Newfoundland and Labrador's auditor general says problems with the province's public medical care plan (MCP) linger on more than a decade after they were first highlighted by her office.

Shannon Quinn, who earlier this year pleaded guilty to having sex with two 17-year-old students and had not yet been sentenced, has died in custody.

A 56-year-old Russian sailor has died after being lost from a cargo ship approximately 650 nautical miles northeast of St. John’s.

The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax received the call of a man overboard on Tuesday morning.

A Hercules and an Aurora aircraft out of Greenwood, Nova Scotia, were sent to the scene, while two commercial vessels and a P-8 fixed-wing aircraft out of the U.K. joined the search.

Weather conditions were favourable, but despite the effort, and a search that extended 20 hours beyond expected survivability, no sign of the missing man was detected and the search was called off.

The Auditor General is painting a poor picture of how the government handles its Medical Care and Dental Health plans in her latest report.

The ultimate conclusion of the report is that the Department of Health and Community Services is “unable to ensure that public health care funds are distributed appropriately to health care providers” through the programs, noting that many of the findings, particularly related to audit and recoveries, are the same as from the last report in 2014.It describes a system that is “old” and uses “outdated” technology. They say there is a lack of disaster recovery testing and business continuity planning, meaning that “MCP may be unprepared to recover from a catastrophic event, such as a cyber attack.”

They say that MCP has been slow to develop strong control processes, including the prevention of “double payments with Workplace NL,” and controls around manual adult reimbursement are “still not entirely sufficient to prevent potential fraud.”While the office of the AG has found that the design of the claims audit process is “generally adequate, ” audits often take a long time, which is why delays are hard to understand.

The report notes that in some cases audits were taking years to complete. Within the timeframe of their report 43 per cent of preliminary audits were completed on time, and only 11 per cent of comprehensive audits met the benchmark for completion.

Of those audits, they say that there is “very little success” in recovering money owed to the government. Across their three-year audit period, just over $146,000 was collected – just seven per cent of the $2.2 million owing.

AG Denise Hanrahan has made six recommendations to the province, all of which have been accepted.

Halifax Regional Municipality has announced a new program which aims to create more housing across the region by encouraging property owners to build secondary units.

The city said the Second Unit Incentive Program offers financial grants to help offset costs associated with building new second units, as eligible residents can receive up to $12,000 to help reduce building expenses related to water and wastewater.

According to HRM, the program is available to owner-occupants of a one-unit dwelling who are up-to-date on property tax payments. A building permit is also needed to apply.

Applications will be open until June 1, 2026 and for more information, people can head to the city’s website.

When there’s a disaster, it’s helpful to know what’s going on — and know whether you’re truly at risk. But as essential as emergency alert systems are, they can leave many of us feeling anxious — even when the alert may be a false alarm or test.

This is because emergency alerts, whether real or tests, can activate the same neural circuits involved in real danger. This can trigger stress, confusion and anxiety.

Our nervous systems are constantly processing information from both our bodies and our environment, trying to distinguish between warnings that demand action and those that can be safely ignored.

But over time, the stress associated with being on constant alert can have lasting effects on mental health. Chronic stress can contribute to the risk of developing anxiety disorders and depression, and even physical disorders such as heart disease. This is especially true for people who live in war-torn or natural disaster-prone areas.

In people who already have anxiety, being unable to distinguish between real and perceived threats can be particularly debilitating. This can amplify their distress, making it difficult to navigate a world filled with both real and perceived threats.

Similarly, neurological conditions such as migraines, Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease can be exacerbated by chronic stress responses. This can lead to a worsening of symptoms and lower quality of life.

The constant barrage of information we’re exposed to — from daily news alerts to “doomscrolling” on social media — highlights a broader challenge we all face: learning to navigate a world increasingly filled with real and perceived threats that can further exacerbate anxiety.

Chronic anxiety can disrupt sleep and circadian function. This can lead to a downward cycle in which poor sleep and poor mood can worsen cognitive and physical function.

