File photo of an Ontario cherry orchard. (UpdogDesigns/iStock/Getty Images)

Audit finds Canada failing migrant farmworkers on COVID-19, housing inspections

Toronto | Reuters — As the COVID-19 pandemic raged, federal government inspectors frequently deemed the employers of migrant workers compliant with health and safety rules despite a lack of evidence, according to an Auditor General report released Thursday. While Canadian provinces and territories set housing standards, the federal government is responsible for ensuring tens of […] Read more

Cropland in the Overberg region of South Africa’s Western Cape province. (Nini/E+/Getty Images)

South African plan to allow land expropriation fails to pass

Constitutional amendment defeated by ruling ANC's opponents on both sides

Johannesburg | Reuters –– A proposal to change South Africa’s constitution to explicitly allow expropriation of land with no compensation failed to win the two-thirds of parliamentary votes that it needed on Tuesday. Lawmakers debated whether to change Section 25 of the constitution to enable authorities to seize land to address racial land inequalities left […] Read more


(Viktorcvetkovic/E+/Getty Images)

Spy agency sees ransomware attacks soaring

Aggressive hacking expected to increase

Ottawa | Reuters — Global ransomware attacks increased by 151 per cent in the first half of 2021 compared with 2020 and hackers are set to become increasingly aggressive, Canada’s signals intelligence agency said on Monday. The Communications Security Establishment (CSE), citing attacks on North American health facilities and a U.S. pipeline, said the scale […] Read more



Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies in degrees Celsius for the week centred on Nov. 24, 2021. Cooler-than-neutral sea surface temperatures at the equator are known to set up a La Nina event. (CPC.ncep.noaa.gov)

Prairie winter weather a sign of La Nina repeat

Full effects won't be seen for a while yet

MarketsFarm — December marks the start of what meteorologists call “meteorological winter” — and this winter, the Pacific Ocean phenomenon known as La Nina may be rearing its head once again. La Nina (Spanish for “little girl”) is a climate pattern detected over the Pacific every few years where cooler water pools at the equator […] Read more

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is shown maps by Abbottsford, B.C. Mayor Henry Braun during a visit to the city on Nov. 26, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

B.C. extends fuel restrictions following flooding

Agricultural and farm-use vehicles exempted as 'essential'

Reuters — Government officials in British Columbia on Monday extended restrictions on the use of fuel by residents, saying it was needed for emergency vehicles as the region recovers from devastating floods. The order, first issued on Nov. 19, limits vehicles deemed “non-essential” by the government to 30 litres of gasoline or diesel fuel per […] Read more


(CBSA via YouTube)

Canada shuts to seven African countries’ travelers

Latest COVID-19 variant spurs decision

Ottawa | Reuters — Canada is closing its borders to foreign travelers who have recently been to seven southern African nations to help stop the spread of a newly identified variant of COVID-19, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters Friday. The European Union, the United States and Britain are among those tightening border controls as […] Read more

Parts of the Trans Canada Highway at Abbotsford, B.C. remain submerged in flood waters on Nov. 19, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Jennifer Gauthier)

Repair work on B.C. rail lines expected for days yet

CP expects to resume service 'mid-week;' some highways open only for essential travel

Canada’s big two railways expect repair work to continue into at least next week before service can resume through storm-battered areas of British Columbia to export terminals at Vancouver. Both railways, along with several major B.C. highways, have been shut this week due to damage from flooding and landslides spurred by a major multi-day storm […] Read more


GM’s CAMI assembly plant at Ingersoll, Ont. (GM.ca)

GM aims to tackle chip shortage with new designs

Chip-making investments to be in U.S., Canada

Reuters — General Motors aims to tackle the global semiconductor shortage with new designs built in North America, president Mark Reuss said on Thursday. Reuss told an investor conference GM is working with seven chip suppliers on three new families of microcontrollers that will reduce the number of unique chips by 95 per cent on […] Read more

Delivery vans from the Save-On-Foods grocery store chain wait for a police escort to cross through a landslide near Hope, B.C. on Nov. 18, 2021 to restock the local grocery store after rainstorms caused flooding and landslides in the region. (Photo: Reuters/Jesse Winter)

Panicked shoppers clear out flood-hit B.C.’s grocery stores

Reuters — Shoppers in British Columbia have emptied grocery shelves following catastrophic flooding, although the shortages are as much down to panic buying as disrupted supply chains, industry associations said on Thursday. Even as flood waters start to recede, some parts of the province are expected to face to temporary shortages of dairy supplies, with […] Read more