Local TV in Lloydminster goes dark as Stingray closes stations
The Stingray building in Lloydminster that housed CITL-TV and CKSA-TV as seen on Google Street View in August 2024.
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Globe and Mail
24 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
Financial lessons from a woman whose husband died suddenly at 39
If you can't find the time or motivation to plan financially for your death or a serious illness, please read Jane Blaufus's book. It's called With the Stroke of a Pen: Claim Your Life, and it includes a 33-page checklist of questions for working through the process of helping family members sort through your affairs when you die. The checklist is helpful, but so is Ms. Blaufus's personal experience after the loss of her husband. To hear more, check out this e-mail Q&A I did with Ms. Blaufus: Q: Jane, can you tell us in both a personal and professional sense how you came to write your book? A: My 39-year-old husband walked out the door one Sunday morning, and that afternoon a police officer arrived in my driveway to share the news that he had been killed in an accident. In less than 60 seconds, the world I knew had been turned upside down and I had become a widow with a 12-year-old daughter and a financial tsunami coming my way. By that time, I had been in the life insurance industry for 16 years and had foolishly thought that if anything ever happened to me that I would be better prepared than others. Wrong. I was blindsided by so many unexpected things and thought that if I wasn't prepared, despite all of my knowledge and expertise, what would the average person do in that situation? Fast forward to today and I am happily remarried to a wonderful man who was also widowed after his wife suffered an illness. We collectively decided to pay it forward by sharing our story to help prevent other families from going through what we did. Q: In the conversations you've had with readers, friends, family and clients in your professional life, what have you learned about the capacity people have for preparing for their own death and the death of loved ones? Do we ever get to a point where nine in 10 people have a will, powers of attorney and made other preparations? A: Unfortunately, most people are terrified to talk about death and illness. For many it is like looking their own mortality in the face, but these conversations are crucial because we have an obligation to ourselves and those we love to leave this world in an organized manner. The last thing someone needs when a loved one has become ill or died is to be running around trying to find all the pertinent documents needed to make decisions about medical care or funeral arrangements. Sadly, I do not think we will ever get to the point where nine in ten people will have had these important conversations. Q: If you were to list some of the top things to do to make sure your loved ones are prepared in case of your death, what would they be? A: To start, make sure your loved ones know what your final wishes are. I had asked my husband four times what he would want if anything happened to him and he would always change the subject. When he died, I had to plan a funeral as if I had been blindfolded; it was horrible. Next, make sure you have a current, up-to-date will and powers of attorney for both medical and financial matters. You would not believe the number of times I have heard stories about couples divorcing and the ex-spouse gets everything because the will was never changed. Also, make sure you have enough life insurance for today. Do not stick your policy in a drawer, as things have a way of changing over time. Also, if you have a special needs member of the family, make sure you have provided for them to be cared for in the future. Please make sure all of the beneficiary designations are correct and current as well. And, make sure you have assembled all of your important documentation into one central location, and make sure everyone who should know where it is, does. Your loved ones and your executor should be able to quickly and easily access this information. Speaking of executors, make sure you have asked your executor and legal guardians for your underage children if they willingly accept the role and associated responsibilities. Do not simply assume they will, because if they decline to accept the role after you are gone, you cannot make changes from the grave. Q: What do you think about bringing your adult children into the discussion of what happens when you die? How old should kids be for this conversation? A: This is a very important question, and I believe it is critical to bring them into the discussion, especially today, where there are so many blended families. Having them involved in the conversation can mitigate so many issues that have the potential to erupt after someone dies. As for your question about how old they should be, I would leave this in the parents' hands to determine the age, as they will know their child's maturity level better than anyone else. However, at the latest, I personally would bring them in when they reach adulthood. My poor daughter has had more of these conversations than I think she would care for! Q: Looking back on your own experience when your husband died, what types of advance planning had you done and how did they