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CBC
29 minutes ago
- Business
- CBC
Ontario NDP, Liberals successfully stall Bill 5 after filibustering until midnight Thursday
Social Sharing Bill 5 was successfully stalled in committee after Ontario NDP and Liberal MPPs filibustered from around 4 p.m. on Wednesday until midnight Thursday. The filibuster has blocked the controversial bill from going into its third and final reading, as the committee process will now continue into next week, Ontario NDP said in a statement on X just after midnight on Thursday. The MPPs "used every committee tool to delay progress [on] Ford's attempt to rush through this legislation without proper consultation," the statement said. Leader of the Offical Opposition Marit Stiles participated in the filibuster. She addressed Ontario Premier Doug Ford directly in a post on X around 12:20 a.m. Thursday. "Your government now has the time and opportunity to do the right thing: Scrap Bill 5. Let's go back to the drawing board, and do this right," the post read. Speaking at Queen's Park on Wednesday evening, Ontario NDP MPP Sol Mamakwa said the MPPs would debate the 40 clauses in the amendment, line-by-line, during the filibuster. "We cannot stop the bill, but we can certainly slow down the processes that are there," Mamakwa said. Monday is the earliest the committee process can continue, Liberal MPP Ted Hsu said in a video on X around 1 a.m. Thursday. Kill the bill and start over, First Nations leaders say The controversial Bill 5 has been criticized by First Nations, environmentalists and legal advocates, who have said the proposed law would gut environmental protections for wildlife and infringe on treaty rights. Bill 5, which will likely pass next week, would create so-called "special economic zones" where the government can exempt companies or projects from complying with provincial laws or regulations. WATCH | Ontario First Nations leaders say communities will take a stand if bill passes: First Nation leaders tell Ford government to kill Bill 5 3 days ago Duration 2:14 Critics of Doug Ford's Bill 5 say the proposed law would gut environmental protections for wildlife and infringe on treaty rights. As CBC's Mike Crawley reports, Ontario First Nations leaders are now warning of 'conflict on the ground' if it passes. The Ford government put forward amendments to the bill on Wednesday in response to criticism, including that the government will also create "Indigenous led economic zones." But opposition leaders say the government hasn't defined what this means. The government also introduced what are known as duty to consult provisions. "Regulations under this Act shall be made in a manner consistent with the recognition and affirmation of existing Aboriginal and treaty rights in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, including the duty to consult," the proposed amendment reads, according to an email from the premier's office Wednesday. But First Nations leaders in Ontario say the government already failed in its duty to consult. They want the province to start over and involve First Nations in drafting a new bill.
CBC
an hour ago
- General
- CBC
Indigenous community on Manitoulin Island gets a data centre to help preserve its cultural heritage
An Indigenous community on Manitoulin Island in northeastern Ontario says its new data centre will help it secure its data sovereignty. The Ogimaa (or chief) of Wiikwemkoong, Tim Ominika, said the community will be using the data centre to store information about programs and services, including the community's education department, health centre and services offered through the band office. It will also allow the First Nation to preserve its cultural heritage locally. "It empowers us to digitally preserve and share our Anishinaabe language because that is another thing we are looking at our knowledge, our traditions," Ominika said. The facility arrived by truck on Friday, May 23. "It looks like a large storage container," Ominika said. "But inside… with the data storage system in there, it looks like you're in a movie when you see all of the data storage and all the compartments. That's what it looks like inside, inside the unit." Ominika said the community previously used third-party vendors to host its information online. "Not saying we don't trust any other IT [information technology] businesses out there, but you know, we are just trying to look at paving the way for Anishinabek communities such as our community here," he said. Although he did not provide the exact cost for the data centre, Ominika said "it wasn't cheap." He added that it was a worthwhile investment for the community to preserve important cultural data, and information about services, locally. Ominika said Wiikwemkoong could make arrangements with other Indigenous communities to store their data. The data centre is also expected to create some local jobs to keep it running, and Ominika said he hopes it sparks more interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields among young people in the community.
