U.S. President Donald Trump says he will double the tariff on steel and aluminum imports coming from Canada in response to Ontario’s surcharge on electricity it exports to the United States.

Trump says 50 per cent tariffs will be placed on Canadian steel and aluminum on Wednesday.

More to come

U.S. President Donald Trump says he's increasing his planned tariffs to 50 per cent on steel and aluminum coming into the United States from Canada starting on Wednesday, up from the previously threatened 25 per cent.

The modern police force was created precisely to enforce the government monopoly on booze sales. And then, 80 years later, cannabis sales were shoehorned into the same arrangement: government monopoly, and enforcing that monopoly with the violence of the state, i.e., the RCMP.

The post RCMP raids against Mi’kmaw cannabis dispensaries are a direct result of the creation of the NSLC in 1930 appeared first on Halifax Examiner.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from Colorado to decide whether state and local governments can enforce laws banning conversion therapy for 2SLGBTQ+ children.

A youth has died after an off-road vehicle crash on the Newfoundland T’Railway on Monday.

Gander RCMP were called around 5:30 p.m. A side-by-side ATV was traveling on the trail near Joe Batts Pond about 15 kilometres west of Gander. The ATV lost control, left the trail and came to rest on its side. The operator, who was under 16 years old, died at the scene, while a second youth, also under 16, was taken to James Paton Memorial Regional Health Centre in Gander for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner was engaged. The investigation is continuing.

REGINA – For the umpteenth day in a row I am writing about tariffs, and this time I’m doing it on a day when the American stock market is tanking again.

The Dow Jones dropped almost 900 points Monday due to recession fears. All the talk on the financial news down there in the USA is about fears of an economic downturn and even stagflation.

Why am I not surprised? Really, what do you expect when you have a half-crazed President Donald Trump in the White House, hitting countries around the world with massive tariffs — including the USA’s two closest neighbours Canada and Mexico. Never mind all this 51st State crazy talk on top of that. You’d think if Trump were so concerned with “America First” that he’d be interested in a stable trading relationship with his next door neighbours, with whom so many American companies do their business. 

But no, Trump has insisted on hitting them with tariffs, a move that is completely unpopular with the US stock market. Every time Trump hits Canada with tariffs, the stock market tanks. And then he has to reverse course and provide a one-month extension, only to try again a month later, only for the same thing to happen.

“Whiplash” is the word that keeps on being uttered north of the border about the reaction to Trump’s tariffs. Canadian politicians are so fed up that they are leaving in place their counter-tariffs and their bans on the US liquor sales until Trump puts a stop to this yo-yo act.

The new incoming Canadian prime minister Mark Carney says the counter tariffs will stay on until Canada gets respect. That could be a long time.

What’s most frustrating about this is that Trump is not being consistent in what he is asking for. His officials keep insisting the 25 per cent tariffs are about fighting fentanyl. So Canada announces $1.3 billion in measures to combat fentanyl and Trump grants a reprieve. Then a month passes, and Trump declares that Canada hasn’t done enough, and hits the country with tariffs anyway.

No wonder Canadians are fed up. We do exactly what Trump says he wants done, only to get hit anyway. And there there are the 51st State insults to top that.

But here’s why I’m fed up: it seems like Trump is not even listening to people in his own country. I know Canada has tried mightily to lobby American politicians and business leaders in an all-out effort to try and talk sense into this administration. But really, the strongest message is coming right now from Wall Street and from investors across the USA. 

The markets have made it loud and clear that they think this trade war is a one-way ticket to another Great Depression, and that they think Trump ought to dial back the “tariff” stuff. Investors clearly aren’t buying Trump’s line of bull that tariffs are going to “make America rich again,” especially with all the concerning economic data coming out of the USA at the moment. 

I dunno how many times Trump is going to tank his own stock market before he gets the message. Who knows, maybe it is having an impact — he keeps on granting his stupid one-month reprieves to Canada.

Really, though, no one is winning in this trade war scenario. The USA is being handed their lunch right now due to their own self-inflicted tariffs, and the White House is embarrassing itself on a monthly basis.

Meanwhile, Canadians are very gung-ho about fighting a trade war with the Americans, with a “rah-rah, let’s fight the Americans” message from politicians and our media, without really understanding what this all entails.

For one thing, there seems to be this wide impression out there in Canada that imposing counter-tariffs on the Americans is something that will only impact the Americans. But you know who’s going to be hurt the most by counter-tariffs? Ourselves! 

It’s Canadians who will be getting hit by higher prices — not so much from the USA, but from the various counter-tariffs and counter-measures being imposed by various levels of our own Canadian governments on the US goods coming onto our store shelves. Those are putting the price of all US-made products up. 

This can’t go on. This ridiculousness on both sides of the border had to end sooner rather than later — but how?

The question people need to be asking is what is the “off-ramp.” That’s exactly the question I posed to Premier Scott Moe last week, and he seemed to concur when I suggested maybe the upcoming USMCA negotiation might do that. In any event, there needs to be some negotiating done in the near future, that seems the most logical way out. 

Here’s the off-ramp involving the USMCA as far as I can tell. From a Canada perspective, start negotiations early. The demand should be all of these new tariffs get removed and stay off. To address American concerns, commit to stepped up efforts to fight fentanyl and towards an increased commitment from Canada’s military. Craft a final deal that will both address the USA’s trade deficit concerns, but also result in increased trade for Canada in the end.

