad to see it ending, but the Lyles might feel it is time to take a well-deserved break. “It was definitely a Victoria institution,” he said. “It was very much a tight-knit family, for lack of a better word,” he said. “And what made the job great was to be able to get to know people and share suggestions and find out what was moving anyone at any time.”
For years, users of digital technology have had the sole responsibility to navigate misinformation, negativity, privacy risk, and digital abuse, to name a few. But maintaining digital well-being is a heavy weight to be put on an individual’s shoulders. What if we didn’t have to carry quite as much of the burden of maintaining our digital well-being? What if we expected a bit more of the digital platform providers that hosted our virtual interactions?
There are three key responsibilities we should expect of all of our digital platform providers to help make more positive digital spaces. First, establish meaningful norms and standards for participation in virtual spaces — and communicate them clearly to users. Second, verify human users and weed out the bots. Third, improve content curation by addressing posts that incite racism, violence, or illegal activity; identifying misinformation; and encouraging users to be content moderators.
We live in a world of unprecedented access to technology. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, technology allowed us to stay connected with family and friends, stream videos to our homes, and learn new skills at the tap of a finger. When the pandemic forced us to be socially distant, technology provided a way for many of our most important life activities to continue as school, work, church, family gatherings, doctor’s appointments, and more moved to virtual spaces.
Yet, like any powerful tool, technology also comes with dangers. In addition to connecting families and accelerating learning, our digital world can also be source of misinformation, negativity, privacy risk, and digital abuse, to name a few. Even good apps and websites, if overused, can push out other healthy digital and physical activities from our lives. We have all felt the increasing pressure of trying to maintain our well-being as a result of these digital challenges. Of course, we — the citizens of our digital world — have a responsibility for ensuring our own digital health. It’s on us to find accurate sources of information, make choices about what personal data we are willing to trade for access to online experience, or how to ensure balance between different online activities. These responsibilities roll over to our families where we feel pressure to create the right digital culture for our children and other family members to thrive as well. Maintaining digital well-being is a heavy weight to be put on an individual’s shoulders.
But what if we didn’t have to carry quite as much of the burden of maintaining our digital well-being? What if we expected a bit more of the digital platform providers that hosted our virtual interactions?
Author and entrepreneur Eli Pariser says we should expect more from our digital platform providers in exchange for the power we give them over our discourse. He believes we should ask not just how we make digital tools user-friendly, but also how we make digital tools public-friendly. In other words, it’s our responsibility to make sure our digital platforms never serve individuals at the expense of the social fabric on which we all depend.
With that in mind, let’s look at three key responsibilities we should expect of all of our digital platform providers.
Establish Meaningful Norms
Virtual platforms must establish and clearly communicate standards for participation in their virtual spaces. Some already do a good job of this, including Flickr, Lonely Planet, and The Verge. Flickr’s community norms are simple, readable guidelines that are clearly designed for community members (not just lawyers) to understand. They include some clear “dos” like:
Play nice. We’re a global community of many types of people, who all have the right to feel comfortable and who may not think what you think, believe what you believe, or see what you see. So, be polite and respectful in your interactions with other members.
And they also include some clear “don’ts”:
Don’t be creepy. You know the guy. Don’t be that guy. If you are that guy, your account will be deleted.
All of digital platforms should establish a clear code of conduct and it should be actively embedded throughout the virtual space. Even the examples I mentioned have their norms pretty deeply buried in the back corner of their sites. One way to do this is through sign-posting — creating messages and reminders of the norms of behavior throughout the platform. Imagine if, instead of one more ad for new socks on Pinterest, a reminder appeared to “post something kind about someone else today.” Or imagine if, instead of watching yet another car insurance ad before a YouTube video plays, we might be presented with tips for how to respectfully disagree with the content of someone else’s video. Sure, this would cause the platform providers to give up a fraction of a percentage of advertising revenue, but that’s a very reasonable expectation for them if they’re to have a responsible, trusted platform.
