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Liberals table legislation to overhaul passenger rights charter

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:20:10 GMT

OTTAWA — The Liberals have put forward legislation that aims to make good on their pledge to tighten passenger rights rules after a year marked by travel chaos and a ballooning complaints backlog.Tabled in the House of Commons as part of a broader budget bill Thursday, the new provisions ratchet up penalties on airlines, shore up the complaint process and target luggage and flight disruption loopholes that allow airlines to steer clear of customer compensation.Sylvie De Bellefeuille, a lawyer with the advocacy group Option consommateurs, says the tenfold increase to a $250,000 maximum fine for airline violations encourages compliance, as does an amendment placing the regulatory cost of complaints on carriers’ shoulders.She also says complaint resolution will be faster with the establishment of dedicated officers, and applauds the closure of a loophole that has allowed airlines to avoid compensation for delayed baggage.However, passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs says the le...

First Nations in B.C. died at a much higher rate from toxic drugs, health authority

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:20:10 GMT

VANCOUVER — The chief medical officer of British Columbia’s First Nations Health Authority says the toxic drug crisis in 2022 was the most devastating year so far for Indigenous people, their families, and communities. Dr. Nel Wieman says First Nations people are disproportionately dying from illicit drugs in B.C. and the gap continues to widen.First Nations people represent 3.3 per cent of B.C.’s population, but the health authority says 16.4 per cent of those who died from overdoses last year were Indigenous. Wieman says First Nations woman were particularly affected, with a death rate that was double that of non-Indigenous women. She says people will continue to die if action isn’t taken and she made a series of recommendations including for equitable and timely access to culturally safe services closer to their homes.Colleen Erickson, board chair of the health authority, says First Nations are losing a whole generation of young people but communities are coming toget...

Montana transgender lawmaker silenced: What to know

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:20:10 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — The latest high-profile example of state legislative leadership deciding who can be heard during statehouse debates is playing out in Montana where a transgender lawmaker has been silenced by Republican leaders.Rep. Zooey Zephyr, who was deliberately referred to using male pronouns by some conservative lawmakers demanding her censure, has said she will not apologize for saying lawmakers would have “blood on their hands” if they passed a ban on gender-affirming health care. Montana is among a wave of states passing legislation that opponents say could put transgender teens in jeopardy. Montana’s House speaker said he won’t let Zephyr speak on the chamber floor until she apologizes.Here’s what you need to know about the situation: WHO IS THE TRANSGENDER LAWMAKER AT THE CENTER OF THIS? Last year, Zephyr became the first openly transgender woman elected to the Montana Legislature — putting her among a record number of transgender lawmakers who began serv...

Film explores B.C. woman’s experience with magic mushrooms to ease cancer anxiety

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:20:10 GMT

Laurie Brooks never thought she’d one day use magic mushrooms and advocate for the ability of others to do the same.The 55-year-old B.C. resident also never imagined having colon cancer and fearing the impact her imminent death would have on her husband and four children.Her journey as a believer in the power of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, began when a friend mentioned she could try a small dose as part of a therapy session to deal with end-of-life anxiety.The Canadian documentary “Dosed: The Trip of a Lifetime,” explores Brooks’ experience with psilocybin, which she says allowed her to gain insightinto herself and accept her cancer as it spread and she decided to forego a third major surgery.“Dosed,” directed by Nicholas Meyers and Tyler Chandler, was set to open Friday in Toronto before heading to cities including Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Halifax, Hamilton and Calgary.It comes amida court challenge filed a...

Insurance association warns federal dental plan could lead employers to drop coverage

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:20:10 GMT

OTTAWA — An association of health insurance providers warns it might not be worth it for small businesses to provide dental benefits to some employees once the government launches a national dental plan.The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association has pitched the idea of a federal tax credit for small businesses to convince them not to drop their coverage. “When governments provide free coverage for any type of benefit, employers will naturally ask if they should continue to pay for those or whether their employees would be as well-served … moving to the public plan,” said association president Stephen Frank.“The risk is that a number of employers will say to themselves, ‘Is there an opportunity for me to allow my employees to have equivalent coverage, but me not to have to bear that burden?'”The Liberals announced in their latest federal budget that they would spend $13 billion over the next five years to provide uninsured low- and middle-income ...