Make it a win-win scenario for all sides. While that deal gets done, Canada needs get on with improving their trade to the rest of the world so we don’t have to rely on the Americans ever again, which includes removing inter-provincial trade barriers, and building more pipelines.

That’s the way out of this mess, if folks on either side of the border can get out of their own way.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In only two decades, China has grown to be the dominant player in shipbuilding, claiming more than half of the world’s commercial shipbuilding market, while the U.S. share has fallen to just 0.1%, posing serious economic and national security challenges for the U.S. and its allies, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In 2024 alone, one Chinese shipbuilder constructed more commercial vessels by tonnage than the entire U.S. shipbuilding industry has built since the end of World War II. China already has the world’s largest naval fleet, the Washington-based bipartisan think tank said in its 75-page report.

“The erosion of U.S. and allied shipbuilding capabilities poses an urgent threat to military readiness, reduces economic opportunities, and contributes to China’s global power-projection ambitions,” the report said.

Concerns about the poor state of U.S. shipbuilding have been growing in recent years, as the country faces rising challenges from China, which has the world’s second largest economy and has ambitions to reshape the world order. At a congressional hearing in December, senior officials and lawmakers urged action.

Last week, President Donald Trump told Congress that his Republican administration would “resurrect” the American shipbuilding industry, for commercial and military vessels, and he would create “a new office of shipbuilding in the White House.”

“We used to make so many ships,” Trump said. “We don’t make them anymore very much, but we’re going to make them very fast, very soon. It will have a huge impact.”

In February, the heads of four major labor unions called on Trump to boost American shipbuilding and enforce tariffs and other “strong penalties” against China for its increasing dominance in that sector.

“What we are seeing now is a recognition of the strategic significance of shipbuilding and port security, and the related challenges posed by China,” said Matthew Funaiole, a senior fellow in the China Power Project at CSIS and a co-author of the report. Funaiole said concerns over shipbuilding are “a fairly bipartisan issue.”

The report said that China’s shipbuilding sector went through “a striking metamorphosis” in the past two decades, transforming from a “peripheral player” to the dominant player on the global market, with efforts centered on one state-owned enterprise: China State Shipbuilding Corporation, or CSSC.

At the same time, China has greatly expanded its navy. Last year, a CSIS assessment found that China was operating 234 warships, compared with the U.S. Navy’s 219, although the U.S. continued to hold an advantage in guided missile cruisers and destroyers.

In developing recommendations for the U.S. to compete with China, the researchers zoomed in on the Chinese company’s use of Beijing’s “military-civil fusion” strategy, which blurs the lines between the country’s defense and commercial sectors.

They found that CSSC, which builds both commercial and military ships, sells three-quarters of its commercial production to buyers outside China, including to the U.S.-allied Denmark, France, Greece, Japan and South Korea. These foreign firms are thus funneling billions of dollars to Chinese shipyards that also make warships, advancing China’s modernization of its navy and providing Chinese defense contractors with key dual-use technology, the report said.

The CSIS researchers suggested that, as a long-term fix, the U.S. should invest in rebuilding its shipbuilding industry and work with allies to expand shipbuilding capacities outside China. For the near term, they recommended actions to level the playing field and “disrupt China’s murky dual-use ecosystem,” such as by charging docking fees on Chinese-made vessels and cutting U.S. financial and business ties with CSSC and its subsidiaries.

The Trump administration has proposed new fees on China-linked vessels calling on U.S. ports. A BlackRock-led consortium last week agreed to acquire stakes in 43 ports across the globe, including the two ports on either side of the Panama Canal, from a Hong Kong-based conglomerate.

Didi Tang, The Associated Press

Sylvia was raised in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city. She moved to Canada in 2021 to study journalism and communications at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC where she works at Ask Wellness Society, a non-profit organization that helps people in need. Sylvia enjoys reading books, cooking new dishes, and practising nail art. While she enjoys the quiet, slow life in Canada, Sylvia finds herself missing home from time to time. “Nairobi is a city that doesn’t sleep,” she said, “it could be midnight or eight in the morning but there’s definitely going to be traffic or a gathering somewhere.” Sylvia was in Kamloops preparing for her finals when she heard of flooding in her birth country. 

The floods happened in May of 2024. It was quite sudden. People were not that informed. I wasn’t aware that this was about to happen. According to the government, it was supposed to be the normal rainy season. People just expected rain as usual.

At first, it seemed like the drainage system wasn’t working well. It was flooding in some parts. You expect that maybe the government would have informed people that it was getting serious, but there was no information whatsoever. They only addressed the situation once the flooding had really affected most of the country. 

It was difficult to get information as it was happening because of the time difference. Kenya is twelve hours ahead of us. When they’re awake, I’m asleep, and when I’m asleep they’re awake. Being able to speak to family was challenging because of school. Also, because of these heavy rains, network lines were breaking. It would sometimes be a day where people weren’t able to communicate. I would try to use X. I also remember using a lot of TikTok. I was constantly refreshing my feed with new videos. 

There’s this one specific video that I still remember today. We live in a 15-storey apartment. Our neighborhood, we have a shopping center and we have a very big university: United States International University.  Close to our house there’s a roundabout and along the side there are vendors who sell different stuff. Out of nowhere, a big rush of water came and swept people away. As you’re watching the video you can see people fighting for their lives, and there’s nothing you can do. You can’t risk your own life to go save somebody. Especially with how harsh the water was. 