People who are chronically anxious may also be at risk for loneliness and social isolation. And when people get lonely, they tend to fixate on threatening stimuli, which can further exacerbate anxiety and perpetuate a vicious cycle.

The body’s interoceptive system — the brain’s ability to sense and interpret internal physiological signals — plays a crucial role in determining which environmental signals warrant our attention.

This systems helps us detect when our heart is racing from actual danger, versus when it’s simply responding to stress or uncertainty. But when interoception is disrupted, as it often is during heightened anxiety states, distinguishing between true and false alarms becomes increasingly difficult.

Nervous system support

Thankfully, there are things we can do to help better support our nervous systems in making these critical distinctions.

It’s helpful to be conscious and deliberate about what we expose ourselves to in our internal and external environment. Creating a daily schedule with set times for exercise, sleep and social connection can be effective. Practising mind-body approaches such as mindfulness, breath work, yoga and tai chi might also help to facilitate an inward focus. Sustaining this inward focus can help reset our interoceptive system.

Spending time with friends and sharing your concerns with them can also be helpful when dealing with perceived threats. This can also enhance social connection, which can buffer stress. It can be very comforting to feel connected to others who are experiencing a similar trauma. Limiting time with people who increase your anxiety is also key.

Stepping away from information streams might also help. Finding ways to temporarily turn off or physically separate from digital devices such as laptops, cellphones and smart-watches for set periods of time can effectively facilitate a break from media. This can allow our minds to settle and reset our attention on priorities that are meaningful to us.

Spending time in nature or finding time for stillness in other ways, such as listening to calming music, can also helpful.

A novel strategy that has recently been studied for reducing anxiety and resetting the interoceptive nervous system is flotation tank immersion, also known as float therapy or flotation-REST. This involves lying in a shallow bath of warm water filled with concentrated levels of Epsom salt. When combined with reduced visual and auditory stimulation, this is thought to enhance the body’s interoceptive signals.

Float therapy has been shown to quickly reduce anxiety and stress levels, increase relaxation and even lead to lasting improvements in body image.

Ultimately, understanding the brain’s role in processing internal and external threats is vital to improving our mental and physical wellbeing.

Using our interoceptive nervous system as a way of developing resilience involves learning to be proactive rather than reactive. Sensing when our body is getting the preliminary cues of anxiety or stress that can mount into full-blown disarray can help. Not reacting to these cues, and consciously and deliberately choosing alternative actions, can help to unwind the anxiety from these cues. This may also potentially even help us avoid an episode of panic.

Being more in tune with our nervous system can help us better equip ourselves to face the challenges ahead — whether they’re true threats or false alarms.

Sahib Khalsa receives funding from the National Institute of Mental Health. He is an associate editor of several journals, Biological Psychology and JMIR Mental Health. He is a board member of several nonprofit organizations, the International Society for Contemplative Research and the Float Research Collective, which are non-compensated positions.

Indu Subramanian does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Julie Stockford takes on role vacated by Rob Webber

The town of Hartland has a new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).

Julie Stockford of Howard Brook started her new position on Feb. 18, after Rob Webber vacated it in Nov. 2024, taking a CAO position with another municipality.

The municipality noted her years of insurance and financial management experience in the upcoming Hartland newsletter.

“After an extensive search, we found the perfect fit in Julie Stockford,” said Mayor Tracey DeMerchant. “Her strong leadership skills, dedication to community, and professional experience are a tremendous asset to Hartland.”

The announcement, which will be included in the Hartland newsletter and delivered to Hartland residents’ mailboxes in early April, notes Stockford’s willingness to hit the ground running.

“Since stepping into the role, Julie has worked closely with council and municipal staff to oversee daily operations, implement policies, and engage with residents and business owners.”

The announcement also touched on Stockford’s demonstrated commitment to the town, “taking the time to familiarize herself with ongoing initiatives and working closely with council to support Hartland’s growth.”