Verify Human Users
A second expectation of platform providers to take more seriously the responsibility of identifying the users of their platforms that are not human. Some of the most divisive posts that flood the virtual world each day are generated by bots, which are capable of arguing their digital positions with unsuspecting humans for hours on end. One study found that during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, nearly half of the accounts tweeting about the virus were bots. YouTube and Facebook both have about as many robot users as human users. In a three-month period in 2018, Facebook removed over 2 billion fake accounts, but until additional verification is added, new accounts will be created, also by bots, almost as quickly as the old ones are removed.
In addition to clearly labeling bots as bots, platform providers should do more to verify the identity of human users as well, particularly those that are widely followed. Many of the dark and creepy parts of our virtual world exist because online platforms have been irresponsibly lax in verifying that users are who they say they are. This doesn’t mean platforms couldn’t still allow anonymous users, but such accounts should be clearly labeled as unverified so that when your “neighbor” asks your daughter for information about her school online, she can quickly recognize if she should be suspicious. The technology to do this sort of verification exists and is fairly straightforward (banks and airlines use it all the time). Twitter piloted this approach through verified accounts but then stopped, claiming it didn’t have the bandwidth to continue. The lack of expectation for verified identities enables fraud, cyberbullying, and misinformation. If digital platforms want us to trust them to be the host of our virtual communities, we should expect them to identify and call out users who are not who they say they are.
Improve Content Curation
The third responsibility of digital platforms is to be more proactive in curating the content on their platforms. This starts with quickly addressing posts that incite racism, violence, terrorist activity, or features that facilitate buying illegal drugs, participating in identity theft, or human trafficking. In 2019, Twitter began adding warning labels to bullying or misleading tweets from political leaders. A notable example is when a tweet from former President Donald Trump was flagged for claiming that mail-in ballots lead to widespread voter fraud. Apple has also taken this responsibility seriously with a rigorous review process on apps that are added to its mobile devices. Unlike the web, Apple does not permit apps that distribute porn, encourage consumption of illegal drugs, or encourage minors to consume alcohol or smoke on its devices. Apple and Google have both begun requiring apps on their respective stores to have content-moderation plans in place in order to remain.
Effective content moderating also means doing more to empower human moderators. Reddit and Wikipedia are the largest examples of platforms that rely on human moderators to make sure their community experiences are in line with their established norms. In both cases, humans are not just playing a policing role, but taking an active part in developing the content on the platform. Both rely on volunteer curators, but we could reasonably expect human moderators to be compensated for their time and energy in making virtual community spaces more effective. This can be done in a variety of ways. For instance, YouTube currently incentivizes content creators to upload videos to its platform by offering them a percentage of advertising revenue; a similar incentive could be given to encourage users who help curate the content on these platforms. YouTube’s current approach, though, is to use bots to moderate and curate. As author and technologist James Bridle points out, content on YouTube that is created by bots is also policed by bots, human users of the platform are left paying the price.
Another simple way to empower users as moderators is to provide more nuanced options for reacting to each other’s content. Right now, “liking” or “disliking” are about all the options we have to respond to content on shared platforms. Some platforms have added a happy face, a heart, and most recently a hug, but that is still an incredibly limited set of response options for the variety of content flowing around our digital world.
In the physical world, soft-negative feedback is a critical tool for helping people learn the norms of community space. Most of the feedback we give in the physical world is much more subtle than what we can do online. If you were in a conversation with someone who said they were not going to get a vaccine because it contains a secret tracking microchip, we might respond with an “I don’t know about that” or a “hmmm, you might want to check your facts.” But in the virtual world, our only option might be to click the “thumbs down” button — if that button exists on that platform at all. In a world where very subtle reactions carry great significance, giving a big “thumbs down” to a friend is like the social equivalent of a full-frontal assault. On the other hand, if you choose to sidestep the awkward moment by unfollowing your friend, you have just made sure they never hear your feedback again, likely reducing their sounding-board pool to people with similar views, which is even less helpful for establishing shared societal norms. What if instead of just “liking” or “disliking,” we could tag things as “I question the source of this post”?
