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LANSING, MI (WKZO AM/FM) -- Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is once again reminding Michiganders to be on alert for grandparent and family emerg...

Local parents will be getting a hand from the federal government as part of its latest budget.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland delivered the financial plan this afternoon on Parliament Hill and promised billions in new spending for provinces to create child care spaces and drive down fees.
The plan would aim to see an average drop in fees next year by 50 per cent for preschooler daycare spaces and eventually have an average fee of $10 a day across the country outside of Quebec, which has its own system.
For small and medium-sized businesses, the current wage subsidy will be extended as well as the rent subsidy and its lockdown top-ups to September 25th.

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The federal Liberal government is planning to intervene in Canada’s red-hot housing market with a new tax aimed at foreign owners of underused residential real estate and with additional efforts to increase the supply of affordable places to live.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled a budget on Monday that proposes to put a countrywide tax in place on the value of “non-resident, non-Canadian owned residential real estate” that is deemed vacant or underused. If passed, the annual one-per-cent tax would take effect on Jan. 1, 2022.
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Financial Post's Kevin Carmichael talks with Financial Post's Larysa Harapyn about what's in Budget 2021

2021-04-19 22:36:38 GMT2021-04-20 06:36:38(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
OTTAWA, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Canada's new housing construction rose record 21.6 percent in March due to loosening restrictions against the COVID-19 pandemic and warmer weather, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation on Monday.
The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of housing starts rose to 335,200 units in March. The rise was much larger than expected and marked the strongest single month since 1990.
Much of the rise was on multiple urban starts, which jumped 33.8 percent to 222,358 units. Single-detached urban starts increased 3.6 percent to 78,615 units.
Canada's average home selling price reportedly jumped 31.6 percent year over year in March, hitting a new high as sales also rose to a new all-time record.

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Some of you may remember the Canadian comedy-drama, The Beachcombers, that ran on CBC from 1972-1990. The Beachcombers followed the life of man in British Columbia who earned a living travelling and scavenging the beach coastline, northwest of Vancouver.
The water, the beach, the boats and the views were a part of this third longest running TV show in Canada. But what does “beachcombing” really mean? Well, the name is a bit misleading as there is no comb involved.
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SPENCER: Benefits of beachcombing Back to video

Aussie bubble first step in travel industry rebuild
19 Apr, 2021 09:00 PM
6 minutes to read
House of Travel Rotorua director Pam Turner is excited about the Aussie bubble. Photo / Andrew Warner
House of Travel Rotorua director Pam Turner is excited about the Aussie bubble. Photo / Andrew Warner
Aussies are being welcomed with open arms as Kiwis look to bask in their sunshine. That is the word from Bay travel agents who say it is the first step in rebuilding an industry hammered
by Covid-19.
House of Travel Rotorua director Pam Turner said her team had experienced a "frenzy" of transtasman booking activity.

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Brian Skerry says it was "the stuff of dreams" to be in the water with a nursing sperm whale.
The
National Geographic photographer and explorer dove into Caribbean waters to capture what he believes to be a unique image. He got within a few meters to get the shot.
"This was a very trusting mother, a new mom with maybe a five- or six-month-old baby that was nursing down at a depth of about 50 feet," he said. "I very gently approached, just breath-hold diving, swam down. She saw me and then actually closed her eyes. I mean, she was so relaxed that I could enter into that world. I was being allowed into her world and could make these pictures."

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Chrystia Freeland, the primary guardian of Canada’s finances, is betting that the best defence against a post-pandemic debt spiral is a good offence.
For a generation, starting with Paul Martin in the mid-1990s, the federal finance minister has been mythologized as the one member of cabinet with the courage to say ‘no’ to spending sprees. Freeland’s first budget since her appointment as finance minister eight months ago will force a new narrative, one more relevant for the times in which we live.
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canuck_conservative
- Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)
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A reckless liberal in my youth, am now an older & wiser true conservative male living in GOD'S COUNTRY - that's right, British Columbia!! - always with an addiction to news and politics. Now, thanks to FreeRepublic, that part's easy.
Found out about FR via an article on CNN, and enjoy the exhange of current news and, best of all, the comments from people around the world. Don't enjoy the all-too-common insults of the insecure posters. Oh well.
Ferry heading for Horseshoe Bay, Howe Sound, north of Vancouver - lots of good hiking, camping and fishing in the area.

 
MONTREAL --
A judge's ruling that could determine the future of Quebec's controversial secularism law is expected to be delivered early this week.
Sources confirmed to CTV News that the ruling is likely to come on Tuesday.
Bill 21 is being challenged by several groups who have called the law discriminatory. Under the law, public employees in positions of authority, such as police officers, judges and teachers, are banned from wearing religious symbols such as hijabs and kippahs.
The court heard arguments from both sides during the winter, with the plaintiffs calling witnesses who said Bill 21 violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Quebec government has argued the law does not violate freedom of religion. 

OTTAWA — The federal Liberals are promising millions of additional dollars to help fight sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces as they seek to address…

by Nelson Daily Staff on Sunday Apr 18 2021
Fallen trees over the power lines from the windstorm near Ridgewood Road on the North Shore closed Highway 3A to traffic Sunday evening. — Submitted photos
Nelson Hydro continues to clean up storm debris and restore power following a massive windstorm that rocked the West Kootenay region Sunday evening.
In a media release Monday, Nelson Hydro, with the assistance of additional contract and arborist crews, said outages continue for customers from Nelson to Coffee Creek.
"The damage on the North Shore from approximately 1600 Highway 3A at the Blaylock Estates out to the Six Mile area is more extensive," Nelson Hydro said.