The post Hartland appoints new CAO first appeared on River Valley Sun.

A 47-year-old woman has died following a house fire in Hayman Hill, near St. Stephen. 

According to the New Brunswick RCMP, at approximately 10:35 p.m. on March 17, police responded to a structure fire at a residence on Highway 740. 

RCMP said the Oak Bay and St. Stephen Fire Department and Ambulance New Brunswick were on scene. The Office of the Fire Marshal and Corner’s Office also attended. 

“An autopsy is scheduled to determine the exact cause of death,” said St. Sgt Geoffrey Peters in an email. “The investigation is ongoing but criminality is not suspected by police in relation to the fire.” 

He said the RCMP extends its thoughts to the woman’s family and the community during the difficult time.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says that he will “set a goal” to greenlight all federal Ring of Fire permits, a major northwestern Ontario critical mineral deposit, within six months.

Poilievre says that a Conservative government would also commit $1 billion over three years to build a road network to link the potential mining site to Ontario’s highway network and First Nations communities in the area.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised to speed up provincial approvals for Ring of Fire projects during the recent provincial election.

The terms of reference were finalized in January between 15 First Nations in the area and the federal government on the assessment to examine potential impacts of resource development in the region.

Aroland First Nation has signed a deal worth more than  $20 million to develop the Ring of Fire, with the money set for community infrastructure projects related to mineral development, business development and community wellness.

“Our line is pro-development,” said Chief Sonny Gagnon in a Jan. 28 interview. “We have an opportunity with my community to attain the skills that we need to be self-sustaining, to get off government funding.”

Nestled in the remote expanse of the James Bay Lowlands, the Ring of Fire is a mineral-rich region, with long-term potential to produce chromite, cobalt, nickel, copper and platinum, critical to Ontario’s expansion into new economic development.

Critical minerals like these play a role in the future of low- and zero-emission vehicles and transportation and help support the transition to a cleaner, sustainable global economy.

However, mining and developing those minerals also come at an environmental cost.

One of the most contentious issues in the Ring of Fire’s development was the construction of all-season roads to connect the region to the rest of Ontario. These roads were seen as critical for transporting minerals and equipment, but they also cut through sensitive ecosystems and the traditional territories of Indigenous communities.

The head of the Chiefs of Ontario says First Nations in the province will first have to be consulted before government and industry push ahead on any projects that involve critical minerals.

“We’ve reached out to them (Ontario government) to say, ‘Look, we want to support Ontario’s position and Canada’s position that these tariffs are a terrible thing but in response to that we need to be included in these conversations that are happening because there’s no doubt that if additional resources are to be extracted from these lands that are traditional lands of our people in Ontario, we have to be at the table,’” Abram Benedict told APTN’s Nation to Nation in a Feb. 13 interview.

In late February, the Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), a political advocacy organization for 49 First Nations in northern Ontario, demanded that Ontario Premier Doug Ford retract statements he made about developing the area during an election stop in Thunder Bay while campaigning.

Ford called the Ring of Fire the province’s “ace in the hole” an dpromised to fast-track development.

Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said his comments were “a direct attack on the Inherent, Treaty, and Aboriginal rights of First Nations who have governed and stewarded these lands since time immemorial.”

“These are not ‘Ontario’s minerals; they exist within our territories, and any attempt to dictate their development without our full and meaningful involvement is an overreach of provincial authority and represents a complete failure to understand and honour the relationship between the government and First Nations in Ontario.”

Federally, an election hasn’t been called yet but is expected soon.

With files from the Canadian Press.

The post Poilievre says his goal will be to greenlight Ring of Fire permits within 6 months appeared first on APTN News.

Two men have been arrested following a drug seizure on Grand Manan, according to the New Brunswick RCMP. 

On March 16, police were conducting a check point on Route 776 in Grand Manan, the release said. 