Digital platform providers care what their users think; their continued existence depends on our continued trust. We should expect digital platforms to establish and clearly infuse their environments with media that teach appropriate norms of behavior on their digital spaces. We should call for them to do a better job of clearly labeling nonhuman users of their platforms and to empower their users to be more involved in content curation.
K. Dee Howard, the president and co-founder of Sootsoap Supply Co. Ltd., said word is spreading fast about the local company.
“Being recognized as a clean line of personal products is critically important for us and for consumers who care deeply about the products they use,” she said. “Our commitment to eliminating all harmful ingredients goes back to our origins — firefighters need powerful cleansers, but don’t want to worry about adding more harmful chemicals into the mix.”
She said the company is pleased to provide that same benefit to anyone looking for a deeper, more natural clean.
The Clean Beauty Awards are a global awards program that recognizes superior beauty and personal care products formulated without the use of harmful chemicals by trailblazers in the clean beauty market.
More than 450 bestselling, clean beauty products were nominated for this year’s awards and were judged by an international panel of 146 beauty specialists.
The top three winners were chosen in each product category.
The detoxifying and deodorizing shampoo created by the Port Hope company “harnesses the power of binchotan white charcoal and other all natural ingredients to draw out harmful impurities from the hair and scalp, to deep clean and remove unwanted odours, naturally,” a release from the company read.
“Sootsoap shampoo is uniquely black in colour, but lathers white, with a subtle scent of fresh aloe and citrus spice,” the company added, noting that the shampoo is safe for sensitive skin and is healing on psoriasis, eczema and dandruff. “It is a super strength detoxifier and deodorizer, removing toxins, pollutants and tough odours from your hair and scalp, while protecting and encouraging healthy growth.”
“Our products were initially developed to help protect our firefighters from cancer-causing toxin exposure and we have now released our premium hand sanitizer,” she said at the time. “The hand sanitizer is kind of exploding a little bit. It’s getting a lot of attention and is being sold at some retailers in town, which is great to see.”
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When the pandemic began, Howard said Sootsoap received Health Canada approval for their pharmaceutical-grade hand sanitizer.
“We were hearing our customers’ frustrations with the availability of approved, high-quality, well-priced hand sanitizer and knew we could help,” she said.
The San Jose Sharks have placed Ivan Chekhovich on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout/termination with the Russian forward likely heading back to the KHL.
Chekhovich, who had one year remaining on his entry-level contract, made his NHL debut this past season registering one assist in four games.
The 22-year-old from Yekaterinburg, Russia, was loaned to the KHL's Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo in the fall and recorded 17 goals and 17 assists in 43 games. He also had two goals and five assists in 17 games with the AHL's San Jose Barracuda after returning to the U.S. in March.
Chekhovich was drafted in the seventh round, 212th overall, by the Sharks in 2017.
It has been a month since the provincial government announced three companies would take lead roles in redeveloping the iconic 155-acre Ontario Place site and officials are looking for feedback on the project.
In a survey released by the government on Monday, it asked residents about what features will be of most interest, what amenities should be in public spaces, what heritage features are most important, what ways people will access the site, and what types of science-related programming should be at the site.
The public consultation website said the findings, which will be released in late 2021, will “inform the ongoing planning and redevelopment of the Ontario Place site.”
Global News asked specifically how the feedback would be incorporated given that three large sections of the site will be divided among private-sector companies, but Ontario government representatives weren’t immediately available for comment.
Those with the grassroots organization Ontario Place for All previously called on the government to keep the site publicly accessible and to host public consultations before changes are made.
They also wanted the area’s Indigenous heritage acknowledged and the site to be integrated into Exhibition Place, as well as existing recreational infrastructure.
Located south of Lake Shore Boulevard West and Exhibition Place, the iconic attraction site opened in 1971 but was shuttered in 2012 due to falling revenues and tight provincial finances. At that time, the government said attendance fell to about 300,000 from a peak of around 2.5 million.
