Tag Archives: COVID 19

Finances

Canada’s emergency wage subsidy served as ‘blank cheque’ for companies: Canadians for Tax Fairness

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Some of Canada’s biggest corporations received a pandemic subsidy intended to keep their employees on the payroll, but a new report finds that in many cases, these large companies actually reduced employment while padding the pockets of shareholders.

These findings, from a report by Canadians for Tax Fairness, should make Canadians angry and point to a double standard, the federal NDP’s finance critic Daniel Blaikie told Canada’s National Observer in an interview. It is “egregious” for the federal government to have the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) “hound” some individuals who applied for and received financial support through emergency programs like the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) to return the money, he added.

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Business, Spirituality

Hollyhock: the road ahead for 2023

“ What Hollyhock is bringing to the world in 2023 is personal growth for social transformation. I’m really excited to see the world opening up, but with a recognition that things need to change. Cortes offers a really unique perspective on that because it’s an island. It’s a small community of people who know each other and there is the opportunity to live a more sustainable lifestyle here. When I think of Hollyhock at its best, it’s a leadership or a learning lab for what could be and I think that Cortes is a huge part of that,” said Peter Wrinch, the CEO of Hollyhock. 

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Health

UBC Team: BC Sponge May Provide Covid Cure

UBC researchers have identified three biological compounds sourced in Canada that prevent COVID-19 infection in human cells. All three are derived from marine organisms, including a sea sponge native to Howe Sound.

The discovery paves the way for the development of new medicines for COVID-19 variants based on natural sources. BC’s ocean and forest ecosystems may contain a wealth of new antivirals waiting to be discovered.

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Finances

Seven ways to tackle inflation without raising interest rates

Originally published on Corporate Knights

Editor’s note: Guy Dauncey’s Big Solutions: Raising interest rates is a cruel cudgel that hurts the most vulnerable. There are other responses that governments and central banks should consider.

By Guy Dauncey

There are many causes of inflation, but there’s only one solution central banks seem willing to consider: increase interest rates. This has many people scratching their heads: Why would this bring down the price of rent, food or gas? Won’t it increase costs for anyone who pays interest on a variable-rate mortgage or consumer loan? And won’t it make essential green investments more difficult?

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Arts

Wish you were here

Originally published on qathet Living

Simply put, COVID gutted audiences in mid-sized and large venues here and across Canada. If we don’t collectively start coming back to our theatres and the arena, qathet could lose the defining arts and sports scene residents have been building for generations.

In the middle of September, actor Jeffery Renn came back to his hometown to perform At Your Service: The Life and Yarns of Robert Service – My Glorious Youth, at the Max Cameron Theatre. It’s an internationally-touring one-man show. 

But in the 400-seat theatre, just 28 people filled seats that Saturday night. Afterwards in the lobby, Max Cameron Theatre manager Jacquie Dawson said that in the three-night run, no night attracted more than 30 people. 

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