help in the aftermath? A: The year before my husband died, we had met with our financial advisor to review our investments and life insurance policies. We actually purchased more insurance as things had changed from our last review. The life insurance my husband lovingly put in place for us became a financial lifeline that helped me as I tried to get back on my feet and return to work. We also reviewed our wills with our lawyer, which made settling his estate much easier for me. Q: I've seen some apps and software over the years that were designed to help people organize themselves for when they die, but none seems to have taken off. Do you think the right app could help people engage more with this type of planning, and do you know any apps people should check out? A: I personally do not think an app would engage more people and I do not have a go-to suggestion to offer. What I have done in my book is provide my readers with a checklist designed to help get the conversations going with the people you need to be having them with. It serves as a workbook to help people get their personal and financial lives in order while they can. Are you reading this newsletter on the web or did someone forward the e-mail version to you? If so, you can sign up for Carrick on Money here. Dollarama vs. Costco A nine-product price comparison, including staples like tomato sauce and paper towels. Would you buy a Canadian car? How feasible would it be to tap into Buy Canada sentiment by launching an actual Canadian car company? Foreign companies assemble vehicles in this country, but there are no Canadian automakers. Fixing the problem of too much stuff Advice on de-cluttering from YouTube's The Minimal Mom. The emphasis is on making your living space more comfortable, not throwing a lot of stuff out. Life with the Cybertruck An amusing take on what it's like to drive the Tesla Cybertruck, which starts around $120,000 in Canada. A recent report from J.D. Power shows that in the segment of people who say they are likely to consider an electric vehicle for their next purchase, Tesla has dropped to eighth place after four years among the top two. Subscribe to Stress Test on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Ask Rob Q: What should the investing approach for seniors be for stocks versus guaranteed income certificates? One, both, neither? A: Both can work well. Stocks for long-term growth and dividend income, GICs to supplement bonds as a source of interest income and stability when stocks decline. An all-stocks approach is too risky for most seniors, while all GICs means a sacrifice of growth for safety. The 5 per cent GIC yields of a few years ago far exceed today's peak rates of 3.5 to 3.95 per cent. Tools and guides This new retirement planning calculator was created by a team including Ben Felix, a portfolio manager who has done a lot of great educational work. In the social sphere Social Media: A LinkedIn discussion about a column I wrote recently about a proposal to tax real estate investment properties. Watch: Toronto's spring housing market: Dead on arrival Money-Free Zone: The band Wye Oak strips down the Kate Bush song Running Up That Hill to the basics, and makes it work. Here's the great, more ornate original version. More PF from The Globe - They downsized to save money and simplify their lives. Here's what they wished they'd known - For travel-loving Canadians, other financial goals take a back seat to vacation spending - When did tipping diverge from a reward for good service to a wage-subsidization tactic?
CTV News
25 minutes ago
- CTV News
Video shows confrontation between cougar and bear in B.C.
A wild encounter between two of B.C.'s top predators was caught on camera on Vancouver Island. An uncommon encounter between two of British Columbia's top predators has been captured by a trail camera on southern Vancouver Island. The video, shared last week by the Sooke-based Wild Wise Society, shows a large black bear seeking refuge from a cougar. The cat chases the bear off a trail and into some bushes before stopping in its tracks, seemingly satisfied with the bear's hasty exit. Experts suggest the cougar's lack of interest in pursuing the bear is a sign of a simple territorial protest. 'Predators take big risks to avoid, not only conflicts with humans, but conflicts with other species and among their own species,' Wild Wise president Mollie Cameron says. 'Most of these predators are solitary animals, besides when they're raising young or that brief period of time when they're mating.' The video was shared amid a noted uptick in cougar and bear activity in the region, including the arrival last week of a grizzly bear on nearby Texada Island, a small island in the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver Island and the B.C. mainland. Read more: Grizzly bear sighting on B.C. Gulf Island prompts warning 'Our team was speechless seeing this for the first time,' Wild Wise wrote in a social media post attached to the video of the cross-species confrontation. 'The cougar wasn't running fast; definitely not in attack mode,' the non-profit wilderness education group added. 'What we're seeing here is likely classic 'fight or flight' behaviour – both species opting for avoidance rather than confrontation. It's all about making a point and not risking unnecessary conflict.'