The Cinesphere was renovated in recent years and continues to operate year-round, showcasing films. Also, a 240-slip marina is open for use between May and October. More recently, the site has hosted festivals and drive-in events.
The Budweiser Stage, a 16,000-guest venue used for concerts, was also not subject to redevelopment and continues to be operated by Live Nation. Government officials previously said they intended to maintain three hectares of parkland.
Trillium Park was opened at Ontario Place in 2017, five years after it had closed, and was connected to the city by the William G. Davis recreational trail, named after Ontario’s premier the year Ontario Place first opened.
All of the above amenities were set to be preserved under the plan announced on July 30 by Premier Doug Ford and other provincial government officials. They also confirmed there wouldn’t be any residential development or the building of a casino on the property.
The plan called for Live Nation to expand Budweiser Stage’s summer capacity to 20,000 people and create a 9,000-person venue during the winter season.
Écorécréo Group announced it would build an all-season adventure park for families, including aerial obstacle courses, ziplines, climbing walls and other activities.
Therme Group released plans for year-round health and wellness facility with amenities such as pools, waterslides, botanical spaces, sports performance and recovery services as well as a public beach.
Provincial representatives said they are looking at partnering with the Ontario Science Centre to bring science-related programming to the Cinesphere and pods.
As for what comes after the public consultations, Ontario government staff were set to undertake an environmental assessment for the entire property in early 2022. Ultimately, the site is expected to be redeveloped sometime between 2027 and 2030.
Vicky Levack lives with cerebal palsy and is the spokeswoman for the Disability Rights Coalition.
She has been living in a nursing home since she was 18 years old and is now 30.
The province told her because of her complex needs that she would have to be housed in an institution to receive proper care, even though that is not what she wanted for herself.
She has been advocating tirelessly for the past 10 years to have the freedom to live in the community, where she can regain her freedom and autonomy.
Last week, Levack got the call she has been waiting for. In a joint venture supported by the Department of Community Services and Health and Independent living, a pilot program starting in December will allow her to live in the community with help from a support worker.
The program will consist of two condos side by side, each housing two people who are currently living in long-term care.
“I cried and laughed at the same time. I was fluctuating though so many emotions at once,” she said.
“I thought I was going to die in here and never have a life outside of these walls. And now I will.”
Levack said her advocacy work for people living with disabilities has been her full-time job and journey for the past decade. Although this is a step in the right direction, she says there is still much work to be done.
“I feel like I won the battle but I haven’t won the war. Because make no mistake, there is a non-violent war going on for social justice,” she said.
She says she has felt lonely, desperate and terrified thinking she was going to die living in a nursing home. She says she survived mentally by acknowledging that every one has their hardships.
“I’ve made the best of a very bad situation. I felt I had no choice. I was very angry and sad. I thought to myself, I can either be angry, sad and mad for the next 60 years, or I can say, ‘everybody has got something,'” she explained.
Levack believes that because she didn’t stop bringing attention to her situation and continuously fought for her freedom that she has the opportunity to move into the community now. She says that many of her friends living with disabilities, are afraid to speak up.
“I deserve better. Not just me. We all deserve better. Many people I live with do not like it here but they feel that if they say anything that they will get less care,” she said.
Levack says she is excited to have her own kitchen, which she has always desperately wanted. She has already started an Amazon wish list with items for her new condo and plans to decorate her kitchen “funky, like from the 1960s.”
“I get to feel like an actual citizen, which is something I haven’t felt like for probably ever now that I think about it. I’ve acted as a citizen but I don’t feel I’ve been treated as one,” she said.
“I’ve heard people call this a gift. This is not a gift. This is something I deserve.”
She says she would like to see the program expand in the future and will not give up the fight until everyone with disabilities who choses to live in the community is able to do so.
She plans on starting a website with direct contact information and says she will help others to the best of her abilities.
In a statement provided to Global News by the Department of Community Services, the results of this pilot program will be evaluated and inform future program design.
Levack and her roommates can expect to be in their new home in late December of this year.