“Police noticed contraband cigarettes in a vehicle occupied by three individuals,” the release said. “Following a search of the vehicle and its occupants, police seized a quantity of what is believed to be cocaine and drug trafficking paraphernalia.” 

A 44-year-old man from Grand Manan, and a 39-year-old man from Utopia were arrested at the scene without incident, police said. 

Both are scheduled to appear in Saint John Provincial Court at a later date. A third individual was released at the scene.

“The public also plays an important role in helping to reduce, prevent and solve crime, including the trafficking of illegal drugs,” the release said.  

Anyone with information about, or who suspects, illegal drug activity in their neighbourhood is asked to contact their local police. Information can also be provided anonymously through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), by downloading the secure P3 Mobile App, or by Secure Web Tips at www.crimenb.ca. 

RCMP say the investigation is ongoing.

The provincial government wants to kick-start 14 new school construction projects in the Edmonton area, including planning funding for six new high school buildings.

My inay taught me to clean from a young age: to dust, then wash, then dry. To reach every crevice from the ceiling to the floor. To distinguish the best textures of cloth for wood and for glass. 

But I was a child. So, some days, when I was off playing outside and she would come back home for a fleeting hour with some cash in her hands, and put on her floral scrubs for her next shift at the nursing home, she’d give a scornful look at me and the mess I left, and ask:

“Why is my house dirtier than the ones I clean?”

I could never answer. 

I’d just pick up the red bucket from the laundry room and start to mop. Like she would be, 20 minutes away in the better part of town. Like my dad would be, 10 minutes away at the car factory past the canal. For years, I wouldn’t tell my friends what my parents’ jobs were. I’d be vague. My mom the nurse. My dad the factory worker. I’d hide them, tuck them away where they couldn’t be seen. Like a dirty secret. Like trash.

***

The news reported that over 100 containers with two tonnes of garbage waste disguised as plastic recycling were shipped from Vancouver to Manila starting in 2013. 

I was 12. 

That same year, nearly 30,000 Filipinos became permanent residents in Canada, and I celebrated my confirmation at the local church. 

That same year, Super Typhoon Haiyan hit, and my mom and I would keep up with the news on the 24 Oras program on the GMA Network; watching Mike Enriquez narrate the trajectory of the almost 315 km/hour winds that would knock down whole barangays in the Eastern Visayas region in a language I couldn’t understand.

That same year, my future boyfriend in Samar would go four months without electricity. We would send remittances back home to our family members, along with over 2.3 million overseas Filipino workers who felt their motherland cry out. 

***

In Vancouver, the most home I have ever felt is after midnight at the University of British Columbia when all the students are gone. With the lights dimmed and the shroud of student life shredded, the custodial workers become fully visible. Their bodies take up the seats. Their language and their laughter and their chismis fill the silence and echo through the empty spaces they have long memorized. Most of the workers I see are Filipino. Most of them are ignored, overworked, and underappreciated.  

Who then, will clean up after the revolution?

They remind me of my parents. 

In my organizing with Sulong, a Filipino youth collective, we talk to these custodial workers for a campaign to restore their access to the on-campus food bank. In one of these conversations, we talk about the encampment outside the student centre. The barriers of flags, art, and miscellaneous items that in themselves contain the hopes of a better liberatory future, for an unoccupied Palestine. 

Though what I heard from one worker is far from that reality. 

She tells me that, as some students were protesting, shit was thrown onto floors and walls in a washroom that she had to clean up. I was livid. For her sake. For my parents’ sake. I imagined my mother having to scrub the stench off the tiles, to swallow her dignity and pride to keep the job, to support the family, to get food on the table. 

By rejecting the institution through waste, they failed to recognize the very ones who labour to clean it. The very ones who keep it running. 

Who then, will clean up after the revolution? 

Who then, will clean up the mess of the world after you’ve won?

***

“Sayang!” She yelled, “what a waste!” 

My inay took the green vegetables I threw into the compost bin when she wasn’t looking and with a large sigh, placed them back onto my plate to eat. I had gotten too excited for ice cream sandwiches.

