Latest news with #Saskatoon-based
Toronto Sun
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Curate your home ... Canadian style
'What makes Canadian design unique is its inclusivity,' says Curtis Elmy, who owns and operates Saskatoon-based Atmosphere Interior Design with his life and work partner Trevor Ciona. SUPPLIED Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Designers weigh in on what makes a design distinctly Canadian This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account With all of the recent talk about sovereignty, buying Canadian and getting elbows up, national pride is at a high across Canada. From celebrating the things we're known for, to embracing values of equality, respect and peace, to uniting against U.S. tariffs, we're standing up for our distinct culture like never before. Yet, it's just not in us to be too showy. We prefer to exude a more thoughtful, quiet confidence, a trait that also characterizes Canadian style at home, says designer Curtis Elmy, 'What makes Canadian design unique is its inclusivity,' said Elmy, who owns and operates Saskatoon-based Atmosphere Interior Design with his life and work partner Trevor Ciona. 'We're a mosaic. All of our designs reflect that there are layers of global influence interpreted through a distinctly Canadian lens.' added Elmy, who believes Canadian design holds a deep connection to nature, diversity and authenticity. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Though there are subtle differences between provinces, for the most part Canadians favour an earthy, neutral palette for their home interiors, incorporating greens, browns and blues that reflect the natural landscape. We gravitate towards warm wood finishes, investing in quality pieces that stand the test of time and more often than not, tell a story. Since launching their company, Elmy and Ciona have worked closely with Canadian businesses like Rusholme House, Silva Custom Furniture, Marcantonio Designs and Kirk Woodworking to craft creative furnishings for clients. As much as people seek durable, practical pieces, they also demonstrate a rich appreciation and respect for things handmade, said Elmy. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I think it's about creating spaces that feel grounded and honest,' said Elmy. 'It's about craftsmanship, and quality over quantity … Canadians want their homes to be like sanctuaries, to be surrounded by things they have a connection to versus being mass produced and shipped on a big sea can.' Designers Natalie Owens and Victoria Armour, co-owners of Stil James design studio in Halifax, see a similar love for handcrafted materials in Atlantic Canada, with about one in every two clients now expressing a desire to buy Canadian. Armour estimates nearly 90% of the tables sourced by the Stil James team are crafted by RedBeard Rustics Woodcraft, and they often scour the Conifer Shop in Lunenburg for one-of-a-kind vintage pieces as well. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Designers regionally are layering it in different ways, but the base of that warm, homey feel that natural wood gives within a home is universal for Canada,' said Armour. Whereas homeowners on the west coast generally gravitate towards a more rustic aesthetic, highlighted by a spicier earthy palette that may include red, interiors on the east coast are all about recreating a coastal vibe that puts the emphasis on lighter greens and blues. 'It's not uncommon for us to walk into a space, and people will have collected sea glass or driftwood from the beach, and we're running with that as a palette,' said Owens. One characteristic that stands out as positively Canadian, according to Armour and Owens, is the need to design for four seasons. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Families are looking for homes that are built to perform, meaning they need to stand up to messy snow gear in winter, mud in spring, wet towels and bathing suits in summer and dried leaves and yard debris during fall. Canadians tend to prioritize durability and adaptability, choosing fabrics and finishes that can take a beating. They also steer away from darker, moodier spaces, keeping décor light and bright. 'We run into that a lot when we're designing,' said Owens. 'How can we create these calm, bright spaces for people to get us through our long, harsh winters?' It's no coincidence that a country known for its casual Canadian tuxedo – the legendary denim on denim combination that has stuck around since the 1950s — also turns to casualness in home fashion. Our interiors are 'unfussy and functional,' said Amour, and even high-end spaces focus on creating a 'relaxed and lived in feel.