The post Presenting the winners of the 2024 ‘Luc’-ky Awards! appeared first on The Quebec Chronicle Telegraph.

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to use “economic force” to make Canada the 51st state and doubled down on his tariff threats as he criticized Canada’s military spending and trade with the United States.

“You get rid of that artificially drawn line and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security,” Trump said, referring to the border between Canada and the U.S.

“And don’t forget, we basically protect Canada.”

In his first news conference since the certification of his election win, Trump said he will impose “substantial” tariffs on Canada and Mexico when he returns to the White House in less than two weeks.

The president-elect said previously he’ll slap 25 per cent duties on imports from America’s closest neighbours unless they stop the flow of illegal drugs and migrants across the border.

In November, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau travelled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in an attempt to counter Trump’s tariff threats.

Canada subsequently announced a series of measures to beef up border security with a $1.3-billion package but Trump indicated he still intends to proceed with his tariff plan.

Trump mused about that meeting with Trudeau during Tuesday’s news conference and claimed repeatedly that Canada is subsidized by the U.S.

The Republican leader said he asked Trudeau why Canada relied on trade with the United States and suggested the prime minister responded that he didn’t know.

“I can answer it. We are doing it because of habit and we are doing it because we like our neighbours, and we’ve been good neighbours. But we can’t do it forever and it’s a tremendous amount of money,” Trump said.

“I said that’s okay to have if you are a state. But if you are another country, we don’t want to have it,” Trump added, suggesting Canada should become the 51st state.

The president-elect also criticized Canada’s level of military funding and said he told hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to run for prime minister.

Police in Yellowknife say the search for Lance Beaulieu, reported missing on Saturday, has ended. A body found outside the city on Monday evening was his.

A measles outbreak in New Brunswick that resulted in a cluster of cases in Ontario and helped push Canada's case count to the highest it's been in a decade, is over, the Department of Health announced Tuesday.

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Swift Current City RCMP reported on policing activity from the past quarter and the 2024 year at the City Council meeting last night. 

Increases were evident in areas such as provincial traffic offences and assault, while areas including drug enforcement and reportable vehicle accidents were down. 

Staff Sergeant Evan Gordon with the Swift Current Municipal RCMP detachment, noted that one area that they saw a decrease in this year and this quarter was mischief, which includes unwanted persons on a property or damage to property. 

"It was a fairly average quarter for us," he shared. "I reported on some of the same areas I've been highlighting over the last nine months or so, those being thefts, mental health calls, and break and enters."

Gordon explained that mental health calls were on the rise, increasing by nearly 50 calls since 2023 and increasing twice as much this past quarter since the 2023 third quarter.

Break and enters were also up, with the majority of the recent incidences including vacant commercial properties and residences, while thefts have seen a decrease, but but fairly in line with annual averages. 

"As I've said in the past and as councillor Plewis brought up last night, in a small area like Swift Current we get a small sample size," he said. "The stats are very easily affected by one or two individuals."

Despite Swift Current's impaired driving offences rising from 1,560 in 2023 to 1,944 in 2024, not a single impaired driver was charged on New Year's Eve this year. 

"Overall for the year, I would say that we saw an increase in impaired driving," Gordon added. "It certainly tailed off throughout the holiday season and I think a lot of that had to do with members of the community knowing that police were out enforcing the rules of the road." 

City RCMP responded to a total of 4,957 occurances in 2024, with more than 1,100 of those from October to December. 

The National School Food Program aims to deliver healthy meals in schools across Canada to 400,000 kids every year — who aren’t already served by existing school food programs. Last April, the federal government announced their investment in the program of $1-billion over five years.

Newfoundland and Labrador, Manitoba and Ontario signed on to the program in the fall. The feds are currently in talks with Canada’s other provinces, territories and Indigenous partners in order to roll out the program nationwide this year.

Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre voted against the National School Food Program.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the program “a game changer.”

“The National School Food Program is a game changer. The program will take pressure off of families, invest directly in the future of our kids, and make sure they’re able to reach their full potential – feeling healthy and happy. This is about fairness and doing what’s right for our kids to get the best start in life.”

For our latest in news, please visit the News section.

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Generative AI, including platforms like ChatGPT, is transforming industries by making processes simpler, more efficient and easier to interact with. However, in the heavily regulated financial services sector the benefits also come with some serious risks. So it’s vital that this emerging technology is employed responsibly in order to maintain stability and trust.

Financial services are no strangers to advances in technology, but generative AI presents an uncharted and complex landscape for the industry. Insights into its potential often come from consulting reports or academic opinion pieces, which tend to be speculative and lack real-world data.

This gap in understanding inspired my recent research. Through interviews with bank managers and industry experts, I explored the challenges and opportunities associated with integrating generative AI into financial services. My research also delves into how this transformative tech is reshaping the consumer experience.

Generative AI goes far beyond using ChatGPT to produce text or DALL-E 3 for creating images. It can be used to analyse a consumer’s financial history and behaviour to tailor products such as loans, investment plans or insurance policies for them. And generative AI can also be used to make quick decisions about loan applications.

A consumer may be accustomed to using their bank’s chatbot to get information about a product. Erica, Bank of America’s virtual financial assistant, has facilitated more than two billion interactions with 42 million clients. (On average, Erica handles two million queries every day.)

But we don’t yet know who bears responsibility for the advice and products that generative AI suggests. Does accountability lie with bank managers, leadership or the AI itself?

