Hamilton Councillors who serve the rural areas are still trying to explain to their constituents how a rural resident who is drawing water from a well and is not connected to the city water system should ever be getting a water bill. The answer of course is that they still contribute to stormwater, and now that the city has decided to create a separate bill for stormwater, everybody should pay their share. The city reasons that because rural stormwater typically flows into a ditch, which is nonetheless maintained by the city as opposed to a sewer and ultimately ends up in the bay, the stormwater fee should apply. It also doesn’t take into account water that comes off a barn roof and is soaked into the aquifer before it can get to a ditch. Those are some of the issues that are not sitting well with rural residents and their representatives on council.

The other problem for rural residents, is that the fee is based on the amount of impermeable surface they occupy, and whether it’s a farm or a rural residence, both tend to take up more space than a typical city lot. And if you are a large greenhouse operator with maybe an acre under impermeable glass, the cost can be huge. Councillors and staff can rationalize the issue any way they want, but when you are sending a tax bill to somebody who wasn’t getting a bill before, without providing any increase in service, you are going to get sustained pushback.

When the subject of a stormwater fee first came up, it made sense to many. Up until the beginning of the discussion the stormwater portion of the water bill was assumed to be based on the amount of water the ratepayer was using. But that calculation did not take into account shopping malls and large industrial companies with large parking lots. They consumed relatively little water, but their parking lots and large roof areas contributed disproportionately to the stormwater runoff. In the initial discussion nobody was talking about the agricultural community assuming it was the shopping malls and factories that would bear the brunt of the new policy. A large staff presentation on the subject in June 2023 made no mention of rural or agricultural uses. Councillor Mark Tadeson summed up the problem for himself and Glanbrook rural residents.

No matter how one slices it, the communications on this Stormwater issue has been terrible. Staff were asked why, and one reason given was that the plan was supposed to be fleshed out by 2026, but council, on a motion from Councillors Danko and Maureen Wilson in January of 2023, bumped it up a year to now. Staff said as a result there was very little opportunity to consult with the public. It was only after that vote that the reality for rural farmers began to surface. At that time some farm operations were told they will pay as much as $77,000, for example for a Flamborough vegetable grower. An Ancaster Dairy Farm would pay $22,000. The Federation of Agriculture cited a Glanbrook dairy farmer who stands to pay $5,800. Residential taxpayers in the city will see the stormwater fee deducted from the regular water bill resulting in zero change to their overall bill, but many agricultural users who are not connected to city water and sewers will be paying water bills for the first time. Even for smaller farm operations, the local federation says a farm with an 80 ft x 200 ft building (barn) will have to pay $868 per year.

Staff have reworked the numbers and managed to reduce the overall fee, but it will still look like a minimum to $200 per year extra at a minimum for rural homeowners, more for farmers. The tax takes effect next January.

The murder trial of Alain Bellefeuille opened Wednesday with dramatically different accounts of what happened the night Sgt. Eric Mueller was shot and killed while responding to a 911 call.

In classic Nova Scotia style, milder temperatures that accompanied the start of spring will give way to a blast of wet snow overnight Wednesday into Thursday morning.

Champlain panel highlights efforts to revitalize Indigenous tongues

By William Crooks

In a growing effort to preserve and promote Indigenous languages, Champlain College-Lennoxville will host a public panel discussion this Thursday, March 27 at 12:30 p.m. in the college lobby. The event brings together educators and learners dedicated to revitalizing the ancestral languages of Quebec and neighbouring regions, as part of the United Nations’ Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022–32).

Organized by the Kchi al8msakw Indigenous Language Learning Centre—part of a collaborative project involving Bishop’s University, Université de Sherbrooke and Champlain College—the panel will feature three speakers actively engaged in Indigenous language teaching and revitalization.

“This is really a chance for people to learn what it means to teach and learn Indigenous languages in 2025,” said Andrew Fletcher, who coordinates the initiative and co-organized the panel. “We want to talk about both the challenges and the potential of these efforts.”