Back home, we don’t have government-provided transport like buses, but we have privately owned buses. I remember seeing these massive, privately owned buses carrying people. As they’re driving on the road, the water becomes too heavy, and you see buses being swept away with people struggling and screaming through the buses. It was quite traumatic. The fact that I saw something like this happening close to home made it more terrifying.  I began to think, you never know who was there when the person was taking the video. It could have been a family member. It could have been anybody. So the fact that you’re not able to confirm right then and there just heightened the anxiety around the flooding.

In the less developed areas, you would not find high-rise buildings. It’s mostly built of iron sheets to make walls and a roof. The only thing built with concrete would be the slab at the bottom to hold and support the sheets. Because the infrastructure is not done properly and sometimes the city council doesn’t maintain the road and the drainage system, there’s a very high risk that such homes would be affected more in a flood. I remember buildings like these were collapsing. All iron sheets are carried away. You tend to find that a single area is completely displaced after floods. You can’t even tell where your home was before. 

My grandparents stay in the countryside. Most of the countryside is hills and valleys. Where we’re from, it’s quite popular to grow tea. There’s a lot of tea farms grown on sloping hills, and the homes are usually at the top of the hill. Homes were sliding off. 

Close to my grandparents’ home there’s a river called the Chania River. And of course it did flood, so that just made the flooding in the area worse. Fortunately, my grandparents’ home was built properly with concrete so the home itself did not get damaged. However, because the water was seeping in, the ceiling had to be replaced. Some of the walls were starting to mould because of how high the water had gone. Furniture was totally destroyed. 

I remember my grandparents telling me that in their farm, the water was so bad there was a crack in the ground at the bottom of the tea farm. That crack was so deep that till this day, there’s a certain section of the tea farm that cannot be used anymore. That specific part of the land is almost inaccessible because if you cross over you’re not able to come back. The crack almost separated the farm in half. So it did leave some long-lasting effects.

The floods made me feel more aware that climate change could happen to just anybody. Most times you hear about climate change on the Internet, and you hear about people experiencing climate change disasters very far from where you are. And it sounds real, but not as real, because it’s not impacted you. The fact that it came and it impacted all of us, made it more real. We need to start taking a look at how we’re treating the world because it really is affecting our day-to-day lives.

We need education on climate change. People need to learn what climate change means. They need to learn how they actually impact climate change. The fact that people might learn this gives me hope.  But I don’t know how long this is going to go on for, and I don’t know if it’s fixable. I’m a bit two-sided on that. This idea that I’m literally just one person out of billions of people in the world is the reason why nothing is being done. People need to understand that even though you’re just one person out of the billions, the one thing you do actually does have a significant impact.

This story is a part of a series created by Thompson Rivers University students as part of the Climate Disaster Project, an international teaching newsroom coordinated at the University of Victoria.

The post ‘The fact that I saw something like this happening close to home made it more terrifying’ appeared first on The Wren.

Nathan MacKinnon reached the 1,000-point milestone in Colorado's game against Chicago on Monday, recording an assist in the third period.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After a brutal stock market selloff because of his tariff threats, President Donald Trump faces pressure on Tuesday to show he has a legitimate plan to grow the economy instead of perhaps pushing it into a recession.

Trump was set to deliver an afternoon address to the Business Roundtable, a trade association of CEOs that during the 2024 campaign he wooed with the promise of lower corporate tax rates for domestic manufacturers. But his plans for tariffs on Canada, Mexico, China, steel, aluminum — with more to possibly come on Europe, Brazil, South Korea, pharmaceutical drugs, copper, lumber and computer chips — would amount to a massive tax hike.

The stock market’s vote of no confidence over the past two weeks puts the president in a bind between his enthusiasm for taxing imports and his brand as a politician who understands business based on his own experiences in real estate, media and marketing.

Harvard University economist Larry Summers, a former treasury secretary for the Clinton administration, on Monday put the odds of a recession at 50-50.

“All the emphasis on tariffs and all the ambiguity and uncertainty has both chilled demand and caused prices to go up,” Summers posted on X. “We are getting the worst of both worlds – concerns about inflation and an economic downturn and more uncertainty about the future and that slows everything.”

Trump has tried to assure the public that his tariffs would cause a bit of a “transition” to the economy, with the taxes prodding more companies to begin the years-long process of relocating factories to the United States to avoid the tariffs. But he set off alarms in an interview broadcast on Sunday in which he didn’t rule out a possible recession.

“I hate to predict things like that,” Trump said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” ”There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big. We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing. And there are always periods of — it takes a little time. It takes a little time. But I don’t — I think it should be great for us. I mean, I think it should be great.”

The promise of great things ahead did not eliminate anxiety, with the S&P 500 stock index tumbling 2.7% on Monday in an unmistakable Trump slump that has erased the market gains that greeted his victory in November 2024.

S&P 500 futures pointed to a slight rebound on Tuesday, though not nearly enough to pare back Monday’s losses.

Josh Boak, The Associated Press

A family from Illinois is anxiously awaiting a decision from a Canadian tribunal as they seek asylum north of the border, claiming that America’s politics have made them feel unsafe. 

Ontario Premier Doug Ford's move to impose a surcharge on electricity flowing south of the border seems to have gotten the attention of U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump turned his sights on the new levy in a late-night post on his Truth Social platform.

