Sucking carbon from the air; companies using AI bots for hiring: CBC's Marketplace cheat sheet

CBC

2 days ago

Social Sharing
Miss something this week? Don't panic. CBC's Marketplace rounds up the consumer and health news you need.
Want this in your inbox? Get the Marketplace newsletter every Friday.
How one company plans to suck carbon right out of the air (and make money doing it)
Just off the highway near Innisfail, Alta., a town about 120 kilometres north of Calgary, is a construction site immediately identified by a large tent boasting the words "Deep Sky" in a groovy, arcade-style font.
The roughly two-hectare facility, still under construction, is hosting what could be called a carbon-removal Olympics. It will test eight different versions of a similar technology using various machines that will suck in air, remove the carbon dioxide and send it to a central plant, where it will be compressed and liquified for storage deep underground.
The winner of this initiative won't get a medal on a podium. Instead, Deep Sky, the Montreal-based project developer behind it, plans to take the best versions of the direct air capture technology that prove most effective in Canada's climate and deploy them on a commercial scale all over the country.
"There are some preliminary data points about this for sure, but has anyone run this system in –30 C yet?" asked Alex Petre, the new CEO of Deep Sky, indicating one of the recently installed direct air capture machines. "No, we haven't."
The company is so confident this will be successful that it's already begun initial work on two commercial projects, one in Quebec and the other in Manitoba. That's despite not yet knowing how they will be fully financed or which technology will be put to use.
A B.C. couple waited weeks to get their stillborn daughter's remains. Then, they were invoiced for her autopsy
Nick Bordignon was still deep in grief over the death of his infant daughter last October when an envelope from B.C.'s Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) turned up in his mailbox.
It was addressed to the infant he and his wife had named Makayla Poppy when she was delivered at Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody, B.C., four weeks earlier following an ultrasound that showed the child was dead.
Inside was an invoice for the cost of an autopsy and an itemized list of tests conducted by a coroner, a bill the PHSA has since admitted the Bordignons were never supposed to see.
And to make matters worse, the letter seemed to indicate Makayla's body was still in the morgue — two weeks after the autopsy was performed and nearly a month after she was stillborn.
"I remember just standing there in disbelief ... and the initial confusion very quickly turned to rage," said Bordignon, who works as a police officer.
"I'm no fool, I've seen autopsies performed, they are not pretty ... it was soul-crushing and just wrong.... It's just like, OK, so if this is an itemized list, this means the autopsy has been done. Where is she?"
CBC News has learned that the Bordignons' concerns about both the invoice and the delay in releasing Makayla's body are now under investigation by B.C.'s Patient Care Quality Review Board — the body tasked with reviewing complaints about health authority policies and procedure.
The story highlights what experts say is a lack of standardized care when it comes to stillbirths, which can result in errors that traumatize already grieving families.
In a letter, the health services authority apologized for the invoice and said the charges for the autopsy had been reversed.
After the Bordignons received the invoice in the mail and called the hospital, the process of getting Makayla's remains home unfolded quickly.
Canada Post reports $1.3B operating loss with declines in both letter and parcel revenue
Canada Post is reporting a $1.3-billion loss in operating expenses in its 2024 annual report.
The Crown corporation made up for some of those losses by selling off certain ventures, including its logistics business, which it sold in January of last year.
Excluding tax — and accounting for its divestments — Canada Post's losses totalled $841 million last year. That's larger than the $748-million loss reported in 2023, and in 2022 when it lost $548 million.
The last time Canada Post made a profit was in 2017. Overall, the Crown corporation says it has lost $3.8 billion since 2018.
Canada Post said in a news release that volumes and revenues declined in both traditional letter and parcel delivery and that the corporation faces stiff competition from private parcel carriers.
"Our current structure was built for a bygone era of letter mail — the status quo has led us to the verge of financial insolvency and is not an option. The need to change, respond to our challenges and secure this important infrastructure for the future is more urgent than ever before," CEO Doug Ettinger said in the news release.
Revenue from parcel delivery alone fell by $683 million compared with 2023, the report says.
The corporation also said the postal worker strike late last year contributed to a loss of $208 million. This latest annual report comes with another potential strike looming.
The last strike ended when the federal government ordered employees back to work under their existing contracts, which were extended until May 22 to allow the bargaining process to resume.
What else is going on?
PM says U.S. tariffs are 'unlawful' and 'unjustified' — and now a court agrees, in part.
Her job interview was with an AI bot. It was odd
Companies are using AI hiring bots to screen, shortlist and talk to job candidates. Advocates say the technology frees up human workers from tedious tasks, but some applicants say it adds confusion to the process, and there are concerns about HR job losses.
Marketplace needs your help!
Have you experienced a customer service nightmare? We're looking for frustrating, absurd or outrageously bad customer service stories. If you've been given the runaround or wrong info, or have been ignored or hung up on, share your story with us! We want to know who you think are the worst offenders. Email us at [e-mail].