The event will spotlight three Algonquian languages: Abenaki, Innu, and Penobscot. Philippe Charland, a Quebecois linguist, will share insights into the revitalization of Abenaki, the original language of the Eastern Townships. Though not Indigenous himself, Charland teaches Abenaki at Bishop’s, Université de Sherbrooke, and in the community of Odanak. According to Fletcher, “There are very few people today who can speak Abenaki fluently, and no one who speaks it as a first language anymore.”

Joining him will be Gaëlle Mollen, an Innu language teacher from the Canadian Museum of History. With roots in both Innu and Chadian heritage, Mollen will speak about her experience teaching a language that, while still widely spoken in parts of Quebec’s North Shore, faces its own long-term sustainability challenges.

The third panelist, Ann Pollard-Ranco,  is a Penobscot language learner from Maine. She will bring the perspective of someone immersed in revitalization from the learner’s side. “We wanted to make sure the panel represents both teaching and learning,” said Fletcher.

The format of the event is designed to foster dialogue. The panel will be divided into three thematic sections: the complexities of learning Indigenous languages, the realities and resources needed for teaching them, and how these languages can be more visibly and meaningfully integrated into everyday environments.

“Learning an Indigenous language takes longer than learning something like Spanish or German,” Fletcher explained. “Not because it’s harder, but because the reference points are fewer. There’s less material out there, and the grammatical structures can be very different.”

To help address these gaps, Fletcher and his team are developing new pedagogical tools. “We’re publishing an English–Abenaki vocabulary and an introductory grammar guide,” he said. “It’ll be the first of its kind in English, and we’re aiming to have it out before the summer.” These materials will be made available to both academic institutions and the Abenaki community itself, with copyrights held by the community for use in their own programs.

Fletcher said the revitalization effort includes plans to offer an Abenaki language course at the college level. “We’re getting quite close to finalizing it,” he noted. “The idea is to make it available not only to Champlain students but also to members of the wider community.” While an official announcement has yet to be made, the goal is to support ongoing interest in Indigenous languages through formal education and informal community workshops.

The discussion will also explore the role of language in place and identity. “We’ll talk about how language exists in the landscape—like the Kwigw8mna building here at Bishop’s,” said Fletcher, referring to the newly named building using an Abenaki word. “We want to see more of that—more Indigenous names on campus, more presence in the public space.”

Ultimately, the hope is to foster a network of learners and educators who can sustain these efforts beyond the classroom. “Success isn’t just about creating fluent speakers—though that’s certainly the dream,” said Fletcher. “It’s about creating a living connection to the language, whether through classes, conversation, signage, or simply awareness.”

The panel is open to all, and Fletcher encourages anyone curious about Indigenous languages to attend. “Even if you’re just interested or wondering what it’s all about, this is a great place to start.”

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L’article Celebrating culture through language est apparu en premier sur Sherbrooke Record.

The Yukon NDP says public money has been going to religious instruction in the territory’s Catholic schools, contrary to the terms of a 1962 agreement between the Yukon government and Catholic diocese.

The Alberta government is preparing to open the province’s online gambling market to private companies like Bet365 in a bid to regulate more of the industry and capture revenue currently headed elsewhere.

Liberal leader Mark Carney was in Windsor and London earlier today as he works his way back to Kitchener where he will hold a rally tonight. It will be interesting to see if Carney can match the turnout that Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre pulled off last night, speaking to a crowd estimated at over 4,000 in Stoney Creek. Meanwhile NDP leader Jagmeet Singh was in Hamilton for the second consecutive day, after attending the opening of Hamilton Mountain candidate Monique Taylor’s campaign headquarters yesterday. Singh is dealing with some troubling national polling numbers showing his NDP at single digits, far behind the Liberals and the Conservatives. Latest polling shows the Carney Liberals with a six to eight point lead over the Poilievre- led Conservatives. Most of the Liberal gains are at the expense of the NDP, who just two months ago were holding 20 percent in voter intentions. The NDP are sitting at 14 percent in BC polls, which suggests Singh could be in for a tough battle to hold onto his seat in Burnaby South.

It's that time of year again in St. Pierre, as the sap starts flowing and the maple harvest begins. 

