REOPENING CANADA: Government scraps may not be enough to save many in restaurant industry

Manitoba restaurants and pubs are on life support in the intensive care unit of Canada’s COVID-19 economic recovery.

Chris Graves, owner of the King’s Head Pub in Winnipeg’s trendy Exchange District, is one of the medics trying to resuscitate a business that flat-lined during the pandemic. Continue reading “REOPENING CANADA: Government scraps may not be enough to save many in restaurant industry”

Saskatchewan premier floats idea of oil pipeline to Churchill

On the same day that Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal overturned four challenges to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion launched in 2019 by B.C. First Nation, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe announced the establishment of the Pipeline Projects Assessment Committee (PPAC), “a cabinet committee focused on evaluating potential pipeline projects in Saskatchewan, and possible government involvement in investing, stimulating, or generally advancing these projects.”

“Our government recognizes the necessity of further developing pipeline infrastructure to help our energy products reach key global markets,” said Moe.

Continue reading “Saskatchewan premier floats idea of oil pipeline to Churchill”

NCN gas bar employee renowned for outstanding customer service

It only takes a small light to illuminate a dark room. If Northern Manitoba’s crime, addiction and poverty problems are the room, then NCN gas bar attendant Owen Spence is one of the lights.

The 25-year-old Thompson resident, who is on a journey of introspection and self-improvement, was recently a guest speaker during a YWCA Steps to Success customer service workshop. Spence regularly receives tips from customers at Nisichawyasihk Cree Nation (NCN)’s Cree Road gas station.

Continue reading “NCN gas bar employee renowned for outstanding customer service”

The Financial Post: Persistent deficits and higher spending raising Canada’s economic ‘vulnerability’: Fitch

A raft of new spending items in the federal budget aims to stimulate an economy that’s lost momentum, with some analysts predicting a recession on the way. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

The Liberal government’s preference for continued deficits and increasing program spending “could increase the vulnerability of public finances to a faster economic slowdown or sudden shock,” according to Fitch Ratings.

Canada has the second largest gross government debt of ‘AAA’ rated countries after the United States, which is ‘incompatible’ with its gold-plated rating, according to the ratings agency.

While the credit agency concedes that increased spending and projected deficits in Canada’s latest budget remain consistent with a falling federal debt burden, the forecast assumes the economy will avoid a recession.

Continue reading “The Financial Post: Persistent deficits and higher spending raising Canada’s economic ‘vulnerability’: Fitch”

Fernie paragliders achieve winter soaring flights

There is a special kind of loneliness that only glider pilots seem to appreciate…climbing thousands of feet above the mountains in columns of rising air, suspended underneath engineered fabric, with only a small reserve parachute separating the pilot from injury or death if things go wrong. It’s a beautiful sport in spring, summer and fall for the small, but stalwart, group of Elk Valley paraglider pilots. And they are pilots. The current open distance world record cross-country flight in a paraglider is 588.27km, a tasked achieved in Brazil this October. Climbs over 10,000ft are common. But as winter arrives in the valley, hopes of soaring flights are usually abandoned in place of speed paragliding, a death defying fringe sport comprised of adrenalized aviators who barrel-roll through canyons of ice at 120km/hr. Continue reading “Fernie paragliders achieve winter soaring flights”