I can still recall the taste of that broccoli with its hints of coffee grinds and onion on my tongue. I can still feel the shame. The crunch in my teeth. The earth reclaiming itself in my mouth. I swallowed it down, gagging. 

“Anak, be grateful for what you have.”

***

On the #10 bus, my boyfriend and I are debating about the differences between Toronto and Vancouver, and I say I like the grittiness of Ontario more. That Vancouver is too sanitized. That they concentrate their disposed into one area in the Downtown Eastside. He agrees. 

“But Vancouver reminds me of the Philippines because of the mountains,” he says, smiling.

And I, with embarrassment, remind him that Ontario is the only home I know. That I was born here. That I am not like him. 

He disagrees. “You’re as much of a Filipino as I am.”

Later that day, we make kaldereta with some other kasamas in their apartment. We thank the workers and the farmers whose hands and bodies harvested the vegetables on our plate. We thank the Earth herself.

I ask one of them, a civil engineer, about the waste systems in Vancouver. They say the sewage systems are not separate from rainwater which can cause overflow, a problem exacerbated by increasingly frequent downpours.  

I ask about the Philippines, and we talk about how vital protective infrastructure has been violently degraded through mining operations, logging, and increasing militarization. That the Sierra Madre, the vast mountain range in Luzon that protects urban dwellers and local Indigenous peoples from typhoons forming in the Pacific Ocean has considerably depleted. 

During the bus ride downtown, outside the window on Burrard Street, I see the office building for OceanaGold, a mining company that expropriates resources from the Philippines, and I wish for it to burn.

***

In 1988, then-president Corazon Aquino confidently stood before overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong and called them the Bagong-Bayani, the “modern-day heroes” of the Philippines, saying that the sacrifices that they had made for their nation were worth it. 

My mom was a live-in caregiver at the time in Singapore, attending to the domestic duties of some wealthy family. The youngest of five, she abandoned her studies so she could send money back home by taking care of another’s child. 

Eight years after that, in 1996, my sister was born in St. Catharines, Ontario. 

A year before my sister took her first breath, in 1995, Flor Contemplacion, a live-in caregiver in Singapore was sentenced to death by the Singaporean Supreme Court for the alleged murder of another Filipina domestic worker and a child. An explosion of outrage would follow. Migrante International, a migrant rights organization for overseas Filipino workers, would be created in response. 

Sometimes I wonder if Flor thought herself a hero, then.

Right before they placed the noose around her neck.

***

During the U.S. occupation of the Philippines from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, it was the waste and sewage systems that were among the interventions meant to both uplift the Filipino people from their “savagery” and protect the American military forces from the Filipinos’ “predisposition” to disease. 

If I have learned anything from my graduate degree in public health, it is that health has always been a tool of control. Because if the Filipinos didn’t survive, if the waste and sewage systems were not reconstructed, then who else would clean your homes?

***

One of the earliest memories I have with my dad is at Port Dalhousie, watching him diligently polish boat after boat. I think maybe it reminded him of Cebu. The ocean. The bangka gliding through the clear waters into a limitless horizon.

After he lost his job, my mom would get a second one under the table as a cleaner. He doesn’t talk about it much, or of anything, really. That was the issue.  

“I hate him,” I’d whine.

Complaining in my mom’s bedroom became almost ritual. 

“He loves you,” she’d assure me, stroking my cheek. “He cares so much about you.”

“Then why can’t I feel it?”

I remember watching through the crack of the door as he gave his credit card information to a man on the phone who told him that our family won a cruise trip. I heard the excitement in his voice as he readily listed off the security code in broken English. He was going to do something good for us. 

It was a scam of course. 

My mom was furious. He had a habit of being taken advantage of. Of being too nice, too friendly to his white co-workers who would laugh behind his back. Too naive. 

Still, when we drive by the canal, I see his longing eyes watch the huge shipping boats with their loads of crates pass by. I know. His home is not here. 

