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CBC
a minute ago
- CBC
Should Humber Bay Park ban motorized boats? For safety, this Toronto resident group says yes
Social Sharing A group of Etobicoke residents living on Toronto's waterfront is pushing for the Humber Park shoreline to be the latest in the city where motorized watercrafts are banned, saying reckless boating is endangering swimmers and wildlife in the area. The Friends of Humber Bay Park group wants the city to implement a motorized watercraft exclusionary zone for the park's shoreline, similar to a 200-metre bubble zone that was recently put in place at Hanlan's Point Beach on the Toronto Islands. The group's president, Mike Janetakes, says dangerous boating is common near the Humber Bay Park shore, especially from Jet Ski renters. "Our biggest concern is inexperienced boaters," he told CBC Radio's Metro Morning earlier this week, saying Jet Ski rentals don't require licences, training or insurance. Just last week, two Jet Skis collided in the water near Humber Bay Park, according to Toronto police, sending one man to hospital with a leg injury. Police did not say whether the Jet Skis were rented. It's incidents like that that have Friends of Humber Bay Park concerned for wildlife, swimmers, canoers and kayakers close to shore, said Janetakes. But he said he's hopeful the city will take action. WATCH | Motorized watercraft barred from Hanlan's Point Beach shoreline: Hanlan's Point Beach gets safety 'bubble zone' to keep away boats, watercrafts 2 months ago Toronto council passed a motion last month requesting that PortsToronto ban boats and personal watercrafts within at least 150 metres of the shoreline at Woodbine Beach in the city's east end by June 2026. The motion also condemns "illegal" rental business practices at the beach and nearby Ashbridges Bay, such as using and storing watercrafts without proper boating permits and operating them unsafely. Coun. Amber Morley, who represents Etobicoke-Lakeshore where Humber Bay is located, added an amendment to the motion, asking city staff to "explore opportunities" of applying the motorized watercraft exclusion zone at Hanlan's Point to similar areas, including Humber Bay Park West and East. Inexperienced operators a problem, police say Toronto police's marine unit ran a four-day initiative last month targeting unsafe boating practices and unlicensed personal watercraft rentals on the city's waterfront. Between July 9 and 12, police issued over 60 tickets — adding up to over $12,000 in fines — primarily for safety equipment violations and licensing issues, according to a police news release. Over 20 bylaw charges were also laid during the initiative, including for illegal mooring and unauthorized business operations, and 14 Sea-Doos were towed. "Each summer, the Marine Unit responds to as many as 10 complaints a day related to [personal watercrafts] — most often involving speeding, operating too close to shorelines, entering designated swim zones, and generally unsafe behaviour," police said in the release. "Many of these complaints involve inexperienced operators who have received little or no training prior to getting on the water." Jet Ski rental operator wants more regulation Janetakes says Friends of Humber Bay would also like to see "legislation for Jet Skiers to have training, proper training, and proper insurance." Raj Mehta, co-founder of Jetti, a Toronto-based Jet Ski rental company, says his company is also pushing for more regulation. But he says most reckless Jet Ski behaviour comes from people riding their own watercrafts or renting from unauthorized operators. His company's watercrafts have built-in control modules that sense when the Jet Ski is too close to shore and automatically slow it down, he said. But renters aren't required to have safeguards, or to train clients. "It's cash for keys with some companies," he said. "We've been trying to work with the city to get some sort of licensing framework in place … like mandate insurance, mandate control modules, mandate training."
CBC
a minute ago
- CBC
Scrapping youth transit pass 'shameful,' says group behind email campaign
Social Sharing Nearly 800 people have sent emails calling on OC Transpo to rescind a decision to scrap the youth monthly transit pass, according to a progressive advocacy group that's launched a campaign against the decision. In a memo late last month, the city announced that — as of Sept. 1 — the pass would be eliminated, part of cost-cutting measures to reduce the $120-million deficit in the 2025 budget. It currently costs $104 a month, compared to $135 for an adult pass. Horizon Ottawa launched its campaign on Thursday, saying the decision would result in Ottawa's youth paying some of the highest fares in the country and would diverge from policies of other big Canadian cities where youth discounts are common. "It's shameful that now youth are having to pay as much as an adult," Horizon Ottawa board member Sam Hersh told Radio-Canada. "The fact that close to 800 people have already sent emails signifies that people aren't just frustrated with this particular policy, but they're frustrated in general with the transit system." The root cause of the deficit, Hersh said, is "decades of cuts" to transit funding. "We need to start investing in our transit system, not cutting it." In a statement to Radio-Canada, the city said provincially funded school boards purchase about 92 per cent of all monthly youth passes, an average of 19,100 a month. Those students would continue receiving a monthly pass from their school at no cost, the city said. About 1,700 customers who purchased the youth pass themselves would no longer be able to do so, the statement said. But student transit passes purchased by school boards aren't available in the summer months or for students who live too close to their school, said Laura Shantz, a public transport advocate. "That would be the situation for my family," she told Radio-Canada. "We'll start to rethink whether my child needs a bus pass the entire school year or only the months where it's not pleasant to walk or bike or get to school in other ways." The additional $30 a month for an adult monthly pass is a lot for some families, she added. Pass likely won't be saved, says councillor "We acknowledge that this change may result in increased costs for some families who are ineligible to receive a student transit pass from their school," said David Jones, the team lead for transit media relations, in the city's statement. Other options remain available, he said, including the EquiPass, a discounted monthly transit pass and single-ride fare option for low income families. Horizon Ottawa's campaign is unlikely to cause the city to reverse its decision, according to Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr. "I haven't had the chance to speak to my colleagues or to OC Transport staff to see if there's any opportunity to change it before September, I would suspect no," said Carr, who sits on the transit committee. "But it is something that I think many people around the council table want to make sure that we look after in our upcoming discussions of budget 2026."