Globe and Mail
41 minutes ago
- Globe and Mail
When it comes to climate change, Canada needs more resilient outdoor spaces. Indigenous landscape architects can help
While consulting on the Kitchener Indoor Recreational Complex, the team at landscape architecture firm SpruceLab, recommended planting a white oak tree between the indoor pool and an underground cistern for storm water. It wasn't just an aesthetic choice; the team was thinking about water, and water's stories. Historically, First Nations of the Great Lakes planted these trees in great swaths as both food forests and to guide people from the lake up to northern bodies of water. Although a pool is no lake, the white oak would benefit from the cistern and serve as a symbol of traditional Indigenous place keeping. Kerri-Lynne Garlinski, a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta and landscape designer at SpruceLab, says this approach is part of what makes the company unique. 'I really appreciate how much we strive to make sure that we've got trees on site that are going to be cared for and are going to be maintained into the future,' she says. SpruceLab is an Indigenous and women-owned planning and landscape architecture consultancy that has offices in Toronto, Hamilton, Edmonton and Vancouver. It operates as a social enterprise focused on economic reconciliation. Sheila Boudreau, its founder and principal landscape architect and planner, started the company five years ago. Boudreau, who has mixed ancestry–Acadian from her father (with Mi'kmaq ancestors through both sets of grandparents) and Celtic from her mother (British, immigrated from Wales and Ireland) – realized there weren't many Indigenous people designing public realms, and that missing perspective was noticeable. The field needed more of a focus on working 'in a good way with Mother Earth and not causing the damage that is typically done when we take a green field and pave it all to put new developments,' she says. 'That way of work is very damaging. I've been trying my whole career to not do that.' This approach is an example of an emerging academic theory called 'critical relationalism,' which sees design as a process of relationship building for humans-to-humans as well as between humans and the rest of the living world. 'There is an emphasis for many designers on the idea of human-centric design, but I have to critique that in a sense,' says David Fortin, a Métis architect, professor at the University of Waterloo's School of Architecture and Canada Research Chair on the subject. 'I think we've been really good at human-centred design to the point that we've forgotten about the living world outside of us, and that we're damaging it,' he says. But Boudreau's inspiration was more than environmental; she also wanted to provide training opportunities in the field for Indigenous people. One of SpruceLab's primary goals is to create jobs for Indigenous women through the work of planning and landscape architecture. Although these industries are colonial practices, meaningful engagement allows for Indigenous voices to be involved in design in direct ways, she explains. Programs like Dbaajmowin (narrative or storytelling in Anishinaabemowin), an Indigenous-led artist collective that SpruceLab supports, and SpruceLab's Earth Tending, a green-infrastructure training program for Indigenous people that are under-employed and unemployed, create a positive domino effect amongst communities. For example, when SpruceLab needs furnishings for a project, they work with First Nations artists who can transfer traditional knowledge through their pieces. Additionally, some Earth Tending graduates take on landscape jobs and bring the teachings with them. 'When you connect with nature, you're going back to your heart and to your soul. And there's a spark. [Participants] want to learn more. And when you want to learn more, you pass that information along to your children, your friends,' says Gwen Lane, the Earth Tending program coordinator for SpruceLab, member of the Sagkeeng First Nation and a Sixties Scoop survivor. As climate change effects worsen, it is especially critical for communities to invest in climate resiliency and understanding how respecting the earth makes a difference. We need trees that can thrive through increased stormwater and plants that can survive drought, and we need people who have the knowledge to care for them. 'Some of this work might not sound radical in a sense, but it is emblematic or representative of a shift in design thinking that I think is really rooted in Indigenous teaching and value systems,' says Fortin. One in a regular series of stories. To read more, visit our Indigenous Enterprises section. If you have suggestions for future stories, reach out to IE@
