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CBC
20 minutes ago
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Get a cool look inside this northern Ontario ice plant
Lecoupe Ice, a family-run business that has been keeping northern Ontario drinks cool for decades, gives us a tour of its plant in Greater Sudbury, complete with robots.
CTV News
21 minutes ago
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Ottawa tenants told to leave mould infested building as court approval sought for ‘mass eviction'
101 Champagne Avenue South has been under court-ordered receivership since February. The receiver is now asking its tenants to vacate. (Katelyn Wilson/CTV News Ottawa) Dozens of tenants at an apartment building in Ottawa's Little Italy say they've been left scrambling after receiving notice they may be required to vacate by the end of August, due to widespread mould and a pending court decision. The building at 101 Champagne Avenue South has been under court-ordered receivership since February, after its owner Ashcroft Homes Group ran into financial trouble. Now, a buyer is on the table, but the new owner wants vacant possession of all 185 units by August 31 to begin full remediation of the property. One of those tenants is Yaasir Hosenie, who says he's been living with visible mould in his unit for more than two months, including behind baseboards, in his bathroom and along the bedroom wall. 'I sent them photographic evidence of mould in this specific spot in my apartment, but they said they cannot do anything right now,' he said. His unit was among 57 flagged in May following inspections. Later air quality testing confirmed elevated mould spore levels in some of those units and in common spaces like the gym. At the time, management told tenants they were fixing the issue. But on July 23, residents received a new letter, this time warning of what Hosenie describes as a 'mass eviction.' 'I was not contacted [about remediation], and then what happened is that on July 23, we just received a notice about a mass eviction happening,' he said. 101 Champagne Avenue South Jayendra Kurukulasekara and Yaasir Hosenie both face eviction pending a court hearing on Thursday on Monday, July 28, 2025 (Katelyn Wilson/ CTV News). The notice outlines a pending court motion, which will be heard Thursday, asking the court to grant the receiver the authority to take the 'required steps to have the sheriff provide vacant possession' of the property if tenants refuse to leave voluntarily. 'For us, it's a 39-day notice period,' said tenant Jayendra Kurukulasekara. 'It's incredibly hard to find a decent place at a similar price at such short notice.' 'This is coming during a time where you see the rental market hyper inflated and you can't really find relatively affordable places to live.' He says many of the building's residents are international students or young professionals, some of whom have already left for the summer. The court is also being asked to approve lease termination agreements, offering tenants two months' rent and the option to take furniture from their furnished units. However, in signing, tenants must also waive their rights to file future complaints or legal claims. Kurukulasekara says mould is just the tip of the iceberg and things have been falling apart for months. 'One of the elevators had broken down and it wasn't repaired for six to seven months,' he said. 'There used to be a front desk person posted at all times essentially until at least 5 p.m. but for the past few months, there hasn't been.' In a brief statement to CTV News, Varsity Communities, which manages the building under the direction of the court-appointed receiver, said: 'We recognize that this is a time of uncertainty for tenants and are committed to being a reliable source of information and assistance throughout the process.' The company declined further comment, citing ongoing legal proceedings. Tenants are now organizing with the help of advocacy group ACORN, which says it will be going door to door this week to inform residents of their rights. 'They can't increase rent more than 2.5 per cent, and for me personally, I think that it is a case of renoviction,' said Hosenie. The court hearing is scheduled for Thursday. According to the building's general manager, formal written notice, including timelines and instructions for vacating, will be issued if the judge approves the receiver's request.
CTV News
21 minutes ago
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Harper says Carney team sought his trade advice, advises looking outside U.S.
Former prime minister Stephen Harper speaks ahead of the King delivering speech from the throne in the Senate in Ottawa on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Blair Gable-Pool Former prime minister Stephen Harper said Monday he's urging Ottawa to find new trading partners outside the United States. 'I think it's fair to say I'm probably the most pro-American prime minister in Canadian history,' Harper told Canadian and American legislators gathered for the annual Midwestern Legislative Conference meeting in Saskatoon. 'We've got to get something short-term worked out with the Trump administration. But this really is a wake-up call for this country to truly diversify its trade export markets. 'Just because we have that geographic proximity does not justify the degree of dependence that we have on a single market.' Harper said he was approached by the government two weeks ago for advice on dealing with U.S. trade policy. The Canadian Press has asked Prime Minister Mark Carney's office whether it approached the former Conservative prime minister for advice but has not yet received a response. Harper told the conference that Canada should no longer rely on Washington for its security. 'While the border is a shared responsibility, let's make sure we spend a lot more on defence so that we can be independently responsible for our own land, seas and skies, independent of the United States,' he said. Harper said that anyone who had asked for his trade advice a year ago would have been urged to deepen economic and security ties with Canada's southern neighbour. 'However, when the government did actually ask me a few weeks ago, my advice was the opposite,' he said. Harper said that while Washington is using a failed economic policy of pursuing economic growth through tariffs, the U.S. still needs trading partners. 'We just cannot be in a position in the future where we can be threatened in this way and not have that leverage,' he said. 'The current government does, you know, get it better than their predecessors.' He said he hopes Americans recognize that they can't take their international allies and trading partners for granted. 'I really do hope that a realization seeps into the United States,' he told the crowd of American lawmakers. 'Canadians are a combination of just angry and bewildered by what is happening here. And that is very real. And it is very deep and it is across the country, and it is across the political spectrum.' Harper also said China is undermining global trade through its use of World Trade Organization mechanisms. He said the Pacific Rim trading bloc created through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership allows Canada to undertake trade with other countries that respect global rules. He also revealed that he told American officials during his time as prime minister that a military response would be needed to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. 'I have been saying for 15 years at least that the single biggest threat of nuclear war was Iran ever getting a nuclear weapon,' he said. 'And I had told American administrations confidentially for years it was my conclusion (that) the only way to ever stop that would be military action.' By Dylan Robertson. With files from Jeremy Simes in Saskatoon.