VANCOUVER -- A long-term care home that saw one of the deadliest outbreaks of B.C.'s first wave of COVID-19 infections is taking extra pandemic precautions again, after a staff member at the facility tested positive for the disease.
In a post on its website Wednesday, Langley Lodge said it had put "enhanced monitoring" in place, suspending social visits and only allowing fully vaccinated essential visitors. Residents were also being screened for coronavirus symptoms twice daily.
Communal dining and activities for residents are unaffected by the changes.
"Vaccination rates at Langley Lodge are high, with 96 per cent of residents and 90 per cent of staff vaccinated and counting," the care home said in its post.
"Despite this, you can still acquire COVID-19 if vaccinated. The COVID-19 vaccine is effective in preventing severe illness."
In an update Thursday, the care home said social visits for fully vaccinated visitors were allowed to resume for residents on Floors 1, 2 and 3. Enhanced monitoring continued to be in place for Floors 4 through 6.
"If we continue moving forward without any additional cases, enhanced monitoring will conclude on Sept. 4," the facility said. "We will wait for direction from public health before we can announce a reopening of social visits to affected floors."
Langley Lodge saw one of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks in B.C. during the pandemic's first wave. A total of 51 residents and 16 staff members tested positive during the outbreak, and 26 residents died.
The outbreak ended on July 3, 2020, and would go on to be eclipsed in size by many of the outbreaks at B.C. care homes during the second wave.
Veronika Korzhakova and Oxana Bratisheva scored in a 3:08 span early in the third period and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) beat short-handed Germany 3-2 on Sunday to advance to the fifth-place game in the women's world hockey championship in Calgary.
"It was difficult for us because we knew we didn't have a chance to win a medal anymore," Korzhakova said. "But it was a new day and a new game. We rebooted and had a fresh mind, fresh legs, fresh everything."
The ROC will face Japan on Tuesday, with the winner getting a spot in Group A next year. Japan beat the Czech Republic 3-2.
Anna Savonina also scored for the ROC.
🚨 A nice feed to Oxana Bratisheva puts <a href="https://twitter.com/russiahockey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@russiahockey</a> up 3-2 over <a href="https://twitter.com/deb_teams?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@deb_teams</a>! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ROCGER?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ROCGER</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensWorlds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WomensWorlds</a> <a href="https://t.co/JRnp32wwqY">pic.twitter.com/JRnp32wwqY</a>
Tanja Eisenschmid and Kerstin Spielberger scored for Germany, limited to 15 skaters because of injuries. Spielberger gave Germany a 2-1 lead on a long shot with 2:38 left in the second, prompting Russian coach Yevgeni Bobarik to replace goalie Nadezhda Morozova with Valeria Merkusheva.
"This was an important game for us because we are playing for fifth place, which would give us the right to be in Group A for the next world championship," Bobariko said.
Morozova made 15 saves, and Merkusheva stopped all nine shots she faced. Franziska Albl made 23 saves for Germany.
Hanae Kubo, Rui Ukita, and Akane Shiga scored for Japan and Nana Fujimoto made 31 saves. Alena Mills and Daniela Pejsova scored for the Czech Republic.
Akane Shiga with 1:58 to go barrels down the ice and makes it 3-1 for Japan! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SmileJapan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SmileJapan</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensWorlds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WomensWorlds</a> <a href="https://t.co/GVYcnot0Ne">pic.twitter.com/GVYcnot0Ne</a>
Alena Mills and Daniela Pejsova scored for the Czech Republic, which fired 17 shots in the third period.
Shiga put Japan up 3-1 with 1:58 left in the game before Pejsova replied 43 seconds later. It made for a frantic finish with goaltender Klara Peslarova pulled with time winding down but the Czechs could not find the equalizer.
In the semifinals Monday, the five-time defending champion United States will face Finland, and Canada will play Switzerland. In the quarter-finals Saturday, the United States beat Japan 10-2, Canada topped Germany 7-0, Finland edged the Czech Republic 3-0 and Switzerland beat the ROC 3-2 in overtime.