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. When we do embrace colour, we do it with purpose, translating it into art, accessories or accent pieces. Elmy has worked with clients who felt compelled to choose bolder room colours to stay in step with global design trends, only to admit later on that they didn't really know what they like. His advice? Take a look through your closet. If your wardrobe is primarily black, grey brown and white, colour is going to be a hard transition. 'We are surrounded by beautiful lakes, forests and mountains so maybe that's what comes naturally to us,' said Elmy. 'Whereas other areas are more open to colour, I think that's essentially who we are, we're neutral. Toronto Maple Leafs Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Celebrity
Epoch Times
13-05-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Cameco CEO to Investors: Look Past Tariff ‘Noise' and Toward Long-Term Uranium Demand
The chief executive of Saskatchewan-based uranium miner Cameco Corp. is encouraging investors to tune out the 'noise' from global trade and geopolitical upheaval and instead focus on the strong outlook for nuclear power demand. 'There is no doubt that those distractions have created new and unexpected risks that must be carefully monitored and diligently managed,' Tim Gitzel told analysts on a conference call to discuss the company's first-quarter results. Canadian uranium is exempt from 10 percent U.S. tariffs on energy imports because it adheres to the free-trade agreement between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. But on the conference call, Gitzel said 'we know that a lot can change overnight.' Separately, the U.S. administration is also investigating the national security implications of imported uranium and other minerals. After a similar probe during U.S. President Donald Trump's first term in 2019, which ultimately spared uranium, Cameco took steps to protect itself, such as looking at contract terms and delivery timelines. 'Those pre-emptive actions helped us prepare for the more recent threat of tariffs on Canadian nuclear fuel products, and we will continue to adapt accordingly and mitigate such risks in the future,' Gitzel said. 'I'm sure there will be more to come this year as negotiations continue and policies evolve, but two things are certain: There's no substitute for uranium in a nuclear fuel bundle and there's no elasticity to the demand for nuclear fuel. You need it to run your reactors and power your economy, regardless of tariffs or higher cost.' Related Stories 2/20/2025 4/5/2025 Gitzel pointed to a bevy of non-tariffs developments on the global stage that paint a rosier picture for the sector. Reactor operating licences are being extended in the United States, some to 80 years. China approved 10 new reactor builds for the fourth year in a row. And Poland signed an agreement for its first commercial nuclear plant. Yet Gitzel said 70 percent of the uranium supply that reactors around the world will need for the next two decades–more than three billion pounds–has not been purchased under long-term contracts due to the global trade uncertainty. He said Cameco is being patient. 'You can run, but you can't hide,' he said. 'People need uranium to make this whole thing work, and so you can defer and wait and hope for better times, but they have to come to the market.' The World Nuclear Association says Canada is the globe's second-biggest producer of uranium after Kazakhstan. Most of Canada's uranium reserves are in northern Saskatchewan. Earlier Thursday, Saskatoon-based Cameco said it earned a profit attributable to equity holders of $70 million or 16 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $7 million or two cents per diluted share a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Cameco says it earned 16 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 11 cents per diluted share a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter totalled $789 million, up from $634 million a year earlier. Uranium production totalled six million pounds for the quarter, up from 5.8 million pounds a year earlier, while sales volumes amounted to 6.9 million pounds, down from 7.3 million pounds. Cameco's average realized price for uranium was $89.12 per pound, up from $77.33 a year earlier. Cameco's fuel services business saw production of 3.9 million kilograms, up from 3.7 million a year earlier, while fuel services sales volumes totalled 2.4 million kilograms, up from 1.5 million kilograms. Fuel services reported an average realized price of $56.64 per kilogram, up from $48.36 in the first quarter of 2024.