Former industry minister Navdeep Bains gets Rogers job two years after leaving office

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:20:10 GMT

OTTAWA — Former Liberal industry minister Navdeep Bains is joining Rogers as the company’s new chief corporate affairs officer.Rogers announced several new appointments to its executive leadership team on Thursday, including Bains and a former Shaw executive. “This is a terrific opportunity to build on my commitment to champion critical issues facing both Canada and Canadians,” Bains said in a statement. “It’s an exciting time to join the company and to work with Tony and the team to help grow the digital economy and deliver more choice, more value and more connectivity for consumers.”Bains served in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet as federal industry minister from 2015 until early 2021, and chose not to run for re-election that year.The industry minister is responsible for overseeing the country’s national industrial strategy, including regulating national sectors such as telecommunications.Bains is joining Rogers after serving as a...

Biden signs order prioritizing ‘environmental justice’

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:20:10 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order that would create the White House Office of Environmental Justice.The White House said it wants to ensure that poverty, race and ethnic status do not lead to worse exposure to pollution and environmental harm. Biden tried to draw a contrast between his agenda and that of Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. GOP lawmakers have called for less regulation of oil production to lower energy prices, while the Biden administration says the GOP policies would give benefits to highly profitable oil companies and surrender the renewable energy sector to the Chinese.“Environmental justice will be the mission of the entire government woven directly into how we work with state, local, tribal and territorial governments,” Biden said in remarks at the White House.The order tells executive branch agencies to use data and scientific research to understand how pollution hurts people’s health, so that work can be done ...

Judge in Prince Rupert, B.C., strikes arguments as ‘stupid’ in contempt case

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:20:10 GMT

PRINCE RUPERT — A provincial court judge in Prince Rupert, B.C., has sentenced a 46-year-old man to a year in jail for contempt of court, ruling he tried to circumvent the justice system with “pseudo-legal” and “stupid” arguments. Judge David Paterson says in a ruling his issued this week that he sentenced Prince Rupert resident Cameron Hardy to a year in jail, in part to deter others from subjecting the court to the theory known as “organized pseudo-legal commercial arguments.” Paterson’s ruling says Hardy, who was facing a charge of resisting arrest in 2021, considers himself a “freeman,” meaning he won’t accept that courts have jurisdiction over him and falsely believes Canadian law doesn’t apply to him.The ruling says Hardy, who represented himself, was charged with contempt for refusing to recognize the court’s legitimacy or to follow the court’s orders and take part in the trial process. The decision...

Child ejected, infant hurt in I-57 DUI crash near 119th Street

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:20:10 GMT

CHICAGO — A Georgia man is facing DUI and child endangerment charges after a single-vehicle crash Monday night on Interstate-57 in Chicago. The wreck occurred just before 8:30 p.m. on I-57 southbound near 119th St. Responding troopers learned a child had been ejected from the vehicle and suffered life-threatening injuries. An infant was located inside the vehicle with serious injuries. Woman killed after falling out of Jeep onto Dan Ryan was not wearing seat belt: ISP The driver, identified by troopers as 27-year-old Taylor Dungey, was also hurt. All three were taken to a nearby hospital for medical aid. Upon the completion of ISP's investigation, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved the aggravated DUI resulting in great bodily harm and child endangerment charges. Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesAccording to ISP, Dungey remains hospitalized and under the custody of the Cook County Sheriff’s Department. He is being held with no bond.

Lake Mead and Lake Powell are swelling. Here's what that means for the water supply

Published Fri, 07 Feb 2025 10:20:10 GMT

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Lake Mead will rise 33 feet higher than expected this year because of snowpack levels in the Upper Colorado River Basin, according to estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.Snow that will melt and feed the Colorado River is causing major adjustments in government plans to store water in Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Nexstar's 8NewsNow.com reported on April 12 that water flows have already increased from Lake Powell, a fact confirmed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's latest 24-month study.Historic (10 year) Release volumes from Lake Powell. (Source: USBR)Now the government is revealing plans that include increasing the amount of water released from Lake Powell by 35% this year. The plan to release 7 million acre-feet has been adjusted to 9.5 million acre-feet – a difference of more than 800 billion gallons of water – by the end of the year. Snowpack peaks at 160% of normal as Colorado River water flows toward Lake Mead It's the good new...