 
VANCOUVER --
People aged 40 and older in B.C. can now get an AstraZeneca COVID-19 shot at local pharmacies.
That update comes as the province deals with a surge in COVID-19 cases and a worrying increase in hospitalizations.
Previously, B.C. had been only distributing AstraZeneca doses to people aged 55 to 65 while the vaccine was under review for its potential connection to extremely rare blood clots.
But B.C.'s health officials now say those instances are so rare, that the vaccines are considered safe to use for people aged 40 and older. People in that age group can now book an appointment with some local pharmacies.

WASHINGTON — Prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre can begin getting the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as Monday, a senior defence official told The Associated Press, months after a plan to inoculate them was scuttled over outrage that many Americans weren’t eligible to receive the shots.
The new timing coincides with President Joe Biden’s deadline for states to make all adults in the U.S. eligible for coronavirus vaccines. Beginning Monday, anyone older than 18 in the country qualifies to sign up and get in a virtual line to be vaccinated.
The defence official said all 40 men held at the Navy base in Cuba will be offered the vaccination to comply with legal requirements regarding the treatment of prisoners and to help prevent COVID-19 from spreading. Strict quarantine procedures had already sharply curtailed activities at the base and halted legal proceedings for prisoners facing war crime trials, including the men charged in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack.

The premier says that there “will be consequences” for people caught travelling outside of their health district for purposes not deemed essential, although he did not provide details about what those would be.
Additional details about the order are expected to be released later this week by Dr Bonnie Henry and BC’s Public Safety Minister, but here’s all the information we know right now:
The new order
A new order will be enacted to stop people from making non-essential trips outside of their health district.
It will take effect on Friday, April 23.
The order will be issued under the Emergency Program Act “to restrict people’s ability to leave their health authority.”

 
VANCOUVER --
After struggling to report a hate crime against him, Steven Ngo has taken matters into his own hands.
Last week, Ngo spoke out about the difficulty he experienced trying to contact the Vancouver Police Department after a driver shouted a racial slur and threw garbage at him at an intersection. He told CTV News he was put on hold for more than 30 minutes while trying to report the incident by phone, and that when he searched online for a form to fill out, they were only available in traditional and simplified Chinese.
But Ngo said the response he's received since sharing his story has been "remarkable." He has since taken it upon himself to launch a crowd-source initiative to translate the Vancouver Police Department's hate crime forms into eight Asian languages.

55.
Kenney made the announcement on Twitter Sunday and promised to provide more details Monday morning. He said bookings will be open on Tuesday.
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Alberta to lower AstraZeneca minimum eligibility to 40 years old from 55 Back to video
“This decision is based on growing scientific knowledge about the vaccine and is based on (the Alberta chief medical officer of health’s) advice,” Kenney tweeted.
The province reported 1,516 new infections on Sunday, bringing the total number of active cases to 17,935. These are similar numbers to what the province experienced in December, which peaked at 20,972 active cases on Dec. 13.

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If the Liberal Party does not regain its parliamentary majority after lavishing $143 billion in new spending on every sub-set of the Canadian population, it should call a royal commission of inquiry.
Chrystia Freeland’s first budget professes to be about finishing the fight against COVID and building prosperity for the future. But the front-end-loaded nature of the expenditure — $101 billion in the next three years — suggests it is much more about crushing the NDP and shaming the Conservatives for objecting to all the lovely, lovely spending in this 724-page leviathan. More anything? More everything.
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NEW YORK --
The NHL has suspended Vancouver Canucks defenceman Alexander Edler two games for kneeing Toronto Maple Leafs forward Zach Hyman.
The collision happened 10 minutes into the second period of Vancouver's 3-2 overtime win Sunday when Edler took out Hyman right in front of the Leafs bench.
The left-winger dropped hard to the ice and stayed down for several minutes before the play ended and a trainer came to his aid. Hyman went directly to the locker room and did not return to the game.
The Canucks were playing their fist game since March 24 after being sidelined by a COVID-19 outbreak.

Federal budget unveils $104-billion in new spending
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In its first budget in two years the federal government has put childcare front and centre.  Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland announced more than $30-billion for the start of a national child care program by cutting child care costs in half by the end of 2022.  That will include $10 a day for child care by 2025.
Other highlights of the 2021 budget include an extension of all the big federal COVID-19 support programs including the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy as well as the Emergency Rent Subsidy until September.  There will be an additional 12 weeks added to the Canada Recovery Benefit.  That increases the program to 50 weeks.

Author of the article: Letters
Publishing date: Apr 19, 2021  •  6 hours ago  •  1 minute read  • 
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April 18 to 24 is National Volunteer Week – a week to recognize and celebrate those who have given so much to our hospital.
We value our volunteers at Tillsonburg District Memorial Hospital. They selflessly offer their time, talent and expertise to enhance the patient and visitor experience, while supporting staff as needed. Volunteers have, and always will, play a vital role in our hospital community. This has been an extraordinary year – and never has the impact of our volunteers been recognized and missed so much.
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