OTTAWA -- Situated on the banks of the Ottawa River, Zibi Canada says it is building a city within a city, a unique development, combining residences, businesses and recreation in one place.
Breaking ground in 2015, the 34-acre site now has about 600 residents and 800 employees working in buildings built on the reclaimed industrial lands.
With zip lines, performance spaces and a beer garden, not to mention a growing retail presence, Zibi Canada says its goal is to create a livable and sustainable community where you can find everything you need without having to drive your car.
Jeff Westeinde, president of Zibi Canada, says building a sustainable community is about more than just the environmental footprint, it is about the overall quality of life for residents, employees and visitors to the site.
Westeinde says the heating and cooling systems create zero carbon emissions but that’s just a start.
"A big part of it is social inclusion. We get rated every year on the happiness of the people that live here," Westeinde said. "How often do you have to get into your car when you need to get a bag of milk or coffee is a great indicator of how happy and healthy you are."
James Dean, who was visiting the site with his wife to try the new interprovincial zipline, was pleased to see the lands being redeveloped but has concerns that the Zibi site may turn into a playground for those that can afford it. With prices for condos starting in the mid $300,000 range, he’d like to see a more mixed community.
"I think it’s it a pretty neat thing to do when you have undeveloped area along the waterfront," Dean said. "But you can build all the great condos you want but that’s going to be for people on the high-end. People of low income don’t have the ability to find a decent place to live."
Recently Zibi received a $10 million loan from the federal government to build 200 affordable rental units in Gatineau.
Westeinde saying Zibi sits on the site of the first European settlement in Ottawa Gatineau, he believes it will become once again heart of the region. With the site only 20 per cent complete, it will take at least another decade to complete the project.
"This will be the hub of everything that happens on both sides and more importantly a real physical and social link across the river," said Westeinde."
Shell Canada President Susannah Pierce is among a group of prominent Alberta CEOs who have come together to form a task force with the aim of coming up with long-term solutions for the Alberta economy.
Amber Bracken/The Globe and Mail
Susannah Pierce’s children aren’t interested in following in her footsteps.
The president of Shell Canada Ltd., one of Canada’s largest integrated oil companies, heads up a work force of 3,500 Canadian employees, earned public recognition as the face of the $40 billion LNG Canada project, and has lived and worked around the world.
But Pierce’s 15-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter don’t see a future for themselves in the industry where their mother has thrived.
The oil and gas sector is simply “not as attractive as it once was” to today’s young people, Pierce says bluntly, an uncomfortable fact she and other energy executives are being forced to face up to – even within their own households.
“If the conversation isn’t, ‘I want to work in the same business as you, Mom and Dad,’ then we have to ask ourselves why,” Pierce said in an interview.
The dinnertime conversations between Pierce and her children are a scaled-down version of a wider discussion taking place in Alberta right now as an entire province tries to decide on its path forward.
While Alberta’s historic oil and gas sector still makes an outsized contribution to the Canadian economy, it has been battered and bruised by seven years of low prices, pipeline protests and cancellations, layoffs, and consolidation. The province’s unemployment rate is 8.5 per cent, and close to 30 per cent of downtown Calgary’s office market sits vacant.
Alberta’s long-term unemployment rate – the portion of the population that has been without work for more than a year – is 2.4 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 1.4 per cent.
Even now, with crude prices higher than they’ve been in years, there is widespread acknowledgment that the energy landscape has permanently shifted.
Climate change and the transition away from fossil fuels have moved to the forefront of the national and international conversation. Investment dollars are increasingly flowing to industries with favourable environmental performance, and companies – Shell included – are investing in green technology and decarbonization as part of their own net-zero commitments.
In the past several years, there have been various government attempts to address Alberta’s challenges, from tax credits aimed at boosting the province’s rapidly growing tech sector to incentives for petrochemical development and investments in hydrogen technology.
Recently, a group of prominent Alberta CEOs – including Pierce – came together to form their own task force with the aim of coming up with long-term solutions for the Alberta economy.
“It’s a service in support of what governments might be able to do, without asking governments to do it for us,” Pierce said. “The world is changing, in terms of the energy product it needs. And as a result, we must change too.”