He’d purse and point his lips.

“Look.”

***

In 2024, Migrante BC protested in front of the Promise Land Consultancy in Vancouver to call attention to the thousands of migrants scammed for upwards of $300,000 by fraudulent immigration consultant services. The agency would promise permanent residency, but upon their arrival to Canada, would leave racialized migrants stranded without status or work.

In 2000, a typhoon hit a large 22- to 45-metre-tall municipal garbage dump in Manila that housed around 3,000 impoverished Filipinos. The monsoon rains would cause a large avalanche of garbage that buried shanties and killed hundreds of people. Entire families lost underneath carpets of grime. 

The locals call their community Lupang Pangako: The Promised Land.

***

And if it’s true. 

If dirt really is “matter out of place” as Mary Douglas and environmental scholars say, then my mom and my dad, custodial workers, Filipino migrants, must be the dirt of the world.

If to be clean, is really to be pure, to wash oneself of sin, of muck, of dirt, then why is to clean, to be discarded, invisible, dirty? How is it that the people who clean are considered unclean? Why is the work of waste not the work of care? 

I wonder why our ancestors became humans when we could’ve become butterflies. Why people created borders when we could’ve been free. 

***

At a Palestine protest downtown, I walk up to the podium with conviction, sweat dripping down my back. I tell the crowd that the bombs that rain down in Gaza are the same ones that rain down on Lumad Indigenous school kids in the Philippines. That the Philippines is one of the most dangerous places to be an environmental activist and land defender. That the Philippine government denied their involvement in the kidnapping of environmental activists Jonila Castro and Jhed Tamano for simply opposing the land reclamation of Manila Bay, one of the last coastal frontiers protecting the city from the effects of increasingly dangerous tropical storms. (After going against the official government narrative,  they were accused of spreading fake news and being leftist organizers.) That Filipinos, regardless of their status as the “best caregivers,” are not cared for. That the flow of trash from Canada to the Philippines parallels the flow of migrant labour from the Philippines to Canada. That Palestine and the Philippines will never be free without environmental justice. 

I am screaming. I am angry. I am grieving. 

I almost pass out from the heat.

***

In a story my mom often tells me, she is doing the laundry in Singapore when a black butterfly lands nearby. That’s when she knew her mother died, her soul flew across the ocean to find her, to say her last goodbye. Her brother would call a month later telling her that their mother was gone, had died weeks earlier, but they didn’t want to worry or distract her. That there was no funeral to attend anymore. To work. To keep working.

I wonder why our ancestors became humans when we could’ve become butterflies. Why people created borders when we could’ve been free. 

Maybe mom was right. Maybe only in death do we return to nature. Maybe “out of sight, out of mind” is a lie we tell ourselves to not face the realities of our disposability. 

Maybe the truest form of care in this world is the care that goes unseen.

*This essay was the winner of the creative non-fiction category of our 14th annual Writing in the Margins contest, judged by Erica H. Isomura. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Regina Public Interest Research Group (RPIRG) for this year’s contest. 

Finding the perfect tenant can feel like a high-stakes matchmaking game. If you’re a landlord in Ontario’s bustling rental market—for example in Toronto—you’re likely looking for someone reliable and respectful to make your property their home. But how much freedom do you really have to say “yes” or “no”? 

Choosing a tenant is a landlord’s right, but it’s not an absolute right. The Ontario Human Rights Code (the Code) sets out protections for prospective tenants against discrimination in the rental application process. Landlords have a requirement to be proactive and ensure that considerations in the tenant selection process complies with the Code. If you skip these steps, you may find yourself responding to an application at the Human Rights Tribunal. 