Some involved in the travel industry say they’re seeing a change in the preferred destination of heading south, choosing points beyond the United States in greater numbers than usual.

However, the hospitality industry in this province isn’t seeing a corresponding flip on the part of travellers from the United States interested in vacationing in Canada.

The tariff war initiated by U.S. President Donald Trump has driven an economic wedge between the two countries and soured many about where they wish to spend their leisure time.

Hospitality NL is hosting its annual conference and trade show at The JAG Hotel in downtown St. John’s starting tonight.

Chair Deborah Borden says their members are telling them that inquiries from the U.S. are up, and so are bookings. The low Canadian dollar, around 70 cents U.S., is tough for Americans to discount.

She says every concern also carries with it an opportunity. For example, Canadians who are unwilling to go to the U.S. may choose to travel domestically within Canada.

“And Newfoundland and Labrador quickly rises to the top in that situation,” says Borden.

A.J. Lawson has been living the dream this week. He had his first career NBA start on Friday, lining up for his hometown Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. Then on Monday, Lawson had his best game as a professional basketball player.

A 61-year-old woman is dead after a crash on the Trans-Labrador Highway in February. Police are still investigating.

The WECHU has received confirmation of our area’s second and third case of measles.  Additional cases and exposure risks are expected over the coming days and weeks. We are working closely with neighbouring health units as part of a provincial response and are in regular communication with the Ontario Ministry of Health regarding the situation in Windsor and Essex County.

Residents directly affected from cases of measles should expect the WECHU to contact them to determine potential public places for which there may have been exposure to others. It is our role to notify the community of any potential exposures in public places, like healthcare settings, shopping centres, or restaurants and this notification will occur rapidly once we obtain this information.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit asks anyone who visited the location listed below on the identified date to monitor themselves for symptoms of measles for 7 to 21 days from the date of exposure.

Location: Toldo Lancer Centre
2555 College Avenue, Windsor, ON, N9B 3P4
March 7^th, 2025
6:30 pm – 11:30 pm

Location: Chick-Fil-A
3060 Howard Avenue, Windsor, ON, N8X 3Y7
March 7^th, 2025
5:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Location: TMC Urgent Care Walk-In Clinic – Kingsville
273 Main Street East, Kingsville, ON N9Y 1A7
March 8^th, 2025
1:15 pm – 3:35 pm

Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent measles. For those who are unvaccinated the risks for measles are serious and can include pneumonia, deafness, brain inflammation, and in the most severe cases, death.

• Those born before 1970 are considered immune to measles.
• Those born after 1970 who have not received two doses of Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine may need an additional dose.
• Children 1-17 years old need two doses of measles vaccine to be immune from the disease.
• For those who may not be aware of their measles vaccination status, it is recommended to speak with a healthcare provider to determine whether or not a dose of the vaccine is appropriate for you.
• For those who do not have a healthcare provider, you are encouraged to contact Virtual Urgent Care or Health811 for more information.

On a daily basis, the number of measles cases detected in Windsor-Essex will be posted to the WECHU website for the public to view. Exposure notifications will be sent through the WECHU general subscribers mailing list, through the media, and posted to the WECHU social media account promptly once this information is confirmed. For more information and guidance on what to do if you may have been exposed, or to subscribe for updates, visit the WECHU website at wechu.org.

The post More Information on Measles Transmission appeared first on Kingsville Times.

The following is a capsule review of the Montreal restaurant Fu Chun Soupe Dumpling. To read the 2025 Montreal Restaurant Guide, please click here.

Fu Chun Soupe Dumpling

Home to Montreal’s best xiaolongbao. Originally founded in Shanghai in 1995, the Montreal location is only the fourth in 30 years, and the only location outside of Asia. Xiaolongbao, the juicy Shanghainese soup dumpling, is the specialty here, but the Shanghai-style wontons and fried pork chops easily hold their own. (1978 de Maisonneuve W.)

For more on Fu Chun Soupe Dumpling, please visit their website.

For more on the food and drink scene in Montreal, please visit the Food & Drink section.

The post Montreal Restaurant Guide: Fu Chun Soupe Dumpling appeared first on Cult MTL.

(UFFW 867 / FILE)

The Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to two structure fires within a span of 12 hours, one in St. Boniface and another in the North End.

On Monday night, firefighters responded to a blaze at an apartment building on Langevin Street. All occupants self-evacuated, but three people were transported to hospital in unstable condition. The fire was brought under control by 9:16 p.m.

The city’s Animal Services Agency assisted pets affected by the fire, while displaced residents were provided temporary shelter. The cause remains under investigation.

Polson Avenue Fire

Early Tuesday morning, crews responded to a fire at a mixed-use building on Polson Avenue. Smoke was visible upon arrival, and firefighters had the blaze under control by 6:25 a.m..

All occupants safely evacuated, and no injuries were reported. The cause remains under investigation, with no damage estimates available.

Authorities continue to investigate both incidents.

The future of the Abluqta Society, which runs Baker Lake’s only food bank, remains in limbo as it searches for a new home after a meeting with the hamlet council last week provided no immediate solution.

Last month Abluqta, the non-profit group which also operates a community soup kitchen and thrift store, was forced to vacate its previous location of two years due to the discovery of black mould. It hasn’t offered its services since Feb. 19.

Black mould is a fungus that can cause coughing, congestion and eye irritation and possibly worsen asthma symptoms, according to Health Canada.