The task force aims to come up with a series of economic strategies, policies and incentives that will attract investment and jobs to the province. It will also look at ways to keep young people in a province that is viewed by some as stuck in the past.
Also involved in the project, dubbed “Define the Decade,” are other heavyweights like Enbridge’s Al Monaco and Cenovus Energy’s Alex Pourbaix. And the task force includes executives of some of the province’s rapidly growing tech firms, such as artificial intelligence company AltaML and life sciences company DynaLIFE.
Diversification has been a buzzword in Alberta during previous commodity price downturns. It has always fallen by the wayside, though, when oil prices start to climb again, said Adam Legge, president of the Business Council of Alberta.
This time, however, it’s different, he said, and there’s no time to waste.
“Alberta’s history of riding these boom and bust cycles … is frankly, gone,” Legge said. “But we believe our best days are ahead of us. So many of the things that are happening In the world, the trends, the evolutions that are happening – Alberta really has a shot to be a global leader.”
David Taras, a political analyst based at Calgary’s Mount Royal University, said the idea of a group of Alberta’s top CEOs joining together to lobby for diversification, green energy, and the startup economy would have been unfathomable 10 or even 5 years ago.
The public relations message has clearly shifted away from defending traditional oil and gas, he said, to establishing Alberta’s role in the public eye as a future-forward investment destination.
“The global tide has shifted, and shifted dramatically,” Taras said. “And the industry has not only caught up, but realized they have to move on, they have to be in a different place.”
The Calgary and Edmonton Chambers of Commerce are not involved in the “Define the Decade” initiative but recently released a joint wish list for the federal election that calls for commitments from all the parties with respect to diversifying Alberta’s economy.
Deborah Yedlin, president and chief executive of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, said the organization is asking for everything from federal investments in grants and equity deals to foster the growth of the startup tech sector, to the creation of national Centres of Excellence within Alberta for sectors ranging from clean technology, artificial intelligence, and sports.
“We (Alberta) have the willingness to lead, but we can’t do it on our own,” Yedlin said. “We need federal support.”
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Lando Norris will take a five-place grid penalty for today's Belgian Grand Prix after McLaren confirmed they have changed the gearbox in his MCL35M following his high-speed crash in qualifying on Saturday.
The 21-year-old had topped Q1 and Q2 at Spa, and looked to be in contention for his first ever pole position, before he crashed early in Q3 at Raidillon in a dramatic shunt that did substantial damage to his car, and saw him taken to hospital for checks and a X-ray on his elbow.
He was released on Saturday evening and cleared to race, as McLaren assessed the damage to his car. And on Sunday morning they confirmed they had changed the gearbox - but not the chassis - meaning he will have to take a five-place grid penalty, but not start from the pit lane.
"After assessing the damage to Lando's car, we have decided to change the gearbox, resulting in a five-place grid penalty," a McLaren spokesman told F1.com.
It means Norris will start the race from 14th position - pending any further penalties. Having failed to set a time in Q3 he was classified 10th, but was moved up to ninth as Valtteri Bottas, who qualified eighth, already had a five-place grid penalty to serve in Belgium, following his involvement in the Lap 1 multi-car crash in Hungary last time out.
2021 Belgian GP Qualifying: Lando Norris has big crash at Eau Rouge
Norris said on Saturday evening that he was bruised but was ready to race - and said he thought he could have been in the fight for pole had he not crashed.
“First of all, I’m doing good, but I’ve been better! I think just a bit bruised. Obviously, it was quite a big impact and I think my body’s just been thrown around a little bit but I’m good. I’m ready to race tomorrow and I want to get back on track already because it didn’t end the way I wanted it to," he said.
“Everything was going extremely well. Since the first lap in Q1, things were going perfectly and the car was feeling hooked up. I felt confident with the car. It was tricky going out in Q3 because, even on the out-lap, I was saying how wet it was because I was aquaplaning quite a bit.