When can a landlord say no? The legit reasons

Landlords must abide by the Code and there are oftentimes real reasons why they could refuse to rent to a prospective tenant. A landlord has the right to satisfy themselves that the potential tenant has the ability to meet their financial obligations and maintain the unit reasonably. Common reasons for refusing tenancy may include poor credit history, non-payment of rent, poor references from a prior landlord indicating issues such as disruptive behaviour or property damage. Another reason may include the occupancy limit of the unit; imagine renting a one-bedroom unit and a six person family applies—saying no might just be about health and safety standards, not personal preference.  

When saying no crosses the line

While there are definitely real reasons a landlord could deny renting to a prospective tenant, tenancy, however, cannot be refused based on one or more protected grounds under the Code. There are 17 grounds including race, ethnicity, place of origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, family status, disability, religion and receipt of public assistance which the Code prohibits discrimination. These grounds act are supposed to act as a safety net to ensure that prospective tenants aren’t unfairly excluded from safe housing opportunities. 

Some examples include:

• Refusing to rent to a tenant who receives a form of social assistance such as Ontario Disability Support Program or Ontario Works (protected ground: receipt of public assistance).
• Refusing to rent to a single father with children (protected ground: family status).
• Refusing to rent to an individual who practices Muslim faith from Indonesia (protected ground: religious beliefs and country of origin).

Best practices for keeping it fair

Adopting fair, equitable and transparent tenant selection practices is the best way to ensure compliance with the Code. Want to stay on the right side of the Code? Achieving this could be completed through setting clear objective criteria that can be applied to all prospective applicants. All decisions while interviewing and selecting tenants should be well documented, including what factors were considered when granting or denying a rental application. Take notes—keeping records on why you picked Tenant A over Tenant B serves as your safety net if a complaint pops up at the Human Rights Tribunal.  

A landlord should avoid asking questions probing personal characteristics covered by the Code in interviews with prospective tenants. The interview process should focus on someone’s ability to fulfil their rental obligations by reviewing rental history, references and financial stability. 

Quick tips for landlords

• Stick to the essentials. Can they pay rent? Have they been good tenants before?
• Skip the personal stuff. No need to ask about their religion or family plans.
• Keep records. A little paperwork goes a long way if questions come up later.

Landlords have a right to choose who lives in their property, but this right isn’t absolute. Landlords are required to treat prospective tenants with respect and make a selection without discrimination. By keeping fairness in mind, you’re not just following the rules, you’re making housing work for everyone. 

The post Can a landlord refuse to rent to someone? Understanding Human Rights in housing appeared first on rabble.ca.

The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) will release its preliminary report Thursday on the Delta Air Lines crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport in February.

The flight from Minneapolis, which was carrying 76 passengers and four crew, was attempting to land just after 2 p.m. on February 17 when the aircraft impacted the runway and parts of the plane separated, notably a wing and the tail section, and caught fire.

“The fuselage came to rest slightly off the right side of the runway upside down facing the other direction,” the TSB said in its initial report.

The TSB says Thursday’s report will contain preliminary factual information and is intended to provide information on the progress of the investigation.

“It is important to note that at this stage in the investigation, it is too early to draw conclusions as to the causes of this accident based on this information,” the TSB said in a statement to CityNews.

Twenty-one passengers and crew were injured during the accident, many of whom were hospitalized. All have since been released.

At least two lawsuits have been filed in the United States and a law firm in Canada has said that it’s been retained by several passengers.

Delta has offered US$30,000 in compensation to passengers who were on the plane, saying the money “has no strings attached and does not affect rights.”

The post TSB to release preliminary report Thursday on Delta plane crash in Toronto appeared first on CityNews Winnipeg.

Sheilagh’s Brush usually comes around this time of year, but the weather after St. Patrick’s Day was more of a harbinger of spring.

Areas on the island not only set temperature records, but the old standards were smashed.

David Neil, a meteorologist with the Gander Weather Office, says temperatures rose sharply, and then dropped quickly.

Gander’s old record of 8.9 was shattered by yesterday’s temperature of 15.9; Winterland got up to a little of 15 degrees, well above the existing record of 8 degrees.

St. John’s hit 15 degrees but that was just shy of a record.