Abluqta’s landlord, Piruqsaijit Ltd., won’t begin assessments or renovations on the former building until at least the spring or summer, said Abluqta board member Colleen Chau.

Even then, there’s no timeline for when the space might be usable again.

“It could be months or years,” Chau said in an interview. “Unfortunately, we are in limbo at the moment.”

Baker Lake council acknowledged the importance of the food bank at a meeting March 6 where it invited Abluqta board members to speak. Chau said no immediate solutions were offered in terms of a suitable building.

“The hamlet does obviously care about the future of Abluqta,” she said. “But it seems like they don’t really have any options.”

Most of the hamlet’s spaces are at capacity with other organizations — the wellness centre and arena are fully occupied.

A building leased to a local prenatal program has a clause allowing for shared use, but that would require further discussion with that program’s board.

Council suggested Abluqta apply for funding to purchase a building. However, Chau said, units currently for sale are small apartment spaces that would require extensive renovations.

“Half of our organization is a thrift store, so we need storage for clothing and food. A one-bedroom unit wouldn’t really be suitable,” she said.

That leaves Abluqta facing difficult choices — either move into a smaller space and reduce services, or share a location which would likely require closing the thrift store.

The food bank’s temporary closure has already had an impact, especially on elders who rely on its services and do not have access to Jordan’s Principle funding, which is for families with children.

“Now, really, the only thing we can do is vouchers” that can be redeemed at local stores, said Chau.

Abluqta is exploring short-term solutions to keep the food bank running. Baker Lake’s Nunamiut Lodge offered its space for voucher distribution and is talking with Abluqta about possibly hosting pop-up soup kitchens, though nothing is finalized.

Abluqta’s current landlord has offered an alternative rental space, Chau said, but it may be too small.

The Abluqta Society, established in 2017, says it provides 250 grocery bags of food per month to people in need and its hot lunch program feeds 15 to 20 people daily in the community of about 2,000 residents.

The group says seven out of every 10 families in Baker Lake don’t have secure access to food and rely on Abluqta’s services.

Anel is a 21-year-old international student studying digital journalism and communications at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. Anel moved to Canada as a 17-year-old from her hometown, Almaty, Kazakhstan. Since then, she’s become a huge part of the university community, was vice-president external for the TRU Student Union, an active member of the Journalism and Communications Club, and president of the TRUSU taxation club: a job that includes organizing free workshops that help students file their taxes. She also works part-time as a front desk receptionist at a Kamloops hotel. On one of her shifts, she confronted the impact of a fire that happened in Shuswap.

The Shuswap area is not far away from Kamloops. You could sense the smoke that’s been coming from there and it got pretty close to Kamloops. We had lots of evacuees coming into the hotel. That’s how I came to know that there is a situation that is happening. One night, about 70 people walked in at the same time into the building asking for a room.

There were lots of people with kids, lots of people who were very upset. Somebody was crying. They were putting all of their emotions on us as well. People were arguing with our front desk because they were upset about the situation.  Some had never lived in a hotel before. They didn’t have a credit card, they didn’t have a piece of ID, so we couldn’t verify them. They were asking, “Why can’t we just get a room?” I would say, “I’m sorry. I understand what situation you’re in right now. There’s nothing we can do. You will have to get the province to pay for you. You have to go to these services and these services. ” They’re like, I’m not going anywhere.” 

Some were seniors and these people are like, “I am 80 years old. Can you do it? Why can’t you do it for me?” I’m like, “Well, I’m not you. So I can’t really do much at this point.”

It was hard. We had people who lost their homes to the wildfire, and they were crying in the hotel lobby. That was pretty bad.

I didn’t end up having much of a conversation with them. I tried to, but I guess people were too upset, so they weren’t willing to speak to me about it too much. I spoke to some relatives of a person who lost their home, and they were saying that they had that property forever. Their grandparents also used to live on the property that they lost. There was also an Indigenous community,  Little Shuswap, who got really affected. So all these people are so close to each other in that community. So basically the tragedy that one person experienced is a tragedy of the whole community.

I felt very uncomfortable. You really start to think that you have to be thankful for whatever you have because one day you can just simply lose everything. You have to really be thankful for whatever you have now and cherish it.

It was hard going to work. Not all guests were perfect. Some guests were a bit rude towards the staff because they were upset. I understand that. I get that. But some people were actually pretty mean to me.  I’m not from here. I am from abroad. I remember having a conversation with one man about the history of Canada. At some point, he said: “Well, do you know enough to be here?”  I didn’t know what to say. I just have to go and do my job as much as I can. 

It was a feeling of relief that they were able to go back home, and their suffering had ended. I was feeling happy for them and relieved for myself that this crazy, crazy situation had more or less settled down.

It’s something that you can be ready for but at the same time, you can’t prepare for it. We had lots of theoretical knowledge on what to do in these situations. We had lots of meetings on how to address emergency situations when they occur, but we’ve never faced it really on that scale. We were so lost when it actually happened. At that moment, when 100 people showed up at our doors, we didn’t know what to do. Imagine 100 upset people showing up one day to your property. We did try to be prepared as much as possible. We held some rooms for evacuees just in case.

Now we know what to do. When we had a wildfire in Jasper in 2024 we had almost the same situation where people just were showing up asking if they have room for them. We were more prepared for it. The B.C. emergency services were also more prepared. They created a special software where we could find out information about people in the region, their contact information, and stuff. So the situation wasn’t as tough as it was in 2023.