According to Rolly Gagne, President of the St. Pierre Museum, things are shaping up perfectly for the season. 

“We had a couple of really hard freezes last week,” Gagne shares. “We had some test buckets out about a week ago. The trees did start producing, but then they stopped drastically because of that cold weather. And now it's day number two, number three now, we're expecting that it's going to be full production in the next few days.” 

With the temperatures cooperating, the team is busy tapping trees, and he says they are making good progress. 

“I've still got about 200 to tap. I've got about 120 right now that are tapped. We should be finished by tomorrow afternoon. We should have all the rest up and ready to go.”

Gagne's small but mighty team is working hard to make it happen. 

“It's a pretty skinny team, I tell you. I've got one main guy that does the scouting and the identification of where we're going to go. Then after, I've got three volunteers that just follow suit and we go from tree to tree and we tap, and we punch, and we get those things done,” he says. 

Although it is a lot of hard work, it’s a time of year that Gagne looks forward to. 

“It's always a fun time, especially now because there's almost no snow left, so it's going to be so much easier to tap, comparable to some other years. If we take a look at the temperatures this week, it's going to be perfect for the next two weeks.” 

Even with a slight dip in temperatures expected over the weekend, he remains confident the sap will keep flowing. 

The team aims to tap over 300 trees, which translates to about 400 taps. 

“It depends because there's some areas like last year, we couldn't tap at all, so we should hit the 325 this year for sure. Which comes to about 400 taps because we've got some trees that are double or triple depending on the size.” 

The Museum has also launched the 100 Trees Program to plant more maple trees on its grounds. 

“It's going well. The people are so happy, and they definitely want to participate. They love the longevity of this situation that it's going to be past, maybe not you, but past me in my lifetime by the time they're ready to tap. It's definitely a project with lots of love behind it.” 

In addition, the St. Pierre Sugar Shack recently hosted a special event featuring a pop-up restaurant. Chef Luke Jean with WOW Entertainment and Canad Inns brought a maple-infused dining experience to the community. 

“We just did a successful run just recently. Very nice sit-down dinner served right at your plate with a beautiful maple everything, like anything that he made, there was a taste of maple in it. It finished with beautiful four different desserts, many desserts on one plate for each participant. It was truly a beautiful event.” 

For those looking to try tapping trees in their own backyards, Gagne encourages giving it a shot and says those with questions can always reach out. 

“We have some spare taps if they need to borrow if they just want to try it. They can come and get a few taps to try for the first year or something of the sort. We're definitely interested in helping whoever wants to be helped from there.” 

He says those interested in trying it, should just simply go for it. 

“The best thing is to go out, get her done, and just try it just for once. I have a friend who's been tapping around his house. He sent me a picture of a finished product, and it was maybe about an ounce, but he was so proud that he was able to get that maple syrup done.” 

Gagne reminds everyone about a special event coming up in early April. 

“Don't forget, though, that we're going to see you April 5th and 6th at the Sugaring Off, which is in two weekends. Again, we've got some great events happening, and we invite everybody from Southeastern Manitoba. Come on down and come and join us in St. Pierre-Joly.” 

Check out their website at museestpierrejolys.ca  or follow their Facebook page for updates on events.

With files from Kenton Dyck 

In a time of economic instability, we can take a page from Canada’s wartime playbook

The post It’s time for a national rent freeze appeared first on The Breach.

Analysis of public data showing startling increases in the cost of outsourced surgical procedures in Alberta that cannot be explained by inflation or input costs seem to corroborate claims of contract irregularities made by fired Alberta Health Services (AHS) CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos, says a new report on for-profit surgical costs. 

The report, Operation Profit: Private Surgical Contracts Deliver Higher Costs and Longer Waits, by B.C.-based health policy researcher Andrew Longhurst, points to a “sharp increase” in the unit cost paid by AHS to so-called “chartered surgical facilities” – that is, private surgical clinics contracted under the provincial Government’s Alberta Surgical Initiative. 

