Canada

Susie had come to Saskatchewan from North Carolina three months earlier, chasing the promise of healing offered by Dayan Goodenowe and his Dr. Goodenowe Restorative Health Center in Moose Jaw. It’s a private, unregulated facility that claims “a 100 per cent success rate in stopping the progression and in restoring function of people with ALS.”

Goodenowe maintains that every person who enrolls in the program offered at the centre leaves in better condition than when they entered.

In her desperation, Susie put her home up for sale to pay the $84,000 US fee.

But former Goodenowe employees say that as her condition worsened, Goodenowe centre management left Susie to fight for her life on her own — she had to hunt for an American hospital that would install the feeding tube and find a way to get there.

One of those workers, who ended up quitting her job at the Goodenowe centre as a result of how Susie was treated, concluded, “these people had been taking advantage of vulnerable clients like Susie.”

In its original form it restored status under the Indian Act to a limited group of 3,000 to 5,000 people affected by historic enfranchisement provisions, including individuals who gave up their status voluntarily to keep their children out of residential schools or to vote in federal and provincial elections.

Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) Minister Mandy Gull-Masty has a deadline of April 2026 to fix the law.

But after hearing from 57 witnesses, the Senate Standing Committee on Indigenous Peoples amended the bill.

Their changes go far beyond the scope of Nicholas, aiming to resolve broader discrimination by ending the second-generation cutoff altogether.

The amendments would also eliminate the “unknown paternity” clause, which currently denies status to children of status mothers if the father is unnamed.

It’s official, the Vancouver Whitecaps have one more game left in their Cinderella season.

The only thing that stands between them and the MLS Cup? Only Inter Miami and one of the greatest soccer players of all time.

Even though they entered the MLS Western Conference Final as underdogs, the Whitecaps scored early and never looked back.

It didn’t matter that they were missing MLS Defender of the Year Tristan Blackmon, or that they were still battling through injuries, much like they have all season.

The Caps put their foot on the gas early and were rewarded with their first MLS Cup Final berth in team history after defeating San Diego FC 3-1.

“To be part of this group is amazing, Thomas Müller said after the win. “This group deserves so much.”

Why I didn’t know that sooner ?

Is there any Saskatchewanean (???) in the room that could give me a « on the ground » critic of their services ?

Intro from the article:

Earlier this year, I was invited to travel to Los Angeles to talk about Canadian music as an export commodity. I was to speak alongside folks discussing music from Sweden and South Korea. This seemed like a fun idea at the time.

As a long-time music journalist and a jury foreperson for the Polaris Prize, I take Canadian music pretty damn seriously. Thirty years ago, I remember staying up late to see the Tragically Hip on Saturday Night Live—introduced by Dan Aykroyd in a shirt emblazoned with “CANADA.” I wasn’t even that much of a fan, but there was something in me that wanted to root for a Canadian band attempting to make it in the United States of America.

In population and pop culture power, Canada is dwarfed by our neighbours to the south, but we’ve been able to punch above our weight for some time. From long-standing legends like Joni Mitchell, Oscar Peterson, Neil Young, and Céline Dion to more recent luminaries like Carly Rae Jepsen, the Weeknd, Tanya Tagaq, and, of course, Drake, it’s not hard to think of iconic musical Canucks. My initial plan was to discuss the successes and shifts, the history and trajectory, of our varied and successful music industry.

But then US president Donald Trump indicated that he wanted to get his hands on the True North Strong and Free. I knew that Trump’s fifty-first-state talk was being taken dead seriously when Canadians started booing the American anthem. As people told me I shouldn’t cross the border, and politicians started acting like hockey coaches entering a third period down by a couple goals, I realized that my lighthearted plans for the presentation needed to change.

Canada has been neglecting our (excellent and varied) music scene for the past decade. A post-pandemic evaluation of the government’s Canada Music Fund revealed that revenues are down: album sales fell by nearly 74 percent between 2015 and 2021. And according to data from the City of Toronto, live music venues are disappearing, with the city shuttering 15 percent of these spaces between 2020 and 2021.

There was an increase in pandemic-related support funding, but also a concern that this funding is nothing but temporary. In addition, the Department of Canadian Heritage, which is responsible for significant amounts of music funding related to production, touring, and more, has plans to cut $64 million in grants and contributions by 2026/27. The Canadian Live Music Association raised the alarm around funding last year, calling for an increase in resources to provide support to music production, touring, festivals, and venues. Long-standing Canadian content regulations mandate contributions from broadcasters that go to initiatives that provide financial support for musicians, but airplay quotas that provide essential visibility for artists have become difficult to police in the internet age amid the rise of streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.

At least the recently announced budget did extend a temporary two-year increase to the Canada Music Fund, offering $48 million over the next three years—there was also an unexpected announcement of funding to fuel a potential run for the Eurovision song contest.

With the US vocalizing threats to Canada’s sovereignty, cheering for Canadian music is less about hoping for our favourite artists to break through in America—it’s direct engagement in resistance. If we are all going to get those elbows up and fight a cultural war, we need to mobilize and strategize and consider what it really means to support music that is made in our own backyards.

CBC News article for context

Any eligible Canadian resident who purchased packaged bread for their personal use — including bagged bread, buns, rolls, bagels, naan, English muffins, wraps, pita and tortillas — between 2001 and 2021 can claim compensation from the national settlement reached with Loblaw Companies Limited, and parent company George Weston Ltd. 

Forms can be found online at CanadianBreadSettlement.ca for those living anywhere in Canada outside of Quebec as of Dec. 31, 2021, and at QuebecBreadSettlement.ca for those living within that province on that date. Claims have to be submitted by Dec. 12, 2025, both websites note.