CBC
28-04-2025
- Sport
- CBC
2 Sask. wheelchair curling teams heading to championships, pushing for greater accessibility in sport
Team Andrews competing at Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship for the 1st time After just one season of competing together, a Saskatoon-based wheelchair curling team is heading to Quebec this week to take on the best in the country. Team Andrews, named after skip Pete Andrews, will be making its first appearance at the 18th edition of the 2025 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship in Boucherville, south of Montreal. The team will face an uphill battle thanks to another team from Saskatchewan: Team Dash is hoping to come out of the competition with their third consecutive national title and sixth overall. Team Andrews qualified after finishing second at the 2025 Saskatchewan Wheelchair Curling Championships in Moose Jaw to Team Dash. Because Team Dash won the national championship in 2024, Saskatchewan was allowed to send a second team to this year's event. "Our final came down to Team Andrews from Saskatoon against Team Dash, and it was a battle right to the end," said Steve Turner, executive director at CURLSASK. "Those are our two teams heading to nationals in Quebec." Mark Kennedy, who plays third for Team Andrews, said the team's inexperience made qualifying for nationals a welcome surprise. "We reached out to people in the community, formed a team for the 2024–2025 season, joined a couple of leagues and just ran with it," Kennedy said. Kennedy, lead Ashley Baerg and Andrews work together in Saskatoon, a connection that served them well at the provincials last year. "It was a really good road to get to that point," Kennedy said. "Lots of lessons learned and growth over that whole period and, yeah, looking forward to going to nationals." Still many accessibility barriers Despite their growing success, Kennedy pointed out that there are currently no adaptive wheelchair curling leagues in Saskatoon. "We've been playing in able-bodied leagues at the Sutherland Curling Club and the CN Curling Club," he said. Steven Draude, who plays third on Team Andrews, only began curling last year following a spinal cord injury suffered in a snowmobile accident in 2020. He says there are still many barriers to accessibility in wheelchair sports, especially curling. Image | Team Dash and Team Andrews Caption: Team Dash (lead Darwin Bender, second Moose Gibson, third Marie Wright, and skip Gilbert Dash) left, and Team Andrews (skip Pete Andrews, third Mark Kennedy, second Steve Draude, lead Ashley Baerg) will be representing Saskatchewan at the 2025 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championships. (Submitted by CURLSASK) Open Image in New Tab "The curling rink that we curled at in the league — just as an example — that parking lot is crushed rock," Draude said. "I mean, easy enough to walk on, but not that easy to get across with a wheelchair." Still, Draude says, local rinks in Saskatoon have been making efforts to improve accessibility. "Our home rink, the Sutherland, they tried to accommodate us very well," he said. "But you know, even that rink they have to specifically set out ramps for us when we're going to come to the rink because if they don't we can't access the building, let alone the ice." Creating greater awareness With two teams heading to nationals, one in its first year of competition, Draude hopes more people in the province will begin to see how inclusive curling can be. "I think more people will realize how accessible of a sport it is," Draude said. "You know, it's not without its challenges — like the parking lot and the ramps and that kind of stuff — but the clubs, they want more curlers and they're willing to do things to accommodate us, which is fantastic." That sentiment was echoed by Turner, noting that CURLSASK is actively working with local clubs to grow the sport in Saskatchewan. "We're also looking at that side, working with our curling clubs and helping them to improve their accessibility so we can help grow the wheelchair side of the sport," Turner said. Kennedy hopes the team's success will lead to progress for adaptive sports across Saskatchewan. "It's really good to be able to play in these leagues, that they accept us," he said. "Even though we play a little bit differently, they don't care." With nationals beginning on Monday, Team Andrews is focused on representing Saskatchewan, and showing that wheelchair curling has a strong future on the Prairies. "I'm not a professional, roughly, but you know, here I am representing the province at national championship for wheelchair curling and it's something that I think anybody with a wheelchair or living in a wheelchair could do, almost anybody, because it is such an accessible sport," Draude said.
CBC
03-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Does it seem like everyone in Sask. has ADHD? And can social media help you diagnose it?
Social Sharing Cierra Geisbrecht saw her own childhood in a new way after her daughter was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Two years ago, her daughter was going into Grade 1, and exhibiting behaviours that verged on extreme, including outbursts of anger. When her daughter was diagnosed with ADHD, it was the starting point for her mother to see parallels with her own life as a kid, and into adulthood, becoming overstimulated or angry or compulsively spending money. That led to her own diagnosis with adult ADHD. But social media was also a great help for her in understanding her own neurodiverse brain. "TikTok gets a bad rap, but there are a lot of great professionals on there with a lot of different information; they break it down into ways that are digestible for the typical, average person," she told CBC's podcast This is Saskatchewan in its latest episode. Dr. Stefan Brennan is a Saskatoon-based psychiatrist who's seen his own nine-year-old son watching clips on YouTube and TikTok that identify health issues like ADHD. Social media has definitely helped amplify the message that people could be struggling with the disorder, he said. "That's not always necessarily a bad thing," he said. "When I started working with adult ADHD, it was very, very underdiagnosed and people often didn't know where to go or how to start looking at attentional and concentration and focus and hyperactivity issues because they were an adult." At the same time, he cautions against using TikTok or social media as a reliable screening tool. People may see these social videos and suspect they have ADHD, but getting a diagnosis and finding effective treatment is the next step, he said. And people are increasingly getting diagnosed with ADHD, he said, with doctors also likely doing a better job of diagnosing it more effectively. Currently, US and Canadian data suggests that between four to five per cent of the population might have ADHD, although Brennan says that number does seem to be increasing. The Student Wellness Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, for instance, reports that 7.3 per cent of their students have been diagnosed with ADHD. Getting a diagnosis as an adult It's not uncommon for adults like Geisbrecht to realize they have ADHD when their own children see a health professional for behavioural issues, Brennan said. "They really recognize that a lot of the same symptoms resonate with them, or maybe did in their own childhood, their school years, their university years or starting with work," he said, pointing to issues like focusing on a task or getting distracted. One complicating factor of using social media to diagnose ADHD is that it's very unlikely a person just has the one issue, but rather is likely to have other issues, like depression or anxiety, he said, adding that people may start to get frustrated because they're getting medication or counselling for those issues, but it just isn't addressing their problems. "ADHD is the part of the picture that just hasn't really been identified or treated," Brennan said. Nailing down that she did indeed have ADHD was a game-changer for Geisbrecht, who was able to get on medication that helped her with her focus and handle overstimulation. "But it also gave me some validation for how I was feeling when I was growing up and why I was the way I was. Because oftentimes kids with ADHD are just labelled as bad, you know, troublemakers," she said. "I finally kind of understand my brain a little bit more now."