The average cost of outsourced surgical procedures has soared by 79 per cent since 2019, when the United Conservative Party Government policy of contracting out private surgical services through the ASI began, says the report based on available public data.

“Between the 2022-23 and 2023-24 fiscal years, the average cost of an outsourced procedure rose by 52 per cent,” Longhurst wrote in the report released this morning by the Edmonton-based Parkland Institute. “This represents a significant acceleration in cost growth, as the previous year saw only a 13-per-cent increase.”

The big cost jump is likely the result of negotiated contract prices with private surgical providers being ratcheted up, he said. But the magnitude of the increase “cannot be explained by inflation or other reasonable hikes in input costs.”

“It is also unlikely that there was a change in CSFs performing more complex procedures that attracted a higher rate, since these facilities only perform routine, lower complexity procedures,” he added.

While the contracts negotiated by AHS with private operators are shrouded in secrecy, the report noted, the researcher cited The Globe and Mail’s February 21 report by journalists Carrie Tait and Alanna Smith, which showed hip, knee and shoulder procedure costs at for-profit CFSs “were 57 to 133 per cent more expensive than the same procedures performed in public hospitals.” The Alberta Surgical Group showed the largest premium. 

“The findings of this Parkland Institute analysis appear to corroborate concerns about the potential irregularities identified by Mentzelopoulos, which may have led to her dismissal by the government,” the researcher concluded. (Just to be perfectly clear, Mentzelopoulos alleged in her statement of claim, which has not yet been examined by a court, that she was fired because she was trying to investigate the irregularities she says she found and intended to stop.)

The conclusions of Longhurst’s report, however, are much broader. Not only do the data show how for-profit surgical contracts in Alberta have shot upward, they indicate the ASI has resulted in longer wait times for critical surgeries and diverted limited pool of qualified surgeons and other medical staff from public hospitals at the same time as the government’s funding of public hospitals has declined.

This diversion is not a surprise. It happens wherever right-wing governments experiment with privatized surgical services. 

But the report makes it clear that, by any measure, the UCP privatization program is doing the opposite of what the government claims and making almost everything worse.

Wait times: Since the start of the ASI, wait times have increased for nine of 11 procedures tracked by the respected Canadian Institute for Health Information, among them knee replacements and all cancer surgeries. Median wait times for colorectal cancer surgery in Alberta rose 8 per cent; wait times for lung cancer surgery soared 48 per cent.

Impact on Public Hospitals: “Public hospitals are being starved of staff and funding, while private providers receive inflated payments for the lowest complexity surgeries,” Longhurst said. Meanwhile, from 2013 to 2022, only three provinces reported declines in real per-capita public hospital spending. Alberta’s 13-per-cent drop was the biggest. “Provincial hospital expenditure as a share of GDP in Alberta declined from 2.2 per cent in 2013 to 2 per cent in 2022, making it the lowest in the country.” 

Public subsidies for the private sector: Since the ASI began in the 2018-19 fiscal year, the report notes, “public payments to for-profit facilities increased by 225 per cent.” But the ASI, it concluded, has “simply shifted surgical activity to for-profit facilities at the expense of public hospitals.” 

Surgical activity: Over five years, the Alberta Government’s payments of $154 million to for-profit operators only added 16,493 procedures to the system.

“Albertans deserve accountability and transparency in how their health-care dollars are spent, Longhurst concluded. His report calls for a full public inquiry with the ability to summon witnesses to testify under oath.

The post Parkland study finds increase in outsourced surgical costs in Alberta appeared first on rabble.ca.

City says changes are meant to protect people in camp from criminal activity and violence.

A political science student, a retired news editor and a small business owner walk into a diner with The Current's Matt Galloway to talk about how they plan to vote this federal election.

CBC Sports' daily newsletter explores the biggest question surrounding the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays: Will Vladdy stay or will he go?

The Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education says people need to be careful booking schools for after-hours activities or signing up children for summer camp, after an unauthorized website was discovered offering those services.

A lawyer with the federal Department of Justice originally wanted to keep the testimony of a Crown witness in a New Brunswick murder trial a secret, but backed down following opposition from defence counsel, and news media.