[...]

While the price-fixing allegations targeted other major grocers, including Sobeys, Walmart, Giant Tiger and Metro, only Loblaw and its parent company have agreed to a settlement. The others have denied the allegations.

Twice a year, the World Health Organization convenes an expert panel to decide what should go into vaccines for the coming flu season in each hemisphere, based on the highest-circulating strains. It takes six months to decide which strains to include, purify the seed ingredients, mass produce the shots in eggs and get them into vials to go into arms.

The steps add up to a sluggish ability of vaccine makers to adapt to the fast-evolving virus, meaning last year’s vaccine may not protect against this year’s strain. And the respiratory disease is highly contagious, in most cases causing fever, coughing and body aches, but potentially leading to severe complications like pneumonia.

Another part of the problem is that many flu viruses originated in birds, virologists say.

"You're growing it in embryonated chicken eggs," said Dr. Lynora Saxinger, an infectious diseases specialist at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. "And so that's avian cells that are growing the virus for you and the virus actually adapts to grow better in the avian cells."

That can sometimes result in viruses that look less like what's causing infections in humans, which can further decrease the effectiveness of influenza vaccines, said Matthew Miller, director of the Degroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.

The article then discusses a few other technologies that are in the works, and their respective pros/cons

Chantel isn't happy with Carney's BC pipeline chicanery. Good discussion.

I can't vouch for the author at all, but this seems like a nice detailed, technical look at the difference between the two.

TL;DR the 212CD is very good at what in biology would be called "sit and wait predation". It's designed to sneak into an ocean floor crevice and hang out there, possibly for for weeks until something comes by, and then attack it. The Hanwha offering, on the other hand, is less superlatively stealthy and maneuverable, but is much more flexible, allowing missile launches and likely having a much longer range.

https://armsembargonow.ca/nomoreloopholes/

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/56010495

Emma Alves is an "experimental R&B" artist from Vancouver, Canada

I like her calm sleepy style. The song 'The Gardener' is new to me, and the other songs from the album have been out for a few weeks. I may have posted about them in the past.

• YouTube

• website

I hope they do this bit with a flight company next time.

It is YouTube, should I tag it as NSFW because of the gimp suit and the sexual theme of this sketch?

Archived link

...

The Gulf state committed to invest USD$70 billion in Canada, covering energy, AI logistics, mining and several other strategic sectors. Furthermore, Ottawa framed the trip as part of a broader pivot away from U.S. trade dependence as Donald Trump’s tariffs reshape global commerce. Carney’s government wants to double non-U.S. exports within ten years and attract $1 trillion in new investment over five years.

Carney said Ottawa is also working to finalize a USD$1-billion project that will expand Canada’s critical minerals processing capacity. He told the Canada–U.A.E. Business Council that the deal would create jobs and increase the long-term supply of minerals needed for advanced manufacturing. He suggested that more details will follow soon.

Canada’s ambitions come as global pressure mounts to diversify mineral supply chains. Many of these minerals power electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels and defense technologies. However, China dominates most stages of the sector. According to the International Energy Agency, China holds an average market share of 70 per cent for 19 of 20 key minerals. It refines 91 per cent of rare earth elements. In 2024, it controlled 96 per cent of refined graphite, 78 per cent of refined cobalt, 70 per cent of refined lithium and 44 per cent of refined copper.

...

Canada operates several domestic facilities that process aluminum and uranium, and it maintains a few copper, nickel and zinc smelters. However, it has little or no refining capacity for lithium or rare earth elements. This gap presents a major challenge for any attempt to build full supply chains within the country.

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Canada has tried to move up the chain. Its 2022 Critical Minerals Strategy set out a plan to secure supply, attract investment and expand domestic processing. The federal list includes 34 minerals deemed essential for economic or national security reasons. The list includes antimony.

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Only eight of Canada’s 32 critical mineral processing centers are owned by Canadian companies. In addition, the rest belong to parent companies based in the United Kingdom, United States, Switzerland, Brazil, France, Germany and Luxembourg.

At the end of October, the federal government announced the first round of projects under a G7 critical minerals alliance. The initiative further aims to counter China’s dominance by building supply networks among allied countries. Global News also reported that the 25 approved items include offtake agreements for a Quebec graphite mine and funding to expand rare earth processing in Ontario.

...

Canada also agreed to support a Norwegian company’s plan to build a synthetic graphite plant in St. Thomas, Ontario. Vianode said earlier this year that it signed a multi-billion-dollar supply deal with General Motors. Export Development Canada may finance up to $500 million of the Ontario project. Graphite plays a central role in EV battery anodes.

A Ucore Rare Metals facility in Kingston, Ontario, also received conditional approval for up to $36 million in federal funding. The refinery aims to scale processing of samarium and gadolinium. These elements appear in nuclear technology and MRI equipment. The plant expects to begin production in 2026.

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Rare earth elements represent an area with significant potential. Saskatchewan Research Council officials said in 2022 that Canada holds large rare earth resources. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated Canada’s rare-earth oxide equivalent reserves at 830,000 tonnes in 2024. Meanwhile, China holds 44 million tonnes, and Brazil holds 21 million tonnes. Another CBC News report estimated more than 14 million tonnes of rare earth oxides in Canadian ground. There are 21 active rare earth projects moving through exploration and evaluation stages across the country.

Canada also currently has only one producing rare earth mine. Nechalacho in the Northwest Territories, owned by Vital Metals, ships its ore to Saskatchewan for initial processing before final separation in Norway. China operates thousands of mines, including the massive Bayan Obo complex, and produced 270,000 tonnes of rare earths in 2024.