CBC
12-03-2025
- Health
- CBC
The private cost of public service: how sharing science about COVID put experts in the crosshairs
Dr. Alex Wong vividly remembers the night, five years ago, when he read modelling data about the potential surge of COVID-19 positive patients in Saskatchewan. His kids were sleeping peacefully, unaware of what was coming. "[It] basically showed that we were going to get crushed, like the system was going to get crushed," he said, revealing that he and many others felt a deep-seated fear and anxiety about what was to come. "I read that and I just felt this horrible pit in my stomach." COVID-19 hit Saskatchewan in the spring of 2020, with the province announcing its first case on March 12. It was the start of an exhausting journey for health-care workers, who say they're still trying to recover from the toll it took on them. Wong is an infectious diseases doctor and is married to a registered nurse. Both served on the front lines of the pandemic, but Wong said he felt an extra responsibility to share public health information, doing multiple interviews with media outlets throughout Saskatchewan and on national shows, while also posting on social media. "It became — just like I think it would be for anyone — a little bit of an obsession, right?" he said, remembering his foray into the world of Twitter. "I was getting all of these likes and follows and subscriptions. I mean, my phone literally just crashed [because] it was nonstop." The early days of the pandemic were a frightening time. "You saw just young, otherwise healthy people just dying and there was just nothing we could do. There was no vaccine at that time," he said. The turning point for Wong was in January 2022. The stress of his daily work combined with his public health advocacy brought his body to a breaking point. Wong said he physically could not walk for a time — his entire body seized up and felt tight, forcing him to take time off while he sought help. "In hindsight, all of that was most likely sort of the physical manifestation of stress," he said, noting it happened at the peak of the Omicron variant surge, while public policy was diverging from what public health leaders were calling for. "Looking back at it, yeah, that probably was kind of the beginning of the end [of appearances] for me." His posts dried up and he stopped all media interviews. He went, in his own words, "radio silent." The disinformation machine Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the Saskatoon-based Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, also felt the impact of being a public and outspoken health figure. As someone who studies emerging viruses, she was part of a team chasing a vaccine. "I'm a lot less trusting than I used to be, just because I've had so many experiences with people acting in bad faith," she said, adding many people have financial and political incentives to sow disinformation. That disinformation was served up with a side of hateful commentary about her personally. She remembers being called all kinds of names, including "a fraud, and a loser and ugly." "You can't be bathed in a deluge of unflattering, derogatory dehumanizing comments and not have it have some effect on your mental health," she said. Wong said the scars from the COVID-19 pandemic are long-lasting for many health-care workers. He said many left their professions in Saskatchewan because of the "moral trauma, moral injury" they faced. "I think the system is still trying to recover," he said. Wong now tries to carve out more time for himself, to connect with his wife and four children, reminding himself of the preciousness of family time that became so clear in the face of a public health crisis. "I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to kind of earn people's trust and respect," he said. "Maybe that time will come again at some point. But if it doesn't, I won't shed a tear." This story is from the This is Saskatchewan podcast — your connection to the stories Saskatchewan is talking about. Every week, Leisha Grebinski and Nichole Huck will cover local issues that matter. Hear the voices that are creating change, shaping policy and fuelling creativity in Saskatchewan.