I wish I talked to someone at that moment. I thought that my experience wasn’t as valuable as those people who had to evacuate from Shuswap, since I wasn’t directly affected. But now I understand that every experience is valuable. If I knew I would’ve taken better care of myself at that moment.

I like to take an infantile, childish position. That one is just blaming people around me for being, not self-sustainable. But one thing that could be done is for every single person to watch after themselves and try to make their lifestyle a bit more sustainable, even if they just make it a little bit sustainable.

For example, if they stop washing a small load of clothes in the washing machine they decrease the frequency of washing their clothes and wash them on a cold temperature. There is tons and tons of energy that could be saved from just that one action. I truly believe that changing one single thing in their lifestyle could have a big impact on our planet. This is one of the things that I’m fighting with my not-so-not-sustainable roommates.

I am trying to use sustainable cleaning supplies. I have put a restriction on the amount of water that I use in the shower, so it saves water and energy. I try to recycle as much as I can. Again, it’s hard sometimes when you have a household which is not used to sustainable practices. However, it’s still a good thing that I feel good about myself and I’m doing it. 

I have no hope for the future, unfortunately. Nothing can be done. It’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when. Our kids will probably be the most affected by the situation. A couple weeks ago, I saw a person from the baby boomers generation, just like old men dumping a bunch of car oil in the water reservoir and I was like we are fucked.

I believe that by sharing this story, I could open up, and open people’s eyes to so many things that are happening in the world caused by climate change. I really hope that people will understand that the planet is dying, that in a few more years from now, we will probably all die from some climate disaster or will choke from the smoke coming from the fire. 

This story is a part of a series created by Thompson Rivers University students as part of the Climate Disaster Project, an international teaching newsroom coordinated at the University of Victoria.

The post ‘Now I understand that every experience is valuable’ appeared first on The Wren.

As part of our commitment to local news, CBC News is expanding nationwide. We are looking for experienced multiplatform reporters to join our team. These roles, based in one or two-person bureaus, will focus on broadening our coverage and ensuring the stories and voices of communities are reflected in our journalism across digital, radio, social, streaming and TV.

On February 24, I published Find IDF Soldiers, a database containing profiles of 85 Canadians that have joined the Israeli military at any point in their lives.

Several people in the database and/or their family members have since reacted to it online, including by speaking with a variety of news outlets. I’ve compiled these reactions here, sorted by name in alphabetical order.

Some of these comments will be added to the Find IDF Soldiers website the next time it is updated. 

Shai DeLuca

Shai DeLuca on Instagram: “When I saw my name @readthemaple I was FURIOUS! Number 14? I should at least be in the top 3. This one is hilarious so get comfy. 🤡 #nazismincanada #jewishlists”

2,980 likes, 201 comments - shaideluca on February 24, 2025: “When I saw my name @readthemaple I was FURIOUS! Number 14? I should at least be in the top 3. This one is hilarious so get comfy. 🤡 #nazismincanada #jewishlists”.

Instagram

From The Canadian Jewish News: “‘Jews… once something like this happens, the WhatsApp group comes together, and all of a sudden I was added to this WhatsApp group of people who are on this list,’ [DeLuca] said.

‘There’s nothing in these lists that we are embarrassed of, or that we are ashamed of.’

He notes that his social media profiles mention he served in the IDF.

‘What did you find out? What did you prove? What in our mentality did you show? That we’re proud of who we are, that we’re proud that we’re able to defend ourselves, that we’re proud that we adhere to the law in the country that we are a citizen of? What did you prove? Nothing.

‘It was literally a list of Jews. That’s all it was. Good for you, you put a list of Jews together. That’s what you did. Like the SS.’

DeLuca, who had already been in contact with his lawyer from the Foodbenders case after the list was published, confirmed he would be open to joining any potential legal action if launched—and that he had been contacted about potentially joining such cases.

‘If my name and being a part of it would help combat this publication, and what this man did, of course I would, absolutely.’

The Maple’s editor was ‘very smart legally,’ DeLuca says, by adding disclaimers: ‘This was not for doxxing. All of the information I found was online. I’m just putting a list together.’ 

‘If the point of it was not to doxx,’ DeLuca says, or to claim that any of the Canadians who served that were named had done wrong, ‘[then] what exactly is the point of this list? 

‘There was no point other than to create a list of Jews.’ 

He’s skeptical the project seeks to understand anyone’s motivations for serving in the IDF: Mastracci never contacted him directly. 

DeLuca says there’s never a good reason to make a list of Jews. 

‘There’s a very dark history with that. People think it’s only the Holocaust—it’s not only the Holocaust…It was during the Spanish Inquisition, it was any time there was a need to round up Jews, lists were made. So Jews and lists—not a good thing.’”

From the Jewish News Syndicate: “Shai DeLuca described the site’s project on social media as an ‘SS-style hit list.’ 

The Maple ‘literally just put together a list of Jews,’ he told JNS. ‘This is why I call it the SS list, because, other than that, what was the purpose, if it wasn’t to dox or if it wasn’t to say that these people did something wrong?’ 

DeLuca, who is a designer with a large following on social media, is a former IDF combat engineer of three years who dismantled munitions in minefields and took apart explosives. He was in Israel during Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks and returned to Canada that day on the last flight. He told JNS that he wasn’t surprised by the list. 