For example, if a consumer relies on generative AI for financial advice, it’s not clear that this advice will be credible and suitable. Critics cite biases and its lack of nuanced understanding and judgement.

Still, it’s seen as a valuable “second pair of eyes” for wealth managers, with potential to evolve into a reliable tool for individual investors too.

AI can make wealth management more accessible and efficient. Robo-investment platforms use AI to create personalised investment strategies, managing portfolios based on goals and risk tolerance. This approach reduces costs and offers 24/7 portfolio monitoring without requiring direct human oversight.

But given the financial sector’s high stakes and stringent need for accuracy, AI tools must be both reliable and precise. Yet, the question remains: can this level of trust and assurance ever be fully guaranteed?

Getting personal

Personalisation is set to become a cornerstone of financial services. My earlier research looked at how AI tools are being used to craft tailored marketing emails and advertising campaigns.

With banks now able to access diverse customer data sets and harness the creative power of AI, the potential for personalised adverts and customised financial products is immense. But at the same time, the balance between relevance and privacy becomes increasingly delicate.

And it’s not just about banks and institutions using AI legitimately. Generative AI can produce misleading or even fictitious adverts, potentially ushering in an era of deepfakes that trick consumers or leave them doubting what’s real.

As this landscape evolves, consumers need to stay alert and critically evaluate marketing messages. AI may mean scams look more sophisticated – but the usual safeguarding methods, like checking that messages come from official websites, emails or verified accounts, still apply.

Beware of “act now” urgency tactics, poor grammar or altered URLs (like, for example, “paypa1.com” – with the digit 1 – instead of “paypal.com”). Just because an advert online has your name on it does not mean it is meant for you. It could have been generated by AI to convince you to click – with potentially disastrous consequences.

Generative AI is here to stay in every sphere of our lives. This is a new landscape for consumers, so it is vital that they watch how they engage with adverts, tools and technology. While financial services are well regulated, consumers must ensure they are engaging only with the genuine tools provided by their bank.

And while ChatGPT can offer advice, its developer OpenAI won’t take responsibility for the recommendations it makes. If you want to use AI, it’s far better to engage the chatbot provided by your bank. That way, you can be sure you are getting information from a credible source.

The regulated space for financial services providers, including their use of chatbots, places the responsibility on banks to meet legal and compliance obligations. This ensures they protect consumers, provide accurate and reliable information and remain within industry standards and regulations. The same cannot always be said for generative AI more broadly.

Regulators also have a role to play in reassuring and educating consumers about the emerging trends of generative AI. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Advertising Standards Authority must ensure there are flexible frameworks in place that can keep pace with the rapid advances in AI technology.

This will involve creating clear guidelines for the development, use and oversight of generative AI systems, balancing innovation with consumer protection.

The generative AI genie won’t be going back in the bottle. It will continue to become an ever-more integral part of everyday life – so consumers need to be proactive to engage with this new and quickly evolving technology.

Emmanuel Mogaji 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.

A man with a lengthy history of violent offences over the course of more than three decades, including being convicted for the manslaughter of a two-year-old child, has been released from prison and is expected to live in Winnipeg.

Marcel Hank Charlette, 52, was released from Headingley Correctional Centre Tuesday.

The Manitoba Integrated High Risk Sex Offender Unit (MIHRSOU) warns he is considered a high risk to re-offend in a sexual or violent manner against all men, women, and children.

Charlette is also known as Hank Marcel Caribou, Hank Charlette, Peewee, and Bald Eagle. He is described as five-foot-two weighing 124 lbs., bald (with black hair), and brown eyes.

He has several tattoos on his face (teardrops, triangles above and below each eye, “87” on his right cheek bone, and many more), hands, arms, skull, back, torso and abdomen. He has scars on his right thumb and arm.

Police say Charlette was sentenced to six years in prison in the 1991 manslaughter of a child. He was also convicted of aggravated assault in 1996 “for brutally attacking, punching and kicking a woman.”

He was convicted for assaults in 2004, 2006, 2010 – where he was sentenced to 10 years behind bars – and 2021. Most recently, he was serving a sentence in Headingley for failure to comply with conditions of a release order.

Authorities say Charlette will be subject to a series of conditions, including a curfew from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The post High-risk sex offender convicted of manslaughter expected to live in Winnipeg: police appeared first on CityNews Winnipeg.

Canada Post has reinstated on-time service guarantees and returned to full service levels for domestic parcels.

In a statement released today, Canada Post thanked Canadians for their patience these past few weeks as they’ve worked to safely restore normal operations while managing significant holiday volumes.

While full service is reinstated for domestic parcels, Canada Post is warning customers they continue to work through higher volumes of mail.

Parcels and mail

• On-time service guarantees have resumed for domestic parcels and are in effect for items inducted as of January 6, 2025.
• We have returned to normal processing and delivery levels across the country, including in rural and remote areas.
• We continue to process accumulated domestic Transaction Mail alongside newly inducted volumes. Canadians should therefore continue to expect delivery delays of several days beyond our service standard for Transaction Mail such as letters, bills and statements.
• With a significant amount of Neighbourhood Mail still to be processed and delivered, business customers should continue to expect delivery delays of several days.
• While we continue to work through accumulated international volumes at a good pace, customers should expect a delivery delay of several days for incoming international items.

You can check for the latest updates on: canadapost.ca

An analysis of a decade's worth of data kept by the Alberta Energy Regulator suggests the agency has made unsubstantiated claims about the success of oilsands tailings spills cleanup.