CBC
an hour ago
- Business
- CBC
P.E.I. 'punches above its weight,' national report card on housing policy in Canada suggests
Social Sharing There's usually an "uh-oh" moment when you get a report card back, but a national report card on housing shows Prince Edward Island didn't do that bad. In fact, the report, done by the Missing Middle Initiative (MMI) out of the University of Ottawa, found that P.E.I. "punches above its weight when it comes to housing policy." With a C+ overall grade, Canada's smallest province tied with Quebec and British Columbia for best overall performance among the provinces. The report card is based on five major pressure points for housing, with P.E.I.'s grades shown in parentheses: Family-friendly density and the construction of duplexes and mid-rise apartments (C); Modernized and better building codes overall (D+); Factory-built or use of modular housing (C+); Building homes outside of high-risk areas susceptible to things like climate change (C); Construction of social housing (A). That C+ for P.E.I. might seem average, but it's on the higher end on the report card compared to the other provinces, which scored mostly D+ and C-. The Island was at the top of the list with an A for social housing. Mike Moffatt, the founding director of the Missing Middle Initiative, said he was surprised to see P.E.I. rank so high. "It kept standing out to us that P.E.I. had a plan or a vision for most of these things," he said during a webinar with CBC News and other journalists Wednesday. "They issued a report, they had a long-term plan on it that had set targets. "That was a surprise to us … overall there are these series of detailed plans." Moffatt was referring to P.E.I.'s 2024-2029 housing strategy, released last year. In it, the provincial government vowed to build 10,000 new homes over that five-year period; increase the supply of social housing; and make it quicker overall for private developers to go from permit to finished product. When it comes to the top three performing provinces in Canada, Moffatt said, "I probably wouldn't have guessed P.E.I., but it's well-deserved." National housing crisis This report from the Missing Middle Initiative is being released against the backdrop of a national movement to build hundreds of thousands of homes in the coming years. Mark Carney's Liberal federal government has promised a level of housing construction that the country hasn't seen since the Second World War. On P.E.I., the need for that kind of effort has been felt for years. A housing crisis has gripped the province since before the COVID-19 pandemic, with vacancy rates floating just barely above zero and housing costs having effectively doubled in the last 10 years. Where P.E.I. can improve As with all report cards, there's room for improvement. Moffatt said P.E.I. didn't do as well when it came to promoting building of housing away from areas that are at the whims of climate change, including flood zones. "You're an Island, right? That's the one area where we were a little bit surprised there wasn't more on," he said. MMI scored P.E.I. on the lower end of allowing building in areas prone to flooding, with a C rating. It cited the fact that P.E.I. has no binding flood hazard regulation and no hazard zones where regulation or policy stops proposed developments. What the Island does have, though, is an online tool called CHRIS (Climate Hazard and Risk Information System), which shows coastal areas most at risk of flooding from extreme storm events or gradually rising sea levels — a topic of great interest to people looking to buy or build houses in the province. That tool is "quite helpful," the report said, "but prohibitions on building in areas prone to flooding must be made stronger."
CBC
an hour ago
- General
- CBC
These Yellowknife gardeners just ate their last carrots and potatoes — from last summer
With a cool space and peat moss, gardener Dwayne Wohlgemuth says anyone could do it Image | Dwayne Wohlgemuth Caption: Dwayne Wohlgemuth is able to make his produce last nearly the whole year by storing his bounty in a cold cellar and using peat moss to prevent mold and rot. (CBC) Open Image in New Tab While many gardeners in the North are busy planting for the coming summer, some Yellowknifers are still finishing their produce from last year. Dwayne Wohlgemuth just finished his last carrot a couple weeks ago after finding it in storage while he was looking for a beet, also from last summer's crop. "I was like woohoo, I've got another carrot," he said. He says it was the best carrot he's ever eaten. "It was still perfect. It wasn't even soft," he said. Wohlgemuth is a serious gardener. He estimates he had a crop of about 30 pounds of carrots from his garden last year, and even more beets, along with a wealth of various greens in his freezer. He also hunts, and cans bison meat, lard, and bone broth to eat throughout the winter. "I hardly buy any food. I don't buy any fruit, I don't buy any vegetables, I don't buy any meat. My food bill is so low," he said. Wohlgemuth is able to store this bounty of food throughout the year thanks to small cold cellar he dug below the entryway of his Yellowknife house. The insulated, underground space stays between about 9 to 5 C all year long, keeping vegetables and canned goods from freezing in the winter or spoiling in the summer. It's something he learned from his parents. "I grew up in a house in Alberta that my parents had built this massive cellar, and we had it so full all the time of root vegetables and canning," he said. "When I built this house I thought 'I've got to put a cellar in there.'" He uses peat moss to keep the vegetables dry to prevent mould and rot — separating the vegetables into layers to ensure that there are no spots where they touch. Kevin O'Reilly, another avid gardener in Yellowknife, has also managed to make his produce last until May, thanks to a crawlspace below his Yellowknife home which stays about 2 or 3 C all year long. Each year, he puts down a tarp on the sand in the crawlspace, and he and his wife load up plastic crates with vegetables separated by layers of wood shavings, similar to how Wohlgemuth uses peat moss. "I just took the last of the carrots out a couple days ago, and some of them were almost like you took them right out of the garden," he said. Overall, O'Reilly said about three quarters of his carrots were still good to eat in May — not bad, after months outside. He also still has some potatoes. Some will be used for seed potatoes in his garden this year, but O'Reilly said a lot of them are still good to eat. Wohlgemuth acknowledged that not everyone has a house where they can dig a cellar, or a convenient crawlspace, but he says a lot of the techniques he uses can be put in practice anywhere. Root vegetables like carrots and beets could be packed in peat moss in a cool basement or pantry, Wohlgemuth said, and canned goods can be kept anywhere where they are not exposed to direct light. Both O'Reilly and Wohlgemuth say they have already planted most of their crops for next year.
CBC
an hour ago
- General
- CBC
St. Vital Bridge work resumes, along with traffic jams
Residents and commuters in Winnipeg's south Osborne neighbourhood say they're confused and frustrated by the return of traffic jams, after crews resumed work on the St. Vital Bridge over the Red River.