‘I looked up the Maple and saw some antisemitism. Do you even call them articles? Excuse me, but no,’ he said. ‘Sadly, I think that this is what Canada has become, so I would have been more surprised had it not happened.’”

Israel Ellis (father of Eitan Ellis)

From The Canadian Jewish News: “Israel Ellis immediately reacted to the website with a mixture concern and fury when he learned his IDF reservist son Eitan Ellis was highlighted, along with other soldiers they know. [...] ‘“How do we get this thing shut down as quickly as possible?” That took me on a bit of a journey,’ he said, and was soon contacting ‘every politician I know’—and law enforcement officials, too. 

‘Many people were talking, and by the morning the site was shut down.’ (Ellis spoke with The CJN before it was restored.) 

Ellis confirmed that several families of the named soldiers had been in communication since the list was published, and were exploring options for a legal response to The Maple. 

‘We are now gaining legal opinions [on whether] to launch a class-action lawsuit, and we are looking at our legal avenues to see what we can do to create a case, to create damages,’ said Ellis. ‘We’d like to shut down the entire operation.’ 

That said, it’s difficult to prove there was a negative intent behind the site. 

‘The problem is that Canada does not have laws that cover this. It is an uphill battle to prove intent to harm. There is a risk to launching a legal action that gets dismissed as it will cause to validate [the database project].’ 

‘But obviously when you look at all of this, the intent is to intimidate, to cause fear, and to put these people that are mentioned on that site in harm’s way, because they are in harm’s way,’ said Ellis, who was speaking to community organizers and soliciting legal opinions, and had sought to launch a complaint with Toronto Police Services. 

‘There may be an opportunity for people to demand that their names not be published publicly, as social media is not intended for that type of consumption,’ he added later via email. [...] 

According to Ellis, the database author was ‘extremely strategic’ to avoid crossing the line into libellous territory. He says Mastracci created an ‘aggregate’ of public information, and while he realizes the publication isn’t illegal per se, the list of names provides ‘the haters and the lovers of death… supporters of Hamas, with bread crumbs to the people that have been involved.’ 

Someone could commit a random, violent act against one of the listed Canadians, says Ellis, adding that many post-service IDF soldiers’ trauma involves, specifically, fear of an unexpected, sudden attack.

The intent behind the list is ‘insidious’ he says, because ‘that person’s intent [is] not to be a public provider of information, but rather the purpose of him publishing that is to intimidate, to create fear, and cause harm, and put my kid at risk… He [Mastracci] knows exactly what he’s doing.’ 

By making the list public and encouraging readers to report new tips, ‘there is no question about it,’ says Ellis. ‘It is a hunting exercise.’”

From the Jewish News Syndicate: “Israel Ellis, whose son Eitan Ellis is an Israeli soldier who is currently serving, told JNS that he is angry as a parent ‘that someone would put my son in harm’s way, intentionally.’ (JNS sought comment from Mastracci.) 

‘That’s my first emotion,’ he said. ‘This guy’s not aggregating public information as a community service. He’s not doing it because he wants to help the community, right?’ The point of the article, he thinks, ‘is to intimidate, to create fear and to cause harm.’

‘He’s essentially hunting IDF soldiers,’ Ellis told JNS, and he blames the Canadian government in part, due to what he calls its ‘apathy and complicity.’ 

‘They have not defined legislatively and judicially what hate law is today, and what is incitement to hatred,’ he said.”

Rebecca Garner

From the National Post: “Garner, who served in the IDF from 2011 to 2014 in a combat role, said she thought it was a ‘pretty clear expression of hatred for Jews.’ 

‘The Canadian Jews on this list are quite possibly the most unflappable members of our Jewish community. I don’t think we’ll be intimidated by it, if that’s the intention. I don’t think it’s an acceptable thing to happen in Canada,’ she told the National Post over the phone on Wednesday morning.” 

Garner was born and raised in Canada. She felt motivated to join the IDF to pay tribute to her grandparents, who were survivors of the Holocaust. She said she saw the need ‘for young Jews to protect the Jewish homeland.’

‘I think there’s a pretty dark historical precedent for making lists of Jews. That’s what it immediately reminded me of,’ she said. ‘A database of Jews.’”

Leah Goldstein

From the Jewish News Syndicate: “Leah Goldstein, a former IDF Krav Maga instructor and former member of the Israeli police force, told JNS that if The Maple really wanted balance, ‘where is the list of the Hamas supporters, or people that support radical Islam?’ 

Jew-hatred has ‘always been around,’ and this Maple was ‘just giving them an excuse now to come out of their hiding place,’ she said. 

‘There’s no way I’m going to hide who I am. I’m not afraid,’ she told JNS. ‘His purpose is to put all 85 of us in danger.’ 

‘You got to catch things when it’s young and early and squash it, so he’ll think three times before he writes any stupidity again,’ she added. ‘I think it is good to attack it and make him feel small. There’s no point in silence.’”

From the National Post: “Goldstein, 56, told the National Post in a phone interview on Wednesday that she was ‘not at all’ intimidated by the list. She lived in Israel from the age of 17 until she was 32 years old. Because of her experience as a world champion kickboxer, she became the head of instruction for Krav Maga, the system of fighting for soldiers, for the IDF, she said. [...]

While the list does not intimidate Goldstein, she said she’s not sure why it was created.