"It was just a difficult situation to be in. How much do you want to push? How much do you not? I think, a combination of pushing a bit too much for the weather at that point and aquaplaning a little bit in the middle of Eau Rouge obviously didn’t end too well.
“I feel bad because things were going very well. I think I could have fought for pole position, but I’ve now given the team a lot of work to do. We’ll see where we start and try to score as many points as possible. Finally, a big thanks to all the marshals and medical staff for their help and hard work today.”
Norris bruised but 'ready to race' after spectacular Q3 crash
OTTAWA -- For the first time in 667 days, the Ottawa Redblacks took to the field at TD Place for a CFL football game.
The largest event in Ottawa since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic saw 15,000 fans pack the stadium at Lansdowne to watch the Redblacks face the B.C. Lions. The Lions spoiled the party, beating the Redblacks 24-12 Saturday night.
"Touchdown right? This feels like some sort of a touchdown today that we're back," said Mark Goudie, CEO of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.
It's the first Redblacks game in Ottawa since November 1, 2019.
”You got that nervous energy on game day here, probably amplified when we haven’t had a game for a couple of years," said Goudie. "But, you know there’s excitement for what’s to come and then there’s that ginormous game day to do list that everybody's feverishly trying to get done”
The game generated a buzz at Lansdowne Park and in the Glebe for the first time since large events were shutdown at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
"Feels pretty good. I'm excited to be here with my brother," said one fan outside TD Place before kick-off.
The return of CFL football and thousands of fans at TD Place a boost to fans spirits, and businesses in the area.
"It's incredible. We've had this day marked on a calendar for a little bit of time now," said Noah Busschaert, general manager of Jack Astor's Bar and Grill at Lansdowne.
"This is the probably as close to normal as we've gotten, so it's a good feeling for our group of people."
Under COVID-19 protocols, a maximum of 15,000 fans were permitted inside TD Place for the game.
Other COVID-19 measures in place under the TD Place COVID-19 Fan Safety plan include:
Mandatory face masks while inside the perimeter of TD Place
Digital tickets
TD Place is now cashless, with only debit and credit cards accepted
Guests will be assigned a mandatory gate for entry
Guests will no longer be permitted to re-enter the venue throughout the event
The Redblacks next home game is Friday, Sept. 3 against Montreal.
OTTAWA -- For the first time in 667 days, the Ottawa Redblacks took to the field at TD Place for a CFL football game.
The largest event in Ottawa since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic saw 15,000 fans pack the stadium at Lansdowne to watch the Redblacks face the B.C. Lions. The Lions spoiled the party, beating the Redblacks 24-12 Saturday night.
"Touchdown right? This feels like some sort of a touchdown today that we're back," said Mark Goudie, CEO of the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group.
It's the first Redblacks game in Ottawa since November 1, 2019.
”You got that nervous energy on game day here, probably amplified when we haven’t had a game for a couple of years," said Goudie. "But, you know there’s excitement for what’s to come and then there’s that ginormous game day to do list that everybody's feverishly trying to get done”
The game generated a buzz at Lansdowne Park and in the Glebe for the first time since large events were shutdown at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
"Feels pretty good. I'm excited to be here with my brother," said one fan outside TD Place before kick-off.
The return of CFL football and thousands of fans at TD Place a boost to fans spirits, and businesses in the area.
"It's incredible. We've had this day marked on a calendar for a little bit of time now," said Noah Busschaert, general manager of Jack Astor's Bar and Grill at Lansdowne.
"This is the probably as close to normal as we've gotten, so it's a good feeling for our group of people."
Under COVID-19 protocols, a maximum of 15,000 fans were permitted inside TD Place for the game.
Other COVID-19 measures in place under the TD Place COVID-19 Fan Safety plan include:
Mandatory face masks while inside the perimeter of TD Place
Digital tickets
TD Place is now cashless, with only debit and credit cards accepted
Guests will be assigned a mandatory gate for entry
Guests will no longer be permitted to re-enter the venue throughout the event
The Redblacks next home game is Friday, Sept. 3 against Montreal.
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