CBC
a minute ago
- CBC
Carney says Canada's trade with U.S. is mostly tariff-free. But that's not the whole story
It's become a common refrain when Canadian politicians are asked about retaliatory measures or negotiations in the ongoing trade war: 85 per cent of Canada's trade with the U.S. is "tariff-free." Prime Minister Mark Carney said as much on Tuesday and again on Friday, when pressed for information about his next salvo in the dispute with the U.S. after President Donald Trump imposed 35 per cent tariffs on Canadian goods that aren't compliant with the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA). "We're in a situation right now where 85 per cent of our trade with the United States is tariff-free," Carney told reporters at a news conference in Trenton, Ont., on Friday. But "85 per cent" only roughly describes Canada's exports to the U.S. which have the potential to qualify for exemptions under CUSMA — not the proportion of exports that is actually spared from Trump's tariffs. Citing that percentage alone understates the costs Canadian businesses are facing as Trump imposes more tariffs, argues Tyler Meredith, founding partner of the policy-based public affairs firm Meredith Boessenkool & Phillips. U.S. Census Bureau data shows that last year, only about 38 per cent of U.S. imports from Canada were traded under CUSMA provisions. Data on how many Canadian companies are CUSMA-compliant is not readily available. An analysis of the effect of tariffs by the Yale Budget Lab published on Thursday assumed that 50 per cent of Canada's exports to the U.S. are now certified. Meredith says applying for CUSMA exemptions can be a daunting process for small businesses. But he said that faced with higher tariffs, they may be considering either taking on the costs of certification — or looking at markets beyond the U.S. "We are one of the most trade-dependent on the United States of any developed country," said Meredith, a former economic adviser to the Trudeau government. "If the consequence is that trade overall falls, as we are seeing now in the data, that's going to be a cost that we disproportionately bear relative to other countries." Prior to Trump's tariffs, Canadian exporters could trade with the U.S. under Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status. That allowed them to trade with very low tariffs — or none at all — without registering for preferential treatment under CUSMA. All World Trade Organization (WTO) members, such as Canada, have MFN status when trading with each other. How do Canadian goods get preferential treatment? Products are certified CUSMA-compliant if they meet the agreement's rules of origin. Their eligibility is determined on a case-by-case basis since they must meet product-specific requirements. A certain amount of the product needs to be made in Canada with Canadian inputs to qualify for an exemption. Steve Mallia, owner of Starfield Optics, a Toronto-based manufacturer of telescopes and accessories, said registering his small business for CUSMA benefits "wasn't a priority" until Trump began threatening Canada's sovereignty and economy in January. "We saw our orders dry up literally overnight so we knew we had to make a change," said Mallia, who runs the business with his wife Natalie. His only other employees are a part-time bookkeeper and a chartered accountant, he said. In the past eight months, Mallia has been researching the process for claiming preferential treatment under CUSMA — without the same legal resources as a large corporation. The experience has made him feel that "the little guy" is being forgotten by the Canadian government during the trade war, he said. "This is the part that takes up a lot of time and costs money," Mallia said. "The last thing I want is to ship something and then, you know, customs gets ahold of [the product] and they go, 'You know what? He didn't use the right colour ink.'" Since March, more Canadian exporters reported that they would absorb tariff costs or raise prices than apply for relief through Canada's remission program, according to a report published in July by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). In exceptional circumstances, the federal program grants companies relief from the payment of tariffs applied as of March 4 on products from the U.S. or issues refunds for tariffs already paid. The federation, which advocates for the interests of small businesses, surveyed its members about the actions they have taken to mitigate risks during the trade war. Why not fire back with more counter-tariffs? Carney was asked on Tuesday whether he would retaliate against the U.S. with a new tariff rate, days after failing to reach a deal by the Aug. 1 deadline. "We've always said we will apply tariffs where they had the maximum impact on the United States and minimum impact in Canada," he said. Unlike most countries subjected to Trump's tariffs, Canada has a comprehensive trade agreement with the United States in CUSMA. U.S. tariffs kick in for dozens of countries, sparking protests, outrage 2 days ago More than 60 countries were hit with U.S. President Donald Trump's latest wave of tariffs on Thursday. Despite global backlash and signs his own economy is taking a hit, Trump continues to promise even steeper tariffs ahead. The country is also one of few to have retaliated against the U.S. in response to Trump's economic disruption, a step Canada took before the U.S. targeted virtually all of its global trade. Wednesday, Trump threatened to hit goods imported from India with a total of 50 per cent tariffs, citing New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil. And Trump imposed tariffs on dozens of countries' exports last week through an executive order. Tariffs now vary between 10 per cent for the U.K. and 41 per cent on war-torn Syria. That same order brought the total tariff rate of Brazil — Latin America's largest economy — to a staggering 50 per cent.