‘I’m not going to hide under a rock. It’s who I am,’ she said. ‘I’m proud of my service and there’s no way I’ll hide it. But to put us out there, it feels like it is a bit targeted. What’s the purpose of that?’”

From the Vernon Morning Star: “Vernon’s Leah Goldstein is questioning the motive behind a list of 85 Jewish Canadians who have served in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), recently published by a left-wing activist media publication. [...] Goldstein is proud of her military service and makes no effort to hide it. [...] Goldstein said she found out she was on the list when she was contacted by a news reporter. She said while she doesn’t feel threatened or intimidated by being put on the list, it’s caused fear for her parents.

Goldstein said the list is putting a target on the back of Jewish Canadians by linking them to the current Israeli government and its bitter conflict with Hamas, which has led to severe and lengthy bombing campaigns that have killed thousands of Palestinians. She points to The Maple’s framing of the article, which starts off by accusing the Israeli military of ‘ethnic cleansing, war crimes, apartheid and now genocide’ before presenting its list of former IDF members.

‘It just feels obviously targeted,’ Goldstein said.”

Noy Leyb

From Israel Hayom: “Noy Leyb, originally from Calgary, is one of the Canadian-Israelis featured on this list. He told us that, ‘this isn't the first time I was featured online by anti-Israel pages, but this is going beyond what is normal. They included my brothers in the website and just used language that is clearly biased, making me look like a genocide killer.’ Leyb added, ‘I am a proud soldier and won’t hide my face but when it comes to my family, that is when I get upset and angry.’”

From the Jewish News Syndicate: “Noy Leyb, of Calgary, who spent three years as an Israeli paratrooper and left the army as a first sergeant, told JNS that he has been a reservist in Unit 551, a special forces group and wasn’t surprised to be listed. 

‘I knew that my face would end up on a page like this,’ he said. ‘What surprised me was the language they used, the way they shaped us IDF soldiers and how non-human they made us look.’ 

‘We are moral and ethical soldiers,’ he told JNS. ‘Not monsters like Hamas.’ 

Leyb isn’t afraid, but he is alert after receiving ‘a ton’ of threats on social media. ‘It doesn’t faze me,’ he said.”

Moshe Tzvi Shapiro

An excerpt from an article by Shapiro in Jew In The City: “A week ago, I found out I had made a list. Not a list of honors or achievements, but a list of Canadian-Israeli soldiers, published in an article that has been widely condemned as a hit piece against Jews from Canada who chose to serve in the IDF. Many people responded as expected—condemning the article, calling out the blatant targeting of Jews, and vowing not to be intimidated by those who seek to make us hide.

And they’re right. We must never cower in the face of those who try to make us fearful of our identity. We must fight back against antisemitism and make it clear that we will not be silenced.

But as much as I agree with those sentiments, I think they have been repeated almost daily since the start of the war due to the massive uptick in antisemitism. I don’t think it’s what people need to hear, and I don’t think the goal of the author of the article is to silence us; at least, I don’t think it’s the end goal.

I didn’t end up on this list because I am Israeli. I was put on this list because I am a Jew from outside of Israel who refused to stay away—especially when my people needed me. If being on this list means anything, it means that even though it wasn’t the easiest, most natural path for me, I made a decision. I chose to place my destiny with the destiny of my people.”

From the Jewish News Syndicate: “Moshe Tzvi Shapiro told JNS that when he first saw himself on the list, he was shocked ‘that there are people who are so blind to reality.’ 

‘To dox people who literally put their lives on the line to protect not just Israel, but the world from terrorism, is insane,’ he said. 

‘Unlike our enemies, none of us has any interest in hurting a fly,’ he told JNS. ‘We volunteered to fight because we know it’s the right thing to do. Because, as everyone in Israel is aware, in the aftermath of the horrific events of a year and a half ago, and as tensions rise on all the borders around us and in Judea and Samaria, there are more and more fronts, and less and less soldiers to fill them.’ 

‘If we weren’t there,’ he added, ‘I don’t know who would.’”

Gil Troy (father of Aviv Troy, Dina Troy, Lia Troy, Yoni Troy)

From the Jerusalem Post: “In the holiday’s spirit, as Hamas’s Hamans set the moral tone on campus and on social media, my oldest, now renamed ‘War Criminal No. 1,’ boasted that her profile ‘is quite complimentary,’ even while noting that this database of only 85 people makes it look ‘fake.’ She chuckled: ‘They don’t seem competent.’ 

War Criminal No. 4-in-law noted that War Criminal No. 2 was the first one quoted in the article accompanying the list. According to the article, WC No. 2 said in 2019: ‘I always dreamed of serving as an officer.’ 

He responded: ‘Cool!’ 

War Criminal No. 1 added that the website included ‘nice quotes about us from Dad’s articles. Looks like someone is a fan of Professor Troy.’ 

War Criminal No. 2 responded, ‘Yeah, they seem really sweet actually.’ He then posted on the site: ‘Thank you for adding me to your ridiculous website.’ 

He explained: ‘I really am proud of who I am and what I’ve done. Happy to fight for my country and defend against barbaric terrorists like Hamas who rape, pillage, and murder innocent men, women, children, and babies. 

‘Happy to be added to your database of heroes willing to risk their lives for innocents and fight evil in all the ways it manifests. 

‘Our fight is for truth and justice. Hoping that one day every country in the Middle East is as democratic, diverse, open to LGBTQ+, feminist, modern and woke as Israel!’”